Defense isn't just one-on-one in a positional battle. The Spurs' three wing players did a great job limiting the Thunder's fast breaks.

Ibaka got the ball right away but couldn't pass it out.

The Thunder's defensive counterattack didn't materialize, and the ball went to Harden, who was running back.

By the time Harden dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, the Spurs' positional defense was already set.

The Spurs' defense was spread wide, and Westbrook dribbled the ball hard towards the basket.

But Duncan stood firm in the paint, blocking his layup and grabbing the defensive rebound.

The Spurs weren't afraid to play positional basketball instead of fast breaks.

Parker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt to run a positional offense. The Spurs were trying to control the tempo.

The Thunder were also playing hard.

Before the game, Westbrook gave a passionate pre-game speech, firing up his teammates.

Combined with the atmosphere at home, they were all fired up.

Parker's drive to the basket was blocked directly by Ibaka, and Perkins grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Spurs were stopped twice in a row.

Perkins got the ball and threw a long pass to Durant, who was running fast.

"Pa!"

The ball didn't get through and was intercepted by Leonard in advance!

Change of possession!

Except for Ibaka, the Thunder's three young players were all on the fast break, leaving the backcourt empty.

Parker got the ball and passed it to Duncan in the middle, who then swung the ball to Tang Tian, who was positioned at the bottom corner.

Tang Tian took a shot from beyond the arc.

"Swish!"

The three-pointer went in.

The Spurs turned a defensive counterattack against the Thunder!

Brooks shouted something to Perkins from the sideline.

This kind of mistake was a big blow to the Thunder's morale.

The intensity of the game was high, and Green interfered with Harden's catch-and-shoot three-pointer, causing it to miss.

The Spurs' offense didn't score on the return.

After Perkins grabbed another defensive rebound, he didn't dare to pass directly this time.

Without a quick first pass, the fast break couldn't get going at all.

The Thunder had to play positional offense.

Durant's big loop layup drew a foul on Leonard. After making both free throws, the Thunder took a 4-3 lead.

But on the next possession, the Spurs' Parker finally scored in the positional battle, and the Spurs took the lead again at 5-4.

The Thunder's fast breaks failed time and time again, forcing them to battle the Spurs in a positional game. The game was stalemated.

"I still love Popovich so much," Barkley couldn't help but say at the commentary table.

Because the Thunder started with their "four young masters," and the Spurs, with this lineup, would have an advantage if they could just hold on.

With about 10 minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 16-17, with the Spurs trailing by 1 point.

At this score, the Spurs had held on.

Both sides began to make substitutions.

For the Spurs, Parker and Tang Tian stayed on the court, while Ginobili, Diaw, and Splitter came on.

For the Thunder, Durant and Ibaka were on the court, while Fisher, Sefolosha, and Nick Collison came on.

Tang Tian stayed close to Durant, not giving him any space. Fisher's three-pointer from beyond the arc missed, and Splitter grabbed the rebound.

Parker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and signaled for the team to run the hammer play.

After receiving the ball, Ginobili was defended. Without waiting for Tang Tian to get into position, he suddenly changed his rhythm, shook off Sefolosha in front of him, and slithered towards the basket.

This came very suddenly. Collison rushed out, and Ginobili sent the ball into the basket with a drifting bank shot.

The Spurs retook the lead.

The Thunder's offense in the frontcourt still didn't find an opportunity.

The drawbacks of Brooks' lineup adjustment emerged.

He couldn't let all four young players play the entire first quarter. At this time, Westbrook and Harden were both off the court resting, and the Thunder were missing a point guard who could break through with the ball. Everyone was running around on the outside, and the court seemed very crowded.

Durant finally signaled to spread out. After receiving the ball, he faced Tang Tian with a turnaround fadeaway.

Tang Tian applied pressure.

"Bang!"

The ball hit the front of the rim and bounced out. Splitter protected the defensive rebound.

"Defense! Defense!"

Sensing that something was wrong, the DJ actively led the fans in chanting and cheering for the home team.

The Thunder's defensive intensity was very high, and the Spurs' positional offense also didn't have any opportunities.

Just as the 24 seconds were about to expire, Ginobili forced a step-back three-pointer after shaking Sefolosha.

Sefolosha didn't lose his defensive position and directly rushed up to interfere.

This shot was difficult.

"Bang!"

The ball hit the rim.

But after bouncing around, the ball still went into the net!

21 to 17!

Ginobili scored 5 points in a row!

Durant's long-range three-pointer didn't go in. At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs had a 4-point lead.

"Charles, do you know who the outside world generally thinks James Harden's playing style is most like?"

O'Neal said.

"Manu Ginobili."

Barkley quickly gave the answer.

Also good at breaking through, organizing, and step-back three-pointers, the league basically agrees that Ginobili is Harden's prototype.

"Yes, but after the last game, many fans said that Ginobili was blown out by Harden. It seems that Ginobili cares a bit."

O'Neal said with a smile.

"Maybe he's a bit old, but he gets more and more enchanting as he gets older." Kenny Smith took the opportunity to hype him up.

"This seems to be a tradition of this team. Tim, Manu, and Tony all have this trend."

O'Neal also echoed. He had been playing against the GDP trio since the beginning, so it was no problem to hype them up.

Back in the second quarter, Brooks replaced Durant with Westbrook. Although his reaction was a bit slow, he also realized that the team needed someone on the court who could hold the ball.

The Spurs also replaced Parker and Tang Tian with Mills and Green.

In the Spurs' offense, Diaw was coordinating at the high post. Seeing Ginobili cutting in, he made a no-look behind-the-back pass.

This pass was very fancy, but Ibaka's help defense in the paint was very good.

Ginobili's layup angle was very bad, and it was likely that Ibaka would block it directly.

He directly chose to jump out of bounds, forcibly using a small reverse layup in the air to avoid Ibaka's block, and then making a hook shot during the fall.

An extremely difficult shot.

The ball barely passed by Ibaka's side.

But the spin of the ball was perfectly controlled. The ball actually flew up spinning and then hit the backboard and went in!

"Are you kidding me? That actually went in?!"

O'Neal exclaimed directly.

Ginobili didn't play these fancy tricks less when he was at his peak, but the shot just now was really more than a little fancy!

"He's showing off like crazy, man!"

Barkley also gave a very appropriate evaluation.

Westbrook forced his way to the basket in the frontcourt against Mills and won a free throw opportunity.

With both free throws made, the Thunder were closely chasing the score.

Turning around, Ginobili was feeling it. After signaling his teammates to spread out, he faced Sefolosha with a series of crossovers.

A large swing to break through inward, and then a sudden pull back.

Sefolosha staggered, his body tilting to the side, and he was directly shaken to the ground!

And in the next second, Ginobili collected the ball and took another three-pointer.

"Swish!"

The ball went into the net.

The Spurs' bench erupted.

Including the 5 points at the end of the first quarter, Ginobili had scored 10 consecutive points in less than five minutes!

The妖刀 (yāo dāo, demon blade) had been unsheathed!

26 to 19!

The Spurs increased their lead to 7 points!

"Sabo, keep an eye on him!"

Brooks shouted to Sefolosha from the sidelines at this time.

Sefolosha was the best defender in the Thunder's lineup. If he couldn't suppress Ginobili, then the Thunder would really be in trouble tonight.

Westbrook continued to attack the basket, but the Spurs contracted their defense at this time, and his pull-up jumper didn't hit.

Duncan protected the defensive rebound.

The Spurs attacked to the frontcourt, and Ginobili used the same trick again, shaking open space in the face of Sefolosha's defense outside the three-point line.

"Bang!"

The shot was slightly off, and it bounced out after going in, startling the fans and Thunder players into a cold sweat.

If this ball had gone in, the Spurs would have increased their lead to double digits.

Westbrook's pull-up three-pointer still didn't go in.

Brooks called Durant and Harden over.

Tonight, he was prepared to use the "four young masters" to death.

Popovich also called Tang Tian and Leonard over.

The not-so-wide technical stage was full of players at this time.

"Defense! Defense!"

The cheers at the scene were deafening, and the Thunder's defense was very strong.

Green's running three-pointer was defended, and Diaw didn't have a good opportunity either.

Seeing that the 24 seconds were about to expire, Ginobili shook again outside the three-point line.

This time, he used a fake three-point action that was so realistic that he tricked Sefolosha, and directly slithered into the paint.

Facing Ibaka's help defense, a sudden stop and pull-up fadeaway.

"Pa!"

"Swish!"

Ibaka's block hit Ginobili's hand, but Ginobili's shot still went in!

He had scored 12 consecutive points!

"This is Ginobili, who many people thought was blown out!" O'Neal continued to hype from the sidelines.

"He may be bald, but he's still very strong," Barkley said with a big laugh.

The game entered a dead ball, and both sides made substitutions one after another.

Ginobili made an additional free throw, and the Spurs increased their lead to double digits.

What was supposed to come was still coming.

The Thunder switched back to the "four young masters," and their offensive firepower finally continued.

But after Tang Tian and Leonard came up for the Spurs, they still couldn't play their best fast breaks.

Moreover, after Ginobili was heavily defended on the offensive end, he began to show off his fancy passes, and the Spurs' offense didn't fall behind.

At the end of the half, the Spurs led the Thunder 55-45 by 10 points.

Judging from the score in this half, Brooks' lineup arrangement was obviously not as good as Popovich's.

Popovich's starting lineup adjustment had a miraculous effect.

"I owe you half a bottle of '80 vintage wine."

When returning to the locker room at halftime, Popovich smiled and pointed at Tang Tian.

The outside world would attribute the fame to him, but only he himself knew that the credit belonged to Tang Tian.

Half a bottle of '80 vintage red wine was already worth this price.

Tang Tian nodded after hearing this, but couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart.

Why did he feel that he had a tendency to be designated as a drinking buddy by Popovich?

Back in the second half, Brooks made adjustments, putting Harden back on the bench.

The Thunder's offensive firepower decreased, but Westbrook found his touch and scored with consecutive breakthroughs and shots.

At the end of the third quarter, the score was 73-80.

The Thunder had recovered some points, and the 7-point difference still made the game full of suspense.

Brooks' halftime adjustment was pretty good. He used the combination of Harden and Durant to start the fourth quarter. He had learned his lesson from the first half.

On the Spurs' side, Parker and Tang Tian were both on the court, plus Ginobili, Diaw, and Splitter.

The Spurs attacked first, and Diaw's turnaround layup was interfered with by Ibaka.

The Thunder had a chance to reduce the point difference to within 5 points.

Harden organized, and Durant ran out for a catch-and-shoot.

Tang Tian's defensive pressure was very high, completely covering Durant's shooting sight.

"Bang!"

Durant's shot failed to hit.

There was a sigh at the scene.

At this tense moment, one ball could directly determine the trend of the entire game.

With the offense not scoring, the Thunder went all out on defense on the return.

The Spurs' hammer play couldn't be played out, and Tang Tian was closely watched as he ran out. He directly raised to the high post to screen for Ginobili who was holding the ball.

Ginobili was mismatched against Durant, a fake action to break through inward, followed by his signature step-back three-pointer.

Durant's long arm interfered.

This shot was very difficult.

"Swish!"

But Ginobili made it despite the pressure!

His 22nd point of the game!

The fans on the sidelines were restless.

Durant didn't score just now, plus Ginobili added one, this inside and outside was 5 points.

The point difference came to double digits again!

Durant was entangled by Tang Tian, and Harden held the ball to kill the basket at this time.

However, at this time, he didn't have Ginobili's sharp Euro-step. His breakthrough intention was judged by Diaw under the basket, who reached out to interfere.

Harden was forced to stop the ball, and used his butt to top Diaw and want to start again.

But he didn't notice that Tang Tian had already helped defend at this time.

"Bang!"

Tang Tian directly gave Harden a big block.

This block also stunned Harden and the Thunder.

Diaw grabbed the rebound and immediately gave it to Ginobili.

Ginobili went all the way from the backcourt, dribbling behind his back to get past Fisher, and made a light drifting layup!

The point difference was increased to 12 points!

Brooks was a little anxious and shouted at the court.

The Thunder's own defensive counterattack was not played out in this game, but instead, the Spurs played it!

At the critical moment, Harden played without the ball, taking advantage of the chance to catch the ball after Ibaka's pick-and-roll.

"Swish!"

Key ball made.

After he scored, he maintained his shooting posture, his expression slightly pretentious.

The entire Chesapeake Energy Arena was boiling.

It was coming!

It was Harden's three three-pointers that directly changed the game situation in the last game.

It was coming again now!

"Defense! Defense!"

This three-pointer also reignited the emotions of the home fans, and the shouts and cheers were overwhelming.

The Thunder's high-pressure defense made it impossible for the Spurs' offense to play out in the frontcourt.

Tang Tian's attempt to set a screen for Ginobili was also unsuccessful.

With only the last 5 seconds left for the offense, Tang Tian could only choose to pull Ginobili away.

Ginobili had a one-on-one opportunity against Harden.

Crossover, breakthrough feint, step-back three-pointer.

Harden seemed to see himself, successfully predicting Ginobili's choice, and pounced on the block with all his might.

However, Ginobili didn't shoot, but waited for a while, and waited for Harden to pounce on him, took the initiative to lean against him, and then shot.

"Beep!"

The referee blew his whistle, Ginobili tricked Harden into fouling!

"Swish!"

Moreover, the ball went in the next second!

3+1!

Ginobili's 27th point of the game!

The fans at the scene were stunned.

This was the Ginobili who they said was blown out by Harden!

This was Ginobili, who was already 34 years old!

Tang Tian looked excited and rushed up to give Ginobili a hard high-five.

Ginobili was teaching Harden how to behave!