After halftime, although the Spurs did not open up a big score, they still completed the task given to them by Popovich.
In the second quarter, Lu Yao's state was a bit sluggish, scoring only 9 points. Although he scored 26 points in the half, everyone could see that Lu Yao was really struggling in the second quarter.
If this continues, as long as Leonard and Parker feel better in the second half, the balance of victory will gradually move towards the Spurs.
Popovich came to Duncan, looked at the disciple he had personally taught, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "Tim, you did a good job in the second quarter!"
In the second quarter, Duncan scored 15 points and 5 rebounds on his own, turning the tide and helping the building from falling, and directly forced the Spurs back from the decline.
On the defensive end, his most important contribution was to restrict Lu Yao, which stalled the Thunder's offense for a period of time.
This is good news for the Spurs.
On the Thunder side, Lu Yao returned to the bench and wiped his face with a towel.
He himself also realized that he seemed to have lost his mind in the second quarter. Not only did his shots go too far, but his pace in the inside attack became unsteady.
Only then did Duncan find the opportunity. He kept scoring points in the paint and led the Spurs to regain their advantage.
In the third quarter, I must make changes, otherwise the Thunder's five-game winning streak may end today!
At this moment, Westbrook came to Lu Yao's side, rubbed Lu Yao's head and encouraged him.
"Lu, don't think too much, just play how you want. Don't be nervous just because your opponent is Tim. You didn't feel like this when you played against LeBron."
Durant also encouraged Lu Yao.
"Yes, Lu, you have the same offensive capabilities as me. For the Spurs, you can dismantle their solid defense line, so Lu, cheer up."
After hearing the encouragement from the two people, Lu Yao regained his confidence, stood up, and patted his chest.
The all-powerful Lu Yao is back!
The short intermission ended and the third quarter was about to begin.
Players from both sides settled into position, and as the referee's whistle sounded, it marked the start of the third quarter.
The ball was handed to the Spurs. Duncan served and handed it to Ginobili. After half court, Ginobili passed the ball to Parker who was already in position.
Parker seemed to be able to face Robertson's defense with ease. Although Parker's condition gradually declined with age, the French sports car was still able to destroy the opponent's defense.
Parker pretended to break through, and Robertson was deceived. Then, Parker changed direction and pulled back, shaking Robertson dizzy.
Parker took advantage of the situation and passed Robertson in one step, heading directly towards the inside.
At this moment, the basket in front of Parker seemed to be in his pocket.
"You want to take action, have you asked me?"
A voice came, and Parker was stunned for a moment, and then, a big hand appeared in his sight.
What?
Parker opened his eyes wide and saw Lu Yao rushing over from the wing, his big hand already placed on the ball in Parker's hand.
The ball was directly intercepted by Lu Yaosheng, and he made an explosive chasing shot!
Westbrook has quick eyes and quick hands and directly grabs the rebound. There is no one in the frontcourt. The decisive Westbrook directly organizes his teammates to launch a fast break.
Westbrook passed the ball to Durant, who had already rushed to the basket, and Durant took advantage of the situation and scored.
Lu Yao's block indirectly helped the Thunder win the first goal of the third quarter.
At 52:50, the Thunder took a small lead.
But Lu Yao didn't intend to give the Spurs a chance to overtake.
In the Spurs' offensive round this time, Lu Yao was almost everywhere, completely disrupting the Spurs' ball transmission. In the end, there was not much time left in the attack, and Leonard could only rely on Leonard to force an outside shot.
As expected, the result was a miss.
Lu Yao grabbed the rebound and led his teammates towards the backcourt.
"come! come!"
Lu Yao shouted, facing Leonard's defense on the outside, he first pretended to slow down, then suddenly made a quick change of direction, catching Leonard off guard.
Although Leonard reacted quickly, Lu Yao was faster than Leonard, passed Leonard directly, and headed inside!
On the inside, he faced Duncan.
Now, the only options before Lu Yao are dunking on Duncan and passing the ball.
But when everyone thought Lu Yao was going to pass the ball, Lu Yao didn't.
Since Duncan locked down Lu Yao in the second quarter, Lu Yao will have to win back the goals he lost in the second quarter in the third quarter.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Yao jumped up a few steps in front of Duncan, holding the ball high with one hand.
Duncan also jumped up, and the two sides faced off head-on.
Fans are holding their breath, so stay tuned for the duo's performance.
Was it Lu Yao who violently dunked on Duncan, or was it Duncan who beat Lu Yao to death?
Lu Yao smiled slightly. Naturally, he would not disappoint anyone.
Immediately, he faced Duncan's interception and smashed the ball toward the basket without any hesitation.
There was an explosion from the basket. With this ball, Lu Yaosheng dunked Duncan!
As the ball fell, Popovich saw that something was wrong and quickly raised his hand to signal the referee to call for a timeout.
Lu Yao's offense and defense directly helped the Thunder score four points.
What's more, Duncan's shot in front of Lu Yao in the air was suspected of being a thug.
That is to say, Lu Yao's goal was a 2+1.
After Duncan fell from the air, he could only sit down on the ground because his feet were not stable, and he was in a daze.
At this moment, Lu Yao came over, stretched out his hand towards Duncan, and said with a smile.
"Are you okay?"
Duncan shook his head helplessly, accepted the help from Lu Yao, held Lu Yao's hand and stood up.
After standing up, Duncan looked around and didn't know what to say.
I really didn't expect that I would be dunked from the front by a rookie. It seems that this era does not belong to me anymore.
He smiled sarcastically, mocking himself.
In the CCTV sports live broadcast room, Teacher Yang Yi was so shocked by the ball that he jumped up from his chair and held his head in his hands.
"Oh my god, Lu Yao faced Duncan directly and hit Duncan with a one-handed chop!"
"Duncan, as a remnant of the old era, can no longer rule this era. This is an era that belongs to the new king!"
The new king in Yang Yi's mouth naturally refers to Lu Yao.
Teacher Yu Jia took advantage of the situation and explained: "This scene is really desolate. Duncan, as the number one power forward in the past, still cannot resist the aging of the years, and was dunked in front of Lu Yao, who is a rising star."
"Old general, do you know Tianshui Jiang Boyue?"
