sbdcsierra Chapter 368 The Raiders of the Lakers! An unsolvable problem!
Chapter 368 The Raiders of the Lakers! An unsolvable problem!
In the next game in the first half, O'Neal, who played against Lin Long, had fewer opportunities to perform. Instead, Kobe Bryant played a very high level against Sprewell and Bowen.
The current 1 defense player and the former 1 defense player are completely unable to stop Kobe's strength!
And when Bird ordered Bowen and Sprewell to double-team Kobe, the Lakers' main point of attack changed again!
Kobe was in charge of the offense, and Malone came to the pick-and-roll!
After the pick-and-roll, Kobe Bryant would quickly give Malone the ball.
Regardless of whether a switch is formed or not, Malone has a very high confidence in facing another person other than Lin Long in the mid-range!
The second-ranked superstar in MVP the year before, took over the guns of the ok group and started beating Rashid or Bowen and Sprewell who had switched defenses.
And once Lin Long was also lured out to help defend Malone or Kobe, the passing ability of these two people allowed them to quickly score the ball to the basket, O'Neal faced the basket, and naturally it was a burst of wanton bombing!
Fortunately, although the defense can not live, but the level of the Celtics on the offensive end is not affected at all.
Lin Long is also an unsolvable point!
Whether it is a 3-pointer without the ball, or a breakthrough with the ball and a pull-up jumper, Pippen is powerless.
The eight-time All-Defensive First Team member became the closest spectator to Lin Long's offense show.
Phil Jackson ignored it.
He didn't change his defensive strategy, he didn't make substitutions, and he didn't double-team. He just kept Lin Long 1-on-1. Even if Lin Long's Pippen was about to have a hallucination, Jackson wasn't ready to make any changes.
With this choice, Lin Long had only 2 assists in the first half, which was the fewest in all of his 11 playoff games that have ended this year, but Lin Long scored 31 points in the first half, which again became his Highest scoring half of the playoffs!
In addition to Lin Long, the Celtics only had Barkley coming off the bench, bullying Campbell and Horry as much as they wanted.
With 13 points, no third person has scored in double figures.
On the Lakers side, it was the Big Three, Kobe Bryant 17 points, Shaquille O'Neal 18 points, Malone 13 points, 3 people scored 48 points together! Similarly, no fourth person scored in double figures.
The other giant, Pippen, who was about to be hit by Lin Long's stress response, did not make a shot. Except for 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls, no data was recorded.
The stars of both sides played their due level, and the score was evenly matched, at 53:51, the Lakers were temporarily behind by 2 points.
At halftime, Bird and Phil Jackson cheered their players in their respective locker rooms while thinking about second-half strategies.
On CBS's side, Kenny said: "This half-court game is really good! The star showdown that fans most want to see is vividly displayed, and the defensive strategies of both coaches are also very interesting 々々. 35
Smith nodded and said: "Yes, especially Phil Jackson, he let Pippen be beaten miserably, but he didn't double-team and help, and didn't change his defensive tactics. It's really confusing. I think maybe It's a better way to have Kobe come forward to help or even defend."
Beside him, Brand, who has been quiet all the time, said: "Maybe Jackson thinks it's not very useful to be double-teamed. After all, in last year's Eastern Conference finals, even Jordan and Pippen couldn't do anything to Lin Long. If that's the case, then It would be more sensible to let Pippen continue on one-on-one defense and leave Kobe's physical strength on the offensive end."
Smith said: "That's right, that's why I'm optimistic about the Lakers. They have two points that they can't solve, and Malone is the third strongest point! These three points, the Celtics can only solve at most. 2! And in the first half, they didn't solve one of them. The Celtics have at most one and a half points that are difficult to solve, that is, Lin Long and Barkley who lack physical strength!
Seeing that these guys were all optimistic about the Lakers, Will Marcus immediately answered: "You have forgotten one thing, the Celtics didn't have to solve the Lakers' offense. Their trick is offense! Offense !attack!"
After emphasizing entering the palace three times in a row, Wilmarcus said slowly:
"The Celtics have the most offensive and impactful lineup, and they haven't come out yet, that's the best way to face the Lakers! 35
"Strictly speaking, it's not a trick to face the Lakers." Miller, who had not spoken, interjected and said: "It's a trick to face all the twin-tower teams and teams that focus on the inside. Don't forget, the regular season against the Spurs. That's how they won that game! They used Aaron, Curry, Big Ben, Lin Long and Bowen.
"Now, the Celtics have a solid lineup, what if they take out Aaron, Curry, Sprewell, Lin Long, Rasheed? How should the Lakers respond? How can they catch up with them? Long, if he rushes up regardless, there may be some mistakes, but how should the Lakers' twin towers defend their fast break?
Will Marcus said: "Reggie is right, the Celtics defense is just the icing on the cake, what makes them look flawless, and what really allowed them to reach 35 consecutive victories and 74 in a single season. It's their offensive firepower that wins! It's their league's No. 1 3-point shot, fast break and firepower for all!
With the heated discussion between the host and the guests, the second half of the game officially started!
Neither side changed their starting lineup, but the Celtics changed their defensive matchup first.
Big Ben and Rasheed were once again one-on-one with the two big insiders, and Lin Long was against Kobe Bryant.
Although Sprewell mainly defends Pippen, he has already coped with Pippen's defense very well. Whether Malone or O'Neal has the ball inside, he will shrink as soon as possible and go inside to double-team!
Billups and Sprewell are exactly the same, the defense of Fisher has become dispensable, and the focus of defense has also been placed on the help of the inside.
The change in the Celtics' defensive plan made the first few offenses of the Lakers in the second half of the game not very smooth, and Bryant's breakthrough and scoring became somewhat difficult.
When he gave the ball to Pippen, the guy who had been sleepwalking in the first half obviously hadn't woken up from his dream. He was hesitant to pass the ball or play it himself, and missed several good opportunities.
Instead, on the Celtics side, Lin Long continued his one-point blast on Pippen.
It was Pippen 2 times in a row again, extending the score advantage to 7 points!
At this time, Jackson made another substitution, replacing the sleepwalking Pippen and taking the more stable Rick Fox with 3 points.
Before Fox came on the court, Jackson commanded: "々. Your job is to hit open shots, as for defense, just leave it to your fate!""
This sentence is equivalent to telling Fox: You don't have to defend!
Fox, who heard this, was overjoyed, he had never heard such a happy request in his life!
The coach hand-picked things like offense and defense without any effort. Few people in the entire NBA have this kind of treatment!
After Fox came on the court (Li Lei's), he really didn't make any effort on defense at all, which made Lin Long's singles more comfortable, but Fox would be happy no matter how many shots Lin Long made, no matter what trash words Lin Long spat out. of.
After all, my coach told me to buy without defense!
No matter how powerful you are, Lin Long, and no matter how powerful you are in the mvp, do you have this kind of treatment?
This happiness directly affected his state, and he hit all three consecutive shots from the corner.
Although only 1 of the 3 shots was a 3-pointer! However, the 7-point streak still scared Sprewell that he would no longer dare to double-team the inside line, and could only obediently stay in front of Fox. This change immediately made O'Neal again. Active with Malone, they have a huge advantage against double Wallace!
Even if Bryant was blocked by Lin Long and the Lakers' basketball was no longer so smooth, if Fisher and Fox's task was to just pass the ball to the inside, they could barely accomplish it to a pretty good level.
In the third quarter, with Fox playing, the form was quickly reversed.
In the end, the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with 78:76, overtaking by 2 points!