One Thousand Three Hundred and Sixty-One. The Three Chariots of the Last Stand

In people's eyes, either the Grizzlies or the Spurs could advance, because the difference between the two teams is not big, even smaller than the difference between the two tank armies, the Bulls and the Pacers.

Therefore, it is normal for the Spurs to regain the home advantage or for the Grizzlies to keep the home advantage they have grabbed.

On the 14th, the Grizzlies ushered in their second home game, the fourth game against the Spurs.

Trailing 1 to 2, the Spurs were in a very passive situation.

Popovich was not unaware of their advantages. In the first quarter, when Duncan was in the best physical condition, they went all out to play crazy offense, which was their biggest advantage.

However, he was too wary of Sun Ce, so much so that he felt that the most stable play was not stable at all, and always wanted to think of some routines to deal with the Grizzlies and Sun Ce.

He didn't want Sun Ce to play out his touch, so he chose to focus on defense in the first quarter and sacrifice offense.

After the success of the second game, he wanted to continue, but was targeted by the Grizzlies.

Losing two of the three games made Popovich even more confused. In the first game, he played steadily, but lost to Sun Ce's 45 points in a single game; he used routines, won one game and lost another. After losing, he remembered that he almost lost the second game, and he won it with Duncan.

Now Popovich doesn't know how to win.

In the eyes of others, the Spurs have their advantages. Although they also have disadvantages, most people think that the Spurs are at least not worse than the Grizzlies, and they are evenly matched.

But the onlookers are clear, and the authorities are confused. Should we attack or defend, or seek a balance between offense and defense?

Popovich doesn't know how to choose.

This is already the norm in the Spurs. Popovich has always had Duncan under his command, and he has strong coaching ability. He can create various tactics around Duncan. His strengths lie in system construction and response under normal conditions.

But when facing an unfavorable situation, there has never been an operation to break the crisis. It is not that there is almost no operation, but that there is not even one operation. When winning, it is always smooth sailing. Even in the seventh game of the 2005 Finals, it was because Larry Brown was not as good as him, not that he defeated the more powerful Larry Brown.

Popovich is a coach with very obvious advantages and disadvantages. Of course, there are more advantages, but the disadvantages are the kind of disadvantages that cannot be changed.

At 8 o'clock in the evening,

the fourth game between the Grizzlies and the Spurs started.

In this game, the players on the Spurs side did not know what policy the head coach would use to deal with the Grizzlies, and there was no clear tactical goal.

In fact, even the failed routine in the third game is better than having no clear goal. In the third game, the Grizzlies scored 60 points in the second half, and the Spurs only lost 10 points.

It was just that when Klay Thompson, Yi Jianlian and Paul George broke out in the second half, their stars could not keep up.

If they continue to bet on the third game, they may not lose. If they directly use the first game, they may not lose.

But the head coach has no clear direction, and even if the players can play well, they are at a disadvantage in the overall situation.

The Grizzlies have a clear goal. If they can fight hard on offense, they will fight hard. If they can't fight hard... they will defend!

The league's top defense and the only team in the regular season that limits opponents to no more than 90 points have obvious shortcomings, but their advantages are also very strong. That is, at any time, the coach has the courage to do it, even if it is a weird trick that an unreliable No. 3 player thinks of, the teammates will resolutely implement it.

Execution became the Grizzlies' winning magic weapon in the fourth game!

Duncan was in good shape tonight, but he only scored 27 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.

Duncan played really well in this game, with 27 points, the highest in the game, surpassing Randolph's 26 points and 8 rebounds on the Grizzlies side. However, the Grizzlies also have Klay Thompson's 25 points and Sun Ce's 20 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks. Although the other players did not score much, like the previous game, the points were concentrated on three people, but the other players on the Spurs played worse on the offensive end because of the unclear direction.

99 to 91, the Grizzlies steadily suppressed the Spurs for the whole game, defeating the Spurs and making the score 3 to 1!

…

The Grizzlies came to San Antonio on the 15th and ushered in the 5th game with the Spurs on the 16th.

With a big lead of 3 to 1, the Grizzlies wanted to eliminate the Spurs in one go!

However, Popovich is the top coach in the league after all. After being confused for a game, he returned to his home court. Since he couldn't think of any special routines, he was determined to play the best style and fight the Grizzlies.

Trailing 1 to 3, the three horses also became irritable in this game. In the first quarter, led by Duncan, Parker and Gay, Danny Green and Mills rotated, Kwame Brown and Split rotated, and the Spurs, who rotated 7 people in the first quarter, scored 32 to 29.

In the second quarter, Ginobili and Gay led the team, and George Hill, Mills, Parker, Duncan, Dio, Blair, and Danny Green rotated. Relying on the explosion of Ginobili and Gay, the Spurs scored 32 points in the second quarter and limited the Grizzlies to only 25 points in the second quarter.

This time, with only a 3-point lead over the Grizzlies in the first quarter, the Spurs expanded their lead to 10 points at halftime!

The Spurs, with the most stable play, are definitely one of the strongest teams in the league. The Grizzlies' change of formation strategy is mainly to deal with the Spurs' desire to play routines. If they fight hard with real swords and guns, the change of formation will not be of much use.

Sun Ce played for 22 minutes in the first half, and only rested for two minutes after the official timeout in the first quarter. He scored 11 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Although the Grizzlies scored 54 points in the first half, the opponent scored 64 points.

During the halftime break, Sun Ce used the Lakers' 12-13 season star experience card and was lucky enough to draw Josh Smith. Because he was a left-handed player, had a similar height, and wore a headband, Sun Ce's 90% match was almost the highest match of the Lakers' star experience card except for Kobe's card, which could be used in a special way.

But against the Spurs, it was not so easy to draw Josh Smith. Gay and Duncan completed a brutal sniper attack on Sun Ce in the second half.

The three-horse team on the edge of elimination + Gay's four-star lineup played strongly tonight!

In the end, thanks to Duncan's 25 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks; Gay's 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals; Parker's 21 points and 9 assists; Ginobili's 18 points in the second quarter and 22 points in the whole game, the Spurs had 4 players with 20+ points and defeated the Grizzlies 115-101, creating the biggest score difference in this round of the series.

Duncan scored 25+ points in two consecutive games, and his performance was crazy and incredible!