The Spurs fans in the arena cheered in unison, and Popovich on the sidelines couldn't help but wave his fist.
"Hi, letting Tim hit the game-winner against the Magic... this feeling is so satisfying..."
While the Spurs were thrilled, the Magic were upset.
Head coach Rivers closed his eyes and threw the whiteboard onto the ground: "What did I say? Full court press on Tim! Full court press on Tim! What are you hesitating for? Why didn't you listen to my strategy?"
If roaring could help, why would they need referees?
Rivers' angry roars from the sidelines did nothing to change the outcome of the game. The Magic could only swallow the bitter pill of defeat and end up with a game where their stats were all for naught...
In fact, it was only because Hill was still on the court that Rivers wasn't too accustomed to losing. Not long after, when Hill was injured again and out for the season, Rivers would become accustomed to losing...
Perhaps, the next time the Magic faced the Spurs, Rivers would miss this game.
After all, the Magic in this game had nearly dragged the Spurs into overtime, and had almost hit a game-winning shot against the Spurs...
McGrady scored a game-high 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Hill had 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists!
The performance of the Magic's twin stars was undoubtedly outstanding, but unfortunately, even this Magic was not enough to defeat the current Spurs!
Duncan and He Xi Meng also scored 55 points combined! Duncan had 28 points and 14 rebounds, while He Xi Meng had 27 points and 13 assists!
More importantly, Duncan made the final buzzer-beating floater, while McGrady and Hill did not...
With this four-game home winning streak, the Spurs have extended their undefeated start to the new season to 9 consecutive wins!
After a comfortable week in San Antonio, He Xi Meng was almost reluctant to go on the road to play.
But that's how the league's schedule is set up; a few home games, then a few away games, and travel is unavoidable.
Duncan, who was newly married, had no complaints, so what right did He Xi Meng have to complain?
The Spurs' next three-game road trip would begin with a flight to Toronto to challenge the Raptors!
This season, the Raptors signed the 38-year-old Olajuwon to a three-year, $18 million contract!
The Raptors snatched "The Dream" from the Rockets, originally intending for Olajuwon to help the team soar and compete for a championship!
After all, in the just-concluded 2000-2001 season, led by Carter, the Raptors had reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and with a little more effort, they would be in the Eastern Conference Finals and competing for the championship!
However, to the surprise of the Raptors' management, the current Dream was not the Dream of the past.
In the 20 regular season games played so far, the Raptors were 5-5, and their start to the new season was even worse than last season...
This left the Raptors' management and fans extremely disappointed.
This time, as the Spurs came to challenge, the Raptors' other core player, Antonio Davis, was sidelined due to injury, leaving the interior defense to the aging Olajuwon and the blue-collar center Keon Clark!
As a result, without surprise, the Spurs' twin towers dominated them!
While Olajuwon could barely match David Robinson, no one on the Raptors could truly stop Duncan.
If Popovich hadn't pulled Duncan off the court after the third quarter, Duncan's individual statistics for this game would have been far more than the simple 28 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
And after David Robinson was rested, Popovich sent Yao Ming to contend with Olajuwon!
These two players, who should have had a sense of lineage, were now like strangers.
Olajuwon used his signature Dream Shake to teach the rookie Yao Ming a lesson.
Even though Yao Ming was being schooled, he wasn't angry. Instead, after the game, he became very interested in Olajuwon's footwork and asked He Xi Meng if he could focus on imitating and learning Olajuwon's moves!
"I can do that!" Duncan, who was passing by and overheard Yao Ming's conversation with He Xi Meng, casually interjected.
"Isn't it just like this, this, and this?" Duncan said, imitating one of Olajuwon's classic fakes.
Yao Ming looked at He Xi Meng with wide eyes, and He Xi Meng nodded: "Tim knows pretty much all the signature moves of the league's top big men! Back in college, this guy would watch tapes of various centers and then imitate them over and over..."
"Many people imitate, but how many can truly learn just by watching videos?"
"But this one in front of you has indeed learned all sorts of signature moves just by watching videos! Not only the Dream Shake, but if you have any questions about David's jab step, you can ask him too, or Ewing's bunny hop, or even Kareem's skyhook, he can do those too..."
"Really?" Yao Ming's mouth opened wide in surprise.
After receiving He Xi Meng's unreserved praise, Duncan, unusually, showed a shy smile: "I'm not as good as Xi Meng says, I just know a little bit about all of them! If you want to learn any of them, I can teach you! It's free, but I can't guarantee you'll master it! How much you learn depends on your own comprehension..."
"No problem! That's much better than watching videos myself, isn't it?"
"Don't worry! As long as you're willing to teach, Da Yao will definitely learn, I guarantee it!"
...
The Raptors' interior defense was a mess today, and their perimeter defense wasn't much better.
Carter was having an off day, seeming a bit unwell.
After three seasons of flying through the air and dunking, injuries were starting to catch up with Carter, forcing him to change his playing style, relatively speaking, by reducing the number of times he attacked the basket.
Of course, even after reducing his drives to the basket, Carter still drove to the basket far more often than He Xi Meng.
"Vince, if you're not feeling well, why not take a few games off? Rest up and find your rhythm!"
After the game, as He Xi Meng shook hands with Carter, he couldn't help but advise him.
Carter smiled bitterly: "Taking time off is impossible! As long as it's not a serious injury, the team won't let me rest..."
He Xi Meng understood Carter's predicament.
This involved ticket sales and broadcast ratings.
For the Raptors, having Carter or not having Carter was like two different teams.
This was why Carter, despite being injured, couldn't afford to take time off.
He Xi Meng sighed, "Then at least stop driving to the basket and shoot more from outside..."
It was better that He Xi Meng didn't mention shooting, as it only made Carter's smile even more bitter: "If I remember correctly, I missed all 7 of my shots outside the paint today..."