On December 29, the Warriors took a flight to San Antonio.
After checking into the hotel, Sun Yi and his party went to their rooms to put away their luggage, and then went to the restaurant to eat.
In the afternoon, the Warriors conducted daily training.
Although the record is average, the Warriors players have a very good mentality and the atmosphere within the team is quite harmonious.
On the sidelines, head coach Nelson was frowning and worried about gains and losses.
"Steve, do you think we can beat the Spurs?"
"Sir, to be honest, if it was a series, it would be very difficult to beat the Spurs with the current lineup of the Warriors, but this is just an ordinary regular season, and we might be able to give it a try." Cole said his thoughts view.
"Well, you're right. I'm confused. I shouldn't ask such a ridiculous question."
After self-reflection, Nelson continued: "We have to make some changes and catch our opponents off guard in order to have any hope of winning."
Cole nodded, agreeing with Nelson's point of view.
"Go and call the members of the coaching staff over, and we'll hold a temporary meeting." Old Nelson ordered.
Cole left quickly and summoned members of the coaching staff to the conference room for a meeting.
This meeting will give birth to new tactics to deal with the next opponents.
…
On the game day, after the Spurs completed their daily training, head coach Popovich accepted interviews with media reporters.
"The Warriors are a very young team. They have many talented players. The teacher has established an excellent team culture and tactical system for the Warriors. They are rising rapidly and their future is limitless."
The media reporters were not surprised after hearing Popovich's answer.
This is Popovich's daily operation, and he will give poisonous milk to his opponents in every important game.
But at this stage, the Warriors have only achieved a record of 16 wins and 15 losses, ranking ninth in the Western Conference.
The Spurs achieved a record of 25 wins and 7 losses, ranking fourth in the Western Conference.
There is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Is it really necessary to poison the milk? !
Popovich looked at the confused media reporters and sneered in his heart.
You vulgar people don't know the profound meaning contained in it!
At the same time, domestic attention to this game is also very high.
Just in time for the weekend, the sports channel will broadcast this focus battle, and it is difficult to lower the ratings.
Domestic fans are very much looking forward to what kind of sparks the first matchup between Sun Yi and Duncan will create.
…
…
December 30, San Antonio, ATT Center Arena.
At this time, the fans had already entered the stadium and were seated, patiently waiting for the game to start.
After the two teams warmed up, the scene entered the opening ceremony.
The starting players of the Warriors who played away from home took the lead.
Curry, Ellis, Maggette, Sun Yi, Randolph.
Immediately afterwards, the starting players of the Spurs at home came on stage.
Parker, George Hill, Jefferson, McDyess, Duncan.
During the jump ball session, Randolph took off hard, hit the basketball first, and knocked the ball back, giving the Warriors the first opportunity to attack.
Duncan was too lazy to fight with the young man, jumped symbolically, and then quickly retreated towards the backcourt.
Sun Yi quickly ran to the frontcourt and took a position. When he saw the player defending him, as expected, it was McDyess who defended him, not Deng Dudu.
A big killer like Duncan will definitely not overkill his talents. He will only play a decisive role at critical moments by following young people all over the field.
On the other side, Curry dribbled the ball to outside the three-point line to organize the offense.
Sun Yi quickly stepped forward to provide Ellis with an off-ball screen, and then cut to the outside to attract the defensive attention.
After more than thirty games, other teams have understood a message: Sun Yi has adapted to the NBA's three-point line.
Therefore, we don't dare to let Sun Yi continue to wander around on the outside. Maybe he will use all his firepower to score high scores again.
At the same time, Ellis bypassed the screen, came to the mid-range area on the right, received Curry's pass, stopped and jumped to shoot.
Duncan, who was standing near the penalty area, quickly rushed over and interfered with the shot.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Under the basket, Randolph grabbed the offensive rebound and was about to take off twice to attack the frame, but was blocked by Deng who was driven back to the basket.
Sun Yi was also amazed when he saw this scene, and at the same time lamented that Deng Daidai, who has entered the end of his career, is still so good at assisting defense.
At this time, Duncan was already 33 years old and technically a veteran, but Sun Yi didn't think so.
This guy will play for six or seven more seasons in the future, and even lead the team to the fifth championship in his career as a core player.
Is this something a veteran can accomplish? !
It can be said that Deng Daidai becomes more and more demonic as he gets older, and is affectionately called "Rookie No. 21" by fans.
The game continued, the Warriors sent a baseline ball, Curry received the pass, tried to break through, but was unable to break through the defense of Tony Parker at his peak, and then passed the ball out.
Sun Yi received the pass, made a three-threat action, and took a tentative step. Seeing that McDyess did not step forward to defend, he directly picked up and threw the basketball in his hand very coolly.
McDyess reacted immediately and rushed to interfere, but the effect was minimal.
"when!"
The basketball hit the front of the basket and bounced out.
"Oops! It's a pity. Although the goal didn't go in, it has to be played like this."
In the sports channel studio, Director Zhang commented.
On the court, the Spurs protected the defensive rebounds and Parker dribbled the ball forward quickly.
When the French sports car came outside the three-point line, he saw Duncan actively asking for the ball in the low post on the right side and immediately passed the ball over.
After Deng received the ball in a daze, he lowered his shoulders and center of gravity, and directly punched Randolph in the chest.
Randolph was very uncomfortable with the rebuke, and he couldn't express the pain in his heart.
Before the game started, he didn't think he would play against Duncan.
After all, Deng Dadai is recognized as the number one power forward in history.
But I didn't expect this old guy to be the center and bully him, a second-year rookie.
It's so difficult!
On the other side, Duncan pushed his back into the area where he was most confident, and immediately turned around and shot the ball. This set of technical moves was smooth and smooth, without any unnecessary flaws.
After the basketball hits the board, it rebounds into the basket.
0:2!
Randolph quickly picked up the basketball on the ground, stepped out of the baseline, and quickly sent the ball out.
Curry received the pass and quickly dribbled forward. Seeing a familiar figure in front of him, he immediately passed the ball.
Sun Yi, who was running, received the pass, came outside the three-point line, raised his hand and made a fake gesture of praying to Buddha.
McDyess kept the coach's instructions in mind and did not dare to let the Warriors' No. 9 take a three-pointer easily, and immediately pounced on it.
Seeing this, Sun Yi raised the corner of his mouth, changed direction and rushed past McDyess.
Duncan, who retreated to the vicinity of the penalty area, quickly stepped forward to cover the situation.
Sun Yi didn't want to face Deng Daidu so soon, so he threw the ball to the right.
Shi Fo reacted quickly and reached out to intercept but didn't touch anything. He knew that this time the defense was over.
On the other side, Randolph rushed to the basket and jumped up hard. He caught the pass in the air with both hands and dunked the ball into the basket.
After scoring the goal, Randolph beat his chest and vented his frustration. When he retreated, he expressed his gratitude to Sun Yi.
The Spurs attacked, and Parker dribbled to the top of the arc, passed the ball to Duncan, and then quickly ran without the ball.
Deng received the pass in a daze, turned around and faced the frame for a single. He tried to move to the middle with his right. Seeing Randolph's center of gravity shift to the left, he immediately took off and shot.
Seeing this, Randolph obviously couldn't keep up and became depressed again.
"boom!"
After the basketball hits the board, it rebounds into the basket.
2:4!
Looking back, Ellis broke through for a layup, avoiding Deng's dull interference and scoring the ball.
It was the Spurs' turn to attack, and they didn't panic. They attacked in a precise manner and the pace was quite slow.
Parker dribbled the ball to the basket. Seeing that there was no chance, he came around and passed the ball to Duncan again.
This time Sun Yi came quickly to double-team.
Upon seeing this, Deng Daidai immediately passed the ball back to Parker.
Seeing that the attack time was running out, the French sports car quickly made a change of direction in front of the body, stepped back to the right, and took off to shoot.
Curry was not shaken away and immediately rushed to interfere.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Under the basket, Randolph tried his best to stay in position and create opportunities for his teammates to rebound.
Seeing how desperate this young man was, Duncan could only turn around and leave quickly.
It's important to preserve your physical strength. It's not worthwhile to compete with young people.
Sun Yi rushed back to the basket, grabbed the backcourt rebound, and quickly dribbled forward.
Curry and Ellis each looked for opportunities outside the three-point line.
Maggette and Randolph cut into the penalty area.
The Spurs' defensive strategy is very clear. They follow the man but not the ball. They follow the Warriors players tightly and do not give them a chance to catch the ball easily.
Sun Yi dribbled to the top of the arc and frowned slightly when he saw that his teammates had no chance to connect with the ball.
On the Spurs bench, head coach Popovich saw the scene on the court and showed his trademark sinister smile.
"Oriental Magician? You cut off the contact with your teammates. Let's see how you can lead them."
The Spurs' defensive strategy in this game was simple.
Cutting off the connection between Warriors players forced them into isolations.
There are only a handful of teams or players who want to use isolation tactics to kill the Spurs, and the Warriors happen to be not among them.
It can be said that the Spurs will be invincible.
Returning to the court, Sun Yi saw that his teammates had no chance and planned to end the attack by himself.
Immediately, he quickly made a forward change of direction to shake McDyess away, broke through to the free throw line, pulled it up directly, and threw the basketball in his hand.
Swish!
Hollow into the net!
6:4!
The Warriors took the lead for the first time.
The Spurs players did not panic and responded quickly.
Duncan ran out of the penalty area and set up a pick-and-roll for Parker.
The French sports car bypassed the screen and rushed to the right side of the penalty area, and hit the ball with a throw.
In the next few rounds, the Spurs' defensive tactics were very successful, forcing the Warriors into isolation plays.
Since the game had just begun and the players were still very energetic, the Warriors had a pretty good singles hit rate and took the lead alternately.
On the Spurs bench, Popovich didn't feel angry when he saw that the score was not open.
"It's just a trapped beast still fighting!"
Then he waved his hand and made substitution adjustments to speed up the consumption of the Warriors players' physical strength.
The Spurs replaced McDyess and Hill and replaced DeJuan Blair and Ginobili.
Nelson saw the Spurs making substitution adjustments, and immediately replaced Maggette and replaced him with Reggie Williams.
After the substitution adjustment, the Spurs had an immediate effect.
Duncan turned around and broke through into the penalty area. He was double-teamed by Sun Yi and Randolph and immediately gave the ball away.
Ginobili, who just came on the field, received the pass and hit a three-pointer.
The Warriors served quickly. After receiving the ball, Ellis rushed into the penalty area and hit a flying layup, recovering 2 points.
Popovich was very dissatisfied when he saw this situation.
After all, the Spurs are a team known for their defense. They are losing face when the Warriors score consecutive fast break points.
So Popovich walked to the sidelines and yelled at the players on the court.
The Spurs players nodded in agreement.
After scoring in this round, the Spurs players quickly retreated to prevent the Warriors from counterattacking.
Falling into a position battle, the Warriors were forced into another one-on-one game.
With the help of Sun Yi's cover, Ellis broke through to the edge of the penalty area and made a throw.
Duncan quickly caught up and stretched his arm to interfere with the shot.
The basketball bounced on the rim and rolled out.
Under the basket, Randolph jumped up hard and put the ball into the basket.
On the sidelines, Popovich was even more unhappy. He shouted at the court with louder volume and body language.
It can be seen that the Spurs' poor defense made the old man very angry.
On the court, the Spurs players cheered up, knowing that their head coach was in a state of rage and could not make another mistake.
To be on the safe side, Parker played a pick-and-roll with Duncan, then passed Randolph, who was changing defense, and rushed into the penalty area for a layup.
At this moment, Sun Yi rushed back to the basket, jumped into the air, stretched out his arm to hit the rising basketball.
Snap!
The basketball was slapped on the backboard and bounced hard.
At the same time, Duncan rushed into the penalty area and grabbed the rebounding basketball, making a simple throw.
After the goal, Shi Fo breathed a sigh of relief. He finally made no mistakes and stabilized the old man, then turned around and quickly returned to defense.
In this round, the Spurs increased the intensity of their defensive confrontation.
Curry bypassed the screen, jumped directly, twisted his body in the air and threw the ball.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Duncan grabbed the defensive rebound, found Parker immediately, and passed the ball over.
Parker received the pass and saw that his teammates had no chance to run away. He dribbled forward slowly and waited for Duncan to run to the inside position.
Duncan slowly ran to the right low post and leaned against Randolph, reaching for the ball.
When Parker passed the ball to Duncan, Sun Yi also ran over to double-team, and swung his hand upwards.
Duncan, who had just received the pass, had no time to lift the ball, but was picked up by Sun Yi, the sixth man.
After fighting for the basketball, Sun Yi passed the ball out immediately.
Curry, who was on the fast break, received the pass and rushed towards the frontcourt. He came to the basket and used the change of rhythm to fly to the chasing Parker, and made an easy layup.
The ball transitions and the Spurs attack.
The critical moment also depends on Deng Jishi. This time he came to the high post area on the right, received the ball and beat Randolph in a single. After a tentative step, he quickly released the ball and started. He rushed to the mid-range area on the right and made a sudden stop jump shot, which stabilized the situation. The situation on the field.
In the next game, the Spurs once again increased their defensive intensity and played cautiously, not giving the Warriors a chance to counterattack, and gradually turned the situation around.
Facing the Spurs' tight defense, the Warriors' singles shooting percentage began to decline and failed to close the score.
In this way, the first quarter ended, and the score on the big screen was 20 to 26. The Spurs led by 6 points entering the second quarter.
