The San Antonio Spurs were a standout performer, and instead of being easily pulled apart by the Pacers, they caused a lot of problems for an invincible team.

In the second quarter, Henson's style of play to force the Spurs into positional battles was not successful. Popovich's old fox played Henson again, and he deliberately forced Henson to slow down the tempo. From the beginning of the first quarter, Popovich deliberately used a fast pace to confuse Henson. He knew Henson would find a way to contain the Spurs' quick three-pointers on the counter-attack, so he was ready for a positional battle.

To be precise, the strategy of the first quarter of the game was entirely to prepare Henson to turn the game into a slow tempo. Popovich has tried Henson's small lineup, so he's going to take the lead today. Contain each other with a fast tempo first, and then gain an advantage in the slow pace that you are familiar with.

So in the second quarter of the game, after entering a slow-paced positional offense, the Spurs still played like a fish in water.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Parker took advantage of Duncan's cover to get inside, and then played Paul with a fake fax action and successfully scored.

Subsequently, Duncan hit the inside line again. His turnaround jumper in the low post was a little unbelievably consistent. West had done everything he could to reach out and interfere, and Duncan's heel wasn't much off the ground. However, that's it, Duncan was stunned to throw the ball into the ball steadily.

Although the Pacers' offense also played beautifully, such as Paul assisting Leonard to repeatedly break through Belinelli, such as George taking advantage of his height advantage several times in heads-up to shoot against Joseph.

But in positional battles, you grind back and forth, and I grind back and forth, which is obviously not the rhythm that Henson wants to see. He was hungry to pull away quickly and to go into the second half with a safe side.

In the middle of the second quarter, Henson tried to pick up the pace. But with the tempo firmly in the hands of the Spurs, his plan still didn't work out. In this way, the Spurs held the lead until the end of the first half!

58-50, the Spurs maintained the advantage for 24 minutes with efficient offense and excellent team defense. Everyone was amazed at how strong the Spurs were, after all, it's been a long time since anyone has seen a team that can overwhelm the Pacers for an entire half.

Reporters at the scene immediately rushed up to interview Popovich, who was still sad despite taking the half-time lead. But the reporters are used to it, because the old man rarely shows joy on his face.

"How do you rate the Spurs' performance in the first half? I don't want to judge, because we're still far from winning. Facing the camera, Popovich just replied hastily and hurried away.

Reporters thought that Popovich was just sending a message to the players about "don't take it lightly" as he used to, but this time, Popovich was telling the truth.

There was another 24 minutes until the end of the game, a full half. The Spurs are still far from winning......

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The home team's dressing room was quiet at half-time, with barely any sound to be heard except for the heavy breathing of the players.

As always, Henson didn't immediately set up his tactics as soon as he returned to the dressing room. He's still in the habit of letting the players take a breath before they speak.

No matter how tense the situation is, Henson never rushes at half-time. Because he has always believed that if the manager is in a hurry, the players' emotions will not be stable.

However, since February, there has been no team that has made Henson nervous. The San Antonio Spurs are still the first.

"Alright," Henson clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to himself first, "In the first half, the Spurs played better than we thought. ”

Henson finished speaking, and saw some of the players nod slightly.

"It's mainly because the Spurs have been playing at a pace they like. Their quick offense at the beginning and positional offense in the second quarter of the game were both impressive. And our problem is that we can't improve the speed. So in the second half, I'm going to play one big and four small. ”

As soon as Henson's words came out, the players' eyes lit up. One big and four small, fast-paced, multi-offensive rounds...... It's their favorite thing!

"In the second half, Antetokounmpo, you replace West. Your task is very simple, run and call me. Everyone except Horford had to hit the front court directly the moment he got the rebound. ”

Hearing this, Vogel was a little worried. At the beginning of the game, it was precisely because the Spurs' fast-paced offense played well that Henson switched to a slower pace. Now that I'm taking the initiative to speed up the pace again, don't you go back again?

But soon, Henson answered the questions he hadn't yet asked.

"When the time comes, the Spurs' offense will definitely be fast. And all I need you to do is, no matter what, keep an eye on your alignment! Even if a Spurs player is released to the basket, I don't need you to help defend or make up for it. Keep an eye on your alignment, that's the point of defense. The purest one-on-one defense, yes, I need the purest one-on-one defense! ”

Henson held out two hands, then one finger in each. The Spurs like to win with team offense, so start with the individual to break up the opponent's team offense!

And Henson believes in the individual defensive ability of the Pacers players. If they use the purest one-on-one marking, then their quick three-point shooting in the first quarter of the game should not be able to play.

At first, Henson tried to play slow to fast, but in the second quarter, he proved wrong when he fell into Popovich's trap. Now, Henson is going to be fast. He wants to see if the aging Spurs can keep up with the Pacers.

"In the first half, the Spurs played very solidly. I have to say that the state of the Heat team is indeed quite different from that of the Spurs. Mike, do you think the Spurs have a chance to keep the situation going until the end of the second half of my game? ”

The second half of the game is about to begin, and ESPN's commentators are about to start warming up for the second half. Kevin. Harlan was the first to ask a question when he discovered that Mike. Brin looked thoughtful throughout the break. Presumably, I was thinking about the game.

"It's hard, I don't know what Coach Henson would do. But the only thing I know for sure is that there's no way the guy is sitting still in the locker room. In the second half, we're going to see a different Pacers. ”

Mike. As soon as Brin finished answering, the players from both sides returned to the court. A minute later, the second-half starters of both sides stepped onto the hardwood floor. Horford prepares to serve the ball.

It seems that everything is unusual. But the scene burst into violent cheers. Brin also curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

Yang Nis. Antetokounmpo, the first-year "monster" who didn't have much of a chance in the playoffs, came into play. It's not that Antetokounmpo can stop the Spurs, but Antetokounmpo's presence represents Henson's determination to speed up the game.

In the second half, I'm afraid it will be quite good.

On the first offense of the second half, the Pacers missed a shot. However, in the next defensive round, the Pacers didn't let the Spurs score.

Duncan originally wanted to sit and eat that emaciated rookie, but when he was in the low post, he realized that it was not Antetokounmpo who was defending him, but Horford!

Split was wrapped around Antetokounmpo's long hand and couldn't catch the ball at all. This scene made Popovich extremely familiar.

In the regular season this season, Henson used a small lineup to break up the Spurs! That's why, Popovich, is going to strike first today. Because, he is afraid that the pace of the game will be beaten up.

As everyone knows, Henson is so bold and dares to be fast against fast.

Duncan rolls over and hooks his hands, but even with "big fundamentals", it is impossible to hit every attack.

Antetokounmpo stuck his position and then focused on grabbing the defensive rebound.

"Everybody except Horford has to go straight to the front court the moment they get the rebound."

Henson's words rang in Antetokounmpo's ears, and he didn't look for anyone, nor did he pay attention to Split, who was about to interfere with him, but took that incredibly oversized step and rushed towards the front!

Don't look at Henson, he just replaced West with Antetokounmpo, but once Antetokounmpo runs, the Spurs' defensive setup is instantly messed up.

Parker vs. Paul, Belinelli vs. Leonard, Joseph vs. George. So, who's going to do Antetokounmpo?

In the first half of the game, since West and Horford were not very involved in the fast break, the 3-3 arrangement on the Spurs' side could still be applied. Now, Antetokounmpo can easily shake off Duncan and Split to join a quick counterattack, and 3 defenses and 3 defenses become 3 defenses and 4 in an instant.

"Damn it!" It wasn't until Antetokounmpo was already outside the three-point line that Parker, who followed Paul to the bottom corner, decided to go up to help defend.

However, the "French Little Sportsman" is not proud of its physical fitness. Faced with the sudden attack of the huge "monster", Parker was at a loss.

When he reacted, the Frenchman's eyes suddenly went black, and a huge impact followed. Parker was knocked straight to the ground, and before he could fall to the ground, he heard a loud bang from the basket.

"Boom!"

"Hey." Popovich sighed and covered his forehead. It's miserable, it's miserable.

"Separate people and deduct them! Antetokounmpo didn't save any face for his seniors! Look at the way this kid roars, I'm sure Coach Henson doesn't fall in love with him by chance. Again, his substitutions had an immediate effect! ”

Not only did the Pacers score two points, but it also boosted the team's morale. 8 points difference? The Pacers will be able to catch it up soon!

"Steady, don't panic, steady!" Popovich stood on the sidelines and yelled, but this was a sign that the Spurs were starting to panic.