"Yes, I've heard of him, but I don't know the specifics, he's just a sub."

"The team is still grinding, no matter how many games we lose, our goal is to have the championship, whether it is the Spurs or any other team, we will beat hard."

Reporters love to interview Kobe Bryant because he gives them a chance to play on the subject.

The media probably wanted to talk about Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin last season, and Kobe Bryant was a little bored.

This year's Lakers have formed a Big Four lineup of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, plus Artest, and the starting five are all notorious guys.

There are still veterans like Antoine Jamison on the bench, who have been eye-catching since the summer, but they didn't start the season as expected.

Of course, Nash's second game was also an important reason for being out due to injury, but they also lost the first game.

In addition to Kobe, the reporter also asked Artest about the topic of Zhang Xiaotian.

Artest bared his white teeth, "I watched the video on the Internet, and he was a funny guy, so if he could play against me, I would tell him that the NBA is even crazier than he thought, and I always like to take care of new people." ”

In contrast, Zhang Xiaotian's pre-match interview was boring, "I hope to help the team win the game. ”

It's not that he doesn't want to pretend, it's that he is afraid that Popovich will get angry and not let him play.

He scored 11 points in the last game and was a very qualified substitute, but compared to the 44 points that day, it seemed a bit unusual.

In fact, he still has the ability to score a few more points, but it is difficult for the ball to reach him at critical moments.

It was the three-pointer that shook everyone that day, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even be able to attack the third point on the court.

It was also the defensive attitude that satisfied Popovich, and the game with the Trail Blazers stayed on the court at a critical moment.

If you want to pretend to compare, let's wait until he gets an annual salary of 10 million in the future.

The grievances between the Spurs and the Lakers also have a long history, and during the warm-up, Ginobili patted Zhang Xiaotian on the shoulder and said: "Boy, be decisive in a while, and throw a few hard shots on their heads." ”

Both are substitutes, and there are still plenty of opportunities to partner on the field.

Duncan looked at the two of them with a thoughtful look, "You two are both playing on the court. ”

"Nonsense, I can also teach you a lesson when I train, but Zhang can't let go of it when he trains, which is really strange."

There is no way to explain this kind of thing, Zhang Xiaotian can only show a sincere smile.

To face the Lakers' twin towers, the Spurs' starting center has become Split again, and after Zhang Xiaotian joined, the Spurs' weakest link became the inside, and it was really difficult to choose who would partner Duncan.

On the same home court, the Lakers played in a significantly more lively atmosphere than the Clippers.

Kobe, in particular, is so popular.

At the beginning of the game, the situation of no one in the No. 1 position did not seem to affect the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant directly attacked and performed very tough.

But then the Spurs blossomed a little more and played a small climax.

After the Lakers timeout, Artest stepped up on the offensive end and scored five straight points to disrupt the Spurs' defense.

Kobe Bryant's individual attack is very strong, but only after his teammates show threat, his attack can affect the trend of the game, otherwise as long as he focuses on defending him, one person will not score as much as a team.

So after Artest scored, the Lakers played a wave of counterattacks and took the lead again.

And by the Spurs in the second half of the first quarter, only Parker scored.

This is a hidden danger for the Spurs now, Leonard has not fully grown, and will be limited when he encounters the No. 3 position that can be both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and Duncan can't maintain high intensity at all times, so Parker's singles have increased, and the outside singles are based on the feel.

This situation will continue into rotation time, and a group of Spurs' bench guards, including Ginobili, also need a lot of touch, and with Zhang Xiaotian, it feels a little more balanced.

It's just that Zhang Xiaotian's performance in training is not conspicuous, and Popovich is always uneasy.

In addition, the Spurs want to cultivate Leonard, and the positions of the two overlap somewhat, and the team can't make a decision to vigorously cultivate Zhang Xiaotian.

He didn't come on until the second quarter, when the Lakers' No. 3 was Antoine Jamison.

As a former All-Star player, Jamison still has two brushes, don't be too slow when he is older, and playing the No. 3 position is also a cameo, and he will return to the No. 4 position in a while.

Zhang Xiaotian knows very well what he wants to do, which is to prevent the main substitute of the Lakers.

That's his advantage, he's sober most of the time, he's going to play with his brain, and he's not going to be a black and hard guy, so some people can be All-Stars in the summer league but can't fit into the NBA.

Zhang Xiaotian has been entangled with Jamison, not giving the opponent a chance to catch the ball at all, Popovich nodded secretly in his eyes, Zhang Xiaotian's defense among the substitutes is indeed very reassuring, and there will be no low-level mistakes like leaking.

The defensive means that are not given to him are relatively simple, and if you encounter a really ruthless character, you will definitely have to kneel.

The attitude is good but the skill is a little worse, and Popovich has long come to a conclusion.

The Spurs' goal must also be the championship, so Popovich has been observing which players are more suitable to complete the team's goals, Zhang Xiaotian is an accident, and he was really recruited to sparring Leonard.

It was a pleasant surprise, but there were some players who didn't please him.

Not only one, Popovich is already thinking about who to give up, even if it is him, there will be times when he is blind, some players are not suitable for the team, some players are too lazy and have no progress, and some players do not listen to commands.

In the second quarter, both teams had trouble offensively.

The Lakers are weak on the bench, the Spurs can't score, although Howard is average offensively, he has three caps on defense, and the Spurs' rebounds can't beat Howard and Gasol.

The Lakers' solution to the lack of offense is simple, and Kobe Bryant turns on individual mode.

Parker also took advantage of the opponent's No. 1 position, Darius Morris is a sophomore rookie, and kept scoring, but it was still a little worse than Kobe.

The Spurs only scored 38 points in this game, but fortunately, the opponent only scored 43 points.

Suddenly the situation changed in the third quarter, because Howard fouled twice in a row, and Duncan took the opportunity to play a wave inside to catch up with the score.

Zhang Xiaotian was replaced in the second half of the third quarter, and suddenly scored 5 points in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs also led by 5 points, but after the Lakers called a timeout, Kobe Bryant hit two three-pointers, and Zhang Xiaotian did not get a suitable offensive opportunity in the face of Artest's defense, and was quickly replaced.

Then the scores of the two teams alternated to lead until the last three minutes, and Popovich was a little entangled, whether to use Zhang Xiaotian at this time, and how to use it.