NBA: Strongest In The History Of Holding A Large Ball

At halftime, Popovich took the initiative to ask Wembanyama: "Victor, can you recover all your strength at this halftime?"

"I'm okay coach, after all, I didn't play much in the first quarter, and I didn't shoot much in the second quarter, and I still have a lot of energy." Wembanyama responded decisively, knowing that his answer would determine how he would play in the third quarter.

Popovich just nodded and didn't continue to speak.

It wasn't until the start of the third quarter that Popovich announced the starting lineup for the third quarter: Chang Tiancheng, McDermott, Keldon, Sochan, Wembanyama.

The biggest difference between this lineup and the Spurs' extreme five-small lineup before is that they now have a Wembanyama on the inside, which greatly improves their team's defensive ability.

It can be said that the current lineup is the strongest lineup in the Spurs' comprehensive ability, and the offensive and defensive capabilities are very balanced.

Chang Tiancheng took the ball to the frontcourt, first made a high block with Wembanyama, Wembanyama used his father's speed advantage to go down directly after covering Chang Tiancheng, and threw Sabonis Jr. behind him.

Seeing this, Chang Tiancheng immediately stuffed the ball over, and after Wembanyama received the ball, he easily completed a two-handed dunk.

In the next round, Fox shot a three-pointer directly at Chang Tiancheng, and it can be seen that since he was directly capped by Wembanyama once, he is now a little afraid of Wembanyama's defense.

Therefore, although Fox is a guard who is known for his speed, he does not want to try to break through at this time, but to try his shooting touch on the outside first.

Chang Tiancheng jumped up to interfere, but Fox's ball still fell into the basket.

Wembanyama sent the ball to Chang Tiancheng, but Chang Tiancheng took two steps forward, then passed the ball to Wembanyama, and he reached a 45-degree angle outside the three-point line, giving Wembanyama the space at the top of the arc.

Chang Tiancheng's meaning is already obvious, he wants Wembanyama to try to single the opponent's Sabonis at the top of the arc, after all, he actually didn't have many opportunities to perform on the offensive end before.

Wembanyama saw that Chang Tiancheng took the initiative to let him play singles once, and he gladly accepted. I saw him dribbling under his crotch at the top of the arc, so that the opponent's little Sabonis couldn't figure out which side he wanted to break through.

In the end, Wembanyama still changed back in front of a super-large body and went straight to the Kings' basket from the right side.

Since Sabonis Jr. was already the most player on the court for the Kings, there was no second player for the Kings to step up and defend Wembanyama until he broke through to the free throw line.

Seeing that Wembanyama was about to reach out for a layup, Sabonis Jr. gritted his teeth, stretched out his arm and grabbed Wembanyama's shirt corner, and gently pulled it.

And Wembanyama also lost his balance directly because of the jersey being ripped off and fell backwards. Fortunately, Sabonis Jr. reacted quickly, directly caught Wembanyama and helped him up.

Wembanyama smiled and patted Sabonis Jr. before stepping up to the free-throw line at the referee's signal. Unfortunately, Wembanyama's two free throws were only once on the line.

When it came to the Kings' offensive round, Fox had just made a three-pointer in the last round, so he planned to strike while the iron was hot, and after throwing Chang Tiancheng a little distance away through continuous dribbling, he continued to shoot a three-pointer from outside the three-point line.

Fox did feel good enough today, this three-point shot hit again, and in two rounds, the Kings scored six points, while the Spurs only scored three points.

Chang Tiancheng continued to dribble the ball, he did not rush to push the fast attack, but continued to give the ball to Wembanyama, and let Wembanyama single out Sabonis Jr. at the top of the arc.

Even if Wembanyama has just made Sabonis Jr. have to stop his attack by fouling, then it can be shown that his attack is indeed effective.

Wembanyama didn't rush the ball this time, but took the ball in his hands, and after making a few triple threats, he finally chose to shoot a three-pointer directly from outside the three-point line.

This shot is an irrational shot in Popovich's basketball philosophy. After all, Wembanyama's three-point shot is inherently unstable, and although the opponent's Sabonis Jr. is not as tall as Wembanyama, it is more than enough to interfere with Wembanyama's shooting.

Wembanyama's shot naturally missed, and Hertl grabbed the defensive rebound and gave the ball to Fox.

Most of the third quarter passed through the individual offenses between Fox and Wembanyama. After hitting two three-pointers in quick succession, Fox never scored from the field again.

Wembanyama's heads-up efficiency is not so high, and the main reason is that he doesn't want to play inside every ball, and he shoots a lot of baskets on the outside.

In the end, both sides replaced their starters and sent in substitutes to finish the third quarter. The head coaches of both sides saw that their main points of attack could not help the teams directly open up the point difference in the third quarter.

It's just that Fox, the main point of attack of the Kings, is due to his own bad hand, coupled with the psychological pressure brought by Wembanyama on the defensive end.

And Chang Tiancheng, the original offensive point on the Spurs' side, didn't shoot at all in the third quarter of the game, and he gave Wembanyama almost every opportunity to attack, hoping that he could find some feeling on the offensive end, and the rest of the Spurs teammates certainly had no opinion on Chang Tiancheng's decision.

However, Wembanyama did not find his touch in this quarter of the game, and in the rest time after the third quarter, Wembanyama took the initiative to find Chang Tiancheng: "Chang, in the fourth quarter of the game, you better let me go head-to-head, otherwise it will drag down the offensive efficiency of the whole team." "

What's the matter, are you not confident?" Chang Tiancheng took a sip of water and asked rhetorically.

"It's not that I don't have confidence, but I really didn't feel very good today, I know what level of your offensive ability is, and when the fourth quarter comes, I'll do a good job on the defensive end, and you can do it on the offensive end.

"Okay. Chang Tiancheng nodded, of course he knew that Wembanyama didn't feel good today, after all, he was still injured, and he went to give him the ball like this and let him go head-to-head, and now it seems that there is a taste of forcing him to play.