Popovich's worries are correct. The Spurs cannot compete with Wei Xia, and Kobe is in a state and feel.

To add up Duncan, no one in the Spurs can compete with Kobe in scoring. Not to mention that Wei Xia has been a very distressing performance against the Spurs since the start of the division final.

In Popovich's eyes, Wei Xia's performance is more "tough" than Kobe.

Because Wei Xia's main threat lies in defense.

In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, he could defend Tonypa K to 0 of 15 shots by himself. What a terrible defensive performance! Popovich dared to slap his chest to ensure that no one could defend Parker to 0 of 15 shots again, even Wei Xia himself would not.

The most difficult thing is that he not only performed well when defending Parker, but also when defending others. None of the Spurs players he has played against doesn't feel afraid of him.

Defense is the most stable output on the court.

Although many new rules introduced by the league have fundamentally limited the existence of the Pistons during the 2004-06 period, that Pistons are the best note on defense.

Scotty Pippen once said: Defense will never betray you.

The Pistons at that time proved this sentence.

The stronger the defense, the more willing the people and groups are to work hard on the defensive end, especially in the playoffs, defense is the basis for a strong team to advance.

Kobe often hits below 40% in the finals, but his defense has been excellent for many years.

At its peak, the Pistons continuously limited their opponent's average score to around 80 points.

Wei Xia has the same stability in the Western Conference Finals.

In the long run, this is really a terrible thing.

Wei Xia is not only full of presence in defense, but also outstanding in other aspects.

Except that his scoring ability is not top-notch, Popovich can no longer see obvious flaws in him.

A 24-year-old all-rounder suddenly came next to Kobe, who had no team on the offensive end. It was so terrible.

This young man will continue to evolve, and no one knows what he will eventually become.

At least, he is now strong enough to help Kobe a lot.

However, the two Lakers did not, because Popovich called a timeout and stopped the attack.

After the timeout, Kobe and Wei Xia still maintained strong offensive firepower.

The rhythm of the offensive lasted for two-thirds of the second quarter. For the remaining time, the two sides seemed to have signed a ceasefire agreement.

If you don’t score goals, I won’t score goals, and everyone is good friends.

Duncan's performance and his expression are the same as the style of the game, which is a shameful and powerful person.

When everyone was trying to stop the opponent from scoring, he leaned against the defender in a low position, turned around to pitch, and played cricket.

In the last period before the end of the first half, Duncan was the most stable offensive weapon on the field.

However, no matter how stable Duncan's offense is, he does not have the exaggerated short-term scoring explosive power of Kobe.

His form continued to end the first half, 59 to 51.

The Lakers lead the Spurs by 8 points.

"What do you think is the secret to stay ahead by the end of the first half?"

“We play better than our opponents.”

At the beginning of the second half, Duncan became aware that he would not suppress the Lakers and let his opponent lead the situation to the fourth quarter, even at home, would be useless.

Advantages must be established in Section 3.

Kobe is the most dangerous offensive player, while Wei Xia is the player who hits the most critical goals this season.

Even though he is not the Lakers' first offensive choice, the Lakers' biggest improvement over the past is to have a second person they can trust at critical moments.

Originally, I only needed to take care of Kobe, but now I have one more, and the difficulty of defending the Lakers' key ball has increased exponentially.

Duncan's courage is definitely the reason why the Spurs can support the present.

As soon as the second half was about to play singles with a low profile.

As a result, Gasol defended him.

Duncan plays singles with a lot of balls, which is a picture that the Lakers are happy to see.

Judging from a historically super giant, his feel is not soft enough. He is strong in his all-round influence on the game. If the Spurs need him to attack, they will definitely be the most dangerous moment.

This moment, from the first second of the second half, is it.

Duncan made a fuss, Kobe is coming and going, it’s not difficult to be hard.

Duncan muttered, using his elbow to push Gasol away, forcing him to foul and hit the board.

twenty one

54 to 59

Adding penalty will also be in.

Everyone thought Kobe would find a way to fight back, but he actually used himself as bait to guide the Spurs' defense to approach him, thereby creating scoring opportunities for Wei Xia.

When the opportunity appeared, he passed the ball.

Wei Xia received the ball and jumped.

61 to 54

Then, Kobe started. The idea was that this was not the "start" with quotes.

Duncan knew that his advantage was not his offensive efficiency, but his influence in the inside, and he once again made a back-attack, causing Radmanovic to foul.

The Lakers no longer let Gasol guard him.

Duncan scored one of two free throws.

55 to 61

The biggest injustice between the inside and outside is that the outside line wants to attack anytime and anywhere, while the inside line needs to be stuck, need the ball, wait for the teammates to pass the ball before starting the offensive steps.

Have you discovered it? The steps before the attack may consume more physical energy than the attack itself.

Therefore, unless it is Chamberlain during the regular season, high scores are really out of reach for the inside.

Kobe first jumped in the top three-point line and hit Duncan.

63 to 55

Kobe's face was calm, as if he was not moved by Duncan's response.

Seeing his expression, Wei Xia knew that the next thing he needed to send the ball to Kobe in time and ignore anything else.

Ginobili is in a timely manner, and his coquettish back is out of bounds.

The Lakers served the sideline ball, and Wei Xia also came in front of Ginobili, but she was not coquettish, but she was indeed a back pass.

Kobe received the ball, adjusted his luck in one step, pulled up, 65 to 55.

Duncan held the ball and attracted double teams to Bowen.

Bowen's bottom corner three-pointer solved the dilemma of no one in the Spurs except Duncan.

Is Kobe going to stop?

No, maybe in his opinion, it would be more challenging to beat Duncan and Bowen by one person.

Bowen's defense against Kobe cannot be defined by success, because Kobe's offense can steadily break down his defense every time.

It was also the first defense of the year, Bowen could not be as dazzling as Wei Xia Lock Parker against Kobe.

In a completely different position, Kobe pulled up again.

"Swish!"

67 to 58

"Bryant's offense has shown an unstoppable momentum!"

Duncan missed the board at the right wing forty-five degrees, and the ball fell into Gasol's hand.

Popovich's face was ashes, Kobe felt too hot, so he gave him the ball and made him 2 points stable.

Rather than saying that the Spurs can't stand the Lakers, it's better to say that Duncan's offense is one level worse than Kobe.

Will this superstar match end with Kobe's completely unreasonable shooting touch?

Before the Spurs were desperate, Bao Wen had a role. As a member of the same defense, even if he could not lock the opponent like Wei Xia, it would be a big problem to make a mistake.

Kobe's position to collect the ball was too exposed, Bowen took action, cut the ball, and Parker counterattacked.

60 to 67

All teammates, coaching staff members and Spurs fans should thank Bowen.

His Chekobe's ball is not only an easy counterattack to the Spurs, but also a greater significance lies in his cutting off Kobe's pace of smooth sailing.

If Kobe was allowed to continue at the rhythm he had just made, the result would be foreseeable.

However, it is also not good to be happy too early.
To be continued...