The game against the Pistons was played in the evening, and Popovich's practice session was tactical.

Tang Tian had already mastered it, and thanks to Budenholzer's careful guidance yesterday, Leonard basically kept up with the progress, although Joseph was almost meaningful, but the gap was not too big.

One thing that was different from usual was that in the full-court confrontation, Parker, Donald, Leonard, Bonner and Split were in one group.

By the time the training is over, there will be a final answer to this anomaly.

Popovich finally announced the starting lineup for the night's game against the Pistons, which was their group.

13 people activated the list, and all 13 people made it to the list except for Ginobili, Duncan, and Jefferson.

Tang Tian smiled bitterly when he heard this decision.

It's really Popovich.

In the suspension season, there were only 2 preseason games in total, and he even played his rotation rest method, and the entire league is estimated to be the only one.

However, the average age of the Spurs is older, and playing the Pistons is not as strategic as the Thunder, so it is understandable to rotate at this time, and the team now has 16 people, and one must be cut, and the old man is also given enough opportunities.

The rotation can be understood, but Tang Tian is still a little surprised by the starter, after all, he has only played a preseason game, and it can be seen that Popovich also wants to really test him once.

If you don't play well, you probably have to start from the bench, and if you play well, you may really squeeze into the rotation lineup.

So this game is even more crucial than the last game against the Thunder.

"Don, what did you say yesterday?" As soon as he returned to the locker room, Ginobili came up with his shoulders hooked.

"Damn it, Manu, did you know beforehand?" Tang Tian remembered the chatter he had with Ginobili yesterday, he had to buy pizza for the whole team.

"God testifies, I don't know, and you said it yourself." Ginobili had a look of irrelevance to me.

Tang Tian could only smile helplessly.

But it's not a bad thing, buying pizza for the whole team, it's also a way for him to build a good relationship with his teammates as a newcomer.

The evening game was at 6 o'clock, and Tang Tian booked the game at 4 o'clock, and he beckoned Leonard and Joseph to help get the locker room and give it to those old teammates.

He didn't say that he was treated, and most of the team members gave them a thumbs up when they saw it.

This is different from tricks, this is what their rookies take the initiative to do, and these veteran players have a little touch in their hearts.

It was not only the veteran players who felt it, Leonard and Joseph also looked sideways at Tang Tian for a while, they just helped move it, and they were praised by the veteran players, in a sense, Tang Tian helped them to have a relationship together.

This pizza is definitely great value for money.

After eating pizza and resting for a while, the players began to change their clothes and prepare for the evening game.

Compared with the Chesapeake Energy Stadium, the home of the Thunder, the Spurs' stadium attendance is relatively low, and the attendance rate in the preseason is only about 30%.

The Spurs have steadily entered the playoffs for more than ten consecutive years, coupled with the simple style of play, the attendance rate is average, not to mention that this is a preseason game, and the opponent is still a rebuilding Pistons.

There are also advantages to fewer people, and in the front row of the audience, there are a large number of fans holding up the "Godfather" sign.

"GDP" is no longer familiar to Spurs fans, and now a popular rookie has arrived, and the last game was eye-catching, and the fans' liking is naturally getting stronger and stronger.

Tang Tian was a little surprised that so many fans came to the scene to support him, and he also stretched out his hand and waved to them.

After a simple pre-match warm-up, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.

The Pistons' side has a regular starting lineup, with the point guard being "Prince Kid" Rodney Starkey, who once asked Iverson to play as a substitute for him, the scoring guard is "Old Prince" Prince, the forward is Kyle Singler and Jason Markhill, and the center is Greg Monroe.

Five starters and two rookies, after the disintegration of the "Five Tigers", the Pistons have a long way to go to rebuild.

On the Spurs' side......

When they saw the Spurs' starting lineup, most of the fans had a "again" expression, but some fans were a little excited because they saw that Tang Tian was also in the starting lineup.

"Kyle, is that the 'godfather' who killed you?" Starkey said with a playful look on his face after seeing the Spurs' starting lineup.

"Yes." Singler nodded with a calm face.

His four-year college happiness was ruined by Tang Tian, and he was not selected by the Pistons until the 33rd pick in the draft, which was lower than Tang Tian, if it wasn't for Tang Tian's lore, Duke won the championship, then he would definitely be more than this pick, in his opinion, Tang Tian ruined his entire life.

"Greg, you also lost to this guy when you were in the Great Eastern Alliance?" Starkey was very gossipy, and then turned to Monroe and asked.

Monroe nodded, he didn't have that much hatred for Tang Tian, but Starkey's words also made him recall some unpleasant experiences.

"The Spurs put on such a bench lineup to beat us, obviously they didn't take us seriously, and there are people in it who have a holiday with you, that's right, let's beat them up hard and let them know the price of despising us!" Starkey averaged a team-high number of points and assists per game last season, and he spoke like a team boss.

Both Singler and Monroe nodded, and there was nothing wrong with what Starkey said.

Prince also nodded, the young people of the team are so motivated, he also has to be serious, on the other side, after all, it is also the Spurs that the five of them defeated at the beginning.

"Toot!"

A long whistle sounded from the sidelines, and the starters from both sides came on one after another.

Split and Monroe's jump ball.

Monroe flicked the ball back into the Pistons' half, and the visitors had the opportunity to take the lead.

Starkey dribbled to the front court, directly beckoned Monroe to mention the free throw line to block and dismantle, after the ball was dismantled, he rushed directly to the basket, Split's pace was a little unable to keep up, and Starkey flew to the basket and scored.

Although he was ridiculed by fans as "Prince Ji", his own strength is not weak.

"Thiago, he can't shoot, you can go inside and collect some when you're defending." Tang Tian suggested to Split at this time, just as he had said to Oriage when he was at UConn.

Splitt nodded, although he had a general relationship with Tang Tian, but after eating the pizza sent by Tang Tian before, he instinctively had a good impression of him.

The Spurs' offense, Parker organized the offense at the top of the circle.

Among the three "GDP", "G" and "D" are in their thirties, but Parker's "P" is just 29 years old, which is at the peak of his age.

That's why Popovich didn't let him rest.

You must know that taking turns does not mean admitting defeat, letting veterans rest and scouting newcomers is part of it, and winning is also part of it.