Super Role Player

After New Year's Day, the Spurs' opponent in the first game in 2013 was the Bucks. This game was still an away game, and the Spurs started a new round of their away trip.

Facing the Bucks, the Spurs won easily. Seven of them scored in double figures. Anxi scored 22 points, the highest in the Spurs team. The second highest was Tony Parker with 20 points. Ginobili, Boris Diaw and Mills all scored in double figures. With this collective performance, the Spurs beat the Bucks 117:100.

Then, the Spurs boarded the plane to New York. The Spurs took this away game against the Knicks very seriously. The decline in the first half caused the Spurs to lose the first place in the Western Conference. Try to call back.

The Knicks have been in good form this season. So far this season, they have 21 wins and 10 losses, ranking second in the Eastern Conference. Carmelo Anthony's scoring average has always been in the top two in the league with Kevin Durant, either Anthony is the first, or Durant is the first.

Encountering the Knicks in good form, the Spurs have to pay more energy if they want to win this game.

Half an hour before the start of the game, CCTV's live broadcast room was already preparing for the game. Yu Jia and Su Qun would explain the game.

"This game, in addition to being the second place in the West and the second place in the East, should also be a battle between the best sixth man. Teacher Su, what do you think?"

Su Qun nodded: "Yes, Anxi and JR Smith are direct competitors for the best sixth man. In the new best sixth man selection forecast in the United States, JR ranks first and Anxi ranks second. Second, this game can be regarded as a big battle between the two of them, whoever wins will have a small advantage in the selection of the best sixth man."

In the Spurs locker room, Anxi quickly changed his jersey. Popovich stood in the middle of the field. He decided to make two small adjustments in this game: "In this game, we will make two adjustments to the lineup. The point guard is still It's Tony Parker, shooting guard Danny Green, small forward Kawhi Leonard, power forward Tim Duncan and center Thiago Splitter, Thiago, you enter this game, pay attention to protecting the backboard."

In Popovich's view, the Knicks' progress this season is nothing more than two reasons. One is the arrival of Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton, which activated Anthony and JR Smith. Cuscumbe, along with Tyson Chandler, provided rebounding protection for the Knicks' perimeter shooters.

So Popovich chose to let Splitter in and protect the rebound.

Split nodded to express his understanding, and soon the game started, and players from both sides appeared one after another amidst the passionate voices of DJs on the spot.

Madison Square Garden is known as the mecca of basketball,

But for a visiting team like the Spurs, when they first entered the arena, the Holy Land of Mecca was nothing like the Holy Land of Mecca. There were boos everywhere, and there were even fanatical Knicks fans cursing the Spurs players and coaches loudly on the sidelines. , No wonder Reggie Miller scolded the fans here after he made a three-pointer.

At the beginning of the game, the Spurs took the lead in scoring and took the lead. Tony Parker easily broke through the old Jason Kidd and hit a mid-range shot.

However, the Knicks quickly responded with Anthony's post-up singles and scored in the opening game. Anthony's state seems to be good.

But then, Leonard's long-arm defense quickly put Anthony into a struggle. Fortunately, Mike Woodson reacted quickly and replaced JR Smith on the field, all of a sudden sharing Anthony's scoring pressure.

The game reached the seventh minute of the first quarter, and it was the official timeout. Popovich replaced Manu Ginobili, but... did not replace Anxi...

The reason why Anxi was not replaced is very simple, because Leonard defended Anthony well, and the Spurs did not need to replace Anxi to disrupt the current defensive rhythm.

So Anxi can only continue to wait for the opportunity on the bench. Perhaps this is the worst point for the substitute players. They can play first. If they are in good condition, the playing time of the substitute players will be compressed. For example, Anxi in this game, Not surprisingly, Anxi didn't want to play in the first quarter.

Sure enough, the game reached the end of the first quarter. The Spurs ended the quarter with a three-point lead at 25:22. Leonard's defense did a good job. Anthony only scored 6 points in the first quarter, but the Knicks' sixth man JR Smith broke out. After Mike Woodson replaced him, he scored 13 points in most of the quarter, helping the Knicks to bite the score.

Before the start of the second quarter, Popovich started to make substitutions again. He glanced at Anxi, then thought about it, and said, "Anxi, you come out to replace Tony, Manu goes to play point guard, and Danny replaces Kawhi." , Ann, you go to play shooting guard, against JR Smith, Danny goes to play small forward, and Boris comes on to replace Tim." Several substitutions and adjustments, this time the tragedy is Patrick Mills.

Originally, according to the Spurs' rotation policy, Patrick Mills should have played in the second quarter. As a result, at the beginning of the second quarter, Popovich decided to let Anxi and Danny Green play together in order to maintain the defense of the flank.

"By the way, Ann, your next task is to defend JR Smith, but you also need to take care of the offensive end, understand?" Popovich turned his head and said to Anxi as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Understood, coach." Anxi nodded. It is not difficult to defend against JR Smith, but it is difficult to take into account the offense. After all, JR Smith is in a hot state this season, and it is not so easy to defend. If Anxi devotes most of his energy to defense, it will not be difficult to defend JR Smith, but the most important thing is that Anxi also devotes part of his energy to the offensive end, which is not easy to handle.

But think about it, it's a good thing for Popovich to let himself take care of the offensive end, so Anxi still nodded in agreement.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Anxi played against JR Smith.

This can be regarded as another matchup between Anxi and JR Smith after a season. Anxi also played against JR Smith last season, but at that time JR Smith was not in such a good state as he is now, so Anxi relaxed After dealing with him, and pushing forward, the two have faced each other in the CBA. Anxi also passed the defense against JR Smith, and stepped on Smith to take the position.

Now, the two are still competitors for the best sixth man. Although Anxi has no idea about the honor of the best sixth man, JR Smith does.

So as soon as he played, JR Smith stared at Anxi.

The first ball in the opening game was the Knicks' possession. Jason Kidd slowly controlled the ball. Although Jason Kidd's scoring ability is getting worse with age, Kidd's passing is getting older and more bewitching.

After dribbling the ball, Jason Kidd passed the ball directly, and then shouted: "Smith.jr (Little Smith)! Catch the ball!"

Little Smith is JR Smith's nickname. JR Smith's teammates like to call him that. When he shouted out, JR Smith went directly to the top of the arc to catch the ball, and then made a breakthrough without even looking at Anxi who was defending.

Then with an unreasonable shot, the basketball hit the basket from above Anxi's head!

The first ball was missed! When JR Smith returned to defense, he looked at Anxi with a provocative look in his eyes. (To be continued.)