At this moment, the Spurs fans held their heads in their hands and opened their mouths. They couldn't believe the scene in front of them.
Lu Yao actually managed to win the score back with his own strength.
And with the Spurs taking care of them, Lu Yao scored ten points in the last two minutes of the first quarter, severely shattering the Spurs' defense.
Even Leonard, the league's top single defender, and the Spurs' inside line led by Duncan were unable to restrict Lu Yao.
Seeing Popovich stomping his feet in anger, fans knew that the Spurs were starting to panic.
In this season, there are very few players who can scare the Spurs. Most of them are stars with strong personal abilities, and as a rookie, Lu Yao is the first one.
What's more, Lu Yao's buzzer-beating layup was done directly against two people and was completely unaffected.
Even though the two almost caught Lu Yao, Lu Yao still scored the goal.
This is the terrifying thing about Lu Yao. His outstanding physical talent makes his offense even more unsolvable.
That's why Popovich is annoyed.
Because they couldn't restrain Lu Yao at all!
On the defensive end, Lu Yao contributed 3 blocks in a single quarter, helping the Thunder withstand the Spurs' offensive firepower.
Today, Lu Yao did his best on both offense and defense, scoring 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in the first quarter!
Duncan, who faced him, only made 1 of 3 shots, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 3 points and 2 rebounds, but was blown away by Lu Yao in all aspects.
Looking at young leader Leonard, although he is currently the Spurs' highest scorer, he only scored 9 points, and his shooting percentage was only a measly 40.
If it weren't for the Spurs' excellent teamwork, I'm afraid the score would have been widened by the Thunder.
Therefore, in the second quarter, the Spurs must find a way to break the game, otherwise the game will end early before halftime.
In the commentary box, the two commentators naturally saw this. Kenny Smith analyzed the current situation of the Spurs.
"The current situation is not optimistic for the Spurs. The inability to restrict Lu Yao means that their efforts on the defensive end will be in vain."
"Although the Spurs have an excellent offense, now they have to shift their focus to defense."
Buckley, standing by, echoed.
"Smith is right. In this game, Lu Yao had excellent touch. He scored 17 points in the first quarter. This is already the first time he has scored 10+ points in a single quarter in a row. If he cannot be restricted, the Spurs will face It will only be a failure.”
"I wonder what countermeasures Popovich will take to restrict Lu Yao?"
As the two commentators talked, the countdown started at the beginning of the second quarter.
In the first quarter, the Thunder led the Spurs by three points 30:27. Although it was a small advantage, as long as Lu Yao was there, the Thunder could expand this small advantage into a huge advantage.
Popovich held the tactical version in his hand, banged it hard, and cursed.
"What are you doing! Cheer up, since one person can't stop Lu Yao, then two or three people. As long as we can restrain him, we have a chance in this game!"
The Spurs players surrounding Popovich nodded. Only Duncan and Leonard had embarrassment on their faces.
They faced off against Lu Yao in person, and naturally knew that it would be extremely difficult to restrain Lu Yao.
Obviously, Popovich knows this too.
But he still wanted to give it a try. After all, no matter how strong a player is, he is only one person.
Just like Jordan in 1988, he was still defeated by the Pistons' bad boys.
As long as they are twisted into a rope, there is no way they can restrain Lu Yao.
But soon, Popovich proved that his idea was so wrong.
As the referee's whistle sounded, the second quarter began.
Both sides continued to maintain their main lineups, and looking at the posture, it was a rhythm of quick victory.
After all, it is only the regular season, so players cannot be overused.
The ball was handed to the Spurs, Duncan served from the baseline, and handed the ball to Ginobili for control.
After receiving the ball, Ginobili slowly advanced toward the frontcourt.
Facing Westbrook's defense, Ginobili was not impatient and kept pulling with Westbrook through pick-and-rolls.
After finding the opportunity, Ginobili rushed inside, and Ibaka's defense was in place in time.
Ginobili made a ghostly dribble, shook Ibaka away, and at the same time glanced at Duncan who was already in position.
As soon as their eyes met, they understood each other's thoughts and nodded to each other.
Ginobili turned his little hand and flew the ball directly towards Duncan's hand in a strange arc.
Ginobili's passing has always been famous for his elusiveness.
Duncan caught the ball, and he was facing Lu Yao.
At this time, Duncan showed the composure of a veteran star.
Duncan played Lu Yao with his back and kept hitting Lu Yao with his shoulders, attacking inside.
When he reached the bottom of the basket, Duncan turned around, distanced himself from Lu Yao, and scored with a back hook.
Watching the ball fall into the basket, Lu Yao couldn't help but marvel, as expected of Duncan, his basic skills are solid.
In this case, of course I have to respond.
The Thunder quickly launched a fast break, and the ball was handed over to Lu Yao. Lu Yao kept running with the ball, leaving the audience on the sidelines in shock.
No, you told me that such skillful ball control can only be done by a center.
Lu Yao's dribbling in fast breaks is something a center can do, and he is as skilled as a point guard.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Yao pushed away Duncan next to him, jumped up and made a two-handed slam dunk, slamming the ball into the basket.
After landing on the ground, Lu Yao glanced at Duncan, as if expecting.
Duncan laughed and then sent the ball to Ginobili.
Next, it naturally became a duel between Lu Yao and Duncan.
On the defensive end, Duncan seemed to have turned into a wall, blocking Lu Yao's offense with a completely different defense from the first quarter.
Lu Yao has played so many games, and this is the first time he feels suffocated.
Even the hit rate has dropped a bit.
On the offensive end, Duncan beat Lu Yao many times, and it can be said that he beat Lu Yao hard.
Duncan's basic skills made it impossible for Lu Yao to interfere with his ball control. He could only use physical confrontation to interfere with his shots.
Even so, it was of no use to Duncan.
After all, Duncan has an extremely accurate hook shot and rebound shot.
The score between the Spurs and Thunder continues like this, and no one can tell the winner.
Even though Lu Yao broke away from Duncan's blockade in the second half and began to recover, scoring 9 points alone, he was still unable to lead the Thunder to open the score.
In this way, the Thunder and Spurs ended the first half with a score of 50:50.
