After the timeout, the Bulls became more patient.

Steady position, steady defense.

There are fewer gambling tackles and blocks, and more of a strong interference.

This adjustment did cause a lot of trouble for Kobe Bryant, when Jordan played patiently and abandoned the style of play like steals and blocks. He can interfere with almost every shot of Kobe, although the interference amplitude is high and low, at least there will be no loss of position and let Kobe dunk under the basket.

As a result of this adjustment, Kobe Bryant has reined in his edge. Standby and start trying to activate O'Neill's point.

O'Neal is definitely the winner of the Lakers and the Bulls, and unlike the previous round, O'Neal is definitely a one-on-one invincible existence in front of the Bulls.

How to make good use of this point, the Lakers' coaches, including Kobe, have been thinking about it for a long time.

The reason why the Magic were able to defeat the Bulls the year before last was because O'Neal blew up the Bulls inside, and at the same time, Penny Hardaway played better than the Magic in front of Jordan and Pippen, who had just returned.

On the one hand, Jordan was not in form, and on the other hand, Hardaway's state at that time was really good. That series propelled Penny straight to superstar status, considering that he didn't even average more than 20 points per game in the regular season.

If you want to win the bulls, replicating magic is one way to do it.

Harris considered this solution, which is premised on the premise that Bryant can cut at least 35+7 per game in the series, and at the same time the key ball is tough. Faced with Jordan Pippen in this state, cutting such a performance, Harris is not sure if Kobe Bryant will be able to do it.

The second option is to let Kobe Bryant act as an offensive initiator as much as possible, and hand over the finishing task to O'Neal as much as possible, as at the beginning of the season. Let O'Neal go crazy, a crazy interior superstar, it is possible to flip the Bulls' table and directly destroy their interior offense and defense.

This requires Bryant to bring out O'Neal's state.

Kobe Bryant is trying to do that right now.

Hanging the ball to the basket for O'Neal to eat alone, this strategy is too simple.

WITH SUCH A SIMPLE IN-OUT TACTIC, THE BULLS WERE READY FOR A LONG TIME. The Lakers' first shot was to the basket, which was quickly destroyed by the help defense rotation and was destroyed.

It is impossible to continue to play like this later, unless the bull has a physical problem and the rotation speed slows down.

The Bulls' strategy for defending O'Neal is very different from Houston's.

Houston is using Olajuwon for a single defense, while the Bulls are infinite in the rotation of pinching.

Both of these tactics are based on the strength of their players, and with the Bulls, there is no second team in the league that can rotate and fill in so quickly.

And the league can't find a second Olajuwon either.

So O'Neal's way of breaking the game is also different from the previous way of playing Olajuwon.

Before, it was through a lot of air cutting and running, blocking and dismantling on the outside, cutting inside, consuming the physical energy of Big Dream, running up and fighting, and using the advantage of agility and physical strength to hit Big Dream.

Now Longley can't shrink the basket at all, and O'Neal's weakness of not having a basket in the middle distance is vividly reflected.

Bryant forced the ball in succession, and O'Neal caught it.

However, the follow-up of Rodman and Pippen forced O'Neal to play the ball.

After the ball, the Bulls' gap was filled in another instant.

Kobe Bryant's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Shaq, slip them and fight!"

Just hit it like that!

Just let them rotate!

Wouldn't it be physical?

Kobe Bryant didn't believe the Bulls could hold on to such a defense for more than two quarters!

When the physical strength is exhausted, it is when O'Neill is in full swing.

AND NOW THE LAKERS' OFFENSE IS TO CONTINUOUSLY TRANSFER THE BALL, IN-OUT TACTICS, AND FINALLY LET KOBE FINISH IT.

Perfect!

Kobe Bryant's tactical thinking is very clear, but the situation of the game was pulled back by the Bulls under such tactics.

"Michael! Step-back jumper! Basketball is like an extension of him! Kobe Bryant, a defensive player in the league, has no way to take him at all, and like Payton, Kobe's defensive Jordan can be directly crushed and played! ”

"Kobe Bryant is not far behind! Every offense of the Lakers has allowed O'Neal to pass through once or twice! But if there is no excellent opportunity, the Lakers' final shot will still be handed over to Kobe! ”

"Super difficult projection! Kobe Bryant also scored consecutive goals against Michael! ”

"Jordan vs Kobe! Bulls vs Lakers! Triangle Offense VSIN-OUT! This kind of confrontation is so exciting and exciting! Such a grand finals is the ceiling of basketball! ”

"A wonderful confrontation that occurs once in a decade, except for the yellow-green dispute, I have never seen such a level of confrontation. This is the highest level of basketball in the world, and this stage belongs to the greatest players. ”

"Basketball has never reached such a wonderful level, this game is really the ceiling of basketball, every minute and every second and every frame of the first quarter must be taken out and savored!"

In the battle of the gods, Kobe Bryant scored 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal on 7-of-11 shooting in the first quarter. Michael finished with 21 points and four rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting. ”

"The Bulls erased the Lakers' point difference, and the Lakers ended the first quarter at 27:26 Bulls."

It can be seen that the Lakers' offensive efficiency is declining compared to the previous round, O'Neal wears the ball, only 3 shots in the first quarter, and scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He didn't play like usual, but instead became a playmaker like Sabonis. ”

"The playmaking didn't work very well, the three assists were all thrown to Kobe Bryant to score, the passes to other players didn't hit a single ball, and the Bulls rotated too fast. At least the Lakers didn't have back-to-back turnovers at this level of defense, which is commendable. ”

"Both sides are starting to use a rotational lineup!"

"The Lakers put on a small lineup of Fisher, Curry Sr., Colsi, Horry, and Big Ben. Although young, this lineup looks very comfortable. ”

"Bulls for Kerr, Randy Brown, Jason Kafee, Cookic, Parish! This lineup is just as good! ”

"It's a confrontation between the best bench teams in the league, with the Lakers and Bulls consistently topping the league. This is the key to their 70 wins, after all, many teams in history have not been much weaker than the Bulls and Lakers on paper, but only two of them can win 70 wins, and their bench is a great contribution. ”

The coaches of both sides coincidentally changed to an all-substitute lineup.

It's a test to see which players are in better shape. In the next few games, there will definitely not be a 10-man rotation, and in most of the subsequent games, in order to avoid mistakes, it will still be dominated by 8 or even 7-man rotations.

And this game is just an attempt by Harris and Phil.