It was a crucial game for both teams, with the two experienced managers opting for their previous regular starting line-ups. The Zen master seemed to sense something, and the Lakers' starting list was prominently listed by Malone, obviously they intended to play an advantage from the beginning, otherwise it would be impossible for the idea of making Malone such a good substitute be shelved.

In fact, the Zen master is still very helpless in his heart, since he put Ma Long into the substitute lineup, the locker room is like a bomb, and the devil knows when he will completely explode. As one of the most villainous guys in NBA history, Malone's madness is not something that ordinary people can bear, even if the Lakers have O'Neal, a prehistoric monster.

Ma Long didn't say anything about the head coach's arrangement, his qualifications made him not take the initiative to shake hands with the Zen master, and in his opinion, he deserved to start, and he just got back what belonged to him.

The Lakers' starting lineup made Brown almost think he was presbyopia, and he looked at it several times before he was sure that the opponent was indeed letting Malone start the game. Brown didn't care, the Lakers had Malone start and their bench would drop more than a notch, and while they would likely try to take control at the start of the game, it's hard to say who would have the advantage.

Once all the preparations are in place, the game is officially underway. To the excitement of the Pistons players, Big Ben defeated O'Neal, who was clearly unfocused, in the jump ball to help the Pistons get the first wave of possession of the game.

Billups, who got the ball, did not rush to attack, he unhurriedly pressed Payton to the frontcourt, and while guarding against the opponent's sneak attack, he directed his teammates to run. Hamilton hung up two screens in quick succession to get a fleeting chance near the free-throw line, and Billups seized the moment to slip the ball in his hands. However, Hamilton was not the end point of the round, as he drew the ball in and passed the ball straight to Thomas, who had just covered for himself, and he hit a three-point shot.

The Pistons' offense does often confuse defenders, they have too many endpoints, and everyone is sure of it. If someone else hadn't gone to Hamilton and followed Thomas, the former might have hit a mid-range jumper that he does best. Of course, the consequences of the encirclement were not bad, or even worse.

However, this goal was not taken to heart by the Lakers players, and the Pistons did not try to score the first point of the game in the previous game, but how the game should be played still has to be played. But it soon became clear that this time the Pistons players were coming with the idea of a quick decision, because they didn't quickly retreat after scoring a goal, but instead put on a full-court pressing stance, ready to make a mistake by a Lakers player on the court, and then play a quick offense.

With Payton and Bryant both harassed, O'Neal had to throw the ball hard at the hungry Szebiak near the halfway line, but his intentions were seen through in advance. Big Ben suddenly appeared in his passing route, and the basketball was directly stealed by him before half court, and handed it to Hamilton, who had already thrown off Kobe, who made another three-pointer with a knife in his hand, and the score became 6-0, but this also aroused the anger of the Lakers players.

When faced with full-court pressure again, they did not hesitate to rely on the individual ability of their players to carry the ball through the half. Originally, they also planned to sneak attack, but the Pistons' retreat speed was very fast, Kobe Bryant just dribbled the ball across the half court, and the Pistons' players were all in place, and they also put on a 2-3 joint defensive formation, obviously not wanting the Lakers to play the interior first.

The most important thing to break the 2-3 joint defense is a breakthrough and three points, both of which are not lacking in the Lakers, but it is debatable whether they can be effective. Bryant broke through with the ball, but when he got in, Billups and Hamilton blocked his return pass, and it was Thomas who stood in front of him to block. After two seasons of targeted training at Chang Wei, Thomas' one-on-one defense has improved a lot, and with his speed and flexibility, he has an advantage when defending perimeter players. Kobe Bryant struggled to find a chance to make a move when he was covered, and finally had no choice but to return home.

There was chaos under the basket, and in the end, Big Ben still grabbed the rebound with the help of his teammates, but the Pistons did not launch a counterattack, and they still preferred to play the positional battle that they are good at. It was Billups who was in possession, but this time he decided to do it himself, and it was an unreasonable three-pointer, and the calm commander was clearly stirred up by his teammates.

It's true that Billups isn't a good three-point shooter, and he doesn't hit as many three-pointers per game as Crawford off the bench, but his three-point shooting rate is very accurate, ranking first on the team with a 43.1% shooting percentage, and there are few players in the league who shoot more than him. Shooting threes with the ball isn't his style, but that doesn't mean he can't hit.

Three consecutive three-pointers directly stunned the Lakers, and they didn't expect the Pistons to show extraordinary strength on both offensive and defensive ends at the beginning, and the so-called slow heat did not appear. The Zen master had to call a timeout, which he rarely called when he was less than three minutes into the first quarter, but the situation on the court made it necessary to make that decision.

Of course, the Zen master is a timeout, he has no intention of making substitutions, and the Lakers players did not make too many mistakes on the court, and they are now trailing by 9 points more because the opponent is too powerful. This timeout was actually used to interrupt the Pistons' offense, and if they were to be so unscrupulous, the morale of the Lakers team would have been devastating in the first half of the first quarter.

Brown didn't care, he just had enough to catch his breath. Although the physical fitness of the Pistons players is among the best in the league, Brown does not plan to use them hard, and it is better to rest if he can. As for the offense being interrupted or something, Brown didn't pay attention to it at all, with the strength of the Pistons, do you still need to be afraid of this?

Sure enough, after the game restarted, the Pistons' firepower did not weaken at all, the only difference was that the Lakers also began to score. After all, the Purple and Gold now have four superstars on the court, and they can also send the ball to the basket by relying on their individual ability, but their offense is not as smooth as the Pistons, and the offensive efficiency is far from comparable, and the stars are not omnipotent.