unfinished glory

Chapter 50

After beating the Celtics, Li Chongxiao returned to his previous appearance. Except for Duncan who cared more about him, no one else thought there was any problem.A small substitute, facing a behemoth like the Alliance, has no other choice but to accept his fate.

The Spurs team also began to get nervous. The next game is scheduled for December 12. It will be a game that the entire league is watching and fans are looking forward to.

The league's top Suns with 24 wins and 3 losses visited San Antonio to play against the Spurs, which ranked second in the league with 24 wins and 4 losses.

This is a battle for the top spot, and the winner will become the new No. [-] in the league.

This is a battle of spears and shields, the league's No. [-] offensive team against the league's No. [-] defensive team.

This is a fight between the old and the new, the old strong team of the league with the classical style of play, and the upstart who set off a small ball storm and re-emerged.

This is a game where a comet hits the earth. If the Pistons are the top seed of the Eastern Conference champion, then the Western Conference champion will be determined from these two teams. I believe most experts and fans agree.

The Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni used their regular lineup of small-ball whirlwinds to conquer fans: Stoudemire Jr. + Sean Marion + Joe Johnson + Quentin Richardson + nash.

Steve Nash is the core of this lineup.The star, who was selected by the Suns and became famous in the Mavericks, returned to the Suns this season and became the team's commander in D'Antoni's bombardment tactics.

Joe Johnson and "Ah Q" Richardson often swing between small forward and shooting guard regardless of position.These three and Marion are all good three-pointers. The Suns' offensive space is extremely widened. When the fast break fails, they can also make room for Stoudemire to single-handedly or other players to cut.

The Suns lineup is relatively small in the forward position. Stoudemire as the center is only [-] meters, and the power forward "Hacker" Marion is only [-] meters, which happens to be the height of most teams' power forwards and small forwards.

For ordinary teams, using such a striker lineup is to expose its shortcomings, but it has become a strength in the Suns' offensive system.

Two big men who would have slowed down were replaced by players with excellent athletic ability, running and jumping, and D'Antoni used it as a sharp knife in the offense.Often in the fast break, they run faster than the guards.

There are many classic shots of the Suns, that is, Nash passed the ball at halftime, and Stoudemire got up at the basket and made an alley-oop dunk.Such a round of attack only takes seven seconds.

In this league where "offense wins fans, defense wins championships", the Suns have bucked the trend in their style of play and achieved an impressive record of No. [-] in the league.

The main question now facing the upstart is how far they can go in the playoffs.

This season, pick a team as a standard to test whether a team is competitive, and the Spurs will do their part.

In this game, Popovich did not use his well-prepared big move at the beginning, but formed a regular lineup: Nesterovic + Duncan + Bowen + Ginobili + Parker.

At the start of the game, the Spurs took the lead and Duncan scored the first goal.Immediately afterwards, Ginobili completed a steal + an assist, and Nesterovic scored two more points.

But the Suns quickly caught up, and Stoudemire scored three goals in a row to tie the score.

The play of these three balls is very simple, that is, fast.

On the first pass, Quentin Richardson took a defensive rebound and passed it directly to Nash, and then he and Stoudemire sprinted upfield and crossed at the top of the three-point arc.

Nash quickly advanced from the center and passed to Richardson on the left.On the Spurs side, only Ginobili and Parker retreated in time, Parker followed Nash, and Ginobili guarded the basket to intercept Richardson.

Richardson gave the ball to Stoudemire on the right and made a dunk.

The second goal was after the Spurs scored, and the Suns quickly sent the bottom line.When the Spurs' defensive formation was not yet formed, Stoudemire had already reached the basket.Nash hung to Stoudemire at the half court to complete the aerial work.

The third ball was Joe Johnson who cut off Parker's pass, quickly attacked the frontcourt and played a pick-and-roll with Stoudemire, and Stoudemire cut into the basket and hit the board.

Popovich folded his arms off the court, pacing non-stop, looking serious.According to the Spurs' lineup on the field, such an offense is indeed difficult to defend.Nesterovic's speed is slow, and he still has height to use on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, his footsteps can't keep up at all.

The Suns are a team that focuses on offense and light on defense. Obviously, they can't prevent the Spurs from scoring. Their philosophy is that no matter how many points you score, if I am taller than you, I will win.So let Nesterovic use the height to score 4 points, and then use Nesterovic's slowness to attack flexibly.

If the opponent sticks to the three-second zone, make a three-pointer or mid-range shot from the outside; if the opponent comes out, you can pick and roll and cut.

The Spurs' winning method is the opposite. They rely on limiting their opponents to score lower than themselves to win.So even though their offense was good today, scoring 20 points in the half quarter, they also defended against the Suns' offense today, allowing the Suns to score 20 points in the half quarter.

Especially the point of Nesterovic, it was a bit uncomfortable to be slipped.The Suns aren't limited to Stoudemire against him, sometimes with Marion on defense.Even in the offense, it will be rotated to Joe Johnson.

So Popovich also replaced Nesterovic with Malik Rose during the regular Ginobili off-court break.

But Malik Rose had the same effect when he came up. He was not tall enough when he faced Stoudemire, and he was not fast enough, and he couldn't run when facing Marion, and his flexibility was poor.

The defensive effect Popovich wanted has never been achieved.Still rely on Duncan to check for gaps in the interior.

Although Malik Rose scored 4 points, it is not without contribution, but this is really not what the team needs.

Although the Spurs are a defensive team, they never lack offensive firepower.

Not to mention that Duncan, a superstar in his prime, can play singles without distinction.

Parker's breakthrough and throwing shots have become more and more mature this year, and he can make stable contributions in every game.

Ginobili's offense is very weird, hard to guard against, and he can always stand up when the team needs help.

In addition, there are three-pointers such as Bowen, Li Chongxiao and Barry, who provide continuous firepower; Horry and Devon Brown are powerful players, ready to support at any time.

Although the players on the court failed to defend well, Popovich was not in a hurry to make changes.The team is only three points behind, and the situation on the field is fairly balanced. His main purpose today is to test the lineup.

Then he changed an odd formation. With 3 minutes left in the game, Duncan, Ginobili and Parker all went off to rest.Bowen also replaced Li Chongxiao, and then Nesterovic, and Malik Rose, Barry and Udri.

Putting on such a weak offensive lineup, Popovich is trying to test the Suns' defensive ability, what level is it.

On the opposite side, Marion and Joe Johnson remained, leading a group of substitutes.

As a result, the Spurs played well. Although they did not have an offensive strength, they followed the Spurs' offensive routine and the ball moved smoothly.

Nesterovic and Malik Rose each scored a goal at the basket, and Barry and Li Chongxiao also hit a three-pointer each. Before the end of the game, they scored another 10 points, the same as the other side.

At the end of the first quarter, the Suns led by three points at 35:32 away.

(End of this chapter)