Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 273: Defeat Popovich in a battle of wits!The Spurs were stunned!
On the evening of the 6th, the NBA Finals officially kicked off at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Knicks' entrance ceremony was very grand. Every time a player entered the stadium from the tunnel, the fans at the scene burst into violent cheers, and the scene was shocking.

Team owner James Dolan came to the scene to watch the game in person. His face was full of smiles and he interacted with the fans. He could only feel proud and proud.

This year is definitely a perfect season for Dolan. The players play well and the coaching level is high. After one season, he not only gained a lot of fans' attention, but also made a lot of money.

Only then did Dolan realize how correct his original decision to sign Lu Yong was. The rise of the Knicks made his face brighter, and the team's market value once again experienced a surge.

Lu Yong is equally successful. After leading the 76ers to the championship, he made the Knicks the favorites to win the championship. His coaching level is recognized by everyone, and no one dares to question his talent.

Before the game, Lu Yong and Popovich briefly greeted each other, just shook each other's hands and didn't say much.

As opponents, the two really had nothing to say.

Moreover, Popovich has never been very convinced of Lu Yong. The two of them can communicate on the surface at most, but neither of them looks down on the other in private.

Ten minutes later, the starting lineups of the two teams were announced on the big screen.

Knicks five: Deron Williams, Butler, Anthony, Turkoglu, Stoudemire.

Spurs five: Parker, Ginobili, Leonard, Duncan, Splitter.

Lu Yong did not arrange for Tyson Chandler to start. Spurs center Splitter is an average player. He mainly relies on Duncan to score inside. There is not much benefit from playing in a twin-tower lineup. It is better to solve the problem directly with offense.

Although it is difficult for Turkoglu to defend Duncan, with teammates on the flanks to help double-team, he will not be too ugly.

If it were Duncan in his prime, Lu Yong would definitely take it seriously and send a twin-tower lineup to improve the height of the lineup.

But now Duncan has entered the end of his career. His main scoring area is mid-range shots on both sides of the free throw line. He occasionally hits the basket and loses the dominance he had in his peak period.

Stoudemire won the jump ball to start the game.

Anthony caught the ball and dribbled across half the court, and the person guarding him was Leonard.

Signing with his hands to signal his teammates to spread out, Anthony broke through from the right after three threats, accelerated in a straight line to attract help from the inside, and distributed the ball to the middle.

Stoudemire caught the ball and made a pull-up jumper. The slow-moving Splitter jumped out to interfere with the shot and failed to block it.

This time the Knicks had an offensive opportunity, but Stoudemire shot a little harder. The ball hit the neck of the basket and missed, and the rebound was protected by Duncan.

The Spurs attack and the Knicks defend man-to-man.

Anthony is responsible for dealing with Ginobili, and Leonard, who is young and physically strong, is handed over to Butler.

Parker blocked the ball in the middle and passed it to Duncan. The latter feinted and walked to the basket, relied on his strength to challenge Turkoglu, turned over and shot a jumper from close range, and Stoudemire grabbed the backboard.

In a positional battle, Anthony and Stoudemire played a pick-and-roll, breaking through from the left and leading all the way to the basket.

Anthony averaged 30.4 points per game in this year's playoffs and is the league's scoring leader. The Spurs can't help but focus on defense.

Attracting Split to help defend, Anthony turned around and passed the ball out. Stoudemire caught the ball and went to the basket, facing the defense and throwing a close-range shot to hit the board.

Although Split was following him, his lack of athleticism failed to cover the ball, and the ball hit the net hollowly. 2 to 0.

Barkley laughed: "Amar'e Stoudemire played the ball too easily, and it was very difficult for Split to defend him alone. Split's athletic talent is considered good in the European League, but against Stoudemire There is obviously a big difference between you and me, they are not players of the same level at all."

Kenny Smith said: "In the first three rounds of the playoffs, Stoudemire averaged 22.6 points, 10 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. His performance was very stable. Unless the Spurs let Duncan guard him, it will be difficult for other insiders. Be on guard."

This evaluation is very pertinent. Stoudemire's overall strength is not as good as Duncan, but he still has no problem beating Split.

Stoudemire's air-cutting at this point is a major advantage for the Knicks, and Popovich must make a choice between him and Anthony.

The Spurs attacked, and Parker was followed by Deron. He played a pick-and-roll in the middle and tried to break through and throw. He had no chance. He went in and turned around and passed the ball to Ginobili who stepped forward to receive the ball.

Ginobili feinted a shot and broke through from the left. He took a step and leaned against Anthony, and suddenly changed direction to the middle and succeeded in passing.

Ginobili is good at using snake-like movements to break through, and often performs wonderful dribbles.

In the finals of previous years, Ginobili used breakthroughs to penetrate the Pistons' defense, and the name "Demon Sword" completely resounded throughout the league.

Although Ginobili's breakthrough speed has slowed down now, his rhythm control is still very good, and Anthony has a harder time defending.

Ginobi used his position to dodge bullets to get close to the basket. When Stoudemire on the weak side stepped forward to help defend, he used the lever in the air to avoid the block, then switched his left hand to wipe the board and scored a layup, 2-2.

Barkley shouted: "Beautiful! Manu's shot was so exciting, it reminds me of his style against the Pistons in the Finals."

Kenny Smith said: "Let's see if Anthony can return one. He hasn't taken a shot at the beginning, which is a bit abnormal."

Stoudemire and Anthony played a pick-and-roll again. In the same position as before, Anthony turned around in the three-second zone and passed to Butler in the middle.

Butler caught the ball and took a step forward, half-turned to distance himself, and turned over to face Ginobili and hit a jumper, 4-2.

Anthony did not attack by himself in the opening game. Instead, he replaced Deron Williams and sent out two assists in succession. Popovich sat on the sidelines and frowned, realizing that things did not seem to be that simple.

Barkley smiled: "Anthony responded with action as expected. He broke through and found Butler for a jumper. He played very selflessly tonight. I don't know if it was Lu Shuai's arrangement."

Kenny Smith said: "I think this should be the style of play that Lu Shuai emphasized. Usually the first attack of the Knicks will be played by Anthony holding the ball in singles, or Deron and Stoudemire will play a pick-and-roll in the middle, but tonight the pick-and-roll was launched. It’s so abnormal that people become Anthony.”

Barkley nodded and said: "So Lu Shuai wants to prove that Anthony is not just a scoring machine. Give him enough ball rights, and he can also organize the offense like James."

The Spurs attacked, Ginobili picked and rolled and then singled out Anthony. Melo learned smartly this time and sank first to block the route, preventing Ginobili from rushing up.

Ginobili's breakthrough was blocked and the ball was passed out. Parker made a sudden step to attract the defense, and then transferred it to Duncan who was receiving in the middle.The latter swayed in the face of Turkoglu, hit a 45-degree mid-range shot, missed due to interference, and the rebound was grabbed by Stoudemire.

Duncan's famous stunt is the 45-degree mid-range shot. However, in this year's playoffs, his shooting percentage was less than 50% and his condition was average. This also made Lu Yong more and more confident in the Knicks.

After watching the video of the last round of the Spurs' game against the Grizzlies, Lu Yong knew that if he wanted to defeat this team, he couldn't rely on defense, but had to do more on the offensive end.

The Grizzlies ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency, but weren't they eliminated in the end?

If the Knicks want to win, they must use more offensive firepower as a team than the Spurs, so Turkoglu started tonight to strengthen his outside shooting.

However, what is surprising is that not only did the Knicks play well offensively in these rounds, but there were no obvious flaws in the defense. The players all tried their best and were determined to win.

The Knicks attacked, Leonard did not lose his position in pursuit, Anthony rushed to the three-second zone and was close to him, turned around and passed the ball to Turkoglu.

Turkoglu moved outside the three-point line to organize, and Duncan was forced to defend outside.After observing his teammates, Turkoglu took a step and passed the ball to Deron. The latter used the screen to get rid of the defense, caught the ball and made a jump shot. There was no interference, and the ball hit the net!Uh-huh! 6 to 2.

This is the role of the "Turkish Magician". He can not only pull Duncan out of the penalty area, but also serve as an organizer to initiate attacks. The tactical role cannot be measured by data.

When the Spurs attacked, Parker played a pick-and-roll in the middle to look for opportunities. Duncan cut the ball in the air and wanted to hit hard. As a result, he was double-teamed by Stoudemire and surrounded him in advance. He could only pass the ball to the outside to find his teammates.

Leonard caught the ball and singled out Butler, leaned back twice, turned towards the baseline and missed a jumper, but was extremely interfered by Butler.

Stoudemire got stuck under the basket, jumped one step ahead of Duncan, and firmly protected the backcourt rebound.

The Spurs are very strong this season, but their weaknesses are also obvious, that is, Duncan is old, and scoring mainly relies on outside Parker.

If Parker can't find a scoring opportunity after picking and rolling, it will be more difficult for the Spurs to fight in the position, and even the role players will not be able to find a rhythm.

After watching the game, Barkley said: "The Spurs didn't feel good at the start. The Knicks' offensive fluency was obviously better tonight. Unless the Spurs can find the feel in time, they will be in danger."

Lu Yong sat on the sidelines with his legs crossed, chewing bubble gum and thinking about how to strengthen the offense. He never thought about saving some face for Popovich.

This is not the first time that he and Popovich have played against each other. In the first two years of his debut, he led the SuperSonics and lost to the Spurs. He knows this team very well.

Nowadays, the Spurs feel to him like an aging "Bad Boys League". The prestige is still there, but the threat of the highest combat power is declining at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He feels that the Knicks are [-]% able to win the championship this year. As long as there are not too many X factors that jump out to affect the game, it will not be easy for the Spurs to gain an advantage.

In the next round, Anthony held the ball in the middle and played singles, adjusting his rhythm with tentative steps and observing the movement of his teammates.

On the weak side, Butler played strictly according to Lu Yong's tactics, using Stoudemire's pick-and-roll and running back to the basket to get rid of Ginobili.

Upon seeing this, Anthony immediately sent a high ball to the basket. Ginobili did not lose his position, but Butler was young and strong. When cutting, he lowered his center of gravity and bumped into Ginobili, causing him to slow down the defense.

Butler jumped up from the basket to catch the ball and hit an alley-oop from close range, 8-2.

Anthony's third assist.

Duncan was pulled to the outside by Turkoglu, with Stoudemire watching eagerly on the other side, and the Spurs were severely evacuated inside.

Butler cut to the basket and easily made an alley-oop match. This made Popovich very dissatisfied. He called a timeout with a curse, and went crazy at the players.

After the timeout, Popovich made no substitutions and continued to play with this lineup.

Parker singled out Deron with the ball in the middle, accelerated half a body in one step, stopped suddenly before Stoudemire came up to defend under the basket, raised the arc and missed the one-handed throw, and Anthony got the rebound.

Anthony slowly moved to the frontcourt and passed it to Deron to organize himself to move to the left and take away the defense.

Leonard was closely entangled throughout the whole game. His most important task in this series is to defend Anthony alone. Lu Yong has already thought of it.

After all his teammates were in position according to the tactics, Deron played a pick-and-roll in the middle and hit his right hand. Parker moved the ball to the outside.

Turkoglu caught the ball at the top of the arc and took a look. Seeing Duncan standing back, he hit a three-pointer with a jumper on the spot. Whoa! 11 to 2.

When returning to defense, Turkoglu clenched one hand tightly and gave Lu Yong a look that said "I didn't disappoint you."

Popovich stood on the sidelines with his hands on his waist, his face turned black with anger.

He had just called a timeout, but when he came back, not only did his offense not improve, but the Knicks made another three-pointer. This made him helpless and wondered whether he should call another timeout.

The most important thing for the Spurs right now is that they can't score. It's not a big problem if they can't defend, but if they can't defend and they can't score at the same time, then it's a big problem.

This scene reminded Popovich of his opponent in the Western Conference Finals, the Grizzlies. It was difficult to score in positional battles, and the point difference was eroded little by little, and ultimately they lost by a large margin.

The Spurs are in a better situation than the Grizzlies. It's not that no one can step up and score, it's just that the stars don't have the touch.

In the positional battle, Ginobili faced Anthony after playing a pick-and-roll, and his snake-like movement attracted Butler to double-team and moved the ball to the outside.

Leonard caught the ball and shot a three-point jumper. He had a good shot, but the force was too weak and the ball missed the edge of the basket.

Stoudemire got stuck, Deron Williams got the backcourt rebound, and immediately promoted the counterattack after landing.

Butler took the lead in the fast break, ran to the free throw line to receive Deron's pass, leaned against Kaka, turned around in the middle, jumped up in three steps and scored with one hand, 13-2.

Butler scored his 6th point of the night and made 3 of 3 shots in the opening game, playing with star-like efficiency.

Popovich couldn't sit still at all. He stood up and asked for a timeout again.

Two timeouts were called in a minute and a half. Popovich didn't want to do this, but there was no way. If he didn't call, the game would be unplayable.

Barkley laughed: "No one could have imagined before the game that the game would go like this. The Spurs fell behind by double digits at the beginning. The Knicks' advantage was too obvious."

Kenny Smith smiled and said: "Popovich actually arranged a lot of details, including double-teaming Anthony and helping to defend. However, Lu Shuai was even better. He seemed to predict Popovich's thoughts. , changed the strategy in advance, let Anthony assume the role of the core organizer, and caught the Spurs off guard. Lu Yong won this wave of battles of wits and courage. Popovich realized at this time that he might be able to stop the loss in time, but it is not possible to recover the score. easy."

Barkley nodded and said: "Shuai Lu always keeps calm. His several adjustments in this year's playoffs are crucial. If it weren't for the fact that the Finals MVP can only be awarded to players, I think he will definitely get a lot of votes."

After the timeout, Burris Diaw came out early.

Duncan moved to the center position, and the Spurs switched to a small lineup.

Lu Yong also has countermeasures. He plays J.R. Smith as a three-guard, and Anthony moves to the power forward to face Diaw to further strengthen the offensive firepower.

Diaw will definitely suffer a loss if he defends Anthony alone. If Popovich lets Leonard continue to lead the defense, whether JR Smith or Jimmy Butler will be misaligned against Diaw, there will be a good one-on-one opportunity, which is to target the Spurs' pace. Slow flaws.

At this time, the problem came to the Spurs again. Popovich asked Diaw to come up and play in a small lineup. As a result, Lu Yong's unreasonable operation directly disrupted his plan, causing Diaw to become a defensive black hole. The Knicks Anyone can bully him.

If Duncan and Kawhi are allowed to help defend, the Knicks will easily have openings on the outside. When a three-back lineup is on the court, Popovich is not stupid enough to arrange a suicidal assist defense.

After 2 minutes of play, Diaw was blocked. Popovich could only replace him while the ball was dead, officially declaring that the substitution adjustment failed.

Anthony played a full game in the first quarter, making 3 of 2 shots and scoring only 4 points. However, he scored 5 extra rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, which was very comprehensive.

"Little Bully" Stoudemire had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block. Turkoglu, Deron Williams and Butler also scored.

替补出场的JR-史密斯打了7分钟，4投2中，三分球2中1，得到5分1篮板。

37 to 21, the Knicks led by 16 points in a single quarter, and the Spurs were stunned!

(End of this chapter)