Chapter 109: When the Spurs no longer dare to use outside moves, they are helpless against Ryan!
The Spurs held the lead from the beginning of the second quarter, only to suffer a comeback in the final minute.
It's not hard to imagine how fucked Popovich felt at this time.
Spurs fans were extremely upset at this time. It was obviously 3-1, but now it suddenly became 2-2!
It feels like you were still buying luxury cars and watches a year ago, and by the way, you married an 18-year-old wife who wears yoga pants and gives you aerobics every day. One year after the result, he said he was bankrupt!
Originally, the Spurs had the match point at 3-1, but now they are better, and they are forced to go to Tianwang Mountain!
Needless to say, Ryan is indeed much stronger than before.
Let's just talk about the key attack that widened the point difference just now. Faced with the Spurs' pick-and-roll strategy of double-teaming, Ryan was helpless last season.
At the beginning of the season, Ryan could only break this defense with passes.
But now in this playoffs, Ryan can directly rely on his speed to break through double teams before they are formed!
Going forward, Ryan's key steals and key blocks were even more perfect.
Anticipation, lateral movement, and contact with teammates. Every step on the defensive end, Ryan made it as accurately as a chess master!
As expected of a man who often plays chess with female celebrities in hotel rooms.
Bird's arrangements are certainly important, but if Ryan is unable to execute them, then all the arrangements will be empty talk.
You ask him to actively defend you, but he ends up with his hands on his hips. It doesn't matter how well you arrange it.
In G2 and G3, the Spurs relied on some small defensive loopholes in the Nuggets' defense to win at critical moments.
But today in G4, when Bird and Ryan defended everything, the Spurs didn't have the slightest chance!
In today's key round of the game, the Spurs were completely defeated!
Popovich must now admit that Ryan is indeed strong enough this season.
Strong enough to beat the Spurs!
Originally, Popovich thought he could continue to handle the Nuggets as easily as before.
But today, with both Ginobili and Duncan performing well, Ryan ended the game at a critical moment.
It will undoubtedly be very difficult for the Spurs to rely on hard power to securely win the series.
The simplest way is to not let the Nuggets have Ryan!
How come it’s not a tactic to deal with the opponent’s strongest person?
The Spurs have won many tough battles with this!
The SuperSonics and Suns were both killed by this tactic.
What? You ask, if the Spurs are so afraid of Kobe, why don't they try to get Kobe?
Is that because the Spurs don't do it? That’s really impossible to do!
In the first game of the 2002 Western Conference semifinals, Bowen once pushed Kobe back to the locker room.
But the old thief wasn't happy for long when he saw Kobe coming back from the player tunnel. Moreover, there was a cannibalistic expression on his face.
Then there was nothing more. The enraged Kobe scored 20 points with a 44% shooting rate in a game where the defense was extremely terrifying and neither team shot above 40%, helping the Lakers take away the game.
And in the original history, in the 2008 Western Conference Finals, the Spurs were also tortured by Kobe and never saw the light of day.
Even if Duncan has expanded his defensive scope and often runs out to help defend Kobe, he still can't catch him.
So from behind, Bowen's shots against Kobe were almost always padded!
No matter how talented you are as Kobe, you will know who I am, Bowen, the moment you land!
The Spurs were originally planning to let Kobe Bryant experience a wave of falling into the box. Little did they know that the Lakers had predicted the Spurs' prediction. They had long expected that the Spurs would use dirty tricks if they were anxious.
Therefore, the coaching staff has trained Kobe on anti-stepping for a long time, changing the way Kobe lands!
Although Kobe could not avoid Bowen's superb footwork every time, he would still get caught occasionally.
But at least Kobe finally finished the Western Conference Finals healthy and defeated the Spurs 4-1!
Therefore, it's not that the Spurs didn't want to get rid of Kobe, but they just couldn't get rid of him.
It turns out that when the Spurs encounter a player they can't solve, they tend to think wrong.
At this time, Popovich became interested in Ryan.
Just this time.
Bird's previous warning left Popovich with lingering fears.
If Bird really kills Duncan in retaliation, then it would be meaningless for the Spurs to reach the Finals.
After all, no serious person would take second place as an honor.
The old thief doesn't want to struggle to squeeze into the finals, but ends up serving as a foil for others.
Popovich is very confused now. On the one hand, Ryan has become a huge threat. Unless something unexpected happens to him, the Spurs are too dangerous.
On the other hand, he is afraid that he will also lose his star player.
This feeling of being taken advantage of by others is really uncomfortable!
Popovich can only wait and see what happens. After all, the Spurs may not lose in the next battle at Tianwangshan.
If you really can't hold on to the situation by then, it's not too late to take action!
After this game, the 2-2 situation made the series even more tense.
The Battle of Tianwang Mountain in Denver naturally became the key to whether Ryan could achieve justice.
But before that, many fans had already caroused online in advance, thinking that the Spurs would definitely overturn in Tianwangshan.
After all, in the last round of Tianwangshan, the Spurs only won by 3 points because Stoudemire and Diaw were absent from the Suns.
In this round of the battle at Tianwang Mountain, the Nuggets have a full lineup!
It's impossible for the Spurs to take advantage of this!
For a time, the Internet was filled with taunts from fans:
"Don't dare to use outside moves this time. The Spurs are completely out of luck, hahahaha!"
"I want to see what the Spurs can do to win the battle at Tianwang Mountain this round!"
"If you don't use dirty tricks, your spurs will be useless! Just wait until you are penetrated wildly by the hot and hard iron!"
Popovich was naturally very angry. You guys are just talking nonsense!
I'm already worried because I don't dare to mess with Ryan, could you please stop adding fuel to the fire?
If it was just the fans who said forget it, Ryan also used this to taunt the Spurs during an interview:
"Unless I get injured or my teammates are suspended, the Spurs will have no chance of winning in the Tianwangshan battle!
Everyone knows how the Spurs got to this point. "
Popovich watched the news and told himself over and over not to pass out.
He has also been comforting himself that the Spurs can still beat the Nuggets with hard power.
In the last game, we only lost by 3 points!
But Popovich underestimated Ryan's desire to win at this time.
Let's put it this way, Ryan's desire for victory at this time is about the same as a single author's desire for a loving wife.
After finally forcing the spurs up the mountain, is there any reason to let them survive?
So in the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Popovich found desperately that Ryan could no longer hold on!
The Nuggets' first attack after the game started today actually sent this signal.
At that time, after Ryan broke through through the screen, he encountered the double attack of Duncan and Bowen as always.
At the same time, Horry has also wandered into the penalty area, preparing to help defend Webber who is attacking the frame.
The Spurs thought they had everything defensively ready.
As a result, Ryan did not pass the ball, but suddenly stopped and shot a jumper under the defense of the two!
Although Ryan's mid-range shooting attribute is already 98, because he does not have the talent fragments to resist interference, he is not yet at the point where he can ignore defensive shots as he pleases.
Therefore, Ryan rarely makes strong shots.
Under normal circumstances, Ryan will try his best to get rid of the defense before taking action.
But in this shot, Ryan's unreasonable and difficult shot was hit steadily despite the interference of Bowen and Duncan!
As soon as he came up, Ryan forcefully broke the Spurs' defense!
Bird was not surprised by this. In the previous four games, Ginobili broke out in three games and Horry broke out in two games.
Today, it should be the Nuggets players' turn to explode!
It's impossible for the Spurs to take advantage of all the good things, right?
One round later, Ryan received a pass from Weber in the middle distance on the right side. The moment he caught the ball, he raised the ball directly over his head and prepared to shoot.
But Bowen felt that Ryan's shot would be a fake shot, because Ryan had not completely gotten rid of the defense and would not take the shot so easily.
He must be trying to defend and wait for an opportunity to break through!
Therefore, Bowen did not jump up to block the ball. He just rushed in front of Ryan and stretched out his hand to interfere.
Unexpectedly, Ryan jumped up and shot a jumper with Bowen guarding him!
Because Bowen extended his arm early and stood very close to Ryan, it created a certain interference effect even if he didn't jump.
But Ryan was stunned and hit the ball steadily without any shooting space, completely ignoring the interference!
It is true that Ryan does not have any fragments of anti-interference talent, but his mid-range shooting attribute of 98 is enough to support Ryan in scoring some magic goals when he occasionally feels good!
Ryan just can't make a living out of difficult shots like Jordan did.
But there is still a basis for occasionally eating difficult shots as dessert!
If you want to say that Ryan relies on his 78 three-point ability to draw a three-pointer as accurate as Curry, that is really impossible.
But 98's mid-range shooting ability occasionally twitches, and there's nothing wrong with it!
With these two opening goals, Ryan had already set the tone for this game.
Bird was sure at that time that this would be Ryan's career masterpiece night!
The young lion king couldn't wait to tear apart the opponent in front of him who had stopped him twice!
Sure enough, Ryan went absolutely crazy in the next game.
His mid-range jumper was ridiculously accurate. The more accurate Ryan was, the more confident he became, and the more daring he was to take the shot, giving Bowen all kinds of flattering looks.
At the end of the first quarter, Ryan scored 12 points in a single quarter!
Ryan has a hot shooting touch, which is quite fatal to the Spurs' defense.
The whole world knows that the Spurs' defensive system does not give you the opportunity to easily break through, nor does it give you the opportunity to connect the team, but it gives you the opportunity to make 1-on-1 mid-range shots.
That's why the Spurs are so afraid of mid-range one-on-one masters like Kobe.
In the first two seasons, Ryan was not an excellent mid-range one-on-one player. Therefore, the Spurs are not very afraid of Ryan.
But today, Ryan really blew up the Spurs from the mid-range!
During the break before the start of the second quarter, Popovich still did not change his defensive strategy. He did not believe that Ryan's hot touch could continue into the second quarter.
The rest time between sessions will definitely allow Ryan’s hands to cool down.
As a result, the first round of the second quarter
"Got it in again! Ryan's shooting touch today was amazing!
It seems that he is going to bury the Spurs in the cold Tianwang Mountain!
Ryan shot immediately after hanging up the screen. Duncan's defense change was already in place, causing interference!
But today, even the Holy City Stone Buddha can't stop him! "
As soon as the second quarter started, Ryan scored again with a difficult mid-range shot.
Popovich looked livid, and many fans were secretly happy.
When Ginobili broke out and killed the game with fake balls, the fans of other teams were also very uncomfortable.
Today, Popovich must have experienced this feeling too!
In the second quarter, Ryan's touch didn't cool down, but intensified, scoring another 13 points in a single quarter!
Already 25 points at halftime!
The Nuggets also led by Ryan, leading to 11 points at halftime!
Ryan's outburst today caught Popovich off guard and made fans and Mike Breen extremely excited:
“I thought Ryan’s performance at the critical moment in the last game was magical enough, but I didn’t expect it was just a warm-up!
With 25 points in the half, Ryan has broken his career half-time scoring record in a playoff half!
He reminds the world all the time - I'm the fucking MVP of the season! "
Ryan's performance in the first half of the game once again crossed Popovich's mind to use some means to stop Ryan.
But because he was afraid of losing Duncan, Popovich still endured it.
However, Popovich will definitely not let Ryan continue to attack like this.
In the second half, he finally changed his defensive strategy. When Ryan holds the ball, he asks the players to double-team Ryan directly!
After the start of the third quarter, Ryan's scoring pace was indeed slowed down.
No matter how good his hand is, Ryan can't hit every ball against the defense of two people.
But the Nuggets' scoring pace was not delayed!
Facing the Spurs' almost crazy flanking attack, Ryan began to look for teammates in the open space.
The tacit understanding of playing side by side for a season, as well as the crazy passing attributes accumulated last summer, allow Ryan to find teammates who are left open in double teams with his eyes closed!
Moreover, after passing more passes in the second half, Ryan began to actively fight for offensive rebounds.
In the previous two quarters, because Ryan himself was the end point, he could not quickly run to the basket to grab rebounds after taking mid-range shots.
But in the third quarter, because Ryan became a setter, he would often appear at the basket for the first time after his teammates took action.
In the third quarter alone, Ryan grabbed three offensive rebounds!
Among them, the offensive rebound in the seventh minute of the third quarter made the battle-hardened Popovich look confused.
At that time, Weber made a 45° mid-range shot from the right side. Ryan rushed to the basket along the baseline, jumped up on the right side of the basket and prepared to grab the board.
Unexpectedly, the basketball bounced to the left side of the basket after being struck.
Anyone who has played basketball knows that a poor rebound position basically means that there is a 99% chance of not getting the rebound.
But Ryan performed the 1% possibility today!
I saw Ryan flying quickly from the right side of the basket to the left side, relying on his jumping height and wingspan to catch the basketball one step ahead of Horry.
I thought it was over, but after Ryan grabbed the rebound, he turned 180° in the air, rounded his arm and smashed the ball directly into the basket! Ryan's wave was equivalent to a 180° turn in the air!
Popovich was convinced, even if he could still grab the rebound by jumping from the wrong position on the backboard, why did he just make up the dunk?
Ryan, you are not human!
Seeing that the score was finally back to single digits but was stretched to 11 points because of this unreasonable make-up dunk, Popovich wanted to die!
What a system bureau! It’s so fake!
Throughout the third quarter, Ryan only scored 7 points under the Spurs' tight defense.
But with 4 assists and 4 rebounds in a single quarter, the total game statistics have reached 32 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds!
The Spurs wanted to hold down Ryan, but the hurricane had rolled in and it was already too late!
Ryan in the battle of Tianwang Mountain has completely entered the killing mode!
Fans all over San Antonio could only watch as Ryan completed one incredible move after another, including defensive mid-range shots, timely assists, and incredible rebounds and blocks.
The terrifying phantom of No. 23 even flashed through their minds!
This all-round reign of terror, this angry look, this desperate game.
In the words of Mike Breen: "Ryan was at his peak today and Jordan was playing in jersey No. 0!"
The whole world can see that the Spurs can no longer hold down Ryan like they did in the past two years!
The point difference reaches 13 points. If the Spurs cannot make any changes in the fourth quarter, the match point will be firmly won by the Nuggets!
Popovich struggled on the bench, fighting with himself.
If this continues, Ryan will definitely kill the game.
We must think of a way, we must come up with ways to contain Ryan!
So during the break, Popovich finally walked up to Bowen!
The old former agent said nothing and just stared at Bowen for a few seconds.
But Bowen knew what to do next as soon as he looked in his eyes and nodded silently.
Seeing Popovich finally giving the order, Bowen was ecstatic!
He has wanted to fuck Ryan for a long time!
Great show? A great victory at Tianwang Mountain? Legendary night?
Sorry Ryan, next time, you won’t get anything!
Popovich also wants to take a gamble. What if Bird is just talking nonsense? Maybe he didn't dare to really risk touching Duncan.
After all, there are few people in the entire league who know how to hurt people without getting punished better than Bowen.
As Popovich and Bowen prepare to direct their specialty, countless fans are already blasting Ryan online.
"It's incredible! Ryan of Tianwang Mountain is simply a historical level of strength!"
"He scored 32 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds in three quarters. Ryan is worthy of being the MVP! Justice has finally been served in Denver!"
"What am I talking about? The Spurs can't win without resorting to dirty tricks!"
Ryan's career night performance has shocked the whole world.
Everyone believes that after this night, Ryan will add a new chapter to the legendary story of his career!
Fans all over the world were looking forward to Ryan's performance in the fourth quarter, but on the Nuggets' first attack in the fourth quarter, the Spurs did something that made fans all over the world hate it!
At that time, after Ryan obtained the opportunity through a series of off-ball movements as usual, he received the ball from the right three-point line and shot directly from a long distance.
Bowen rushed forward aggressively, jumping up to interfere.
He landed before Ryan, but after landing, he moved a step forward unnecessarily and inserted his feet into the place where Ryan landed!
But this time Ryan was luckier, his landing foot just missed Bowen, and there were no accidents on the court.
But everyone with a discerning eye saw what Bowen had just done. In the CCTV studio, Su Qun complained: "Bowen is going to do bad things again!"
Ryan looked at Bowen and said nothing.
Seeing that Ryan didn't react, Popovich suddenly became bold!
Since the other party doesn't resist, then of course they are pushing further!
This time it was just Ryan's luck that he didn't step on Bowen. But next time, he will die!
The ecstatic Popovich didn't notice that Bird had already clapped his hands in the other half.
Are you excited? Not brave?
No, Bird always does what he says!
The Spurs attack, and their most stable offensive point today is still Duncan.
Parker also took the ball directly into the paint and gave Duncan a back-up shot against Weber.
Webber tried his best to defend, but Duncan, who felt that Webber's center of gravity was too far forward, turned his back and easily passed Webber and entered the penalty area!
Duncan jumped up and went straight for a layup. There was no room for fouls on this shot because Duncan had already smashed the ball towards the basket.
Even if there is a foul, there is a high probability that Duncan will be given a 2+1.
But Nene still acted like a crazy bull, sprinting to the basket without hesitation, jumping up, and knocking Duncan to the ground hard in the air!
Because he could not support his center of gravity in the air, Duncan was knocked directly parallel to the floor, and then fell hard!
Duncan landed arm first and endured tremendous pressure. The moment he hit the ground, Duncan's arm hit the ground hard and then bounced up high. Popovich turned pale with fright!
This foul, which was like a bad boy legion's foul against Jordan, made all Spurs fans break out in a cold sweat!
Looking at Duncan lying on the ground struggling, fans all over the world knew that Bird was not talking!
In the second round when Bowen tried to attack Ryan, Bird immediately retaliated!
He does what he says!
Duncan lay on the ground and covered his arm. He was in so much pain that he couldn't stand up for a long time.
The referee also immediately gave Nene a first-level flagrant foul.
But Bird doesn't care, a first-level flagrant foul is exchanged for Duncan. If Popovich is willing, then Bird is willing too!
The Nuggets really don't have a player like Bowen who can hurt people in secret and get away with it.
But Bird doesn't care whether he is secretive or not!
Even if Nene and Duncan exchange their extremes for one, the Spurs will still suffer!
Popovich was immediately frightened. Before, Ryan had already let him experience the feeling of watching the opponent's players perform superbly. Now, Nene has made him feel the feeling of a core star being maliciously violated 11 years in advance!
In this round of the game, the Nuggets really responded with their own treatment!
Fortunately, Duncan was fine. After resting on the ground for a while, he stood up again.
But even so, Popovich hurriedly called Bowen to his side: "Bruce, stop, stop the plan! Don't touch Ryan again!"
That guy Bird is serious, Popovich doesn't dare to take risks with Duncan again!
Although Nene received a first-level flagrant foul, if he is called for another flagrant foul, he will be directly ejected from the game, or even be suspended.
But Popovich doesn't dare to gamble with Duncan's health. What if Nene really hurts Duncan with the next foul? At that time, there is no point in giving Nene 10 flagrant fouls!
Seeing Popovich pulling Bowen to his side and whispering, Bird knew he was in trouble!
This also means that from now on, nothing can stop Ryan's destined great performance!
When the Spurs really can't use off-the-board moves to deal with the people who give them a headache, their only outcome is destruction!
If you don't kill me, I will kill you.
The fourth quarter will be Ryan’s execution time!