However, the referees ignored Popovich's dissatisfaction.

It's not really the age of the body hair whistle yet, especially for these old-school players in the league, they are not the league's most popular players who don't need a special whistle to take care of them,

At least 38-year-old Duncan is not.

In the Timberwolves' offensive round, he still dodged Leonard's defense.

The Timberwolves always maintain the offensive ability of all three on the outside, and even Middleton, he also has a certain ability to shoot with the ball after blocking and shooting.

If for other teams, the opponent's big boss and second leader can choose to actively avoid not playing, then the effect for the Spurs has also been achieved.

For example, against the Heat, if James and Wade can choose not to take the initiative, then it will be difficult for the Heat to win.

After all, in addition to these two, Bosh often doesn't attack with a lot of balls, and other Heat players are role players.

The Spurs are still really afraid of the kind of offense that the whole team can play.

Just like this season's Mavericks are actually not very competitive, and if they are really competitive, they will not be eighth in the West.

But the Mavericks are a bunch of people who can pick up the ball twice and have Novitzki, the mid-distance maestro.

And the Timberwolves' lineup is still an upgraded version of the Mavericks' lineup.

The Mavericks, who have offense but no defense, like Monta Aires.

And the Timberwolves' role players aren't ordinary role players.

In addition to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Butler, there are two All-Stars who are still in the prime of life, Iguodala and Lore Deng.

Although Josh was not selected as an All-Star, his previous data was also very beautiful, and he could play with the ball.

Although Middleton is still a sophomore, his ability to hold the ball and jump shots has been basically developed.

These players may not be much better than the Mavericks in terms of offense alone.

However, the Mavericks' players belong to a bunch of strong offense and weak defense, and the Timberwolves are directly two or three grades higher than the Mavericks in terms of offensive firepower.

After all, the Mavericks can defend the most is already old Marion.

Spurs are nowhere near as strong as they seem.

can easily beat the Heat, purely because the Spurs limited James, and then Wade slipped to give James little support.

On the outside and mid-range, Leonard watched James, James went inside, and Duncan helped defend James.

When the Heat Ray Allen chassis was still fueled before, Wade was still a superstar-level combat power, and the Spurs had not played the Heat at that time.

Leonard is a bit ridiculously strong right now, but avoiding Leonard on the defensive end is much easier to play.

Although Duncan is still very strong, the 38-year-old Duncan, it is too difficult for Duncan to pick up the offense and defense.

The two sides continued to fight.

On the offensive end of the Spurs, Duncan saw Muscala's single defense and chose to play Muscala fiercely.

It's a simple truth.

The opponent no longer uses defensive strengths to defend Duncan, so the Timberwolves' defensive strengths can defend Duncan's teammates more.

As the leader of the team, Duncan took on the responsibility at this time.

If Muscala dares to defend him, then he will beat Muscala down.

However, on the defensive end of the Spurs, the Timberwolves also frequently go to Duncan to play.

I don't want to play with a high success rate, but I just make it clear that telling Popovich is to consume Duncan and have the ability to replace Duncan.

If Duncan doesn't play, it's even happier for the Timberwolves.

Popovich also knew this, so even after seeing this scene on the court, he still insisted on not letting Duncan change too soon.

Instead, it was with two minutes left in the first quarter that Duncan was replaced to rest.

This is a normal rotation.

After Duncan was replaced, Muscala was also replaced.

Muscala was directly beaten by Duncan to three fouls in this short period of time.

But Su Chen didn't blame Muscala, but patted Muscala on the back and gave Muscala an encouragement.

Signal that he is doing a good job.

Muscala's three fouls, it is not the Timberwolves who are uncomfortable, it is the Spurs who are really uncomfortable.

Muscala was originally on the team, a player who had fallen out of the rotation, that is, he was beaten by Duncan's six fouls in the first quarter, as long as it had an effect, it was very good.

On the contrary, because of Muscala's ferocious defense, some balls did not blow for defensive fouls, but they also caused problems for Duncan.

In order to save physical strength, Duncan did not choose to squeeze Muscala under the basket for every ball, and used more signature boards.

The closer you get to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage, although Duncan's move is a signature skill, but after all, it is not under the basket and not every ball can be scored.

Muscala has a big defensive action on every ball, and he is not afraid of fouls at all, anyway, he just doesn't give Duncan a comfortable shot.

In such a situation, the Duncan system was consumed, but the success rate was not very high.

The best thing Muscala did was not to give a 2+1, and the three fouls were very vicious to prevent Duncan's shooting from hitting the board, and there was a ball where Duncan really squeezed under the basket and dunked, but he didn't foul.

Because he still fouled in that situation, not only did he have to foul, but he couldn't stop Duncan.

That's where Muscala is smart.

This is also what Su Chen admires very much about Muscala, although his talent is mediocre, his defensive IQ is not bad.

The Spurs entered the rotation time, and the Spurs were still ahead by a lot of points, but when the Spurs rotated, the Timberwolves made a little effort to chase it back.

End of the first session.

Timberwolves 21-27 Spurs.

Although the Timberwolves trailed the Spurs by six points in the first quarter, Su Chen did not blame any players, but was still very satisfied with the players.

"Duncan did a great job, scoring 20 points in the first quarter, which is more than Duncan averaged in the playoffs."

"This is the 38-year-old Duncan, even when Duncan is at his peak, it is difficult to play a 20-point performance in a single quarter."

Johnson complimented Duncan.

"You also know that it is the 38-year-old Duncan, and the Timberwolves were purely a single defense against Duncan in the first quarter, without any packs."

"Will Duncan continue to score like this in the second and third quarters, and will the Spurs rely on the 38-year-old Duncan to score 60 points in the third quarter?"

Kenny Smith, on the other hand, saw some of them.

"Su Chen's tactic will definitely not work if he encounters me, if I really let me play one by one, I can beat the Timberwolves' interior to the point of doubting my career."

O'Neill laughed at this time.

O'Neal's career is basically a collection of more than a dozen, carrying two people to score, then O'Neal can pretend to say a word.

Give me the ball, there are only two people to defend me.

Although I am slightly inferior to Jordan's three-man defense, this can already represent O'Neal's dominance.

When it comes to the bag, O'Neal thinks of the piston.

Two Wallaces, one against him with strength, the other constantly interfering with him.

There are still many people who say that Big Ben is a good player who defends him, if he really directly arranges a single defense against him like Su Chen, he can directly deduct Big Ben to doubt his career.

"Man, you're not as good as Duncan when you're Duncan's age."

Barkley made a short cut at O'Neal.

"What is inferior to Duncan, Duncan's strength lies in his own strong offense and top organizational skills on the inside."

"In terms of offensive ability alone, even if I am the same age as Duncan, then I am not false at all."

O'Neill said unconvinced.

It is not unreasonable for O'Neal to say this, in fact, O'Neal only relies on his tonnage under the basket, and the situation of 1v1 also makes the other party jealous.

But the reason why O'Neal is not as good as Duncan of his age is because he has been a cool button throughout his career, and he is a word buckle for the bag clip.

This makes O'Neal's ability to handle bags and clips far worse than Duncan's.

Coupled with O'Neal's own slowness, O'Neal is often tackled by the opponent's bag clip, or causes mistakes.

And at this time, in the Spurs camp.

Popovich found it difficult.

After the analysis of him and the teaching assistant team, even as an opponent, he had to admit that Su Chen had come up with an S-level response plan.

Danny Green's defense is good, but his size suffers from the size of the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves will set up some pick-and-rolls.

Danny Green's pick-and-roll ability isn't very strong, at least not as good as Leonard.

Originally, relying on Duncan and Leonard's defense inside and outside, the Spurs' defensive system was very indestructible, but after Su Chen dealt with it, the Spurs' defense was downshifted.

Avoiding Leonard's defense, while facing Duncan's defense directly, not being afraid of Duncan's defense is to consume Duncan's physical strength.

At the same time, the Timberwolves don't just play Danny Green, they will more often name Tony Parker.

Danny Green is still a shooter with defensive attributes, which is all given by the Timberwolves.

Not to mention the old sports cars.

The Spurs' defense has always been a strong defensive team in the eyes of the outside world, but the Spurs are also a team with defensive weaknesses.

Parker's height is so tall after all, and the team he usually faces will have a point guard similar to Parker on the court.

After all, Parker's defensive experience is still relatively rich, and he uses his experience to make up for his own lack of conditions.

But now under the overall height of the Timberwolves, Parker's defensive experience is relatively limited, and the Timberwolves have a significant disadvantage in height except for Beverley.

Beverley, on the other hand, didn't play in the entire first quarter.

Muscala was enabled, but Beverley, who had played well before, was pressed.

Strictly speaking, the Timberwolves haven't really expanded to a ten-man rotation, which is still a nine-man rotation.

It's just that Beverley and Muscala swapped it off.

Su Chen's strategy was to directly hit the weakest point of the Spurs.

It's not something that can be solved with a single internode break.

Popovich can only arrange for the team to make a long rotation and try to give Duncan more time to rest.

The second quarter begins.

The Spurs still maintained their rotation, with Duncan and Parker resting off the court.

After all, Duncan and Parker were almost all named and beaten by each other.

Parker is better, Duncan didn't think that he could be named by the other party to fight.

"Rest off the court, then it depends on how long Duncan has to rest."

Su Chen smiled slightly after seeing the spur's transfer.

At this time, the Timberwolves directly changed to the full main lineup: Sergi Ibaka (C), Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF), Lore Deng (SF), Andre Iguodala (SG), Jimmy Butler (PG)

The Spurs' lineup is: Split (C), Burrece Dior (PF), Kawhi Leonard (SF), Danny Green (SG), Mills (PG)

Seeing this lineup, Su Chen directly started the double-rush tactic.

Without Duncan on the court, I'm still afraid of the Spurs' interior defense, and I don't shoot from the middle distance.

Leonard's ability to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo and his ability to guard against Butler is arguably a real super-big lock.

The strength of this season's FMVP level is no joke.

But when Duncan isn't on the court, the Spurs face a problem.

That is, the Timberwolves played back the most commonly used double-rush lineup, and this double-rush tactic was actually not used much in this series against the Spurs.

Not only did they not use it against the Spurs, but in the last series, the Warriors rarely played a double rush after defending Giannis Antetokounmpo with Green.

When playing the Warriors, choose the five rushes directly.

The Timberwolves' double-rush system can be traced back to the regular season.

In the regular season, the Timberwolves rushed to the second place in the West with this double-rush system.

When facing the Trail Blazers in the first round, a double-rush system was also used.

In fact, this can be regarded as a signature system of the Timberwolves.

But because it has been useless for too long, the Spurs have forgotten that the Timberwolves were originally a two-star two-shot system.

Leonard is strong, and he can handle the Timberwolves' twin stars at will.

But now Leonard has to make a choice, does he defend Giannis Antetokounmpo or Butler?

When there was Duncan before, Duncan could go and deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Now that Duncan is resting off the court and Leonard is going to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo, then Butler is left alone.

Although Danny Green can also defend himself, Butler is the size of the front line after all, and Green can't prevent it when he rushes in.

The action is a little bigger, and Butler is another good foul maker.

Butler is a very hard worker, he knows he doesn't have enough talent, and he tries to improve himself.

This improvement is not only an improvement in his strength and confrontation, but also makes his mid-range shooting more stable.

At the same time, Butler is also working the new breaking rules, and he has his own understanding of how to make fouls.

This is also why Su Chen played a double-star tactic from the beginning of the regular season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't need to say much, there are only a few who can limit him.

At the same time, Butler's ability to make fouls is very strong.

Many people have the impression that Harden is a master of porcelain.

In fact, Butler is essentially a punisher.

After all, talent is not enough, so you can only rely on diligence to make up for these.

(End of chapter)