Popovich's worst fears came true: Wei Guo has fully recovered his form.

A two-point lead is no longer a significant advantage, so the second half is bound to be very intense, and it's hard to predict who will win.

Their hopes of winning by taking advantage of Wei Guo's poor performance were dashed.

During halftime, Popovich meticulously laid out the tactics, sticking to a strategy centered around Duncan, with Parker, Ginobili, Jackson, Robinson, and other players working tirelessly in their respective positions.

Strive for...

They should be able to maintain their lead in the next two quarters and win the game.

......

The players returned to the field, but the second half had not yet started.

Go Rockets!

"Go, Wei-ge!"

Similar sounds echoed throughout the arena. In the second quarter, the Rockets went from trailing by more than ten points to being chased down to just two points. Such a scenario is rare in Rockets games.

Therefore... the fans' enthusiasm soared even higher.

The Spurs took the first possession, with Parker directing his teammates to move around the court before driving to the free-throw line and launching a floater!

*Smack!!!*

Wei Guo blocked Parker's floater from behind.

"this..."

Parker felt like crying.

When Parker got past Francis, he didn't pay attention to Weiguo's position. He didn't even know that Weiguo would appear behind him. If he had paid attention to Weiguo's defensive position in advance, Parker would not have been able to shoot.

Francis scoffed, "You've been giving orders all this time, just so you can enjoy a hot pot meal?"

Fortunately, Jackson got the ball and passed it to Duncan.

Duncan catches the ball and launches a high-arcing shot off the backboard!

"Snap!!!"

The basketball finally went into the basket, and the Spurs added two more points.

53:57!!

The Rockets are down by 4 points.

Popovich glanced at Gentry and saw him sitting on the bench chatting and laughing with the assistant coach. Popovich could tell from Gentry's lip movements that, "Now it's time for Wei to shine."

Performance time...commonly known as show time.

Francis had the ball and passed it to Yao Ming in the paint. When Yao Ming received the ball, Wei Guo had already broken free of the defense and moved to the three-point line. Yao Ming immediately passed the ball to Wei Guo.

"Whoosh!!!"

Wei Guo received the ball and shot a three-pointer, the basketball swishing through the net.

Then...

The Rockets defended the Spurs' offense, and Wei Guo received a pass from Yao Ming once again, dunking in three steps!

58:57!!

Wow~~~

Cheers erupted inside the stadium!

The Rockets were outpaced by the Spurs for more than two quarters, but finally took the lead at the start of the third quarter.

"Spurs call a timeout!"

Popovich immediately called a timeout; he knew the importance of the next offensive possession!

Duncan and the others surrounded Popovich, who held a clipboard in his hand. "Parker has the ball at the top of the key, Ginobili is positioned on the strong side baseline, Robinson and Bowen are positioned on the weak side perimeter... After the off-ball screen, the ball is passed to Duncan, Duncan shoots!"

This tactic is quite complex, but Popovich has faith in the players' execution.

After the timeout, Ginobili replaced Jackson. The Spurs' offense proceeded smoothly, with each step of their tactics working steadily. In the end, Duncan got a shot opportunity at a 45-degree angle outside the paint.

"Whoosh!!!"

Duncan made a bank shot and hit the jumper!

58:59!!

The Spurs took a one-point lead and stabilized the pace of the game.

In comparison, Gentry's tactics are quite simple: when Wei Guo is in good form, he should be targeted immediately, because Wei Guo can always make the best offensive choices.

and...

During the Rockets' tactical drills, Wei Guo explained the tactics more than Gentry did, and Wei Guo even devised a set of tactics specifically for himself.

Because the Spurs have two excellent inside players, Robinson and Duncan, the Rockets' strategy in the third quarter was to reduce Yao Ming's offense and let Yao Ming handle the ball in the low post and support Wei Guo, thus creating a situation where the big man plays against the small man (Wei Guo is 2.16 meters tall, which is considered not too big).

In this way...

Wei Guo's shots are very difficult to interfere with; whether he makes the shot or not depends entirely on his touch.

......

At the end of the third quarter, Yao Ming had 7 assists in the quarter.

This is Yao Ming's career assist record...

During the break, Yao Ming glanced at his stats, then walked over to Cummings and said, "My stats for this game were pretty good..."

"Um???"

Cummings was just the statistician for Wei Guo. Hearing Yao's words, he glanced at Yao's stats and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Yao! You already have 7 rebounds and 9 assists. It looks like you can get a triple-double in this game."

Hehehe...

Yao Ming smiled; it seemed Cummings understood him.

actually...

Cummings' main task in this game was to record Wei Guo's stats. Wei Guo scored another 19 points in the third quarter, bringing his total to 38 points. If he wants to continue his streak of 60+ points, he needs to score at least 22 points in the fourth quarter.

..............

There can be no room for complacency in the Western Conference Finals.

Four of the Rockets' five starters did not rest in the fourth quarter, prompting Popovich to criticize Gentry for his poor player utilization, which he argued increased the risk of player injuries.

After he finished yelling, Popovich substituted all the starters back in.

The Spurs are down by 9 points, with Wei Guo, Francis, Mobley, and Thomas all on the court, while only Yao Ming is resting on the bench for the Rockets.

In this situation... if Popovich dares to let Duncan and Parker rest for four or five minutes, garbage time will be waiting for them.

The match remains close...

Duncan scored repeatedly under the basket, but Wei Guo's three-pointer finally found its rhythm.

Duncan scored two points, and Wei Guo scored three, and the Rockets slowly widened the gap. After Yao Ming entered the game for three minutes, the difference had increased to 15 points.

There are 5 minutes and 11 seconds left in the game.

Trailing by only 15 points, the Spurs theoretically still had a chance to catch up, but Popovich suddenly did something unbelievable: he substituted all his starters and announced that he had given up on the game.

"You're giving up already?"

The Rockets' coaches and players were completely bewildered.

This is the Western Conference Finals, there's plenty of time. Although the chances of turning the score around are slim, we still have to give it our all.

Popovich substituted the starters, Gentry looked at Wei Guo, and Wei Guo nodded... Gentry then substituted all the starters as well.

As Wei Guo returned to the bench, Cummings exclaimed excitedly, "Wei-ge, you can't go off the court to rest! You've only scored 51 points; your record will end if you go off the court!"

"Holy crap..."

Gentry slapped his thigh. "That old fox Popovich, so he was trying to break Wei's record!"