The air in the locker room during halftime seemed to freeze.
" Kevin." Doc Rivers turned around, his gaze falling on the figure in the corner with a towel over his head. "In the second half, you don't need to guard Tim Duncan so closely anymore. Shift your defensive focus to help defense."
The moment he finished speaking, the towel was ripped off. Garnett stood up abruptly, his young face displaying an undeniable stubbornness.
" Doc, trust me. I can do both of these things well."
"For the entire first half, he showed little desire to score," Doc Rivers said calmly and confidently. "He was using himself as bait to create opportunities for his teammates on the perimeter and cutting inside."
Doc Rivers surveyed the entire team, took a deep breath, and patted the clipboard.
He wants to fish, but we'll just not take the bait.
"From now on, let him off the hook."
Garnett nodded.
The locker room fell into an eerie silence.
Chris Paul Pierce frowned slightly, breaking the oppressive silence first. " Doc, what if he opens up?"
Doc Rivers turned around, his gaze falling on the young forward, and said calmly, " Chris Paul, he only scored 6 points in the first half."
"But..."
"I counted," Dikembe Mutombo suddenly spoke, his deep voice echoing in the empty room. "In the first half, David Robinson had at least four dunks under the basket. If Kevin could get back to the basket in time, he wouldn't have had that many opportunities."
From a purely tactical standpoint, this decision is almost impeccable. Facing a dominant center who scored only 6 points in the entire first half and spent most of the time detached from the team's offensive system, what substantial loss would you actually suffer by choosing to take a step back and defend? If he doesn't shoot, the whole team can secure their positions and protect the paint. If he does dare to shoot, it's a much more worthwhile trade than letting David Robinson repeatedly dunk under open baskets and completely tear the paint defense to shreds. Letting a cold-handed opponent shoot is a much better deal.
Gary Payton leaned against the locker, grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his face, and frowned slightly. "What about me? How am I supposed to play in the second half?"
Doc Rivers looked at the veteran, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes, but more so, unwavering trust. " Gary, you continue to be the main attacker. Avery Johnson simply can't stop you; this is the only way we can keep the score close right now."
Doc Rivers took a deep breath, then surveyed the tense and exhausted faces one last time. "From now on, we'll collapse our defense and protect the basket at all costs. We absolutely cannot let Robinson run rampant in the paint anymore."
Garnett was silent for a few seconds; he chose to trust his coach.
At that moment, Doc Rivers stood in front of the tactical board, convinced that they had finally found the key to victory.
At the start of the third quarter, Tim Duncan moved to the high post, raised his hand to ask for the ball, and stood firmly in position.
This time, Garnett didn't lunge out like he did in the first half.
He stepped back, one step, two steps, retreating back into the restricted area. His arms were outstretched, positioned near the basket.
Meanwhile, Robinson moved to the wing, while Mutombo calmly anchored the defense, no longer rushing to blindly expand the defensive line.
Elliott used his teammates' screens to sneak in from the baseline, attempting to receive the ball.
Garnett reacted extremely quickly, making a quick sidestep to block the pass, his arms outstretched, completely shutting down the deadly passing lane.
Seeing his outside shot blocked, Robinson attempted a forced drive to the basket. Garnett instantly spun around, trapping himself between the defender and the rim.
The ball can't be passed out.
The Spurs' smooth passing came to an abrupt halt in front of the impenetrable collapse defense, and the 24-second violation light came on.
In the next possession, the Spurs came back strong. Tim Duncan tried to pass the ball to the wing again, but Pierce, who was prepared, anticipated the move and stole the ball. Garnett quickly threw out a long pass, and Gary Payton made a lightning-fast run down the court and easily scored a layup.
They've gone on a 7-0 run!
Doc Rivers clenched his fists tightly on the sidelines, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes.
Garnett turned and ran back to the backcourt, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.
The pent-up frustration and stagnation that had been weighing on his chest for a whole game and a half suddenly dissipated at this moment, accompanied by a series of successful defensive plays.
But then, the Spurs subtly changed their offensive strategy.
Tim Duncan still moved to the high post, but this time he didn't rush for the ball. Instead, he turned and set a solid screen for Elliott. Elliott took the opportunity to get around the post and easily received the ball.
Garnett hesitated for a moment on the defensive end: should he try to stop Elliott or guard Tim Duncan?
In that split second of hesitation, Elliott had already raised his hand to pass the ball, and the basketball found Robinson cutting down the court with pinpoint accuracy.
Mutombo was a fraction of a second too late to get in position, and Robinson dunked the ball in with both hands.
Midway through the third quarter, Tim Duncan moved to the high post for the fourth time and calmly received the ball.
Garnett followed the previous tactic, retreating to defend and sinking back to the basket.
Tim Duncan held the ball, his perpetually calm, even somewhat wooden eyes sweeping over Boston's fully collapsed paint defense, finally settling on the young man who had retreated to the basket.
The next second, Tim Duncan slightly bent his knees and suddenly rose up. At the edge of the free-throw line, he deftly flicked his wrist.
The movements were fluid and precise, without the slightest hesitation.
Swish.
Hollow core into the net.
Garnett stood under the basket, slightly startled, but didn't take it to heart. It was just a mid-range jumper; this was the price to pay for strategically leaving the opponent open. He had only scored a paltry 6 points in the first half, so making this one was perfectly acceptable.
However, in the next round...
The familiar script played out again: high post, ball raised, Garnett instinctively retreats to defend.
Tim Duncan jumps.
Swish.
Then, in the next round.
In the same position, with the same ball, Garnett retreated again.
Take off.
Swish.
Same position, same height, same shooting wrist that is so gentle it's almost cold.
Once, twice, three times.
When the third mid-range shot swished through the net, Garnett's expression finally changed completely.
Doc Rivers froze and called a timeout.
But when he rushed into the middle of the players with his tactical board in hand, he opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
Because he finally realized what kind of corner he had been forced into.
Should Garnett stick close to him? Tim Duncan calmly took the ball and positioned himself high up, drawing Garnett to the perimeter. This created an opening in the paint behind him, allowing Robinson and his teammates to cut in and complete the attack.
Did Garnett want to get back? Tim Duncan immediately started shooting, scoring consecutive points with mid-range jumpers.
He took both paths tonight: he chose the first one in the first half and the second one in the second half.
This is precisely where Tim Duncan's problem lies.
He just stands there and lets you choose, but no matter what you choose, you'll always reveal a weakness.
The final moments of the game were Gary Payton's solo performance.
He didn't care how the tactics on the court evolved. He only knew one thing... Avery Johnson simply couldn't defend him.
So he repeatedly received the ball, turned his back, lowered his shoulder, and forced his way in to score against the defense.
Low position, again a low position.
He scored 32 points by himself.
That was the only thing Boston could still boast about that night.
At the end of the game, Garnett had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, Pierce had 13 points.
The final whistle blows.
91 to 88.
The Spurs secured a victory.
The score is now tied 1-1.
In the center of the court, Tim Duncan dribbled the ball, then turned and walked towards the players' tunnel.
He finished the game with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists, shooting 7-for-15.
As he passed Garnett, he paused slightly and gave his young rival a calm look.
You defended very well.
Garnett stood frozen in place, repeatedly pondering those four words in his mind.
He knew in his heart that Tim Duncan was not mocking him.
This is the truth.
But why does it sound so unpleasant?
He did indeed contain Tim Duncan.
But he couldn't stop the Spurs.
After the game, a large crowd was slowly making its way out of the tunnel of the New Garden.
Lin Qi and Matt Damon walked at the back of the group, with Mark Wahlberg beside them holding the newly acquired match statistics sheet, his brow furrowed and his face full of confusion.
"14 points? I thought Tim Duncan was going to score at least 30 points tonight. Garnett defended much better this game, how did we still lose?"
"Yeah, right," Ben Affleck continued, "And Gary Payton scored 32 points tonight, practically dominating Avery Johnson. Logically, they should have won."
"In my opinion, it's all about Doc Rivers' in-game management," Matt Damon interjected. "The second half felt different. If Garnett had defended like he did in the first half, we definitely would have won."
"Didn't you watch the first half?" Mark Wahlberg immediately retorted. " Garnett defended very well, but the Spurs still led by 9 points. How many dunks did David Robinson do under the basket? Five or six?"
"Not only that," Ben Affleck frowned, pointing to the Spurs ' scoreboard, "Look at the Spurs ' bench and starters. Tonight, a total of seven players on their team scored in double figures! What good is it if you only let Tim Duncan score 14 points? The Spurs aren't playing with just one person."
The surrounding argument was buzzing, but Lin Qi walked to the side with his hands in his pockets, remaining silent the entire time.
Suddenly, without warning, a scene flashed through his mind: a regular season game at the beginning of the season. Garnett was like a wild beast with its eyes wide open, running wildly all over the court, single-handedly scoring 28 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
Garnett in that game was as fiery as a burning fire.
But tonight? Facing Tim Duncan, who was also only 23 years old but incredibly composed, Garnett played with extreme intelligence and composure, and his defensive execution was flawless.
Garnett's final stats weren't particularly bad: 16 points and 11 rebounds.
But they still lost.
Do you know what the real difference is between the two of them?
Lin Qi suddenly stopped and spoke abruptly.
The friends immediately stopped arguing and turned to look at him.
" Tim Duncan doesn't need to prove himself to anyone in this league," Lin Qi said calmly and confidently, meeting their gazes. "When he's on the court, all he needs to do is win. But Kevin Garnett can't; he has to prove himself to everyone."
"Is there... is there any fundamental difference between the two?" Ben Affleck paused, taken aback.
"The difference is," Lin Qi waved the statistics sheet in his hand, "That Tim Duncan played four years in college, winning almost every college basketball honor, entering the league as the undisputed number one draft pick, and reaching the NBA Finals in just two years. Garnett, on the other hand, went straight from high school to the league. His record-breaking $126 million contract extension, though ultimately not finalized, caused a huge uproar across the country. Even now, some say that his agent's exorbitant demands and greed directly led to the league lockout. Therefore, every second Garnett stepped onto the court carried a heavy burden... He had to prove to everyone that he deserved it all, that he was better than anyone else."
"But on the field, sometimes being too eager to prove yourself better than others can actually hinder your chances of winning."
After hearing these words, the friends beside him gradually slowed down.
A night breeze blew through the passageway, and the group of people looked at each other, falling into a long silence.