Just three seconds into the game, the referee blew the whistle to stop the game.
It turned out that the timer on site was broken and would not keep running.
Min Congda, who was nervous, got angry and ate the popcorn in his hand. He cursed: "This is a piece of shit about equipment management in San Antonio. The timer doesn't even go off. You must be getting kickbacks!"
Popovich also stood up from the bench, looked at the court, and muttered something, which was obviously not a good thing.
Some of the players on both sides were jumping around, and some were stretching to warm up. This sudden stop made the atmosphere more tense.
After a delay of about more than three minutes, the timer was finally fixed and the game continued.
In the Spurs' first offense, after repeatedly going around the screen, the ball was given to McDyess at a 45-degree angle.
McDyess' mid-range jump shot missed.
Gasol got the backcourt rebound and passed the ball to Curry.
Curry dribbled the ball across half court to Baron Davis.
Then Curry moved without the ball to distract the defense.
Baron Davis and Gasol formed a pick-and-roll in the high post.
Balang accelerated into the three-second zone and hit Gasol with one hit.
The simplest and most direct combination of pick-and-roll and inside-cutting, Gasol catches the ball and sprints towards the basket in one step!
Jefferson blocked Gasol under the basket and was knocked to the ground.
The referee blew the whistle and called Jefferson's blocking foul, and the ball had been thrown to the basket and hit the board.
A beautiful 2+1 score!
When Min Congda saw the ball, his heart tightened.
"I just said, why are you playing McDyess? If there is a big center inside this ball, does it deserve an offensive foul? Just protect the basket and interfere. Gasol is not Stoudemire. With his speed, Can this bounce and explosive power be prevented?"
At the beginning, the Spurs' matchup was Duncan against Gasol, and McDyess against Randolph.
If the Spurs let Splitter start this ball, he will be the one facing Gasol, and Duncan should be the one assisting in defense just now.
With Duncan's defensive ability, he never has to draw offensive fouls at the basket. He always protects the basket.
Now Duncan is guarding Gasol, McDyess is guarding Randolph, and only Jefferson can help defend.
How could Jefferson defend the basket? He could only rely on drawing fouls.
It failed, giving the Clippers two points and a foul.
Gasol hit a free throw, and the Clippers scored points quickly at the start, and the first goal hit the goalpost of the Spurs' starting lineup.
The Clippers did not blindly pass and cut at the beginning, but used a very targeted pick-and-roll.
This is the difference between the playoffs and the regular season.
The regular season is based on the daily play style you are used to.
Everyone fights to see who is in good condition, and then they can see what they can do later.
The playoffs are different. The same opponent plays at least four games in a row, and they start targeting each other from the first game.
It can even be said that the two teams started to target each other from the first round.
Even though Deng didn't take care of much during the regular season, in the playoffs, he still had a notebook full of preparations.
Min Congda was even more focused on watching the game, and he was anxious. The intensity and confrontation in the playoffs were unmatched by the regular season, and they were bound to be more exciting to watch.
The Spurs' offensive choice was very strange. In the positional battle, they actually let Tony Parker beat Curry with his back in the low post.
Min Congda has a question mark on his head, is there no better choice?
Duncan can't play at all? McDyess can’t be beaten anymore?
If you have to let Parker bully Curry, Curry is not that easy to bully.
Sure enough, Parker's back attack was ineffective, and Ricky Davis double-teamed him.
This caused Parker to walk and make low-level mistakes, which left people speechless.
Subsequently, Randolph received a pass from Baron Davis at the top of the arc and hit a mid-range jumper.
5:0, the Clippers took the lead.
Spurs' first goal came from Jefferson.
Jefferson received the pass at a 45-degree angle on the right side and hit the three-point line.
A difficult long two-pointer.
Then, Duncan blocked Ricky Davis' throw after receiving the ball in defense.
The Spurs were finally able to counterattack, and the Spurs players rushed forward like mad dogs.
This is the biggest difference between the Spurs this season and before. They counterattack quickly when they have the opportunity.
They are no longer the slow-paced Spurs that old fans remember.
Instead, they crossed halftime as soon as possible and tried to solve the new Spurs within 7 seconds.
It was thanks to this strong offensive power that the Spurs won 60 games.
And the Spurs' sharpest spear in fast-break counterattacks is naturally Jefferson.
When he worked with Kidd in the Nets, he was known for his quick counterattacks.
Whether it is attacking the basket or catching the ball in the corner and shooting jump shots, these are his strengths.
With this ball, he ran to the right corner, received the pass and hit a three-pointer!
5:5, the Spurs and Clippers tied!
For a time, the Spurs' morale was high.
Then, the Spurs successfully defended Curry's breakthrough.
Curry broke through from the left side and accidentally dribbled out of the baseline, making a mistake.
During the offense, Duncan set a pick-and-roll for Parker, made a beautiful cut, caught the ball and made a layup.
Gasol took the ball from the high post and missed a long two-point shot.
The Spurs counterattacked, Anthony McDyess received a pass from Jefferson and made a quick layup with his left hand!
At 5:9, the Spurs scored 9 points in a row and took the lead.
Dunleavy sensed something was wrong with the players.
So a short pause was called to help the players adjust their status.
The Clippers players do have some problems, but they are not technical or tactical problems.
But...how to put it, this is not what they imagined it would be like to face off against the No. 1 player in the Western Conference.
Although at this moment, the Clippers are 4 points behind and they have not scored in two rounds.
But everyone in the Clippers' starting five felt quite relaxed.
Curry hasn't scored a point yet, but he found that he can move freely in the Spurs' formation with the ball.
He just had two opportunities to shoot directly, but he didn't shoot and chose to pass the ball.
Gasol felt like he was moving casually in the high post, and Duncan couldn't keep up.
Randolph was quite annoyed with McDyess, but as soon as the game started, he tried his best to stick and push.
When it comes to the fourth quarter, will the body be able to do it? McDyess is a veteran, so why doesn't he feel calm at all?
Ricky Davis even felt that the Spurs' positional offense was not clever at all in defense, and it was easy for him to cover up the defense.
Jefferson easily attacks without holding the ball. He just catches the ball for a layup, catches and shoots, and keeps an eye on Parker when covering up, and then a little bit on George. That's it.
Mike Dunleavy had a similar feeling, so during the timeout, Dunleavy simply said: "Relax, let go and play, play our rhythm. Let go of shooting and get the situation back, OK?"
He didn't even yell at the players or call tactics. He paused briefly just to let everyone adjust.
Even Min Congda, whose judgment has always been influenced by stance and subjective emotions, felt vaguely: "How come the Spurs didn't play in a targeted manner at the beginning? They still played the same way as the regular season. Is there some secret weapon?"
(End of chapter)
