I'm really good at shooting.

Chapter 453 Popovich being teased (5K update sent! Ask for a monthly ticket!)

In the Lakers' first offense, Sun Hao and Walker played together at the top of the arc.

The Spurs chose to double-team Sun Hao. Sun Hao gave the ball to Walker.

"Shh!"

Knife up and down.

The Lakers showed the effect of season running-in, and played beautiful teamwork in the first round.

The scene shot was given to Popovich.

There was no reaction on Popovich's face, his eyes were always on O'Neal.

The Spurs played free-throw line tactics in the frontcourt. Parker received a hand-off pass from Duncan at the free-throw line and made a mid-range shot.

Ginobili shined last season, theoretically this season should be the explosive year of Ginobili's data.

But the Spurs have always been unconventional in this regard. This season, the team has the most shots but Parker, who averaged a career-high 18.9 points per game.

Looking back, Payton held the ball at the top of the arc, Sun Hao ran without the ball, caught the ball in the middle distance and then made a false shot to attract double-team points from Walker. Walker caught the ball and broke through for a layup, causing a defensive foul by Nesterovic.

Walker adjusted his breath and made two free throws from the free throw line.

The two offensive methods of the Lakers in the opening game were unexpected, and the team basketball played by the quicksilver was pleasing to the eye.

The ball was exchanged, and Duncan made a mid-range shot.

Popovich is familiar with the Lakers, and he grabbed the free throw line, the most deadly point of the Lakers, at the beginning.

But in the next round, Sun Hao came out with Walker's cover and made a quick three-pointer.

"Shh!"

Same hollow drop bag!

8 is better than 4!

The two teams scored in every round of offense at the beginning of the game!

Such a scene also reminded the fans of the confrontation between the two teams last year.

But at this moment, Popovich stood up, walked to the sidelines and stretched out his hand to signal the team's defensive adjustment.

The Spurs' defense suddenly expanded, and Walker missed a three-pointer from the outside.

Duncan grabbed the defensive rebound, the Spurs played a defensive counterattack, Parker started the sports car and passed Payton to score.

8 is better than 6!

Popovich crossed his arms and looked beaming.

He has been observing the Lakers' offense since the beginning of the game.

For three consecutive rounds, O'Neal did not participate in the Lakers' offense.

In his opinion, there is only one reason for this abnormal phenomenon, and that is that O'Neill is really injured.

He is not ESPN. He is completely aware of the Lakers running-in lineup. If the lineups of both sides are neat, the Spurs must be the weak side.

But now that O'Neill is fighting with injuries, it is simply a godsend opportunity!

Payton took the ball to the frontcourt, and the Spurs still expanded their defense.

Payton gave the ball to Sun Hao, and Sun Hao took the ball and directly lobbed it inside.

O'Neill received the ball and turned around Nesterovic to score easily.

The Spurs' defense expanded and couldn't get it back, so they could only watch O'Neal score.

Popovich froze for a moment.

But he didn't think much of it.

O'Neill is injured or injured, this kind of one-on-one grasp is still there, and Nesterovic has already fouled once, and the defensive end does not dare to play hard.

He called Muhammad straight from the bench.

Mohamed is the Spurs who came to the trade deadline last year, a short insider of 2 meters 06.

In addition to height, his defense, movement speed, positioning, and offensive rebounds are all better than Nesterovic.

So this season, although Nesterovic is still the team's starter, Muhammad's playing time is actually more.

Although he and Nesterovic proved that they couldn't guard O'Neal in the playoffs last season, but now O'Neal is injured!

Even if it is a big shark, its power will decrease if it is injured!

Popovich felt that this hand adjustment would bring unexpected gains to the team.

And taking advantage of the substitution, he called Duncan to his side and gave a few words of advice.

The Spurs' offense, Duncan responded from the free throw line, suddenly turned around and went to the basket to kill.

Popovich's exhortation just now is to let Duncan go inside to kill O'Neal.

O'Neill is injured now, so he won't be able to keep up with his reaction.

As long as he is beaten down, the Lakers without O'Neal will greatly increase the Spurs' hopes of winning.

Duncan broke through very resolutely, and his footsteps were useless, obviously he was rushing to cause damage.

The general insiders basically dodged when they saw this posture.

Don't look at Duncan's playing on the floor most of the time after he was injured, but you didn't discuss the dunk when it was really hard.

However, O'Neill is obviously not an ordinary insider.

After seeing Duncan's menacing approach, he directly chose head-to-head.

If Tim doesn't hit O'Neal, I'm still the first insider. After Duncan and O'Neal head-on...he was pushed back directly.

After getting fat, O'Neill is a mountain of meat.

And the next scene was a bit funny: Duncan didn't throw the ball after being knocked back, he just took the ball and took a few steps back, but the referee whistled and blew him away.

Duncan looked around to make sure he was blowing himself, threw the ball, turned around and retreated half court as if nothing happened.

The scene was full of laughter.

Sun Hao was also amused, and this reaction was a bit cute.

As it turns out, Duncan was called "Dumb" for a reason.

The Lakers attacked the frontcourt again, facing the Spurs' outward expansion defense, Payton hung the ball inside O'Neal again.

O'Neill leaned his back against Muhammad, who was half a head shorter than himself, and then turned around directly to exert force.

"Oh!"

Amidst the excited shouts of the fans at the scene, O'Neal smashed the ball directly into the basket across Muhammad.

"What. the... Fxck!"

Barkley in the commentary seat directly hugged his head.

It's not how inhumane O'Neal's dunk is. If it's shocking, O'Neal's smashing backboard before is a shock, but because O'Neal's dunk is so sudden!

If the image is not enough, refer to the principle of boiling frogs in warm water.

Popovich was also stunned.

From before the game to now, everything suggests that O'Neal is indeed injured.

So even if Duncan didn't score the goal just now, he thought it was just a coincidence.

But this dunk completely woke him up.

God is so hurt!O'Neill is playing him!

This is also verified in the next round!

Parker received a support pass from Duncan and rushed to the basket, but was directly blocked by O'Neal!

Duncan got the offensive rebound quickly with his eyesight and quick hands, and made a quick second attack. As a result, O'Neal reached out and blocked another shot!

This continuous blocking, this reaction speed, there will be ghosts if there is an injury!It's true that I didn't play much at the beginning and have plenty of energy!

And after the second block, the ball fell into Walker's hands. The Lakers turned around and played a defensive counterattack. Sun Hao received a long pass from Walker's backcourt and scored a fast break dunk.

Popovich, with a black face, reached out and called a timeout.

"We succeeded~"

At the end of the game, O'Neal pulled Sun Hao and laughed.

Most of the time last season when they played against each other, Popovich made moves, and they saw each move.

But this time they played with Popovich.

Watching Popovich's expression change on the sidelines is even better than winning.

Back from the timeout, Duncan made an iconic shot from a 45° angle to stabilize the situation.

Looking back, Sun Hao and O'Neal played a pick-and-roll. After the split, he passed the ball to O'Neal, and O'Neal sent the ball to the basket against Ginobili and Duncan who was assisting in defense.

This goal was scored, as if to say: Stop pretending!I have a showdown!

Popovich's face became even uglier.

After coaching for so long, fighting old opponents such as Nelson and Phil Jackson, he couldn't imagine that he would be played by O'Neal one day...

It made him feel like his place in history had dropped to the Mariana Trench.

16 is better than 8!

The key is the score on the court. After he was played like this for a while, the Lakers still took the initiative completely.

This is very important when two teams of similar strength play against each other.

At 7 minutes into this quarter, the score on the court was 22 to 12, and the Lakers firmly controlled the situation on the court.

At this time, the Lakers began to make substitutions. Phil Jackson replaced Payton and O'Neal with Finley and Mourning.

Seeing this, Popovich's face softened a little.

Last season, Phil Jackson was still doing multiple-choice questions about whether he should give O'Neal more time in order to win or lose the game, or should he reduce some of his playing time in order to protect O'Neal.

After O'Neal gained weight this season, Jackson has no choice.

O'Neill's current physical fitness can only last about 30 minutes a game at most, and it will be gone any more.

In conversion, a quarter is about seven or eight minutes.

So for the Spurs, this is a good opportunity for them to chase points.

In the first round after the substitution came back, Ginobili's iconic snake-shaped breakthrough layup.

When the Lakers advanced to the frontcourt, the Spurs began to expand their defense again.

Sun Hao's double-team shot was missed by Duncan's long arm, and Mohamed's excellent positioning protected the defensive rebound.

"Run! Run!"

Popovich walked quickly to the sidelines, waving his hands and shouting.

The Spurs played a defensive counterattack, and Ginobili received a pass from Parker and then went on.

But at the moment of the shot, he felt a dark cloud covering his head.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough, dodged in the air and then shot to avoid the block.

Although he completed the shot before landing with his excellent waist and abdomen ability, a series of operations made him lose his good shooting angle.

The ball flew directly over the basket, and a standard "bridge" came.

At that moment, the man who almost blocked him grabbed the defensive rebound.

Morning!

When Ginobili's butt landed on the ground and looked up to see the person who was grabbing the board, there was an incredulous look in his eyes.

Mourning was still fighting for rebounds in the frontcourt, and he was already running back to the backcourt in a blink of an eye?

That is to say, Ginobili entered the league late, and Mourning averaged 3+ blocks per game before the kidney transplant. Those were not all obtained by positional battles.

After Mourning took the rebound, he turned around and gave it to Walker who was retreating. Antoine Fast Break Engine Walker turned around and hit the Spurs fast break.

Finley received a pass from Walker for a layup.

Sun Hao gave Mourning a thumbs up at this time.

Not to mention the 4-pointer in and out of the offensive and defensive round just now, but the successful chase and defense just now, which suppressed the momentum of the Spurs chasing points.

Compared with Divac and Anderson before, Mourning, who has regained his form, can be regarded as the backup center that a serious championship team should have.

In the Spurs' positional battle, Duncan responded from the free throw line, Parker cut to the basket, and Mourning, who was assisting in the defense, turned around and made a top layup.

At the beginning, he learned the three-pointer from Sun Hao and was rejected. Afterwards, he worked hard to make a breakthrough, and this top-handed layup became his strongest weapon.

"Snapped!"

But Parker, like Ginobili, underestimated Mourning's defensive capabilities.

And he was even worse than Ginobili, and his shot was directly blocked by Mourning!

In terms of defensive ability alone, Mourning does not lose to O'Neal!

With this one block, Popovich's brain was buzzing.

He is different from Parker Ginobili on the field. He has witnessed Mourning's peak.

In other words, he wasn't surprised by Mourning's ability, but he didn't expect Mourning to be able to recover to this level!

You must know that Mourning was the same as Hill in the first two comebacks, lying down again after a few games.

But this season, he came back with the Lakers. Not to mention playing 60 games in the regular season, the playoffs are also so lively.

Do the Lakers have a miracle doctor?

It's a pity that Popovich didn't travel through time like Sun Hao, otherwise he would know that he had misunderstood.

In history, Mourning's physical condition was not bad after his third comeback. He played 60+ games for the Heat for two consecutive seasons.

Now that he's on the Lakers, the Lakers are strong. It's not surprising that he plays less in the regular season and has plenty of energy in the playoffs.

But if this is the case, Popovich feels a little bit of malice in the world.

Because this means that it has become very difficult for the Spurs to chase points in the transition from the bench!

After the first quarter, the score on the court was 29 to 18, and the Lakers took the lead.

When Popovich was shot at the scene, he never changed his face, and he rarely showed a trace of annoyance.

Obviously, being tricked by O'Neill tonight, he couldn't be in a better mood.

The Lakers didn't let the good opportunity slip away, and played steadily in the last three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Sun Hao played a personal wave and directly took the game away ahead of schedule.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Spurs 109-95 at home and won their first victory in this year's playoffs.

For the Spurs, Duncan steadily scored 25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

湖人队这边，孙昊轻松砍下全场最高的33分，奥尼尔打了25分钟贡献19分12板的两双数据，芬利得到替补席最多的17分，佩顿12分4板5助攻，莫宁6分7板4盖帽。

It was a typical Lakers win this season.

The press conference after the game greeted the Lakers in an extremely relaxed atmosphere.

"Shaq, how's your toe feeling?"

Reporters are also concerned about O'Neill's toes.

Before the game, he said that his toes were sore, the media was concerned.

"Great, I feel like my toes are amazing, they've never been better."

O'Neill's words made Sun Hao amused.

This murderous heart, sprinkled another handful of salt on Popovich's wound!

"How do you evaluate Mourning's performance tonight?"

The reporter then asked O'Neal another question.

"He played better than me tonight!"

"Maybe many people have forgotten that Alonzo and I both entered the league in 92. I was the No. Not surprised at all.”

O'Neill is really a treasure.

"I think Phil must also like him very much, because with him, Phil can feel at ease and let me only play for 20 minutes a night."

What he said next made Jackson laugh too.

After the press conference, Sun Hao and O'Neal walked to the locker room together.

"Why don't I discuss it with Phil in the next game and I'll be a substitute?"

After O'Neill tasted the sweetness, he came up with another ghost idea.

Sun Hao waved his hand. Popovich is very smart. This kind of trick worked for him once, but only once.

It is impossible for him to repeat the old tricks to succeed.

"Let's go back to watch the live broadcast early, don't forget that we still have a small bet."

Sun Hao continued.

O'Neill also became interested after hearing it.

The two returned to the locker room without taking a shower, and went directly to the lounge to lie down and watch the live broadcast.

The team doctor came over to apply ice to O'Neill's toes at this time, which happened to kill two birds with one stone.

The game between the Lone Ranger and the Warriors has been played for more than one quarter. The score on the field is 43 to 38, and the Lone Ranger team leads.

"This score is high enough."

O'Neal glanced at the score and said.

Sun Hao smiled.

Compared with the high score, the point difference on the field is the point!

The Warriors are on par with the Mavericks!

At this time, I have to talk about the difference between this Warriors team and the Golden State gang in history.

The starters and core rotation for the Golden State Gangsters are: Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Biedrins, Matt Barnes, Monta Ellis and Pietrus.

But now, Jackson and Harrington are still playing in the Pacers, Ellis was also selected by the Pacers in last year's draft, and Pietrus is in the Suns.

The current starting and core rotation of this Warriors team is: Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, Dunleavy Jr., Jamison, Troy Murphy, Jarrett Jack, Matt Barnes, Biedrins and Wang Zhizhi.

The lineup is different, and the strength of the players is naturally different, but the old Nelson's tactics are the same.

The philosophy he implanted in this Warriors team is completely different from the one he gave to the Mavericks.

The Mavericks had a defensive foundation at the beginning, and the team also found defensive coaches like Johnson and Harris. Later, in order to win the championship and fight against O'Neal, they also traded Dampier, so they have both offense and defense.

But the Warriors have never defended, let alone win the championship, so the concept he implanted in this team can be summed up in one sentence: What is defense?Attack and forget about it!

So the score on the field is not surprising.

The two watched for a while, and after halftime, the Mavericks led 58 to 53.

"These guys can throw too much and run too much."

O'Neill couldn't help feeling the Warriors' style of play at this time.

Three points, plus counterattack fast break.

From Sun Hao's point of view, this is the so-called "magic ball" style of play of the Houston team under D'Antoni in the future.

The only difference is that this Warriors team is relatively less talented, and the era they live in is not so friendly to this style of play.

To some extent, D'Antoni can be regarded as "stolen teacher".

And what he said before, Nelson's knowledge of Johnson and the Mavericks is also playing a vital role.

The most obvious one is that Nelson Sr. has been using the perimeter to dislocate Nowitzki, first Mike Dunleavy, then Matt Barnes, and even Jason Richardson at times.

Johnson likes to use Nowitzki to hit the center and pull him to the top of the arc. This defensive strategy has eaten him to death.

In the second half, Kobe's touch dropped, Dirk Nowitzki's performance was still bad, and the situation began to fall to the Warriors.

In the end, under O'Neal's widened eyes, the Warriors finally defeated the Mavericks 103-93 and won the first game in an upset!

Kobe scored 31 points to no avail, Nowitzki only scored 16 points on 4 of 14 shots!

勇士队那边拜伦·戴维斯暴走砍下33分14板8助攻！贾米森22分，理查德森21分！全队三分球30投12中！

"These guys just played the whole game."

O'Neal is still feeling the Warriors.

"After all, this is the first time they've made the playoffs in 13 years."

Sun Hao said with a smile.

Although it sounds unbelievable, it seems that even with Kobe, this Mavericks team may still be hacked?

(End of this chapter)