The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 236 First Defeat
In the sixth game between the Spurs and the Thunder, there was finally no garbage time, and it was extremely fierce and went to overtime.

With Parker injured and retired, Duncan scored 7 points in overtime to teach young people how to behave.

At 112:107, the old Spurs defeated the aging brought by the passage of time, defeated the regular season MVP, and reached the NBA Finals.

"Everyone said we can't win again, and we have proved that we can win last year," Duncan said, "We are very happy to meet the Heat again in the Finals."

"We don't know how much pain Tony's ankle has," said Dior, a fellow countryman, who successfully filled the gap when the "French Sports Car" was not on the court and scored 26 points. Whether we can come back for Game 100 or whether we can be [-]% healthy, so tonight we thought it would be over."

"I have to admit, it was a sweet victory," Popovich said.

At the top of the league, the Heat will face off against the Spurs again, but Zhang Xiaotian is already on another team.

Because of this relationship, he's also getting a lot of attention these days.

But for the Spurs, Zhang Xiaotian is still merciful, "They are a very good team, I know it very well, but I have confidence in the Heat, we will be the championship."

In order to take advantage of the inside line, the Spurs do not intend to fight the Heat for one big and four small.

The choice of the lineup is to see who can do better. At the beginning, they always refuse to give in to each other.

The Spurs use double insiders, and the Heat really can't prevent them. The 38-year-old Duncan can already play any of the Heat's fourth or fifth positions.

But if they do this, the offensive end will not be able to prevent the Heat. Whether it is against James or Zhang Xiaotian, Splitter can't keep up.

Both sides stalemate on the offensive end until the substitute came off the bench.

Ginobili and Belinelli's outside cooperation suppressed Ray Allen and Norris Cole, and the Spurs Diaw and Mills also had good offensive power.

With the main force playing almost the same, the Heat's rotation lost, and the Spurs took the opportunity to take advantage of the score.

This situation has been predicted by the Heat before. Because of the style of play and age, the Heat's bench lineup will definitely suffer when they encounter the Spurs.

What they have to do is to prevent the score from being stretched, and then increase the intensity in the second half to establish an advantage.

Parker was not affected by the injury, but the Spurs' GDP is older after all, and the Heat's plan is to wear down the opponent under high-intensity confrontation.

The most important thing is Duncan. As long as Duncan has physical problems, they can control the situation.

Although they played a wave of double insiders, in fact, the Spurs are basically a big and a four small from the beginning of the rotation. Of course, their fourth position is mostly a player like Dior who can be both inside and outside.

This season, Diaw has added a lot of roles to the Spurs.

In this game, he and Leonard took turns against James.

The Spurs led by 5 points in the first half, which is neither good nor bad for the Heat, and it was expected.

Just like when playing against the Pacers, first consume the opponent's inside line and then come to the decisive battle.

But the Spurs' offense is better, and they need to be more cautious.

But the Spurs also have weaknesses. Because of Duncan's age, their inside line is definitely not as strong as the threat of the Pacers.

In the third quarter of the game, taking advantage of Duncan's lack of fitness after the halftime break, the Heat quickly played a wave to overtake the score.

Everything was going according to their plan, but they didn't expect that it was the last section that went wrong.

In the final quarter, Zhang Xiaotian started to show his power as soon as he came on the court. Although the Spurs defended him very tightly, the Heat's lead was also expanding during the rotation period, reaching nearly 10 points.

According to previous experience, it is impossible for the team to lose in this situation.

Unexpectedly, at this time, the Spurs first scored points from the inside, and after the Heat shrank, they hit consecutive three-pointers from the outside.

The Spurs are not the Pacers after all, and their outside shooting percentage is much higher.

But this night was too high. They hit six three-pointers in a row with a 100% shooting rate.

And the rebounds were also crushed. Duncan saw that his physical strength had declined in the third quarter, but in the last quarter, the old man miraculously recovered.

In other words, Duncan's distribution of physical strength is very suitable, and the Heat's physical strength also declined in the fourth quarter.

Although Zhang Xiaotian fought hard to the end and hit two fairy balls, he didn't help the team win the game.

104:110, the Heat lost their first game.

Duncan dominated the inside, and then the Spurs shot the Heat to death with a rain of three-pointers.

In fact, they are still leading during the rotation period. If the Heat fight to attack, there is still hope. Unfortunately, their outside three-point shooting percentage is much lower.

Both James and Wade missed the outside line. If they face other teams or the normal Spurs, there will be no problem. It's just that the Spurs' three-pointer broke out at this time.

Zhang Xiaotian scored 16 points and 5 rebounds, which is not bad, but it still looks thin when the team loses.

"I'm so proud of the Spurs," Parker said after the game. "We've always trusted each other, encouraged each other, and we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game."

"We should have played better." Wade reflected in an interview.

The team lost, and Zhang Xiaotian naturally became the object of ridicule by many people.

In the face of reporters' inquiries, he still said that the Heat also won the final victory.

But at this time, he was considered a dead duck with a stubborn mouth.

The traitor should fail, and a large number of extreme teams came to his social media to leave messages and scold him.

Zhang Xiaotian was a little depressed, but he still laughed it off in the end. Things on the court will eventually be resolved on the court.

As long as you win, there will be more people who love you.

Zhang Xiaotian no longer hesitates, he will designate the next three games as key games.

He also reserved victory points. Although it is not cost-effective to buy cards with victory points, if it is for the championship, he will not be reluctant.

There were two days of rest before the next game, and James and Wade also practiced shooting.

At the last moment, the Spurs deliberately let two people shoot from the outside, which is also very annoying.

The two of them are more threatening to break through, but they can also shoot from the outside, but they are not particularly stable. The Spurs have studied them thoroughly, and they are very good at when to release shots and when to flank.

The same is true for Zhang Xiaotian, and Popovich also made targeted arrangements, so he must do better to help the team beat the Spurs.

In the finals, the Heat finally suffered their first defeat, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

The Spurs are truly a formidable foe and they need a different attitude.

Only when they get better and really show the strengths of the team in the game can they win.

That way, not even Popovich can do more.

(End of this chapter)