Popovich's decision came as a surprise to everyone.

In such a strong dialogue, in the case of such an anxious score, let a rookie who was not selected play?

Or a Chinese?

TNT's commentary group was not calm for a moment.

Barkley couldn't help but exclaim, "Greg made such an amazing decision at such an important moment. ”

"I have to look forward to the performance of this young defender from China."

"Charles, how many points you can get this time without betting on him?" Kenny Smith on the side couldn't help but laugh.

O'Neal echoed, "If I were you, I would definitely bet that he wouldn't score more than eight points in this game, but I wouldn't add a bet." ”

"Let's say kissing a donkey's butt?"

"Hahaha."

The two members of the TNT commentary group, except for Barkley, laughed in unison.

Barkley had a cheeky smile on his face, obviously not caring about the teasing of the two companions, he just shrugged his shoulders, "Shaq, you're not wrong, I'm not optimistic about this Chinese defender, I don't think he will score more than 5 points in this game, and his highest score this season will not exceed 10 points." ”

"And then?" O'Neill's face was narrow, "Don't you have to take any practical actions to show your incomparably strong faith?" ”

"No, no, no, we'll see."

Barkley winked, causing the two of them to laugh again.

——

Deng Hongfei himself was very surprised.

There are 2:33 left in the third quarter.

The Spurs temporarily led by three points at 66-63, and the situation was staggered, and the slightest mistake could have lost the whole game.

Definitely not garbage time!

Absolute trust, absolute opportunity.

With gratitude, he replaced the sweaty Manu Ginobili.

Popovich's face was calm, and there was no fluctuation in his eyes.

Grizzlies head coach Jogel also raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw this, and he turned his head to look at the Spurs' involuted and scheming coach.

If someone else had made such an unusual substitution, Joggle probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it.

But Greg Popovich, a coach who rarely plays his cards with common sense, but never has a purpose, has forced him to take it one hundred and two percent seriously.

Before the game, they also did research on each player, and Deng Hongfei's resume is amazing.

He struggled to recall what he had seen.

McDonald's All-American High School Player, Gatorade All-American High School Player......

He had a brilliant resume as a teenager, but he didn't perform well in the NCAA and was seriously injured.

After losing the selection, he was signed by the Spurs, and the summer league showed a lot of strength, while the preseason was relatively general and didn't have too explosive performances......

Thinking of this, Qiao Ge looked suspiciously at Deng Hongfei, who had already played, and it was Bayless who was opposite him at this time.

Tall 1.91 meters tall and weighing 91 kilograms, he played an average of 21 minutes per game as the main rotation last season, with 8 points and 3 assists, and a 3-point shooting rate of nearly 40%.

"Let's see."

Joggle decided to focus 12 percent and wait and see.

He has in his hand the strongest shield of the front line - Tony Allen.

If Bayless was not good, he would immediately send the latter along.

The presence of such a strong defender in the squad reassures Jogger.

After Deng Hongfei came on the court, the Spurs' lineup was changed to:

No. 5: Thiago Split

Position four: Burrese Dior

No. 3: Cowai Leonard

No. 2: Deng Hongfei

No. 1: Tony Parker

On the Grizzly side, it is:

Position five: Costa Koufus

Position four: Zach Randolph

No. 3: Tyshawn Prince

No. 2: Jerry Bayless

No. 1: Mike Conley

It is worth mentioning that 34 minutes into the game, Mike Conley has a double-double of 14 points and 11 assists.

It is because of his tandem that each point of the grizzly bear can be connected.

On the other hand, the main control on the Spurs' side, Tony Parker, is a little cold right now.

But as a member of the GDP troika, a momentary downturn does not deny his ability.

As soon as Deng Hongfei came on the court, the French sports car completed a steal face-to-face and quickly advanced to the front court to make a layup.

At 68:63, the score was further stretched.

In a flash of light, Deng Hongfei had no chance to participate in the attack at all, but he was not in a hurry.

Since Bobo has him on the court, he just needs to focus on the game and play at the level he deserves.

Bayless is six or seven centimeters shorter than him.

On the offensive end, Deng Hongfei's energy was frequently consumed by running fast.

However, the latter's physical strength is long, and he has no problem keeping up at all, and in terms of footwork, he is not much slower than Bayless.

But the Grizzlies' inside line was all in line with Bayless' run.

Deng Hongfei couldn't get around it, and was blocked by death!

Seeing this, Burrece Dior immediately gave up the defense of the number four position and pounced on the outside.

Bayless's shooting is quite accurate, and he must not be allowed to have an open shot!

At the same time, Split cleverly switched to Randolph, but the person in front of Deng Hongfei became the opponent's center, Costa Kufus.

A white center with a height of 2.13 meters and a weight of 120 kilograms.

After Kufus understood the situation, he immediately took a step forward and turned his back to catch Deng Hongfei, who desperately tied up his horse and gritted his teeth to deal with it.

Such a misplaced situation made him directly face the opponent's big center!

It's a very dangerous and testing thing.

There is a huge disparity in height, and strength and weight also suffer.

Deng Hongfei was sweating profusely because the ball had been quickly transferred by Bayless to Koufus.

The latter's technique is not delicate, but he did not make any extra moves against Deng Hongfei in 197, and directly beat him raw and ate two steps, and turned his back to hold the ball and elbowed him, and pushed Deng Hongfei to the side.

As soon as you bend your feet, you will burst out!

Deng Hongfei's strength was completely inferior and could not be stopped at all.

But he was able to adjust in the shortest possible time.

My mind was full of one thought.

"I've just come up, and I can't just go down so easily!"

This is his NBA debut, and he definitely can't settle for mediocrity.

He's going to fight!

Paranoid and stubborn thoughts turn into a powerful motivation that drives the body to make extreme adjustments.

Before Kufus could lift the ball, he lunged forward and reached out to hit the surface of the basketball hard.

He slapped the ball out of Coofors's hand and scrambled to grab it.

Just about to get out of the ball quickly.

But Randolph and the two towers of Kufors, who had reacted, stood beside him in unison, teeth and claws.

Deng Hongfei was sandwiched in the middle, his vision was completely blocked, and he couldn't see anything.

He could only hold on to the ball while squeezing the "Big Black Bear" Zach Randolph and the white tower Koufors at the same time.

The teeth rattled and squeezed the muscles of the whole body.

"There must be no mistakes."

Although he got the opportunity to play in the first game, Deng Hongfei knew how precious this opportunity was.

Naturally, I cherish it very much!

During the confrontation, he couldn't find out where his teammates were, although familiar shouts could be heard from some directions.

But he couldn't find the space to give the ball out.

The next plate began to feel vain, and I couldn't hold on anymore.

When he was close to the end of the mountain, Deng Hongfei simply jumped out of bounds, his eyes locked on the tall Kufus, and at the same time smashed the ball into his lower three roads with all his might!

Kufos dodged it, and the ball bounced off his calf and bounced out of bounds!

"Whew."

Deng Hongfei didn't stabilize his center of gravity because he used too much force, and fell to the ground.

But he didn't feel any discomfort.

Instead, he wiped his sweat and let out a long sigh of relief.