Chapter 164: A Group of People Who Can't Afford to Lose (3/5)
Parker booed and hit both free throws, and the Spurs took the lead.
Paul controlled the ball to the frontcourt, Griffin asked to continue playing, and Duncan also sank his weight to continue to defend.
This time, Griffin turned around and paid attention to Duncan's block, but the moment he made his shot was interfered with by Duncan's outstretched arm, the shot jumped out of the basket, and he reached out and missed the offensive rebound.
The Clippers' back-to-back offense was unsuccessful.
Duncan took the defensive rebound and gave it to Parker, who was not in a hurry, dribbling the ball to control the rhythm to the frontcourt, and reaching out to signal to play AI hammer tactics.
Tactical movement on the court, Jefferson's breakaway gave the ball to Green, a completely open opportunity.
Green hit a three-pointer with open hands and the Spurs started the game 5-0.
The scene was restless, and the Clippers' start was completely different from when they played the Trail Blazers before.
Paul also realized that the momentum was not right, and instead of giving the ball to Griffin, he motioned for Jordan Jr. to come out and play the pick-and-roll.
De Nagro is not a tactical coach, he is more of a decentralised Paul on the offensive end.
Jordan Jr. pulled to the free-throw line, and Paul blocked and caught up with a mid-range shot before Blair switched in place.
"Huh!"
Steady as a dog from mid-range, Paul broke the scoring drought on the court for the Clippers.
The fans also burst into cheers.
Paul flew away during his time with the Hornets, taking the Hornets to second place in the West at one point, and he was second only to Kobe Bryant in the MVP selection.
Although he suffered a serious meniscus injury after that, he is still a dominant point guard after the transition to play.
However, here Paul just scored two points on a mid-range shot, and in turn, Parker also scored two points on a pick-and-roll shot by Blair.
Paul held the ball and attacked again, and this time the Spurs were in place, and he distributed the ball to the bottom corner of Butler, who shot wide of the switch Green.
Coming back, Duncan misplaced Jordan Jr. under the basket, and the shot after turning also hit.
With the score at 20-10 on both sides for about half a quarter, the Spurs had built a 10-point lead.
Tang Tian sat and watched from the sidelines, and basically knew the strength of this Clippers.
"Empty City", in fact, is more like a "performance team", when encountering a team like the Nuggets, the internal and external lines are full of vitality, but when encountering a strong defensive team like the Spurs, the ability to attack is very limited.
But that's not the main problem, with Paul there, there's a lower limit to the offense.
The bigger problem is defense, not to mention the slow pace of Butler and Billups, the lack of timely retreat, the lack of tacit understanding between teammates, and the lack of even a formed defensive system.
In other words, the Spurs' offense was smooth and undisturbed, and they shot over 70 percent of the entire team for half a quarter.
More than 7 minutes into the game, Popovich rotated in advance, and Ginobili, Split, and Leonard came on as substitutes one after another.
The Clippers also replaced Bilops and Butler with Randy Foye and Ryan Gomez.
With 20 points knocked down in the first half, De Nagro also realized that there was a problem with the defense, but he only seemed to see the slow pace of the veteran players.
The Clippers' offense, Foye's catch-and-shoot after Griffin's block, he hit a three-point shot, and he felt good at first.
Looking back, the Spurs' Zip hammer tactic, Ginobili's breakaway split ball to Leonard, who also made an open three-pointer.
It's still a 10-point difference, and although the Clippers have made substitution adjustments, the defense on the court is still the same.
By the end of the first quarter, the Spurs had taken a 15-point lead at 35-20.
Derogany tried several ways in the first quarter, but none of them worked, and the game looked like it was going to be spent halftime.
During the first quarter break, Popovich called Tang Tian and Bonner up, which was to replace all the main forces.
Tang Tian took off his training clothes, shook his arms and moved his muscles.
The previous preseason was like an appetizer, and then it was his real NBA debut.
Coming back from the break, the Spurs side of Ginobili, Tang Tian, Leonard, Bonner and Split, a lineup with an average height of more than 2 meters.
The Clippers also rotated further, with Mo Williams and Foye on the guard line, Gomez and Kenyon Martin on the front line, and Reggie Evans on the center "rebounding maniac".
The Spurs' offense, Ginobili as the No. 1 position, directly played a Zip hammer tactic.
Tang Tian, Leonard, and Bonner all had three-point range, and the Clippers' defense expanded greatly at this time, and Ginobili scored directly after breaking through to the basket.
The margin was stretched to 17 points.
There was a commotion at the scene, and even some fans showed impatience in their eyes.
The Clippers have not been around for a long time, and they have only made the playoffs a handful of times, especially in recent years, which has led to a small number of loyal die-hard fans, many of whom came to watch the game because of Paul's arrival.
Now that the situation is unfavorable, these rich people in Los Angeles are more impatient than cheering.
Gomez's layup was blocked by Leonard, and there were even some sporadic boos from the scene.
The Spurs' fast break, Ginobili hit a three-point shot, and the difference has reached 20 points.
Some fans cheered on Ginobili.
It's already stupid to tell the difference.
Mo Williams broke through to the basket and was interfered with by Tang Tian and did not score, he had a small action of pushing people, but he did not push Tang Tian.
Tang Tian's previous thoughts off the field were right.
Any habit will be contagious, especially when this habit comes from the core of the team, the core of a team likes to complain about the referee, then slowly the whole team will become like to complain; If the core of a team can't play hard, then the team will look soft.
Paul likes small gestures, and this habit can easily affect his teammates.
Especially now that they are 20 points behind, the control of the lagging side will also become worse in this regard.
The Spurs' offense, Ginobili broke through the attraction package and gave the ball to Split under the basket, and Split dribbled the ball and prepared to dunk.
Martin, who was back on the defensive, directly slammed the whole person into Split's collapse.
This move was a bit big, and it almost caused a large-scale conflict between the two sides.
Popovich was so angry at this time that he rushed to the technical table and yelled at the referee.
His anger is not for no reason, it is normal to win or lose on the field, but if you use these means because you lose too much, you can't afford to lose.
And what really angered him was not that the Clippers couldn't afford to lose, but that this kind of action could easily lead to injury.
The Spurs have a lot of veterans, and old arms and legs are more likely to be injured, and the team has a lot of confidence this season, and if someone gets injured in the opening game, it is completely unacceptable.