From another angle, this gamble essentially admitted that Van Exel was not as good as He Xi Meng. At least, the Nuggets' Van Exel was inferior to the Spurs' He Xi Meng.
For a point guard, the caliber of teammates surrounding him significantly impacts his performance, especially his assist numbers.
Popovich was unaware of the private wager between He Xi Meng and Van Exel, and Duncan did not betray the secret, so the Spurs' game plan remained unchanged.
At the start of the game, Popovich exploited the Nuggets' weakness in the paint and instructed his players to attack the interior, focusing on the twin towers.
He Xi Meng agreed with the coach's strategy, as the Spurs' inside presence needed to be established first to guarantee a win.
Before taking the court, Duncan secretly asked He Xi Meng, "Should I draw defenders and pass the ball back to you?"
"Absolutely not! I need to score, but I also need assists! So, when I pass to you, try to score directly, and count it as my assist…"
"Really?" Duncan suspected He Xi Meng was trying to manipulate him into doing more work.
"No kidding!" He Xi Meng said seriously, "I plan to rack up assists first, establish a winning foundation, and then focus on scoring! Don't worry, I won't slack off today! I don't want to lose to that crazy old Van…"
Duncan, with a hint of doubt, accepted He Xi Meng's explanation.
On the opening play, He Xi Meng used a screen from Ginobili, shook off Van Exel, drove into the paint, drew a double team from La Frentz, and passed the ball low to Duncan. Duncan kept his promise and, to help He Xi Meng rack up assists, scored immediately without dribbling, a quick pump fake followed by a layup for two points!
He Xi Meng's first assist of the game was secured!
Seeing He Xi Meng leading in assists, Van Exel chose to focus on scoring.
On the first possession, Van Exel called for a screen from James Posey, shook off He Xi Meng, and attempted a pull-up jumper from mid-range.
However, Van Exel seemed to have chosen the wrong screener. The player guarding James Posey was Bowen!
Bowen's on-ball defense was no weaker than He Xi Meng's. Therefore, as soon as the Nuggets' pick-and-roll was effective, He Xi Meng called for Bowen to switch.
Bowen tracked Van Exel closely, sticking to him like glue, almost blocking his pull-up jumper.
David Robinson secured the defensive rebound and passed it to He Xi Meng to advance the ball.
He Xi Meng didn't rush the fast break. He waited for the twin towers to set up, then called Duncan to the high post for a screen. This vacated the Nuggets' paint, allowing He Xi Meng to exploit a mismatch against La Frentz!
As the third overall pick in '98, La Frentz was strong but lacked agility. He Xi Meng used a quick stop-fake and a feigned retreat to a three-point shot to smoothly get past La Frentz, driving into the Nuggets' paint with a sidestep.
He Xi Meng drove to the basket for three steps. Shawn Respert was forced to step up to defend. He Xi Meng didn't force a shot; instead, he smoothly pulled up, bringing the ball back, and then passed it underhand around Shawn Respert to David Robinson behind him.
David Robinson caught the ball, rose up, and effortlessly laid it in before La Frentz could recover.
The difference in interior strength between the two teams was indeed stark.
If the Nuggets' head coach Dan Issel didn't want his team to be overwhelmed by the Spurs' twin towers, his best option would have been to pack the paint, collapsing his players near the free-throw line to clog the lane, rather than playing normal defense as they were.
Would Dan Issel not understand this principle? Of course not.
If the Spurs were a team solely reliant on their twin towers, the Nuggets would have undoubtedly sacrificed everything to shrink the paint. But the current Spurs were not just an inside-focused team; their perimeter player, He Xi Meng, possessed significant scoring ability.
If the Nuggets abandoned the perimeter, Dan Issel feared the Spurs' three-point shots would rain down. In that scenario, it would be a mixed attack of three-point barrages from the outside and the twin towers inside…
Therefore, after much deliberation, Dan Issel decided not to give up either end, opting for normal defense to gauge the Spurs' offensive focus before making adjustments.
He Xi Meng's first two strong drives were actually chosen based on the Nuggets' defensive positioning, selecting the most suitable offensive routes for the Spurs. This was not solely due to Coach Popovich's pre-game instruction to prioritize the inside game.
If the Nuggets had truly collapsed their defense to contain the Spurs' twin towers, He Xi Meng, without Popovich's instructions, could have changed the game plan on the fly and shifted the offensive focus to the perimeter. He did have that authority to adjust mid-game.
On the Nuggets' second possession, Van Exel again opted to attack himself.
This time, however, he didn't use a screen from James Posey. He went straight one-on-one against He Xi Meng, faked a drive, and pulled up for a shot from beyond the three-point line. But the ball missed!
Van Exel's playstyle was too direct and crude. When he was hot, his shooting percentage was stellar; when he was cold, it was almost self-destructive.
However, for the Spurs, or for He Xi Meng, this style of play was encouraging and commendable.
As long as Van Exel maintained this offensive tempo, the Spurs were destined to win, and He Xi Meng would also win.
On the Spurs' third possession, He Xi Meng again opted for a drive-and-kick.
However, the Nuggets had started to react, and their defensive rotations became quicker. He Xi Meng couldn't find an opportunity to pass inside, so he opted to pass outside.
Bowen's corner three-pointer missed, and La Frentz grabbed the defensive rebound. Van Exel finally found an opportunity for a fast break and sprinted down the court, forcing a quick layup against He Xi Meng, finally getting on the scoreboard and giving the Nuggets some points.
And once Van Exel got going, it was unstoppable!
In the next few possessions, Van Exel was on fire, making every shot he took and scoring 10 consecutive points! He accounted for almost all of the Nuggets' scoring in the opening stretch.
Crazy Van, leading the charge!
Meanwhile, He Xi Meng had yet to score a single point. However, with his 5 assists, he had helped the Spurs score 10 points.
Overall, the scores between the two teams were trading back and forth; it wasn't a one-sided affair.
But the pattern of Van Exel focusing on scoring and He Xi Meng focusing on assists was very clear. Now, it depended on which team's rhythm would break first, forcing them to adjust and change.
On the Spurs' side, Popovich made a defensive adjustment. He had Ginobili guard James Posey, Bowen guard Van Exel, and He Xi Meng guard Leonard.
"Huh? Is he unhappy with He Xi Meng's defense?"