Chapter 232 231. Popovich loses his sense of security
When the magic sword is unsheathed and the tip is pointed at the enemy, no one can stop it.

In the next few minutes, facing the Bobcats' iron-blooded defense, Ginobili made an efficient shooting performance of 4 of 2, raising his personal score to a game-high 7 points.

There were two more beautiful passes, one to Elson for an alley-oop, and one to Duncan, who passed the ball to Elson and scored another goal.

When Ginobili is on fire, he is not only more entertaining to watch than Parker, but also more effective in practice. His performance with Duncan playing without the ball is obviously at least half a level stronger than Parker's performance with Duncan playing without the ball, giving people a sense of unstoppable oppression.

But the Bobcats have gotten used to it. After the first two games, they already regarded Ginobili as the same level as Kobe and Iverson, and their evaluation of him was higher than that of Ray Allen and Carter in the playoffs.

After G3 and G4, the evaluation was adjusted and a prerequisite of "good feel" was added.

While Ginobili was going berserk, the Bobcats also tried their best to attack the basket, as they had already discovered that something was wrong with Duncan tonight.

Duncan, who is 30 years old, is still at the peak of his abilities, but he has undergone subtle changes compared to the past.

After two consecutive fierce attacks in G3 and G4 when Ginobili performed poorly, he was obviously tired in G5!

Although Duncan tried his best to avoid exposing his fatigue by adjusting his playing style and cooperating with his teammates, he was still discovered by the Bobcats players as the game progressed - after Duncan blocked Gerald Wallace's rush and squeezed Okafor away, he was unable to quickly take the rebound away from Rondo's head who went around him!
Rondo is fast and can accurately predict the landing point of rebounds. It is no easier to defend him from offensive rebounds than to defend Gerald Wallace, Millsap and Okafor.

In the first four games, Duncan was very stable with one block and three assists, but he was not strong enough tonight!

In these few minutes, Rondo grabbed another offensive rebound and passed it to Okafor who made a mid-range shot. Gerald Wallace scored a goal after attacking the basket. In addition, Felton used the screen to break through and made a close-range jumper...

打到首节10分41秒山猫队叫暂停时，依旧以24比23领先马刺队1分！
Popovich felt very heavy-hearted as he watched Zhang Yang take off his training suit and Felton wipe his sweat and put on his training suit.

Suddenly, he felt incredible. How come it was the Spurs who were under the most pressure during the rotation phase?
He recalled the post-match interview of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals that he saw while waiting for his opponent in the finals. After Zhang Yang scored 40+ points and led the team to tie the score, he said: "From this night on, the strong and the weak have changed."

In the subsequent seventh game, the Bobcats really defeated the Pistons like a whirlwind and advanced to the finals.

This time, after the Bobcats tied the score in Game 4, although Zhang Yang did not say that, Popovich felt it through actual experience!
The Bobcats sent out Rondo, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Millsap and Perkins.

The Spurs fielded a combination of Parker, Ginobili, Barry, Horry and Duncan.

Popovich anticipated that the opponent would substitute three core players, Felton, Gerald Wallace and Okafor, for rest, but he still sent the three together.

This is not the regular rotation of the Spurs, who are known for their stability. Since Parker and Ginobili took turns to attack tonight and Duncan played as a cooperator, when it comes to the final moments when the outside shots are about to start, Duncan should be replaced with two inside players with good physical fitness to grab offensive rebounds.

If it is a game where Duncan is used to the utmost, then only one of Parker and Ginobili will be on the field to ensure continuity.

TNT sports commentator Barkley looked at the lineups of both teams and made a sharp comment: "Popovich has lost his sense of security."

The commentator analyzed the Spurs' rotation from a holistic and big picture perspective, but the players on the court didn't care that much.

Zhang Yang walked onto the court and saw the three opposing teams all at once, excitement written all over his face!
On their side, they were one against four in attack and four against one in defense. He, Zhang San, was fighting against three horses alone!

After the timeout, the Bobcats attacked.

Rondo passed the ball to Zhang Yang, then ran to the middle distance on the left, cut in for a sneak attack, and went around Zhang Yang's back to support him in the high post. He did these two things he was good at without the ball, and the Spurs did not dare to let him go.

Sharp rebounding, excellent vision, strong pass prediction ability... Kidd's reputation has been made in the Eastern Conference Finals.

And he is said to be better than Kidd in one aspect - the extremely fast steal step.

Alan Anderson was the second most accurate sideline shooter for the Bobcats in this finals, and he did a good job of containing Barry.

Horry had to block Millsap from cutting into the basket to help Duncan share the defensive pressure, and Duncan couldn't completely leave Perkins open to eat the ball under the basket.

Bickerstaff set up a lineup for Zhang Yang that is very suitable for his high-post singles!

Zhang Yang and other teammates got into position, faced Ginobili's defense, and started shooting!
Breaking through to the right side of the free throw line, Zhang Yang dribbled the ball between his legs and moved sideways to the right, then dribbled behind his back and returned to the top right corner of the free throw line, jumped, and took a mid-range shot... and it hit!
When it comes to defending against breakthroughs, Ginobili does a very good job. Although his team defensive performance is not as good as Parker's, he has defensive command ability that Parker does not have. After all, he is the outside core of the Olympic champion Argentina team. But when it comes to defending mid-range singles, there is not much difference between Ginobili defending Zhang Yang and Parker defending Zhang Yang!

26 to 23, the Bobcats lead by 3 points!
When the Spurs attacked, Ginobili faced Alan Anderson's defense and played directly and simply. He dribbled the ball continuously, jumped one step to the left, received the ball, and jumped up, and made a three-point shot!
The Spurs tied the score! Ginobili scored 10 points in a single quarter!

In the offense-defense transition, Zhang Yang received the ball with his back against Ginobili in the high post, turned around, and made a pull-up shot... and was fouled by Ginobili.

Popovich is not the only one who is anxious, Ginobili is also anxious.

His anxiety has no negative impact on his offense. When he is in good shape, playing impatiently and aggressively may make him score more fiercely, just like tonight, when he scored 10 points in the first quarter.

But it has a huge impact on his defense. His ability to defend one-on-one in the mid-range is not strong, and he may make unnecessary mistakes if he gets anxious.

Hubie Brown of Time Warner Sports commented: "When defending Jack, who has an 85%+ free throw rate from mid-range, not fouling is the basis. Ginobili didn't even do the most basic defense this time."

Zhang Yang went to the free throw line and made both free throws, 28 to 26, the Bobcats continued to lead!

In the last attack of the first quarter, Parker broke into the inside with the help of Duncan's screen. Rondo and Millsap left Duncan alone and tried to chase Parker, not giving Parker a chance to make a close-range jump shot. However, Parker went directly to the basket, slipped around Perkins at the baseline, blocked two defenders with the help of Perkins, came to the left side of the three-second zone, turned around and made a jump shot!
After the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 28-28!
...

张杨首节打了7分钟，5投3中，加上4中3的罚球，拿到9分。费尔顿5分、隆多2分3板2助攻、奥卡福6分、杰拉德-华莱士6分。

吉诺比利6投4中，其中三分球2中2，拿到全场最高的10分，帕克拿到8分2助攻，邓肯5投2中拿到4分2板1助攻1盖帽，埃尔森2投2中拿到4分……

The five young stars of the Bobcats tied the Spurs with their crazy performance in the first quarter, and the fans at the scene were extremely excited.

A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Although the Bobcats tied the Spurs 2-2 and the Bobcats fans were confident, in their hearts, the Spurs are still an extremely strong team that has won three championships in the past eight years and is a super team on par with the Lakers.

They are very excited if they can keep up with the times, because if they don’t fall behind, they may win!

The fans in front of the TV were also very excited. They thought it would be another fierce battle. Both sides did try to start a fierce battle, but after Ginobili came on the court, the Spurs' counterattack was too fierce, forcing the Bobcats to increase their scoring.

On the Chaoting TV station, Zhang Weiping commented when analyzing the first quarter: "The outside scoring is different from the inside scoring. You see, when Duncan scored 42 points, the Spurs only had more than 80 points. Parker and Ginobili scored almost 30 points in one quarter..."

The Bobcats fans were happy, the passing fans in front of the TV were happy, and the commentators were also happy to see the exciting game... except Popovich.

The current situation looks similar to the first 4 games, with both sides playing back and forth. However, in the first 4 games, even in the lost G2 and G4, they only lost to the Bobcats in the key balls. The Spurs had the upper hand in regular time. Tonight, they had a slight advantage in the key balls. Parker + Ginobili suppressed Zhang Yang, but they didn't win in regular time...

Other coaches would feel fortunate, but for Popovich, this situation, which is completely opposite to his expectations, is very tormenting.

Although the same playing style for 10 years has given them rich experience in on-the-spot confrontations, it has also turned the Spurs into a 'code mountain'. Unless the game is deleted and restarted, there is no room for adjustment.

Ginobili is the only 'bug' in this 'mountain of code'.

Entering the intermission, Popovich relaxed a little and thought about how Nelson used all kinds of strange ideas to beat the 67-win Mavericks in the first round, and how Bickerstaff made all kinds of cool moves in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Finals...

In the second quarter, the two teams continued to fight.

For the Spurs, Duncan provided defensive support while Parker led the team in attack during regular time. After the defense became more intense, Ginobili took over the offensive lead.

As for the Bobcats, they played with a young and aggressive team, suppressing the Spurs in regular time.

With two outside players carrying the bulk of the offense, their stability may not be as guaranteed as the long-term stability of the inside and outside players combined. For example, the Golden Double Guns, the Pistons Double Guns, and the Bobcats Double Guns, it is difficult for them to be as strong throughout the season as Nowitzki + Terry, Stoudemire + Nash.

But when the game starts, two outside players are likely to be better than the combination of inside and outside players.

For example, in the last game, Zhang Yang and Felton performed at the same time, which was more powerful than the performance of Duncan + Parker.

第二节帕克带队时马刺队13比15落后山猫队两分，吉诺比利带队的时候马刺队以14比11小胜山猫队3分。

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats entered the halftime break with a 54-point deficit to the Spurs at 55 to 1!
Parker played 9 minutes in the second quarter and scored 8 points, while Ginobili played 7 minutes and scored 7 points.

张杨第二节又被吉诺比利压了一头，他打了6分钟，5投2中，加上2中2的罚球拿到6分。

费尔顿表现持续出色，打了10分钟拿到7分，杰拉德-华莱士3分、隆多2分2板2助攻、奥卡福4分、穆罕穆德和米尔萨普各2分。

Before returning to the locker room, Felton looked at the big screen and saw that Parker had scored 16 points in the first half, and asked, "Should we not go and provoke Parker? He seems to be playing better!"

Okafor: "No, it's just that we didn't achieve our goal. He had a very good performance in the first three quarters of the last game. He scored 18 points with a high hit rate in three quarters. With one game of experience, it's normal for him to play better tonight. His score was higher than the previous game, mainly because Duncan only shot 9 times in the first half, and Ginobili shot about the same number as the previous game. Most of the shots that Duncan missed were taken by Parker."

Now that Okafor has said this, Felton is relieved of the psychological burden. The younger brother may comfort him, but Okafor will not.

Felton didn't think, 'It's not me who told you to do this.' If it was really because of his trash talk that Parker went crazy and made it so difficult for them to play, he would blame himself.

Without the psychological burden, just keep doing it!

After the halftime break, in the third quarter, the two teams continued to compete.

常规时间山猫队20比17小胜马刺队3分，以74比72反超马刺队两分！
In the last two minutes, Zhang Yang, who had rested for a while after the official timeout, returned to the court and faced off against Ginobili again.

The two men first missed a shot each to show respect, and then Ginobili took the lead, breaking into the inside and making a layup.

After the offense and defense switched, Zhang Yang, who had missed a shot when he came back on the court, did not stop and rushed straight into the inside. He had been paying attention to Duncan's movement, so he seized the opportunity to grab the ball, flew up and shot... and it hit!
When the Spurs attacked, Ginobili continued to fire, breaking through to close range and turning around to make a layup, increasing his score in the quarter to 7 points and his personal score to 24 points!
76 to 76, the Spurs tied the score again!

When the Bobcats attacked, Zhang Yang received the ball from the outside and challenged Ginobili, then he broke through!
Ginobili, who had just been hit by a close-range jump shot, suddenly took a step back. Zhang Yang stepped back to receive the ball and took a three-point shot... and it went in!
Even step-back three-pointers can be made. Popovich on the sidelines feels that the goddess of luck continues to favor the opponent this year, but it doesn’t matter, he still has the magic sword Ginobili!

Soon, Ginobili disappointed him. In the last attack of the third quarter, Ginobili faced Alan Anderson and took a three-pointer but missed!
After three quarters, the Bobcats took a 79-point lead with 76 to 3!
常规时间3投1中，最后两分钟3投2中，单节打了8分钟拿到7分，波波维奇看到张杨的表现整个人都不好了。

Ginobili played so well tonight, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, 7 points each in the second and third quarters, for a total of 24 points in three quarters, but Zhang Yang scored 9 points in the first quarter, 6 points in the second quarter, and 7 points in the third quarter, for a total of 22 points.

Moreover, Zhang Yang scored a lot of points in the last moments of the third quarter, slightly surpassing Ginobili!
Popovich started to think again - why didn't he trade Parker for a lottery pick in 05...

(End of this chapter)