Chapter 708 [One Attempt, There Is Still a Long Way to Go]

In the second quarter, the Spurs sent TJ Ford, Ginobili, Budinger, Bonner, and Splitter.

There are three three-point shooting spots on the field. Ford and Bonner are playing pick-and-rolls. Split is covering Ginobili near the baseline and is ready to cut to the basket at any time.

**Vitch's tactics were also based on rationality. In the substitute competition, he did not send too many defensive players. The purpose was to strengthen the offense and grab points. Leonard went down to rest again, waiting to face off against Gay.

There is an embarrassing situation. Ford has never practiced a three-pointer. He must mainly break through with the ball, layup or score suddenly, otherwise he will not be able to play his role. After several serious injuries, his speed is no longer as amazing as it was when he was a rookie.

On the defensive end, Ford's performance was even worse. He is 180cm tall and weighs only 75kg. He has quick hands and can steal. His weakness is in interfering with shooting.

Isn't this asking for abuse by asking Ford, who is not good at interfering with shooting, to guard Curry, who is best at pull-up jump shots? **Veach has no choice, and fringe point guard Corey Joseph performed even worse.

Joseph is 191cm tall and weighs 84kg. His template is AJ Price. He was only ranked in the middle of the second round in the draft prediction. **Veach believed that he had the potential to replace George Hill and selected him in the first round.

In his final season in college, Joseph's three-point shooting percentage reached 3%. He played unselfishly, passed the ball well enough and made few mistakes. University of Texas head coach Rick Barnes once said that Corey Joseph is the best defensive guard he has ever coached, and he still has the potential to improve.

It turns out that **Vicci was wrong. Joseph's outstanding premise was in college, but he couldn't keep up with the rhythm in the NBA. He is more of a shooter than a point guard. He lacks creativity on the court, cannot create scoring opportunities by himself, and is not accurate in three-pointers.

If Joseph plays, there will be less personal offense on the outside, and the defensive end will not be very good. Split will be a blue-collar center with no shooting range. If there is a blue-collar defender who cannot organize, the game will be unplayable.

The Spurs' No. 1 Ford unexpectedly became a weak point. He was attacked by the Clippers. The play style was very simple. Curry held the ball and directly challenged.

Tony Allen came out to deal with Ginobili and never relaxed for a moment. The small forward was Korver. It was not difficult to defend Budinger. On the offensive end, he opened up and waited for three-point opportunities. There was no need to do other work.

On the inside are Farid and Parsons, the five dead men. Farid is responsible for defending the penalty area against Split.

Thiago Split is a Brazilian player. He is 211cm tall and weighs 111kg. He mainly plays power forward. He is tall, has long arms, has outstanding jumping and strong mobility. His defense and rebounding are excellent. His offense mainly relies on baseline cuts and basket shots. He has no mid-to-long-range shooting ability and his low-post skills are relatively blunt.

Yang Rui felt that letting Split mainly attack was much less of a threat than Ginobili, so he deployed a defensive pick-and-roll lineup, completely disrupting the opponent's arrangement.

As long as Yang Rui sends Aaron Gray, the Spurs mainly play double screens and the two guards break through, there will always be one who can face Gray who is not good at guarding the pick and roll. Unexpectedly, Gray was just a decoration, sitting on the sidelines guarding the water fountain.

It is difficult for Ginobili to get rid of Tony Allen. After mismatching the pick and roll, he will also face Parsons and Faried, who are faster than him.

Split made four strong shots to ensure half of the shooting and scored 4 points. Once he missed the shot, the Clippers immediately counterattacked and the offense was more efficient.

"Red Mamba" Bonner is very smart in defense. He doesn't suffer in confrontations and can play a role in defensive positions. But he is miserable against Parsons. The opponent can shoot suddenly and is faster than him. One-on-one is a mismatch.

It is much easier for Parsons to defend Bonner. He just needs to keep a distance to interfere with the shooting. The two are of similar height. Bonner has a weight advantage but cannot take advantage of it, and lacks the ability to attack with the ball.

The point difference continued to widen, **Vicci made early substitutions, and Parker returned to the court to face Curry to stabilize the situation. But Parker is also not easy to attack, and the Clippers' small lineup changes defense too quickly.

In the second half, the Spurs gradually replaced their main players, and the Clippers had more players to rotate. Griffin and Faried partnered inside.

Paul and Curry are two guards, and Gay is the small forward. They continue to focus on counterattacks.

This lineup maximized its speed advantage. Duncan struggled to defend, and Scola couldn't outrun Faried at all. The Spurs were forced to attack with the Clippers.

At halftime, the Clippers led 66 to 45.

Barkley commented: "I think the Clippers will win the championship this season. They have excellent offense and defense. The Spurs cannot easily break through their defense. If they don't use small ball tactics, it will be more difficult for their opponents to score. Chandler, Barkley After Till joined, they became the strongest team in the league."

Smith smiled and said: "It's a pity that there are only 66 regular season games this season. It is impossible for the Clippers to break the best record."

There are many outstanding defensive players as role models, and Griffin, Curry and others are becoming more and more active on the defensive end. If you don't be proactive, your opponents will be able to see where the weak points of defense are and attack them hard.

At the beginning of the second half, the Clippers changed their position to attack. The three players who could join the defensive team, Battier and Griffin strengthened the defense. The Spurs did not score in the 5 minutes of sports, and Duncan and Splitter had not yet made free throws. Yes, the score difference continues to widen.

Yang Rui predicted the Spurs' routine. If they want to reverse the game, they must exert their strength in the third quarter. If they fall behind by a big score and enter the final quarter, the players' psychological pressure will increase and they will easily become irritable.

As long as they can withstand this wave of offensive, the Clippers will undoubtedly win, and they will also consume the energy of the opponent's offensive players.

After lowering the tempo, the two sides were evenly matched. At the end of the third quarter, the Clippers led by 20 points and the game entered garbage time.

In the final quarter, Yang Rui sent Curry, Danny Green, Gay, Parsons, and Griffin to defend breakthroughs and three-pointers, and compete with the Spurs on offense.

The Spurs also used a smaller lineup to grab points. Bonner played center and scored three three-pointers in a single quarter. But even though Bonner played well and scored 13 points in this quarter, he was unable to help the Spurs recover the score and ended in a disastrous defeat.

The Clippers have a better offense. Parsons organizes the forwards to evacuate the inside. Curry and Green move to catch and shoot. Griffin can hit the basket after covering.

The Clippers won 124-99, scoring high points in two consecutive games.

Six players on the team scored in double figures, Gay had 22 points and 5 rebounds, Paul had 18 points, 15 assists and 2 steals, Griffin had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, and Curry had 17 points and 4 assists.

In terms of blue-collar role players, Chandler had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, Tony Allen had 4 points, 1 assist and 2 steals, and Battier hit two three-pointers and scored 6 points.

Just looking at the data, these three people are nothing special, but when they were on the court together in the third quarter, the Spurs players were completely unable to enter the penalty area and could only shoot at people far away from the basket, and the rhythm was completely messed up.

The Clippers' two rookies performed very well in this game. Faried played 20 minutes, scored 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 dunks. Parsons made 5 of 8 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The Spurs' two rookies performed poorly. Leonard played 20 minutes, made 1 of 3 shots, and only had 2 points and 6 rebounds. Now Leonard's task is to catch and shoot, and he still has a long way to go.

Corey Joseph only played 4 minutes in garbage time, made 0 of 2 shots, and all statistics were zero.

Yang Rui said in an interview: "The Clippers have many excellent defensive players. We don't just attack to win. The way we played in the third quarter was an attempt. I am proud of their performance."

The reporter asked: "What do you think of the Spurs?"

Yang Rui thought for a while and said easily: "Before the newcomers grow up, the Spurs will not be able to compete for the championship. They cannot beat the Clippers with only the veteran trident."