The Spurs weapon to break the zone defense in the final quarter: offensive rebound + Castle

In the fourth quarter, the Spurs took advantage of the Rockets' zone defense weaknesses through aggressive offensive rebounding, Castle's on-the-spot reading, and fixed routines at critical moments, and successfully defended their lead.

About rebounding: When you see offensive rebounds, you will directly think of Keldon:

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs actually have few ways to defend the zone. Amen will guard the breakthrough line in the middle. Wenban still only has the authority to operate outside the paint area. KJ's offensive rebound gave Wenban a chance to quickly start a second offense, but the Rockets were unable to reorganize their formation in a short time.

KJ rebounds to create a second offensive opportunity:

Another effective strategy for attacking and defending in the final quarter is that Castle made good use of Sheppard's side. Almost the entire second half of the fourth quarter, the Spurs' offense focused on this point. This time Wenban was in position, but Sheppard stood outside and forward of Wenban. After receiving the ball, Wenban could immediately drop the ball and attack the penalty area.

This time, KJ switched to a positional battle. Castle seized the space left by Amen and Shepard in the middle and cut directly into the basket to score.

This time it was an obvious tactical sign of the Spurs. Vassell provided a front screen to Castle to allow Shepard to face off. Then Barnes and Castle played a two-man pop to the outside, which tested the defensive understanding of Shen Jing and Shepard. Barnes also got a completely open opportunity.

This time it was still a mistake in the zone defense position. Sheppard went to defend Barnes' catch, but it directly gave Castle a chance to break through the penalty area. The latter directly assisted Wenban with an alley-oop.

In addition to taking advantage of loopholes in defensive positioning, the Spurs' fixed routine to break the zone defense in the final quarter is as follows:

Castle holds the ball, Vassell moves to the outside but does not cover. The purpose is to distract the two players at the top of the Rockets arc, allowing Castle and Shepard to go one-on-one. Then Wenban goes to the free throw line to catch the ball. Castle takes advantage of Shepard's lack of defensive attention and directly cuts in to attract Durant's recovery, and then assists Champagne in the bottom corner.

In the same routine, Vassell came to the outside, Wenban received the ball, and Castle cut directly, very easily.

The Rockets then made adjustments, moving Sheppard to the bottom line and letting Amen and Okogie partner at the top of the arc. Castle no longer played a running game without the ball after the ball was released this time, and directly handed the ball to Wenban one-on-one, but Amen was also negligent and was filled in by Castle.

This time it was Castle's offensive rebound that assisted Champany.

In the last critical round of transition from defense to offense, Wenban got the mismatch against Amen and hit a key shot before attracting a double attack in the bottom corner.