"At the end of the timeout, O'Neal, who had only rested for more than 3 minutes, had to return to the court, and Meng Xu, who scored 14 points in a row, really put too much pressure on the Lakers."

Perhaps Larry Bird had long expected Phil Jackson to make such an adjustment, and after the timeout, the Pacers replaced Meng Xu and Reggie Miller, and sent a three-post lineup such as Mutombo, Lorencen White, and Jeff Foster. At the same time, after the timeout, the Pacers still insisted on not containing O'Neal, still cutting off the connection between the Lakers' inside and outside lines, and blocking Kobe Bryant as the main defensive strategy on the court.

"In this game, the consumption of O'Neill is too great!" At the last moment before the end of the second quarter, looking at O'Neal, who was already sweating profusely and panting in the scramble with Mutombo under the basket, Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines also shook his head, although O'Neal has only played 20 minutes now, which is nothing for O'Neal, who often plays the whole game in his career, but the Pacers' wheel battle and rotation consumption strategy still make it very difficult for the Lakers. The Pacers don't contain O'Neal, it's an absolute opportunity for O'Neal, and if he doesn't play O'Neal's point, it's definitely a tactical mistake and a great waste, but he keeps playing O'Neal's point, which is right in the arms of the Pacers, accelerating O'Neal's physical exertion, playing 20 minutes, 12 of 19 shots, 6 of 9 free throws, O'Neal has already scored 30 points before the end of the first half, if this momentum continues, O'Neal can at least score 50+ or even 60+ in this game, But with O'Neill's current physical exertion, it is very difficult to predict what kind of state he will maintain in the fourth energy saving.

'Dubeken, you played really well in the first half, and in the third quarter, you had a good rest. At half-time, as soon as he walked into the dressing room, Larry Bird praised Mutombo by name. If you look at O'Neal's scoring data and shooting rate, Mutombo's defense is far from being successful, and it is not an exaggeration to even describe it as being blown up by O'Neal, but for Larry Bird, whose main strategy is to consume O'Neal, Mutombo's defense in the first half is undoubtedly in line with Larry Bird's arrangement and requirements. As a passive defensive side, Mutombo's physical exertion is greater than O'Neal's, although it has been nearly 5 minutes since the end of the first half, Mutombo, who is sitting in front of the locker, is still sweaty and has collapsed to the point of almost speechless.

"Guys, it turns out that the Los Angeles Lakers are nothing more than Erle!" Under O'Neal's crazy performance of 30 points at halftime, the Lakers only led the Pacers by 6 points at the end of the first half, and there is still a certain distance from the 10-point difference expected by Larry Bird, which can also be seen that the real strength of the Lakers is far from being as exaggerated as it appears on the surface, except for O'Neal and Kobe, the other two giants are just in vain, in the Lakers' current tactics, there is no room for Payton to play, and Malone is now 40 years old, plus a knee injury, Whether it is Mutombo or Jermaine O'Neal, he is eaten to death, even Lorenzen White and Jeff Foster can wrestle with Malone, plus the Lakers have now given up the triangle offense they are good at, so compared with the Lakers last season, this year's Lakers, although the overall strength has increased, but the increase is also very limited.

"Okay, I won't say much about the rest, guys, and then it's time for us to overtake the score in one fell swoop." After Larry Bird finished speaking, assistant coach Lester Connell began to announce the third-quarter appearance, organizing guard Meng Xu, scoring guard Richard Hamilton, small forward Tysean Prince, power forward James Posey, and center Jermaine O'Neal. Since the game between the Pacers and the Magic, the backcourt combination of Tyshawn Prince and James Posey and Meng Xu used full-court pressing tactics to defeat the Magic, and even superstars like Maddy were blocked by them, Larry Bird began to experiment with this lineup in the Pacers' daily training, in order to surprise his opponent in the Finals, facing the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, when the Pacers and the Nets were tied 2-2, Lester Connell suggested that Larry Bird use this lineup in advance in the crucial fifth game, but Larry Bird refused, and Larry Bird only said one sentence to Lester Connell: "This is a gift for the Lakers, no one can open it first!" ”

"Guys, get on the field and give this gift to the proud Angelenos!" Amid Larry Bird's chants, all the Pacers players took to the court one by one.

。。。。。。

"Sure enough, the Pacers used full-court pressing against the Lakers in the third quarter, but the Pacers' lineup looks a little weird, Meng Xu, Hamilton, Prince, Posey, Jermaine O'Neal, the Pacers' 5 players on the court, all over two meters tall." At the beginning of the third quarter of the game, Meng Xu posted Payton in the backcourt and began to press Payton all over the court. However, Michaels soon discovered the strangeness of the Pacers' lineup, all the players on the court were more than two meters tall, and Meng Xu, who was 2.01 meters, was the shortest of the Pacers' five players.

"The Pacers' current lineup does look a bit weird at first glance, but if you look closely, it is still very reasonable, Meng Xu himself can play the position of playmaking guard, and James Posey, who often plays a cameo role as a power forward in the Pacers, defending the opponent's No. 4 position, is also commonplace for James Posey, so there is nothing unreasonable about this Pacers' current lineup."

"Mr. Pat Riley, there has always been a theory, that is, with the development of basketball, the future team composed of five players with the same height can play as well as the traditional team, although the Pacers' lineup and Mr. Pat Riley's theory There is still a certain gap, but it is also very close, except for Meng Xu who is 2.01 meters tall and Jermaine who is 2.11 meters tall, the other three players are all in the range of 2.03 meters to 2.06 meters. But Meng Xu and Jermaine's style of play is also very much in line with Mr. Pat Riley's philosophy. Jeff Van Gundy immediately thought of his teacher Pat Riley after seeing the Pacers' lineup, although Pat Riley has been advocating his idea of five magicians, but now almost 20 years later, Pat Riley is still working hard to collect five magicians, and has never taken the first step.

Meng Xu's defense is very aggressive, even Phil Jackson, who was sitting on the bench, felt a strong sense of oppression, compared with Jamal Tinsley, Meng Xu's defense has improved by more than two notches, although at halftime, Phil Jackson had expected the Pacers to counterattack, but the Pacers showed such an intensity of defense at the beginning, which Phil Jackson did not expect, not only Meng Xu, but several other Pacers players, the momentum shown after the opening, It was also something that was not seen in the first half, and in this case, Phil Jackson's expression also became vigilant.

"Sample, when I was playing full-court pressing, you were still wearing open crotch pants, and you were still playing tight in front of me!" Although he was a little surprised by Meng Xu's sudden pressing defense, in the face of Meng Xu's tight pressure from the backcourt, Payton not only did not have the slightest panic, but also showed a disapproving expression. After all, pressing defense is also one of Payton's specialties, and Peyton, who knows the advantages and disadvantages of pressing defense well, faced Meng Xu, who is taller than himself, is already thinking about how to get rid of Meng Xu's defense while dribbling forward. As the only player in NBA history who won the best defensive player for organizing guards and embarrassed Jordan in the Finals, Payton does have the qualifications to mock Meng Xu.

"We have a saying in China, called a good man, don't mention the courage of the year, Gary, you are old now, do you think you are still the gloves of the year? You're just a role player for the Lakers right now, O'Neal and Kobe's little brother, so don't talk to me about your defense of Jordan. After hearing Peyton's sarcasm, Meng Xu immediately retorted sarcastically.

"F****, you bastard." Payton is also a good trash talker, and his trash talk level is several times higher than Kobe's Wallace, but Payton will spew all sorts of F-starting words when he is pressed. Under Meng Xu's irony, Peyton's fiery temper immediately came up, how can the current young people become no more condescending at all, and with a little achievement, they begin to despise all their predecessors, which is not a good phenomenon.

At the same time, Payton, who had already dribbled through the middle circle, first accelerated and quickly moved a few steps to the left side of his body, and then directly took a step back and changed direction, trying to get rid of Meng Xu's defense at this moment, but what surprised Payton was that Meng Xu seemed to have already seen through his intentions, and took a step ahead before he changed direction, stuck on the route he was ready to break through, and in desperation, Payton had to take a step back again, hoping to get rid of Meng Xu's pressure.

"Gary, you're transporting it, it's going to be 24 seconds."