Arenas' confidence is directly proportional to the distance to the basket. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 InfoSometimes Leon wonders if he's playing too much with Antoine Walker and has an urge to throw it after half-time.

However, throwing three-pointers on the counterattack is one of the few actions that Leon does not restrict Arenas, and although it can sometimes hurt the team, it obviously hurts the opponent more than it does to himself.

As soon as Derrick Fisher came on the court, Arenas began to intensify the attack, which was not at the behest of Leon, but the consciousness of the Celtic players. They knew that Fisher's presence would be a hole in the Lakers' defense, and Fisher was physical, aggressive defensively and in his best age as a professional. However, he has always had a flaw when it comes to defending speed point guards, and Arenas is not a speed point guard, but his speed, especially his shooting speed, is definitely fast enough.

In the first quarter, Arenas almost shot Jackson's heart through two consecutive three-pointers, but the Zen master still gritted his teeth and couldn't beat Fisher, on the one hand, he couldn't slap himself in the face so quickly, and on the other hand, he knew that what the Lakers really had to solve now was not a defensive problem, but an offensive problem.

Fisher's presence and Malone's increased touches did ease the Lakers' half-court offensive problems, with Fox scoring and Malone's mid-range starting to blossom. But the good touch that the Celtics accumulated in the first half of the first quarter obviously didn't run out, and Arenas, Reed, and Pierce fought back with three-pointers one after another.

The difference was stretched to about 6 points, and the Lakers were trying to erase the 6-point difference throughout the first half, which is a problem that Arenas' two three-pointers can solve, but the Lakers' outside touch has never been opened, and they are trying to find the feeling on the offensive end point by point.

But the Celtics' defense is like a quagmire, they pursue a strict one-on-one defense, not easy to pack, not easy to be transferred, not easy to lose position. It's the best way a player on the pitch can defend without a coach – keep an eye on who is in charge and don't care about anything else.

At halftime, the score was 54-48, and the Celtics still held a six-point lead.

Of course, that didn't affect the joy of the fans at the Stamp Center, because it was the first half, and after all, it was only the regular season, and after all, a lot of people came here to see the stars and not basketball, after all, this is Los Angeles.

Leon was stopped by a female reporter before returning to the dressing room for an interview, and when asked what kind of targeted set-up he had in the first half, Leon replied: "No, if you know the ball, you will find that I didn't do anything specific, I just told the players to play seriously and try to win this game." Apparently they've done a good job so far. ”

After saying that, Leon said goodbye and left the field, returning to the players' tunnel, leaving the female reporter alone with some embarrassment in front of the camera.

Leon didn't want to waste too much time on interviews, and he had a lot to do at halftime.

Back in the dressing room, he immediately began to analyse with the players on the tactical whiteboard how best to deal with the triangle attack. At the same time, he also reminded the players to reduce unnecessary cooperation in the attack, yes, Leon feels that sometimes the players have too much unnecessary cooperation.

More passes are not always better, especially since most of the Celtics' players have strong independent offensive ability, and excessive passing of the ball is reasonable, which will weaken the efficiency under the 24-second offensive limit.

Recently, Celtic have been practicing their fold attack, and the players are becoming more and more aware of sharing and passing the ball. In the first half, Leon barely planned, several players on the field passed the ball so happily that sometimes they passed too much, pursued absolute offensive opportunities too much, and finally failed to attack.

"Sometimes I have to tell you that it's hard to make the best choice in 24 seconds, it's just too short. So, if you have an opportunity, even if it's fleeting, and you have confidence in your abilities, then take the opportunity and attack decisively. Leon said to each player.

After letting the players go through a self-determined first half, educating them in midfield is most effective. Everyone thinks about how they feel on the pitch and what the coach says.

Leon knows that players have a limited amount of time to think, and in addition to games and training, they will spend a lot of time on entertainment, clubbing, playing games, and vacations, and it is difficult to expect them to learn tactics and learn basketball thinking. Then learning in the competition is the best way.

"Of course, I have to add, except for Arenas, what I just said, restrain your self-confidence, if you dare to throw three points in the second half, I'll let you go back to Boston and throw it again." Finally, Leon made a special reminder.

Arenas originally listened quite seriously, but he was not happy to hear Leon's words, and in the first half he scored second only to Pierce in the team, and a few chasing three-pointers boosted morale and hit opponents at the same time. It can be said that his performance in the first half may not have been the best, but it was the most eye-catching.

"I can throw in! I swear. Arenas said to Leon with an aggrieved face, he didn't dare to be angry with Leon, he could only pretend to be aggrieved.

'I know you can score when you need to, but in the second half our attacking focus will be on the inside, on the inside. Leon emphasized.

…………………………

On the other hand, in the locker room of the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson was furious, and in his fifth year in charge of the Lakers, the top coach has also become more and more angry. It's not that his personality has changed, it's because in a team that's growing bigger and more problematic at the same time, sometimes he has to be a little bit more temperamental.

"Do you want to beat your opponent here? Do you really understand the meaning of this game? Or do you want that stinky boy to light his damn cigar here again? Jackson couldn't help but yell at the players.

Although the Sharks single-handedly upset the Celtics' interior line last year, the Celtics finally relied on handicap moves and the god-level play of substitute players to overturn the Lakers on the road. In the final stage, the scene of Fox Leon lighting a victory cigar on the sidelines became a shame for the Lakers.

However, Leon did not receive a single boo from the Los Angeles fans for tonight's game, on the contrary, there were many people who cheered and applauded him. That's what separates Los Angeles from other places, where there is a metropolis of tolerance and generosity, where they worship and praise the hero and don't mind whether he is an adversary or an enemy.

So they also have the only failed Finals MVP in NBA history.

Jackson undoubtedly didn't like that feeling, he enjoyed his own unique "low-key high-profile", but this time he felt the pressure from the other side, the same troublesome Fox Leon.

He tried his best to encourage the players, and at the end he grabbed Kobe Bryant and talked to him alone for a while, and Kobe's performance in the first half was not outstanding, and even a little bad.

Back in the game, the bright yellow floor of the Staples Center was dazzling, and the Celtics' green was the pesky patina on the brass, and even more annoying was that they were still ahead.

Jackson knew he had to fight back as quickly as possible to turn the momentum and the tide around at the start of the third quarter.

The Celtics attacked, Pierce missed a mid-range jumper, and O'Neal got the rebound and the Lakers counterattacked. This time, Kobe Bryant received the ball, went straight from the backcourt to the basket, and then made a layup, which also caused Garnett's foul and hit a free throw.

Kobe Bryant looks like he's recovering, which is good news for the Lakers.

Then, Garnett missed a backward jumper in the face of Malone with his back, and PJ Brown grabbed the rebound in the front court and passed the ball to Arenas, who received the ball from the middle and made a strong burst in the face of O'Neal's giant palm.

After Bryant hit another mid-range, the Celtics launched their second quick counterattack, and Pierce received the ball and faked to shake off Fox and make a rebound from the baseline.

Kobe Bryant's hand is getting hotter and hotter, but there are always players on the Celtics side who can rely on individual ability, plus a little coordination and some dribbling to get the ball into the basket.

As the third quarter wore on, the margin fluctuated around six points and never fell below four points, which means that there was no time when the Lakers had any hope of using an offensive round to equalize the score.

Jackson no longer has a way to sit on the bench, and a fact that he doesn't want to believe slowly emerges in his mind: this Celtics team may have surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers in terms of overall talent and hard power. (To be continued.) )