At the beginning, Randolph scored easily with a throw, and the Knicks led 2:0.
The Spurs kicked off the backcourt, Lin Yu directly faced Bruce Bowen, and Renaldo Backman's opponent was naturally Manu Ginobili.
Backman could no longer help defend Duncan, so Lin Yu took over the task. When the Spurs attacked the frontcourt, Lin Yu's defensive position was very close to the center.
Duncan positioned himself near the free throw line, and when the Flying Squirrel got possession of the ball, he immediately provided a pick-and-roll screen.
Using the screen, Damon Stoudemire walked directly inside, and the Knicks used a delay on the inside and bypassed the screen on the outside to deal with the defense.
Lowry quickly bypassed the screen and faced Flying Squirrel again, but his move around the screen was quite hasty. Flying Squirrel instantly made a change of direction and wiped out Lowry with one step.
Randolph had to make up for the little flying squirrel, but then the little flying squirrel passed the ball.
Duncan caught the ball and made a mid-range jumper, voila!
The basketball hit the net hollowly. Lin Yu, who was standing close to the center, failed to react and could only watch as Duncan scored.
Therefore, in the opening two rounds, two power forwards scored, making the score even at 2:2.
The game continued, and with the Knicks' subsequent offense, Bruce Bowen was completely unable to restrict Lin Yu. The Spurs could only let Lin Yu continue to create threats, assist teammates, or score by himself.
The game was now under Lin Yu's control.
But on the other side, the Spurs' offense was also very sharp. Duncan hit consecutive mid-range shots, and then Manu also successfully tricked Backman. After scoring 2 points with a European step, he also found Duncan, seeking cooperation, and scored consecutively.
In the first quarter of the game, the two teams played a tie.
"At 27:27, the first quarter between the Knicks and Spurs ended with a tie. China Lin single-handedly faced off against G and D in GDP. Obviously, the Spurs had nothing to do against China Lin, who was full of firepower."
"But also, the Knicks were powerless against Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan."
After the anxious first quarter, it was time for the two teams to rotate.
The Knicks' bench faced the Spurs' bench, and then the gap widened.
Michael Finley, who came on as a substitute for the Spurs, faced Fred Jones. He first made a converted mid-range shot, then scored a three-pointer after a successful defense. Finally, he made another successful breakthrough.
The score was 2+1. In almost four minutes, Finley scored 8 points in a row.
Relying on Finley's rampage, the Spurs directly took a 6-point lead.
Lionel Hollins had no choice but to trade back Lin Yu in advance.
The games during this period almost reflected a fact. Charles Barkley pointed out this fact: "Although everyone is lamenting the return of Zach Randolph, everyone says that the current Knicks are two
The Knicks are all-stars, but at certain critical moments, the only one they can rely on is Lin Yu."
Hollins replaced Lin Yu, which proved this point.
When Lin Yu came back on stage, he had to face a 6-point deficit.
Falling behind is not terrible, but he must be more determined on both offense and defense.
In the first attack back on the court, Lin Yu got the ball at the top of the arc and signaled his teammates to pull away.
He is very clear about the weaknesses of this year's Spurs. The biggest problem for this year's Spurs is the lack of qualified wing defense. Neither the aging Bruce Bowen nor the offensive-oriented Manu and Finley can be used as defenders.
When he came back on the court, he still faced Bruce Bowen's defense.
Bowen obviously couldn't stop Lin Yu. Lin Yu just dribbled the ball from his crotch, followed by a real or fake change of direction, and passed Bowen in one step.
Duncan was not present, and the Spurs' defense was also a big step slower. Lin Yu immediately raised his hand and shot a long two-pointer with an emergency stop, and there was a swish!
The ball goes in!
The score jumped a bit, and the Knicks were 4 points behind.
Lin Yu's performance proved that what Charles Barkley said was true. This Knicks is indeed too dependent on Lin Yu. Apart from Lin Yu, there is no other player who can stand up at critical moments.
On the court, Popovich immediately called a short timeout and made no tactical adjustments. He just replaced Duncan.
After the timeout, during the Spurs' offensive round, they played a regular hammer attack.
A simple pick-and-roll from the outside attracted the Knicks' defense to the center, and then the ball split to the wing. Substitute point guard Jacqui Vaughn raised his hand and shot a three-pointer. Shannon Brown, who was covering the defense, successfully returned to defense and interfered a bit.
.
On the court, everyone was staring at the basketball that took off, and no one paid attention to Lin Yu.
Originally, Lin Yu was in front of Bruce Bowen, but Bowen was stretched to the left at a 45-degree angle, far away from the basket.
The moment Jacqui Vaughn took action, Lin Yu rushed in regardless.
With a bang, the basketball hit the frame.
Lin Yu also took off instantly and shouted: Backboard Man!
Already got the backboard...
Duncan, who was beside Lin Yu, just opened his hand. He never expected that Lin Yu would appear under the basket so quickly. Originally, this should be an uncontested rebound.
While Duncan was still thinking about why Lin Yu appeared at the basket so quickly, Lin Yu had already launched a counterattack.
Just as he described to Hollins at the beginning, getting rebounds from the outside can speed up the counterattack, and this is indeed the case.
After Lin Yu got the ball, he sprinted quickly. In just one or two seconds, he had passed all the opponents on the court.
By the time his opponents reacted, he had already crossed half court.
Bruce Bowen rushed after Lin Yu, but was thrown further and further away. He could only watch Lin Yu, strode forward, rushed into the three-point line, and took another step.
Then he jumped up, raised the ball above his head with both hands, and then completely handed it over to his right hand. Amidst the screams from the sidelines of the court, boom!
The basketball was slammed into the basket, and the cheers completely erupted.
"With a violent dunk in the counterattack, China Lin scored 4 points in a row after re-appearing, and the score was only one goal away!"
The Spurs kicked off from the backcourt as usual, and then played another hammer attack. This time, they attracted the defense from the wings and passed back to the center. Duncan, who had recently appeared on the court, cut in and received the ball for a layup, which was regarded as a return goal.
But then, when the Knicks attacked, Lin Yu was completely determined, and it was still a single. He broke into the three-point line and faced Duncan's help defense without a chance. He turned around again very resolutely, and the opponent's defense
All gathered together.
Faced with multiple defenders, an opportunity finally appeared on the outside. Lin Yu jumped up and passed the ball. Then Shannon Brown, who received the ball, made a three-pointer with his knife and dropped it!
With a difference of 1 point, the Spurs had no choice but to kick off from the backcourt. They launched a wave of unsuccessful attacks. The basketball hit the frame and Lin Yu grabbed the rebound again, shouting "Rebounder Man".
Then he launched an unparalleled counterattack and easily led the team to overtake the score...