Popovich, upon hearing Su Wan’s statement, was immediately furious, "Madman, he’s just a madman!"
The San Antonio reporter on site, who had been rendered speechless, deliberately cut off the first half of Su Wan’s sentence "If Bruce dares to use dirty tricks" and directly published the latter half with an incredibly provocative headline:
"Su Wan: We are going to put Tim Duncan on a stretcher!"
This article successfully ignited the anger of the Spurs fans.
Was this rookie too arrogant?
Did they really think San Antonio lacked die-hard fans?
Yes, we may not really go to the home court to watch games during the regular season.
But that doesn’t mean you can threaten our "Holy City’s" "spiritual symbol."
How dare you try to take out Tim Duncan?
Come on, I want to see how you’ll do it!
For the first game of the finals, the Spurs’ home audience seats were more bustling than ever.
A massive influx of San Antonio people filled the venue, and a huge chorus of boos engulfed the entire stadium the moment they saw Su Wan.
The atmosphere on the court was tense with rivalry.
Before the game began, Rick Carlisle laid out the final tactics.
Tonight, Bruce Bowen was still suspended, and the Spurs’ "strongest person" was not there.
The strong points for the Spurs were undoubtedly power forward Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who was especially explosive in this year’s playoffs.
Coincidentally, the Pacers’ strengths were also at the two and power forward positions.
Little O’Neal against Tim Duncan was definitely not a matchup he could win.
And Jermaine was in agreement with that.
So if the Pacers wanted to win, it all depended on Su Wan’s suppression of Ginobili exceeding Duncan’s suppression of Little O’Neal.
The matchups in other positions seemed evenly matched to Rick Carlisle.
But Popovich didn’t see it that way.
After the Spurs gained possession for their first attack, they handed it over to Tony Parker to execute.
The "Little French Sports Car" was also full of fighting spirit tonight, decisively calling for a pick-and-roll. Then he stomped on the throttle, attempting to break through to the Pacers’ basket just as Tinsley maneuvered around the screen to get back in front of him.
But just as he started his move, Su Wan immediately came over for help defense, taunting, "Hey, flat-tired sports car, did you check your tires this time?"
That comment successfully ignited Parker’s rage.
"You’re the one that’s running flat!"
He cursed loudly, attempting to force a breakthrough.
Then he fell right into the trap of the Pacers’ surrounding defense.
Parker seemed especially irate tonight, and despite being trapped, he still tried to force a shot.
The result was being slapped awake by a block from Little O’Neal.
Possession changed, and the Spurs’ first offense ended just like that.
Popovich’s roar could be heard from the sidelines, "What the hell are you doing? Have you not realized the game has started? If you want to sit down now, I can accommodate you!"
Parker shrank his head and looked towards the audience seats.
Su Wan noticed his subconscious reaction and also glanced at the stands, locking his eyes on one of the women there:
Golden curls cascading down her shoulders, a face that perfectly fit the American ideal.
Eva Parker.
No, that’s not right; she wasn’t married to Tony Parker yet.
She should be called Eva Longoria.
The recent hit "Desperate Housewives" had made Eva quite a famous actress.
Su Wan remembered that her meeting with Parker was at a Spurs game.
Feeling low from a recent divorce, her girlfriend brought her to San Antonio to watch a Spurs game, where the two met in the locker room.
Could it be this game?
No wonder he was so charged up.
At first, Su Wan thought it was for Tim Duncan.
Turned out to be like Wu Sangui, "a fury for the beauty’s sake!"
He really had to make good use of Tony Parker’s psychology...
The two hadn’t even started dating yet.
Tony Parker was problematic, getting involved with a teammate’s wife—Eva would be better off if she missed out on Parker.
As Tinsley crossed half-court, he prepared to pass the ball directly to Su Wan.
Su Wan signaled for a hand-to-hand pass.
That way he could mismatch against Tony Parker.
Parker had already realized this, but it was too late to switch places with Manu Ginobili.
Su Wan faced Parker smoothly.
Initiating physical contact, Parker stood only 1.88 meters tall and weighed even less at 84 kg—considered "slight and quick" even for a Point Guard—how could he withstand Su Wan, who had the standard size of a two.
He kept retreating until there was nowhere left to go, watching helplessly as Su Wan completed a jump shot from the free throw line.
On defense, Su Wan glanced over in Eva’s direction.
Women are usually very sensitive to gazes cast their way.
Eva had felt his look earlier, and this was the second time...
She returned his look with curiosity.
As the NBA’s hottest new star over the past year, Su Wan’s name was known even to someone like Eva, who didn’t pay much attention to sports.
Watching them exchange glances, Tony Parker grew even more furious.
He had had a pleasant chat with Eva before the game and felt like he had found "true love." He knew well enough from the way Eva looked at him that she was definitely interested in him. She was supposed to be his for the taking.
As long as he performed well tonight and shined on the court, winning over Eva would be a matter of minutes.
But now, it seemed like Su Wan was also interested in Eva, and worse, Eva had noticed Su Wan’s gaze as well...
Damn it, competing with me for a woman, huh?
Tony Parker went a little crazy.
After calling for a screen from Tim Duncan and seeing Su Wan’s help defense, he didn’t rush to attack but instead signaled for his teammates to spread out; he wanted to go one-on-one against Su Wan.
Popovich chuckled from the sidelines.
Yeah, chuckled!
According to ESPN statistics, Tony Parker was one of the Point Guards most reliant on the pick-and-roll.
Tim Duncan was also one of the league’s best at setting screens.
This meant that Parker’s career-high average of 16.6 points and 6.1 assists this season owed a lot to Tim Duncan’s good screen coverage.
Now, the player who loved calling for screens wanted to take on someone one-on-one.
It wasn’t a matter of whether his brain was messed up or not.
Popovich was certain, Tony Parker needed a good dressing-down.
"Clang!"
As expected, under Su Wan’s interference, Tony Parker took an awkward shot under the basket, which ultimately bounced off the rim. Luckily, Tim Duncan grabbed the offensive rebound and with a beautiful turn under the basket, he scored.
When it came to the fundamentals, Tim Duncan truly set everything straight for all Power Forward players.
All the smaller O’Neal could do was extend his hands signaling "mine, mine" before quickly running to retrieve the ball and eagerly passing it in.
Su Wan continued to seek out Tony Parker for the mismatched one-on-one.
Last round, he had tried to quickly navigate around Parker with Manu Ginobili as the "Little Sports Car," but this round, unguarded in the face of Su Wan, he felt it was a man-to-man battle and he couldn’t show weakness.
Popovich shook his head: Mad, completely mad, this guy has lost it!
The result was Su Wan standing up to him and finishing with a smooth layup.
"Toot!"
The referee’s whistle blew; it was Popovich who could no longer tolerate Tony Parker’s behavior on the court.
It was utterly eye-watering to the extreme!
He waited for Parker to come over before launching into a tirade: "Are you out of your damn mind? Do you need me to dump a bucket of ice water on your head to help you clear your mind? What the hell did I say before the game? Did you listen to anything I said? I told you to stay away from the ball-handler on defense and to pass the ball when faced with a double-team on offense. What the hell are you doing..."
In the midst of being berated unabashedly...
A murmur rose from the sidelines.
Instead of walking towards the Pacers’ bench, Su Wan approached a female spectator seated a few seats away from the bench.
Eva was somewhat startled as Su Wan walked straight up to her.
"Are you here to watch Tony Parker play?" Su Wan asked.
Eva nodded and then shook her head.
She came for a Spurs game, not specifically for Tony Parker, but her friend had dragged her to meet him after arriving.
Su Wan didn’t care about that: "If you want to watch a game in the future, go to Indiana, it’s way more lively there!"
With that, he left.
Then looking at Parker...
Screw it, I’m going all in against Su Wan!