There are still three quarters left in the game, and the Spurs will naturally not give up just because they are behind by more than ten points.
During the timeout, Popovich arranged defensive tactics for the second quarter.
Defend against Zhang Zhiyuan alone.
Instead of continuing to let the Rockets' role players score easily, it is better to let Zhang Zhiyuan shoot those balls. Even if Zhang Zhiyuan throws them, at least Zhang Zhiyuan's energy can be consumed faster.
If this is done, the Spurs may lose before Zhang Zhiyuan's energy is exhausted.
But as things stand, Popovich has no better way.
In competitions, there is no guaranteed way to win.
The timeout ends and both sides return to the court.
Fans were surprised to find that the Spurs actually asked Finley to guard Zhang Zhiyuan alone.
"Did Popovich give up the game?"
Smith complained that the last game had proved that letting Finley guard Zhang Zhiyuan would give away points.
"Popovich has finally figured it out. He should do this. Cutting off the connection between Zhang and his teammates is the key..."
Barkley analyzed a lot, which at first glance seems quite reasonable. However, in view of his bet with Zhang Zhiyuan, it is difficult for fans to determine whether this guy is really doing serious analysis, or simply wants to let Zhang Zhiyuan score more points, thus
Win the bet.
Based on Barkley's character, fans believe it is the latter.
Facing Finley's single defense, Zhang Zhiyuan still wanted to pass the ball.
But unfortunately, he couldn't find a suitable partner.
Because he was too cunning in the last game, other Rockets people formed a subconscious belief that Zhang Zhiyuan would definitely take action on his own when faced with single defense.
Therefore, their running has become negative. If their running is not active enough, it will naturally be more difficult for them to get chances.
This subtle change is difficult for fans to see, it is difficult for commentators to see, and it is even difficult for players on the field to detect it.
None of his teammates had a chance, so Zhang Zhiyuan could only play alone.
He started a breakthrough, finally got past Finley, rushed to the basket and made a small floater, but he missed it.
This shot was a bit unexpected. After all, Zhang Zhiyuan had hit so many difficult shots before, and everyone thought he would be able to hit this simple shot reliably.
Taking advantage of everyone's slow reaction, Zhang Zhiyuan grabbed the offensive rebound and threw the ball to the outside. Lutherhead caught the ball and missed.
The Spurs counterattacked, Bowen sneaked in from the bottom corner and hit a three-pointer.
The Rockets' substitute had just come on the field and had not yet adapted to the rhythm of the game, so he somewhat neglected Bowen.
In the transition between offense and defense, Zhang Zhiyuan faced Finley's single defense.
Zhang Zhiyuan chose to pass the ball, but was intercepted by Parker.
Zhang Zhiyuan's intention was too obvious, and his style of play was too monotonous. Even a fool could see that he was preparing to pass the ball.
No matter how useful a tactic is, it cannot be used forever, otherwise it will be too easy for the opponent to carry out targeted defense and predict the opponent's actions.
Otherwise, the team doesn't need to practice so many tactics, and can simply focus on one of the most powerful tactics.
"Oh, it's unreasonable to fight like this. Zhang Zhiyuan should do it himself."
Zhang Lili complained.
"Maybe I am too tired and want to save some energy. After all, I only rested for more than a day after the last game."
Sun Zhengping guessed.
"Maybe, he worked too hard in the last game."
Zhang Lili said helplessly.
These words made Chinese fans and Rockets fans a little more worried. After all, this is a series that tests endurance.
The Spurs counterattacked successfully and scored two more points.
31 to 41, Spurs fans saw hope of winning.
The offense and defense switched, and this time Zhang Zhiyuan took action.
He faced Finley and made a fadeaway jumper, but missed.
"damn it."
Zhang Zhiyuan retreated depressedly.
Everyone feels bad sometimes. His touch today is not too bad, but it is far from normal.
This is something that every player will definitely experience. After Zhang Zhiyuan scolded him, he devoted himself to defense to prevent the Spurs from chasing points.
Parker passed the ball, Robert Horry shot and hit the ball, and Zhang Zhiyuan rushed over to grab the rebound.
Relying on the bonus of his sense of rebounding, he can steal valuable basketballs from the crowd.
"Well done. Although Xiao Zhang's condition declined on the offensive end, he worked very hard on the defensive end and protected the backcourt rebounds. He has already got 6 rebounds today. It's really hard."
Sun Zhengping praised.
Zhang Liangli agreed: "Every player has times when he feels good and times when he feels bad. They can't control it. The only thing they can control is their defensive attitude."
The Rockets counterattacked, and Zhang Zhiyuan shouted to his teammates to let them run.
Zhang Zhiyuan is not the boss of the team, but at this time he is better than the boss of the team. How dare the others not listen and move away one after another.
After Zhang Zhiyuan broke through Finley, Oberto made up the defense.
Luther Hyde made an air cut, Zhang Zhiyuan passed the ball, Hyde made a layup, and Zhang Zhiyuan assisted and added one.
He checked his statistics and found 8 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
With another assist or two rebounds, he can score steadily.
The Spurs attacked, but Bowen missed.
Zhang Zhiyuan wanted to grab the rebound, but unfortunately the direction of the basketball was not good for him, so he had no choice but to give up.
Hayes collected the rebound and the Rockets counterattacked.
Rutherhead and others actively moved, but the Spurs players followed closely, and for a while they didn't have a good chance.
Of course, Zhang Zhiyuan can also choose to pass, but passing the ball at this time will be suspected of passing the blame.
He can't do this.
Seeing that the attack time was running out, Zhang Zhiyuan could only make a fake shot to meet Finley.
The ball goes in.
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled.
The ball doesn't go in when you expect it to go in, and it goes in when you don't have any hope. It's really unpredictable in the world.
31 to 46, the Rockets regained their advantage.
Then the Spurs replaced Ginobili and Duncan in advance to strengthen their offense.
Their defense was pretty good just now, but there were some problems with their offense.
As soon as Duncan came on the court, he performed his timeless rebound shot. Hayes just stared, completely clueless.
The ball goes in.
During the transition between offense and defense, the connection between Zhang Zhiyuan and his teammates was cut off again.
This is not his problem, it is his teammates' running skills that are not up to standard.
In desperation, Zhang Zhiyuan continued to take action, but the ball missed.
He was 3-for-3 in the first quarter. He only played less than two minutes in this quarter and he was already 1-for-4.
"This is a bit too much. You must have done it on purpose. Don't act like me."
Barkley complained.
"Please, if you say that, you are a bit disrespectful of Zhang's efforts. How could he deliberately lose for a boring bet? Don't take yourself too seriously."
O'Neill mocked.
"But this is unscientific. In the last game, he already shot a super high shooting percentage against double teams. After making a bet with me today, he failed to make consecutive shots against single defense. Isn't it strange?
"
Buckley said aggrievedly.
"Isn't it strange? There were times when I made 10 of 10 free throws, and there were times when I made 0 of 10 free throws."
O'Neill said.
"You've had 10 out of 10 times, are you sure?"
Buckley expressed disbelief, and the topic was taken astray.
Barkley mocked O'Neal's free throw, and O'Neal silently took out the championship ring from his pocket and put it on his finger.
As for why he carries the championship ring with him, no one knows.
.......
On the court, Zhang Zhiyuan led the team and barely survived the bench time, and all the Rockets' main players came on the court.
During this period, the Spurs chased by 4 points, which was an acceptable range for Van Gundy.
The game continues, and the fact that the Rockets are the main force does not mean that they have the advantage. After all, the opponent is also the main force.
Popovich found that single defense worked wonders and implemented this tactic even more.
The Rockets attack, Zhang Zhiyuan holds the ball and faces Ginobili's single defense.
Then he passed the ball to Yao Ming, who was in a position under the basket. Duncan took off in anticipation and intercepted the ball.
The Spurs attacked, Parker broke through Alston and hit a layup.
He seems to have become somewhat accustomed to his current state and has made some adjustments.
Although Zhang Zhiyuan kept publicly mocking him for not being a star, Parker was not really that bad, and even though he had some of his attributes taken away, he was not completely destroyed.
Even though the Rockets made two mistakes on offense, Zhang Zhiyuan was still trying to pass the ball.
He first hit Ginobili with his back and tried his best to drive to the basket, as if he was about to attack.
When they almost reached the three-second zone, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly made a ground pass from behind.
This pass is very imaginative and very difficult. You must control the intensity to make the basketball bounce high enough. Otherwise, with Yao Ming's size, it will be difficult to catch the ball.
Fortunately, he passed the ball very beautifully this time. Yao Ming only hesitated for a moment before reacting and catching the basketball.
He was surprised, and the others' reactions were also half a beat too slow.
Yao Ming turned around and made a small wipe, and the ball went in.
"This ball has a bit of white chocolate flavor. I think Yao was shocked. I have experienced this feeling."
O'Neill praised.
"No matter what you say, I have determined that he did it on purpose. He just wanted to target me, and I fell into the trap."
Barkley complained.
"Xu..."
Smith booed him, and O'Neal gave him the middle finger.
On the court, Duncan scored two more points under the basket.
During the transition between offense and defense, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly took a shot three steps away from the three-point line because he had already assisted 8 times.
The ball goes in.
"Did you see that you are just a bastard, who cares about you?"
O'Neal immediately taunted Barkley.
"You don't really think anyone wants to see you pole dancing, do you?"
Smith follows.
"..."
Buckley.
Zhang Zhiyuan's sudden confident move confused Popovich. He found that he couldn't understand Zhang Zhiyuan at all.
The game continued, and Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly started to pass the ball again.
Of course, if he encounters an opportunity during this period, he will also choose to invest.
Unfortunately, due to the poor feel, the hit rate is average.
This makes the Spurs more determined in their one-on-one defense strategy.
What's even worse is that the Spurs players' touch suddenly became better.
Ginobili and Bowen both hit three-pointers, and Duncan was even more stable.
With 40 seconds left in the second quarter, the score was 50 to 59, and the point difference had narrowed to single digits.
This is a very dangerous signal, and the psychological advantage of Rockets players has dropped a lot.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhiyuan grabbed the eighth rebound of the game and got another chance to hit.
When the Rockets attacked, Zhang Zhiyuan was not in a hurry and continued to pass the ball.
Battier caught the ball and missed.
Although there is a 10% bonus, it does not mean that it is a guaranteed success.
Probability is the hardest thing to figure out.
The Spurs counterattacked, Zhang Zhiyuan shouted to retreat, and the Rockets players worked together to defend the Spurs for 24 seconds.
There are 7 seconds left on the clock and the Rockets have another chance to attack.
Zhang Zhiyuan patted the basketball and controlled the time, leaving no time for the Spurs to counterattack.
With two seconds left on the clock, Bowen showed the qualities of an excellent defender. He suddenly rushed in front of Zhang Zhiyuan and double-teamed Ginobili, denying Zhang Zhiyuan a chance to pass the ball and trying to force Zhang Zhiyuan to make a mistake.
"Beautiful, Bruce."
The commentator of the San Antonio local station praised this as an extremely successful defense.
After being double-teamed, Zhang Zhiyuan had no choice but to make a mistake or take action.
In order to prevent being blocked, he increased the angle of his back and threw the ball.
This ball was very difficult. After Zhang Zhiyuan threw it, everyone fell to the ground.
Then, the sure hit was triggered and the ball went in.
A three-pointer at the buzzer, 50 to 62, and the score difference reached double digits again.
"grim Reaper."
"Spirit of Death."
"mvp."
The fans at the scene cheered excitedly and shouted Zhang Zhiyuan's new nickname. This goal boosted morale so much. Leading by double digits and single digits have completely different meanings.
The fans were very happy, but Zhang Zhiyuan slapped his forehead, feeling very annoyed.
He regretted it and felt that he should not have voted.
He just hit a lot of shots against single defense, but now he hits a double team. Doesn't this tell Popovich that he is more accurate when facing double teams? Does this make Popovich more determined to implement the single defense strategy?
Therefore, this ball should not be shot, and it is the same if the three-pointer is reserved for the second half.
"What is he doing?"
Seeing Zhang Zhiyuan's expression, Smith was stunned.
Why are you still so upset even though you made a goal? You have to have a certain standard for success. This is a bit too much.
"I know, I fucking know, because he remembered the bet he made with me. Originally, he only scored 7 points in the second quarter and controlled it very well. But now after hitting the buzzer-beating three-pointer, he
He has already scored 10 points, which is over the limit. At this scoring rate, he will eventually exceed 30 points..."
Barkley became more and more certain that Zhang Zhiyuan was deliberately controlling points in order to win against him.
Because I didn't control it well, I was very upset.
"..."
Faced with such a narcissistic flying pig, Smith and O'Neal had nothing to say.
However, some fans are slowly beginning to believe in Barkley.
At first they thought Buckley was narcissistic, but more and more coincidences confirmed Buckley's guess.
Although Buckley's guess is outrageous, it is at least an explanation and a possibility.
"Beautiful, the Rockets maintained a double-digit advantage. Xiao Zhang's performance in this quarter was still outstanding. Although his shooting rate dropped a lot, he did a good job on the defensive end and got 4 rebounds in a single quarter again...
..."
Zhang Lili praised.
After the first half, Zhang Zhiyuan made 6 of 13 shots and scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Both in terms of data and function, they are impeccable. 3 of 10 in the second quarter is actually not particularly bad.
"Xiao Zhang should be able to steadily get a triple-double in this game. This is not easy, a triple-double in the Western Conference Finals."
