NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

Without George, the Pacers' perimeter is even more of a"paper tiger" that can be penetrated with one poke.

Hibbert and West are not good at switching defenses, and Parker called them out one after another and pulled them out for"military training".

Duncan in the interior also had no scruples because of this, and Joey, Joseph and Mills, who took turns to play, fed him the ball crazily.

This created a very"strange" scene -

West and Hibbert, who had just been"military trained" by Parker, had no time to catch their breath before they had to face Duncan's singles in the low post.

Turn around + 45-degree rebound, turn around to squeeze out the defense + layup, low-post footsteps back play + turn around hook...

Old Dun gave the two"rising stars" of the league a vivid lesson in the fourth quarter - what is the fucking great skill, what is the fucking low-post technology, what is the fucking your dad is still your dad?

In short, Hibbert and the other two, who were not good at physical strength, felt that their mentality was about to be broken.

Obviously, the defense was in place and the space was sealed tightly, why did this old man have eyes on his head? How come he can score from any position?

It feels like the first time you check into a hotel with your girlfriend, you are like a cricket pupa for a long time, and after the end, you put on your pants, but your girlfriend asks you"Are you in?"

Who can stand this?

In short, with all the starting five tigers being"restrained", the Pacers were defeated and finally lost to the ATT Arena with a score of 87:101. In this game, the Pacers' star Paul George made 8 of 19 shots, contributing 19 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists with a hit rate of 42.1%. Unfortunately, he played well in the first half, but was targeted by Leonard and Joey in the second half.

Then there is the Pacers' inside"Optimus Prime" Roy Hibbert. His data actually looks good throughout the game: 12 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, but compared with Duncan's 24 points and 12 rebounds, it makes people feel a little disappointed.

His inside partner David West was not much better. As the Pacers' leading inside scorer, he only scored 9 points in this game, which was not as good as the defensive stalwart Hibbert.

There was also a junior who scored 6 points, Hill who scored 11 points...

Almost half of the Pacers players did not perform well.

But this can't be blamed entirely on them. The main reason is that the Spurs' front line defense is too strong. How strong is it?

Joey and Leonard, the two tall and long-armed help defenders, are of course not to be mentioned. When Stephen Jackson was young, he was also good at both offense and defense. Now that he is old and has lost the athletic ability of his youth, he has established himself in the league with defense, averaging 1 steal per game last season. Danny Green

, the famous"Emperor Father" in later generations"、"Zhang Tielin", the best 3D player of the championship team recognized by the league before Klay Thompson, whose defensive ability is not inferior to Leonard of this period.

DeJuan Blair, an important substitute rotation player of the Spurs from 2011 to 2014, averaged 8.4 points and 1.3 steals per game, which is the best proof of his strength on both offense and defense. With a height of 2.01 meters and a weight of 118 kg, he was often sent to the inside by Popovich.

The Spurs have stockpiled this level of forward lineup, and which team in the league would not be panicked?

Well, Popovich will not tell you that his ultimate goal is to compete with the Thunder in the West and the Heat in the East...

These two teams are the biggest stumbling blocks on the Spurs' road to winning the championship in recent years!

To be precise, Kevin Durant and LeBron James are super forwards who can change the trend of the game by themselves.

(Indeed, the championship in 2014 proved that the old man was indeed far-sighted and had long thought of using forward defensive stalwarts to limit small forwards of James' level.)

Joey played normally, mainly as the Spurs' perimeter defensive vanguard, scoring 11 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and a game-high 4 steals. The forward combination of him and Leonard gave Popovich unlimited hope.

The new season started with four consecutive wins, which slapped the faces of many so-called"experts" who were not optimistic about the Spurs before the start of the season.

So far, the Spurs' record of four wins and zero losses is tied with the Heat in the East for first place in the league.

It has surpassed the Lakers, Pacers, Clippers, Thunder and other strong teams in the East and the West.

Some experts and basketball commentators have also noticed the Spurs, who are in the limelight. They were surprised that the team with the oldest average age in the league could keep pace with the Heat's Big Three, and they also conducted so-called expert"analysis" on the Spurs' current lineup."：

"Obviously, the Spurs are not favored every year, but so far in the new century, they have not missed a Western Conference playoffs. They even created a quasi-dynasty of three championships in five years in the early years of the century. This year, I believe that the ultimate goal of the San Antonio Spurs under coach Popovich is still the O'Brien Cup!"

——Doris Burke (famous ESPN basketball commentator and commentator)

"Let's analyze the Spurs' outstanding performance at the start of this season.

Didn't anyone notice that the third overall pick that the Spurs spent more than 10 million US dollars on has injected unimaginable youth into this aging team? The perimeter blockade formed by him and the team's second-year player Kawhi Leonard is enough to make any All-Star forward in the league tremble with fear.

His court vision, passing organization, and defensive individual ability...

are what this team needs most!

"

——Scott Love (famous basketball commentator and commentator on Bleacher Report)

"When Popovich said in the preseason that the Spurs are on their way to competing for the championship no matter which season it is, we only understand his true meaning today... The addition of rookie Joey is just the clarion call for the team to launch a new round of charge towards the championship. What awaits them are challenges from various teams!"

"……"

New season week 1���On ESPN's team strength rankings, the Spurs surpassed the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers to become the fourth on the list.

They are only behind the Big Three Heat, the Lakers (who have lost three games in a row) and the young Thunder!

The outside world is sending a signal, telling the above three teams that what stands in their way of winning the championship this year is not only the four newly established teams that were obviously one level higher than other teams in the Eastern and Western Finals last year, but also the old and strong teams like the Spurs that have been hiding their strength all year round and"playing pigs and eating tigers"!

This made Popovich, who led his team to the Western Conference Finals last year, feel uneasy - he didn't want to be targeted by these strong teams too early, so that some commonly used tactical cooperation and player playing methods would be thoroughly studied.

At the same time, the 12th rookies are also showing their own"brilliance" in each team.

The first is Damian Lillard, the sixth pick currently ranked second in the rookie rankings.

Lee has started three games for the Trail Blazers, played 31.4 minutes, and averaged 17.7 points, 7.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. His scoring and assists are ranked first among all rookies in 2012.

The third is not our No. 1 draft pick, young Davis, but the fourth pick Bradley Beal of the Wizards.

Although the team's big brother Wall (John Wall) regrets not being able to fight side by side with his younger brother, he still formed a backcourt double gun with Beal as in the original history.

The latter played four games for the Wizards. Although he only started one game, he also got a lot of shots in the rotation lineup. He currently averages 12.25 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

The Wizards currently have a good record at the beginning of the regular season, with two wins and two losses, ranking eighth in the Eastern Conference.

(Don't doubt it, the Heat were the only team in the East in those years, and the second team was the Knicks, the Pacers, and the Iron Bulls. The rest were the lonely Celtics, Hawks, Magic, and other teams on the edge of the Western Conference playoffs.)

And the fourth was our No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis. Except for the first game against his predecessor Duncan, where he scored 20+7, he didn't play very well in the next few games against the Jazz, Bulls, and 76ers. He only averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in four games. His defensive performance was indeed amazing as the scout report said, but his offensive help to the team, or to his teammates, was not great.

Now many experts and commentators have come out to guide public opinion, believing that Davis is not worthy of the No. 1 pick.

This also caused his ranking in the rookie strength rankings to drop again and again.

But Joey knew that Davis would be the most perfect inside player in the entire small ball era in the future, and he would become the league's well-deserved"No. 1 power forward" in the years when the Greek monster was still developing and upgrading.

What, you ask who is temporarily ranked first in the rookie rankings?

Sorry, it is the third overall pick in the Spurs, Joey.

Although his averages are"only" 15.5 points, 7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, his impressive defensive stats of 2.25 steals and 1.25 blocks, as well as the team's highest scoring efficiency, really give him extra points in front of the outside sports media.

Moreover, the Spurs have won all four games so far, making them one of the best teams in the league.

Most importantly, the buzzer-beater against the Thunder brought him so much extra points that many outside media have hyped him up as the true"successor to Magic Johnson", saying that he is the best outside player in the 12th draft, an all-around warrior with a big heart... all kinds of praises have come one after another.

In addition to his status as a Chinese player, domestic fans across the ocean are also paying close attention to his games. It can be said that Joey's current popularity is greater than that of all the rookies in the 12th draft combined, especially in China, where he has risen to the level of Yao Ming, the No. 1 center in Asia.

In addition to these rookies, the Cavaliers' Dion Waiters, the Pistons' Andre Drummond, the Warriors' North Carolina Blackhawks' Barnes and Green, etc., the rookies of the 12th class have gradually established their footholds in their respective teams - after all, those who cannot establish themselves have been sent down to the Development League to level up.