Finals G1, before the game started, Popovich and the coaching staff watched a lot of Knicks videos.
Steve Kerr even shared his experience with everyone against Clay Lee.
It's just that the reference value of the regular season is not great.
In the first two rounds of the playoffs, with Ewing, the Knicks are almost egalitarian.
After watching the Eastern Conference Finals, I finally saw something, but when it came to the game, I found that the Knicks had changed a lot.
After realizing that the Knicks' offense was faster, the number of rounds was more, and the defense was difficult to counterattack, Popovich also added some routines after the timeout.
The offense of 6 seconds to cross half court, 3 seconds to position, and 2 seconds to pass the ball at the beginning, while others watched the twin towers and had no chance to transfer the ball gradually disappeared.
Avery Johnson on the outside line increased some aggression.
Nearly 20 seconds, the right wing outside the three-point line received the ball.
With the help of Duncan's screen, Avery Johnson got rid of Lee and made a free throw.
It was just the same routine.
Avery Johnson changed direction and did it again.
He broke through deeper and shot in the paint area right in front of the basket, but was blocked by Ben Wallace who was helping to defend!
The basketball flew directly to the half court.
The wonderful block also made the New York fans at the scene exclaim.
"Oh!"
Duncan was about to squeeze under the basket after the screen, but Lee was quick and had already controlled the ball on the three-point line, and then rushed with the ball.
Although Mario Elie was old, he returned to defense very quickly and chased to Lee's side in the first time.
Before he had time to cut the ball, Lee who rushed across the three-point line completed a ground pass from behind.
Alan Houston, who quickly came down from the other side, was not defended.
After receiving the ball, he easily dunked with one hand!
In the commentary booth, Bob Costas saw the easy two-on-one fast break and sighed:
"God! The Knicks' counterattack was too fast. The Spurs were very passive in the past few minutes."
Doug Collins, who was standing by, looked at Ben Wallace who was pounding his chest under the basket and said thoughtfully:
"Maybe Wallace can't limit the Spurs' big men, but he has a good sense of help defense and a fast rebound speed!"
The Spurs also began to speed up their offensive rhythm.
Duncan no longer turned his back to the ball, but suddenly came to the right blocking area and received the ball facing the basket.
Facing Oakley's defense, Duncan quickly tested his right foot and then pulled it directly.
"Bang!"
The basketball just hit the basket and Ben Wallace, who was fighting with David Robinson under the basket, jumped high, grabbed the rebound with one hand, and then immediately passed the ball to Lee who was responding.
Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines stood up and clapped his hands.
The rebound speed is also a talent.
At least in rebounding, the Knicks are not at a disadvantage at present.
Avery Johnson's close defense didn't work very well, and Lee's ball-guard instinctively slapped away the small guard's interference.
Quickly coming to the right wing, seeing Lee's tactical gesture, Larry Johnson immediately slipped across the baseline from left to right, and came to the right low post to ask for the ball with his back to the basket.
Elliott tried to defend, but there was a big difference in physical strength between the two.
As soon as Larry Johnson opened his hand to ask for the ball, Lee sent a high pass.
The moment he received the ball, Larry Johnson immediately put the ball in his hands, hit it, and then jumped to break the defense.
He completed a fadeaway jump shot in the paint area!
"Swish!" The two-point shot went into the net.
David Robinson, who was helping with defense, was half a beat slower.
Seeing Elliott raise his hand to indicate that it was his problem, he could only frown and quickly serve the baseline ball.
10:17, there were 4 minutes and 13 seconds left in the first quarter, and the Spurs' scoring had stopped for a while.
"Defense! Defense! Defense!"
Seeing Lee continue to defend Avery Johnson, the defensive cheers at the scene became louder and louder.
In the Knicks' defensive system, Lee is usually only responsible for putting pressure on the ball and delaying the opponent's advancement.
The Spurs' offense is slow to begin with, and Avery Johnson carefully controls the ball and advances.
Many rounds are pressed for 8 seconds before passing half court.
Protecting the ball sideways and turning continuously, Avery Johnson rushed through half court, but still couldn't get rid of Lee's arm.
As Popovich shouted on the sidelines, David Robinson quickly went to the free throw line and screened Avery Johnson.
Lee simply walked down the line and squeezed past David Robinson.
When he chased Avery Johnson again, the two came to the right elbow area.
Taking advantage of the gap, the latter quickly sent a ground pass.
David Robinson received the ball on the free throw line, quickly tested his left foot, and bent down to pass the ball.
However, just as the basketball was at the waist, Ben Wallace suddenly rushed up and poked the ball away.
David Robinson quickly turned around to control the ball, but Ben Wallace immediately jumped to catch the ball.
The two fell to the ground at the same time.
"Little Ben", who controlled the ball, quickly passed the ball down the front court.
Avery Johnson pulled and dragged it, but Lee still rushed over and successfully caught the ball.
Amid the cheers of the fans, Lee rushed faster and faster after passing half court, and Avery Johnson tried his best to chase him on the side.
The two came to the paint area, but Lee still did not slow down.
He hung on the opponent's defense, quickly circled the ball, stepped forward to the left, and completely avoided the defense.
Coming to the lower left of the basket, Lee grabbed the ball with his left hand, facing Avery Johnson who turned around to block, and easily picked up the ball!
"Squeak! Swish!"
The whistle sounded and the ball went in.
Avery Johnson's pulling and interference did not play any role, but instead paid for the foul.
Seeing that the score difference was about to become 10 points, the excited New York fans began to wave their orange handkerchiefs wildly, and the Knicks' atmosphere group also raised their hands and cheered loudly.
Lee stretched his left arm, smiled and high-fived Ben Wallace who was shouting excitedly, and walked to the free throw line.
Oakley was next to the paint area, teasing Duncan next to him:
"Double first-team player? I knew those media were unreliable."
Duncan just glanced at the old guy, and then did not react, waiting for Lee to complete the free throw.
The Spurs took the opportunity to replace Antonio Daniels and replaced the veteran Mario Elie.
Lee made the free throw steadily, and the score came to 10:20.
The double-digit difference made Jeff Van Gundy return to the bench.
The Spurs had difficulty scoring, so they simply played the star tactics at this time, first repeatedly passing the ball to Duncan in the low post on the left.
It was just a few shots in and out, and as long as Duncan turned towards the baseline, Ben Wallace would shrink to the basket.
After trying twice, Duncan still did not force the attack, but quickly returned the ball to David Robinson on the free throw line.
Finally, relying on his height advantage, David Robinson attacked with the ball and broke through the basket, and Ben Wallace was fouled.
"Boo!"
Seeing the Spurs start free throws, boos broke out in the stadium.
The New York fans on the opposite side stood up and spit fouls, waving their handkerchiefs and making loud noises to interfere.
David Robinson was not affected too much and made two free throws steadily.
Quickly retreating, David Robinson called his teammates to complete the matchup.
This time, Elliott quickly came in front of Lee to double-team him just after he crossed half court.
On the left wing, Larry Johnson, who was left open, received the pass, adjusted, and immediately jumped out of the three-point line!
"Bang!"
The basketball hit the rim and bounced out.
The rebound bounced to the right bottom corner.
Ben Wallace reacted quickly and successfully retrieved the ball before the ball was about to go out of the baseline.
Alan Houston received the ball and passed it back to Lee at the top of the arc again.
This time, without waiting for the double-team, Lee shook right and left at the moment of receiving the ball, and immediately crossed over after releasing the ball with his left hand.
Avery Johnson was stuck half a body length away, and almost completely lost his position after entering the paint area.
Before David Robinson returned to the basket, Duncan noticed that something was wrong and quickly returned to the basket.
When Lee jumped and completely pushed Avery Johnson away from his side, Duncan, who was helping to defend, immediately jumped up to block the shot.
The two of them confronted each other in the air.
Lee grabbed the ball with his left hand, hovered briefly, dodged Duncan's block, and shot the ball to the backboard!
But at the moment when the basketball slipped out of his hand, Duncan simply pulled it hard and completely destroyed Lee's shot.
After landing, both of them lost their center of gravity and almost fell to the camera under the basket.
Turning his head back, Duncan found that the basketball bounced repeatedly on the basket after hitting the backboard, and finally fell into the net.
"Squeak!"
Hearing the referee whistle again, Popovich on the sidelines held his forehead, looked at the bench, hesitated for a moment, and still did not choose to change players.
Standing on the free throw line again, Lee looked calm and patted the basketball in his hand.
A huge shout immediately rang out in the arena:
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
At 12:23, Lee's 2+1 widened the gap a little bit.
In the last few minutes of the first quarter, David Robinson started the free throw mode.
The Knicks were not polite either.
Larry Johnson and Alan Houston also followed suit.
After Oakley also took a foul, Jeff Van Gundy simply replaced Kurt Thomas and Chris Dudley.
Less than a minute after coming on the court, David Robinson forced a shot under the basket, and Chris Dudley fouled on defense.
"Boo!"
The consecutive free throws immediately annoyed the New York fans at the scene.
Fortunately, they were leading by a large score, so no one scolded the referee.
The second free throw missed, and David Robinson clapped his hands regretfully and hurriedly called his teammates to retreat.
Lee was still double-teamed at the top of the arc.
Larry Johnson's open jump shot on the left wing continued to miss.
After missing two consecutive open three-pointers, Larry Johnson clapped his hands in frustration.
Avery Johnson quickly advanced after receiving the ball in a rare transition offense opportunity.
Lee's pursuit defense still played a role in delaying the defense.
After rushing across the three-point line, noticing that the Knicks had completed their retreat, Avery Johnson returned to the top of the arc after a circle.
Duncan turned his back to the ball in the left blocking area.
While Kurt Thomas was defending, he kept trying to complete the front defense.
The two were entangled in the blocking area.
Avery Johnson on the left wing almost stopped the ball directly after he hesitated.
Suddenly cutting into the basket, Avery Johnson hurriedly sent a high throw, but the pass quality was not high, allowing Duncan to receive the ball under the basket and was immediately surrounded by two people.
Larry Johnson blocked in time, and Duncan, who was almost squeezed out of the baseline, passed the ball to the right bottom corner.
Elliott, who was left open, adjusted and hit a missed shot.
Spike Lee, wearing a turban, grinned on the sidelines and chased Elliott who was retreating to defend and taunted him loudly:
"Look at your crappy shot! You're about to knock our basket crooked!"
The Spurs' outside line didn't respond to the rare cooperation that scored a few times.
Alan Houston protected the long rebound and quickly advanced with the ball.
Larry Johnson missed consecutive shots, and without Lee's call, he ran to the side corner at the first time.
The Knicks simply left the entire top line space.
On the left wing, Lee quickly moved and came to the top of the arc to receive the hand-to-hand pass from Alan Houston.
After handing over the ball, Alan Houston quickly moved to the left wing.
Antonio Daniels was confused and followed Avery Johnson to double-team Lee.
Simply moving to the right, Lee pulled the defense and immediately passed the ball behind his back.
Alan Houston received the ball and David Robinson quickly rushed to defend.
Alan Houston made a fake shot and a real pass.
Chris Dudley caught the ball and dunked it with both hands at the bottom left of the basket!
"Wow!"
The smooth cooperation caused a huge wave of noise in the arena.
Popovich on the sidelines was so angry that he scolded Antonio Daniels.
In the commentary booth, Doug Collins looked at Popovich who was jumping up and down and sighed in a low voice:
"The Spurs' defense is collapsing. The coaching staff needs to give the players a good warning during the intermission."
"We should trust the veterans more at this time. Maybe coach Popovich can consider replacing Steve Kerr."
Isiah Thomas heard this and refuted it bluntly:
"No matter what kind of adjustments are made, Lee can handle it calmly facing the Spurs' backcourt."
At the last moment, Antonio Daniels hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, but the Spurs bench was still very quiet.
18:29, the score difference was still 11 points.
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