The Spurs scored first.

On offense, Nash made a sudden pass to Meeks, who seized the opportunity and hit a three-pointer.

With that one play on each end, Meeks fully demonstrated his value.

But no sooner had he made the three-pointer than he committed a foul defending Leonard’s cut to the basket.

His offense and defense are both above the league average, but his foul control is only so-so.

On offense, Howard posted up Splitter in the low post.

Splitter was much tougher than Howard had imagined.

Moreover, Howard’s post moves still looked as crude as ever, straight up and down, and the ball bounced off the rim.

Splitter grabbed another defensive rebound.

The Spurs didn't push the fast break either. Parker signaled to continue running the zip hammer play, giving Tang Tian an open three-point opportunity.

"Swish!"

He hit the shot in the face of Artest's belated help defense.

The Spurs took the lead, 5-3.

"Speed! Speed!"

D'Antoni got up from the bench at this time, waving his hands and shouting at his teammates on the court.

Fighting the Spurs in a positional battle like this completely negated the Lakers' advantages.

Nash started to speed up the tempo, and Kobe came around to catch and shoot.

Tang Tian put pressure on this shot.

But Kobe's signature fadeaway still created enough space for him to shoot.

Compared to the regular season, the defensive pressure he was facing wasn't really that great.

The ball left his hand, a picturesque pose.

"Clang!"

The basketball bounced off the rim again!

Tang Tian's expression faltered slightly at this moment.

To be honest, because Kobe had increased his shooting speed, he hadn't quite adapted, and his defense wasn't that good on those two shots.

But Kobe had actually missed both shots!

This could only mean one thing: Kobe's touch in this game wasn't good.

The Spurs' offensive possession didn't go in, and the Lakers immediately launched a fast break.

Kobe caught Nash's long pass on the fast break and shot a pull-up three-pointer.

This was also his third shot of the game.

A very good opportunity.

"Clang!"

Unfortunately, the basketball still bounced off the rim!

Tang Tian's judgment was correct. Kobe's touch tonight wasn't just bad, it was ice cold!

After grabbing the rebound, the Spurs slowed down again and played position offense.

This time, Duncan turned around and scored over Artest.

The Spurs led 8-3.

Nash seized an opportunity in the frontcourt when the Spurs' defense was out of position, passing to Artest for an easy layup.

Popovich walked to the sideline at this time and roared at his players.

Obviously, he was very dissatisfied with the defense on that possession.

Parker's floater was interfered with by Howard and missed, and Howard secured the defensive rebound.

The two teams had played for more than four minutes, and the score on the court was 8-5.

Compared to the last time the two teams played, the Lakers had indeed made significant progress.

However, when the Lakers attacked to the frontcourt again, the Spurs' defensive intensity clearly increased.

Without any defensive lapses, Nash, Kobe, and Howard all faced immense defensive pressure.

Popovich's roar had an immediate effect.

With no open opportunity, Kobe reached out to Tang Tian for the ball, wanting to force a play.

Nash passed the ball in.

This time, Tang Tian stuck close and applied pressure.

He hadn't quite adapted to Kobe's movements earlier, but he could still handle this one-on-one situation.

Kobe's direct drive was blocked by Tang Tian, and his turnaround fadeaway was also cut off. He chose to force a fadeaway shot just as he was about to be stopped.

Tang Tian reached out, his hand almost touching Kobe's face.

Kobe raised his shooting arc; this was a truly forced shot.

"Clang!"

The basketball clanged off the rim again.

Four signature fadeaway shots.

Four familiar sounds of iron.

Four attempts, all bricks! (si yang hua si tie - four fadeaways become four bricks, a play on words)

Perhaps to prove that what Tang Tian said at the awards ceremony was true, he was using his actions to prove it!

Watching Kobe's performance, Tang Tian couldn't help but see Kobe's daughter in his mind.

If he remembered correctly, Kobe had had four daughters in his previous life, and the fourth one came after a forced, missed shot.

This really was fate.

The Lakers' ability to keep the score close with the Spurs at 5-8 showed that their offensive and defensive state wasn't bad, but Kobe's touch tonight was truly terrible.

Throughout the entire game, he took 30 shots but only made 7, clanging 23 shots, one more than in the regular season.

Without Kobe's output, the Lakers' offense appeared very weak.

They ultimately lost by a score of 86-103.

Duncan had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Ginobili had 15 points, Parker had 13 points and 11 assists, Leonard had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals, and Diaw had 10 points.

Six players on the Spurs scored in double figures.

Tang Tian had a good touch tonight, making 6 of 8 from beyond the arc, scoring a team-high 20 points, along with 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

After the game, as the best player of the game, he accepted an interview with Craig Sager on the sidelines.

Sager was a well-known NBA reporter who was often the target of Popovich's jokes because he liked to wear colorful clothes.

However, Tang Tian still respected this kind of famous reporter; he didn't want to have any negative impact at this critical juncture.

"Tang, first of all, congratulations on winning the Defensive Player of the Game award."

Sager was very polite, starting by congratulating Tang Tian instead of immediately asking questions.

"Thank you, your outfit is also very fashionable tonight."

Tang Tian also returned the compliment.

Sager was amused by Tang Tian's words and laughed heartily.

"Your defense on Kobe tonight was very successful. How did you do it?"

After the pleasantries, Sager proceeded to ask his question.

How did he defend Kobe tonight?

He hadn't really defended him much!

In fact, because of the change in Kobe's shooting speed, his defense tonight wasn't as perfect as it had been in the past.

How was he supposed to answer that?

"No, my defense was only so-so. It's just that Kobe's touch wasn't good tonight."

Tang Tian chose to tell the truth.

After hearing what Tang Tian said, Sager gave him a thumbs up and a very approving look.

Humility!

This young man is really humble!

Tang Tian felt a bit awkward; Sager had really misunderstood his meaning.

But it seemed that there was no use in explaining at this point.

He simply decided not to explain it.

Tang Tian was too lazy to explain, but the news reports on ESPN after the game made him want to laugh and cry.

"The most humble Defensive Player of the Game, the best defender."

The news headline itself made people want to complain.

"He held Kobe to 7-for-30 shooting in the Western Conference Semifinals, but humbly said that his defense still has room for improvement, and that it was just because Kobe's touch wasn't good. When a second-year rookie can have such a mindset, his future is worth looking forward to..."

Looking at the content of the news report, Tang Tian could only shake his head with a wry smile.

This was really the first time he had encountered this kind of situation.

Was he not allowed to tell the truth?

It made it seem like he was really humble!

Although he was indeed relatively low-key, he really hadn't intended to be deliberately low-key this time!

ps: Asking for monthly votes!