For the first quarter of this game, Gregg Popovich was genuinely dissatisfied.
He had thought they could comfortably hold on to what had been a near-perfect start, but who would have expected the Boston Celtics to actually tie the score in the end?
The game had now entered the rotation phase.
To be honest, the thought of it made Popovich feel a trace of worry—one could even call it fear.
After all, compared to the Boston Celtics' rotation unit, the San Antonio Spurs' bench lineup was simply outclassed.
Setting everything else aside, Giannis Antetokounmpo alone was enough to give the Spurs' rotation unit a massive headache.
In Popovich's eyes, Giannis Antetokounmpo was a lesser version of Goodwin.
People had always praised his keen eye for talent, but only he himself knew that compared with Goodwin's eye for talent, the gap was anything but small.
At the same time, besides Giannis Antetokounmpo, another player in the Celtics' rotation unit had drawn Popovich's close attention—Nikola Jokic.
It was said that after the Celtics drafted Nikola Jokic, Goodwin had even made a special trip to Jokic's hometown himself.
From the looks of it, Nikola Jokic might have held an even slightly higher place in Goodwin's mind than Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Even so, Popovich believed that whether it was Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic, both possessed the potential to become franchise cornerstone players.
As long as they were carefully developed and properly utilized, they would surely become indispensable pillars of their respective teams in the future.
To be honest, Popovich truly coveted both of them!
Although the team already had a fierce player like Kawhi Leonard, objectively speaking, Leonard's athletic gifts were not among the very best in the league.
Ever since Tim Duncan retired, the team had indeed managed to keep moving forward on