NBA Legends Manager

Chapter 393 The end of the drama, the finals begin!
After the timeout ended, Popovich began to change his tactics. Parker received the ball from the outside and Duncan had a high pick-and-roll, while Presti designed a defensive tactic that bypassed the screen and chased the ball holder every pick-and-roll.
After Parker broke through, Curry decisively chased around the screen, while Green and Davis guarded the basket, Parker's breakthrough route was blocked, and Curry chased after him, pull up and try at the middle distance!Miss!

Davis took the rebound and gave it to Curry. After Curry led the frontcourt, Davis also came out to cover. The Spurs' strategy on the defensive end was to bypass the screen and chase the ball holder every pick-and-roll. Duncan and Splitter guarded the basket.Hollow into the net!

Presti focused on defending the core of the Spurs, pinching Leonard and Parker from the blind spot along the bottom line, forcing the opponent to make mistakes, and also pinching Leonard on both waists, focusing on cutting Kawhi's receiving line!

The Pelicans mainly focused on conversion offense. Paul George, Curry, Thompson, and Green counterattacked quickly. After reaching the frontcourt, Curry, Thompson, and Paul George stood outside the three-point line.

The Spurs are still the main player Parker, Leonard + Duncan launched a high pick-and-roll, Parker used a single block to create a sudden point, and linked Danny Green and Leonard to finish with an open three-pointer. The opening 8 points of the Spurs were all created by Parker with the help of a pick-and-roll. Parker himself scored 3 points and 2 assists.

首个暂停之际，鹈鹕12-10领先马刺2分。鹈鹕11中4，马刺8中4。鹈鹕失误2次，马刺失误3次。

After the timeout, Presti took Green as the high-level support axis, linked Curry, Thompson, and Paul George to grab three points from the outside;

During the rotation period, Popovich used Baynes + four shooters: Manu Ginobili + Danny Green + Mills + Diaw. The Spurs' main guards used single blocks, double screens on the line and multiple reciprocating points to create open three-point opportunities. The Spurs once overtook the Pelicans 23-21!

Presti quickly adjusted his tactics, focusing on Jimmy Butler and David West to initiate a high pick-and-roll, and Jimmy Butler broke through and connected the team.

首节战罢，鹈鹕26-23领先马刺3分。鹈鹕首节的命中率很低，只有32.1%，三分球则是14中6；

The Spurs shot 40.0%, 9 of 2 three-pointers!

And Presti's defensive tactics played a big role. The Spurs made 7 turnovers, of which 5 were intercepted by the Pelicans!
At the beginning of the second quarter, Popovich put on a lineup of Duncan + Diaw + Leonard + Ginobili + Mills,

And Presti put on Gobert + David West + Jimmy Butler + Ray Allen + Livingston.

Presti made this lineup mainly use Jimmy Butt + David West pick-and-roll as the offensive launch method, David West's high-post support, linkage weak side Ray Allen off the ball and cuts to the basket; supplemented by Jimmy Butler using single blocks to break through and kill, transfer the ball from the outside to find Livingston's open three-pointer, and this lineup once opened up the Pelicans 33-26 by 7 points, and the Spurs suspended!
Barkley said with a smile: "The Pelicans' bench has finally shown its power. In these few games, I doubt whether the Pelicans' bench is playing dead. The Pelicans' bench scored the first in the league during the regular season!"

Kenny Smith said: "Although this wave of Pelicans' substitutes played well, I'm sure that after the timeout, the Spurs will definitely come back!"

O'Neal also nodded affirmatively and said: "I know Popovich too well. Looking at this series, everyone thought that the Pelicans' substitute would crush the Spurs, but in the end they played evenly, and the Spurs' substitute won two games!"

"Yes, although the Pelicans look strong, the experience of the Spurs' substitute players is indeed far more than that of the Pelicans!"

After returning from the timeout, Popovich brought Parker up and changed his tactics at the same time. The Spurs used Duncan as a low-post support axis. They not only cooperated with Leonard and Parker in the pick-and-roll hand-off to grab the mid-range or cut to the basket, but also caught the pincers.The Spurs blasted a 10-0 offensive climax with Duncan's personal restraint, and the Spurs overtook the Pelicans 37-34! .

This wave of Spurs' offense made the Pelicans' home court instantly quiet. Presti stood up and paused. He really didn't expect the Spurs to be so resilient. Such a group of old men were still full of firepower in the tiebreaker.

After returning from the timeout, Presti began to let the team focus on dislocation offense, using the Spurs to pinch the receiver in the penalty area, transferring the ball in a wide range and linking with Thompson and Green who were ambushing on the weak side to end with an open three-pointer.

But Popovich adjusted again. The Spurs' weak side rotation was weak to catch the three-point line. Popovich set up the shooter formation to attack instead of defend: Duncan + Diaw + Danny Green + Ginobili + Mills.Relying on this tactic, the Spurs overtook again!
半场结束，马刺56-55领先鹈鹕1分。马刺命中率45.5%，三分球20中7；鹈鹕的命中率则为33.3%，三分球22中12。鹈鹕前场篮板10-4马刺，但马刺禁区得分18-10鹈鹕。

邓肯在上半场的单挑基本防不住，7投5中罚球4中4砍下14分5篮板2盖帽，普雷斯蒂被迫让球队包夹，这直接让马刺的外线找到了机会！
After half a quarter of fighting, Presti already understood why the Spurs were able to defeat all competitors in the previous life, and in such a tie-break environment, the Spurs were able to execute tactics in such an orderly manner, and Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, three veterans who were old and strong, completely suppressed the young Pelicans in terms of experience!
And Presti obviously felt that the players were getting a little impatient. They have won the championship for two consecutive years, and now they can build a dynasty by winning another championship, leaving a strong mark in NBA history, but now they have been beaten to the tiebreaker. The pressure can be imagined. In this case, impatience is inevitable!

Therefore, in the locker room, Presti smiled and said to everyone: "Today, in the first half, everyone played pretty well. Except for not being able to put the ball into the basket, they did a good job in other aspects."

Immediately, the players laughed, and the players felt that the pressure was relieved for a while,

Seeing that most of the players were happy, Presti continued, "In the first half, those old guys from the Spurs made it like that. They made the basket as if it belonged to them. That's why we're leading by one point. If we just hit a few percentage points in the second half, wouldn't it be a sure win?"

The players glanced at each other, and the pressure suddenly became too much relaxed. Yes, how could the Spurs be our opponent? In the first half, they were just one point ahead of us. Then in the second half, our touch returned. How could they compete with us?

Soon after the second half began, Presti decided to start a single-star challenge. On the offensive end, Anthony Davis was the main attack. Duncan had no problem defending Davis in the low post in the interior, but after pulling out, his pace was a bit slow. His height of 2 meters and mobility were all misplaced against the Spurs generals;
On the defensive end, the defensive end aggressively expanded beyond the three-point line, putting pressure on the ball holder. Davis + Green + Paul George's forward muscle group delayed the Spurs' position in the battle.The Spurs were suspended immediately!
After returning from the timeout, Popovich used Duncan + Parker with Mills + Ginobili + Danny Green as three shooters. The Spurs focused on Parker + Ginobili's high pick-and-roll.

In the rotation stage, the second team of the two sides faced each other with a pick-and-roll attack: Ginobili + Baynes pick-and-roll VS Jimmy Butler + Gobert and David West pick-and-roll.The Spurs focused on cuts against David West's defensive lateral mobility!
And Presti used Jimmy Butler's comprehensive autonomous offensive ability to instigate a pick-and-roll and scored 9 points. At that time, the Pelicans stopped the Spurs 106-100!

At this time, all the fans in the New Orleans Arena stood up excitedly. They were going to witness their team's third finals, and there was thunderous applause for a while!

But the Spurs did not give up. During the decisive period, Popovich set up a lineup of Duncan + Diaw + Leonard + Danny Green + Ginobili, while Presti set up a lineup of Davis + Paul George + Jimmy Butler + Thompson + Curry.
At the last moment, both the Pelicans and the Spurs flanked each other's ball holders. Leonard then turned around and made a jumper to defuse the flanking attack to end the attack.

The score was still 6 points apart. At the last moment, when Curry used the pick-and-roll to break through, Leonard hit the ball with his long arm around the screen, made a V-shaped steal, and made a desperate three-pointer in the frontcourt, making a hit! !
Presti immediately paused. The goal had to be scored. After the timeout, Curry held the ball from the outside, and this side decisively double-teamed. What did Curry do?Pass behind! !Out of bounds!

Presti was also confused, and slapped his thigh hard. Curry actually made such a mistake at this time. During the 15-16 season in his previous life, Curry made such a mistake at a critical moment in the finals, causing the championship trophy to slip away. Is it going to slip away now?

Presti puts the last timeout to use!

Curry sat on the bench in regret and didn't say a word. Presti planned to reprimand him, but seeing Curry's expression, he didn't say anything. He will still remember it today!
Back from the timeout, Ginobili accelerated to lead the frontcourt. Paul George, the Pelicans' best perimeter defender, blocked Ginobili from the center line. ! !Actually steal it! !
Paul George took the ball and ran wildly!Get rid of the defender and dunk directly! !This steal also established the victory!

The commentator didn't speak for a long time, and finally Barkley sighed: "It's really the ending of the drama!"

"Haha, I really didn't expect that there was a deadly steal at the critical moment!" O'Neill couldn't believe it.

And Kenneth Smith said: "Luck is also part of strength!"

In the final tie-break between the Spurs and the Pelicans, the Pelicans defeated the Spurs 108:103 and advanced to the finals for three consecutive years!
After the game, the veterans of the Spurs couldn't hide their faces. They really tried their best. At this time, all the Pelicans home fans stood up and applauded wildly. Even if this applause was given to their city's heroes, the Pelicans, it was also given to these veterans of the Spurs. They are really admirable!

At the press conference, Presti also highly praised the Spurs: "They are worthy of admiration. In such a grade, they still have such competitiveness. I don't know how to describe it for a while. It's too shocking!"

Popovich said: "I am very lucky to be able to fight side by side with these guys. We never give up. We will come again next year!"

···········
The finals are about to begin soon, but ESPN has made a statistics and found that people’s expectations for the finals are far lower than those of the Western Conference finals. When asked why, they almost got a unified answer: "The Pelicans must end the battle 4:0. What else is there to see?"

In the past few years, as long as the team led by Presti has reached the finals, they have not lost. Especially against the Big Three, the Heat almost slammed from the regular season to the finals. People are no longer interested in the games when they are crushed.
Of course, fans of the Heat, especially the players, are of course dissatisfied with the answers of other fans. James said in an interview: "The combat effectiveness of NBA teams is immeasurable, and anything will happen!"

Wade said: "There are no underdogs in the NBA. Even the last-to-last team has a team that wins the first place, let alone two finals-level teams?"

When talking about these topics in an interview, Presti said with a smile: "The finals are still very interesting. We will go all out and try our best to play the game smoothly."

The fans laughed loudly after hearing this. Doesn't it make it clear that the Pelicans will be popular?Then check it out!
Presti's words instantly brought back the fans who didn't want to watch it!

On June 6th, the NBA5-2013 season finals began!The entire arena is still full of seats, Pelicans fans are looking forward to it, their team is about to establish a dynasty!Like the Bulls, like the Celtics, like the Lakers, become a real NBA giants!

Pelicans starting: Curry, Thompson, Paul George, Green, Davis
Heat starting: Chalmers, Wade, James, Lewis, Bosh.

Looking at the Heat's lineup on the field, Presti felt embarrassed. Does the Heat have a frame guard? If the Heat win a game, it would be a failure!

Davis jumped the ball to win, the Pelicans went first, and the game started.

(End of this chapter)