Then came Woody's head-to-head battle with Tim Duncan.

Duncan hooked his hand, and the first time he returned to defense, he was already a cute expression.

But in his heart, he was counting the time:

The camera must have been turned away, right?

The corners of his mouth rose slightly.

This goal, he himself thinks it is very handsome!

"Boy, you're snickering again, aren't you?"

It's just that the smile hasn't been completely aroused, and the image of a bald guy suddenly flashed in his mind, and the smile disappeared instantly.

He can't laugh.

He was afraid that Crawford would suddenly come out of nowhere and give him a t.

Although he knew that it was not Crawford who blew the penalty today.

But it can't be helped, that impresses him too much!

"One more, one more, that nerd must be laughing at you in his heart!"

Shaq O'Neal still knows Tim Duncan very well, they have both been fighting in the Western Conference playoffs for so many years, from 00 to 04, Shaq O'Neal has only lost once in the playoffs, that is, to Tim Duncan.

He knew very well how sullen this guy who didn't look at him was smiling.

Woody also had this plan, and Alston immediately went outside the three-point line to catch the ball when he got the ball to the frontcourt.

Tim Duncan was in front of him as soon as he received the ball.

This initiative and enthusiasm surprised even Popovich.

He really didn't expect Tim Duncan to compete with Woody, a second-year rookie.

Woody held the ball and turned his back to Tim Duncan, but quickly opened up space in the frame.

After two attempts, he found that he couldn't stand up to Tim Duncan.

Therefore, he decisively gave up his plan to hit his back and hoisted the ball directly under the basket.

Muhammad was watching Woody single-handedly Tim Duncan, thinking that this was not his turn, and was about to grab a rebound with Shaq O'Neal, who knew that the ball would suddenly reach Shaq's hands.

The painful image reappeared, and as before, he was directly pushed away.

There is no parry at all.

"Phew!"

Shaq scored again.

Tim Duncan was a little surprised, he defended so aggressively just to provoke Woody to fight him.

He was a little emotional because of the outside media discussion, and he believed that it was impossible for this newcomer not to have such emotions.

Win him, and the 19-year-old Woody is the league's active No. 1 forward.

Can this not be tempting?

As long as Woody is caught up in singles with him, he is sure to limit Woody, which is the confidence of two regular season MVPs and two-time Finals MVPs.

But who would have thought!

Woody didn't fool him at all, just simply tried it, and felt that it was no fun, so he immediately hoisted the ball to the inside and handed it to Shaq O'Neal.

A psychology degree doesn't seem to be going to play much of a role in this series.

What's even more painful is that he has to stand in a high position again, helping to make up for the defense at any time......

The Spurs counterattacked, and this time Tony Parker threw at the free throw line as soon as he got rid of the defense.

He's really improved this season, averaging 16.6 points per game in the regular season, two more than last season, and in the playoffs, so far, he's averaging 17.6 points per game.

His personal ability has become more mature, and at the same time, he has gradually developed a greater tacit understanding with Tim Duncan's pick-and-roll cooperation.

The small throw after the breakout is a must.

The ball fell smoothly into the basket.

On the Heat's side, Alston continued to wait for Woody to stand outside the three-point line to receive the ball.

Tim Duncan visibly hesitated when he came out this time, and Woody sensed this, took a step forward, and shot straight at the long two points.

Again, this choice was not expected by Tim Duncan.

In less than a second, Tim Duncan gave up the front pounce and chose to return to the interior to grab the rebound.

He bet Woody wouldn't make the shot.

But Woody was very resolute in his shot, and when he threw it, he was also in his shooting rhythm, so the ball fell into the frame.

Barkley also saw this determination: "Woody tonight is going to be more decisive than usual! ”

In fact, in the face of a top defensive player like Tim Duncan, who has not won the "Defensive Player of the Season" award, hesitation on the offensive end will be seized instead.

Being more resolute like Woody is what can make him passive.

Of course, then again, if Woody doesn't score this goal, then the more passive person becomes Woody. Shoot two points longer, and he'll have to weigh it.

Woody's shot was risky, but now he's rewarded.

Tim Duncan didn't dare to let him go too far in the future, and although he still kept his distance, he was basically able to pounce on him with a step forward.

Woody isn't a top-notch "mid-range shooter" right now, and he has a noticeable combo on his shot, and Tim Duncan keeps that distance and fully reacts.

Woody saw the situation and did not hesitate, and immediately gave the ball to Wade.

Wade, who was on the wing, was a little limited in his breakthrough with Bruce Bowen and Ginobili.

Popovich clearly studied Wade's breakaway habits, and Bruce Bowen was just right on the board.

He's just a sophomore after all, and he doesn't have that much experience. The most comfortable point is always broken by the opponent, and Wade's entire breakthrough state is a bit fragmented.

But after Woody took the initiative to cooperate with him to block and dismantle, the Spurs' wing defense was not so much of a threat to him.

Bruce Bowen has the ability to defend the perimeter, but more often than not, Tim Duncan needs to wipe his ass for him.

Duncan was transferred out of the interior by Woody's move, and Wade reacted quickly, and the first thing he did after the breakthrough was to find Shaq O'Neal.

Let him basket against Muhammad.

Popovich saw that the Heat team grabbed Muhammad and beat him hard, and he didn't talk about martial arts anymore, so he immediately signaled Muhammad to pay for the foul.

Every time Shaq O'Neal just got the ball in his hand and held the ball on top of it, Muhammad immediately followed up with a foul and interrupted his rhythm.

"Shark cutting tactics", although late but arrived.

Shaq O'Neal, who played well in the first two rounds, also ruined his touch. ‘

Why don't shooters dunk!

There's a reason for that.

Shaq O'Neal continued to eat at the free throw line, making 1 of 4 free throws, and the Spurs scored consecutive goals during this time, playing 6:13 in the first quarter, and the Spurs led by 3 points at 19-16 on the road.

To make matters worse, Stan Van Gundy had to replace Shaq O'Neal.

"Big Shark" cursed when he left the scene.

The "shark slashing tactic" really affects the mood too much.

The cheers at the scene also became heavy with his expression when he left the field.

Miami could see that the Heat were in a bad situation.

At the same time that Shaq was gone, Jones also came on in place of Alston.

Next, the Heat team focuses on the mutual cooperation between the "03 generation".

Soon, there was good news for the Heat:

Jones was in good form tonight, hitting a three-pointer as soon as he came up.

The good thing about a veteran is that once he's in shape, his role on the pitch can continue.

Haslem also has mid-range, and the entire Heat defense is completely open.

Tim Duncan thought that Shaq O'Neal was out of the game and he could focus more on defending Woody alone, but as a result, he still had to continue to help the interior defense.

Wade, who rushed up, could not be stopped by Muhammad alone.

It's just that if he goes inside with Wade, Wade will immediately pass the ball to Woody.

Woody was very controlled in the first quarter of his desire to get into the basket and make a strong kill, and the whole touch was very good.

Wade passes the ball to him, and he always makes mid-range jumpers.

At 8 minutes and 13 seconds in the first quarter, when the main players of the two teams were replaced, Woody's mid-range jumper was 3 of 4 shots.

This kind of shooting rate makes it even more difficult for Tim Duncan, and his help defense is no longer so quality and quantity, and it is no longer so timely, and Wade frequently attacks the frame.

When the starters were substituted in the first quarter, the Heat had a four-point lead.

This was a surprise to everyone.

During the time that Shaq O'Neale was not on the court, the Heat became better to play.

Just waited for the end of the first quarter to tie the score between the Spurs and the Heat 26-26.

The man who helped the Spurs tie the score was Manu Ginobili.

Tony Parker's progress this season has been pretty fast, but the one who has improved even more is Manu Ginobili.

He was already shining at the '04 Olympics, and when he returned to the Spurs, he averaged 16.2 points per game, making him the team's third-best attacker, just 0.6 points less than Tony Parker.

And when he entered the playoffs, he became the team's second point of attack.

He averaged 20.8 points per game.

The offensive battle between the Spurs and the Suns mainly relied on the power of Manu Ginobili.

At the beginning of this game, he was not in too good shape, but after the main players on both sides were off the court, Ginobili suddenly broke out and hit two consecutive three-pointers to help the team tie the score in an instant.

At the end of the first quarter, it can be seen from the statistics of the main team who the Heat and Spurs rely on each other.

On the Heat's side:

Shaq O'Neal scored seven points, Wade had six and Woody had eight points, and the three combined for 21 points in the first quarter and five points for the rest of the team.

Of course, it's not just the Heat.

The Spurs' side is also the "troika" that shoulders the heavy responsibility on the offensive end:

Duncan had six points, Parker had seven and Ginobili had nine.

The three of them picked it up and scored a total of 22 points!

1 more point than the Heat "3C"!

At the same time, the change of formation on both sides of the first game, as well as the change in the game situation due to substitutions, made Barkley addicted.

"This is the finals, this is the finals!"

Basketball games on the highest stage are like that, never knowing what will happen in the next second.

Shaq O'Neill is a face-saving man.

He went off the court, and the Heat instead opened up the situation, and in the second quarter he offered to be on the court at the beginning of the second quarter.

As soon as Popovich saw this, he immediately put Tim Duncan on the court.

When Tim Duncan came on the court, he specially patted Tim Duncan on the shoulder, and silence was better than sound at this time:

Go ahead, I'm sorry for you!

Predictably in this match, Tim Duncan certainly won't have it too easy.

Especially the current arrangement of the Heat, who immediately took Shaq O'Neale after 6 minutes in the first quarter, and now picked him up at the beginning of the second quarter to play the beginning of the second quarter.

If Tim Duncan doesn't play, then a Mohammed alone can't guard against Shaq.

In the first quarter, he was able to contain Shaq O'Neal a little, and it was completely relied on Tim Duncan's assistance in defense, and once he was gone, the three Muhammeds didn't want to stop Shaq O'Neal, the tonnage is not an order of magnitude.

But in this way, when Woody comes on the court later, Tim Duncan will not have to rest.

Playing the second quarter is almost a 100 percent thing.

It took almost nine minutes to get off the court in the first quarter, and now it's time to play the full second quarter.

Tim Duncan's time on the court is expected to come to 21 points!

If the whole game was at that pace, it would be 42 minutes.

An inside player is not an outside player, with that height and tonnage, let him score a full 42 points, or at this intensity.

No wonder Popovich felt a little vague.

But what could he do?

There is really no other way than to Tim Duncan!

Good or bad, Stan Van Gundy's next substitution arrangement is really rushing to consume Tim Duncan's time.

He didn't bring Woody on until 4:35 of the second quarter so that Woody had plenty of energy to play the rest of the game.

Then at 7:43 of the second quarter, he took Shaq O'Neal off the court.

With more than four minutes left in the second quarter, even if Popovich had the idea of resting Tim Duncan, he couldn't find the right time.

Often, at times like these, the manager chooses to play more resolutely until the last minute.

After all, if the whole team collapses because of Tim Duncan's departure, then Tim Duncan's time on the court for so long will be in vain.

This is the biggest taboo for the manager in substitutions!

At the end of the first half, the Heat barely led by 2 points.

Kenny Smith looked at Tim Duncan, who had left the tunnel of the away team, and couldn't help but sigh: "The Stone Buddha is too strong!" ”

At the end of the first half, his statistics were 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.

Looking at the data that is not very explosive, at most it is very versatile.

But there are many roles that cannot be reflected in basic data alone, such as his blocking and pick-and-roll screen, compared to his help defense, and for example, his "small and big" outside players behind the change of defense, Tim Duncan copes with these situations quite well.

The Spurs relied entirely on him to fall behind by just two points.

In the second quarter, both Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker struggled a bit.

Popovich saw this too, so he went back to the locker room and arrested the two men and scolded them.

He must wake these two men up as soon as possible, otherwise the second half will be a "slow death".

He could see that the Heat weren't fully working out yet, they were slowly draining Tim Duncan's stamina, and when he was on the move, they would be ready to go.

Popovich can see it, because the Spurs have always played like this!

I didn't expect others to start playing them like this this year......

(End of chapter)