Facing the Spurs without Duncan, the Kings led in the first quarter and then played mediocre, just like Jimmy. Butler's performance was average, he exploded in the first quarter and then returned to the way he was, and Jimmy's performance was a reflection of the Kings' halftime performance.

After halftime, the Kings led the Spurs by two points, 53-51.

Back in the locker room, Coach Westphale stood in front of everyone with a serious face, he held his chin and thought for a while, and slowly said: "Everyone, listen up, although the score is currently leading in the first half, the team is not dominant in any way. We didn't play well today, and if it wasn't for Jimmy's performance in the first quarter, we wouldn't have been able to lead the Spurs until now, and in the second half everyone adjusted and focused, and the rest of the game was not easy to deal with......"

Saying that, Coach Westafar looked at Tyrek and Cousins, the team's two core inside and outside did not play at the level they should have played as well as they should have been, and both of them were lost in the Spurs' defense in the first half.

Tyrek shot 3 of 11, got 10 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, and the shooting rate of less than 30% can show that Tyreek's condition is not good in this game, and the Spurs also did a good job of defending Tyreek.

Cousins is currently only 2 of 8 shots, 4 points and 4 rebounds is obviously unqualified for this super center who is currently averaging 20+10 per game, and the Spurs' Blair and Split take turns defending Cousins, especially Split, who came off the bench.

Brazilian center Split was drafted by Spurs in 2007, but Split, who is still under contract with the Spanish side, did not join until 2010. As the double MVP of the regular season finals of the 2010 Spanish Primera League, Split has comprehensive internal skills and outstanding defensive strength.

Although Blair started as a starter in this game, it was Split who got more playing time in this game, and Split, who has been tempered in Europe for many years, limited Cousins to death in this game, and it was difficult to push into the inside, and the middle distance was defended by Split, and Cousins was completely locked.

At the same time, on the offensive end, Split also played his own characteristics, and he felt very good today, repeatedly winning inside singles, shooting 7 of 7 in the half, scoring 17 points and 6 rebounds, and completely blowing up Cousins at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.

The game in Jimmy. In the case of Butler's unexpected explosion, the Kings still can't close the gap with the Spurs, a big reason is that Tyrek and Cousins didn't play completely, and Split also did whatever he wanted on the inside of the Kings.

In the face of the Spurs, if no one takes the lead in the offensive and wants to rely on teamwork to hold on to the old Spurs, this is obviously not good for the young Kings, the Kings are still a little immature in front of the Spurs, and in the second half the Kings need the individual ability of Tyrick and Cousins, or need someone else to step up.

Coach Westfair is also a coach with a lot of experience, he led the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals in his first season as a coach, and at the same time, when he was a player, Coach Westphale led the Phoenix Suns to play the first "small ball offense" in history, and he was very familiar with this mobile attack mode, which is very consistent with Tyreck's memory of the future trend of the league's small ball era. Combined with the individual abilities of Tyrek and Cousins, the Kings now also prefer a small-ball style of play, the team's style of play is fast and sharp, and coach Westfair is also very good at developing young players, and the Kings' 14-1 record at the beginning of the season has a lot to do with coach Westphal.

Faced with the situation faced by the team at this time, Coach Westfair needed to make adjustments, although Jimmy was full of hands in the first half, but the team also fell into a situation of blind feeding the ball, the fastest break rhythm that was best not played, coupled with the Spurs' targeted defense, so that the Kings were too caught in the half-court offense. So Coach Westafar removed Jimmy in the second half. Butler and West, with Garcia and Cosby, were brought on to strengthen the team's mobility and ability to open up space.

Sure enough, the change worked well, and Split, who played the best game in the Spurs in the first half, was particularly uncomfortable, although he was very tall and bouncing, but his mobility was average, and his shortcomings were highlighted in the fast-paced offense and defense.

The Kings quickly hit the Spurs in the sore spot, and Cuaron. Butler, Garcia, and Cosby fully opened up the space, and Cousins basically responded near the high post, which gave Tyrek plenty of room to break through. At the same time, Tyrek as a point of possession must be the focus of the Spurs' defense, and the rest of the personnel also have the possibility of running out of position. Relying on a whirlwind of fast play, the Spurs' slow positional battle lineup on the court was instantly stunned......

After all, the Spurs have legendary coach Greg. Popovich, the sudden turn of the situation on the court at this moment made him immediately roar and call a timeout.

After the timeout, the Spurs also made a change of lineup, and the Spurs lineup at this time was Parker, Green, Leonard, Jefferson, and Bonner. This season, the Spurs and Duncan have gradually completed the transformation with each other, and the Spurs have gradually started to run, but due to Duncan's absence in this game, the Spurs have played the positional offense that they used to be best at.

Originally, the Spurs did a good job of bringing the tempo in their favor, but the Kings' change after halftime forced the Spurs to make adjustments at this moment. With four outside lines and Bonner, an atypical interior line that is completely floating on the outside, this seemingly non-mainstream small lineup actually played an extremely unexpected effect.

In the face of the lineup of the Kings, the Spurs' small lineup has stronger outside attack power, and the overall offensive ability is actually stronger than that of the Kings.

Defensively, the Spurs completely abandoned the orthodox interior defense, but at this time, the Kings were also empty inside, and the two teams were also a variety of misplaced defenses plus round conversion defenses.

In the small lineup competition between the two teams, Bonner played an unexpected effect, the man known as the red mamba by the fans, the tactical execution is extremely strong, fully implemented the intention of the head coach, his three-point deterrence completely contained Cousins, the defensive end is a small lineup, the positioning between positions is blurred, the defense and defense changes are frequent, Bonner is heavy enough to withstand Cousins, and the defect of slow movement is hidden by the team.

With a quick advance by the Spurs' Parker and distributed the ball to Bonner in the bottom corner, Bonner hit a three-pointer in a "cannon-carrying" posture, and the Spurs actually stretched the difference between the two teams to as many as 7 points......