The Fifth Point Guard

In the TNT live broadcast room.

Charles Barkley, wearing a pink tie, was full of energy and radiant.

His old partner Kenny Smith said: "Charles, when the media and players are unanimously optimistic about the Spurs, you are only optimistic about the Nets. Is there any pressure? Although the Nets' regular season record ranks first in the league, there is 61 wins, but most people commented that their results are very watery, mainly because the teams in their division are too weak, if the Nets are placed in the West, they may only win 50 wins, what do you think?"

Facing Smith's double serial pursuit, Barkley laughed and replied: "Others laugh at me as crazy, and I laugh at others for not being able to see through. Although the Spurs have the twin towers of Duncan and Robinson, the Nets also have Mu Tombo and Martin, besides, the Nets' perimeter strength is obviously stronger than the Spurs, the combination of Shentong and Kidd is also top-notch in the league, and Parker and Stephen Jackson are still a little tender."

Smith said: "You also overlooked one person, Bruce Bowen of the Spurs. He shot 45% of the three-pointers during the entire playoffs. He really couldn't let him go when defending. Secondly, his Defensive skills will also affect Shentong's performance, and the Nets' small forward Jefferson has not yet affected the overall strength of the game. In my opinion, the main lineup of the Spurs and the Nets can be regarded as a 50-50 split, but the Spurs The team's bench lineup is much better than the Nets. Look at their bench, Manu Ginobili, Malik Rose, Steve Kerr, Steve Smith, Danny - Ferry, etc., they are all guys with private jobs, just take Steve Kerr, he hit four three-pointers in the sixth game of the bull-horse game, which is hard to guard against."

Barkley was silent, nodded slowly and said: "The Spurs won their first 60 wins this year, and they are still in the highly competitive Western Conference. It is indeed very valuable. Except for Tim Duncan who is thriving, the Spurs can achieve so much. Good results are also inseparable from the contribution of their bench, but the Nets' bench lineup is actually not bad, but it seems that the bayonet has not been shown yet. Let's see how the bench players of the two teams will be in the finals. You can stand up."

Smith said: "So, in fact, which of these two teams can win, the more important thing is the bench."

Barkley said: "The bench is indeed a key factor affecting the trend of this round of the series, but it is not the decisive factor. Who can win the final victory between the Spurs and the Nets, the most important thing is the performance of the core players of both sides, that is the Spurs Tim Duncan and Kidd of the Nets."

The atmosphere at the Continental Arena was buzzing.

Indoors in June seemed a bit hot and dry.

"Small~~~~"

The piercing sound was so deafening that Shen Tong recognized Sister Hua's voice immediately.

As one of the signature players of the team, with the improvement of status, the position of relative tickets allocated to Shentong by the team is also much higher.

Right on the sidelines in the third row.

Along with Sister Hua were Lao Shen, Shen Qing, and Avril who flew from Los Angeles to cheer her boyfriend up.

Shen Tong stretched out his right hand, gave a thumbs up, and greeted his relatives.

In the stands, Arenas, who was wearing a thick gold chain, and Loren Woods, who had gone home early to fish, sat quietly side by side in the stands.

In addition to these guys, Anne Hathaway, a staunch supporter of the opposite sex of Shentong, also came to the scene to watch the game.

And the unnamed middle-aged white man who is always holding up the poster, Shentong's die-hard fan.

In the noisy atmosphere, the starting players of both sides appeared one after another.

For the Nets, the five starters of Mutombo, Martin, Jefferson, Shentong and Kidd have not changed.

The Spurs also maintain the starting lineup of the Mavericks series, Robinson, Duncan, Bowen, Jackson, Parker.

Today's referee is the very strict referee Crawford.

Duncan's expression was cold, without any emotion.

As the whistle blew, the NBA Finals officially began!

Although Mutombo is called Uncle Mu, Admiral Robinson is not too young.

In the scrimmage, Mutombo once again sacrificed "Kato One Finger" to win the ball for the Nets.

The ball did not stay after Kidd got it, and he passed it to the frontcourt with both hands. After receiving the ball, Shen Tong singled out Bowen directly, forced the opponent into the penalty area, and successfully dunked with one hand, giving the Nets the lead.

Just after such a contact, Bowen felt that Shentong had made a lot of progress.

The last time the two teams faced off was in February, and it has been almost 4 months since now.

Bo Wen, who had just used his body to resist Shentong, found himself being pushed away by the opponent.

Although it is not a breakthrough in terms of strength, but being pushed into the penalty area by a shooting guard and ending the offense with a dunk, I am afraid that so far this season's scoring leader McGrady can do it.

The Spurs' offense was unhurried.

Parker dribbles and Duncan steps up to pick and roll.

Dribbles around Duncan to avoid Kidd's defense, and immediately passes the ball back to Duncan after facing Martin's defense.

The Spurs' pick-and-roll coordination is very skillful, but the Nets have long been prepared.

Martin immediately discarded Parker and double-teamed Duncan with Kidd.

Although Kidd is just a point guard, he is tall and strong. After Martin surrounds Duncan, the latter really has no chance to score.

Take off and shoot directly?

Although this is Duncan's range, but the bouncer Martin is in front of him.

Dribble inward?

Standing beside him is Kidd, a master defensive player. Maybe it was a dribble error.

However, the Spurs' tactical quality is very high.

When the teammates saw Duncan being double-teamed, they immediately found a gap on the court by running.

Duncan, who is 2.11 meters tall, has a panoramic view of everything on the court and found the open teammate on the court, Bruce Bowen in the bottom corner.

After Bowen received the ball, he directly raised his hand for a three-pointer. This is a position he is familiar with, and the rhythm of catching and shooting is just right.

But the moment Bo Wen just made a shot, a figure from the side rushed over and slapped the ball away with a palm!

Richard Jefferson!

Jefferson hugged the ball directly after blocking the shot.

Parker immediately stopped in front of Kidd, and Stephen Jackson also blocked Shentong.

The Spurs blocked the back line in advance to prevent the Nets from playing fast breaks.

Jefferson smiled.

Is this enough?

Without passing the ball, Jefferson dribbled directly to the field!

Jackson, who turned around and reached out to intercept, leaped up from the edge of the small penalty area under Parker's close pressure, and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand!

In fact, in the Nets, apart from Shentong and Martin's dunks, they belonged to Jefferson. Even in terms of dunk skills and viewing, Jefferson is slightly better than Martin.

The Nets' one offense and one defense in the opening game made Spurs coach Popovich and Duncan, who has a keen sense of smell, notice something strange.

This is by no means the energy you can have by eating hot pot or playing mahjong!

Look carefully.

Every player on the Nets team has murderous looks in their eyes!