Since the Spurs trailed the Pacers by as many as 12 points after the end of the third quarter, this directly led to the Spurs having to send some of their main players at the beginning of the fourth quarter to try to narrow the difference between the two sides to an acceptable range before the decisive battle.

But on the Pacers side, Rick Carlisle is also clearly not ready to give the Spurs such a chance, and when the Spurs sent Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, the Pacers also sent Meng Xu, Nn Hilario and James Posey.

In order to quickly recover the score, the Spurs came up with a decisive posture at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the game, no way, who let them fall behind too much in front, 12 minutes looks long, but it is also very short, if they can't come up with a state that can suppress the Pacers in the first few minutes, then as the game time passes, their chances and hopes will become smaller and smaller.

Especially when Meng Xu is still on the court, they must show a more stable and crazy game state than the Pacers to ensure the success rate of every offense, if they play in the fourth quarter, like the third quarter, then it is almost impossible for the Spurs to chase the score back.

On the Spurs' side, Tim Duncan has no problem, one-on-one single defense, the Pacers have not yet been able to limit Tim Duncan's players, as for the bag, Tim Duncan's ability to share the ball is also very good, but the problem lies in the Spurs' outside players, they missed consecutive empty positions in a certain period of the third quarter, and almost completely buried the Spurs.

Maybe it's to let those main players rest a little longer, or maybe they no longer trust their shooting, Popovich arranged for Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to continue to play, and also directly arranged for several pure shooters to follow the two of them, Brent Barry, Matt Bonner, Jacqui Vaughn, although they didn't play much time in the playoffs, but their three-point shooting percentage, is very stable and very efficient, especially Brent Barry and Jay Vaughan, Their three-point shooting percentage is even closer to 50 percent.

With such a lineup, Popovich's intention is obvious, using Tim Duncan to establish an advantage on the inside, so as to find more opportunities for this group of pitchers outside, and play well, a wave of three-point rain can erase the gap of more than a dozen points.

For Popovich's routine, Rick Carlisle is undoubtedly insightful, but Rick Carlisle is still a little hesitant to change his defensive strategy against Tim Duncan, because the Pacers' current advantage is based on Tim Duncan's bag and Meng Xu's sudden outburst. The Pacers are likely to be overturned by the Spurs, and after hesitation, Rick Carlisle finally chose to wait and see what happens, and then make the next step according to the situation on the court.

"Meng Xu's physical strength is really strong, he didn't rest for a minute in the first three quarters of the game, and now he is playing in the fourth quarter." Michaels on the sidelines, looking at Meng Xu, who was leaning on Brent Barry on the court, turned his back directly to break through and then hit a jumper, Michaels was somewhat surprised by Meng Xu's physical condition, the intensity of confrontation in the playoffs is different from the regular season, not to mention that Meng Xu is still the key defensive object of the Spurs, in this case, without a minute of rest, he can still play so efficiently, such a physical reserve is definitely very strong.

"El, I think it's normal, the intensity of our physical confrontation is much stronger than it is now, and we don't often play the whole game, do you say Reggie." After Michaels's words fell, Barkley immediately jumped out to refute him, for Barkley, it is normal for Barkley to play a game for 40 minutes, or even play the whole game, and even in the finals of the 92-93 season, Barkley only rested for 1 minute per game in the 6-game series, so Barkley was very dismissive of Michaels' praise of Meng Xu, and even pulled Reggie Miller out to refute Michaels.

"Charles, this is different, Meng Ke has to face the Spurs' bag the whole time, and he has as many as 30 shots today, which is very physically exhausting, if it were me, I would have been tired and paralyzed on the ground." Reggie Miller is undoubtedly on the side of Meng Xu, of course, for the sake of the show, even if Reggie Miller is not on Meng Xu's side, he will not echo Bacchus's statement, he will only scoff at it, and then refute it, no way, for a commentator, ratings and gimmicks always come first.

Hearing Reggie Miller secretly refute his words, Barkley is also a black line, but Barkley did not continue to talk about this topic, but shifted the topic to the court, because Barkley knew that if he continued to talk about it, he was afraid that it would become one of the three of them besieging him.

The Pacers' tactics in the fourth quarter are still very simple, that is, let Meng Xu hold the ball and play alone, whether you pack it or not, you can play when the opportunity is right, and your teammates can pass it if they are in a better position, but the Pacers as a whole are still dominated by Meng Xu's singles. As for the Spurs' tactics, they are also very simple, using Tim Duncan to attract the pack, and then create opportunities for a group of shooters on the outside, to put it bluntly, whether it is the Pacers or the Spurs, they are now playing superstar tactics, this simple, primitive, but also the most effective tactic.

What the Pacers and the Spurs are competing now is actually Meng Xu and the Spurs' group of shooters, who has the stronger ability to grasp the opportunity and who has a higher shooting percentage, and the Spurs' group of backup shooters obviously lived up to Popovich's trust in them, Brent Barry, Matt Bonner and Jacqui Vaughn each hit a three-pointer after the start of the fourth quarter.

"Rick needs to call a timeout to adjust a bit." Although Meng Xu also shot two of the three after the start of the fourth quarter, the Pacers were still beaten by the Spurs 9-4, and the difference between the two sides was narrowed to only 7 points.