The commentary was unexpected, the fans were unexpected, and even Popovich, who was calm enough, was a little surprised, or unprepared.

DeLong's resurgence is one thing, and the hard work and spirit of the Nets' players on the court is another.

At nine minutes into the first quarter, the score was 19-23, with the Nets trailing the defending champions by just four points.

Such a score is very surprising, but it also earns enough respect for the Nets.

The most intuitive performance is that the two people in the commentary bench are analyzing the offensive and defensive system of this Nets and giving advice to the home team.

The two sides began to substitute one after another, and on the Spurs' side, Corey Joseph, Ginobili, Belinelli, and Aaron Baines were replaced one after another.

On the Nets' side, Livingston, Will Barton, Mike Scott and Jokic also came on as substitutes.

On both sides were a main player with four benches, with the Spurs retaining Duncan and the Nets retaining Joe Johnson.

Duncan's frontcourt strategy, and the responding Belinelli was running tactics, but Barton's defense of the ball was very good, and he continued to squeeze through the block and did not give Belinelli room to shoot.

Duncan saw it and turned to hit Scott, then turned around and hit the basket after the confrontation.

Jokic quickly stepped up to the defense, but leaked Baines behind him, and Duncan gave Baines a blow to the ground, who scored with an easy dunk.

There were whistles at the scene.

At this time, Frank shouted from the sidelines to slow down Jokic and protect the basket.

Jokic's defense isn't his strong suit, and as a rookie, he has a lot to learn on the defensive end.

The Nets' frontcourt offense, the same tactics as when they started, Jokic with the ball in the high post.

Joe Johnson's open cut, Jokic's pass feint fooled Belinelli and Baynes behind him, and he turned around and made a quick layup to get the ball into the basket before Duncan could help get over.

The realism of the feints, the decisiveness of the turn and the stability of the layup, as a 2.08-pound, 250-pound heavy interior lineman, is full of talent visible to the naked eye, you must know that he is only 19 years old.

This ball stunned Popovich on the sidelines.

Duncan is getting old, and he desperately needs an inside successor, and Jokic just saw him drooling at this hand.

"Tim, No. 4 tactics." But despite his saliva, he got up and shouted to Duncan.

Duncan understood when he heard this, and after going to the front court to signal his teammates to pull away, he leaned on Scott in the low post and reached for the ball.

It's a low-post singles tactic in the number four position.

Scott is a big man who can shoot three-pointers, but defense and confrontation are his weaknesses, and even against Duncan Sr. he is a little overwhelmed.

Duncan turned and then went to the basket.

Jokic was a little slower this time and stretched out his long arms when Duncan was about to make a move.

But the ball was too close, and the outstretched arm did little to Duncan, who wiped the board from close range and steadily put the ball into the basket.

"Fake him! Risking him! This time, Kidd shouted anxiously.

"He still has a lot to learn on the defensive end." Jones couldn't help but say after watching two rounds in a row.

"Yes, but it's something he has to learn, and he can learn it." Tang Tian nodded and continued.

Cornerstone players, after playing will not be too obvious weakness, although Jokic's current defense is weak, but the physical condition is here, it is only a matter of time before he practices, which is incomparable to Lopez.

As the game continued on the court, Jokic's frontcourt playmaking was seen through and he was finally forced to return the ball to Joe Johnson, only to have a mismatch and pass the ball out of bounds.

When he returned to the defensive end, Ginobili was out of place and singled out, and the drifting board hit again.

The Spurs came up in the second quarter and then beat the Nets 6-2.

"Are we asking too much of him?" Jones couldn't help but say again at this time.

A rookie, still a second-round pick, or a second-round pick from Europe, usually the first season is mainly at the end of the bench, but Jokic has played the first interior bench this time, and the first game is still the Spurs, which is indeed a bit difficult to start.

"No, he needs this, what I need is a fast-growing cornerstone, not a flower in a greenhouse." Tang Tian said indifferently.

The original Mark Gasol could do it, Jokic was no worse than him, so naturally he could do it, or if he couldn't do it, he had to do it.

As he spoke, Johnson missed a three-point shot, but Jokic pressed Barnes to grab an offensive rebound with his long arm and threw his hand back to Livingston on the outside, giving the Nets a second chance to attack.

Although there is a need to learn and improve, the talent is really visible.

The Spurs, led by Ginobili and Dio, took advantage of the bench transition.

At halftime, the score was 52-40 on the sidelines and the Spurs had a 12-point lead.

Jokic had a bit of a bad half, he played all seven minutes of the transition period, but only got 2 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 1-of-3 shooting, had 2 turnovers, and was targeted a little badly on the defensive end.

That performance kept Kidd out of the second half, with Lavoy Allen replacing him in the rotation, who was notably better at protecting the box and rebounding.

In the end, the Spurs defeated the Nets 98-88 at home to usher in the first win of the home opener.

Although they lost, the Nets played respectable enough, and the 10-point difference was enough to speak for itself.

Delon performed well, scoring a team-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, plus 4 rebounds and 8 assists, Yi Jianlian had 16 points and 6 boards, Lopez had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, and Barton off the bench also had 13 points and 4 boards.

Jokic also ended his NBA debut, with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 7 minutes.

Such data is clearly not satisfactory.

As he walked to the players' tunnel at the end of the game, he had his head down and was a little depressed.

"Let's go to the locker room." Tang Tian stood up from the audience at this time.

Jones walked down after him.

Tang Tian arrived in the locker room, first gave Kidd and the team members a very positive affirmation, and then pulled Jokic to the players' tunnel alone.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tang, I behaved badly and let you down." Tang Tian's love for Jokic is beyond words, not only the management knows, the coaching staff knows, Jokic himself knows it, but now he is messing things up in front of Tang Tian.

"Is it because I'm on the spot that makes you nervous?" To his surprise, Tang Tian behaved very relaxedly, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he had that half-joking tone.