At the start of the second half, the Spurs assigned Jerome Kersey to guard Gary Payton.
Gary Payton tried to push in twice in the low post, but couldn't budge the ball an inch.
He made one of four shots in the third quarter.
But this man, who had been proud for twelve years, built his reputation on defense and playmaking, and whose sharp tongue had clashed with the entire league, did something he rarely did that night...
He doesn't want the ball anymore.
All our energy was focused on defense and playmaking: shutting down Avery Johnson's passing lanes, grabbing every defensive rebound we could get, and launching fast breaks as soon as we landed.
In the third quarter, he recorded seven assists.
On one fast break, he made a long pass to Pierce, who was making a run down the court, and Pierce slammed it home with both hands.
Gary Payton didn't even turn his head; he turned and ran back.
Harper, watching from the bench, smiled.
When the score reached 79-63, Popovich made a gesture to Mario Elie on the sidelines.
In the next round, before the ball had even crossed halfway, Elie fouled Bo Outlaw directly.
Fouling tactics.
In 1999, this was the standard, and most brutal, the Answer to a big man who couldn't shoot free throws. And the entire league knew that Bo Outlaw's free throw shooting was the laughing stock of his career.
Stepping onto the free-throw line, Outlaw didn't immediately ask the referee for the ball. He habitually took a deep breath, lowered his head, and focused his gaze intently on his feet.
The left toe was precisely aligned with the wood grain of the floor in the center of the free throw line. The right foot was moved back exactly half an inch.
He silently repeated this set of preparatory movements, which had become ingrained in his muscle memory, for over a year.
This habit dates back to the time when he was teammates with Mark Price.
One day, after the team practice ended, his teammates left one after another, leaving only Outlaw practicing free throws on the other half of the court. Thump. Thump. Thump. The dull thuds of metal hitting metal echoed under the empty dome.
Price had stopped his practice at some point. He held the basketball, watched quietly from the sidelines for a while, then walked to the free-throw line and said in a gentle and calm tone, "Your touch is fine."
Outlaw stopped what he was doing and turned around.
"I just watched you take twenty free throws." Price lowered his head and lightly traced the area behind the free throw line with the edge of his shoe. "But not a single one of those twenty shots was exactly the same."
Price looked at the sweating giant, his tone still calm. "Every shooting motion starts from your feet. If your basic stance keeps changing, then the power from your upper body and the arc of your shot will all be distorted."
For the remainder of that season, whenever regular practice ended, Price would stay and practice with him in an empty stadium for forty minutes.
And so, in the monotonous repetition day after day, Outlaw's abysmal free throw percentage quietly improved from 47% to 68%.
In a league brimming with talent, dunks, and game-winning shots, this story has never been reported by the media. After all, a veteran nearing retirement teaching a blue-collar worker how to position himself at the free-throw line isn't exactly newsworthy.
Bounce the ball three times, release it, and it goes in.
Second free throw, made.
The Spurs committed another foul, and the Spurs made one of two free throws.
Another foul, two free throws made.
Another foul, one of two free throws made.
Five rounds, eight out of ten free throws made.
In the sixth round, Popovich stood up and waved to the players on the court.
stop.
Outlaw turned and retreated to defense at the free-throw line, without even glancing at the bench.
End of third quarter: Boston 88-72.
In the final quarter, Popovich adjusted the way he initiated the offense.
He no longer made Tim Duncan stand around waiting for the ball.
In the first possession of the fourth quarter, the ball was in David Robinson's hands. Tim Duncan started from the weak side baseline, bypassed a screen from Elie, and ran towards the right elbow area.
Outlaw followed him out.
But by the time he got into position, the ball was already in Tim Duncan's hands. He caught the ball, turned, and shot in one fluid motion, leaving no room for the defense to interfere.
The ball went into the net cleanly.
The prerequisite for a pincer attack is knowing who to pincer and where to pincer.
Boston was able to set up the net early every time in the first three quarters because Tim Duncan was the Spurs' only initiator; as soon as the ball got to him, the two of them would immediately get going.
Now, the ball is in Robinson's hands first, and Tim Duncan is running.
You can't double-team someone who's running.
In the next possession, Boston adjusted their strategy. Outlaw moved ahead of time, diving in that direction before Tim Duncan even received the ball.
Tim Duncan did not shoot.
He passed the ball to Robinson, who cut into the basket from the other side.
A powerful dunk.
The Alamodome stood up.
The next five minutes were Tim Duncan's most aggressive five minutes in this series.
He was no longer the man who stood still waiting for the defense to double-team him. He started running, started calling for the ball, and started putting the ball into the basket again and again: a mid-range jumper from the right elbow, a turnaround layup from the left low post, a putback on a second-chance opportunity, and making both free throws without any emotion after being fouled.
Meanwhile, Boston's offense began to stall.
Outlaw and PJ were running out of energy; the two had been battling for position against taller opponents since the first quarter. Garnett missed two consecutive strong attacks, and Pierce's drive was blocked by Robinson on the backboard.
This offensive surge lasted seven minutes, with the Spurs going on a 20-7 run.
95 to 92.
The point difference was narrowed to three points.
Doc Rivers stood on the sidelines and did not call a timeout.
He kept watching the game, letting that surge of energy finish.
He only raised his hand when the score difference became three points.
Doc Rivers called a timeout without devising any complex tactics.
"Protect the backboard, then increase the speed."
"All four of them are over thirty-three years old. They'll be exhausted from running."
There are 2 minutes and 11 seconds left in the game.
Tim Duncan positioned himself to receive the ball, but P.J. Brown lowered his center of gravity and used a sliding step to block him from the power zone.
Tim Duncan turned and shot a fadeaway, P.J. Brown jumped to contest, his fingertips brushing the basketball.
The ball bounced off the front edge of the rim...
Bo Outlaw had already taken his position.
He grabbed the crucial rebound, turned, and passed it to Gary Payton on the sideline. Gary Payton made a long pass, Pierce made a fast break layup.
97 to 92.
With 1 minute and 49 seconds remaining, the Spurs, exhausted, saw their shooting percentage plummet. Tim Duncan's final shot came with 26 seconds left, and P.J. Brown's hand was still pressed against his face.
The ball bounced off the rim and was caught by Outlaw again.
The final whistle blows.
The Boston Celtics defeated the San Antonio Spurs 101-96.
The score is tied 2-2.
In the away team's locker room after the game, the statistics sheet was passed around.
P.J. Brown: 19 points, 11 rebounds.
Bo Outlaw: 14 points, 11 rebounds (6 offensive), 8-for-10 free throws.
Gary Payton: 9 points, 16 assists.
At the other end of the court, Gregg Popovich stood still, looking at the documents in the assistant coach's hand.
What was Outlaw's free throw percentage last season?
The assistant coach flipped through the numbers. "47%."
Who coached his shooting during this period?
The assistant coach flipped through the report for a while, then shook his head. "There's no record of that in the scouting report."
Popovich nodded, said nothing more, and turned to walk towards the passageway.