"Wow, the Spurs really picked two incredible rookies back then!"
At the Commentary Booth, O'Neal had already entered full hype-man mode.
"Yes, it's really hard to imagine. They picked two Number One Players in the League back to back, and the retired one was even the Number One Player in the Universe."
Barkley piled on even more praise.
Ever since his "showdown" with Tang Tian at the Celebrity Game, he had become a die-hard Tang Tian fanboy.
Kenny Smith could not help laughing at his two goofy partners.
But hype aside, the facts stood. After Tang Tian retired, Leonard was stronger overall on both ends of the floor than Antetokounmpo and Durant.
The Spurs' dominance after the opening tip also proved that.
The situation on the court was identical to the previous two games. The Pelicans fell into a passive position right from the start.
Holiday brought the ball into the frontcourt, and Davis actively called for the ball at the right elbow.
That had not happened often earlier in the series, but Holiday reacted quickly. After signaling for everyone to clear out, he fed the ball inside.
Davis faced up against Aldridge and used a series of footwork moves to muscle past him.
Leonard's help defense came quickly as always, leaving Davis without a direct shot opportunity.
But Davis seemed to have anticipated it. He had already been watching his teammates and immediately whipped the ball to Ariza in the corner.
The Spurs used Help Defense Rotation to cover their help defense. As Leonard came over to help, Aldridge, who had been beaten, was already closing out on Ariza.
But that kind of help defense had a timing gap. Davis moved the ball early, and Aldridge could not get there in time.
Ariza got the shot off quickly and