The Lakers vs. Spurs was originally a battle between thunder and fire.
However, after the Lakers arrived in San Antonio, they learned that Duncan had accidentally sprained his left ankle during an away game against the Grizzlies two days ago.
Although the injury was not serious and it seemed that he would recover after a few days of rest, his status as reported to the league for the next game was doubtful.
Players from other teams are injured and have been changed to doubtful status. There is a high probability that players can still play.
But when it comes to the Spurs, even if the players are obviously relatively healthy, there is a high probability that they will not be able to play after they are changed to doubtful.
It can only be said that the Spurs are too humble.
The Lakers banned O'Neal, and the Spurs also banned Duncan and gave up Parker.
In fact, Parker's matter has something to do with the Lakers. I have to say that the Lakers' F4 put too much pressure on the Spurs.
The Spurs considered that the Lakers' F4 lineup was too luxurious and they could not support Duncan alone, so they had to find a strong outside support for Duncan-Jason Kidd.
Don't look at Kidd's shooting skills, but Kidd's ability to lead a team is really strong!
Also reaping the benefits of the Eastern Conference, Marbury's statistics turned into a cancer in the Nets, but Kidd led the Nets to their second consecutive Finals.
The Spurs had just won the championship by defeating the Nets led by Kidd 4-2 in the Finals. Popovich and Duncan kept calling Kidd to express their condolences.
After Kidd entered the free market in the offseason, he also tried to visit San Antonio and was already interested.
However, the Nets management was not a fool. They discovered that Kidd and the Spurs were flirting with each other, so they quickly thought of a lot of solutions.
It was discovered that the Spurs had limited salary space. Even if General Robinson retired to make room for Kidd, the salary would only be 10 million.
The Nets can provide Kidd with a five-year, 80 million contract.
At the same time, the Nets arranged for Kidd's wife to work as a host in New York, and also signed Mourning to strengthen the inside line.
Kidd was persuaded by his wife and didn't want to be a prisoner who joined just because he couldn't win, so he chose to renew his contract with the Nets.
The Spurs still don't want to miss Kidd and Duncan's peak period. So I wanted to knock Parker unconscious and put him on a plane, sign with the Nets first and then exchange for Kidd.
But the Nets are not fools. What is the use of Parker, who is only in the third grade?
In the words of Wu Sheng Jackson, one of the heroes of the Spurs' championship in 2003: "What is Parker better than Kidd? French!"
The Spurs' eagerness to get Kidd undoubtedly hurt Parker's pride.
Parker returned to China to play in the European Championships and was angry with Popovich. During the start of the regular season, he also used an injury as an excuse not to return immediately.
Although Parker is still relatively new these days, after all, he became the Spurs' second-choice player last season based on his strength.
The second-best player didn't return to play in the NBA, the first-year player was injured and absent, and the Spurs were facing a rainy night. Ginobili, a second-year second-round pick, could only lead the team.
"It's stable now!" Payton looked very happy before the game started.
After scoring 28 points in the last game, Payton learned from his agent that the Los Angeles media praised him, so he felt very happy.
This game is about to face Jason Hart, a third-year second-round pick, or Manu Ginobili, a thin-looking white second-round pick.
Payton thought to himself: "Isn't this an opponent that can be defeated easily?"
"I will give you the ball, and you should continue to stick to the way you are best at playing, do you understand?"
Without Duncan to protect the rim, Payton felt that the Spurs were more suitable for him to play. In order to get Duen's support, Payton had discussed with Duen before the game how to divide the cake.
Du En said there is no problem, I am a team player and don't care about statistics at all...
"Fake, what's wrong with this guy? Why can he twist better than a pole dancer?"
"What does he want to do? How come he can break through here and this is possible?"
"Are you going for a layup? Watch me chase you! Walter, why did you pass the ball?"
After the game started, not only Payton was stunned, but even Kobe had to call his teammates to help defend and restrict Ginobili.
However, tonight if Ginobili had the help of God and transformed into Jordan, he would be able to make sudden changes and feed Rasu Nesterovich a lot of cake.
Rasu Nesterovich is a white European power center. Because the Spurs did not get Kidd and were afraid of O'Neal, the mid-level team signed Rasu Nesterovich to strengthen the team.
In the past, Rasu Nesterovich struggled to score in double figures throughout the game. Today, he scored 10 points in the first quarter thanks to Ginobili.
25 to 21, although the Lakers led the Spurs by 4 points after the first quarter, it was very different from the imagined beating of the Spurs.
Without Duncan and Parker, it is so difficult for the Lakers to beat the Spurs. If Duncan and Parker return, won't the Lakers be beaten by the Spurs?
After seeing the background of the defending champion, even Payton stopped thinking about brushing up data.
Jackson also realized that the Spurs were not that easy to deal with tonight, so he immediately asked the players to defend in a zone to limit Ginobili, and also told Duan and Malone to find opportunities to post up Ginobili and Malik Rose after coming on the court in the second quarter. .
Jackson needs Dunn to use offense to consume Ginobili's energy and Malone's offense to help the team widen the point difference.
The Spurs habitually use small forward Bowen to defend Kobe. In this way, Duan's opponent on the offensive end is Ginobili.
Ginobili's defense is actually not bad, especially his ability to assist in defense. However, in terms of individual defense, apart from small moves and diving, there is nothing noteworthy about Ginobili.
Malik Rose is a short and strong forward, but he is not as strong as Malone. Even if he can beat ordinary inside players, he cannot defend Malone, who is a handsome mid-range shooter.
Ginobili and Malik Rose both played just over 8 minutes in the first quarter.
Zen Master was sure that Popovich would send these two people to start the second quarter, so he entered the main force mode in advance and sent Malone on the field at the beginning of the second quarter, letting Malone, Payton and Duan lead the substitutes.
Zen Master put Kobe on the bench, intending to let Kobe come up and widen the point difference, directly closing the game.
However, before Kobe Bryant came on the court to exert his strength, Master Jackson's targeted arrangements for resting between sections had already had a certain effect on the court.
Although Ginobili continued to go to the basket, continued to score layups, and continued to create scoring opportunities for his teammates, the effect was not as good as in the first quarter.
The Lakers also rely on zone defense to limit Ginobili's breakthrough. In addition, Duan's post-up play consumes Ginobili's energy and distributes the ball to Payton from the outside.
Payton continued to penetrate the inside, attract the defense and then pass the ball to Malone, feeding Malone a piece of cake, and slowly widened the point difference.
Less than 4 minutes into the second quarter, the score was already 36-27.
Popovich realized something was wrong and immediately called a timeout, sending in shooters like Sean Hale, Hedo Turkoglu, and Robert Horry in an attempt to punish the Lakers with shooting.
Upon seeing this, the Zen Master immediately sent Kobe to strengthen the defense on the outside.
On the Spurs side, Ginobili handed over the ball according to the tactical arrangement, but his teammates used a lot of iron to encourage Ginobili to continue attacking with the ball.
Popovich also understands, after Duncan and Parker are absent, who in the Spurs has the ability to C.
For this reason, Popovich had to continue to call a timeout and discuss with Ginobili: "If Manu doesn't attack, then this team will not be able to score."
Ginobili had no choice but to squeeze out the remaining energy and made another heroic effort at the end of the second quarter. After the first half, he scored a total of 19 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
For the Lakers, Malone and Kobe also scored 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the first half and 14 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.
Due to his style of play and possession of the ball in the first half, Duan only had three single statistics of 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
However, in the third quarter, Ginobili only played half of the quarter and did not play well.
After Ginobili comes off the court, Duan does not have to use his energy on post-up play and high-position dealing.
Returning to the space point again, Dunn also received several passes from Kobe and made two three-pointers to help the Lakers widen the point difference.
After the third quarter, the score difference between the two teams widened to 78 to 66, with the Lakers leading the Spurs by a full 12 points.
Popovich seemed to have chosen to give up the game early and sent a pure substitute lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
What was surprising was that Horry suddenly broke out, making 3 of 4 shots, 1 of 1 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 9 points in a short period of time and brought the point difference back to 7 points.
Upon seeing this, Ginobili took the initiative to apply to play and wanted to have another fight with the Lakers.
Popovich did not refuse, and took advantage of Jackson's call for a timeout to re-insert the starting lineup except Malik Rose to compete with the Lakers.
However, Popovich chose to keep Horry, which became a hidden danger for the Spurs.
After the timeout, Horry was not as magical as before. Not only was he unable to grab a rebound, but he was completely blown away by Malone.
Thanks to Ginobili still having some physical strength, the Spurs scored 6 points in a row, which seemed like a win.
But at the critical moment, Kobe Bryant also stepped up and hit a three-pointer for the Lakers to help the team stop the bleeding.
Immediately afterwards, Duan used Kobe to attract the defense, and after receiving the ball, he rushed to the basket to cause damage.
Relying on free throws one by one, they scored four points in a row to help the Lakers stabilize the situation and bring the point difference back to more than 5 points.
In the last minute of the fourth quarter, Duan cut to the basket and scored 2 points on a layup, once again stopping the Spurs' pursuit of points.
109 to 103, the Spurs chased the points very hard in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers finally won the game with difficulty with a 6-point advantage.
At the end of the game, Ginobili scored 33 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists.
Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' top scorer, scored 24 points.
Followed by Malone's 21 points, Duan's 18 points, Payton's 14 points, and Fisher's 12 points.
The Lakers don't score many points, but someone can stand up and score almost every minute.
The Spurs fought hard under the leadership of Ginobili, but in the end they were short of breath and had no choice but to defeat the Lakers.
However, after winning against the Spurs, the Lakers didn't seem too happy.
The Spurs, who were clearly absent from Duncan and Parker, forced the Lakers to rely on their main force.
In tonight's game, Kobe, who played the most minutes, played a full 41 minutes.
The most minutes Durn had played in the previous game was 33 minutes, and this game also increased to 38 minutes.
It can be seen that the Lakers' hard power is not as strong as it appears on paper.
If the Lakers want to defeat the Spurs in the playoffs and win the championship, both offense and defense need to be further strengthened.
Of course, at this time, there are also people who are happier, and that is O'Neal.
Originally, because the team continued to win consecutively, the Lakers no longer seemed to need him as their boss.
At the same time, the Lakers have vaguely become Kobe's team.
O'Neal was also worried that he had been tricked by Duen. The fact was not at all what Duen said. The Lakers led by Kobe Bryant would lose in a daze, and he had to save the team.
Now seeing how reluctant the Lakers are and the Spurs are struggling, O'Neal is no longer worried.
Next, the Lakers will face the New Orleans Hornets, a strong team in the Eastern Conference, in back-to-back games. Kobe played 41 minutes tonight. Wouldn't he be a soft-footed shrimp when he plays tomorrow night?
