Legendary star

Chapter 729

"oh....."

With an incredible exclamation from the scene at the Bankers Life Arena, Jermaine O'Neal, who has the title of jump ball finisher, unexpectedly lost to Tim Duncan in the opening jump ball.

Although Jermaine O'Neal is now one of the first-line power forwards in the league, every time he faces Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal seems to lack confidence. Most of the time was suppressed by Tim Duncan.

Although they won the jump ball, the Spurs are not a team that advances very fast like the Suns and the Warriors. Because of Tim Duncan, the Spurs have always held high the banner of offense, so when Tony Parker took the ball After advancing to the frontcourt, the Pacers' defenses are all in place.

The Spurs' starting lineup today is a bit different from usual. The biggest change is that Michael Finley replaced Manu Ginobili in the starting lineup, and Tim Duncan appeared in the center position. Because Duncan played Because of the center forward, Robert Hawley, who has not started for a long time, is also very rarely in the starting lineup today. In addition to the above three players, the other two are still unshakable Bruce Bowen and Tony Parker.

As for the Pacers' starting lineup today, it is still center NN-Hilary, power forward Jermaine O'Neal, small forward Meng Xu, shooting guard Tyshawn Prince, and point guard Tony Allen.

After all the Pacers players retreated, Tony Parker, who dribbled the ball through half court, handed the basketball directly to Robert Hawley, who was covering for him, and Robert Hawley did not stick the ball, but Passed the ball directly to Tim Duncan, who was already in the basket. After Jermaine O'Neal was brought out of the basket by Robert Hawley, the Pacers now only have NN Hilario at the basket Alone.

"Is this going to allow Tim Duncan to play alone?" The Spurs' series of cooperation after the opening was obviously beyond everyone's expectations. Since last season, the Spurs have started from Tim Duncan's single-core team , has become a Tim Duncan-Tony Parker dual-core team. Since the beginning of this season, Tony Parker's possession of the ball and the number of singles have further increased sharply, and the average number of shots per game has surpassed that of Tim Duncan. , ranking first in the Spurs team, but the performance of the Spurs in the opening round seems to be releasing a signal, that is, in today's game, Tim Duncan will be the only core of the Spurs on the court.

This change of the Spurs may seem strange, but it is not without trace. In recent seasons, there has been a saying among Spurs fans, that is, look at Parker in good times, Duncan in adversity, and Manu in desperate situations. Although this sentence is just a joke of the fans, it can also be seen from it that at critical moments and in key games, who is the Spurs relying on.

When Tim Duncan received the ball at the basket, the rest of the Spurs players on the field all pulled away, allowing Tim Duncan to play NN-Hilario under the basket. Obviously, the Spurs not only changed their lineup in the finals , Even the team's tactics have changed. After Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Patrick Ewing faded out, the four-pitcher tactic of a big center that was once very popular in the league was once again on the Spurs today. The rivers and lakes have reappeared.

This change of the Spurs can be said to be very smart. In previous matches, the Pacers would frantically double-team Tim Duncan and empty out another insider of the Spurs. It can be expected that in the finals of this season, The Pacers will inevitably double-team Tim Duncan even more, because whether it is the former Nazr Mohammed, Rasu Nesterovic or the current Francisco Elson, The offensive ability of these insiders of the Spurs is very weak, so in today's game, Popovich simply abandoned these unusable insiders and sent Robert, who mainly shoots and plays outside. Holly, directly played a center four-pitcher tactic.

Since Jermaine O'Neal followed Robert Holly to the top of the arc in the defense just now, Jermaine O'Neal couldn't double-team Tim Duncan in this Spurs offense. I can only watch Tim Duncan ravage NN-Hilary with his back there.

Even though NN-Hilario tried his best, Tim Duncan couldn't be blocked by him alone. After Tim Duncan held the ball behind his back and pushed NN-Hilario back-to-back twice, It was a turnaround and dunk. Not only that, but the referee on duty also called NN-Hilaryo for a defensive foul. Tim Duncan's first attack after the opening was a 2+1.

"Beautiful dunk, this is Tim Duncan at the finals level." After Tim Duncan hung on the basket with one hand, Barkley, who was on the sidelines, immediately stood up from his seat with an exaggerated expression. Standing up, applauding and cheering for Tim Duncan, it was obvious that Barkley supported the Spurs in this Finals.

When Tim Duncan made a free throw, there was a burst of applause and cheers in the Bankers Life Arena. Obviously, the audience present today is not all supporting the Pacers, especially the stars sitting in the first two rows Celebrities, most of them are fools, they might be applauding Duncan one second, and cheering Meng Xu the next.

After the extra penalty hit, Tim Duncan deliberately glanced at Meng Xu when he was retreating. Although Tim Duncan didn't have any expression on his face, in Meng Xu's view, Duncan's dunk was completely It’s just a showdown. Meng Xu still clearly remembers what Tim Duncan said to himself when Meng Xu called Duncan after the Spurs eliminated the Lakers to congratulate him on advancing to the finals, “I will definitely beat you Full bag."

Regarding Duncan's dismount after the opening, the Pacers, except for NN-Hilario, who still had lingering fears, didn't feel much. Therefore, after the offensive and defensive transition, the Pacers carried out their own offense step by step.

Of course, the Pacers' first attack was executed by Meng Xu, especially when Tim Duncan scored a goal, it was even more necessary for Meng Xu to hit the ball back. Therefore, the Pacers' attack this time, He didn't play any tactics, and all the players on the field pulled away, letting Meng Xu single-handedly play against Bruce Bowen.

Since joining the Spurs, Bruce Bowen has also changed from a "clean" defender to a well-known villain, and a cursed butcher, Kobe, McGrady, Carter, Nowitzki, Hamilton , Ray Allen, countless stars and superstars have encountered Bruce Bowen's poisonous hands, and even Bruce Bowen stepped on Vince Carter, and was chased by Vince Carter all over the court.

But like the villain Ron Artest, Bruce Bowen was the only one who was cautious when defending Meng Xu. Hidden is a tyrannical and cunning heart. The number of players who have been murdered by Meng Xu is not much less than Bruce Bowen. Bruce Bowen has tried to defend Meng Xu, but Meng Xu is dealing with small moves. The level of sophistication in the field, and the counterattack that must be retaliated, made Bruce Bowen completely give up his careful thinking about Meng Xu. In the regular season last season, when Bruce Bowen was defending Meng Xu, he wanted to take advantage of the referee When he was not paying attention, he tripped Meng Xu, but as soon as his leg stretched out, Meng Xu kicked him hard on the calf, causing Bruce Bowen to grin in pain.

Therefore, when defending Meng Xu's attack, Bruce Bowen had no distractions at all. All he could think about was how to defend Meng Xu and prevent him from getting rid of himself. In this attack, Meng Xu, He didn't turn his back to Bruce Bowen, but held the ball and faced the basket more than two meters away from the top of the arc.

Compared with Meng Xu, Bruce Bowen's body is obviously a little thinner, so after Bruce Bowen tried to stick Meng Xu's, he was directly squeezed away by Meng Xu, and when Bruce Bowen, who refused to admit defeat, made another When it was posted, it was knocked away by Meng Xu who had already activated it.

Taking advantage of the moment when Bruce Bowen was knocked away, Meng Xu continued to accelerate to get rid of Bruce Bowen, but the Spurs obviously had a plan for this. After Meng Xu got rid of Bruce Bowen, he was the closest to Meng Xu Robert Hawley rushed towards Meng Xu immediately.

Meng Xu obviously didn't care about Robert Holly's supplementary defense. Meng Xu, who had already rushed to the free throw line, stopped his footsteps in an instant when he was about to collide with Robert Holly, and stood on the ground. And then, as for Robert Hawley, who was rushing to defend, he ran into Meng Xu because he couldn't stop his footsteps. It seemed that he had hit a wall.

With a "swipe", accompanied by the cheers of countless audiences, Meng Xu hit the Pacers' first ball after the opening.

As for Robert Hawley, who bumped into Meng Xu in the defense, he was also whistled for a defensive foul in due course by the referee on duty. 2+1, Meng Xu and Duncan tied in the first round of the game.

"It's wonderful, it's really wonderful. I really didn't see the wrong person." After Meng Xu also scored 2+1, David Stern, who was still smoking a cigar in the box, immediately put down the cigar in his hand and rushed Looking at Meng Xu who had already walked to the free throw line, he burst into approval.

(End of this chapter)