unfinished glory

Chapter 119

After the sixth game, there was an extra day of rest in the middle, which helped the recovery of the players on both sides and played a wonderful game.

On the evening of May 5, at the American Airlines Center Arena, home of the Dallas Mavericks, the two sides rekindled the war.

Since the other games in the East and West have already been played, this tiebreaker has become the focus of attention of basketball fans.

Players from both sides expressed their determination to win before the game, but only one team could have the last laugh in this game.

In the visiting team locker room before the game, Popovich was doing the final mobilization.A mistake at the last minute of the last game caused the Spurs to lose a great situation, and the head coach of the Spurs was a little worried about gains and losses.

He has experienced big winds and waves, and he is actually more nervous than the players in this meeting.

In his speech, he reviewed the previous glory of the Spurs, the history of winning three championships, and also talked about the regret of the team, which has never successfully defended the title.

Speaking of his coaching years, the Spurs played against the Mavericks three times in the playoffs and never lost.

As he said that, he began to describe the bad future to the players: the Suns are his own defeats, and Stoudemire is absent this season, so it is easier to deal with.The teams in the East have never been a problem for the Spurs. As long as they reach the finals, the championship is in sight.

These words are indeed very motivating, but Li Chongxiao feels that it is too early to say this. He is also very eager to defend the title, but he feels a little uneasy about Popovich's blind optimism.

At the beginning of the game, the Mavericks returned to the home court and set off a wave of offensive climax, and they caught the Spurs by surprise when they came up.

Popovich miscalculated the situation, thinking that the Mavericks returning home would be relatively conservative and play according to the winning tactics of the previous game.

So he lined up a strange formation, put both Li Chongxiao and Ginobili on the bench, and prepared to fight hard during the bench time, maintaining the offensive firepower for the entire game.

Among the Spurs players on the field, only Duncan and Parker have enough autonomous attack ability.

Bowen's role is almost entirely in defense. Horry and Barry, who ushered in the starting lineup for the first time in the playoffs, were a little at a loss.

The Mavericks double-teamed Duncan early in the game, forcing him to keep giving the ball to perimeter players.

Since entering the playoffs, Horry has been in a very unstable state, shooting less than 40% from the field, which is why the Mavericks dared to double-team Duncan.

Although Barry's shooting rate is good, this is because he rarely becomes the main target of opponents on the offensive end.

Now placed in the main lineup, the defensive pressure he faces has suddenly increased a lot, and he has become inaccurate.

In less than 4 minutes, the Mavericks led by 8 points. Popovich's lineup was declared a failure. He had to replace Li Chongxiao and Ginobili and start over.

Li Chongxiao has long been suffocated off the court. In the tiebreaker, sitting on the bench and watching the team fall behind, this made him very uncomfortable.If given the choice, he would rather not rest for a second.

Mavericks coach Avery Johnson has long been prepared for the Spurs' evolution, and at the same time replaced Stackhouse, replaced Dampier, and strengthened the perimeter defense.

This made Li Chongxiao not get a good chance to attack after he came on the field.

However, his playing liberated Duncan, who succeeded in consecutive singles against Nowitzki, and took a breath of anger.

However, the Spurs can only be regarded as stabilizing the situation, did not let the point difference continue to expand, and could not find a way to narrow the point difference for a while.

Li Chongxiao tried his best to help the team score points, but his X factor has been thoroughly studied by the Mavericks. Josh Howard would rather not score himself, but drag him down with him.

In the first quarter, he barely took 5 shots and only scored 4 points, two of which were free throws.This kind of performance not only did not help the team, but instead allowed the Mavericks to expand their lead to 11 points at the end of the first quarter.

Li Chongxiao's defense didn't seem to help the team either. The main reason was that Josh Howard didn't take a single shot in the entire quarter. After getting the ball, he passed it out, but got three assists.

The same player as Josh Howard was Devon Harris. The fastest player in the league also gave up his offense and dragged Parker tightly.

This situation has not changed in the second quarter, and the Spurs still seem to play more and less on the court.

Although Bowen scored 4 points on 2 of 5 shots, but on the offensive end, his sense of presence is too low.But it's impossible for Popovich to put him down, otherwise the Mavericks' offense really can't be cured.

Nowitzki's golden rooster independence, Stackhouse's post-up singles, and Terry's mid-range and long-range shots, this is the reason why the Mavericks dared to abolish the offense of the two to defend full-time.

But the Spurs have no choice but to take this set. In this season's playoffs, the Spurs will more or less continue to use the tactics of last season, but who knows that the other insiders of the team are all dead.

When playing the Grizzlies, except for Duncan, everyone else was played to death by Gasol.Replaced by Nowitzki, who is a grade higher, these players will not be able to make an appearance.

The playoffs are the main players.

A powerful physical maniac like Li Chongxiao is even more targeted. He averaged 43.7 minutes per game in this round of the series, 2 minutes more than the team's No.6 Duncan, and even more than Ginobili. 12 minutes.

His performance today is relatively average, but Popovich has no better alternatives, at least he can pose a threat on the court.

In the second quarter, Li Chongxiao scored 5 points with low efficiency, but he still maintained his offensive momentum. Parker has almost disappeared from the beginning to the present.

Ginobili's performance was quite normal, scoring 9 points, but compared with the 16 points of his opponent Terry, this score was inferior.

The team was mainly supported by Duncan. In the first half, he completed a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. As a result, his teammates were a bunch of fakes. The Spurs still trailed the Mavericks 45:60.

At half-time, the atmosphere in the visiting team's locker room was very solemn, and the Spurs had one foot off the cliff.

Popovich stopped talking about winning, but seriously analyzed the problem and arranged tactics.

This is a typical Spurs style. Compared with various chicken soups, this pragmatic approach actually eased the emotions of the Spurs players.

Li Chongxiao also reflected on the practice of the first half during the coach's continuous explanation.Undoubtedly, the reluctance to shoot and impatience affected his performance.

He forced himself to calm down, not to care about the score on the court, but to seriously consider how to cooperate with his teammates and how to play more efficiently.

(End of this chapter)