The Pelicans have won back-to-back games and climbed the rankings, and now they are back in second place in the West, just half a win away from the San Antonio Spurs in the first place in the West, and this is when the two teams meet again.

The Pelicans won twice against the Spurs before this season, which made Van Gundy make some misjudgments.

This game is related to the first place in the West, and the first place in the West is more related to the home court advantage in the playoffs, and the Spurs will not save their strength, so that the Pelicans will suffer a blow from Yan zhòng and be hit by the Spurs.

The game time began soon, Duncan and Al Jefferson stood in the middle circle, although Duncan's state and peak this season have declined, but the decline is not big, Duncan is like the sun at two o'clock in the afternoon, the intensity is not as good as noon, but it is more stable and durable.

This Duncan is actually more terrifying than Duncan at the peak of his body, and the referee kicks the ball out in the center circle.

Duncan put the ball in Parker's hands without any suspense, and the starting lineup of the Spurs today is point guard Parker, scoring guard Danny Green, small forward Leonard, power forward Duncan, and center Split.

In this lineup of the Spurs, the main scoring is still the Big Three, Danny Green is far from growing, and Split has little hope on the defensive end. So the Spurs are still a defensive team, and they don't have the ability to blossom in all their rounds.

The Spurs mainly rely on three people to score, and the Pelicans are about the same, the Pelicans' starting lineup today is point guard Tony Roteng, scoring guard Granger, small forward Li Feng, power forward Pau Gasol, and center Al Jefferson.

Whether it is the Spurs or the Pelicans, they have come up with a different lineup than usual, and the Pelicans rarely played the double interior line at the beginning of the season, and the importance of this game can be imagined.

Although Parker is an offensive point guard, he has a steady rhythm when he controls the ball. Not in a hurry, I saw Leonard and Split do cross-cover at 45 degrees.

He suddenly passed the ball to Leonard, who was pulled 45 degrees away from the three-point line, and Leonard took the ball and directly hoisted the basketball to Split, who was in the main position of the interior card.

Spurs opened the game against Split, which is also a tradition of Spurs, although Split is not very strong in attack.

But the Spurs hit him at the beginning, but on the one hand, they put pressure on the opponent inside, and on the other hand, they expressed an attitude.

We're a tough team that wants to attack the interior, and the Spurs are really unique in terms of building momentum.

When Split received the ball, the San Antonio fans also cheered collectively and cheered loudly for Split.

Split is not the best player for San Antonio. But Split is the player who best represents San Antonio.

The Pelicans' players are back on the bench, and Van Gundy isn't angry at this time because his team is behind.

In this way, Van Gundy said in an orderly manner when he laid it out for everyone:

"Spurs taught us a lesson in the opening game of the day, what is called cunning, they are. They had a lot of easy scoring chances in the game and we can't let them do that. ”

"In the next offense, we have to try to minimize mid-to-long range shots and try to hit the basket as much as possible. No matter how you do it, you have to play under the basket, and players who have the opportunity to play under the basket should not be afraid of being blocked. Forcibly, create killing, create their fouls. ”

"Once the attack misses. Immediately retreat quickly, someone is going to interfere with their pass, someone is going to delay Parker. Put pressure on Spurs' players who run off the ball and don't let them move casually. ”

"Paul, I allow you to foul Duncan in moderation."

Pau Gasol nodded with the Pelicans players. At this time, several of Van Gundy's adjustments were not miracles.

Offensively, the emphasis is on playing under the basket, in order to improve efficiency, and use the Pelicans' excellent physical elements to rush the Spurs' good team defense. It's a stupid trick. However, it is the advantage of the pelicans that best reflects it.

Defensively, Van Gundy emphasized quick retreat and interfering with a pass to delay the Spurs from playing a fast break, and the delay to Parker was to prevent the Spurs from playing that kind of fluid, unstable little cooperation. The requirement to be tough on the Spurs' off-ball defense is to prevent the Spurs from playing a good positional match.

In the end, Van Gundy allowed Pau Gasol to foul Duncan, which Van Gundy saw, and Pau Gasol couldn't defend Duncan's expectations, so Pau Gasol was blown up by Duncan. It's better to send Duncan to the free throw line with frequent fouls to disrupt Duncan and the Spurs' offensive rhythm.

The team was very organized, and Van Gundy's on-court play was extraordinary, so that after the Pelicans' players returned to the court, they immediately stabilized the situation, and the Spurs could no longer play those smooth and rhythmic combinations.

Under the Pelicans' tough defense, the Spurs are stumbling, and the Pelicans don't have to be much stronger on offense.

They use their bodies and young bodies to force the Spurs on the offensive end, which is sticky, and the defense with many obstacles will inevitably make the game extremely ugly.

The two sides stumbled together, and the game immediately became unwatchable, and under the tough defense, the game was immediately full of fouls, turnovers, and missed shots, and other ugly things in the basketball game.

When the game was ugly and the average fan found it difficult to watch, Bill Wharton, who was in the commentary seat, said the opposite:

"Van Gundy's timeout just now was really good, and you can see that the game is full of uncertainties when you come back from the timeout."

"The Spurs couldn't get any points before, and the Pelicans began to stabilize the situation. The contest is now fun! ”

Bill Wharton thinks it's fun to see the games that are getting harder and harder right now. and the person who holds the same point of view with him, as well as Yu Jia, a basketball commentator on the domestic side.

Yu Jia also clearly saw the mess on the court at this time, but where he looked at his little book excitedly and said:

"Van Gundy's timeout is really wonderful."

"You see, before this timeout, it was a very good game, but it was all for the Spurs. Spurs completely dominated the court, but after this timeout. The game was ugly, but the ugliness was that both the Spurs and the Pelicans got ugly together. In this way, the Pelicans finally stopped the downward trend. ”

"Van Gundy's timeout is magical!"

Yu Jia is here in the spirit of serious study, and he appreciates Van Gundy's coaching methods.

On the court, both the Spurs and Pelicans were quick to get foul counts, and the two teams began to get into the phase of frequent free throws.

The two teams remained deadlocked until 6:49 of the first quarter, when Spurs head coach Popovich watched from the sidelines.

The scores of the two teams are still not moving much. 18-10, although the Spurs still have a score advantage.

But the momentum is not as smooth as the opening, and playing with the Pelicans like this is not the rhythm that the Spurs should have.

If you continue to fight like this, it will definitely be the pelicans who have a better body and these young people will take advantage.

Popovich also called a timeout, no longer playing with the Pelicans, the most valuable thing for the Spurs is experience and tacit understanding, they should play these things, not with a bunch of stunned young men.

When calling this timeout, Bill Wharton said with a little grumbling:

"This timeout for Popovich should have been called a long time ago! It's too late to call this pause. ”

When the Spurs called a timeout. Van Gundy was not idle here, saying to his players:

"That's how we fight! Don't waver, our biggest advantage in playing spurs is the body. ”

"So we just have to fight to the death, and we don't hesitate to consume more of the spurs. So when we get to the final stage, that's when we dominate the game. ”

The timeout was over, and it was the Spurs' ball that came back, and at this time the Spurs really found a way not to fight with the Pelicans.

Split kicked off and passed the basketball directly to Duncan, who was at 45 degrees, and Duncan took the ball. Fired directly at Pau Gasol's head, who was half a head taller than himself.

The ball is in!

Duncan's mid-range stance has never changed at critical moments.

The Spurs simply scored two points and played more concisely, just not giving the Pelicans a chance to entangle.

The Spurs wanted to make the game a little more concise. But the Pelicans are trying to torture the Spurs' old arms and legs to the maximum.

As soon as the Duncan ball landed, the Pelicans immediately kicked off quickly from the baseline.

Granger raced to the Spurs' three-point line and pressed all the way to the free throw line.

Only then did he pass the basketball to the side receiver in the hands of Roteng, and Miller took the ball and forced a breakthrough forward. A man pressed into the Spurs' box like a cannonball before throwing a throw at it.

Luo Teng's throwing is simply a throwing without gaps. He also has two Spurs defenders in front of him.

He came to play for the sake of playing strongly, and the effect is naturally not good, and the basketball jumps out of the way.

The ball didn't hit, but it didn't matter for the Pelicans, who are now playing physical basketball.

The whole team was squeezing the basket at any cost, and they were all rushing to grab the rebound, and the basketball that Luo Teng didn't throw jumped to Li Feng's side, Li Feng flew up and flicked the basketball in the air with his hand, and dialed the basketball to Al Jefferson's side.

Al Jefferson made the basket empty at this time, got up and dunked directly, and dunked the basketball into the Spurs' basket at once.

The Pelicans called a timeout, making the game ugly. Now Popovich called a timeout, but it turned the game for the better.

Both teams started scoring in athletic battles, but Popovich didn't want to see the Pelicans play this kind of morale-damaging dunk at all.

Popovich understands that the Pelicans must not be allowed to play fire, and once the Pelicans are on the momentum, it will be difficult to control them.

Turning around, the Spurs took the ball very quickly and rushed to the Pelicans' position, and the Pelicans' defense was very tough, and the Spurs' main defensive players were carded. But it took Parker a big step away near the three-point line.

The whole world knew that Parker's long-range shot was not good, and Parker came to see the situation and hesitated with the ball.

But after hesitating for a moment, Parker immediately pulled it up and threw a mid-range. All of a sudden, the basketball simply fell into the Pelicans' basket.

With Parker's shot, many fans in the stadium raised Parker's big head cards.

As Parker ran back quickly, Albert also saw the doorway, and he said on the side:

"Since Popovich called that timeout, the Spurs have been much more determined on offense. As long as they have the opportunity, they can make a quick move and no longer hesitate. This makes it difficult for the Pelicans to entangle the Spurs with their bodies. ”

Bill Wharton said at this time, still with a strong subjectivity:

"Popovich should have adjusted like this a long time ago. The sooner you adjust, the sooner you can beat your opponents. It's a lot of time to let children pester. ”

The Pelicans turned around and attacked with their bodies, but Pau Gasol missed. Turning back, Leonard unleashed his trademark step-back jumper. Got two points.

Looking back, Li Feng found an open opportunity, but missed a three-point jumper, the Spurs won the backcourt rebound and immediately came over, Parker rode the middle and suddenly passed back to Split who followed up under the basket.

Split follows up and scores a layup!

After the Spurs changed their tactics, they stopped grinding their teeth with the Pelicans, but scored 8 points in a row extremely sharply. The score was rewritten to 26-14, and the Spurs led the Pelicans by 12 points.

A margin of more than 10 points, for two defensive teams. It's just a moat.

At this time, Li Feng couldn't hold it back, and in the previous game, Li Feng was looking for cooperation with his teammates.

Li Feng wants to play the overall feeling when he played the Celtics, but the current situation clearly does not allow the Pelicans to continue to run in.

Li Feng knew that as the arrow figure of the team, he should stand up by himself at this time.

Back in the Spurs half, this time the Pelicans played a very open position. Li Feng and Granger were in ambush in the two corners, and Al Jefferson and Pau Gasol stood in the horns at either end of the free throw line.

Roten held the ball at the top of the arc, and the Pelicans completely stretched the space apart from such a position.

After having the space. Roteng immediately passed the ball to Pau Gasol, and the moment Pau Gasol got the ball, Li Feng ran towards the top of the arc, and El Jefferson gave Li Feng a cover. Li Feng happened to receive the ball when he came out.

Pau Gasol's ability to respond is no worse than Duncan's!

Li Feng, who took the ball, looked down and saw that the space in the penalty area of the court was not filled, so Li Feng felt a blow in his heart, and the whole person shot straight into the Spurs' basket like a cannonball.

Li Feng was too fast. It was so sudden that the Spurs' Duncan couldn't do it even if he wanted to defend back.

Li Feng arrived under the Spurs' basket as if it exploded above the Spurs' basket like a cannonball.

"Bang dang!"

Li Feng slammed the basketball into the Spurs' basket with a slam dunk. Li Feng after the dunk. He immediately turned around and yelled at the Spurs players.

This roar was Li Feng's roar of declaring war, and it was also Li Feng thinking about his teammates reminding him. I'm still here, and the team won't lose.

The Spurs were yelled at by Li Feng, and Duncan's eyes suddenly turned a little red.

Danny Green also looked at Li Feng and licked his lips, and Leonard crossed his waist and looked at Li Feng seriously.

The two teams have played against each other so far, and they have all played fairly cleanly, and it is also a process of testing. Now Li Feng was the first to be the first to be impatient and took the lead in issuing an invitation to the Spurs, and the old guys of the Spurs were suddenly enthusiastic.

At this time, the Spurs opened the baseline ball again, and the rhythm slowed down all of a sudden, not the same as the storm just now, step by step, step by step, the rhythm that the opponent couldn't adapt to.

Instead, it was like a rainy day today, and the black clouds were slowly pressing down.

Parker dribbled the ball slowly, slowly, and he dribbled from the three-point line, but the Pelicans shrunk up near the restricted area.

At this time, the Pelicans seemed to be a solid rock, and it was difficult to open any gaps from the outside, and at this time, Duncan stepped up to the free throw line to provide Parker with a cover.

With such cover, Parker's body twisted and rushed up to the Pelicans' basket, Parker sprinted for a short distance, and just when the Pelicans were all over-mid-range, a ghostly figure deftly avoided the Pelicans' everyone's sight from the bottom line, and actually touched the basket at once.

As soon as he arrived, Parker's ball slipped through the crack. Danny Green caught the ball and easily wiped the board to score two points.

When the Pelicans were fully armed and ready to face Parker's short sprint, the Spurs quietly opened a backdoor for them.

This ghostly blow made Li Feng itch at all, but there was nothing he could do about the other party's cunning.

The Spurs played hard and cunning at this time, and the Pelicans came back and played a similar tactic as just now, still hanging in the bottom corner, and the two stood parallel to the free throw line, completely pulling the space under the basket.

However, at this time, Luo Teng broke through the middle directly, and then suddenly turned around and passed the basketball to Li Feng.

Li Feng takes the ball at the free throw line. He directly resisted Danny Green and knocked Allen to the basket, and Li Feng got up and threw a throw.

Under the Spurs' basket, there are two monsters, Duncan and Split, Li Feng threw half of the shot, and the two of them all arrived, hitting left and right. came up to Duncan to cover Li Feng's head, and Split put his hand on Li Feng's face.

Under the double interference, Li Feng missed the throw, and Li Feng threw the ball too short, but it didn't matter. The basketball wiped the rebound and fell into Li Feng's arms.

At this time, Li Feng was surrounded by three people from the Spurs, and the best choice should be to pass the ball, and there will definitely be opportunities outside.

But Li Feng didn't, he grabbed the basketball, squatted slightly, leaned all his body on Split's body, and didn't let Split crush himself, and then Li Feng actually grabbed the basketball with both hands and made a strong layup towards it.

Li Feng is challenging the dignity of Duncan and Split as interior players at the same time. Four big hands suddenly surrounded Li Feng.

Li Feng held up hard in the air, retracted the ball, and actually staggered a rhythm and sent the basketball out under Duncan's armpit.

Duncan couldn't have imagined that Li Feng could fight such a thief in such a hard confrontation. The basketball spun from his armpit and burrowed into the Spurs' basket.

Li Feng single-handedly picked the defense of the Spurs' three people, and still scored under the basket.

After scoring, Li Feng immediately shook his fist fiercely and walked towards his own half, Li Feng roared at his teammates as he walked:

"See! Don't be afraid of them. They're just outdated old fritters, them, and we're the ones who win. ”

Li Feng roared a little too loudly here. Let the Spurs bench on the sidelines hear clearly. Popovich, who was sitting on the bench, suddenly looked extremely ugly, and Boris Dio, who was also sitting on the bench, and the green tendons on Ginobili's head jumped.

This Li Feng is simply arrogant.

Li Feng immediately angered a bunch of veterans of the Spurs.

In the Pelicans, Li Feng is the first in terms of the ability to score, and Li Feng is still the first in terms of the ability to make people angry.

Inspired by Li Feng, the Spurs' defense on the court suddenly stepped up again, and the Spurs' defense of Li Feng changed from the original purpose of weakening to restricting the ball.

This change suddenly put Li Feng in a predicament, just when Li Feng was a little trapped.

The Spurs began to change the bench lineup unhurriedly, and after the bench lineup came up, the Spurs veterans also came up. And these people all hate what Li Feng said just now.

So after a group of old guys came up, Li Feng was more restricted. At this time, Van Gundy saw that this would not work, so it was better to change people! The Spurs changed the bench, and the Pelicans began to bring in the bench as well.

And after the Pelicans changed to the bench lineup, they played a little messy, and the Pelicans' bench depth was also a stubborn problem, and the Pelicans didn't have enough players to play, and they couldn't make up the second lineup.

In this way, in the bench period, Ginobili easily took advantage of a group of old things.

By the end of the first quarter, the margin had stretched to more than 10 points, and at the beginning of the second quarter, Van Gundy saw that the team was a little unsupportable.

Turner can't play alone, a group of old guys from the Spurs, so Van Gundy can only continue to squeeze Li Feng's body.

Li Feng was sent to the court at the beginning, but at this time, a group of old guys from the Spurs played a ruthless game against Li Feng, first sending one person to restrict Li Feng from receiving the ball, and once Li Feng received the ball, he used two people to press. Once Li Feng gets close to the basket, he will use three people to wrap it, and once he can't stop it, he will simply foul.

The Spurs punched out this set of combinations, and Li Feng had nothing to do, he was killed by the opponent, it was difficult to catch the ball, it was difficult to attack with the ball, and there was a slightly better opportunity, and the Spurs also fouled themselves directly.

In this way, Li Feng has no offensive rhythm, he is very tired, and his efficiency is extremely low.

The Spurs vigorously clamped Li Feng, and at the beginning, Van Gundy thought that he had a chance, and immediately replaced the main player.

However, the Pelicans' main players were not happy when they arrived on the court, and they did not play the full flowering style of the previous games. (To be continued......)