The Bobcats’ morale soared, and although the Spurs had Duncan, their morale wasn’t affected much, but Popovich was anxious!
His anxiety lasted a whole intermission. As the intermission was about to end, his substitutions and strategies didn’t differ much from usual—trailing in score meant he had to have at least two of his big three on the floor.
Parker was inefficient against the Bobcats, so the pressure was on Ginobili and Duncan, with the point guard position paired with Udrih or Jacque Vaughn, both role players who could shoot and defend.
The other two were Bowen and Elson, who could defend.
The break ended, and Popovich looked across to see the lineup of Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, and Perkins taking the court.
As he expected, Gerald Wallace was playing—fortunately, he had substituted Bowen in.
Although Duncan protected the rim, Gerald Wallace’s drives still needed someone to delay him.
Letting Duncan stand under the basket against Zhang Yang, Felton, and Rondo rushing in, he had no problem; guarding Millsap, Muhammad, and Okafor attacking the basket, he also had no problem.
But having Gerald Wallace rush in unimpeded was still tough for Duncan.
It was precisely because of Gerald Wallace that Popovich was particularly troubled by Zhang Yang’s one-on-one play.
The second quarter began, and the fierce battle continued!
Both teams’ scoring continued to decline. By the end of the second quarter, after a short break and back on the court, Zhang Yang took advantage of a screen to rush inside, passed the ball to Rondo, who then relayed it. Felton moved to the top arc, received the ball, and hit a three-pointer, making the Bobcats’ three-guard lineup highly effective!
But immediately after, Ginobili drove inside, scored a layup against the collapsing defense of Zhang Yang for a 2+1. Zhang Yang was quick and well-positioned, and his timing to disrupt was good, but his strength was not up to Alan Anderson and Gerald Wallace, and Ginobili took advantage of that.
Then, Parker gambled with a steal, intercepted the ball from Rondo, initiated a fast break, looped under the basket and passed to the middle, where Ginobili followed up with a layup that hit.
The Spurs scored a 5 to 3 run against the Bobcats at the end of the quarter!
But even so, the Spurs only managed a slim victory of 19 to 16 against the Bobcats by three points in the quarter, and at halftime, the Spurs led by just one point, 37 to 36.
Duncan continued to play the entire second quarter, scoring 7 points in the first and another 5 in the second.
Ginobili also came back on only two minutes after the official timeout, playing 9 minutes in the first quarter scoring 6 points, and 10 minutes in the second quarter scoring 7 points.
Of the Spurs’ 37 points, the duo of Duncan and Ginobili scored a combined 25 points!
Bickerstaff only used Zhang Yang as a pure scorer. Even though Zhang Yang was capable of doing other things, like back-to-the-basket organizing, he wouldn’t use him that way because the impact wasn’t as strong as letting Zhang Yang play one-on-one, considering he only had the sense and talent, not sufficient ability and experience.
Popovich’s use of Ginobili was different—he treated Ginobili like an unstable version of Jordan and Kobe, and even a throwback to Jordan’s first three-peat era and Kobe’s OK period.
Ginobili was tasked with the same duties as those two, to score, organize the offense, and even defend, leading from the front.
Coming back from the halftime break, Popovich didn’t put Duncan straight on, letting Duncan rest a bit; Bowen, Elson, and Oberto paired up in the frontcourt, with Parker and Ginobili taking the lead.
The next time Duncan came on, he might not get a rest and would have to play till the end.
The Bobcats sent out Rondo, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, and Muhammad.
The third quarter began, and seeing Duncan out, with Elson and Oberto under the basket, Rondo directly broke past Parker and drove inside for a floater, scoring in response to the turnover by Parker before halftime.
to 37, the Bobcats regained a one-point lead.
The Spurs offense continued with Ginobili driving inside, performing a Euro step to the basket, jumping, and smashing the ball through the basket over Millsap!
to 38, when points were needed, Ginobili once again stepped up!
On the offensive switch, Rondo continued to pressure Parker!
Bowen, seeing that the two inside couldn’t handle the defense, had to prematurely condense to block Rondo, Bowen + tower, Rondo couldn’t handle it, but he could pass!
Zhang Yang took advantage of a screen by Gerald Wallace, baseline mid-range jump shot... it also went in!
On the Spurs’ offense, Ginobili drove past Gerald Wallace inside, stopped sharply close by, and scored off a high throw from the board.
The Blade unsheathed, every attacking move was being played!
On the Bobcats’ offense, Zhang Yang followed up on Rondo’s drive, received a pass facing the help defense of Bowen and Elson, leaned back almost to the point of lying down for a jump shot... it didn’t go in, but Millsap rushed to the baseline under the basket and grabbed a dunk for two points!
points + 1 rebound, Zhang Yang’s play to draw the two out from under the basket was a lucrative move!
On the offensive switch, the Blade came again, pulling back nearly a meter away from the three-point line for an ultra-long three-pointer... hit again!
Ginobili scored 7 points in a row, bringing his personal score to 20 points and helping the Spurs to a two-point lead over the Bobcats at 44 to 42!
But turning back, Gerald Wallace charged into Bowen inside, drawing Ginobili back to the middle lane for a double-team, after which Gerald Wallace passed the ball to Zhang Yang at the free-throw line... it also went in!
After aggressive attacks on three possessions, Ginobili was tired; unable to shake off Gerald Wallace on another drive, he had to pass the ball to Bowen moving along the wing.