Popovich had also spotted the problem from the sideline. At first, he hadn't paid much attention to Little Tiger Tagore.
But when he saw how aggressively Little Tiger Tagore was defending and how he kept wearing X down with constant physical pressure, he called out to X from the sideline:
"Stop trying to score one-on-one. Run some plays. Use some pick-and-rolls."
He also shouted to the other players, "Set screens for X as he brings the ball up. Help him get it across half court!"
It was the Raptors' turn to attack.
With Charlie Hannum's screen, Zhang Jiacheng reached the mid-range area, then bounced a pass to Charlie Hannum, who was rolling to the basket.
Charlie Hannum finished with a thunderous dunk.
Before Pang Bo arrived, Charlie had been the team's starting center. His offensive ability ranked near the bottom among all the starting centers in the Entire League, but he could still easily catch a pass on the roll and slam it home.
The Spurs attacked next.
This time, just as expected, their Small Forward came over to screen for X, helping him shake off Tagore.
But the moment he got free of Tagore, he saw someone waiting for him up ahead.
It was none other than the guy the Raptors had picked sixth in the First Round this year: Big Lock Rock.
And Rock wasn't waiting for X near the half-court line. He'd stepped several paces forward to guard X directly.
X hurriedly changed direction from side to side, trying to get past Rock, but Rock's lateral movement was so quick that he shut him down completely.
X could only force his way past on the left with his speed, using his body to bump Rock. But when he did, he found that Rock hadn't budged an inch.