The Basketball Court Swordsman

The performance of the San Antonio Spurs is eye-catching. Instead of being easily separated by the Pacers, they also caused a lot of trouble for this invincible team.

In the second quarter of the game, Henson forced the Spurs into positional warfare, which was not a success. Popovich’s old fox played Henson again. He deliberately forced Henson to slow down the pace. From the beginning of the first quarter, Popovich deliberately confused Henson with a fast pace. He knew that Henson would find a way to contain the Spurs' rapid three-pointers in the counterattack, so he was already ready to fight a positional battle.

To be precise, the strategy of the first quarter was completely prepared for Henson to turn the game into a slow pace. Popovich tried Henson's small lineup, so he plans to strike first today. Use a fast pace to contain the opponent first, and then gain an advantage in the slow pace you are familiar with.

So in the second quarter, after entering a slow-paced offensive position, the Spurs still played like a fish in water.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Parker used Duncan's cover to get inside, and then played Paul with a fake fax action, successfully scoring.

Subsequently, Duncan succeeded in playing inside again. His turn over jumper in the low post was incredibly stable. David West had already tried his best to reach out to interfere, and Duncan's heel was not much centimeters off the ground. But that's it, Duncan froze the ball steadily.

Although the Pacers’ offense is also very good, such as Paul assists Leonard repeatedly to break through Belinelli to succeed, for example, George used his height advantage several times in heads-up against Joseph to make a shot.

But in a positional battle, you and I grind each ball away, obviously not the rhythm Henson hopes to see. He is eager to open the score quickly, eager to enter the second half with safety.

In the middle of the second quarter, Henson tried to speed up. But because the rhythm has been firmly controlled by the Spurs, his plan still failed. In this way, the Spurs froze to maintain their lead until the end of the first half!

58 to 50, the Spurs used efficient offense and excellent team defense to maintain their advantage for 24 minutes. Everyone marveled at the strength of the Spurs. After all, people have not seen a team that can suppress the Pacers for a whole half.

The reporter immediately rushed to interview Popovich. Although Popovich took a half-time lead, he still frowned. However, the reporters have gotten used to it, because this old man seldom shows joy on his face.

"How to evaluate the performance of the Spurs in the first half of the game? I don't want to evaluate, because we are still far away from victory." Facing the camera, Popovich just replied hastily and left in a hurry.

The reporters thought that Popovich was just passing on a "don't take it lightly" concept to the players as before, but this time, Popovich said all the truth.

There is another 24 minutes before the end of the game, a whole half. The Spurs are far from victory...

The home team's locker room was very quiet during the intermission, except for the heavy breathing of the players, almost no other sounds were heard.

As always, Henson didn't immediately deploy tactics once back to the locker room. He is still in the old habit of letting the players take a few breaths before they speak.

No matter how tense the situation is, Henson will never be anxious at halftime. Because he has always believed that if the head coach is in a hurry, the emotions of the players will be even more unstable.

However, from February to now, no team really can make Henson nervous. The San Antonio Spurs are still the first.

"Okay," Henson clapped his hands and attracted everyone's attention to himself. "In the first half of the game, the Spurs performed better than we thought."

Henson finished speaking and saw some players nodding slightly.

"This is mainly because the Spurs have been playing at their favorite rhythm. Their quick offense in the opening game and their positional offense in the second quarter played both vigorously. And our problem is that we can't raise the speed. So. In the second half of the game, I plan to play a junior and senior."

As soon as Henson said this, the players' eyes lit up suddenly. Big and four small, fast-paced, many offensive rounds...this is their favorite thing!

"In the second half of the game, Antetokounmpo, you replace West. Your task is very simple. Run and play for me. Everyone except Horford will directly attack the frontcourt when they get the rebound. "

Hearing this, Vogel was a little worried. At the beginning of the game, it was precisely because the Spurs' fast-paced offense played vigorously that Henson switched to a slower pace. Now it takes the initiative to adjust the tempo faster, don’t you go back again?

But soon, Henson answered the doubt he hadn't asked.

"At that time, the Spurs' offense will definitely play fast. And what I need you to do is, anyway, keep an eye on your matchup! Even if a Spurs player is emptied to the basket, I don’t need you. Co-defense or supplement defense. Focus on your matchups, this is the point of defense. The purest one-on-one defense, yes, I need the purest one-on-one defense!"

Henson stretched out both hands, and then both pointed out a finger. The Spurs like to use team offenses to win, so start to disintegrate the opponent's team offense from the individual!

And Henson believes in the single defense ability of the Pacers players. If they use the purest one-on-one marking, then their quick three-pointers in the first quarter should also be unsuccessful.

In the beginning, Henson wanted to be slow and fast, but the second quarter proved him wrong and he fell into the trap of Popovich. But now, Henson is quick to cure. He wants to see if the aging Spurs can keep up with the Pacers.

"In the first half of the game, the Spurs played very solidly. I have to say that the Heat's state is indeed quite different from the Spurs. Mike, do you think the Spurs have a chance to keep the situation to the end in my second half? "

The second half of the game is about to begin, and eSPN commentators will also start to warm up for the second half. Kevin Harlan was the first to ask a question because he discovered that Mike Brin looked thoughtful throughout the intermission. Presumably, thinking about the game.

"It's difficult, I don't know what Coach Henson will do. But the only thing I can be sure of is that the guy can't sit in the locker room and wait for death. In the second half of the game, we will see a different Pacers team."

As soon as Mike Brin answered, the players from both sides returned to the court. A minute later, the starters of both sides stepped onto the hardwood floor in the second half, and Al Horford was ready to serve the baseline.

It seems that everything is normal. But the scene burst into violent cheers, and Mike Brin also slightly cocked his mouth.

Yannis Antetokounmpo, the first-year "monster" who didn't have many chances in the playoffs, went into battle. It's not that Antetokounmpo can stop the Spurs, but Antetokounmpo's appearance represents Henson's determination to speed up the pace of the game.

In the second half of the game, I'm afraid it will be pretty good.

In the first offense of the second half, the Pacers missed a shot. However, in the next defensive round, the Pacers did not allow the Spurs to score.

Duncan originally wanted to sit and eat that thin rookie, but when he was in the low post, he realized that it was not Antetokounmpo that was defending himself, but Horford!

Splitter was entangled by Antetokounmpo's long hands and couldn't catch the ball at all. This scene made Popovich very familiar.

During the regular season of this season, Henson used a small lineup to disperse the Spurs! This is why Popovich is going to preempt today. Because he was afraid of being beaten fast.

As everyone knows, Henson is so courageous that he dared to go fast.

Duncan turned the hook, but even with "big basic skills", it is impossible to hit every attack.

Antetokounmpo got stuck and then focused on grabbing a defensive rebound.

"Everyone except Horford has to hit the frontcourt the moment they get a rebound."

Henson's words rang in Antetokounmpo's ears. He did not find anyone, nor did he pay attention to Split who was about to interfere with him. Instead, he took that incredible stride and ran toward the frontcourt!

Don't look at Henson just replacing West with Antetokounmpo, but once Antetokounmpo ran, the Spurs' defensive layout instantly messed up.

Parker vs. Paul, Belinelli vs. Leonard, Joseph vs. George. So, who will fight Antetokounmpo?

In the first half of the game, because West and Horford weren't able to participate in the fast break, the Spurs' 3-defense and 3-defense layout could still apply. But now, Antetokounmpo can easily get rid of Duncan and Splitter to join the quick counterattack, 3 defenses and 3 instantly become 3 defenses and 4.

"Damn it!" It wasn't until Antetokounmpo was already beyond the three-point line that Parker, who followed Paul to the corner, decided to help defend.

However, "French sports car" is not proud of physical fitness. Faced with the huge "monster" that suddenly hit, Parker was suddenly at a loss.

When he reacted, the French's eyes suddenly went dark, followed by a huge impact. Parker was knocked directly to the ground, and before he fell to the ground, he heard a loud noise from the basket.

"boom!"

"Hey." Popovich sighed, covering his forehead. Terrible, terrible.

"Everyone dunks! Antetokounmpo didn't save any face to his predecessors! Let's see what this kid looks like when he roars, I'm sure Coach Henson will never show him occasionally. Again, his The substitution played an immediate effect!"

The dunks not only allowed the Pacers to score two points, but also greatly boosted the team's morale. 8 points difference? The Pacers will be back soon!

"Stay steady, don't panic, hold steady!" Popovich yelled from the sidelines, but this was instead a sign that the Spurs began to panic.