Chapter 854: Who Fell Off the Altar?

At the end of the first quarter, the on-site cameras gave Popovich a close-up of his face.

Before the game started, he was full of confidence and clamored to let the Grizzlies remember the feeling of losing streak and to make the Grizzlies fall off the altar.

But now, the old man looks lonely, without the air he had 12 minutes ago.

28 to 18, the Spurs didn't even score 20 points in the first quarter.

Not only did they not gain any advantage over the Grizzlies, but the defending champion opened the point difference to 10 points in the first quarter.

Whiteside scored 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in the first quarter. Another inspirational story of "diaosi counterattack" began to circulate among fans.

But Link knew very well where there were so many inspirational stories. That guy Whiteside just wants to feel more comfortable when playing 2K...

"Well done Hassan, you completed the task very well in the first quarter. Keep up the game, the game is still long." During the break, Joger also specially praised Whiteside.

At first, Joger only hoped that Whiteside would not be beaten and could give Gasol some more rest time.

Little did they know that this guy, who seemed to have well-developed limbs and a simple mind, actually made the Spurs lose face inside. An alley-oop, and a jumping dunk after receiving a pass from Conley.

Instead, Whiteside began to wreak havoc on the Spurs' basket.

As a small substitute, scoring 4 points in a single quarter is already an outstanding result. The Spurs certainly didn't expect that they would encounter such a strong blocker.

Not being able to gain an inside advantage is a huge failure for the Spurs, not to mention that they are still slightly at a disadvantage at the basket.

Becky Harmon didn't know what to do during the break. She was only thankful that she was an assistant coach now and that Popovich was there to support her.

If she were the head coach, her team would be completely doomed.

The famous women's basketball player couldn't help but look up at the championship banner on the dome of FedEx Arena. Is this the strength of the world's strongest team?

"In the second quarter of the game, we looked for opportunities outside the three-point line. We took action when we had the opportunity and tried to equalize the score as soon as possible!" Popovich changed his strategy.

He no longer expects to find an advantage inside, nor does he expect Leonard to freeze Link.

The Spurs must use their superb team offense and matching ultra-high shooting percentage to establish an advantage.

Although this was just the end of the first quarter, Becky Hammon knew very well that the Spurs had already lost half of the game.

None of their pre-match plans worked, which was a devastating blow to the entire team's preparations.

Now that the Spurs have suddenly changed their strategy, Popovich is just taking a gamble.

Whether the bet can be won depends on how the players execute it.

After the start of the second quarter, the Spurs, who originally emphasized breakthroughs and inside attacks, suddenly spread their firepower outside the three-point line.

Danny Green took shots one after another, and Leonard also chose to shoot from outside the three-point line.

But perimeter defense is exactly the Grizzlies' strength.

Conley, Link and Butler are all best defensive team players. Even Tony Allen on the bench has good defensive abilities.

The Spurs want to open up the situation on the outside, which is completely hitting the hardest part of the Grizzlies' defense.

And the end result of doing this is usually that you will get a bloody head.

Throughout the second quarter, the Spurs took a total of 9 shots from beyond the three-point line, but only hit 1 goal, and their efficiency further declined.

The Grizzlies' offense, led by Link, played vigorously.

Link not only scored by himself in the second quarter, but also completely liberated his teammates.

His scalpel-like passing skills could always create a gap in the Spurs' defense.

Before the end of the second quarter, the Spurs were already 18 points behind.

Mark Jackson kept shaking his head, "If the situation cannot be reversed in the second half, then this will undoubtedly be a disappointing game. Popovich and the San Antonio media were very arrogant before the game, but their performance and the game The previous attitude was completely opposite.”

"I also said before the game that although two people were injured, the Grizzlies are still the best team in the league. It will definitely not work if the Spurs treat the Grizzlies as their previous 11 opponents." Hubby Brown also echoed that the Spurs' performance today, let alone giving the Grizzlies two consecutive losses, could not even cause trouble to the Grizzlies.

Just when the two commentators complained that the Spurs were not strong enough, Link held the ball in the middle distance on the right side and used a step-back jumper to avoid Leonard's defense.

Leonard tried his best to block the ball without fouling. It seemed that Link did take the shot amid serious interference.

But while the red light on the backboard was on, watching the basketball hit the net without any bias.

Once again, Link scored against Leonard's impeccable defense, and it was a buzzer-beater.

After this goal, the Grizzlies officially widened the point difference to double digits!

66 to 46, the Grizzlies were unstoppable today.

The Spurs have no advantage at all, whether outside the three-point line or inside.

Popovich has no choice now. He can only use Diaw to replace Split and play one large and four small.

However, the reason why the Spurs lost so miserably in the Western Conference Finals last season was because they competed with the Grizzlies with one player and four players...

In terms of scoring power, no one is better than the Grizzlies.

Link completed the buzzer-beating shot, and Leonard left in front of Link dejectedly. All the prestige he had built up in the previous 11 games collapsed in this half.

The reporters originally prepared a lot of questions to ask Popovich, because they originally predicted that the Spurs would lead at halftime.

As a result, they now have to stand in front of Link, "Link, how do you evaluate Hassan Whiteside's performance today? How much impact do you think he had on today's game situation?"

Before the game started, they probably didn't even think of killing these reporters. In this critical battle, they actually talked about a temporary worker with a 10-day short contract!

"What do you think? You all saw his excitement. You should ask Gregg Popovich if he is disappointed with this game. I really want to experience the feeling of losing streak, but it's a pity that the Spurs didn't This ability.”

Link smiled, all the grievances and unwillingness he felt before the game were released at this moment.

The reporter watched Link turn around and leave, helplessly shaking his head at the camera, "I can only say that the Memphis Grizzlies are the best team in the league at signing 10-day short contracts. There was Link a few years ago, but now let's see , how will Hassan Whiteside perform in the second half?"

In the second half, the situation was almost unchanged from before.

Whiteside also had the experience of successfully defending Duncan twice in the second half, and these two defenses were enough to turn him from an unknown to everyone.

When Link completed aerial cooperation with Whiteside again in the ninth minute of the fourth quarter, Whiteside scored his 10th point of the day, scoring 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks!

Whiteside's scoring total in the previous two NBA seasons combined was only 29 points. And today, he scored 10 points in one game!

After more than two seasons, Whiteside is finally truly ready to land in the NBA.

Of course, after this assist, Link also scored 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

While scoring his first triple-double of the season, Link's career total triple-double has also surpassed Kobe!

A total of 22 triple-doubles in his career. This data may not yet be ranked in the league's historical records. But it only took 4 years to surpass Kobe, who was in his 19th year in the league, which is undoubtedly great.

You know, Jordan, who has played in the league on and off for 15 years, has only had 30 triple-doubles in his career.

Not surprisingly, Link will be able to surpass Jordan in triple-doubles this season!

No player can get so many triple-doubles in such a short period of time.

After this landmark assist, the Spurs trailed the Grizzlies by 27 points.

With only 3 minutes left in the game, the Grizzlies can be said to have won early.

Popovich stopped the game, probably preparing to withdraw all the main players.

Link and Whiteside smiled at each other and walked off the court together after high-fiving each other. ,

Three minutes later, when the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the score was fixed at 123-101.

The Spurs, who claimed to push the Grizzlies off the altar, actually highlighted the Grizzlies' status.

After the game, Popovich immediately turned around and planned to leave.

But at the entrance of the players' tunnel, he was still caught by reporters.

"Greg, can you talk about this game? The Grizzlies defeated the Spurs by just adding an unknown small role. What do you think of this defeat? By the way, Leonard let Link easily After scoring a triple-double, do you think he is still the best defender in the league?"

After hearing the question, Popovich turned pale and refused the interview.

The gray-haired old coach found that it was not he who pushed the Grizzly Bear off the altar, but his repeated strength when facing Link that made him somewhat insecure.

It's like there's a miserable Jerry Sloan behind Jordan.

In Link's legendary career, Popovich has completely become the background of the legend.