The first quarter is over.

Spurs 23:23 Timberwolves.

The game was tied in the first quarter.

The Timberwolves mainly relied on mid-range offense, with Butler and Iguodala throwing a lot of mid-range shots through the execution of tactics.

Even Giannis Antetokounmpo, who got a chance in the middle distance, didn't shoot with a soft catch.

In fact, the efficiency is not very high, but the victory is easy, which allows the Timberwolves players to save more energy and energy to focus on the defensive end.

The Timberwolves scored just 23 points in the first quarter, but they allowed their opponents to score just as 23 points.

Rotational defense and early wrapping can cause the Spurs to make some mistakes or not have good chances in offensive time.

But this kind of defense is a great test of concentration and tacit understanding, and there is no way to miss some gaps.

However, 23 points is an acceptable score for Su Chen.

"Stay focused, as long as the offense gets an open position, whether it's a three-point shot or a mid-range shot, it's a firm shot, and it doesn't matter if you can't shoot."

"Defensively, I want to see 100 per cent concentration from each of you, and whoever can't withstand such a high-intensity defense can take a break off the court but not on the court."

'We're on the right path, keep it up and we'll win this game.'

During the break, Su Chen squatted on the bench and said to everyone.

The tactics of the arrangement have been arranged, there are analog glasses and the latest props and tactical notes, and there is actually no need to talk too much about the tactical level.

Anyway, what Su Chen conveyed was that everyone had to maintain a high level of focus on the defensive end.

No matter how many shots he misses, as long as he still stays focused on the defensive end, then Su Chen said that he will not be replaced.

The second quarter begins.

The Timberwolves and Spurs continued the rhythm of the first quarter.

However, with the decline in the physical strength of the players on both sides, the efficiency has declined.

Halfway through the quarter, both sides were in an offensive slump.

Spurs 32:31 Timberwolves.

Who would have believed that these two teams, who were actually not very bad offensively on the offensive end, played a 9-8 score in the second half quarter.

It's not like a basketball score, it's like a penalty score in football, or a big score in snooker.

It's not like basketball anyway.

It's not easy to score so low in a basketball game.

"The defense of this game is simply hard to see in this day and age."

Johnson said with some surprise.

After the league changed some of the rules this season, the number of rounds has increased significantly, and the player score has also increased significantly.

However, it still hasn't really entered the era of small balls.

The rules of the small-ball era are not modified in one season, but through several seasons, the tone is set through continuous revision.

Although Su Chen led the Warriors to win the championship ahead of schedule and there were changes that promoted the change of rules, it still did not reach the real small-ball era.

Especially now in the playoffs, it happens that the referee's blowing penalty is relatively loose, and the defensive intensity of both sides is relatively high.

That's why there was this game, and the two sides played this score.

"Speaking of which, the last time I saw this kind of score, it was the season when the Pistons won the championship, and the opponent happened to be the Spurs."

O'Neill recalled.

In the season when the Pistons won the Tigers, they scored only 69 points in G1 against the Spurs.

Even among them, Billups scored 25 points, the Pistons rotated eight people, and five people scored in single digits.

A person like Ham who plays for a minute or two doesn't count as a rotation, and that's the Lakers' Coach Ham.

"Didn't you go on vacation when you were eliminated by the Pistons that season, and you actually watched the Pistons game that eliminated you?"

Barkley squeezed O'Neal.

"Then of course we have to look at the opponents, won't we beat them next year and win the championship?"

Olney also retorted.

Honk!

Popovich called a long timeout.

Such a tug-of-war with the Timberwolves is unacceptable to Popovich.

It's not that Popovich is arrogant and looks down on the Timberwolves, and thinks that a draw with the Timberwolves is an insult to the Spurs.

Popovich has the professionalism of a coach, and he just looks at the development of this game and feels that the Spurs can't play like this with the Timberwolves.

Why?

Because the Timberwolves' rotation and Spurs ratio are not short at all, and the Timberwolves players are generally younger than the Spurs.

The Spurs are actually a long-rotation team, after all, the core GDP is old, and they can't always let the GDP play at full speed.

Among the Spurs' main players, Parker Duncan is more than 30 minutes, and Ginobili is about 30 minutes.

Although Green is young, he is not capable enough to play so much time, and the Spurs can really play according to the whole court, and Leonard is alone.

The Spurs are a whopping nine-man rotation.

Even Belinelli, like him, can play about 20 minutes, and is a nine-man rotation that really enters the rotation lineup time.

But the Timberwolves are also about a nine-man rotation.

The Timberwolves are playing high-intensity defense, but the rotation is plentiful.

Basically, Su Chen saw who had dropped his defensive intensity, so he replaced him to rest for a while, and then continued to make up for it when someone was tired.

Even Muscala, the tenth man of the Timberwolves, occasionally comes up for a minute or two to go through the motions.

The Timberwolves are younger overall, and the current Spurs are no longer the Spurs that could force defensive intensity with the Pistons ten years ago.

Popovich, who was on the bench, looked angry.

After talking about tactics, they all roared and let the players improve their competitive state.

After returning to the game, the Spurs reverted back to a full starter.

As for the Timberwolves, there is no change, and they are still in the rotation of the table.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the court, and he didn't become the Timberwolves' offensive core on the offensive end of the game.

But Giannis Antetokounmpo's play through covering, defending, and playmaking was still positive.

Originally, I thought that this group of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Duncan would be an educational game.

Duncan will say to Giannis Antetokounmpo that the future is yours, but the present is mine.

However, the pre-game media simulation of Duncan's education game against Giannis Antetokounmpo did not appear, but from the perspective of the overall contribution to the team, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not lose to Duncan at all.

Popovich's change, too, also worked.

The Spurs' offensive ability has always been like this, in the case of Duncan and Parker, two original advantage points, unable to attack the Timberwolves.

Relying on the overall Spurs, the Timberwolves are up for it.

The Spurs' offense is holistic, but the Timberwolves' defense is more holistic, and there is not a single point on the team that is a defensive weakness.

And it's not just a single defense, but the help defense is what the Timberwolves are better at.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Covington and Serge Ibaka are all experts in helping to defend.

The two swept on the inside, while Covington was responsible for filling in the gaps on the outside.

When the three of them are on the floor, the Timberwolves' defensive system will not be bad.

Under the top three defenses, Butler and Iguodala Beverley are also first-class helpers.

Lore Deng and Josh are excellent in individual defense.

If there is a point of reference, it is Middleton, but his defense is also between second-rate and first-class people, and it is not very cost-effective to want to name him.

Anyway, as long as the score can't be opened, Su Chen won't take the initiative to adjust.

It's just like the Spurs.

Half-time.

Spurs 39:38 Timberwolves.

The defense of both sides in this game has reached an extreme.

When they saw this score, the Spurs fans on the scene had a very confused feeling.

The Spurs' offense is actually not weak now, especially after the rule change this season, the Spurs have broken a lot of 100 games.

Such a pure defensive battle, let alone the small-ball era, even in the first two or three seasons.

This is the scene that only happened in the defensive battles of ten years ago.

The expressions of the coaches on both sides are also quite interesting.

Su Chen seemed to be very satisfied with this score, and was still clapping his hands to encourage the players.

Popovich, on the other side, was very angry and kept yelling at the players.

There's a reason for that, of course.

Su Chen's game focused on a tactic of boiling the old man.

The Timberwolves are younger overall, and they run defenses with the Spurs.

Don't look at the Timberwolves' constant rotation of defense, the players are very tired running on the court, but it is also quite a big drain for the Spurs to lengthen the offensive and defensive time.

It's just that as an attacker, the Spurs' offense is a little less expensive, but not too small.

After all, Spurs are a team offensive tactic, and the whole team has to work together, and it also requires a high level of concentration to stay on top of mistakes.

Among them, because the Timberwolves were too high-intensity defensively, the Spurs did not pay attention, which caused the Spurs to make mistakes.

The Spurs' core members are all very old, and the Timberwolves are a bunch of young people.

Even players like Lore Deng and Iguodala are in the prime of their careers.

The Timberwolves consume a little more, but the physical reserves are still stronger than the Spurs, and the Spurs are actually very disadvantaged by the old men who fight with the Timberwolves to defend like this.

Of course, Popovich also saw Su Chen's old man tactics, so Popovich was actually a little anxious at this time.

At halftime, Popovich also rearranged his offensive tactics.

But the most important defensive tactics have not changed much.

The Spurs are accustomed to this defensive system and can do what they can when it comes to interior and three-point protection.

In the middle distance, the Spurs have always been put on the opponent to shoot.

Popovich saw it, but he didn't plan to change it.

As soon as the Spurs give up their best defensive style to adopt an unfamiliar defensive strategy, there will be a lot of unaccustomed strategies for the Spurs.

Failure to get used to it can lead to defensive mistakes, and Popovich still wants to win against the Timberwolves safely, rather than taking some extreme measures.

Second, Popovich also knows that the Timberwolves are actually not really good at mid-range shooting, which is nothing more than Su Chen's offensive plan to make the Spurs change their defensive strategy.

Against the Warriors in the last series, the Timberwolves showed that they are a team that is good at attacking the interior.

It's not just two young core players who can rush, but other supporting players who can also rush in the face of not so strong defense.

The Spurs and Warriors actually have the same weaknesses.

That's the guard line, and the front line team that can't afford the Timberwolves takes turns to rush inside.

The combination of Parker and Green, Green is better, Parker is really not up to the Timberwolves' forward.

The Spurs have good interior defensive strength, so Popovich is actually not afraid of the Timberwolves using the way they pulled away from the outside and took turns to rush the interior like in the previous round.

Once the Spurs switch their defensive mode and go to the mid-range to set up defense, then it will be a way for the Timberwolves to open up the inside line.

Even the Timberwolves rotate off the bench and have the ability to impact the interior.

In addition to Parker, the Spurs also have Mills, Belinelli and other guards.

Especially Mills, he is only 1.83 meters, and he can't get on the court with the Timberwolves putting on this lineup.

In Popovich's opinion, the defensive ability to limit the Timberwolves to this score is actually quite good defense.

It was the Spurs' own offense that couldn't keep up, which is why the Spurs played so passively.

At the same time, in the Spurs' home stadium, the Spurs fans were also talking, and they were really surprised why the game was played like this.

In the pre-game period, few authoritative media outlets were bullish on the Timberwolves, and they thought the same.

This kind of young team, facing the veteran Spurs, will definitely not be able to beat the Spurs.

But how did it come to this now?

At halftime, several people on the commentary stage were not idle.

"This kind of defensive battle looks pretty cool, it's been a long time since I've seen it, especially after the new rules have been revised this season."

Barkley looked a little amused.

"Spurs themselves are good at this rhythm, but have you ever thought about it, Spurs are not the spurs they used to be."

"The Timberwolves' defensive resources are too rich in this way, they can defend every position, and they are still young."

Kenny Smith analyzes the game.

"I entered the league five years earlier than Duncan, and I've been commentating for so long, and Duncan is still playing on the court."

"But it is undeniable that Duncan still lost his dominance, and he didn't even teach the rookie named Giannis a lesson."

O'Neill shook his head and said.

Judging from the first half alone, Giannis Antetokounmpo's performance was very helpful to the team.

Duncan also doesn't really have a 1v1 lesson Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the guy who plays against him is usually Ibaka, and then whenever he wants to play Ibaka with his back, he will immediately be Giannis Antetokounmpo's help defense.

Although Duncan has educated Ibaka an unknown number of times in the past season, Duncan is also well aware of Ibaka's defensive ability in the face frame.

Ibaka is only weaker in his lower body, but his athleticism and defensive awareness, Duncan has never doubted.

Duncan wants to educate Ibaka on the premise that he will push Ibaka with his back before he can shoot.

But now the Timberwolves' rotation is too fast, and Duncan's back is up, and the Timberwolves' bag and defense position has already been established.

Duncan wanted to punch the cotton right now.

(End of chapter)