Parsons missed a three-pointer, and Diaw grabbed the defensive rebound again.

The Spurs attacked the frontcourt, and Ginobili passed the ball inside to Diaw. Diaw faced Greg Smith's side layup.

The ball was slightly off and slipped out of the hoop.

But McGrady came into the paint with his plump body at this time, reaching out for a putback.

Motiejūnas came to help defend the block, his hand hit the ball, but also hit McGrady's hand.

The referee blew the whistle, indicating Motiejūnas's foul.

McGrady had two free throw opportunities.

McGrady walked to the free throw line, and the boos from the crowd were deafening.

When McGrady first came up, many people actually underestimated him. After all, at this age, coming to the Spurs was, to put it bluntly, to ride on their coattails.

But making a three-pointer, plus these two free throw opportunities, was really helpful to the Spurs.

The louder the fans booed him at this time, the more respect they had for him.

McGrady adjusted his breathing, made the first free throw, and also made the second one.

Two free throws in a row, he scored 5 points in this stretch.

This seemed a little unbelievable!

Tang Tian was also happy for McGrady at this time. After all, he practiced with McGrady every night and knew how much effort McGrady had put in to get on the court!

These 5 points were the greatest reward for him!

Regardless of whether he could play later, this trip to the Spurs was definitely worth it for him.

Motiejūnas's single play in the low post caused Diaw's shooting foul.

The game entered a dead ball, and McHale turned around and called Harden up early.

Motiejūnas had two free throw opportunities.

He had been plagued by injuries this season, and his performance fluctuated greatly. He hadn't played much in the previous two games.

The first free throw was a little too heavy, hitting the back of the rim and bouncing out.

Harden came on to replace Brooks.

Motiejūnas's second free throw went in and then bounced out again.

Two missed free throws!

Diaw protected the defensive rebound!

The Spurs attacked the frontcourt, and Ginobili passed the ball to Diaw after a pick-and-roll.

Diaw passed the ball to McGrady without stopping.

It should be said that McGrady spent the longest time with Tang Tian since coming to the Spurs, but he had the best relationship with Diaw.

This was the third consecutive time he had passed the ball to McGrady.

Harden symbolically reached out after switching defense.

McGrady's signature fadeaway jumper, ignoring the defense.

The posture was as beautiful as a painting.

"Swish!"

The ball fell into the net smoothly.

McGrady's 7th point!

He had scored a 7-0 personal scoring wave all by himself in this period!

"Unbelievable! He can still dominate the game!"

Broadcaster Breen couldn't help shouting.

Although there was some luck involved, McGrady's 7 points were real and helped the Spurs close the score to 3 points!

McHale covered his forehead on the sidelines. He didn't expect a retiring veteran to give him a critical blow at this time.

Harden went to the frontcourt at this time and directly signaled Parsons for a pick-and-roll.

After switching to McGrady, he directly broke through to the inside.

McGrady obviously couldn't keep up in terms of speed.

When he got to the inside, Harden made McGrady commit a shooting foul again.

Harden stepped onto the free throw line for the 6th time in this game.

Still two free throws in a row.

He had already scored 10 points relying on 10 of 12 free throws.

The Spurs attacked in the frontcourt, and Ginobili's snakelike breakthrough layup went in.

Turning around, Harden continued to signal Parsons to pick-and-roll and switch players.

Harden broke through McGrady again, a signature step-back three-pointer.

McGrady was completely shaken off.

"Bang!"

But this ball was a little off.

Diaw protected the defensive rebound.

Budenholzer called Tang Tian and Green up at this time.

When the game entered a dead ball, Tang Tian and Green came on, replacing McGrady and Mills.

McGrady received cheers and whistles from the fans when he left the court.

Although he was blown away by Harden on the defensive end in the past two rounds, 7 points were definitely enough.

Budenholzer originally wanted McGrady to last through the three or four minutes when there was no one to replace him.

But McGrady's performance had not only met the coaching staff's requirements, but had even exceeded them.

McGrady felt the enthusiasm from the Rockets fans, his eyes were slightly red, and his emotions were obviously fluctuating.

When he walked to the sidelines, he reached out and applauded the fans in response.

"Although it can be seen that McGrady is obviously a little unable to adapt to this intensity of the game, his touch is still there."

"No one would have thought that the Spurs, whom he once wanted to defeat with all his heart, would give McGrady a chance, and then he gave the Spurs these 7 points in return."

"I'm a 30-year-old man and I'm crying. The last time McGrady scored 13 points in 35 seconds and moved God, but this time these 7 points moved me."

"It's really like a dream. This is why we still love the NBA after Yao Ming retired."

"A white horse and a long spear, dominating the world!"

"T-Mac!!"

"Youth, there are no regrets anymore."

……

McGrady lasted through a very critical three minutes for the Spurs, and these three minutes also helped the Spurs close the score.

After Tang Tian and Green came back, Harden's performance was limited, and the score on the court between the two teams was deadlocked.

This situation also stalemated until halftime, and the two teams tied at 55 at the end of the first half.

For the Spurs, this situation was completely acceptable, given that they faced an early foul crisis and Popovich's ejection.

"Danny, you'll start guarding Harden in the second half. Tang, Kawhi, you two attack the basket more on the offensive end. The Rockets only have Asik inside."

During the intermission, Popovich said while drawing on the tactical board.

Although he was ejected from the game, he just couldn't be on the sidelines. He could still arrange tactics in the locker room during the intermission.

Even because he was watching from the sidelines, he could analyze it more thoroughly after calming down.

Back in the second half, the Rockets' starting lineup remained unchanged.

The Spurs made a substitution adjustment, with Green replacing Splitter, putting up a small lineup.

The Spurs attacked first, and they didn't use the hammer tactic, but a very simple pick-and-roll breakthrough tactic.

Tang Tian and Green were in the two corners, Parker held the ball and played a pick-and-roll with Duncan, and Leonard cut in on the weak side.

The Rockets shrank their defense.

They had a lineup of one big and four smalls on the court, and Asik's movement speed was slow, so this tactic was very targeted.

After seeing this, Parker passed the ball to the right corner.

Tang Tian caught the ball and shot.

"Swish!"

He made the shot!

He had a high certainty of making this kind of three-point opportunity.

Harden's layup against Green missed because of a foul, and Duncan protected the defensive rebound.

Turning around, the Spurs still used this tactic. This time, the Rockets didn't dare to shrink inside.

After Parker broke through to the inside, he passed the ball to Leonard, who hit a Kobe-style fadeaway jumper.

The Spurs scored 5-0 against the Rockets at the start of the second half!

Popovich showed his Zhuge-vich side, and the tactics arranged during the intermission had an immediate effect.

Harden hit a step-back mid-range shot against Green in the frontcourt, finally helping the Rockets break the scoring drought.

But turning around, Tang Tian borrowed Leonard's pick-and-roll to get open and hit another three-pointer!

In the blink of an eye, the Spurs took a 6-point lead.

Popovich's coaching in the Spurs was completely polarized.

People who supported him called him Zhuge-vich, or a tactical master, who could compete for the best head coach in history.

People who questioned him said that his success relied on Duncan, and after Duncan, it relied on Parker and Ginobili.

People who supported and questioned him were always arguing.

But the real Popovich should actually be a combination of the two voices. His biggest characteristic was knowing how to take advantage of the situation.

When Duncan was strong, he could use Duncan as a strong point to create a tough defensive system.

After Duncan aged, he used the GDP as the foundation, and created the hammer tactic based on pick-and-rolls and off-ball movement, playing team basketball.

Tang Tian, as a time-traveler, deeply felt this.

It should be known that after the GDP aged one after another, the Spurs' dual-core play of DeRozan and Aldridge also developed the most suitable tactics for them after a season of running-in.

Even after Leonard left and DeRozan came, after most of a season of running-in, he relied on a group of "undersized" NBA role players to return to the playoffs.

Taking advantage of the situation is Popovich's greatest characteristic.

In other words, it means knowing people and making good use of them.

The referee's standard was very biased towards the Rockets tonight, so biased that he couldn't control his emotions and was ejected, but he still immediately responded during the intermission.

Since it was useless for anyone to defend, then I might as well let you score. I just need to bring out all my offensive talents.

Especially Tang Tian, Tang Tian proved this season that he was a contender for the best defensive player, but he was also the Spurs' second-leading scorer.

Tang Tian's consecutive three-pointers were obviously his characteristic.

Harden felt hot in this quarter against Green, but after three quarters, the score on the court was 88 to 78.

The Spurs scored 33 to 23 against the Rockets in this quarter, extending the point difference to double digits.

Tang Tian couldn't help but give Popovich a thumbs up at this time. It should be known that Popovich didn't have the ability to see the future like him.

Remotely controlling and being able to use the players' abilities to this point was worth a wave of praise.

This was also the reason why he said to Popovich that he was willing to play for the Spurs.

Although he could do the same, he was a player, so why bother to do it himself if he could save effort?

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, both sides had one main player with four substitutes.

The Spurs had Mills, Ginobili, Leonard, Diaw, and Splitter.

The Rockets had Parsons leading the team, with Lin Shuhao and Delfino on the outside, and Motiejūnas and Greg Smith on the inside.

Parsons' expression was very serious at this time. He had boasted to the fans before the game in order to show his presence.

But now in this situation, from leading by 10 points to trailing by 10 points, they had already lost 20 points inside and out, and he had only scored 8 points in total.

He would lose the game and lose face. He would definitely be criticized after the game.

No, absolutely not!

Lin Shuhao held the ball in the frontcourt, and Parsons took the initiative to start running off-ball.

Lin Shuhao had two close friends in the NBA, one was Landry Fields from the Knicks, and the other was Parsons.

He had slept on both of their sofas, and he had built an intimate friendship because of the sofas.

Parsons ran out, and Lin Shuhao passed the ball to him immediately.

Parsons took a three-pointer.

Leonard rushed out to block, and the pressure was not small.

"Bang!"

Parsons leaned back in the air to raise the shooting arc. After the ball hit the backboard, it bounced into the net.

A beautiful three-pointer.

After the ball went in, Parsons excitedly bent over and waved his fist, then made a signature three-point gesture that looked like "ok".

Obviously, he was very excited about his goal.

At this time, the female fans on the sidelines let out a burst of excited shouts.

Obviously, a player who was handsome and could play well had little resistance to them.

The Spurs' offense in the frontcourt failed to score. Turning around, Motiejūnas's pick-and-roll was in place, and Parsons caught Lin Shuhao's pass for another three-point opportunity.

But he didn't shoot, but chose to hold the ball and kill to the basket, and made a floater against Diaw after jumping up.

He felt very hot in this period.

After scoring, Parsons took the initiative to high-five Lin Shuhao, and winked at the fans on the sidelines.

Obviously, he didn't shoot that three-pointer just now to show his comprehensive scoring ability.

The Spurs' frontcourt cooperation had a mistake, and Ginobili's pass was stolen by Lin Shuhao.

Parsons had already fast-breaked at this time, and jumped up directly after receiving Lin Shuhao's long pass, and scored with a one-handed dunk.

7 to 0!

McGrady became a surprise soldier in the second quarter and scored 7 points. In this period, Parsons was in full swing and also scored a 7-0 run!

After dunking the basketball, Parsons excitedly rushed to the sidelines and roared to the sky.

Cool, so cool!

After scoring continuously in this period, his personal score came to 15 points. Although it was still not much, he played too smoothly in this period.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the key player in reversing the situation.

This time, there would be a part of him on social media after the game.

He would not lack girls to go to the bar at night.

Then think about the news reports after the game.

Leading the team to reverse the situation, turning the score into 1 to 2, and the team's winning hero.

He had already thought about the title.

Budenholzer reached out and called a timeout.

Parsons' feeling suddenly broke out in this period, and had already narrowed the point difference to 3 points, which was obviously not a good sign for the Spurs.

"Tang, can you defend Parsons?"

Budenholzer asked gently.

Tang Tian nodded. Although the two were mismatched, Parsons was also a small forward swinging power forward, and he didn't have much low post technique, so he could completely match up.

After the timeout, the Spurs replaced Diaw with Tang Tian.

In the Spurs' offense in the frontcourt, Tang Tian's three-point opportunity after the pick-and-roll was interfered by Parsons and missed.

Parsons' personal state was really good in this period.

In the Rockets' frontcourt game, Parsons' three-pointer after getting open was also blocked by Tang Tian.

But he didn't pass the ball back to Lin Shuhao at this time, but chose to dribble past Tang Tian himself.

Didn't the fans always say that he was not as good as Tang Tian? Then he would break through one head-on.

His personal state was hot at this time, so hot that his mind started to heat up.

With a one-step close breakthrough, Parsons was trying his best to use his body.

His basketball IQ was still good.

But he obviously underestimated Tang Tian's defensive ability.

Tang Tian moved away with a sliding step to make Parsons lose his balance during the breakthrough, and then directly made a lightning steal.

"Pa!"

Parsons' dribble through the legs failed, and the whole person fell forward to the ground, but the ball in his hand had been stolen by Tang Tian!

Showing off, failed!