"This game is really suffocating, I really didn't expect the Mavericks to play like this with the Spurs." When the third quarter of the game was halfway through, Michaels looked at the scores of the two teams rising alternately, and said with some amazement, the Mavericks have never been a team that is good at positional warfare, but in today's game, the Mavericks gave up their rhythm and tactics, and took the initiative to fight with the Spurs to fight positional warfare and defense, you must know that positional warfare and defense are the strengths of the Spurs, and there are only a handful of teams in the league that can wrestle with the Spurs in the positional battle, but at present, it seems that the Mavericks are performing well in the rhythm that the Spurs are familiar with, the difference between the two sides was always within 5 points, and the Spurs were never able to pull away the score.

"Yes, although the pace of this game seems to be extremely slow, and the constant iron of both sides looks very dull, but I have to say that whether it is the Spurs or the Mavericks, these players on the court now, their tactical execution is very good, and whether it is the leading Spurs or the backward Mavericks, they are not the slightest impatient now." For Michaels's words just now, Magic Johnson also agrees very much, with the continuous use of 3-point tactics and the increasing pace of offense today, the game between the Mavericks and the Spurs today is rarely seen.

"What is this guy Donald up to?" Although this situation on the court is what he wants to see the most, but when the Mavericks really gave up their skilled tactics and strategies, and resolutely fought a positional battle with the Spurs, Popovich felt a little uneasy in his heart, after glancing at the old Nelson who was still very calm and calm on the other side, Popovich is now also wondering if this guy is doing some tricks again, you must know that since the old Nelson coached, he has been known for his tactical changes and tricks, And Popovich once worked as an assistant coach under Nelson Sr. for two years with his teacher Larry Brown, and Popovich has always been not at ease with this NBA coach who is also his teacher.

"It's still a little bit off." Just as Popovich looked at the old Nelson, the old Nelson was also thinking about how to change the fourth quarter of this game, before this game, the Mavericks had just fought with the Jazz for 5 games, and the Spurs had a break for more than a week, so it seems that the Spurs have a great advantage, but the old Nelson knows in his heart that the Spurs, who look good, actually have a very obvious weakness, the Spurs have a lot of veterans, and these veterans will be after a long rest, It will take at least two games to regain their familiar feel and condition, and the Mavericks are in a good state after a series of battles with the Jazz, and now is the time when the fighters are strong and in excellent condition, so the first two games of the series between the two sides are also the opportunities for the Mavericks, taking advantage of the Spurs' veterans to adapt to the game, at least win one of the two away games, or directly at the Spurs' home court to achieve a 2-0 advantage, so that the Mavericks have the hope of counterattacking the Spurs.

And in the last round of the series with the Jazz, in the case of falling behind 0-2, there are some Mavericks who are not Jazz opponents, and they have changed their strategy since the 3rd game, and began to play positional battles with Jazz, and finally relied on positional battles to slowly consume the old Jazz, and this is also the reason why the old Nelson now has the confidence to fight with the Spurs in a positional battle, and at the same time, the old Nelson now has an idea of wanting to fight with Popovich, Duncan is the most stable and the most important point for the Spurs, Therefore, the old Nelson wants to use Nowitzki plus Howard and Duncan to exchange each other, as long as the Spurs do not have Duncan, then relying on the young Meng Xu and a group of veterans is not a threat to the Mavericks, and the Mavericks even if there is no Nowitzki, Finley, and Nash.

At the same time, the old Nelson pinched Duncan and let go of Sean Elliott's choice, and now it seems to have received a miraculous effect, you must know that in the regular season, although Sean Elliott did not play much, but this is a first-class pitcher with a shooting rate of more than 50% and a 3-point shooting rate of more than 40%, no one dares to ignore him, but in this game, the old Nelson was very bold to let go of Sean Elliott, and from the middle of the third quarter, even Mario Elli was released, that is, to pinch Duncan and Meng Xu, And this seemingly crazy move is indeed very effective so far.

"Coach, do you want to change your strategy?" Looking at Mario Elli and Sean Elliott, who were still playing iron on the court, Steve Cole asked next to Popovich that Mario Elli and Sean Elliott were not in good shape, and the Spurs' coaching staff knew about it in this morning's training session, but it was quite surprising that the iron was at this level.

The Spurs' current offensive tactics are Duncan and David Robinson in the paint area, and the age and Mario Elie and Sean Elliott have basically become two fixed-point pitchers, and the two bottom corners and the 45-degree angle of the left and right 3-point lines are the places they go to the longest, and Meng Xu, as the Spurs' organizational guard, is not the tactical initiation point, Meng Xu generally holds the ball at the top of the arc, basically after Duncan stands in the position, he hoists the ball to Duncan, Either you can block Duncan and give the ball to Duncan or David Robinson, and after Duncan doesn't have the right opportunity, Duncan will pass the basketball inside.

Therefore, when the Mavericks are determined to grind meat with the Spurs on the inside, Duncan has never been able to open the situation on the inside under the sandwich of Nowitzki and Juwan Howard, and Sean Elliott, who was basically empty by the Mavericks, is now also iron-clad and unable to look directly, after hitting the first 3-pointer in the opening game, Sean Elliott only shot 3 of 11 in the later games, which is still in the case that most of the shots are empty.

"Wait." After hearing Steve Kerr's suggestion, Popovich now shook his head, the Spurs don't have much room for change now, the most direct and effective change is to give Meng Xu unlimited firing rights, and transfer the offensive core from Duncan to Meng Xu, but Popovich knows that once this opening is opened, it will not be so easy to put it away in the future, and the Spurs are still leading in the score, and the situation on the court has not yet reached the time when it needs to be changed.

"This teammate can't be moved." When Meng Xu hoisted the basketball to Duncan, and he began to run towards the bottom corner of the weak side, Duncan, who was sandwiched by Nowitzki and Juwan Howard, passed the basketball to Meng Xu's hands again, at this time, Meng Xu, who had just gotten rid of Nash, but was targeted by Finley, did not choose to shoot in front of Finley, but after rushing into the 3-point line once, he passed the basketball back to Mario Elie at the top of the arc, and Mario Elie's shot was also iron again, in the Spurs' recent attacks, Sean Elliott and Mario Elli are crazy about playing iron, but they can't pass the ball to them when they get out of the vacant position, and they can't shoot it if they pass it.

"Meng Xu obviously has a good opportunity, but he still chose to pass, with Meng Xu's offensive ability, even if he beats Finley, he has a good chance of success, Meng's offensive choice is too speechless." Seeing Meng Xu's too "reasonable" offensive choice on the court, Michaels couldn't help shaking his head.

"Maybe this is Popovich's positioning of Meng Xu." After seeing Mario Elie throw away the empty position again, Meng Xu still stepped forward with a smile to comfort and encourage, Magic Johnson also had some emotion in his heart, Meng Xu, like Duncan, is a natural leader, maybe Meng Xu is now showing these leadership temperaments, which he learned from Duncan, but Magic Johnson doesn't want Meng Xu to be the same as Duncan in the future, Meng Xu now has more options than Duncan, but it is obvious that in the Spurs, under Popovich, Meng Xu has only one path for himself to choose.

If it was himself or Bird, or Jordan on the court at this time, he would definitely shout: "Go to TMD team basketball, you all get out of the way, let my brother teach these scum a lesson." And this is also Magic Johnson's expectation for Meng Xu, or the path that Meng Xu will take in the future, when the team is the team, I can be a team, and when I should stand up, I will not hesitate, regardless of whether he will say that I am a cancer.

Soon, when the game ended in the third quarter, the score of the two teams was 58-54, and the Spurs were still 4 points ahead of the Mavericks, but such an ultra-low score in the 3rd quarter of the game was amazing enough, the Mavericks' low score was because they couldn't run the right opportunity, although Duncan looked like he was limited by Nowitzki and Howard on the offensive end, but Duncan and David Robinson also blocked the Spurs' basket on the defensive end, and Meng Xu was able to spare his strength to help defend Finley while defending Nash, It was only Juwan Howard who could take it easy, so the Mavericks' offense was really limited by the Spurs. And the Spurs are purely because the hand is too poor, and they can't shoot when they get the chance.

"Is Donald ready to give up this game?" When the fourth quarter of the game began, looking at the old Nelson who was still motionless in the distance, Popovich was really a little uncertain now, since Popovich came out of Larry Brown, after two seasons of practice, Popovich thought that he was no longer inferior to any NBA coach, that is, his teacher Larry Brown, and the Lakers' KFC, he would not be weaker than them, but only when he met the old Nelson, Popovich would have no bottom in his heart, because of this master of his own master, is simply a madman, a lot of common sense is inexplicable in him, this is a guy who always plays cards out of common sense.