The Magic and Spurs Finals are about to begin, with the Magic winning 61 in the regular season and the Spurs winning 58 in the regular season, so the first game of the Finals is played at Orlando's home court.

The finals are still the 232 format, David Stern did not listen to Sun Zhuo's suggestion to change the finals system, and what has not changed is Sun Zhuo's proposed all-star system, award system, etc., it can be said that any suggestion from Sun Zhuo, David Stern has fallen on deaf ears, which makes Sun Zhuo both disappointed and angry.

The Spurs have arrived in Orlando, and they have also been interviewed by the media, when asked how to evaluate the Magic team, Popovich said: "The Orlando Magic is the youngest and most talented team in the league, their average age of the starting lineup is only 24 years old, and we are a group of old guys compared to them, not that experience will have an advantage when you are older, after all, basketball is still a game for young people." This series is going to be a test for us, everyone knows that Son is too good, he's a two-time MVP, Monta Ellis is the most improved player in this class, especially Dwight Howard, we can't stop him at all, even Tim Duncan is compared to him, he's the most terrible interior player in the league right now. ”

Popovich has always liked to feed poisoned milk to opponents, Sun Zhuo returned it all in an interview, and praised all the advantages of the Spurs, but Dwight Howard is different from Sun Zhuo, he was very happy after hearing Popovich's praise, and he really thinks that he is the most terrible interior player in the league, and his future achievements will be above Duncan, he took all the poisoned milk and swallowed it in his stomach.

June 7, 2007, Magic home, Game 1 of the Finals.

Finally ushered in the most powerful and final opponent, the fans of the Magic scene also showed unprecedented enthusiasm and excitement, maybe this magic team is young, but they believe that this young team can do anything.

CCTV, Yu Jia: "It's a pity that the Rockets lost to the Spurs 1:4, the Spurs are too strong, it is indeed not something that Yao Mai can shake, it depends on the combination of Sun Zhuo and Howard, however, the Spurs are so sophisticated, the Magic is so young, this series, Sun Zhuo may not be so easy." ”

Zhang Weiping also nodded in agreement: "You look at the starting list of the Magic, Sun Zhuo is 25 years old, Monta Ellis and Howard are both 22 years old, Danny Granger is 24 years old, Tekoglu is 28 years old, none of them are more than 30 years old, and the Spurs' lineup is a few years older than them in terms of average age, but the Spurs' players must not be considered old, they are both experienced and at their peak, the Phoenix Suns played a quite amazing season, and the series also performed extremely well, all of them were eliminated by the Spurs, and the Magic is dangerous this year." ”

In Zhang Weiping's heart, aside from his personal preference for Sun Zhuo, he is more optimistic about the Spurs, although the Spurs and Magic have won championships before, but the Magic defeated the Lakers who have not even won the first round this season in the finals, and the Spurs have won the championship but they are the strongest opponents to defeat.

In addition, in terms of coaching, Coach Hill is also clearly inferior to Popovich.

At the Amway Arena, Kobe Bryant and Wade were all watching the game, LeBron James has not yet come, and it is said that James will join the Orlando summer training after the finals.

Carey Mulligan was also at the scene, sitting side by side with Kobe's wife Vanessa, Carey was dressed in a white dress like a magical little fairy, while Vanessa was dressed as a black stunner, showing a proud career line, even more charming, the two are completely different styles, sitting together, but there is no mismatch, and hand in hand, chatting very speculatively.

"Sun, you have to work hard this time, you must win, Kerry said, if you lose, you will be alone tonight." Vanessa saw Sun Zhuo coming over and took the initiative to joke.

Kerry didn't want Sun Zhuo to have pressure in the game, she knew that the Spurs were a strong opponent, and the Magic players were still young after all, and the possibility of defeat was very big, so she quickly smiled and explained: "I didn't say that, honey, don't be pressured." ”

Vanessa pouted, she was just joking, she didn't expect Kerry to be so serious, and said helplessly: "Kerry, you are too gentle with him, you have to say some cruel things to men, they will be more powerful on the basketball court, you know?" ”

Speaking of this, Kobe Bryant on the side interjected: "Yes, Vanessa does this often, after Sun scored 81 points, she yelled at me all day long, 'You hurry up and give me 82 points!'" That's why I did it. ”

"Hahaha." Wade laughed first, he didn't know if it was a joke, if not, he should use laughter to cover up the embarrassment at this time, if the real reason for Kobe Bryant's 82 points was Vanessa, then Sun Zhuo might have bad thoughts about Vanessa.

"Vanessa, this woman ......" Sun Zhuo couldn't help but glance at Vanessa again, from her eyes, Sun Zhuo felt that Kobe's words were not a joke, Vanessa didn't care at all, she was very queenly and straightened her chest, and she was closer to Kerry, who covered her body tightly.

Sun Zhuo couldn't help but look at the two of them, Vanessa did win from the neck down and was very proud, but Vanessa was very disgusted by this.

"Show what? Are you proud to be older than my girlfriend? Or do you want to express that I can't get a woman with your size? Hmph, even if it's you, I can come openly. ”

Sun Zhuo soon returned to the court, and Kobe Bryant regretted bringing Vanessa to the scene, he knew that this woman would definitely not be happy to see Sun Zhuo win another championship.

Soon it was time to play, and at this moment, nothing could compare to the victory or defeat of the finals.

Yu Jia: "Game 1 of the Finals officially began, with the Magic starting, Monta Ellis, Danny Granger, Sun Zhuo, Turkoglou, Dwight Howard, the Spurs starting, Tony Parker, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, Tim Duncan and Oberto. ”

Zhang Weiping: "The Magic must strive for a win at these two home courts, because the next will be three consecutive away games, and once the Spurs get the match point, the Magic will be more dangerous." ”

Sun Zhuo is the hottest star in the league today, with strong individual ability, and Popovich is also the most experienced coach today, everyone wants to see how they face each other, what kind of method will Popovich use against Sun Zhuo and the entire Magic team?

Sun Zhuo first held the ball to test the Spurs' defense against himself, first singled Bowen one-on-one, and found that Bowen's defense was more focused on preventing Sun Zhuo's breakthrough, once Sun Zhuo wanted to break through, Bowen and other Spurs players reacted very sensitively, once the Spurs' basket will be threatened, Sun Zhuo will be immediately trapped.

Zhang Weiping said: "The Spurs are giving Sun Zhuo space to shoot, let Sun Zhuo go to the middle and long range to shoot, and not let him break through the basket to make damage, in this way, the Magic's shooter group will have no effect, and many outside shooting opportunities are passed by Sun Zhuo to break through the attraction bag." ”

"Sun Zhuo's shooting is not bad, can this limit Sun Zhuo?" Yu Jia had some questions.

On the court, Popovich was very calm, that's right, this game, and even the entire series, planned to defend Sun Zhuo so much, not give him a chance to break through, let him shoot in the middle and long distances, and only let Sun Zhuo shoot in the frame, once he hit the back, he immediately wrapped it, and did not give Sun Zhuo the opportunity to shoot in the bottom corners on both sides, in addition to these two points, Sun Zhuo shot casually in other positions, and he also wished he could shoot.

"Sun relied on the accuracy of shooting and bottom corner three-pointers, confusing many people, making people think that Sun's shooting is also a top-notch, unsolvable existence, but the data shows that his mid-to-long-range shooting threat is not big, his most terrifying thing is speed and amazing bounce, as long as I make him unable to run and jump, Sun is not so terrible."

Popovich is worthy of being Sun Zhuo's "New Year's friend" and is extremely clear about Sun Zhuo's abilities.

Sun Zhuo knew that his current mid-to-long-range shooting ability was not enough, and he did not force his shot, but gave more opportunities to Howard.

"Sun Zhuo didn't play by himself, the ball was passed to Howard again, Howard beat Tim Duncan, he couldn't squeeze it, Duncan was really stable, yo, not bad, he made a foul this time." Yu Jia looked at the picture on the field and explained.

Popovich still looked at it calmly and said to himself: "That's right, Sun, that's it, pass the ball to Dwight and pass him more." ”

Robert Horry, who was on the bench of the Spurs, rarely saw Popovich so calm, and at the moment Duncan was arguing with the referee on the court that this defense should not be whistled for a foul, but Popovich didn't say a word, still muttering about letting Sun Zhuoduo pass to Howard.

Horry heard Popovich talking to himself, stepped forward and whispered, "When the Magic hand over their fate to a 22-year-old kid, they're doomed, aren't they, coach?" ”

Popovich glanced at Horry standing next to him, his eyes were a little surprised, perhaps he didn't expect his soft words to be heard by him, Popovich smiled and said: "Not only that, Dwight Howard will be the key to our championship, not just his youth." ”

"Oh? What else can be taken advantage of besides being young? Horry wondered.

Popovich didn't say, "Don't worry, you'll have to play a few games to know, the series is just getting started, the fun is yet to come, all I can tell you is that this series is going to be fun." ”

It didn't take long for the Spurs to suddenly make a passing error, which was intercepted by Sun Zhuo, and calmly Popovich exploded instantly, and jumped like thunder: "Stop him for me!" Stop him! ”

The Spurs players seemed to feel the pressure before Popovich jumped up and scolded, everyone made a mistake and saw Sun Zhuo's fast attack, they all made an instant move, Bowen and Finley were like being chased by someone with a gun, running fast, in the opponent full of young people in their 20s, the two of them were born in the 70s, and their age seemed to be pulled down instantly, and they couldn't see the difference with Sun Zhuo Howard.

Horry off the field is also anxious for his teammates, he knows the reason for Popovich's anger, as early as before the game, Popovich told many times that he must pass the ball carefully and pass the ball carefully, especially the pass cannot be intercepted by Sun Zhuo, once it is cut off by others, he must also stop Sun Zhuo as soon as possible, because Sun Zhuo's fast attack ability is too strong.

Popovich's approach to Sun Zhuo in this series is to strangle Sun Zhuo's speed and bounce, not let him run and not let him jump, and the fast-break score is the easiest opportunity to give full play to Sun Zhuo's two talents, so Popovich absolutely cannot tolerate it, once Sun Zhuo gets the ball, it is to give away points.

Therefore, at this moment, Bowen and Finley are very nervous, even if they have caught up, they don't dare to foul, in case they are beaten by Sun Zhuo to 2+1, won't Popovich want to kill them?

They could only do their best to stop Sun Zhuo, which made Sun Zhuo jump very uncomfortable, but Sun Zhuo was an SS-level dunk after all, and he was facing two veterans, so Sun Zhuo was still strong and didn't wait for his teammates.

Bang!

Almost dunked!

The basketball flew out.

"Haha, I'm here." No one expected that Howard would arrive quickly, running much faster than Duncan, and after getting the ball, he dunked directly.

"Well done!" Sun Zhuo was relieved and clapped his hands with Howard.

"Of course!" Howard said triumphantly.

Seeing that it was Howard who scored in the end, not Sun Zhuo, Popovich's temper instantly disappeared halfway, turned around, and no longer scared Finley with a serious face, just turned around, and saw Ginobili on the bench looking at him with an exaggerated expression, and said angrily: "What kind of grimace?" Later, on the field, if you dare to pass the ball indiscriminately to Sun Kuai's chance, I will never spare you! ”

Ginobili spread his hands helplessly, not daring to speak, for fear that he would not even be able to make a substitute.

Finley and Oberto didn't play for too long, Ginobili is the core of the Spurs, he can score, organize and perform, and he is also the only player in the Spurs who will play cards out of common sense, every time Ginobili is on the court, Sun Zhuo will be very worried.

This game is indeed very difficult, Tony Parker is not afraid of Monta Ellis at all, it turns out that Monta Ellis is still too far away from the top point guards, and is often blown up by first-line point guards, but Monta Ellis's ability to set three points is also incomparable to Parker.

Tim Duncan and Howard's two big interior matchups are the focus of the whole game, Howard wants to prove that he is the strongest interior in the league, unscrupulous in front of Duncan, Duncan is indeed not as good as Howard can jump and dunk, but he is more stable than Howard, the interesting thing is that Duncan can pull outside to shoot, and every time he also plays the board at a 45-degree angle, just like deliberately showing Howard, Howard is away from the basket, almost no threat.

The two sides fought fiercely in the half, and the score was still comparable, Dwight Howard scored 15 points in the half, which was the most scoring player in the Magic team, and Sun Zhuo also scored 11 points in the half, which was about the same as Howard, but the shooting percentage was far less than Howard.

"It's a very uncomfortable fight, but Popovich thinks that he can win me this way, so it's too simple!"