unfinished glory

Chapter 146 In Progress

In the first game of the finals, the Spurs stunned the Cavaliers.

Losing is not unacceptable for the Cavaliers, but the problem is that the loss was too miserable, and it was directly nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

This is still the result of the opponent's mercy. If the main players of the Spurs only play for a few minutes in the fourth quarter, the point difference will definitely exceed 50 points.

As the core player of the Spurs, Duncan only played 28 minutes and scored 22 points and 12 rebounds.On the Cavaliers side, James played almost the first three quarters and only scored 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and his shooting percentage was terrible.

However, the Cavaliers are still fighting high. In the regular season, they played against the Spurs with one win and one loss, which shows that they still have the strength to fight.

But soon this self-consoling dream was ruthlessly shattered by the Spurs, and the Cavaliers lost another 32 points in the second game.

In this game, the tactics used by the Spurs were basically the same as in the previous game, and the Cavaliers just couldn't take it.

It's as if a poor student finally waited for an open-book exam, only to find out that the exam was mathematics.

The Spurs won by 40 points in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, James disregarded his face and took advantage of the truce of the opponent's main players to recover the score by himself.Otherwise, if they lose more than 40 points in both games, the Cavaliers players will have no face to return home.

After the second game, there is no suspense for this year's championship.No one will believe that the weak Cavaliers can comeback in front of such a Spurs.

Even judging from the current situation, the Cavaliers' hopes of winning a game are very slim.

Everyone's focus is not on who will win the championship today, or how many games will end the battle, but on the MVP of the finals.

The FMVP will undoubtedly be produced from the Spurs players, and judging from the current situation, it is either Duncan or Li Chongxiao.

马刺队的其他球员均分都没有超过20分，最高的帕克也只有18.5分。而邓肯两场比赛分别得到22分和24分，篮板都是12个。

And Li Chongxiao scored 30 points in the first game and 28 points in the second game, both of which were the highest in the game.Not only that, he also got a total of 17 rebounds and 16 assists.

According to the practice of the finals, the player with the highest score wins the FMVP, and Li Chongxiao temporarily takes the lead, but Duncan is not much different.

This situation is very delicate, and Li Chongxiao's fans naturally hope that he can get this honor.Fans of the Spurs and Duncan hope that this honor goes to Duncan, including Li Chongxiao.

Because if Duncan wins the FMVP of this season, he will be the second player after Olajuwon to win the first defense, first team, best defensive player, regular season MVP and FMVP, the five highest honors of the year.

This can not only greatly strengthen Duncan's honor, but also definitely reach the historical ranking of President Hill.

……

Popovich will naturally also consider his lover. Since the Cavaliers are vulnerable, the Spurs changed their tactics in the third game, and the team's offense was initiated from the inside.

During training, Duncan euphemistically stated that this style of play was inappropriate, but Popovich dismissed Duncan's proposal on the pretext that the team's tactics in the first two games had been figured out and that they needed to be caught off guard in an away game. .

Li Chongxiao also dissuaded Duncan in time, telling him not to be self-willed and to obey the coach's arrangements during the game.

This made Duncan couldn't help but roll his eyes. In the whole team, only Li Chongxiao was the most evasive. He caught a lot of moments when he didn't follow the tactics, and he was scolded by the coach more than the whole team combined. He still has face. Talk about someone else?

In any case, the tactics formulated by Popovich cannot be violated, so Duncan got a lot of shots in the first quarter of the third finals held at the Cavaliers' home court.

With his teammates constantly feeding the ball, he made 14 of 8 shots in a single quarter, added two free throws, and scored 18 points.

But the Spurs didn't lead much. This slow pace of inside offense gave the Cavaliers a chance to breathe.

They also continue to use running positions and mid-range shots to hang behind the Spurs.

Li Chongxiao restrained his desire to shoot and only scored 6 points.He put his energy on defense, allowing James to only score 6 points.

In the second quarter, the teammates were still helping Duncan with the ball, but his shooting percentage dropped.Mike Brown is not a fool, how could he fail to see the intention of the Spurs, he decisively adopted a double-team tactic in the second half of the first quarter.

Duncan was a bit resistant to the way of scoring points. He was double-teamed by the [-]-meter-tall Z, and his shooting percentage naturally dropped.

In less than half a quarter of the game, he only made 8 of 3 shots and only scored 6 points.

Li Chongxiao also played awkwardly. He suppressed most of his desire to attack, which caused him to hesitate to take the ball.Sometimes when the offense is strong or when there is an opportunity, I don’t know whether to pass or shoot, which always delays the opportunity.

Today he has already made his fourth turnover, which will be intercepted by James again. The Cavaliers launched a counterattack, succeeded in the fast break, and overtook the score.

43:41, the Cavaliers played three games, this is the first time they lead the opponent in score.

Popovich quickly called a timeout, and he severely criticized Li Chongxiao, telling him to focus more and not to be absent-minded.If it weren't for Li Chongxiao's successful defense against James, he would have been replaced long ago.

For the time being, Popovich's solution is to let Li Chongxiao focus on defense and distribute possession to Ginobili and Parker.

After returning to the field, Li Chongxiao missed the ball in two rounds, but the Spurs were not out of the woods.The Cavaliers double-teamed Duncan desperately, causing him to miss both shots.

Seeing that this style of play was no longer possible, Duncan chose to make a change and began to encourage his teammates to stand up and attack.After receiving the ball inside, once he attracts double-teams, he passes to the open space and loudly reminds his teammates to shoot.

It can only be said that Duncan has been too successful as the boss, and his teammates all support him from the bottom of their hearts.Seeing Li Chongxiao taking the lead, although the others were not unconvinced, they still felt that Duncan was more worthy of this honor.

I was embarrassed to favor one another before, but now Popovich's request is in their hands, so they keep pushing the ball towards Duncan.

After a few rounds, Duncan looked at the ball he passed, turned a few hands and came back, a little speechless.He intends to spread the word again, but time is running out, so he can only make a hasty move and strike again.

Seeing the Cavaliers taking advantage of the Spurs' "humility" to slowly expand the point difference, Duncan really felt that this could not be the case, so he passed the ball to Li Chongxiao in the next round, and ran to the other side, signaling Li Chongxiao to play singles.

Li Chongxiao did break through James, but he didn't have the desire to play singles. After reaching the inside to attract help defense, he threw the ball to Duncan.

Duncan got the ball in the open space, but he missed the shot. After seducing Big Z to save it, he hit the ground and then hit the ball to Li Chongxiao.

Li Chongxiao couldn't laugh or cry on the inside, being defended by James, and the big Z turned back, he couldn't make a shot at all, so he returned the ball to Duncan and ran to the other side.

Duncan was determined not to shoot and passed the ball to Bowen in the bottom corner, but the pass route was not good and was cut off, allowing the Cavaliers to play a fast break again.

These rounds were the epitome of the second half of the second quarter. One didn't want to attack, and the others fed the ball desperately, causing the Spurs' entire tactics to fall apart.

At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers led the Spurs by 62 points 52:11, and saw the dawn of victory for a while.

(End of this chapter)