Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

"Made, is this little French sports car a hit today?"

Seeing Parker firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, Pacers fans had a bad feeling.

"We won't be recording the whole thing today, will we?"

Tony Parker set his career scoring record in the 2008 game, scoring 55 points. Although he failed to achieve greater success in the following four years, seeing his performance of 16 points in the first quarter, no one could

There is no guarantee that his touch will cool down in the next game.

After all, based on 16 points per quarter, it only takes 3 and a half quarters for him to set a new record.

"Ha, don't worry, the Pacers won't survive the first half at all!"

The Spurs fans next to them comforted them, but their words were a bit heartbreaking.

"Why can't you survive it?"

Pacers fans are not happy,

"You are saying this as if you are already leading by a huge margin. Three points can be enough to sentence someone to death?"

The Spurs fan smiled disdainfully and said:

"Ha, it's true that there's no way to impose the death penalty, but you can't restrain Parker either!"

"No one can limit Parker. He can't be double-teamed, right?"

Pacers fans can't refute this, because double-teaming Parker is the same as committing suicide.

This issue is indeed what the Pacers are considering.

It is difficult for Hill to defend Parker, but the team does not have a more reliable defender than Hill at the point guard position.

Augustine definitely couldn't do it.

At this time, Vogel actually began to miss Collison.

His defense is not much better than Hill's, but he is always a backup option. Having one more option is always beneficial.

Vogel's eyes swept across the bench, and his heart suddenly moved.

"Would you like to try Stephenson?"

Stephenson may not be as good as Hill, but it can always be done to consume the opponent's energy through defense.

But then Vogel thought about the risks.

"If Stephenson can't restrain him, I'm afraid the team will collapse."

After thinking for a long time, he gave up the adventure.

The game continued in the second quarter. The Spurs were led by Ginobili on the bench, while the Pacers were led by Qi Tian.

"Give me!"

Qi Tian came to the outside to ask for the ball. He didn't know that Granger had exchanged opinions with the coaching staff. He only knew that the head coach asked him to try his best to use his abilities on the bench.

"Focus on the basket!"

Qi Tian made a decision and directly broke through Green's defense, passing the ball to the basket and Mahinmi scored.

"28-27."

Ginobili just shook off Stephenson and succeeded in a layup. Qi Tian committed a foul on the fast break, but only made one of two free throws.

Stephenson made a great contribution on the defensive end, preventing Ginobili's goal. Qi Tian received a pass from Augustin and scored a layup on an empty cut to equalize the score.

"30-30."

Although Split committed a foul and made two free throws, Qi Tian fired from the outside and succeeded in shooting after catching the ball to take the lead.

"32-33."

Against Ginobili of the Spurs, the Pacers conducted a tight defense. Stephenson was shaken away, and Mahinmi immediately came up to cover the defense and blocked the opponent's shot head-on.

"Quick attack!"

Qi Tian took the pass from Hansbrough, threw it out long-distance, and assisted Augustin for a layup.

The Pacers were full of momentum, Hansbrough scored a tip-in from a free throw, and Mahinmi also received a pass and scored.

"32-39."

In the first 5 minutes, the Pacers took the lead and limited their opponents to only 4 points.

"Our substitutes actually performed better than our opponents. Am I just dreaming?"

Pacers fans can't believe it.

They did have a rich substitute lineup last season, but after Collison left, the team lost an important person in bench scoring, and its influence on the game gradually declined.

But they didn't expect that after a few games, the team's substitutes had regained their vitality and could actually beat the Spurs!

"Substitute!"

Popovich made a prompt decision and replaced Ginobili and De Colo who were not performing well.

Then the two teams gradually replaced their main players in the sixth minute.

Parker succeeded in a jump shot as soon as he came on the court, but could not get closer to the score. It was not until Duncan assisted Blair to score that the difference was narrowed, and then he fouled and made two free throws.

"38-40."

Seeing Duncan showing off his power, Hibbert couldn't sit still and asked for the ball one after another for singles.

But the gap between him and Duncan was obviously much larger than he imagined, and several attacks failed to hit.

Fortunately, the Pacers' defense was on the line and continuously defended against Green and Ginobili's attacks. George and West provided support and steadily maintained the point difference.

"Whoosh!"

When Parker scored a jumper and narrowed the point difference to 1 point, Qi Tian received a pass from Hill and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to help the team stabilize the situation.

"48-52."

"The opponent is really impressive, isn't he?"

After half the game, the Spurs were 4 points behind their opponents, which made Spurs fans a little unbelievable.

You know, Parker scored 20 points on 10 of 12 shots in the half, and Duncan also scored 12 points on 5 of 8 shots. This is a good state that the two have not seen for a long time.

"It's okay. The opponent's confidence is still inside. In the second half of the game, we mainly defend the inside. If the outside touch fluctuates slightly, the opponent will fall behind."

In the locker room, Popovich saw through his opponent's toughness on the outside and said to several insiders,

"Protecting the frame is the magic weapon for us to win. We must push out the opponent's inside line."

"clear!"

Everyone in the Spurs nodded in unison.

Vogel is also summing up experience and fine-tuning tactics.

Without Granger's proposal, he would naturally choose the inside as the main point of attack, but since Granger has proposed to give more ball rights to the outside, the head coach decided to trust George and Qi Tian.

"Seven, Paul, you will be the main attack point in the second half, and everyone else will perform their duties to help your teammates open up space."

He looked at Hill and said,

"George, try to let your teammates catch the ball and shoot in a comfortable position."

Hill has been beaten by Parker. Vogel doesn't want Hill to get involved and ruin the team's strategy, so he can just let the starting point guard be a pure tool.

"I don't think it's appropriate."

On the contrary, it was Qi Tian who raised objections. He felt that the coach was being extra tolerant to him today, so he looked at the coach with some arrogance and said,

"I think we should attack the opponent's weaknesses."

"weakness?"

Vogel was a little surprised and asked,

"What is it?"

Qi Tian replied:

"Physical strength, Duncan and Parker's physical strength."

Vogel's expression changed as he listened to Qi Tian continue:

"I think we allowed our opponents to receive the ball too easily. Everyone should engage in physical confrontation and try their best to consume their energy. In this way, by the fourth quarter, our advantage will be even greater."

"That makes sense."

Brian Shaw nodded in agreement.

Vogel spread his thoughts and began to think.

Anyway, the focus is on forwards and defenders, so the point guard and interior linemen, who are the tools, can specifically target the opponent's Parker and Duncan.

Parker was better. The 36-year-old Duncan was surrounded by West and Hibbert. As long as the physical exertion was too high, the opponent's inside line would be weakened.

"This is indeed a solution."

Vogel agreed to Qi Tian's proposal.