After the start of the third quarter, the Spurs and SuperSonics both adjusted the lineup, the Spurs side Sean Etellio sat on the bench, Meng Xu returned to the position of small forward, and in the position of scoring guard, Popovich chose the backup guard Antonio Daniels, this player has a certain ability to shoot, but the ball control, defense, and offense with the ball are average, and the only thing he is good at is blocking and covering without the ball, so in the Spurs, he is also a marginal person for 10,000 years, In this game, Avery Johnson was blown up by Payton, so from the third quarter, Popovich sent Antonio Daniels to escort Avery Johnson, but after Popovich arranged it like this, Meng Xu took on significantly more defensive tasks.

On the supersonic side, after the start of the third quarter, head coach Westphale replaced Rashad Lewis with Ruben Patterson, Lewis, who was thin and afraid of confrontation, this shortcoming was infinitely magnified in the second half of the second quarter, and Lewis played quite hard under the "deliberate" physical collision of Meng Xu and Sean Etellio. At the same time as replacing Lewis, he replaced Wenbeck with Gerani McCoy, who had decreased physical strength, due to alcoholism in the offseason of the 9798 season, Wenbeck's state declined rapidly, from an All-Star power forward who averaged 20+10 per game in just one offseason, to 14+6, although this season has improved slightly, but can never return to the peak, the 27-year-old who is in his golden age has gone downhill, Wenbeck performed well in this game, but he played against Tim Duncan for less than 20 minutes, Wenbeck was a little exhausted.

From the beginning of the third quarter, the Spurs significantly strengthened their defense, Tim Duncan and David Robinson sat on both sides of the penalty area, Meng Xu swept the free throw line area, the entire interior line was impermeable by the defense, and the supersonic team that was not good at 3 points itself was not good at 3 points, after the Spurs strengthened the defense of the interior, they did not score 1 point in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter, although the offensive efficiency of the Spurs was not high, but it still played a 6-0 small climax of the supersonic at the beginning of the third quarter, overtaking the score.

Seeing that Payton broke through again on the court and passed the ball back to Brent Barry on the outside, Brent Barry hesitated for a moment and missed the 3-point shot, and SuperSonics head coach Westphale called a timeout.

"The Spurs' defense is just too strong." In the first two quarters, not only led the score, but even suppressed the Spurs' supersonic speed on the field, and in the third quarter, after the Spurs strengthened their defense, they suddenly couldn't play, they couldn't score inside, they couldn't rush in, they couldn't shoot outside, and in just 5 minutes, the supersonic trailed the Spurs by 11 points, and Westphale had to call 3 timeouts in the first half of the third quarter.

"Yes, Tim Duncan himself is a player with his own defensive system, his ability to protect the basket and help defense can be said to be the strongest among all the big forwards in the league, and David Robinson is also a super center who has won the best defensive player, although he is getting older now, but relying on his rich game experience and defensive awareness, his interior defense is still top-notch. And the Spurs' rookie small forward Meng Xu, his one-on-one defensive ability is very good, and relying on excellent movement speed, his defensive area is also very large, covering almost all areas from the 3-point line to below the free throw line, this Spurs' defense is absolutely historic. The two commentators on the court also commented on the Spurs' defense in the interval between timeouts, and thought of ways to crack the Spurs' defense for the SuperSonics.

This season, the SuperSonics rank among the top five in the league in terms of average points per game, and it can be said that the SuperSonics' defense is very good, and the core of the supersonic defense system, Payton's defense is naturally undoubted. But no matter when in the rules of the game in basketball, interior players have an innate advantage in defense, and after the supersonic team with outside defense in this game met the Spurs, who mainly played on the inside line, the defensive ability of the two teams was also superior.

After the game restarted, after Peyton squeezed away Johnson, he took the ball and directly hit Antonio Daniels, who was holding himself, facing Meng Xu, who was defending himself, and with the whistle sounding, Payton hit a jumper and caused Meng Xu's foul.

"Is SuperSonics deliberately trying to make Meng's foul?" After being beaten 2+1 by Payton, Meng Xu fouled 3 times, and he could only get off the court after the foul, and as an important part of the Spurs' defensive system, once Meng Xu got off the court, not only the Spurs' perimeter defense would drop a few notches, but Tim Duncan, who had lost the perimeter barrier, would also face the impact of his hands, and the defensive pressure would increase sharply.

"Meng's game experience is still poor." Meng Xu's sense of defense is very good, but his ability to assist in defense is almost so interesting, he still relies more on his excellent lateral movement to make up for defense, and the choice of timing for assistance defense is still a lot worse than Duncan. As soon as Popovich's words fell, the whistle sounded again on the court, and Payton made Meng Xu's foul again, although Payton's shot failed to hit this time, but Meng Xu, who had 4 fouls, had to go off the court.

"The referee's whistle is not good for us." In fact, Meng Xu's defense of Payton just now, those actions were completely blown.

"Payton is a player on the same level as Thiem, and it's normal to be taken care of by the league, and it's still the home of the SuperSonics." Popovich is obviously very open to this kind of home whistle, because Duncan has been taken care of this season, although Payton has moved 5 points in a row, but the difference is still 9 points, and the SuperSonics are just catching their breath for a while.

The official timeout in the third quarter, 58-67, the SuperSonics were beaten 17-7 by the Spurs, and due to the huge lead, the Spurs replaced Duncan, David Robinson and Avery Johnson after the official timeout in the third quarter, and sent a bench lineup led by Sean Ettellio and Mario Elie. And the SuperSonics not only did not rotate players, but also replaced Weinbeck in an attempt to move back to the score during the rest period when the Spurs' main players were resting.

In the second half of the third quarter, the SuperSonics never filled the 10-point hole, and the bench lineup led by Sean Etellio and Mario Elie, although the defense was not very good, but the offensive firepower was still no problem.

After a full rest, the Spurs' main lineup returned to the court in the fourth quarter, and the two sides only played for 5 minutes, and the score was stretched to 10 points again, and finally the Spurs won 93-82 away against the SuperSonics, Payton played 45 minutes, scored a game-high 43 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 6 steals, but still could not help the SuperSonics win.

"Boy, your defense is great." After the game, Gary Payton took the initiative to walk to Meng Xu's side, patted Meng Xu's shoulder, and walked into the players' tunnel with a lonely face.