So Popovich replaced Split with the athletic DeJuan Blair, and since Blair is a small insider, the Spurs also switched to a big four small lineup.

Failing to seize the opportunity to play small and big in the round just now was Sun Ce's mistake, Nash originally wanted to find Paul George to block and draw Duncan to the top arc, so Sun Ce had the opportunity to play Guy with his back in the low post.

Fortunately, Sun Ce returned Parker with a block, Yi Jianlian grabbed the rebound, the Grizzlies rushed in and counterattacked, Sun Ce cut in and received Nash's ball when Nash and Yi Jianlian pulled Duncan out when they blocked and dismantled outside, and faced Guy's folding lever that leaned forward and hit a layup.

It's so hard!

Every ball feels too hard!

With Duncan here, even if he pulls it out to block and dismantle, the others don't have to worry, they can do their own duties and do what they have to do, because Duncan will definitely defend the area he wants to defend.

Duncan may never have been the best defensive player in the league in a season, he never won the best defensive player, but except for the 05-06 season when he was tormented by plantar fasciitis, and the 07-08 season and the 09-10 season when his defensive efficiency declined due to injuries and age, his defensive efficiency has been one of the best five players in the league for more than ten years.

Fortunately, the Grizzlies were fully prepared and directly turned on the offensive mode in the first quarter, coupled with Sun Ce's physical play, the Grizzlies maintained the score and did not let the Spurs continue to open up the difference.

By the end of the first quarter, Sun Ce felt that the first quarter was more expensive than the normal game of nearly 20 minutes at halftime.

But it's the playoffs, and it's an opponent like the Spurs, and he's willing to fight like this.

At the end of the first quarter, the Grizzlies trailed by seven points at 29-36 and went into the break.

Finally got through the time Duncan was there!

Not starting the game on defense like the first three meetings of the regular season, the Grizzlies were outscored by the Spurs with 36 points! 4 three-pointers in a single quarter, 4 of 6 three-pointers, the Spurs took this opportunity to pass and shoot until they fly, Duncan scored 8 points in the first quarter, plus Gay's 12 points, don't be too strong!

On the Grizzlies' side, Sun Ce scored 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the first quarter, only 1 three-point shot, and still didn't score a strong shot, which seemed to score a lot, but it was very different from his style of play this season.

A season has passed, and he is no longer the previous three years of playing with baseline hooks and baskets, supplemented by mid-range shots, and three-point shooting is very important in his style of play.

This made Sun Ce have to worry about his team's outside shooting problem, Nash made a three-pointer in the first quarter, and the remaining 26 points were all from close range and under the basket...... Sun Ce felt an emotion called fear.

This is a yang strategy, but with such a strategy, they can only take advantage of the gap between the opponent and the near distance, otherwise they have to shoot on the outside, and the effect is even worse.

Fortunately, they didn't fall behind too much in the first quarter, unlike the first three meetings in the regular season, they sent a defensive lineup, not only did not defend the opponent's side, but also played badly, resulting in two games falling behind by more than a dozen points in the first quarter.

Now that Duncan has gone down to rest, Sun Ce feels that there is a chance, but Nash and Paul George are also going down to rest.

……

Coming back from the break, the Grizzlies sent a lineup of Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Randolph, and Gasol Jr.

On the Spurs' side, the lineup of George Hill, Ginobili, Gay, Dior, and Kwame Brown played.

Sun Ce looked at the opposite side, the outside trio was fine, and the two players on the inside were both players with obvious flaws that other teams didn't want, but in the Spurs, not only did they play well in the regular season, but they also played a very important role in the playoffs.

For example, Kwame Brown averaged 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in the series with the Warriors, shooting 75 percent from the field, and Dio averaged 5 assists per game in 23 minutes per game in the first six games.

However, in this lineup, Sun Ce is confident that their side is stronger overall!

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Spurs attacked, and Sun Ce took advantage of the prediction of "food shortage" to steal Dio's high-post ball, did not give Kwame Brown a chance to eat cake, and directly counterattacked and dunked to score two points.

31-36, Sun Ce counterattacked to help the Grizzlies narrow the gap to 5 points.

This is a good sign for the Grizzlies, in Duncan's absence, Dior's threat is not as good as Duncan, without Parker, Sun Ce is also liberated to help defend, Klay Thompson defends Ginobili, Jimmy Butler defends Gay, although neither of them can necessarily play much of a limit, but Sun Ce can help defend.

With Dior missing again, the Grizzlies relied on Gasol Jr. to respond with a high position, and Jimmy Butler hit a mid-range catch when Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, and Randolph attracted the defense, 33-36, and the Grizzlies narrowed the gap to 3 points!

Seeing that the momentum is gaining momentum, Ginobili stepped up!

Popovich didn't call a timeout as soon as the gap was narrowed, as usual, and Ginobili responded positively!

Ginobili singled Klay Thompson for two consecutive rounds and hit a three-point shot, and during the period, Sun Ce's sideline three-point pass to Klay Thompson did not score, and the Grizzlies were beaten 6-0, 33-42 behind the Spurs by 9 points, but the Grizzlies called a timeout!

After a wave of 4-0, a wave of 6-0 was counterattacked, which was an extremely huge blow to the Grizzlies!

Fortunately, the Grizzlies have a tough mentality, and with Sun Ce's desire to become "great" mobilized before the game, confidence has not suffered much damage, but morale has definitely dropped because of it.

Back on the bench, Sun Ce watched Ginobili suddenly erupt...... No sign at all!

Also, in the second quarter, he was not let go by the opponent at this point, because Randolph is generally a scoring player under the basket, and the Spurs have more basket defense, which can be seen from the successful pass to Klay Thompson just now, but Klay Thompson did not score.

The Grizzlies didn't make any adjustments during this timeout, just to interrupt Ginobili's hand.

The offense played well, Klay Thompson had catch-and-shoot opportunities, scored in the first two offenses, and also defended the Spurs for two rounds.

They didn't do anything wrong, even everything was done very well.

Ginobili faced Klay Thompson's rarely out of position, and scored two consecutive strong three-pointers, and they didn't even have a way to deal with this kind of probabilistic situation.

This is also a situation where the opponent is unable to deal with Sun Ce's outburst in normal times.