The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 87
With too many cards in his hand, Popovich finally decided to take turns to keep the offensive and defensive balance on the court at all times, such as Ginobili partner Leonard, Danny Green partner Zhang Xiaotian.

In fact, the Spurs have been doing a good job defending outside in the second half. Now the problem is how to limit O'Neal, who can't handle the tall inside.

The defense is insufficient and the offense comes together. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Zhang Xiaotian all performed on the offensive end.

Zhang Xiaotian wanted to stay on the court all the time, but under Popovich's mobilization, the Spurs kept their lead. Zhang Xiaotian could only obey the arrangement honestly.

In the last 3 minutes, the team still led by 7 points.

But then Leonard fouled and sent the opponent to the free throw line, and then Duncan made a mistake and made a counterattack. The score gap became 3 points within tens of seconds.

At this time, when Zhang Xiaotian was still off the court and could only play three backcourts, Popovich chose Ginobili and Leonard.

Zhang Xiaotian proved his worth at the last moment many times, but Popovich also has his own considerations.

If it was the last shot, he would definitely let Zhang Xiaotian play. At this time, he believed in comprehensive judgment even more.

Leonard lived up to the trust. He contributed a steal in the next defense, which was also his third steal of the game. During the counterattack, Parker scored a mid-range shot and Popovich put his hands in his trouser pockets.

The Suns were forced to suspend and chose to make a substitution. PJ Tucker, who had an average performance in this game, left the field, but Wesley Johnson, who played before, performed only averagely.

Except for Dragic and Gortat, they are all substitute players.

After re-playing, O'Neal scored again, and Parker then fought back, but Marcus Morris of the Suns hit a three-pointer, and the score gap was only 2 points.

At the critical moment, Parker broke through and passed Duncan in seconds. The latter made a steady mid-range shot and the score became 4 points.

With only 12 seconds left in the game, the Spurs had the opportunity to hold the victory in their hands.

The Suns paused again, and at this time Zhang Xiaotian finally played again.

However, his task is mainly to defend. Now they are not afraid of the opponent playing inside, and they will win if they defend the outside three-pointer.

After the timeout, Dragic caught the ball and saw that there was no chance from the outside line, so he broke through and scored two points.

With only 4 seconds left, the Spurs sent the ball to Ginobili and the opponent fouled immediately.

But what I didn't expect was that Ginobili missed the second free throw.

Jermaine O'Neal grabbed the rebound, and Zhang Xiaotian rushed to Dragic's side immediately. Ginobili made two free throws and the Spurs led by 3 points. Only Dragic was the most threatening at this time.

And the opponent had no chance of a timeout. Seeing that Dragic was crucified, O'Neal threw the ball directly to Wesley Johnson. Wesley Johnson had no time to consider a direct strong shot after receiving the ball.

While the ball was still flying in the air, the timer lit up red, but it was the long-range three-pointer that had to be shot, and it fell steadily into the basket, and it was overtime again.

In overtime, Zhang Xiaotian couldn't sit still, but Popovich still chose to let Ginobili start, and he and Danny Green still sat on the bench as spectators.

The team got the chance to attack first, but Jermaine O'Neal's state was already in jeopardy, and he gave Split a big hat when he came up.

In the extra time, the defense of the two teams was extremely tight. The two sides kept fighting, and Popovich finally made up his mind to let Zhang Xiaotian play instead of Ginobili.

Zhang Xiaotian came up and made a contribution immediately, directly forced Wesley Johnson to cause a foul and made two free throws.

His style of play is actually the same in the [-]nd and [-]rd positions. Those who are faster than him are not as strong as him, and those who are stronger than him are not as fast as him.

Now the Suns players have heights in all positions, the Spurs took the lead in scoring, and the Suns striker Marcus Morris wanted to use his height to beat Leonard.

Although Marcus Morris is a combo forward, Leonard is also experienced in defending power forwards.

With Leonard's excellent defense, Marcus Morris hit the iron, but Gortat grabbed the offensive rebound and the two sides tied again.

To be honest, the Spurs' inside line is a little bit overwhelmed. Once Duncan's physical strength suffers serious problems, Zhang Xiaotian can't go against the sky. He can score at the last minute repeatedly because the Spurs have other strengths, and the opponent dare not overdo it. Against him.

The game time passed quickly, and it has entered the last minute.

At this time, whoever scores first, the team will be able to gain the initiative.

The ball was handed over to Zhang Xiaotian again, and the opposite Wesley Johnson was also a striker who came to the second position. With the previous lessons, his defense this time was very good.

Zhang Xiaotian broke through and was flanked and returned the ball to Parker. Parker pulled it up and shot.

The shot hit the iron, and O'Neal blocked Duncan to protect the rebound.

But after all, he is not young anymore, and his on-court feeling is less sharp.

He didn't see that Zhang Xiaotian had already posted it, just when Jermaine O'Neal was about to pass the ball, Zhang Xiaotian rushed up and made a steal.

He passes the ball and Parker reorganizes the offense.

After calling his teammates to cover, Parker rushed directly to the basket, and jumped up facing O'Neal who was helping to defend.

Parker is also a big heart, and this time he finally played a trick on O'Neal.

With two free throws and one free throw, the Spurs took the lead 103:102, and the time was approaching the last 30 seconds.

The overtime period was short, and the Spurs' foul hadn't arrived yet. When the defense was almost 20 seconds away, Leonard took the initiative to foul and put more pressure on the opponent.

The impact of a bunch of big men on the court is that it is difficult to get open opportunities, and Dragic can only force a shot in the end.

In this game, the Spurs have been robbed of too many offensive rebounds by the opponent, so Zhang Xiaotian has been paying attention after the overtime game. After Dragic made a shot, he had already turned around.

After the four big guys on the inside were entangled together, Zhang Xiaotian had rushed over from the outside and leaped high, holding the rebound tightly in his arms.

The Suns reacted quickly, but now they can only choose to foul.

Zhang Xiaotian withstood the pressure, stood at the free throw line and made two free throws, leaving only three seconds for the opponent.

At the last moment, Wesley Johnson barely hit the iron with a three-pointer, and the Spurs won a thrilling 105:102 victory.

Throughout the game, although Zhang Xiaotian did not score much, he once again performed well at critical moments.

After the game, Popovich was also full of praise. Faced with tricky questions from reporters, when asking him to compare several backcourt players, Popovich also played tricks.

"They are all very good players, each with their own characteristics. As a team coach, you must let them all play to their strengths, just like cooking. I am actually quite good at it."

(End of this chapter)