Duncan's performance was praised repeatedly by commentators on major TV stations. On the court, the biggest headache for the Trail Blazers players was the Spurs veterans.

Finley and Horry took turns in the first quarter and scored a combined 12 points!

By the second quarter, the Spurs veterans had not stopped performing.

Barry took on the responsibility of supporting the top arc and delivered ammunition to Duncan. Duncan steadily scored 8 points in a single quarter, transition ball, and necessary three-pointers. He also did a good job, scoring 4 points and 5 assists in a single quarter!

But the biggest headache for the Trail Blazers is that Bowen and Horry made a total of 5 three-pointers in this quarter! They scored 15 points together! Finley also scored 3 points.

The Trail Blazers' performance in the second quarter was similar to the first quarter, with stable and strong offensive firepower, scoring 28 points in a single quarter.

Liu Xiu scored 7 points, Kwame Brown scored 5 points, and Ray Allen scored 8 points. The three of them performed their respective duties to ensure the scoring.

But the Spurs scored 31 points in a single quarter!

After halftime, the Spurs led the Trail Blazers by two points, 59-57!

Popovich's eyes lit up.

He has always been envious of the Trail Blazers' lineup, including Flying Squirrel, Raheem, McDyess, and Stevenson. Any one of these four substitutes who comes into his hands, he will use as a treasure.

But the owner of the Spurs team who sells tractors really has no money, and the team itself doesn't make any money...

But now, he has a new idea.

There are no stars in their prime, but veterans will do just fine!

There is no omnipotent one, but a functional one will do!

If personal ability is insufficient, then don’t use personal ability. The three cores of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker can still be used for at least four or five years!

…

Popovich opened his mind, but now in this game, he has lost control again.

Finley, Bowen, Horry, and Barry scored 34 points in half the game.

This was not at all what he expected before the game.

He was looking forward to the Demon Sword, but the Demon Sword was weak tonight, and ended up leading at halftime.

Whenever this happens, the decision he makes is...stable!

Emphasize that the play style decided before the game will not be changed.

And the Trail Blazers expected this! Popovich's on-the-spot response is indeed very easy to guess.

There is really nothing the Trail Blazers can do about a few veterans. Bowen and Horry are the ones who stand at the farthest corner and must be released if necessary. Since there is no other way, they will not change and just take a gamble.

.

With a big score of 3 to 2, Maurice Cheeks has the courage and capital to bet!

The strategy remained unchanged and the Trail Blazers won this time!

The veterans' touch in the first half cooled off after the intermission. Not only did they miss the shot, they also gave the Trail Blazers a chance to counterattack!

Liu Xiu turned on the rush mode, and with the bonus of "power down", he scored 13 points and 4 assists in a single quarter, leading the Trail Blazers to 33 in a single quarter! They beat the Spurs 33-23 in a single quarter.

After three quarters, the Trail Blazers led the Spurs by 8 points 90 to 82!

Popovich's current situation is terrible. At his age, he has actually made an 'epiphany'-like improvement in coaching. Others will be absolutely amazed when they find out.

But facing the current situation, he became increasingly powerless.

Duncan scored more than Liu Xiu in the third quarter, scoring 14 points and 30 points in the third quarter, but this time, no one could help him.

At the end of the quarter, Popovich made adjustments...to strengthen defense.

Finally, the demon knife came out of the body in the final quarter. He scored 6 points and 2 assists in 8 minutes, plus Duncan's 7 points, Parker's 5 points, Muhammad's 4 points, Bowen's 3 points... The Spurs worked together to score in the final quarter.

to 25 points, and relying on defense to limit the scoring of the Trail Blazers who rushed too hard in the first three quarters, the Trail Blazers only scored 24 points in the final quarter, but the final effort came too late...

Duncan scored 37 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He lost to Liu Xiu with 35 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and 1 block.

114 to 107, the Trail Blazers defeated the Spurs in an away game, with a big score of 4 to 2, and entered the finals for two consecutive years!

…

After the game, thousands of fans remained at the scene to watch the Trail Blazers receive the Western Conference Championship trophy.

There are some who support the Trail Blazers, but during games in this city, there are not many of them, and most of them boo the Trail Blazers.

Duncan once again stayed to watch the Trail Blazers win the Western Conference championship trophy, but this time he was not alone, Parker, Ginobili also stayed, and Popovich.

Although they lost in the Western Conference Finals this time, the relationship between the four of them has become better.

Popovich still looks down on Parker, and is still thinking about the chance to trade him for Kidd. In this Western Conference finals, Parker averaged 13.8 points per game and shot 39% from the field, which was not as good as the veteran Finley... But Parker tried his best.

He tried his best to control the ball, distributed the ball well, and was able to maintain the performance that a starting point guard should have under the pressure of Warden, which made Popovich look at him in a different light.

In his eyes, Parker has always been a person who can only hit the ball with the wind. He will collapse as many balls as the headwind.

The relationship between the three GDPs is progressive and is deeper than Popovich's acceptance of Parker.

When Ginobili came on the bench, the existing and potential conflicts over the ball were resolved at once.

The four of them finished watching the presentation of the Western Conference Finals trophy and were about to leave. As soon as they got up and walked to the players' tunnel, someone called Duncan's name.

The sound actually came from the speaker.

Turning around, Duncan's eyes widened.

I really want to sing a joke about tonight’s award ceremony: Who stole my microphone...

I saw Liu Xiu holding the microphone and saying to Duncan: "Mr. Duncan, you are the strongest center in history in my mind, but you have played for so many years and are already old. Why don't you consider retiring? The future is no longer yours.

, but mine!”

Even the Blazers had only one word to describe it when they heard this - crazy!

This is Duncan!

The second-year FMVP and two consecutive MVPs have been in the first team for the past eight years. This year, he was unable to continue in the first team because he was placed in the center position by the league. By the end of the 2002-03 season, Duncan, who had only played for 6 years, was already regarded as

Legendary superstar.

Now Duncan has just turned 30 and has just reached his peak performance.

G1 scored 27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks;

G2 scored 35 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks;

G3 scored 34 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 6 blocks.

G4 scored 33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.

G5 scored 41 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks.

G6 scored 37 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

Despite how showy Demon Sword is, his overall performance is still a big step below Duncan's.

Even the Trail Blazers players felt that Duncan's performance was not inferior to that of Liu Xiu.

With Duncan's current state and current style of play, there will be no problem at all if his peak period continues for another four or five years.

To say to Duncan like this, "It's time for you to retire," is arrogant! Arrogant! So arrogant!

Extremely arrogant!

However, when they suddenly remembered that the person holding the microphone and saying this was the warden...

Even the Spurs fans who were extremely angry at the scene came up with the idea that "he deserves it".

All eyes were focused on Duncan.

I saw Duncan's eyes widening with a shocked expression. Suddenly!

Duncan laughed!

That picture healed everyone's eyes!

Suddenly, a whistle sounded.

People looked at the referee on the technical stage in surprise. The bald referee scratched his head and waved his hand, indicating that everyone should ignore him. It was a conditioned reflex...
Chapter completed!