"I'm not scaring you. If you are in this state, the coaching staff will definitely reduce your playing time. If you continue to lose, you will be able to withdraw the starting lineup, or even not give you the game."

Tang Tian knew that Whiteside was not good at thinking and told him very bluntly.

Whiteside looked at Tang Tian in a daze, and after he figured out what he said, he nodded.

The impact of losing the first game of the series on the Pelicans' morale is obvious. In the training session of the next day, the enthusiasm of the players was significantly lower than before.

After the training, Williams called Tang Tian alone to his office.

"I want Nikola to start the second game, what do you think?"

Williams said this, which shows that the coaching staff is already very dissatisfied with Whiteside's performance.

Without talking about the last game, if Whiteside didn't have so many problems in the first round, the Pelicans would have ended the series long ago.

Tang Tian shook his head.

"Nicolas' defense cannot support the starting lineup now. Popovich is opposite. He will target him at the beginning, leaving us in a passive position."

Tang Tian told the truth.

Williams sighed helplessly.

Although he is not good at tactics, he still knows what Tang Tian said very well, but Whiteside's current state has caused quite a lot of harm to the team.

Especially in the last game, although the players did not complain, he, who is good at interpersonal relationships, could still feel the resentment hidden in his heart and written on his face.

"The coaching staff can do more psychological work on Hassan, and he is also our starting center."

Tang Tian suggested.

Williams didn't say anything, and after being silent for a long time, he didn't make any statement. Finally, he asked Tang Tian to go back first.

Tang Tian came out of the office. He didn't know what Williams would choose in the end, but it could be foreseen that the second game was still difficult to play.

In fact, Williams' hesitation is understandable.

The Pelicans lost a good game in the first game. If they still lose in the second game, the big score would be 0-2.

Since the NBA implemented a seven-game four-win system, there have been 192 cases of 0-2, but the final reversal has only been 14 times.

If the Pelicans fall into such a situation, the opponent will be the Spurs, and the chance of reversal will be very slim.

So Williams' caution is understandable.

On game day, the Pelicans arranged shooting training in the morning.

Before the training began, Williams and Borrego pulled Whiteside to chat on the sidelines.

Judging from Whiteside's confident expression after chatting, Williams finally adopted Tang Tian's suggestion.

Sure enough, after the training, Williams first announced that Whiteside would continue to start in the next game.

Whiteside then apologized to his teammates, promised that there would not be any situation like the previous game again.

Tang Tian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

Williams is still very capable in interpersonal communication, and I don’t know what he said to Whiteside, so he changed his attitude so much.

But this is a very positive signal.

After Whiteside apologized, he could see that the expressions on his teammates were much better.

That night, the second game of the Pelicans and Spurs series continued to open at the New Orleans Arena.

The stadium is still full, and even the enthusiasm of the fans is even higher than the first game.

The Pelicans have accumulated a large number of hardcore fans for themselves through their performance in two seasons. The team's situation is not good now. These fans do not complain or blame the players, but cheer for the team in a more enthusiastic way.

Feeling the enthusiasm from the heart of the fans, the confidence on the players' faces has increased much higher than before.

During the opening ceremony, Tang Tian appeared and did a short break dance like Walker, igniting the mood of the entire stadium.

Both sides maintained the starting lineup for the first game.

The Spurs are Parker, Green, Leonard, Duncan and Gögasol.

The Pelicans are Holiday, Tang Tian, ​​Ariza, Davis and Whiteside.

Whiteside jumped high to get the Pelicans' first offensive opportunity.

Tang Tian hit a pull from Green's defense at the beginning of the game.

That's not counting. In the next round, he assisted Davis to dunk at the basket.

After this series of adjustments, the Pelicans' competitive state on the field is no worse than the first game.

However, the Spurs were in a better state than the first game. Parker, Gasol and Leonard scored in turn, playing back and forth with the Pelicans.

Like the regular season record and what the outside world knows, the two teams have a standard 55-50-5 in terms of strength.

If you want to win, it depends on who is better in details.

After the first quarter, the score on the field was 25.

In the second quarter, both sides entered rotation one after another.

Jokic still maintained a good feel, made another three-pointer and made two assists.

However, veteran Ginobili from the Spurs is also in good shape, with continuous breakthroughs at the basket and scoring.

There was a stalemate in the starting stage and the substitute period was evenly matched.

The two sides played for three quarters, and the score was tied at 73.

If the basketball game is not a non-scoring victory or defeat, the evenly matched sides may really be able to draw a draw.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, both sides started and brought three substitutes.

Davis and Ariza lead the Pelicans, while Leonard and Parker lead the Spurs.

Jokic received Davis' pass from the outside and made a large three-pointer from the outside, helping the Pelicans take the lead.

His feel is really good in these two games.

However, no one expected that in the next few minutes, the game would be dominated by one person.

That person is Spurs veteran Ginobili.

He was in good shape in the first half, and he broke through continuously and scored 4 points and 3 assists.

But this section is his real outbreak.

He first hit a large three-pointer step away from the three-point line, and then another iconic step-down three-pointer in the next round.

That's not counting. After he made a fake shot to win Gordon in the third ball, he broke through to the basket and fought against Jokic and then scored 2+1.

Under his leadership, in just four minutes, the Spurs made a 15-3 attack wave, instantly widening the gap to 12 points.

Ginobili contributed 9 points and 2 assists in this wave of flow, which means that every Spurs score is related to him.

There is a saying among Spurs fans: Parker is seen in good times, Duncan is seen in bad times, and Ginobili is seen in desperate times.

This sentence talks about the strength of GDP, but if you read it carefully, it is actually blowing Ginobili's big heart ability.

The game is not in desperate situation now, and it is not even considered adversity, but Ginobili directly changed the situation of the game.
Chapter completed!