Super Role Player

At the end of the half, the Spurs relied on Anxi's another 11 points in the second quarter, 52:46 in the half, leading by 6 points and entering the intermission.

Anxi scored 22 points in the half, and his condition was very good, but he used a lot of shots. In the first half, he took a total of 15 shots and hit 8 goals. Therefore, when the team's victory was not in danger, Popovich chose to let Anxi rest temporarily. .

The Bulls' defense really collapsed in the second half. It is impossible to maintain a high-intensity defense. Therefore, the Spurs took the opportunity to widen the point difference. At the end of the third quarter of the game, Anxi sat on the sidelines to rest, but the team was sure of winning, so in the fourth quarter, Popovich did not arrange for Anxi to play.

In this way, Anxi, who scored 22 points in the half, didn't get a minute of playing time in the second half, and the Spurs' substitutes finished the fourth quarter.

In the end, the Spurs defeated the Bulls 101:83 and won 4 consecutive victories after the All-Star Game.

On the same day, the Heat also played a game. They narrowly beat the Magic at home by 1 point, and their winning streak expanded to 16 games...

16 consecutive victories, the Heat are getting better, LeBron James roared at the American Airlines Arena!

On March 8, 2013, the Spurs and the Heat once again ushered in the next game at the same time. The Spurs played against the Trail Blazers at home, while the Heat played against the Philadelphia 76ers at home.

For the Trail Blazers, Popovich carried out a substantial rotation, Manu Ginobili, Duncan and Leonard on the inside took turns, and although Tony Parker still appeared on the active list, he did not appear in the starting list .

Facing the Trail Blazers, who are gradually moving away from the playoffs, the Spurs sent a team consisting of point guard Patrick Mills, shooting guard Danny Green, small forward Tracy McGrady, power forward Boris Diaw and center Thiago Splitley. special.

Popovich's big rotation is not because he gave up the victory of this game. On the contrary, Popovich believes that in this game against the Trail Blazers who are far away from the playoffs, even the rotation has a chance to win, and the end The battle between the game and the Thunder is the top priority.

So, he decided to make a rotation.

If there are no accidents, the Spurs can easily win this game. After all, only Duncan, Ginobili and Leonard were rotated. However, accidents still happened. At the beginning of the first quarter, the best rookie of the year Damian Lillard, a strong contender in the NBA, started his outburst.

First, he quickly broke through Mills' defense and made a layup, then grabbed the rebound and made a three-pointer in the fast break, and then fired again and again from the mid-range. In just half a quarter, Lillard shot the Spurs alone.

He took 8 shots in the half quarter, hit 6 goals, and scored 15 points, including 3 three-pointers.

Popovich saw that the momentum was wrong, so he had to immediately replace Anxi and Tony Parker. The appearance of Anxi and Tony Parker helped the Spurs stabilize the situation. On the defensive end, Anxi defended Batum, who also had a tendency to explode. They scored again and again, but the Blazers are in really good condition, and the 10-point lag has not been able to narrow.

After three quarters, the Spurs trailed the Blazers by 15 points. Without Duncan inside, the Spurs' defense could no longer restrain LaMarcus Aldridge, so the score expanded by another 5 points.

The Trail Blazers are in excellent form, and their 15-point advantage is enough to allow them to win the game without any risk. In the fourth quarter, Damian Lillard scored another 10 points, scoring 35 points in the game, plus 26 points LaMarcus Aldridge, JJ Hickson who scored 23 points and Eric Maynor who scored 20 points, the Blazers directly used their best state to defeat the Spurs.

At the end of the game, the Blazers defeated the Spurs by 136:120 by 16 points. In this battle, if Anxi did not play and locked Batum and Matthews in time, the Spurs might lose even worse.

The Spurs lost, and a few hours later, news came from Miami that the Heat beat the 76ers 102:93 at home, and the winning streak continued to expand. Since February, they have achieved 17 consecutive victories!

"The Spurs upset and lost,

Horror Heat continue winning streak! "

"The NBA is on fire, and the Heat's winning streak is unstoppable!"

"17 consecutive victories to book the championship in advance? James' hard work for three years is finally successful!"

The Heat's crazy winning streak has turned the entire NBA into the Heat's world. LeBron James has become more serious and mature, but behind the seriousness and maturity is the flash of high spirits.

Two years of consecutive failures once made LeBron James lose heart, his career fell into a trough, and he even had the idea of ​​​​making another decision. In the first half of this season, the Heat's record did not improve. It became more and more intense until February, when the Heat got better and better and won consecutively. The Heat played their best performance, and James' confidence was also played out. Finally, he faced the reality again. He is still a player of the Heat. , Heat-still one of the strongest teams in the league!

"We want to continue the winning streak, we must win the first place in the league, only in this way can we occupy the home court advantage in the playoffs!" style, the goal is to be number one in the league.

The Heat won the 76ers, the Spurs lost the Trail Blazers, one positive and one negative. The Heat's record came to 46 wins and 14 losses, while the Spurs' record became 48 wins and 15 losses. The difference between the two teams was only one game. Yes, and more importantly, the Heat have 3 games less than the Spurs.

Two days later, the Heat began to make up for their missing games. In this game, they ushered in the challenge of the Pacers at home. At the end of the game, Chalmers scored 26 points, Wade 23 points, Bosh 20 points, and James performed poorly. Only scored 13 points, but the Heat still won the game with 3 20+ points and achieved 18 consecutive victories! The record also came to 47 wins and 14 losses, and the victory was tied with the Spurs!

The wins were tied, but the Heat still played 2 games less. According to the current momentum of the Heat, the remaining two games are more wins than losses. Therefore, it is no problem for the Heat to overtake the Spurs in the regular season record. The league's No. 1 throne will soon be monopolized by the Heat.

The Spurs' opponent in the next game was the Thunder. For the sake of the Thunder, the Spurs lost the game against the Trail Blazers, but Popovich didn't care. He knew very well that as long as there is a large rotation, losing is a normal thing.

But since they lost to the Trail Blazers, the Thunder must win this battle.

Popovich looked at the upcoming schedule and sighed, how difficult it is to keep the first place in the league, but in the face of difficulties, the Spurs have to work hard. The first few rounds of the playoffs could not be seen, but the more it went on, the more it became clear that the home field advantage was basically equivalent to winning one more game in the playoffs series.

"Mike, maybe we need to drop our heavy rotation policy."

Mike Budenholzer, who sat across from Popovich, didn't speak, but the silence meant he agreed with Popovich.

"Well, Tim, Tony, and Manu will continue to implement the rotation. In the future, young players will no longer join the rotation. Help me inform Will that the rotation system needs to be changed."

Wells Wenning, the creator of the Spurs' rotation system, is the one who helped Popovich choose the rotation method and strategy through various physical tests. (To be continued.)