Author: Tiamo the Withered

To say that the most successful team since the new century is definitely inseparable from the Lakers from a commercial perspective, but from a performance perspective, especially from the number of championships, the Spurs, who just won another championship, are also

Slightly worse than the Lakers.

And if it covers before the last century, the biggest gap between the Spurs and the Lakers should be that they have not established their own "dynasty".

However, the concept of this dynasty was actually proposed by Phil Jackson. Jackson actually established the premise of three consecutive championships based on his coaching experience with the Bulls and Lakers, and then defined three consecutive championships as the standard for a "dynasty team".

From this perspective, the Spurs have indeed never established their dynasty. During the Lakers' three consecutive championships, the Spurs could only serve as a foil in the Western Conference. Moreover, the Spurs at that time first experienced the retirement of David Robinson.

, Duncan was troubled by injuries and had to lead new players.

They are not even the Lakers' biggest rival in the West, and they are not as big a threat to the Lakers as the Kings.

However, after OK disintegrated, the Sharks traveled east, and the Lakers dynasty collapsed, the Spurs also passed the most difficult period. The growth of Parker and Ginobili gave Duncan a right-hand man, and finally defeated the Pistons in 2005.

The team won the championship.

In this year's finals, they swept the Cavaliers and won another championship a year later. This time, Parker even won the FMVP.

As the defending champions, there have been no major changes to the team's lineup, and they are still making minor repairs as in previous years. The outside world still regards them as the most powerful championship contenders in the Western Conference. However, after the Green Army formed a lineup of the Big Three, they are optimistic

The Eastern Conference has won more championships.

As for the Magic, the two games against the Spurs in the regular season are likely to be their only games this season. Their next encounter in the playoffs will be the Finals. This is something that the current Magic team cannot even imagine.

things.

The Spurs currently have many experienced veterans. Not to mention Duncan, Michael Finley was also a 20+ scorer. He helped the team win the championship last season and can still contribute steadily this season.

There is also Barry. This second-generation star does not have the same glory as his father, but lives in his shadow. Currently, the highest personal honor is only a rookie second team.

However, his dunk king's physical fitness, coupled with his gradual improvement in shooting, allow him to gain a foothold in a championship contending team like the Spurs.

Facing the veteran Spurs, the Magic also tried their best in this game. In Van Gundy's heart, if this game has any special significance, it is that it can test the current quality of the Magic through the Spurs.

In the first quarter, the Spurs took the lead, shooting inside and outside. The Magic couldn't stop Parker at all. No matter Nelson, Bogans, Arroyo or Dulin, they couldn't keep up with his speed. The Magic's defenders were so weak.

The field was almost completely filled by Parker alone.

Once the Magic shrinks its defense, the Spurs will inevitably have opportunities from the outside. Finley, Bowen and Barry successively fired shots from the outside. The Spurs made 5 of 7 three-pointers in the first quarter, leading by six points at 33:27.

In the second quarter, the Spurs' offensive continued. Parker was replaced by Ginobili. As long as Li Chengming was pulled out of the three-second zone, it would be difficult to defend the inside.

Li Chengming defended alone in the low post and defended the inside line. Even when facing Duncan, he would not lose his position. However, facing the French sports car known for its speed and the Argentinian Demon Blade known for its weird breakthrough rhythm, he became a target. The one who plays.

Parker was spinning fast like a small top, and Li Chengming was like a big top driven by him, but he was so dizzy that he couldn't tell the north, south, east, and west. Then Ginobili came over and stabbed him twice from time to time, and Li Chengming was knocked down. Twice, if the bottom plate hadn't been stable enough, I might have made a bigger fool of myself.

Anyway, the laughter of the Holy City fans should be enough for Li Chengming to remember for a while...

At halftime, the Spurs temporarily led by 10 points, 57:69. This was the largest point difference the Magic had ever fallen behind at halftime in so many games. The previous game against the Pistons was mainly a collapse in the second half.

In fact, the Magic's offensive performance today was not bad. As long as Howard catches the ball in the paint, it's an opportunity. The Spurs can't guard him and can only foul him.

Bogans, Lewis and Turkoglu also had a good effect from the three-point line. The Magic did not take many three-pointers but their efficiency was not low. Even Li Chengming went to the outside and hit a three-pointer in the second quarter. .

The key is that the Magic can't guard against the Spurs' offense. Compared to the Celtics, Li Chengming feels that the Spurs, a team that combines internal and external forces and has everyone involved, seems more difficult to deal with.

Because the Spurs have a lot of tactical coordination, they are often allowed to move without paying attention, and the transmission is completed, and then there is an opportunity to shoot an open shot or under the basket, and how can people chase the ball?

Unless there is a team in the Western Conference that can deal with the Spurs first, it's hard to say who will win against the Celtics after entering the finals.

Of course, if there really is a team that can deal with the Spurs, it will surely cause great trouble to the Celtics in the finals.

During the halftime break, Van Gundy emphasized defense in the locker room. In fact, the Magic's defense now mainly relies on Howard. With his speed and explosiveness, he can directly extend the defensive area to the three-point line, but he is the Magic's defense. the last line of defense.

However, Nelson and Turkoglu, who are on the outside, are relatively slow and will be targeted by their opponents on the defensive end.

In fact, the Magic's starting lineup, in addition to Howard and Bogans, Lewis and Turkoglu have serious defensive weaknesses, and Nelson can only defend specific opponents.

If they want to achieve better results, in addition to Howard continuing to improve and the overall lineup improving, they also need to cultivate the tacit understanding of the players, at least to ensure that the defensive end rotation is in place in a timely manner, not to always steal or block shots, but at least to interfere. Under pressure, you cannot give the opponent an open opportunity with just a pick-and-roll.

Another way is to ensure your offensive efficiency, especially to take advantage of the inside line, and then expand from the inside to the outside to fully utilize the advantage.

At the beginning of the third quarter, it was the Magic's pursuit of points.

In this quarter, Li Chengming came on the court early in the fifth minute, and then suddenly fired from the outside, hitting two consecutive three-pointers. He also took advantage of the opponent's defense to get to the basket, causing Oberto to foul. He made two free throws and scored 8 points in a row. The score stopped the Spurs.

Then he succeeded in beating Duncan in the low post. Shi Fo's defense was very strong. He had both static talent in terms of height and wingspan, and rich experience. However, the more calm a defender is, the more afraid he is of unreasonable attacks. , for example, O'Neal directly hit hard in the low post, Kobe broke into the paint, and Duncan couldn't do anything to them.

Facing Li Chengming's low-position kills, which were like a bull's thrust and a tiger's roar, the 31-year-old Duncan had to lament that he was too young and too young to be invincible.

Li Chengming's strength advantage is too obvious. When Duncan faced O'Neal, he also had to avoid his edge. Now it is very difficult for Li Chengming to stand up to him.

Moreover, Li Chengming has accumulated a lot of experience after playing more than a dozen games. Compared with Kongshang Yi, who is still struggling with ups and downs, Li Chengming has completely adapted to the rhythm of NBA games.

This also forced the Spurs to help defend, and then leaked Bogans from the outside.

Bogans received Li Chengming's pass and hit two more three-pointers, which made the Spurs a little concerned about one thing and the other. It also allowed the Magic to narrow the point difference to 5 points in just over three minutes.

At the critical moment, Popovich decisively used the tactic of cutting Howard, sending Howard to the free throw line twice in a row, which also directly interrupted the Magic's offensive momentum.

The key is that Howard himself failed to live up to his expectations and only made one of his four free throws, allowing the Spurs to open up another 3 points.

Foul tactics are always used when necessary, and they are used to achieve different purposes depending on the situation. It is obviously mainly used to disrupt the Magic's offensive rhythm.

And the Spurs don't need to use it all the time. They just need to interrupt the Magic's rhythm first, and then maintain this deterrence and tell the Magic that they can use it at any time. This way the Magic will have a mental burden, and even Howard will be on the offensive end.

hesitate.

Li Chengming is also affected, because if the opponent commits a foul, it is difficult for him to catch the ball. When receiving the ball, he has to worry about whether the opponent will suddenly foul. This is like feeling that he can't find an outlet in public.

The discomfort of not being able to go up or down.

Especially Li Chengming's body type - although he weighed himself again the day before yesterday and had dropped to 282 pounds, he had lost almost 30 pounds in five months compared to the initial trial training, but doing return runs on the field was not good for him.

It's just unnecessary consumption.

So after two minutes, Van Gundy had no choice but to replace Li Chengming first. At this time, the Spurs still led by 8 points.

After Li Chengming came off the court, the Magic team used Turkoglu to control the ball and deploy the offense. The Turk was in good form in this game, shooting inside and outside, and disrupted the Spurs' defense with his own rhythm.

Turkoglu's athletic talent seems average, but he has a good sense of the ball. Although his technical movements are not flashy, they are solid and stable. The best part is that he is very good at using changes in rhythm to create shooting space for himself, and as long as he shakes out

He always has a way to put the ball into the basket given the space.

Relying on Turkoglu's performance, the Magic finally held on to the point difference until the end of the third quarter, still only eight points behind the Spurs.

In the Spurs' lineup, since Robinson retired, Duncan has often been paired with a defensive blue-collar to work inside.

When facing Li Chengming and Howard, or Howard and Lewis on the court at the same time, they can't take care of both, especially since both Li Chengming and Lewis can pull to the outside, giving Howard a chance to fight one on one.

If it weren't for the restriction of foul tactics, Howard's inside destructive power would be even stronger.

However, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Van Gundy wanted Li Chengming to take a rest, and Howard also temporarily rested off the court. As a result, the situation on the court suddenly changed.

The Spurs took advantage of this time to suddenly start double-teaming Lewis. The Magic originally wanted to let Lewis take over the offensive banner at this time, but they were continuously made mistakes by the Spurs' pressing defense, which also caused the Spurs to fight back several times.

On the contrary, the score quickly opened up.

Van Gundy quickly called a timeout, and then brought Turkoglu up first to stabilize the situation, but the Spurs were in good shape. Barry was extremely accurate at the three-point line today, hitting five goals in 6 shots. The Magic

The offensive and defensive momentum was suppressed, and they could only watch the score reach 16 points.

At this point, even if Howard and Li Chengming are brought up again, there is nothing they can do to save the situation, that is, let them brush up the data a little bit.

Li Chengming played a total of 17 minutes, shooting 6 of 7 and scoring 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, which was very efficient.

From the starting point to the "sixth man" Li Chengming, the Magic are not at a disadvantage in the competition, but they are not as good as the Spurs in terms of lineup depth. The point difference between the two teams is basically the same as Barry's breakout today.

's score.
Chapter completed!