The game started soon. No one expected that the Lakers would turn the tables and beat the Spurs 29:14 in the first quarter!
A 15-point difference.
Popovich was angry and with a wave of his hand, he removed all starters.
This kind of operation is a common occurrence for him, but because of the special reasons of tonight's game, many fans are still worried about Popovich.
The starter digs the hole, and the substitutes fill it.
Perhaps the Spurs are such a team. After five downs and five ups, the Spurs' bench did not disappoint Popovich. The bench players, led by Bertans, played a wave of 29:14 in the entire second quarter.
!
Therefore, at the end of the first half, there was actually no point difference between the two teams.
"We can see very clearly that the Lakers are in good overall condition tonight. Perhaps because there is no record pressure, the Lakers' style of play has brought problems to the Spurs. If the Spurs want to win this game, they cannot
In the second half of the game, we will continue to rely on substitutes, and the starting players must step up."
During the halftime break, the performance of the Spurs starting lineup in the first half became the focus of heated discussion.
Strictly speaking, this is not the Spurs' starting lineup performing this kind of digging hole this season.
However, in this special game tonight, they acted like this, and everyone seemed to be playing with fire.
"China Jiang, who has averaged 20 points per game in recent games, also failed tonight. He only scored 2 points in the first half, which is abnormal."
Since the last game against the Cavaliers, Jiang Hao seems to have opened up the two channels of Ren and Du. His performance on the court has become more and more outstanding, and he has become the team's scorer second only to Aldridge.
This surprised many Spurs fans. Although Leonard still failed to come back, Jiang Hao's strong rise seemed to take over Leonard's position well.
Frankly speaking, if it weren't for Jiang Hao's outstanding performance during this period, it would be impossible for the Spurs to still maintain hope of advancing to the playoffs.
Originally, tonight's game against the Lakers, everyone felt that under the leadership of Jiang Hao, it would be a very easy game, and the final winner would belong to the Spurs.
But I didn't expect Jiang Hao to be lost tonight, 2 points at halftime?
If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, who would have believed that this was Jiang Hao's half-time data.
Jiang Hao was alone in the Spurs locker room. He felt that he was too tired during this period, which resulted in his poor performance just now.
But having said that, the substitute players are very good, which gives him a chance to adjust.
He felt that he would definitely regain his form in the second half of the game.
"Gettin' fucking hard"
Popovich is always so bold. He has already saved enough face for the starting players tonight. This will just be a tantrum in the locker room. If left in the past, he would even broadcast it live.
"They are a bunch of listless people. If they lose the game tonight, then don't think about taking a vacation anymore. Let me go back to the training hall to train after the game."
Jiang Hao and the others shuddered.
Did this old man go crazy and practice extra time after losing the game?
Who can bear this?
But no one dared to turn a deaf ear to these words, because everyone knew that Popovich could really do such a thing.
Jiang Hao shook his head. Although he was a training fanatic, he probably couldn't accept such an arrangement. Therefore, he must win this game tonight.
In the Spurs home commentary booth, the person in charge of commentary today is not only Matt Bonner, but also a special guest. He is the Spurs legend - Admiral Robinson.
The Admiral, who has retired for many years, has obviously been paying attention to the situation of the Spurs. He will often appear in the arena to watch Spurs games and maintain communication with the Spurs management. Sometimes he will even go to the training hall to guide young players to play.
Just like a week ago, he was invited by the Spurs management to communicate with Leonard.
Tonight, the special guests came to the commentary booth. Frankly speaking, Robinson and Matt Bonner were in the same mood. They were both worried about the situation the team was currently facing.
Of course, during the halftime break, he and Matt Bonner naturally talked about Leonard's injury.
"Injuries are the natural enemy of all professional players. Under normal circumstances, with Kawhi's injury, he should be on the court, but you know, everyone's specific situation is different."
Everyone can at least hear one thing from Robinson's words, that is, Leonard should appear on the court under normal circumstances.
Many fans felt that Robinson was openly questioning Leonard by making these remarks. For a time, the confusing news about Leonard's injury was mentioned by more and more fans.
On the contrary, everyone talked about this game a lot less.
All this didn't change until the second half of the game officially started.
"Let's refocus on the game. This game is far from over. The two teams were inseparable in the first half, and the score never opened up, especially for the Spurs in the third quarter.
The performance of the starting players will be very important.”
Matt Bonner immediately brought the topic back to the game.
Like Jiang Hao, the Lakers' starting point guard Lonzo Ball is also a rookie this year, and he is much more famous than Jiang Hao. This is due to his father's contribution, but it is also due to his own talent.
But it is obvious that in front of today's Jiang Hao, Lonzo Ball, who was the second overall pick, no longer has any pride.
Lonzo Ball's performance with the Lakers this season seems to be pretty good, but he is still far from people's expectations. His shooting is always a big problem.
Take this game as an example. Jiang Hao only scored 2 points in the first half because of his poor condition. But Lonzo Ball was different. He only scored 4 points in the half, but only took 5 shots in total.
, that is to say, Lonzo Ball is intentionally reducing the number of shots he takes.
Why did he do this?
Maybe there are many reasons for this, but one of them is that he doesn't want people to continue to chase him for his poor shooting.
Since everyone is complaining about my shooting, okay, then I might as well stop shooting.
However, when facing Jiang Hao tonight, Lonzo Ball honestly felt uneasy inside. Donovan Mitchell, the No. 13 pick in the first round, had already stolen the limelight from their lottery picks, but he didn't expect it again and again.
The first-round pick also showed this trend. The Spurs No. 35 in front of him also didn't look like a front-line fuel-saving lamp.
Under this situation, he really wanted to have a good fight with this yellow face in the third quarter.
Even in terms of shooting, as far as he knew, the Chinese player's shooting in this game was very bad.
Chapter completed!