NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

On March 11, the Spurs continued to face the Trail Blazers at home.

Everyone thought it was a"one-sided" game. The first team in the West played against the eleventh team in the West. How could the young team that had not yet risen be the opponent of the experienced and steady Spurs?

But the Trail Blazers' No. 0 guard and No. 12"Little Duncan" did not think so - because Parker was forced to enter the observation list due to discomfort in his right tibia before the game, so the second-year student Cory Joseph was promoted to the starting lineup.

Joey replaced Manu as the sixth man, and Popovich needed him to provide the team with stable rotation firepower on the bench.

As soon as the game started, Lillard led the Trail Blazers to a 10-point lead over the Spurs with a single-quarter performance of"12 points"; in the second quarter, Aldridge"exploded" against Duncan's defense and scored 14 points, and defended the latter from 2 of 7 shots, barely getting 5 points and 2 rebounds; the Trail Blazers' young team entered the second half with a 20-point lead!

At this time, everyone thought that the Spurs bench bandits led by Joey would narrow the gap during the rotation time of the two teams - but the fact is that Joey"cannot do it alone", Neal and Mills, the two main firepower points of the bench, had cold hands, 14 shots, and only hit 3 balls.

Bonner, Dio, Wu Sheng and other old guys all seemed to be"lost" today.

Not only could they not help the team on the offensive end, but several consecutive mistakes on the defensive end made Popovich on the sidelines so angry that he threw the tactical board.

Even if Joey played with the main players in the last quarter and scored 9 points in five minutes, he could not let the team close the gap - the Trail Blazers players had hot hands today!

No matter when and where, whether it was Lillard and Aldridge, the team's starting main players, or Matthews and Babbitt on the bench, they all played with amazing efficiency!

In the end, the Spurs lost to the Trail Blazers by 17 points at home - breaking the 21st century Spurs ATT Arena, the regular season loss record!

(It was even worse in the original history. In that game against the Trail Blazers, Parker and Manu were rested, and the Spurs were directly slaughtered by"30 points". No one knows how they lost. Duncan's"background board" is another classic!)

In this game,"only" 5 Spurs scored in double digits. The most balanced"sharing ball master" in the league, only five people scored in double digits for the third time this season.

Duncan 18 points and 7 rebounds, Leonard 16 points and 6 rebounds, Danny Green 10 points and 4 assists, Split 13 points and 10 rebounds...

Except for the sophomore Joseph, all the starting five scored in double digits. Joseph was completely beaten by his junior Lillard in this game, and he was"dazed" when he came off the court.

Joey scored a team-high 24 points on the bench, and also had 6 assists and 6 rebounds. This is also the only stable output point for the Spurs in today's game, but it is still difficult to help the team win.

On the Trail Blazers side, Lillard scored 35 points and 9 assists, Aldridge scored 26 points and 5 rebounds, the core inside and outside the team scored 61 points, and JJ Hickson scored 23 points, Matthews Wesley scored 15 points, and Eric Maynor scored 20 points...

In short, four words - full bloom!

The young people of the Trail Blazers ended the Spurs'"eight-game winning streak" after the All-Star Game, gave these old guys a"head-on blow", and took the victory from San Antonio with a score of 136:119.

The outside media and fans were"shocked" by this, believing that Popovich"intentionally" instructed the team to lose to the Portland Trail Blazers in this game.

Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why the first in the league (before this game) would lose to the young Trail Blazers with 28 wins and 33 losses and 11th in the West!

They were also slaughtered by"17 points"!

If the loss to the Trail Blazers can be attributed to competitive sports and"unexpected" losses, then how to explain the loss to a bad team by nearly"20 points"?

For a time, the Heat godfather on the South Coast, the shrewd and capable general manager of Oklahoma City, the Logo man in the Bay Area of California (Mr. West was the consultant of the Warriors team at that time), and countless other league managers were all paying attention to the Spurs' next game, trying to use this to find out Popovich's"arrangement and purpose""……

But soon, they understood Popovich's magical"operation"!

On March 12, all Spurs players flew to the cold Minnesota. Parker was rested again in this game, and Duncan also appeared in the first row of the arena in a suit, but Joey was still pressed on the bench.

Facing the Huskies who lost the"Wolf King" Cupid, the Spurs lost"regrettably" with 98:101!

(This is also what happened in the original history. I suspect that the old thief took a malicious rest to"lose". Can you believe that he lost the Huskies with 21 wins and 39 losses by 24 points?)

Joey, Leonard, Green and others played in this game"cautiously"."、"They were walking on thin ice, fearing that they would be"accidentally" swept away by the Timberwolves.

The"instructions" given by coach Popovich before the game were firmly in the minds of these young players. They did not dare to play freely at all. In the third quarter, there was even a"surprising" scene where Joey and Wusheng Jackson scored 11 points in a row, surpassing the Huskies by three points, but were called off by Popovich for a timeout!

If the general managers and head coaches of the league teams who are always paying attention to the Spurs still can't figure out the"one or two" of this game, then the Spurs' visit to the Mavericks on March 14th will be a big deal. In the game, Popovich even shamelessly rested Joey and Leonard, causing the Spurs, who were playing with 7 players, to"nearly" lose to the Mavericks 92:93...

The old guys in the league who have been around for many years have finally figured it out - is Popovich, this old fox, just"playing badly and losing" here?

In fact, they had previously thought too much of Popovich as a"demon". Although Popovich, who has been in the league for 22 years, is at the top level in the league in terms of coaching ability, trades and draft picks, he is also a"human" after all."——

A man of great wisdom!

In fact, he did not intend to let the Spurs lose"on purpose" in the first round, hoping to meet his"favorite" team in the first round - the Rockets, who are currently 34 wins and 27 losses and ranked seventh in the West!

This team, which has just completed its reconstruction and"accidentally" became a dark horse in the West this year, is what Sima Laozei values. The shortcomings of this"new army" are insufficient playoff experience and too few veterans!

His goal is to meet this new army in the first round of the playoffs, and then"sweep" and advance to the second round without bloodshed. You must know that in the playoffs, which are fierce and pay more attention to the performance of stars, the difference between playing one more game and playing one less game is very obvious...

Especially for a team like the Spurs with a"serious aging population"!

So he would rather let the team"lose in a row" to narrow the gap between the second in the West and them, and he can"manipulate" the team's record to the maximum extent and finally enter the playoffs as the first or second in the West!

This kind of extremely difficult"operation" is not only used by Popovich. As early as the beginning of the century, during the second and third championship periods of the"OK combination", head coach Phil Jackson also secretly did it. For reference, the Lakers won the championship with 15 wins and 1 loss in the playoffs during that period.

Popovich is a"shrewd" guy. In order to ensure that the opponent in the first round of the playoffs is the Rockets, a new team with little playoff experience, he"took a risk" to allow the team to narrow the gap with the second-placed Thunder in the West.

Let him be sure to control the Spurs to enter the playoffs with a record of"first in the West" or"second in the West."

It seems to be a difficult"operation" that can only be completed by a coach who has absolute confidence and control over his team, but Popovich actually has his own"concerns.""——

That is, he recently found that the closer the playoffs are, the muddy waters in the West are also starting to get.

The Black Mamba, who had been troubled by"internal problems" for most of the season in Los Angeles, showed his fangs in March, leading the team to a six-game winning streak. He also averaged 27.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, winning the Western Conference Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks.

The Lakers also entered the eighth place in the Western Conference for the first time when Nash was injured and his wife was on the injury observation list.

It seems that the stern Black Mamba finally reached an"agreement" with the"Happy Beast" and began to lead the team forward together.

But Joey knew that if history had not changed because of his"butterfly effect", then in the regular season against the Golden State Warriors on April 12, Kobe would have been reimbursed for the season due to a"ruptured Achilles tendon", ending the season early.

The team that broke an Achilles tendon and entered the playoffs was also swept by the Spurs in the first round.

But Popovich didn't know about"future events", so when he was choosing his first-round opponent, he was most afraid of the"superstar-studded" Lakers Big Four, fearing that he would face the Lakers who were on the threshold of entering the playoffs in the first round.

By then, it is likely that Nash and Gasol will return to help the team, and the issue of ball possession that"Happy Beast" and Kobe have been arguing about for most of the season will definitely be temporarily shelved.

If they encounter such a team in the first round, maybe they will stage a"Grizzlies Black Eight Miracle""……

The old thief Sima will not take this risk!