Chương 181: Chapter 181: Two Consecutive Losses
"Beep!!!"
The game began.
Gortat and Splitter jumped for the tip-off.
Gortat finally won the jump ball and successfully tipped it to Nash. Nash dribbled to the front court, and Gortat came up to set a pick.
Nash passed the ball to Gortat, who then passed it to Curry. Curry passed it to Thompson... The ball movement was still smooth.
Thompson, after receiving the ball, hesitated before shooting.
"Clang~~~"
Thompson's first shot missed.
Duncan grabbed the rebound, and the Spurs quickly launched an attack. Parker drove past Nash and scored with a layup!
0:2!!!
The Suns were down by two points at the start.
The Suns attacked again. This time, Nash dribbled to the front court but couldn't find a good scoring opportunity, so he passed the ball to Wade Dong.
Wade Dong held the ball in the three-point area, with Duncan defending him.
Wade Dong attempted a fadeaway jumper but missed!
Splitter protected the rim and passed the ball to Parker. Parker dribbled to the front court, patiently waiting for all the players to get into position before passing the ball to Duncan. Duncan, facing Gortat's defense, easily scored with a bank shot!
0:4!!!
It was clear that Popovich had analyzed the Suns before the game.
He understood the weaknesses of this Suns team very well... So, he adopted an offensive strategy similar to the Lakers, taking advantage of the inside game whenever possible. If Wade Dong was defending the power forward position, the Suns' perimeter would be left to Curry and Nash, allowing Parker to penetrate and score.
The Suns were still adjusting, with smooth passing but poor rhythm.
As a result, their shooting percentage dropped significantly.
Curry, Thompson, Wade Dong, and Nash—these four players were clearly not in sync, each playing their own game.
This repeated the first quarter of the game against the Lakers.
Moreover, the Spurs were even harder to beat than the Lakers because the Spurs played team basketball, making it easier for them to exploit the Suns' weaknesses.
...
"Make a substitution!"
"Adjust the strategy!"
The fans were getting anxious.
...
But tonight, Coach Kidd was very calm, as if he was sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right moment.
The Suns were already down by 15 points in the first quarter, but Coach Kidd made no substitutions until there were two minutes left in the first quarter. He then substituted Nash and Thompson, leaving Wade Dong and Curry on the court.
However, the Suns' rhythm had already been disrupted.
With Wade Dong and Curry on the court, they could barely keep up with the Spurs but couldn't close the gap.
Popovich occasionally glanced at Coach Kidd, muttering, "Kidd is still too inexperienced."
Who said coaches aren't important?
In fact, in a basketball game, the importance of a coach is no less than that of the star player. With the Suns' roster, Popovich was confident he could build a super team.
In Popovich's view, Coach Kidd's inexperience lay in his unwillingness to bench Curry or Nash.
If Curry or Nash were benched, the Suns' lineup would be more reasonable. Star players can also come off the bench. Look at Ginobili; he's a star player and is happy coming off the bench.
...
The first half ended.
39:51!!!
The Suns trailed the Spurs by 12 points at halftime, scoring only 39 points, the lowest first-half score since Wade Dong joined the Suns.
The Suns fans had never felt so frustrated!
The Suns had only lost five games this season and had never suffered consecutive losses. Were they about to experience their first two-game losing streak?
This was a team aiming to break the Bulls' record.
Moreover, Curry and Thompson were still developing and had not yet become superstars. Their performance in the last two games had fans questioning Curry's abilities. Maybe Curry wasn't as good as Bynum?
Meanwhile, the Warriors, with Bynum, had won two consecutive games!
...
In the Suns' locker room, Coach Kidd was even calmer than after the first game. He refused to change his tactics.
Apart from giving a pep talk, he sat there calmly.
"Coach Kidd..."
Wade Dong knew that Coach Kidd couldn't be indifferent to the outcome of this game.
After the game against the Lakers, Coach Kidd had been heavily criticized by the fans. Yet, he still didn't change his tactics for this game, making the Suns' two consecutive losses inevitable.
Either Coach Kidd was incompetent, or he had another plan.
So far, Wade Dong hadn't interfered with Coach Kidd's tactics.
...
The second half began.
Seeing Coach Kidd still putting Curry and Nash on the court together, the fans groaned.
They thought Coach Kidd was foolish! This game was likely another loss.
Indeed, the Suns' offense was still not smooth.
There were many passes, but no one except Wade Dong was decisive in shooting.
Moreover, Wade Dong's shooting touch was off in this game, frequently missing shots against Duncan's defense.
The score gradually widened in favor of the Spurs.
Coach Kidd didn't call a timeout, letting the five players on the court figure it out.
"Boom!!!"
With Duncan's dunk, the score was 82:69!!!
The Suns still trailed the Spurs by 13 points.
With Wade Dong, Nash, Curry, and Thompson, the Suns had only scored 69 points in three quarters, which the fans couldn't accept.
In the Suns' final possession of the third quarter, Duncan said to Wade Dong, "You can't play like this."
"It's just the regular season~"
Wade Dong replied nonchalantly, "We'll see the real deal in the playoffs."
Duncan laughed, "But you're going to lose this game."
"Hehe~"
This time, Wade Dong didn't respond to Duncan.
"Clang~"
With Curry's missed mid-range shot, the third quarter ended.
...
Wade Dong sat on the bench, sipping the drink handed to him by the ball boy.
Coach Kidd was encouraging the players, "We're only down by 13 points. That's nothing for us. Just come back in the fourth quarter."
"Come on, come on, come on..."
But the Suns' morale was low, and their cheers were weak.
"Sigh..."
Coach Kidd sighed.
The fourth quarter began.
The Suns' lineup changed to McGrady, Green, Middleton, Varick, and Frye.
This arrangement was even more puzzling.
McGrady played for only two minutes before being replaced by Tucker. In the following two minutes, the Spurs hit three consecutive three-pointers, extending their lead to 20 points.
Wade Dong and Curry didn't return to the court.
The Suns lost another game, suffering their first two-game losing streak of the season.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực