However, the Spurs' Duncan and Parker were also in good competitive form in the opening stages.
After successfully dunking with both hands on the first possession, Duncan also made a turnaround fadeaway jumper after a post-up in the third offensive play!
At the start of the game, both sides originally intended to play a defensive counter-attack. As a result, because the core players of both teams played very decisively, the defensive game directly developed into an offensive game.
Although this situation deviated somewhat from the pre-game plans of the two head coaches, both coaches tacitly refrained from interfering and let the core players on the court continue to play at their most comfortable rhythm.
He Xi Meng's biggest advantage after a strong start was his ability to endlessly draw the Spurs' defense, thereby creating opportunities for his teammates' subsequent offense.
Yao Ming, after repeatedly assisting He Xi Meng at the high post, successfully weakened the Spurs' defense on him.
In the next two offensive possessions, Yao Ming switched from assisting to attacking, also driving towards the Spurs' basket, and successfully scored.
Yao Ming had already expended a lot of energy in this year's playoffs.
In the previous rounds, while He Xi Meng was still finding his rhythm and form, it was Yao Ming and Carter who took on the main offensive responsibility for the Celtics.
Especially in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons' ironclad defense caused immense trouble for the Celtics.
Yao Ming had to continuously contend with Rasheed Wallace and Webber in the paint, and also had to help defend against Billups, Hamilton, and Prince who drove in. His energy expenditure never stopped.
By the time of the Finals, Popovich had specifically assigned Oberto and Elson to wear down Yao Ming, along with Duncan's roaming defense. In the first six games, Yao Ming's remaining energy reserves were essentially depleted.
Both the Celtics and the Spurs were aware of the problem Yao Ming was currently facing.
Therefore, Popovich dared to openly declare: "If we can shut down He Xi Meng, we can shut down the Celtics," without even considering whether Yao Ming could break out.
On the Celtics' side, Coach Kerr also did not assign any post-up tactics to Yao Ming, but instead moved him to the high post, away from unnecessary consumption, and let Gortat sink to the basket to block shots, which was a last resort.
It was only after He Xi Meng found his shooting touch that he began to try and create opportunities for Yao Ming.
With He Xi Meng's outburst and Yao Ming's support, the Celtics had a very smooth start, and their lead even exceeded 5 points at one point.
But as the game progressed, the lead was gradually eroded.
Then, with a small surge from Ginobili, the Spurs began to turn the tide and gain a score advantage.
By the end of the game, the Spurs had already come back to lead the Celtics by 5 points.
In this game, He Xi Meng played without a break, playing the entire game.
After providing support in the first half, Yao Ming's performance in the second half became increasingly sluggish, scoring less and less. It wasn't that Yao Ming didn't want to support He Xi Meng, but he simply couldn't anymore.
In the first quarter, He Xi Meng scored 13 points.
In the second quarter, He Xi Meng scored 9 points.
In the third quarter, He Xi Meng scored 15 points.
Before the fourth quarter ended, He Xi Meng had already scored 18 points!
His total score for the game reached an astonishing 55 points! He had once again broken his own record of 52 points, which he had set not long ago as the highest single-game score in this year's playoffs.
What was even more critical was that the game was not yet over.
Unfortunately for the Spurs, they once again became the backdrop for He Xi Meng's new record.
But the Spurs were not entirely unlucky. Although they became the backdrop for He Xi Meng's new record, at this point in the game, the Spurs still held the advantage on the scoreboard, and the championship trophy was within reach!
As long as they could win the final championship, what was a small grievance like being a backdrop?
How many times have "We Spurs" been a backdrop?
Watching He Xi Meng, covered in sweat, hands on his knees, panting, and still fixated on the scoreboard, Popovich felt a trace of surprise and a trace of relief.
He was surprised that He Xi Meng had secretly stored so much energy and still had such explosive power in the decisive Game 7!
What did this mean? This meant that He Xi Meng had completely recovered from his major injury, and his condition was no less than before, perhaps even better.
What he was relieved about was that in the previous round, the Pistons had given the Spurs a great gift. Not only had they successfully worn down half of Yao Ming's life, but they had also successfully put Carter on the sidelines.
"If Carter hadn't been injured in this year's Finals..."
Popovich couldn't help but imagine if his Spurs team, facing a more complete Celtics lineup, would still have had a chance to play this Game 7.
Fortunately, under the relentless wear and tear of the "GDP" trio, even if He Xi Meng was fierce, he was now exhausted and unable to explode further!
With only one minute left in the game and the score still 5 points apart.
Michael Jordan, who had once again come to the away game to cheer for the Celtics, wanted to offer some words of encouragement to He Xi Meng at this moment, but the DJ immediately turned up the music, drowning out Jordan's voice...
Who knew if the God of Basketball's voice had a halo and healing effect? To be safe, as soon as Jordan prepared to cheer for He Xi Meng, the DJ would disrupt it with music.
Jordan felt he was being targeted, just as He Xi Meng was being targeted by the Spurs' "GDP" trio...
At this moment, He Xi Meng felt he had reached the end of his rope. All the energy he could muster had been unleashed, but the score still showed a seemingly insurmountable 5-point deficit!
But the final whistle had not yet blown, the Celtics had not lost, they still had one last chance!
In a final desperate effort, He Xi Meng took a deep breath. After crossing half-court, he wanted to take a shot from two steps beyond the three-point line, an unexpected move.
But unfortunately, although the rhythm of the shot was there, the power was just a little bit short.
The ball hit the front rim of the basket and bounced out!
Fortunately, He Xi Meng's teammates were fighting hard. Yao Ming and Gortat desperately held off Oberto and Duncan, while Barnes and Tony Allen battled for the offensive rebound and successfully poked the ball back to He Xi Meng, who was following up, before Ginobili could get to it!
He Xi Meng, taking advantage of the chaos, rose up and hit a two-point shot from near the free-throw line!
The score was successfully narrowed to 3 points!
If the Celtics could successfully defend this possession by Duncan, they might have a chance to tie the score on the final possession...
But, would the Spurs allow the Celtics to have their way?