Chapter 388: Complete Victory

The whole Spurs team is naturally unwilling to fail, even if they are already standing on the edge of the cliff in this round of the series. But the 76ers, back at home, are more scrappy and feel much better celebrating the championship on their own turf than they did in San Antonio, and they don't want to leave the Finals suspense for Game 6 or even 7.

After returning to Philadelphia, the 76ers players didn't care that the fifth Finals game would be two days later, and they threw themselves into intense preparation without much rest. But Chang Wei refused, the reason for his refusal is very simple, with the current strength of the 76ers to beat the Spurs, there is no problem, they no longer need to carry out high-intensity special training, he must think about the health of the players.

Reid felt helpless, but he had to admit that what Chang Wei said was very reasonable, so he could only go back and train according to the normal training content. In fact, the training at this time basically does not improve my own strength much, but just maintains my muscle memory, and at the same time adjusts my physical and mental state to the best to prepare for the next competition.

Game 5 was not a surprise at all, and the 76ers grabbed the initiative at the beginning of the game amid the cheers of the home fans. This time, the 76ers didn't use a pure breakaway strategy, and Brown's instructions to Iverson were to play freely depending on the situation on the court, and he could score or pass to teammates after successfully breaking inside.

In the face of the Spurs' deliberately strengthened interior defense, Iverson struggled to find scoring opportunities inside, but it didn't bother him, in addition to passing the ball to teammates in the gap, he also continued to score points with pull-up jumpers in the middle range. The inexperienced Parker struggled to keep up with him and could only watch as Iverson kept hitting shots in his head.

Seeing that the 76ers played a perfect 11-2 start, Popovich couldn't sit still, but he didn't know what to say after calling a timeout, or simply interrupting the scoring rhythm of the 76ers? However, Popovich didn't want to call a timeout, because he didn't know how to limit the 76ers' breakout. It stands to reason that the Spurs, with their twin towers, should be adept at breaking through defense, but Duncan alone can barely keep up with Iverson's pace, who can move the ball to teammates who cut to the basket or draw defenders to create space for shooters on the perimeter.

In fact, this style of high-speed transfer and a lot of cover is not unused by no team, but they do not have an elite shooter like the 76ers, so the deterrent effect on the opponent is not as strong as that of the 76ers. Only Chang Wei knew that such a style would be popular in the league in ten years, and now, it's just a good idea.

However, it was such a not-so-novel idea that stumped Popovich, or to be precise, it turned his team building ideas on its head, and the 76ers used their strength to show him that young people can also do wonders, and that it is not a pair of the league's top twin towers that can do whatever they want in any game, and the strength of players in other positions also needs to be paid attention to.

In any case, the Spurs still have a very obvious gap with the 76ers in terms of comprehensiveness, and if it weren't for Duncan's excellent play on the inside, the difference between the two sides would have been widened long ago. Even so, the Spurs are always struggling to catch up, and one Duncan is not enough to compete with the 76ers' horde scorers, not to mention that he has yet to develop three-point shooting skills.

In the first quarter, the 76ers took a 42-37 lead, facing a defensive team like the Spurs, the 76ers fully showed their advantages on the offensive end, not just a team can face the Spurs in the finals to score 40+ in a single quarter, but the 76ers have done it many times in this year's finals, so much so that everyone has no reaction at all.

Scoring 42 points in a single quarter made Brown very satisfied, he also thought that the players would relax because they got the match point, but he didn't expect that every guy who appeared on the court behaved fiercely, as if he wanted to use up all his energy in this game, and in fact they did have the idea of ending the entire series at home, so they were very desperate on the court.

Fortunately, Chang Wei has always focused on improving the physical fitness of the players, so that they will not be injured in such a tense and fierce game. The Spurs tried to disrupt the 76ers' rhythm with high-intensity physical confrontations, but the 76ers players were completely unmoved, and Brown didn't even pull off his starting lineup for the entire first quarter, allowing them to play against the Spurs' starters on the court.

It stands to reason that Brown should replace the bench in the last few minutes of the first quarter to give the starting five more time to rest, but the starting lineup led by Iverson has a very strong desire to fight, so Brown is not too embarrassed to let them off, and it is the Spurs who have been behind, and he forced Popovich not to change without substitution, otherwise he will be blown up.

The Spurs didn't close the gap in the second quarter, and they still trailed 32-34 in the first quarter, which allowed the 76ers to further widen the difference. When the halftime whistle blew, a tsunami of cheers rang out from the seats in the league's first central arena as everyone began to celebrate the team's second consecutive season of winning the O'Brien Cup, regardless of whether it was a mouthful of poisoned milk or not.

The Spurs also tried to fight back after the start of the second half, but Reed and Oku's three-pointers directly nipminated their counterattack in the bud, and it was the most devastating to score while not being able to prevent the opponent's score, especially when the Spurs did not have a reliable three-point shooter. By the end of the third quarter, the 76ers had a 15-point lead and didn't give the Spurs any chance at all.

The Spurs, who were demoralized, didn't make any waves in the final quarter, but Popovich didn't replace the main lineup until the end of the game, he knew that this was the team's last game of the season, and the main players could play as long as they could, hoping that they could learn from the 76ers players what they didn't have and continue to work hard next season.

By the time the timer ran out for the last second, the entire league's No. 1 Center Arena suddenly became a sea of joy, and the 76ers' benches had rushed onto the court to hug each other with their teammates, and there were not a few who cried with joy. Brown graciously led his coaching staff to the Spurs' bench and hugged his protégé and rival Popovich. Neither of them said anything, but all the feelings and entanglements had been integrated into their embrace.

But no one is looking in that direction, and everyone is frantically celebrating the 76ers winning the championship trophy for the second year in a row!