Spurs timeouts tend to be immediate, unlike some teams where a timeout is called just to give players a break.

If one rests enough, call another one.

Because Spurs are a very strong execution team, and the players are very familiar with Popovich's tactical routine.

In addition, Popovich never hesitates to scold the players, if you don't play according to his ideas and ideas, you will definitely be taken to the sidelines for a scolding.

Duncan's thighs can avoid being scolded, and people like Tony Parker have almost grown up being scolded by Popovich all the way.

Even a player as smart and talented as Ginobili still has to be punished by Popovich's blower.

In response to Li Liang's signs of offensive outburst, Popovich asked Leonard to put more energy into the defensive end.

Basically, Leonard is asking him to give up the offense and devote all his energy to dealing with Li Liang.

Leonard's two offenses in the first quarter still felt very good, but once he invested more in the offense, it was inevitable that the defense would be a little rough.

Especially when attacking, you can't always keep an eye on the opponent's counterattack.

Once Li Liang starts to run and counterattack, Leonard may not be able to keep up.

The Clippers are desperately trying to bring the rhythm again and play the fast offense again.

Therefore, Popovich arranged for Leonard to reduce the proportion of offense, even when attacking, staring at Li Liang like when defending, to curb the Clippers' offensive and defensive transitions.

But Leonard suddenly had his own thoughts, "If I force Bruce Lee, can I let him focus more on defense, and his offense will also be affected." ”

Leonard usually doesn't talk much, which is very similar to Duncan, which makes people feel very suitable for the Spurs' temperament.

But in fact, Leonard's inner thoughts are still very rich, but he is not good at expressing them.

Tonight for some reason, after smelling that stench, Leonard felt his mind come alive.

And Popovich glared at Leonard and said, "Defense, put your energy on defense." ”

Popovich's voice was obviously a little displeased, and he looked at Leonard's expressionless face, feeling a little bored in his heart.

This kid has always been unsmiling on weekdays, and he is expressionless even when he dunks, but he seems to have a lot of ideas.

In this regard, Leonard and Duncan are really different.

Duncan looked dumb, and was actually really dumb.

There have been some disagreements between players and coaches over the tactical allocation.

But timeout was up, and Duncan stepped up to play the round, clapping hard for everyone to cheer on.

Duncan doesn't talk much, but he's a good leader, and with him, the Spurs will always be competitive.

But even Duncan could have predicted that a small, black seed was planted within the Spurs and began to take root.

And this seed, Popovich and Leonard thought it was a fart from Li Liang.

……

Li Liang did not pin his hopes entirely on a tap stench.

He knows that the Spurs on the opposite side also like to play tricks, but the premise of tricks is that you also have absolute strength.

Otherwise, if you play a trick and lose the game in the end, it will really be a loss to your wife and a soldier.

After the timeout, the first quarter of the game continued.

The score was 17-15, with the Clippers trailing the Spurs by two points.

Tony Parker took advantage of Duncan's block and shot again from mid-range near the free throw line, and still hit!

Parker played very well in the first quarter tonight.

His form this season has slipped from last season, but Parker is in good form against Paul this series.

He often dominated the Spurs' offense in the first half, and his shooting percentage from mid-range was on par with Paul's.

On the Clippers' side, Barnes slipped to the bottom line, found an open spot in the bottom left corner with the help of Li Liang's cover, received a pass from Paul, and hit a three-point shot!

At 19:18, the Clippers trailed by one point.

And Barnes hit his second three-pointer of the first quarter.

Barnes is still in the midst of a family crisis, but he has focused his energy on the basketball court.

After entering the playoffs, Barnes' three-point shooting rate was higher than in the regular season, and the two three-pointers in the first quarter reminded the Spurs not to think that the Clippers had a three-point shooter for Li Liang.

Subsequently, both sides went four consecutive rounds without scoring, and the defensive intensity on both sides increased.

The Spurs replaced Gary Neal on their side, trying to rely on Neil's impact and random shooting to open up the situation.

The Clippers responded by bringing on Crawford.

As a result, the two guys shot the birds indiscriminately, and none of them hit.

Li Liang couldn't stand it anymore, and after Crawford missed an indiscriminate shot, he struggled to grab the rebound in the front court.

Then activate the skill [Bill Wharton's Back Pass]!

A clever back-to-back pass to Barnes made it to Barnes, who made a deft layup.

After the playoffs, sometimes it's just the play of the odd soldiers.

One or two unexpected players step up and always make a big difference in the game.

Barnes had already scored eight points in the first quarter and relied on this layup to help the Clippers successfully overtake the score.

Seeing Barnes' fierce performance, I don't know if his wife still wants to divorce him.

Barnes' show isn't over yet.

Then Duncan held the ball in the low post, Li Liang resisted Duncan one-on-one, Paul came over to wrap up, and Duncan almost missed.

Passing the ball back to him, the force was not well mastered, and the ball almost flew over half the court.

Belinelli barely managed to get the ball back, and seeing that there was no time, he could only shoot from a distance of threes.

missed, but the Spurs grabbed the rebound and reorganized the offense.

The ball went to Ginobili, who came off the bench.

As a result, Barnes managed to break Ginobili's ball!

Ginobili had to foul in order to prevent the Clippers from playing a quick counterattack.

With three minutes left before the end of the first quarter, the tide was turning.

On the sideline, Paul quickly passed the half court with the ball, and Li Liang cooperated with him in the high position.

As a result, Leonard, who was defending Li Liang, lost Li Liang and went to Paul to get the ball.

Is Paul's ball so good?

Paul protected the ball, then jumped up and passed back to Li Liang in the high position, Li Liang was empty for three points, shot directly, and hit!

At 19:23, the Clippers regained the momentum.

And Popovich yelled angrily on the sidelines and scolded Leonard, why did he let go of Li Liang and chase Paul?

Leonard didn't show any expression and didn't respond.

His response was simple, to give results on the offensive end.

After receiving a pass from Parker, Leonard hit Odom in the basket.

He used his first step to get to the front of the three-second zone, then grabbed the ball with one big hand, pushed Odom away with one arm, and scored two points with a right-handed throw.

At 21:23, these are the crucial two points.

Because Spurs haven't scored for three minutes.

But Popovich clearly won't praise Leonard, who is still annoyed by his defensive blunder.

As for the offense, I told him during the timeout that the offensive end should reduce the independent offense and go all out to defend!

Popovich immediately called a timeout, not wanting anything disobedient to his will on the court.

During the 20-second timeout, Popovich didn't say anything, didn't do anything, and the only thing he did was to replace Leonard and press him to the bench.

Leonard, too, didn't speak, just stared blankly at the court.

Li Liang was still on the field.

Now Li Liang will play the first quarter before he gets off the court.

No way, Rivers needs him so much.

Compared with the two, Li Liang is a ball bully in the Clippers, and he can say one thing or the other, and after the game, he can say "I didn't lose if the team lost".

And what about Leonard? In the third grade this year, the 15th pick, there is a faint trend to become a star.

But most of the little improvement gained will be attributed to the Spurs as a team and to Popovich's development.

As for what he thinks, no one seems to care, because everyone always looks at him expressionlessly, and thinks that he is a simple person without ideas.

In fact, he had ideas, and when he saw Li Liang, he couldn't help but think, "It turns out that it can be like this." “

In the last two minutes of the first quarter, the Spurs, after replacing Leonard, had a hole on the defensive end.

Li Liang seized the loophole and made two beautiful passes to Jordan Jr. and Odom at the top of the high arc, assisting the two to dunk easily.

At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs and Clippers were tied at 23-28, with the Clippers leading by five points.

Li Liang's self-odor agent did play a role.

It's just that how big this effect is, and the final impact is really beyond Li Liang's own imagination.