So, despite having average physical fitness, Bowen always managed to use his small moves and agile steps to bypass screens on the court.

However, the referees, who kept a close watch tonight, did not let Bowen get away with anything.

On the court, Crawford blew the whistle again.

"Hey, Dan, this can't be a foul, I didn't even touch him just now."

At this moment, if one didn't know Bowen's nature, Crawford might have been fooled by his good-guy act.

But how could Crawford be so dumb?

"Put away your pretense, Bruce, I won't allow any boundary-crossing behavior tonight."

Damn boundary-crossing, can a person not defend anymore?

At this moment, Bowen thought to himself.

It's just...

Does defense have to involve bad moves and small actions?

It's true that Crawford's whistle isn't biased towards the Spurs tonight, but that doesn't mean he favors the Warriors either.

He just implemented the same strict penalty criteria for defense actions on both teams.

And this is precisely the key that has allowed him to maintain a position in the NBA as Stern's go-to law enforcement officer.

Of course, for the Spurs, who rely on defense to win games, Crawford's penalty criteria would definitely make them feel resentful.

But could it be that...

Without those small and bad moves, the Spurs wouldn't be able to play?

In the low post, facing Qin Yue, the ever-calm Duncan displayed textbook perfect defense.

During Qin Yue's entire fadeaway jump shot, Duncan didn't make a single extra move.

He not only applied enough physical contact to Qin Yue but also exerted strong interference.

As for Qin Yue's extremely lucky fadeaway that bounced off the rim several times before rolling into the basket?

"A lucky shot!"

In the paint, watching Qin Yue, Duncan sharply commented.

"Luck is also a part of strength!"

Qin Yue replied without a trace of embarrassment or anxiety.

Then, after a few more rounds.

As Artest and Richardson were also penalized for excessive defensive actions, Popovich realized...

NBA's director David Stern is obviously targeting the Spurs!

There's no way around it, people who are skilled at double standards are like this.

As long as the penalty criteria are unfavorable to me, even if the Warriors are playing under the same criteria tonight, Popovich would only think Stern is messing with the Spurs.

So now the question arises, is Stern really targeting the Spurs?

The answer to this question...

Is both yes and no.

The reason for yes is naturally Stern really doesn't want to see the Spurs and the Pistons meet in the finals for two consecutive years.

And the reason for no is that Crawford's same penalty criteria tonight has already told Popovich that as long as you can still win after putting away those small and bad moves...

Stern will never stop the Spurs from winning the championship.

It's true Stern is targeting the Spurs.

But he isn't like the future Xiao Hua who would directly knock you out senseless and send you packing.

Maintaining a certain level of competitiveness is the only way the NBA can continuously attract fans.

Historically, in the future, the Lakers and Celtics will tell the world through a series of high-quality defensive battles that defense, too, can be spectacular and attract the fans' attention.

But...

The kind of finals like last year with the Pistons and Spurs, where defense was purely for the sake of defense, making the game fragmented.

Stern absolutely does not want to experience again.

So this year, starting from the first round of the playoffs, Stern has been constantly reminding the Spurs and Pistons:

You want to win games, win the championship, no problem.

But please put away those moves that shouldn't appear on the basketball court, please keep your defensive standards at a normal and acceptable range.

Tonight, did Crawford start off by blowing the whistle very strictly?

If he really was strict, then after Horry brutally fouled Qin Yue twice, Horry shouldn't have been left on the court.

Crawford's increasingly strict penalties are just because the Spurs have been sulking like a grievance-filled wife since the first quarter, including Popovich, Horry, Bowen, every time the referee blew the whistle, they would non-stop complain and whine through their actions.

Could Crawford, who was originally sent by Stern to remind the Spurs, just put up with it?

On the court, Qin Yue burst past Nestorovic from the perimeter, violently driving towards the Spurs' rim, and scoring despite Bruce Bowen's defense.

"Beep——!"

And-One!

The ball goes in as the whistle blows, and there's even a free throw to come!

At the ATT Center, after testing Crawford's penalty criteria, Qin Yue, who initially pretended to punish the Spurs with threes, has been relentlessly charging tonight.

At this time, Duncan also noticed that ever since Qin Yue entered the NBA...

His trickery has become increasingly devious.

"Where did my adorable, sensible, and reasonable junior go?" Duncan deliberately asked before Qin Yue's free throw.

Hearing this, Qin Yue said, "He's dead, died during battles against one NBA star after another."

Provoking Popovich at the start of the game.

And showing toughness in front of Horry.

Even at the risk of making himself seem overly aggressive on the court.

At this moment, with a cunning smile, Duncan suddenly realized that his junior has quietly grown into a true monster.

In his fiery eyes, there was nothing but victory after victory.

Nothing could stop him from moving forward.

Duncan was extremely certain.

The NBA, at this moment, has welcomed the post-Jordan era's most terrifying... and the purest, a winning machine born for victory.

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