"My players performed great. It was my error in judgment that caused the team to lose. I still have a lot of work to do."

At the post-game press conference, Popovich took responsibility for the loss and was obviously depressed.

After the press conference, on the way back to the locker room, Duncan reached out and pressed Popovich's shoulder.

"Relax old man, the problem will be solved."

He knows Popovich's character, and normally he won't behave like this even if he loses.

It was obvious that he wanted to prove himself this time, but failed in the end. The frustration had nothing to do with his age and resume.

Popovich smiled and patted Duncan on the shoulder, with a smile on his face.

…

In the Nuggets locker room, the players were cheering wildly in celebration.

Defeating the Spurs, and it was such a hearty victory, how could we not be happy!

Anthony even opened the cigar box in his locker room on the spot and started handing out cigars to the players.

When he sent it to Lin Ying, there was still more than half of the box, so he just gave it all to Lin Ying.

After giving it to him, he reached out and patted Lin Ying's shoulder, his eyes filled with admiration.

Before the game, Lin Ying pulled him and told him that when he was asked to say those words, he thought there might be a problem.

But now it seems so appropriate!

If the Nuggets can win tonight, Lin Ying should be the number one contributor!

Lin Ying also accepted it.

Everyone is happy when they win.

He played 33 minutes in the first playoff game of his NBA career, scoring 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and made 6 of 11 shots.

A data sheet like this is already a pretty good start.

His teammates were still celebrating, but he was already thinking about the next game.

Popovich is not a stubborn person, and his ability to adjust GDP is also very strong.

The first game was a surprise victory, but the second game was a real fight.

At that time, the test for the Nuggets may be the real beginning.

If they can continue to win the second game, then their chances of winning the Spurs will be really great!

And he remembered what he said about dreams when chatting with Yang Shuyu that day.

Maybe he really has a chance to compete for the championship and chase his dream in the first year?

…

On the second day of the playoffs, the league announced the first award of the season, the Best Sixth Man.

With his outstanding performance of 19.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, Ginobili was elected as the Sixth Man of the Season with a high vote rate of 55%.

Contrary to what many people think, this is the first and only time in Ginobili's career that he has been elected as the Sixth Man of the Year.

Lin Ying did not appear on the candidate list because according to NBA regulations, only those who have served as substitutes for more than one game can be included in the selection.

Lin Ying has played a total of 78 games this season, of which only 27 were as a substitute. This obviously cannot meet the requirements.

However, the news that fans are paying attention to this day is not this, but a news about Yao Ming.

According to Houston media reports, after suffering a fracture in February, Yao Ming has chosen surgical treatment and returned to China yesterday.

Because Yao's team has not announced it to the public before, this is also the first time that Yao Ming's treatment plan has appeared in front of the public.

What Yao Ming suffered was a stress fracture, which is a fatigue injury.

It can be simply understood as excessive fatigue of the muscles, resulting in the inability to absorb the stress caused by exercise, causing them to act on the bones, eventually leading to bone cracks or fractures.

Conservative treatment of this kind of injury is more effective because the human body has a self-healing function, and so do bones;

However, this type of treatment will require a long recovery process.

The recovery period of surgical treatment is relatively short, but the risks are high and there may be sequelae.

In the end, this also triggered heated discussions among American fans.

Among these voices, only a small number of people recognized Yao Ming's choice, and most people opposed Yao Ming's approach.

There are only two opposing voices.

One is that Yao Ming's approach is too risky and he may risk his career.

In fact, after he made the choice, many people had already guessed that he did this in order to catch up with this year's Beijing Olympics.

Once this is done, it means that Yao Ming's recovery time from surgery will only be 6 months at most.

No, to be more precise, it should be four to five months, because an event of this level like the Olympics will definitely require running-in training, and an early comeback is inevitable.

Second, they felt that Yao Ming had no contractual spirit.

The Rockets are paying him a high salary, and from the perspective of the Rockets and Houston fans, he shouldn't take this risk.

Some people may say, wouldn’t superstars who don’t participate in the Dream Team in the Olympics get criticized?

Old double standard.

After learning the news, Lin Ying made a phone call with Yao Ming.

When the two were chatting, the topic of "dreams" came up unconsciously.

Yao Ming's words moved Lin Ying a little.

"If possible, I certainly hope that I can continue playing in the NBA, but if I have to choose between the two, I will definitely choose the men's basketball team."

Yao Ming said it for sure, just like in history when he talked about the game against Spain and said that he would rather break his leg to guard against Gasol's goal.

Letting the men's basketball team win a card, or to put it another way, letting the five-star red flag rise in Beijing, should be his biggest dream in this life.

Lin Ying was still very touched after listening to it.

Although he knew that such choices were also made in history, and for such a purpose.

But when these words came from Yao Ming's mouth, the feeling was so different.

And he also thought of another person, Luka Doncic.

A reporter asked Doncic which one he hopes for more, an NBA champion or an Olympic champion. Doncic's answer was also an Olympic champion.

For international players, national honor is higher than NBA honor.

If you ask this question to Lin Ying after making this call, his answer will be...

I want them all!

Only children do multiple choice questions!

There is no rule that a person’s dream must only be in one aspect!

NBA champion plus Olympic champion, oh yes, there is also the World Championship, plus there was already the Asian Championship champion before.

So update his dream diary: Basketball Grand Slam!

…

After two days of rest, the Nuggets are about to face the Spurs for the second time in the series.

At this time, all eight groups have finished their first contest.

Including the Nuggets, a total of seven teams in the top half successfully won the game.

The only team that was upset was the second-place Pistons in the Eastern Conference. They lost to the seventh-place 76ers 86-90.

After trading away Iverson, the 76ers' rebuild came much faster than expected.

"Little AI" Iguodala, plus Andre Miller and Dalembert, the three cores have shown quite good competitiveness.

And they are all young and have a promising future.

After the game, some Philadelphia media compared Iverson's performance during his career with the 76ers, and concluded that the 76ers would be better off without Iverson in the future.

For Iverson, this was a moderate stimulus.

AT&T Arena is still packed.

And although Stern did not come again this time, Vice President Tatum still arrived at the scene.

The league has always paid high attention to this series.

Before the appearance ceremony, a "Best Sixth Man" award ceremony was held.

Like Lin Ying's previous Rookie of the Month award, this award is also a one-two choice.

The reason why Ginobili chose this moment is very clear, which is to boost the morale of the Spurs.

The scene of Ginobili lifting the trophy triggered overwhelming applause and cheers from the Spurs fans.

He was also a little excited personally.
To be continued...