As early as the end of the second quarter, the Zen master made up his mind to double Reed in the second half. Of course, he doesn't have the courage to pack three, after all, the 76ers are not Reed's one-man team, and limiting him alone will not make the 76ers' performance on the offensive end drop significantly, and the two-man package is already the limit of what he can ask the players to do.

Brown has also guessed the arrangement of the Zen master, in fact, Reed's performance in the first half has proved that Kobe's single defense did not play a big role, and the Lakers are imperative to him to wrap up, so at halftime he deliberately advised: "Michael's performance should be seen by everyone, and the opponent will definitely make targeted arrangements on the defensive end in the second half, I hope everyone can try to open up space for him, or help him reduce the pressure of scoring, so that the opponent can return in vain." ”

Listening to Brown's request, everyone in the locker room did not raise any opinions, Iverson wanted to fight for the position of the main offensive point, but Reed's performance of 30+5+8 in the first half also shocked the top point guard known for scoring, when Brown asked everyone to speak freely, his lips squirmed a few times, and finally did not speak.

The halftime break was over quickly, and the 76ers players walked towards the court in twos and threes, and Chang Wei deliberately fell to the back and whispered to Reed: "Michael, how does it feel to shoot?" I think the training still has some effect. ”

Reed nodded, and said with a little excitement, "What's more?" I feel like your training program is much better than anything I've ever done before, and every time I shoot, I feel like the basket is as wide as the ocean! ”

Chang Wei shook his head and said worriedly: "It was true in the first half, but I was worried that the Lakers would use a bag jacket on you in the second half, and according to the Zen master's usual style, this is almost certain......"

Reid smiled freely: "Bag clip, at least then I can give everyone an assist, as long as they can also ensure the shooting percentage, then we have every chance to win this game, I believe we can!" ”

Looking at Reed's confident appearance, Chang Wei patted him on the shoulder, and he didn't plan to say anything. Reed is qualified to say such things based on his performance in the first half alone, and since he believes he can handle the opponent's bag, let him go! Now that Reed is arguably propping up the 76ers' entire offense, if he's restricted, who else can step up?

Brown's guess was not wrong, and at the beginning of the second half, Kobe and Fox stood in front of him very vigilantly, faintly flanking. As long as Reid receives the ball, they will grab it at the first time, let alone shoot the ball, even if they want to pass the ball, they may not have a chance, and this posture also makes Iverson dare not give the ball to Reed at the first time.

But that doesn't mean the 76ers' offense will stagnate, on the contrary, the Lakers' bag allows the 76ers to have a play-less advantage in other areas. Watching their teammates struggle on the defensive end, Kobe and Fox are in a dilemma: should they continue to defend Reed or help their teammates defend? Unfortunately, before they could think it through, the 76ers used a series of cover substitutions to put the ball in the hands of Bell, who easily hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner.

Just as they were feeling annoyed, Reed began to babble trash talk around him, "Is there any use in you guys staying next to me like a scarecrow?" We still scored, you can imagine how stupid your defensive strategy is! If you continue to defend like this, my teammates will beat you up so much that you don't even know your mother!" ”

In the face of Reed's trash talk, although Kobe and Fox did not fight back, they still looked at the Zen master on the sidelines, hoping that he could give some new instructions. To their surprise, though, the Zen master made a continuation gesture, apparently asking them to continue to wrap Reed in the next round, not giving him a chance to catch and shoot.

However, the 76ers' next offensive round came quickly, Horry's shot was forced down by Lewis, and Iverson took the opportunity to counterattack with the ball, and by this time Reed had already run to the bottom corner. In the face of Lu's top defense, Iverson immediately found Reed, who took the time to adjust his posture in this huge gap and shot through the heart.

However, there are not many such opportunities, more often than not, Reed still walks the dog on the offensive end, drills around with two defenders, and occasionally receives the ball and passes it quickly, he doesn't want to be prevented from walking or scrambling for the ball, and it is even more unacceptable to be directly tackled and counterattacked. Fortunately, Reed attracted most of the Lakers' defense, which allowed the rest of the 76ers to attack unscrupulously, and although O'Neal covered the sky under the basket, he didn't have much to do about the 76ers' three-point rain.

I have to admit that the Lakers' outside defense does have two brushes, but this does not mean that Reed has become an invisible man on the offensive end, he still continues to help the team in his own way. Stretching the space, fake shots and real passes, chasing three-pointers, blocking and dismantling, Reed used eighteen martial arts in the face of the Lakers' targeted defense, and his score was slowly improving.

In fact, now the Lakers' bag has failed, but the Zen master still persistently did not make changes, his idea is very simple, rather than being shot to death by Reed, it is better to bet on the shooting feel of other players of the 76ers, if you bet right, you will earn, and if you bet wrong, it will not be worse, and it is better to continue to maintain the bag under the trade-off between the two.

It's a pity that the Zen master forgot one thing, Kobe Bryant is a man and not a god, and he can't return to the offensive end with a lot of physical strength on the defensive end and perform well. Basically, when the ball is given to him on the offensive end, the final result will be a one-time iron nine times out of ten, and the third quarter has already been played for more than half of the time, and Kobe Bryant has only scored three field goals, which is incredible for him. On the contrary, Reid always maintained an elite-level shooting percentage without using too much force on the defensive end, and by the second half of the third quarter, the Lakers' bag could no longer hold him down, Kobe Bryant could still grit his teeth and work hard, but Fox could only play soy sauce.

The Lakers still couldn't close the gap in the third quarter, and by the end of the quarter they were already trailing by as many as 14 points, and Reed added 9 points to his own 39 points, which has set a new career high, and he also improved his assist tally to 11, and his play is the fundamental reason why the 76ers can still suppress the Lakers so far.