The Suns, who trailed in the first quarter, rallied to take the lead in the second.
55:51!!
At halftime, the Suns led by 4 points.
That's quite a coincidence...
The Suns trailed by 4 points at the end of the first quarter, and the Spurs trailed by 4 points at halftime.
The best player in the second quarter was Wei Guo. He immediately shook off Horry upon entering the game, hit a three-pointer, and then delivered a stunning block to Parker, making him the hero of the Suns' comeback.
......
The home team's locker room was filled with a pleasant fragrance.
The pork rib soup had been simmering for over two hours, until the ribs were tender and falling off the bone. The aroma alone was enough to make you forget the fatigue of the competition.
Gentry sipped his soup, but he was worried about the game. "After Horry was faked out by Wei, the Spurs' defense became more and more aggressive. Several times they drove in but didn't go for the ball. Playing like that... could easily injure us."
"Don't worry, Lao Jin."
Stoudemire said nonchalantly, "We're not kids, we're not that easy to hurt."
"In short, you still need to protect yourself."
Gentry gave a word of advice.
Wei Guo had the same idea. The atmosphere on the field was very tense. Muhammad and Bowen were deliberately provoking Wei Guo. After all, this was a game, not a war. Wei Guo wouldn't corner them and beat them up, so he became bolder.
This was just Gentry's concern...
The topic was briefly mentioned, and Stoudemire and Jackson gathered together to talk about the first half of the game. Jackson praised Stoudemire's powerful dunk, saying it had the spirit of a championship, while Stoudemire praised Jackson's accurate three-pointers. One asked Jackson to teach him how to dunk, and the other asked him to teach him how to three-pointers; they complimented each other.
......
The second half of the game has begun.
As soon as they stepped onto the field...
Wei Guo intercepted Parker's pass and quickly launched a fast break.
With no one in the frontcourt, Parker chased after Wei Guo and grabbed him, almost lying on top of him, but still couldn't stop Wei Guo from dunking.
57:51!!
The Suns lead by 6 points.
Wei Guo steps to the free-throw line...
"mVp!"
"mVp!"
"mVp!"
Cheers erupted in the arena. The league had just announced that Wei Guo had won the regular season MVP award, his fourth MVP trophy, and a four-time consecutive MVP. No one else in the league could do that.
Prior to this...
Only three players have ever achieved a three-peat: Bird, Russell, and Chamberlain. Bird is the closest to Wei Guo. Russell and Chamberlain can be considered figures from the league's ancient era. Even someone as great as Jordan never achieved a three-peat, while Wei Guo achieved a four-peat.
Therefore, this is also a night of record for Weiguo.
"Whoosh!!!"
The sound of a basketball swishing through the net is always so crisp.
Parker was still in shock. He had used all his strength to grab Wei Guo, clearly intending to commit a foul rather than let Wei Guo dunk. So he was clinging to Wei Guo like a big monkey, but even so... Wei Guo was still able to easily complete the dunk.
"Hey... Tony, catch!"
Ginobili's shout snapped Parker out of his daze.
This time...
Parker steadily dribbled the ball across the frontcourt, Bowen came out to receive the ball, backed down Johnson, and turned to shoot!
"bang~~~"
The basketball bounced off the rim.
Duncan and Wei Guo both anticipated the ball's trajectory and battled for position under the basket. Wei Guo used his height and wingspan advantage to grab the rebound.
The Suns are on a fast break...
With his back to Wei Guo, Nash reached out and caught the ball Wei Guo passed to him. This was the tacit understanding between the two. After catching the ball, Nash pushed forward with both hands, and Marion took a step forward to catch the ball!
Ginobili couldn't get back on defense in time and could only watch helplessly as Marion dunked right in front of him.
60:51!!
As the deficit widened, Popovich sat on the bench with a gloomy expression.
He knew the Suns were a tough nut to crack, otherwise the Spurs wouldn't have lost four straight games in the regular season. But he was fully prepared... and still got dominated by the Suns. He didn't underestimate Wei Guo, he really underestimated the Suns. Gentry and D'Antoni really had a knack for it.
Artillery bombardment tactics are like the Nine Swords of Dugu...
Although they only attack and don't defend, this offense alone is enough to give the Spurs a hard time, not to mention that they have Wei Guo to back them up.
How can we beat the Suns?
Popovich grabbed a handful of hair in frustration, then put his hand down and noticed a few silver strands in his palm, which made him feel heartbroken... He already didn't have much hair, would he end up with a receding hairline after this series?
The Suns controlled the pace of the game in the third quarter, and the point difference widened quickly!
Only nine minutes had passed...
83:66!!
The Suns are now leading by 17 points.
Popovich stood up and yelled, "You bunch of sissies, is this women's basketball???"
Despite the Spurs' aggressive defensive play, Popovich still said the players were playing like girls!
"Holy crap..."
Cummings, furious, stood up from the bench, rushed to the scorer's table, pointed at Popovich, and yelled, "You fucking shameless bastard! Is this a game or a fight? Do you want me to give you a wrench?!"
Popovich roared, "Who are you? Who gives you the right to speak here? Get back here!"
"You remember this, Grandpa's name is Cummings!"
"Beep!!!"
Cummings was about to show off when the referee suddenly blew the whistle.
At this time...
Parker had just driven to the basket and jumped for a mid-range jumper.
The basketball swished through the net...
But before Parker could shoot, the referee had already blown the whistle, so the goal was obviously disallowed. Everyone looked at the referee in confusion, only to see him pointing at Cummings with his hands crossed in a T shape and raised above his head.
This is a technical foul on Cummings!
Cummings rushed from the bench to the scorer's table to argue with Popovich, which did not escape the referee's notice. In fact, several players on the court also noticed that Popovich was being verbally abused by a substitute player, and he was furious. After Cummings was called for a technical foul, he immediately slipped back to the bench.
Gentry stared intently at the field, his lips moving as he uttered a phrase only Cummings could hear: "Well done..."
The referee called a technical foul on Cummings, and also disallowed a basket by Parker.
So...
The Suns also earned one point.
Parker took the technical foul free throw, perhaps annoyed by Cummings, and missed such a simple free throw.
......
With 2 minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Spurs trailed by 17 points.
If they want to keep the game somewhat suspenseful, they must narrow the gap to within 15 points before entering the fourth quarter.
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