Arenas has had a bit of a gloomy month in the last month, and after Leon left Boston to replace Cowens, his stats have steadily declined, and his points per game average has dropped from 19.3, the third player on the team, to 15.7, falling behind Michael Reed. In the entire 15 games, he averaged only 12.7 points per game, and the decline in statistics is only the surface, and the deeper reflection is the reduction of his tactical position in the team.

During his time in charge, Cowens' coaching style, defensive training and pace of play were very different from Leon's. As an assistant coach for the Celtics, Cowens is mainly responsible for the basic technical training of the players, especially the defensive practice of the interior players, and he is relatively rarely involved in the team's tactical design and practice.

So he had to pick up on his style with the Hornets after becoming acting head coach, relying on hard work on defense and grinding on offense, exactly the same way as in the 90s, and the Celtics' half-court offense increased by 30 percent, and the overall offensive rounds dropped by 12 percent.

In many cases, Arenas could no longer make it all the way to the three-point line, opting for a breakaway, a pull-up jumper or a quick inside-splitting shot, but instead slowly passing the ball through the halfcourt to Pierce or Walker to complete the offense, and he himself acted as an off-ball attacker.

This made Arenas very uncomfortable, and at the same time, Cowens was not able to take the time to correct Arenas's mistakes in organizing the attack every day, as Leon did, and he did not have the energy and eyesight. So Arenas' playing time is also declining, and many times Cowens prefers Steve Kerr, who is proficient in positional offense, and if it weren't for Cole's age, Cowens might have simply let Kerr start.

Now that Arenas has finally made it to Leon's return, he is also one of the most excited people on the team, and he has already figured out that he is going to make a big splash in tonight's game and cut points on the head of the Spurs.

Leon understood Arenas' feelings, and instead of trying to persuade Arenas to calm down, he wanted to make the most of Arenas' excitement. Now he is like a bomb that has been silent for a long time, Leon is his fuse, if he is not careful, he may injure himself, but if he is allowed to explode in the opponent's position, there will be unexpected killing effects.

The game started at 6 p.m. ET, more than an hour earlier than usual, and although tickets were sold out early, some fans were not yet in attendance. Because it wasn't the weekend and some fans were stuck in traffic jams on the way to North Shore Gardens, the arena looked a little sparse, with frequent empty spaces like Raiko's hair.

In this yet-to-be-hot atmosphere, the Spurs' starting five, dressed in black away jerseys, walked onto the court with a cold face and started the game with a jump ball from David Robinson and Durham Porter.

"Balls from Ballam Potter and Robinson...... The Celtics' starters today are Durham Porter, Walker, Brown, Reed and Arenas, just like in the previous game. Paul Pierce is rumoured to be fit again, but he hasn't been promoted to the starting line-up and there are still some concerns about his fitness. Kenny Smith has commented on the Celtics for two games in a row, and he knows that when Pierce was out injured before, Cowens sent Durham Porter as center and Walker as small forward.

In this way, the defensive ability and height of the interior line are enhanced, and the main frontcourt rebounds in the offense make up for the lack of tactical coordination of the team.

'I don't think Leon is doing this out of health concerns, a groin strain isn't a big deal, and if he can play, he can start. Besides, Pierce has not missed many games, and there is no problem with starting at all. Leon did that, I think he was trying to use Baller and Brown on the court at the same time to deal with the Spurs' twin towers, after all, it was a joke to rely on Walker to deal with Duncan, did he think Walker was me? Barkley commented on Celtic's starting line-up, except for the last sentence, which makes sense.

While talking, the Spurs who won the ball have begun their first offense, and the Spurs are playing the traditional inside-out tactics, and it is not a waste to have Duncan's super strong point. Tony Parker handed the ball to Duncan as soon as he opened the game, and Duncan, the main defender, was naturally the Celtics' best low-post defender, PJ Brown.

PJ Brown has solid defensive skills in the low post, a stiff body, a lot of experience, and a lot of power, and arguably the best person to deal with Duncan. But Duncan was undoubtedly very smart, he saw that Brown was trying hard to defend himself, and his position was not deep after receiving the ball, so after making a fake cover with Parker, suddenly Sigma turned to face the basket and made a jump shot at 45 degrees on the left side, PJ Brown couldn't block it, and the ball hit the board into the basket.

The Spurs took the lead with two points from Duncan's signature hit. Leon stood on the sidelines and watched Duncan score first, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to contain Duncan directly on the court, even by a good defender like PJ Brown. If you add Damham Porter, it's even worse, it will only empty Robinson completely.

Therefore, Leon is not on Durham Porter at all to be able to fight the Spurs Twin Towers on the defensive end, he really has only one purpose, since there is no way to contain Duncan on the court, then let Duncan stay off the court.

……………………

Popovich has always adhered to the principle of using the twin towers on the defensive end, trying to let David Robinson face the more difficult one to play against, so that Duncan can can focus more on offense and defense.

Popovich, knowing the Celtics' starters, decided to put David Robinson on a somewhat difficult guy to deal with PJ Brown, who has a strong threat from mid-range and frontcourt rebounding. As for the young seedling of Durham Porter, hand him over to Duncan, and Duncan will be able to use both one-man defense and assist defense, anyway, this guy's threat on the offensive end is almost zero.

After Duncan scored, it was the Celtics' turn to attack, they did not play a quick secondary attack with a fast serve in the backcourt as in the past, in fact, it was difficult to play in the face of the Spurs, because the Spurs' defensive speed was too fast, and the formation of the defensive formation was also extremely fast.

Then before the referee blows the defense for three seconds, pretend to grab Daimpoter with his hand and move a few steps under his feet, which means that he is staring at the opponent, and the referee will naturally not blow the whistle.

At this time, PJ Brown suddenly stepped up and was 45 degrees above the left side, and Arenas was 45 degrees outside the left side of the three-point line. At the same time, Durham Potter mentioned the position at the top of the arc, and the two men made a double cover for Arenas on the inside!

Brown's first block was very solid, blocking Parker completely, and David Robinson was caught between Brown and Durham Porter and couldn't go to Arenas, and when Arenas went around Durham Porter again, the right side was completely empty, and he could choose to make a pull-up jumper. But he didn't, but rushed in with an acceleration.

Duncan was fully exposed to Arenas, and Sty-Jackson in the bottom right corner wanted to leave Reed behind for the defense, but he was a little late because he didn't dare to let Reed go, who had been a very solid and lethal three-point shooting point for the Celtics in the last month, and Popovich told him to take good care of Reed.

In the face of the hole, Duncan was quite calm, the defensive pace was not chaotic, and the long arms were raised, all the way to the basket by sticking to Arenas. That's when Arenas' speed and shoulder width came into play, and he started to shake Duncan off a little bit, and then held the ball with both hands and shoulders against Duncan for a strong layup!

"Beep!" The referee's whistle blew and Duncan was given a defensive foul, and the referee decided that Duncan had violated Arenas' cylinder, which was the benefit of shoulder width, which was thicker than the average player.

Duncan's eyes widened with an innocent look, but that didn't change the referee's decision, as Arenas hit both free throws to equalize the score.

Popovich couldn't sit still all of a sudden, he saw at a glance Fox Leon's trick and wanted to use a foul to knock Duncan down in advance! But if Duncan was so easily fouled early, he wouldn't be Tim Duncan, and Duncan is one of the league's best interior players in foul control.

Sure enough, in the next few rounds, Duncan was careful on the defensive end, and at the same time he was still unstoppable on the offensive end, the Celtics insisted on not wrapping Duncan, and Duncan scored six points in a row on PJ Brown's head with his hot touch. On the Celtics side, in addition to Arenas' free throws, Antoine Walker also returned a three-pointer, 5:6, and the two sides had a back and forth at the beginning.

"The key to making Duncan's fouls is not to get the upper hand in the confrontation with Duncan, but to have the advantage in the confrontation with Tony Parker, and as long as he passes Parker, Duncan will be exposed. There will be double cover in the opening, but not much, and it won't be useful if you use it too much. You have to rely on your speed and get rid of it, remember that you only have five minutes, you are the demoman, you have to blast Duncan in five minutes, otherwise your first quarter is a failure. Arenas, who was in possession on the field, remembered Leon's words in his head.

Leon gave him five minutes and set up a tactical fit for him, asking for an all-out assault on the interior in an effort to shorten Duncan's playing time in the first quarter and make him foul off the floor.

The first double cover was unexpectedly successful, and the next two attempts were unsuccessful, and Duncan's defense was not leaky. Although Arenas is known for his projection, his pace is also extremely fast, as Leon said, he only has five minutes, and after five minutes, not only does Duncan's departure make a lot of sense, but his ankle also needs to rest.

Tony Parker, Arenas looked at the defender from France, Leon is well known for using him to get Kerr and Anderson from the Spurs, but it turns out that the Spurs' trade-off makes sense, and this is indeed a good defender. Arenas has been compared to Parker on more than one occasion, with some arguing that the Celtics should have chosen Parker instead of Arenas.

The thought flashed, and Arenas started with all his might, obviously Parker's defense was not experienced enough, and he didn't stick up in time to sense Arenas's position with his hands. Arenas had a quick start and a change of direction, and Parker was nearly shaken down.

At this point, PJ Brown had pulled David Robinson away, and Dyham Porter opened a way for Arenas, and there was only Duncan under the basket again, which was a good opportunity for Arenas.

At this time, Arenas is not holding a basketball in his hand, but a dynamite bag, and he is not trying to put the ball in the basket, but to blow Duncan out with the dynamite bag!

In the aerial confrontation, Arenas didn't rush to the layup at all, but grabbed the ball with both hands and raised his two arms and picked them up, directly touching Duncan's arm - this is what Sigfried taught him.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle blew again, and Arenas watched Popovich on the sidelines angrily yell "He's just cheating on fouls", and he knew he had succeeded, and he blasted the Spurs' toughest fortress, at least for the first quarter, Duncan had to spend on the bench. (To be continued.) )