Although leading by two points going into halftime, the Spurs were not very excited. The players were very ambitious and wanted to defeat the Hawks in the second half. Duncan's three-pointer at the buzzer was a morale booster, mainly for Popovich.

In the second half of the second quarter, Popovich could only rearrange the star singles tactics.

First, the Spurs system is not yet mature, and the Hawks have gradually adapted to defending against the Spurs' running offense.

Although he stumbled at the beginning, Liu Mang relied on the characteristic of "rejecting horses" and gradually became more and more proficient in assisting Battier and Duncan, as well as Brent Barry who came on the bench, to distribute the ball before the system prompts.

Be prepared to help defend and direct teammates to move.

There seems to be a natural tacit understanding with the Lakers' Koga Yao and the four-man team. In addition, among the four, there are usually at least three on the court, with only two different role players; the Spurs usually have two stars on the court and three role players. The tactics

is even more complex than the triangle offense.

This hindered the Spurs' team offense to a certain extent.

The second is that the Hawks' offense is so stable! Liu Mang, Tracy McGrady, Jason Terry, O'Neal Jr. and even Scola all have solid mid-range singles.

Forget about Liu Mang, Tracy McGrady, Jason Terry, and O'Neal Jr.'s singles. When the Eagles sent these four plus Scola's lineup, the Spurs mainly defended the other four, but Scola's

His mid-range shots are all accurate, he doesn’t look like a rookie at all!

Scola, who has been playing Spanish basketball in Europe since he was 16 years old, has been playing professional basketball for more than ten years. Although he is new to the NBA and finds that the entire NBA is a formidable opponent, Scola has no stage fright and throws away whenever he needs to.

After all, he is a 27-year-old "veteran".

The opponent's offensive system had found a way to defend against them, and the efficiency of their offensive system began to decline in the first half of the second quarter. At this time, Popovich's choice had to change back to a star style of play.

It has to be said that before the team was completely at a disadvantage, Popovich's judgment was extremely sharp and he made a very correct choice.

O'Neal Jr.'s defense is barely good. After all, he used to be one of the best defensive insiders in the Eastern Conference, but Scola is an absolute defensive black hole. The Spurs' star tactics are not giving up the system, but they just don't play so troublesome.

Just help Duncan find the opportunity to face Scola in the inside. The Spurs' other inside line is replaced by a mid-range shooter with a pick-and-roll.

The troika relied on their personal abilities to take the lead before halftime.

Duncan only scored 4 points in more than one quarter, but scored 11 points in the second half of the second quarter and 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 2 steals in the half.

Ginobili was the key to the Spurs holding on when the team's offensive performance was poor in the first half of the second quarter, scoring 7 points in the first half of the quarter.

Parker had 3 points and 4 assists in the half. His offensive performance today was average. Rondo and Liu Mang took turns defending, which greatly suppressed his personal offense.

But Parker and Duncan had already scored 8 assists in the first half of the game, and the Spurs only led by 2 points. It was only thanks to Duncan's 11 points in the second half of the second quarter and a three-pointer at the buzzer that the Spurs took the lead by two points!

4 of 9 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws. Liu Mang scored 13 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in the half. McGrady made 4 of 7, only made a mid-range shot, and 3 of 5 free throws.

11 points.

Jason Terry and Scola both scored 7 points, and O'Neal Jr. scored 5 points.

Against the Spurs, the Eagles prepared a group of mid-range experts from the beginning!

Duncan was so fierce in the second half of the second quarter, and the Eagles still maintained their lead because of the super mid-range players like Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Tracy McGrady, Scola, and O'Neal Jr.

The lineup! It was just Duncan's three-pointer at the buzzer that made him look like a ghost in the end.

In the Spurs locker room, Popovich sat next to the blackboard. Thinking of the Hawks' past games this season and today's game, he gradually analyzed the Hawks' style of play this season.

"A team offense based on different interior combinations?"

Thinking of this, Popovich wrote something on the tactical board.

If Liu Mang were here, he would probably pee in fear!

Written on the tactical board is: "Jermaine O'Neal, Luis Scola - Spurs; Kwame Brown, Marion - Cavaliers; Brad Miller, Marion - Mavericks...

"

Popovich wrote, erased, shook his head, and changed...

Slowly, Popovich left several inside combinations that he thought were reliable on the small blackboard!

Just like Liu Mang gradually found a way to deal with the existing Spurs system that is not mature enough and forced the Spurs to increase the role of star players, Popovich also analyzed the basic points of Liu Mang's strategy!

It's just that both of them have the same problem, both of which are unsolvable.

After analyzing it, they completely suppressed it... neither of them had a good idea.

Liu Mang can find some ways to deal with the Spurs system, but the Spurs system, coupled with the top singles of the troika, is quite unsolvable; Popovich's view on the Hawks' current tactical thinking is very straightforward, it is unsolvable!

Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Tracy McGrady, Scola, O'Neal... Faced with this lineup, trying to find a way to start from the offensive end, Popovich thinks it is not difficult to defend... Unless the five of them today

They all make iron.

And Scola!

Originally, Popovich thought the target of the Eagles' trade for Battier was Brad Miller, but he didn't expect it to be Scola!

Brad Miller has always been beaten by Duncan. Popovich was ready to attack and defend Brad Miller. As a result, Brad Miller took advantage of Duncan while he was resting today.

After playing for a few minutes, Duncan came up and the power forwards sent by the Eagles were all mid-range shooters!

Popovich wanted to scratch his head, but thinking about the opponent's head coach's hairstyle, he held back.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, today’s game also gave Popovich some hints. The strength of the three disciples is still at its peak, so the system should be fine-tuned to give the three more opportunities.

More scenes is not a bad thing. The current situation is still very favorable for Popovich. Duncan's 11 points in the second half of the second quarter gave Popovich a lot of confidence.

…

…

Coming back from the halftime break, the expressions of the players from the two teams were very different.

The Spurs came back with the high morale feeling of taking the lead at halftime.

The Eagles seemed to be frightened. T.N.T commentator Charles Barkley was teasing the Eagles again, saying they were frightened by Duncan's three-pointer.

Only the Eagles players know why they looked frightened...

Gortat stepped onto the court with an arduous mission, as if he was going to die with the terrorists.

The Eagles sent out a lineup of Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Michael Finley, O'Neal Jr. and Gortat.

When Popovich saw this lineup, although it was strange that the Hawks had no communication and came back to play after halftime, Popovich was very sure about the Hawks' lineup.

Gortat also has a mid-range shot. Although he looks a little frightened, he has good abilities. The other four players are all veterans with a mid-range shot. The youngest Liu Mang is also in his seventh year of career.

Now that Jason Terry and Finley are on the court, Popovich is ready to increase Ginobili's role and has sent out a lineup of Parker, Ginobili, Battier, Duncan, and Francisco Elson.

At the beginning of the second half, the Eagles took the lead.

Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt and handed the ball to Jason Terry. Jason Terry singled out in the mid-range. After attracting a double attack, he passed the ball to Finley. Finley made a mid-range jumper from the baseline...

Hit!

The Spurs are trying to let go of Finley, a veteran with the least stability. This is a matter of defensive strategy. There are necessary defensive choices, and there is nothing they can do if Finley enters.

61 square meters!

Both teams maintained a very efficient scoring efficiency.

The Hawks scored, and there was nothing Popovich could do. This was expected. Four mid-range veterans from the opponent were present. Gortat squatted under the basket, and Elson also had to guard it. Except for O'Neal Jr.,

The other three players on the Hawks have had seasons in their careers where they averaged at least 5 assists per game.

Popovich is not impatient, and is going to start with the offensive end first. There is still half a game left, and he will slowly analyze his opponent and take his time.

However... after the Spurs started to attack, they found that the opponent seemed to be forced into a hurry and the defense was quite rough!

Duncan accepted Elson's pick-and-roll inside, and when he led Gortat's defense out to pick-and-roll for Parker, Gortat seemed to be anxious about the pick-and-roll and pushed Duncan!

The referee's whistle blows and the Eagles defense pushes!

The Spurs' attack time returns to the 24-second attack time clock.

Young players tend to be impatient, but the fans did not blame Gortat for the foul and gave him applause.

Duncan also patted Gortat on the back and said he didn't need to worry.

Gortat felt so tortured inside... He was such a nice person!

But the boss’s arrangements are bigger than heaven!

Gortat could only say sorry silently in his heart...

The Spurs resumed their attack. The Spurs' offensive combination was both inside and outside. Ginobili was the sharp knife on the outside, but Duncan, the most stable point, must come first in the opening game.

The Hawks are guarding Duncan with O'Neal Jr. If Duncan wants to play alone, he can do it, but the cost will be relatively high. The core of the Spurs system is to allow players to score in the easiest way.

Duncan continued to play an off-ball pick-and-roll with Elson, forcing the Hawks to change defense inside, and then came out to help Parker, who was holding the ball, block Liu Mang. This time, Gortat did not rush to push, and chose to retreat directly.

When Duncan turned around and cut in, he felt that Gortat was quite smart and was not as excited as the last time he defended. After all, Parker didn't have the ability to shoot long distances.

When Duncan rolled Liu Mang into the basket, Gortat also took it back, but Duncan had already reached the arc of the reasonable collision zone!

When Duncan receives the ball in this position, there is no solution! And Parker's pass is timely and in place! The tacit understanding between the two of them over the past seven years is as good as the tacit understanding between Liu Mang and Jason Terry!

Duncan received the ball, switched the ball to his left hand, and made a high-flying throw!

Duncan plays high and high without jumping, using his wingspan and changing hands. Under normal circumstances, it is basically impossible to guard against such a shot from this position.

but……

As soon as Duncan moved the ball to his left hand and stretched out his left hand, Gortat gave Duncan a bear hug and pressed down both of Duncan's arms...

Duncan used both his left and right hands very well under the basket. Gortat couldn't predict Duncan's hand choice when taking action, so he hugged him with both arms!

"beep"

The referee's whistle blew and Gortat fouled Duncan in shooting!

Duncan gets two free throws!

Duncan looked at Gortat with a confused expression, and suddenly thought of a terrible thing!

…

…

Sorry for being late. I was too tired during the day. I went back from get off work, drank porridge, and prepared to take a nap before writing. As soon as I closed and opened my eyes, it was already 12 o'clock, so I quickly got up and wrote a chapter.
Chapter completed!