The Fifth Point Guard

In the second half of the first quarter, Shentong did not focus on individual scoring, but used passes to break up the Spurs' defense.

The big-picture pass drove Popovich crazy on the sidelines.

You must know that the Spurs' foundation on the court is their defensive system.

Defend the opponent first, and then use the advantage of Shifo in positional battles or the sports car and demon knife in fast attack to attack the opponent.

But his own backyard caught fire first, which not only affected the defense, but also disrupted the offensive rhythm.

But Duncan is Duncan after all.

There can be parallel import top picks in the league, but there will never be parallel import MVPs.

One minute before the end of the first quarter, Duncan suddenly showed his MVP style on both ends of the offense and defense. First, he blocked the big Z under the basket on the defensive end, and then immediately went into the fast break, receiving Ginobili's return pass and raising it high. Complete the fast break dunk with a high play.

Then on the defensive end, he collaborated with Ginobili and Bowen to successfully interfere with Shentong's breakthrough layup, and then on the offensive end, he beat Gooden and scored 2+1.

After hitting the extra free throw, Duncan scored 6 points in a row, rewriting the score of both sides to 24-26, and the Spurs were only 2 points behind.

At the beginning of the second quarter, both sides put on substitute lineups.

The Spurs are proud of their second team, including Elson, Horry, Barry, Finley, and Udrih.

Among them, Finley is the core of this lineup, Udri organizes, Horry and Barry are responsible for cold shots from the outside, and Elson is responsible for dirty work and fighting.

You know, in this Spurs team, Bowen dares to offend anyone, but he dares not offend Elson.

This guy is a character.

He is the seventh Dutch player in NBA history to play in the league.

The Netherlands is a man's paradise.

Being able to play basketball with self-discipline in the Netherlands shows that Elson is definitely a tough guy.

His strength is indeed worthy of the NBA. As early as his teenage years, Elson was already a member of the Dutch under-20 national team.

He played for the Nuggets for three years, mainly as a substitute. In his third year, he averaged 4.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.

His strength may seem ordinary, but if he can catch Popovich's eye, he must be particularly outstanding.

It turns out that Elson, who was born in the Netherlands, is not only good at fighting in life, but also very good at fighting on the court.

Once in a game against the Timberwolves, the second-year Elson directly clashed with the Timberwolves' top player Kevin Garnett.

When Garnett hit the basket hard, he used a serious hug and threw Garnett directly to the seat behind the basket.

Garnett immediately stood up and hit Elson with his head. The two had a fierce verbal conflict, which resulted in physical friction.

It was Elson who made the first move.

Garnett fought and retreated, responding calmly.

This scene was familiar to him.

After being separated by the referee, the mouth between the two was still dirty.

Not long after, when Garnett was attacking, he hit Elson in the groin by turning around and raising his leg, and the latter fell directly.

This also gave Garnett a technical foul.

Elson then got up on his own and began to exchange insults with the Wolf King again.

This performance attracted Popovich's attention.

After Bowen and Horry, Popovich introduced a third dirty guy to the Spurs, Elson.

The three formed the group "Eboli" (Love of Violence).

In the summer league, preseason and the first few regular season games of the new season, the Spurs' second team has even more points than the first team.

But what they didn't expect was that the Cavaliers' second lineup didn't fall behind at all.

The five-man combination of Varejao, Millsap, Marshall, Smith, and Hardaway even had the upper hand.

This lineup has Millsap and Hardaway as the core, Marshall and Smith provide outside firepower, and Varejao is responsible for the dirty work and performance.

Millsap's scoring method is very similar to Karl Malone back then. His pick-and-roll cooperation with Hardaway even beat the main lineup in internal training games.

The newly rejuvenated Hardaway was very good at playing pick-and-rolls during the Magic period, and his partnership with Millsap was simply a match made in heaven.

Millsap also benefited from Hardaway's passing and overall view.

It is extremely difficult to complete the blockade of these two people two against two.

When opponents increase their investment in defensive personnel, the outside firepower of Marshall and J.R. Smith will make them lose sight of one thing.

But the most interesting thing on the court is actually the matchup between Elson and Varejao.

Elson's fiery temper made him fear no one.

Varejao's professional performance makes him fear no one.

Elson made a powerful turn and Varejao fell down.

Elson was stunned, thinking that when I return to the Netherlands every offseason, my firepower is not that strong. I have already fallen down before I even started?

After causing Elson two offensive fouls in just 5 minutes, this made Elson, who was so full of brute strength, want to cry without tears.

"Hey, you clown, can you stop acting? I make me feel sick. If you can, do it for real!"

Varejao glanced at Elson sideways and replied: "Do you think this is the Netherlands? And I'm not interested in you."

Elson: ".What the hell."

There was no spark between Elson and Varejao, but here Horry and Millsap were competing.

Rookies are the easiest to bully.

Horry is not a good person. Seeing that he is facing a rookie, of course he must "educate" him.

"Hey, what's your name? Baby? Or brother?"

While talking, Horry also pushed his body against Millsap.

By the way, Millsap ignored him at all, ran to the outside and started a pick-and-roll with Hardaway, then received Hardaway's pass and succeeded in a mid-range jumper.

After scoring, Millsap looked at Horry with contempt and ran away.

Horry had no idea that for Millsap, his provocation was just a cliché that made his ears ring with tears and had no effect at all.

In the Millsap family, he also has an older brother and two younger brothers. As the second eldest son in the family, Millsap is a continuation of the family and is often bullied by the eldest brother and his younger brothers.

Why was he bullied by his younger brothers? Because these four brothers all have basketball experience, and Millsap has always been the shortest one in the family.

So when he was playing basketball outside, some people often teased him, "You are the fourth child in the family, right?"

Even at home, Millsap was teased by his three brothers.

So Horry's trash talk, to Millsap, is similar to words such as "Have you eaten yet" or "Walking around".

However, although he is the shortest, Millsap's basketball talent has gradually emerged and far exceeds his other three brothers.

When the second team finished, the Cavaliers widened the point difference to 8 points!

This left Popovich speechless.

The second team, which originally had high expectations, lost points instead of chasing points.

When Duncan and other main players took turns to play, many fans at the Spurs' home court booed.

They were clearly not happy with the Spurs' performance.

Shentong took over the gun from his teammate and attacked Bowen as soon as he came up, and caused Duncan's thug foul under the basket.

Made two free throws.

The score difference reached double digits for the first time in this game.

Bowen, who was regarded as nothing by Shentong, had a cold look in his eyes and his expression became gloomy.

Not long after, in the Cavaliers' first attack, Shentong and James made a wall-to-wall cooperation.

James used his back to resist Ginobili's position for singles, and Shentong lobbed the ball to James.

The Spurs immediately tightened their defensive circle, including Duncan and Parker, who both double-teamed James at the same time.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they raised their feet, James didn't even dribble the ball, and directly passed the ball back to Shentong.

Facing Bowen's defense, Shentong made a pull-up jumper.

Elegant shooting posture, slender wingspan, and the ball at the fingertips.

Everything is picturesque.

"Uh-huh."

The wonderful sound of hollow threading through the net also sounded in response to the occasion.

Just when everything is perfect, just listen to a "click".

Shentong held his ankle and fell to the floor with an extremely painful expression.

Next to him is Bruce Bowen, who looks innocent.

You know what just happened without asking.

James and Wagner immediately swarmed Bowen.

Wagner pushed Bowen's chest with a palm, and then James pushed Bowen away.

Both of them looked furious.

Duncan and Ginobili took the lead in blocking Bowen.

James didn't give Duncan any face at all, and hugged Duncan directly to question Bowen.

"You trash, you did something dirty again, right? I think the Alliance should put your dirty feet to death!"

Bowen spread his hands and said, "Hey, don't rant, I don't know what happened just now, I was just defending normally."

"Fake, you are simply unrepentant. The Spurs' championship was entirely based on a dirty foundation!"

Wagner also spat at Bowen mercilessly.

Facing Wagner, Bowen was not so polite.

"Hey, watch your words. You are just a little follower of Shen. You have no right to judge us like this."

Big Z and Parker also joined the chaos.

"Bruce, Bibi, if you have the ability, you can use real guns and swords. What do you mean by playing dirty tricks? Are there not many players in the league who have been destroyed by you? You have to be careful when you have a son without a blind eye!"

Parker excused his teammates: "It was really a misunderstanding. Bruce has completely restrained himself after the league's investigation last season."

At this time, the referees and players had separated the most excited James and Bowen.

"You piece of trash. If you're a man, don't leave after the game. I'm going to show you some color!"

James was really angry.

Bowen still had the innocent look on his face, shaking his head constantly, but he didn't dare to look at James.

That expression made it look like the bully was James.

The referee replayed the video of the previous game on the spot.

Everyone at the scene also looked up at the big screen.

On the screen, Shentong jumped up and made a shot. As soon as he landed, his right foot stepped on Bowen's foot. Then Shentong showed an expression of extreme pain, clutching his ankle and fell to the ground.

When Bowen was defending, he took a step forward after Shentong took off. Although his eyes followed the direction of the ball flying toward the basket, his feet did not retract, but instead explored forward again.

Just like that, tragedy happened.

Even at the Spurs' home court, the fans at the scene booed.

Cavaliers coach Paul Silas looked livid and frowned deeply.

Just from the replay on the screen, we know that Shentong will probably need to rest for a while from this injury.

After the replay ended, Silas rushed to the technical table angrily, pointed at the Spurs bench and shouted loudly, as if out of anger at Bowen's blatant and repeated stepping behavior.

Even though Duncan and Bowen chased the referee to explain something, the referee ignored him and directly awarded Bowen a flagrant foul and sent him off the field!

James and many Cavaliers players clapped and shouted at Bowen who was ejected.

"You're a piece of trash, just like your head coach."

"You don't deserve to be in this league."

"You don't have friends and you'll never win Defensive Player of the Year!"

"The way you play is as bad as your character!"

The incident of STO being kicked off has come to an end.

Shentong, who was helped back to the locker room by Hardaway, was being examined by a doctor.

Fortunately, Shentong did not hurt any bones this time, but his right foot was obviously congested due to contusion.

"Doctor, how is my foot?"

"Don't worry, I didn't break any bones, but I'm afraid I have to rest for a week until the swelling subsides before I can play again."

Hearing the doctor's answer, Shentong and Hardaway both breathed a sigh of relief.

"That damn bastard, I must find a chance to repair that guy." Shen Tong said.

"Shen, you can rest here. I will go back and report your situation to the team first. We will pick you up after the game is over."

"I'll go back with you. Anyway, no bones were hurt."

"Wait a minute." The doctor suddenly said, "I suggest you stay here for the time being. I'll find you some ice cubes to apply, which will reduce your swelling and pain a lot and help your recovery."

"All right."

Returning to the court, Hardaway informed the coaches and players about the STO inspection.

Everyone was relieved when they heard that no bones were injured.

Due to Shentong's injury, Silas asked Smith to come on as a substitute.

The Cavaliers without STO are no longer the Cavaliers that won two championships.

The Spurs without Bowen are still the same Spurs that were good at fighting.

Bowen's very successful one-for-one gave the Spurs a lineup advantage.

In the first half, the Cavaliers' lead was gradually recovered by the Spurs, and then the Spurs took the lead in the third quarter.

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Spurs opened the point difference to double digits.

Shentong, who was in the treatment room, couldn't sit still.

He lifted his right foot out of the ice bucket, touched the swollen area on his ankle, and bared his teeth.

Trembling, Shentong stood up with a swaying body, and then gently tried to touch the ground. If he didn't deliberately poke the swollen area with his hands, it didn't seem that painful.

"Hey, Shen, why are you standing up? Sit down quickly, your feet still need to be iced." The doctor quickly came over and warned Shen Tong.

"Doctor, please help me wrap the injured area tightly with gauze. I have to return to the game."

"Are you crazy? How can you play on the field with your feet so swollen?"

"You don't have to worry about it, just do it. Although I don't want to take the risk of playing in a regular season game, it won't work in this game."

"Why?"

"I just can't stand how self-righteous and confident he looks."