In the second quarter, Ellis, Dio, and Odom formed a trident to continue to exert their power, and after only three minutes of play, Popovich was forced to replace high school forward Nesterovic.

This season, Nesterovic has pitted the Spurs hard, with an annual salary of nearly 7 million, playing an average of 19 minutes per game, only 4.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Defensively, his slow pace is easy to target.

When the Spurs signed it, 03 was a rare free agent year, and the Spurs' primary goal was to find a replacement for "Admiral" Robinson.

Nesterovic chipped in 11.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in his contract year, the only time in his career that he scored in double figures, showing some inside blocking ability and scoring ability, and Popovich mistakenly thought he had the potential to become a top-10 center in the league.

It turns out that the teachings of Old Man Popovich are not useful for every player either.

The Spurs sent Muhammad, the defense was better, and the offensive end couldn't open up space, and he relied on the basket to pick up leaks when he scored, which was not good for the Lakers with excellent single defense.

The Lakers led by 30 points in the first half, and continued to crush their opponents in the second half.

Kobe Bryant played the block and dismantle first, and misplaced the Spurs on the inside line to attack by himself, attracting Bowen to chase the defense or wrap it to Yao Ming. Yao Ming organizes in the middle, passes Iguodala to cut into the air or passes to Mo Williams to catch the ball and shoot.

Rashid and Yao Ming didn't cut in the air, so they withdrew the Spurs' interior line, they didn't dare to defend together, and in the face of guards, the Lakers dared to shoot on the periphery.

Iguodala continued to exert his power, trying to hit the basket every time. Ginobili can't bear it, so he can only fake falls, but unfortunately this is the Lakers' home court, and if the referee doesn't blow it, he can only foul. Iguodala is not as bad at shooting free throws as late in his career, and he has a 72 percent shooting percentage in the playoffs, which cannot be dealt with with "shark slashing tactics".

At the end of the third quarter, Iguodala scored 32 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming also scored 20+, plus role players shot multiple three-pointers, the Lakers led 104-65 and locked the win.

Popovich was depressed by the beating, this grumpy, like to yell at the players, the referee, the road is uneven and roars the head coach sat in his seat to watch the game, the second half was particularly quiet, and gave up the game early.

The Spurs have lost many games before, but Popovich has never been beaten to the point of despair, and this time, he couldn't think of a way to beat the Lakers.

Yang Rui was not polite in garbage time, and sent a combination of Jones, Ellis, Ariza, Dior, and Odom to press the Spurs' benches and beat them up, and they could play inside and block and dismantle.

Popovich replaced the "GDP combination", and Van Exel, Barry, Finley, Mohammed, and Nesterovic were not opponents at all.

Even if he couldn't withstand the Lakers' offense, Popovich didn't change the main team, and he thought it would be more humiliating to send a starter to play the opponent's bench, especially since he was recognized as a coach who was good at rotation.

In the end, the Lakers won 138-80 and slaughtered the Spurs by 58 points.

Thankfully, with the Clippers in front, the Spurs did not set the record for the largest point margin in NBA playoff history, but it was the worst loss in the Spurs' playoff history, and it was not at all like two teams of equal strength competing against each other.

After the game, Popovich sighed: "This Jerry Young arranged Iguodala to attack and caught us off guard. I didn't expect the Lakers to have a fourth All-Star in addition to the Big Three. We can't get anyone to deal with Iguodala, who has the body of a superstar and is hard to stop. ”

Popovich broke the key to the Lakers' big victory in one sentence, and Iguodala was like a strengthened version of Wells, too fierce.

Yang Rui said in an interview: "I knew that the Lakers would beat one opponent after another, and finally defended the title, and after a season of running-in, the Lakers are stronger than last season." We have the best starters and the best benches in the league and I feel sorry for the other 29 teams. Now that I'm coaching other teams, I can't figure out how to beat the Lakers, who are so strong that even I'm scared. ”

The next day, Yang Rui's remarks of "so strong that he was afraid" were on the news and were sought after by fans, Yang Rui often said arrogant declarations of winning the championship, and had the last laugh, which became his label.

In the second game, the Lakers still responded to the tactics inside, Yao Ming and Rashidra went out to block and dismantle, and waited for the opportunity to shoot three points, and Kobe Bryant and Iguodala hit the basket on both sides.

Whoever Bowen defends, the other is strong, attracting the bag and then passing.

The first two rounds of the series were still very majestic, and Ginobili, who made expert fans shout all kinds of underrated remarks, was severely abused, and the Lakers' two swingmen were stronger than him, and he could chisel into the restricted area with his back.

Popovich was replaced by veteran Finley, and the Lakers changed to blocking and breaking through the frame from the outside.

Kobe Bryant relied on technology to break through, and Finley was difficult to defend; Iguodala relies on speed to break through, and he can be strong when he cuts and catches the ball. Even Finley, who participated in the slam dunk contest at his peak, was slightly inferior to Iguodala in terms of physical fitness, and now the gap between the two is too big.

122-91, the Lakers won again, leading 2-0.

The Spurs returned home, still being slaughtered in Game 3.

Yang Rui has found the weakness of the Spurs and held on to it. Guards are responsible for attacking the basket and attacking in the low post, while big men are responsible for screens and outside shots.

In this game, the Spurs switched to joint defense to protect the restricted area, and Rashid shot away, shooting 10-of-16, 4-of-7 three-pointers, and cut down 24 points and 6 rebounds. The Spurs rushed back to man-marking in the second half, the big man received the ball on the periphery, and every small guard was an angel with broken wings, and they couldn't afford to be hurt.

Bryant was just as hot, shooting 13-of-20, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, and finished with 37 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in just 34 minutes.

In three consecutive games, the Spurs failed to hold the first three quarters, and the Lakers won 117-87.

In order to strengthen the defense, the Spurs' own offense was also affected, and Ginobili became a blacksmith.

In the fourth game, the Spurs and Lakers worked hard, and the players' defensive movements became very large, which strengthened the confrontation. Duncan took more shots, and the player pulled away to let him hit hard.

In the year when O'Neal won the MVP, the reporter interviewed him and Duncan to fight who was better, and the fat man said that neither of them could prevent anyone, and he didn't dare to say that he was better than Duncan.

Duncan burst out with all his energy and scoring prowess, scoring 53 points in a single game against the Mavericks in 2001.

This time, he broke Yao Ming, 12 of 24 shots, 17 of 23 free throws, and scored 41 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks.

Parker shot 9-of-18 for 24 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists; Ginobili shot 6-of-11, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line to finish with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Coming off the bench, Finley also scored 12 points.

But even if the "GDP combination" combined to score 88 points, even if Yao Ming left the court with six fouls, he only scored 18 points and 6 rebounds. The Spurs still lost the game 111-119.

Bryant made 11-of-20 shooting, 0-of-3 from three-point range and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, finishing with 30 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Iguodala shot 8-of-13, 1-of-3 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to finish with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists. Williams shot 9-of-16, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 27 points and one assist; Odom also scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench.

The Lakers have too many scoring points to guard against.

In order to strengthen the defense, Popovich completely chilled Nesterovic and Muhammad this time, and did not let them play for a minute. It turned out to be effective, and the Spurs lost less, but unfortunately he woke up a little late.

The Lakers swept 4-0 and advanced to the Finals first.