Chapter 337: The Third Section of the Decisive Victory (1)
'We should let the ball flow and share, like it did at the beginning of the season. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info We have a good start and I hope a good end as well. ”
At half-time, Phil Jackson was in the cramped dressing room cheering his players. It doesn't look like it's working very well, though.
O'Neill was sitting on a small bench wiping his sweat, complaining about why he didn't turn up the air conditioner a little more. Karl Malone's knee was a little swollen and had to be applied with a large ice pack. Peyton munched on his gum and looked like he didn't care about anything, his expression uncomfortable.
Bryant looked pretty good, and his play in the first half ensured that the Lakers held the score tightly.
But apparently Kobe Bryant lacked Jordan's appeal, and his outstanding performance not only did not reassure his teammates, but instead made people feel alienated.
Because Bryant barely passed the ball in the first half, and the only two assists were a bit of a mistake.
Jackson reluctantly tapped the whiteboard and continued: "The third quarter is a very crucial one, and we like to decide the winner in the third quarter, and coincidentally the opponent is the same. So, we have to give it our all in the third quarter, they will be very tight defensively, show your experience, your courage and your wisdom and work together to get through the difficult third quarter! ”
Jackson's calm and magnetic tone always calms people's hearts, and his words also calm the Lakers players a little. At this time, Malone spoke.
"It's going to be a tough one, but I'm going to stay the course, I've been doing it for 19 years and I don't care about that time."
Malone's words undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of the Lakers' locker room, and in this small locker room, everyone gathered around Malone to cheer together.
The halftime period was over quickly, and the Lakers players were ready to play, and when they left, Jackson grabbed Kobe Bryant again and said to him at the door of the locker room: "Pass the ball more, don't be superstitious about your hand." ”
Kobe Bryant glanced at him, smiled and said, "I'll get the Most Valuable Player." With that, he followed his teammates in front of him.
Hearing Kobe's words, Jackson was both worried and had a glimmer of hope in his heart. Before the Finals began, Kobe Bryant told Jackson in a heart-to-heart conversation that he wanted to win the Finals MVP.
In fact, before the start of this season, Kobe Bryant told the owner and coach that he wanted to get a regular season MVP of his own. Not only because the existing honors can no longer support Kobe's strength and ambition, but the scandal that has lasted for a whole season has made Kobe Bryant eager to prove himself.
In particular, Phil Jackson, who used to coach Michael Jordan, asked Jackson more than once how far he was from Jordan.
This ambition and desire finally exploded in the Finals, and Jackson knew that the door to Kobe's inner ambition had been completely opened since he let Kobe Bryant finish the game in the Western Conference Finals.
According to the original plan, Jackson hoped that Kobe Bryant could start to play better in the more crucial third game, and the first two games were still tested with a more conventional style of play.
But there are two points of Jackson's miscalculation, first, he underestimated the degree of Kobe Bryant's competitiveness, under the triple pressure of O'Neal, Malone and himself, he still uncompromisingly hopes to get the Most Valuable Player, and refuses to give in. Judging from the situation in the locker room just now, Ma Long's sensational monologue could not impress his firm determination, perhaps he must have thought that as long as he won the Most Valuable Player, Ma Long's championship dream would naturally come true.
Second, Jackson underestimated the depth of the Celtics, as well as the patience of Fox Leon. Jackson wished that as soon as the Celtics opened the game, the Celtics would be on the eighteenth class of weapons together, and a fierce beating might be able to stimulate the bloodiness and combat effectiveness of the Lakers players.
Who knows that Fox Leon let Pierce and Kobe Bryant play against each other, the scene is good-looking, but there are few substantive things, and the Lakers haven't found out the bottom of the Celtics after a half.
Jackson had the impression that several key routines of the Celtics were not shown at all, and Kevin Garnett and Arenas did not play their two firepower points. The death defense that scared everyone didn't show up either, and those could well be pouring on the Lakers in the crucial third quarter.
Thinking of this, Jackson had returned to the court with the players, the sound of the noisy North Shore Garden Arena made people's eardrums faintly uncomfortable, and when he saw the Celtics' lineup in the third quarter, Jackson knew that the Celtics' big offense was about to begin.
...........
"Tell me who you are."
"Rajabel."
"Why did you start in the second half?"
"Block the opponent's offense."
"Blockade whose attack?"
"Opponent's."
"Who is the opponent!"
"Kobe."
"Kobe Bryant!"
"Kobe Bryant!"
"Okay, come on boy." Shortly before the game, on the sidelines of the Celtics, Fox Leon held Ragabel's head and asked him the above words.
When Bale firmly said the name of the player he was going to play against in the second half, Leon gave him a punch in the chest and a pat on the shoulder, and the second half was about to begin.
"Welcome back to the North Shore Garden Arena, where the score was 51-50 and the first half was evenly matched, with Bryant and Pierce dominating the half. What will happen in the second half? We see that the Celtics' starting lineup for the second half has changed, and Ragabel has replaced Reed to the shooting guard position, which is the lineup used by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the first half, I was still wondering how the Celtics' starters were different from the Eastern Conference Finals. Brin has also noticed a change in the Celtics' roster, and it's clear that he's not the only one who has that doubt.
On the surface, Bell may have been trying to deal with Kobe, but is Bell really better defensively than Reed? Even if Bale is better than Reed, it doesn't mean that Kobe Bryant can be limited.
That's what most people think, but Leon clearly thinks more.
The game got on, with the Celtics taking the lead in attack, and when Reed wasn't on the floor, Arenas became the only engine in the Celtics backcourt.
"Arenas faced Payton, maneuvered on the outside, repeatedly used pick-and-rolls, he found the gap, went inside, gave the ball to Garnett, Garnett caught the ball and hit a jumper!"
The Celtics' first shot gave full play to the advantage of the pick-and-roll, Garnett and Brown double-blocked Arenas on the outside, and then Brown cut inside, Garnett dismantled to the baseline, and Arenas chose to give Garnett to the baseline after killing the inside.
Karl Malone was clearly a little out of step on his legs, and once Garnett was given the space, his jumper was unstoppable.
There is no doubt that this kind of offensive routine is the most difficult for the Lakers to defend, and the aging of Malone and the weakness of O'Neal that cannot be defended will undoubtedly be magnified in the face of the Celtics.
But the Celtics barely used such a routine throughout the first half, and Phil Jackson only felt his heart sinking.
Looking back, Kobe Bryant really adopted a passing strategy in the offense, but as soon as the ball reached O'Neal's hand, Brown fouled and didn't give the Shark a chance to shoot at all. With Haitians sitting on the bench anyway, Brown isn't worried about his foul problem.
With Payton's missed throw, the Celtics found an opportunity to counterattack, Garnett got a long pass from the backcourt owner to Arenas in the frontcourt, Arenas ran wildly with the ball, Payton couldn't keep up at all, and an easy layup was successful.
At this time, Bryant was ready to do it himself, and he was not even ready to try to pass again, because the difference had become 5 points, a very dangerous gap.
"Bryant has the ball, on the right side, one-on-one against Bale, the Celtics don't have a bag, and Bale is constantly interfering with Bryant. Bryant tries to get rid of it, and he shoots a step-back jumper. The ball missed, Garnett got the rebound, and it was another fast break. ”
As he spoke, Arenas held the ball to the front court again, and he received a long pass from Garnett to do the same, but this time Payton couldn't let him go to the basket easily, and he would rather foul than pull Arenas down.
That didn't stop the Celtics from scoring, though, as Arenas hit both free throws to stretch the deficit to seven points.
When the Lakers switched offense again, Kobe took the initiative to ask Payton for the ball, and Malone was about to come up to block it, but Kobe waved his hand at Malone and said, "Get out of the way, I'm going to go head-to-head!" (To be continued.) )