At the press conference before the game, the Zen master was still calm, but Brown, who was next to him, chose to believe Chang Wei's judgment. And the Lakers proved their strength in the last game, it was just an accident to fall behind 0-2 on the road before, even if Malone didn't have any problems, the Pistons would not suffer a loss if they tried from him first, and if it didn't work, it would be good to change it.

Perhaps it was the long practice session the day before that played a role, or perhaps it was Brown's pre-game advice that made the Pistons nervous as soon as the game began. Taking advantage of the Lakers' unstable foothold, Hamilton hit mid-range shots in two consecutive rounds to help the team open the scoring. His running was even more bizarre in the game, and his teammates were happy to cover him off the ball, with Big Ben, Thomas and Prince getting the perfect shot with three screens in a row.

It may seem like a cumbersome tactic, but it's what the Pistons do best, they have a whole bunch of sapper-like players, it's a piece of cake to cover, and they're willing to create opportunities for the team's leading scorer. The Lakers didn't pay much attention to Hamilton's three consecutive screens and shots, such a scene has appeared more than once in previous games, and the Lakers knew that they couldn't prevent it, so they wanted to make a name for themselves on the offensive end.

Their offense was still handed over to the OK combination, and Szzebiak's three-point shot was certainly very good, but his shooting percentage dropped significantly in the face of defense, and he was not suitable as the main point of attack. And at the beginning of the game, it is also the Lakers' consistent strategy to let the OK group attack with the ball first, and the Zen master has never believed that anyone in the league can stop Kobe Bryant and O'Neal from attacking together.

But there seems to be something wrong with the linkage of the OK combination today, Kobe Bryant is reluctant to put the passing thing aside, and in the face of O'Neal, who is ready to turn the river under the basket, the Pistons players came up with the only tactic to deal with the strong interior line - going forward. What's more, when Thomas went around the front defense, O'Neal still had Big Ben behind him, and they completely let Walker go, if they were really hammered to death by Walker alone because of this, then they would admit it, but obviously this probability is not very large.

Payton tried a few times and found it really hard to get the ball to O'Neal unless the latter pulled up to the top to catch it. However, O'Neal is also reluctant to break through directly from the high post, he likes to ask for the ball in the low post, and attack the basket after a few casual singles with his back, and the ball is not the first choice for him. In desperation, Payton could only hand the ball to Kobe.

Kobe Bryant also suffered a bag in this game, and the Pistons chose to let Payton go and use Hamilton to entangle Szebiak, who also likes to run without the ball, and Billups and Prince double-wrapped Kobe. Brown's strategy now is to let Payton and Walker score and guard the other three, and he doesn't believe the remaining two can work together to beat the Pistons.

I have to say that Brown's decision is very bold and effective, and more importantly, the Pistons players can support such a defense. Aside from Payton's few breakaway layups and Walker's mid-range, the Lakers had few other ways to score, and instead they couldn't defend against the Pistons' pass-and-cut combinations, and the latter opened the game 15-8.

The Zen master hurriedly called a timeout, and now the three trump cards in his hand were limited by his opponent, and some changes had to be made. In fact, if Payton was still at the peak of his career, he could easily teach the opponent to behave, but unfortunately now his pace is difficult to keep up with the opponent's speed, and being able to burst to the inside to score a layup is completely due to the Pistons' ignorance of him. The Zen master didn't intend to let him support the team's offense, so he took advantage of the timeout to replace Malone in advance.

Although he got the opportunity to play, Malone still had an expression that the whole world owed him millions. But Brown had to admit that the Zen master's substitution was still very effective, and Payton plus Walker was indeed not enough to pose a threat to the Pistons, but what if it was replaced by Payton plus Malone? One thing has been proven in the last game, as long as Malone is given room to move, he is not much worse than he was in his prime, which forced Brown to do something about the substitution.

However, Brown quickly remembered what Chang Wei said to himself before the game, since Malone had complaints about coming off the bench in the last game, then he should take every opportunity to prove himself, in other words, as long as he can play alone, he will not pass the ball to others nine times out of ten. On the defensive end, he may not be willing to cooperate with his teammates, and solo defense is the most likely.

Thinking of this, Brown decisively asked Thomas to watch Malone, Big Ben as the last barrier under the basket, and be ready to help defend at any time if Malone attacks with the ball. Of course, if Malone is willing to pass the ball to his teammates, then the Pistons can also play in another way, and from other perspectives, having Malone appear early also reduces the pressure on the bench.

Brown's judgment is very accurate, after the game restarts, Malone will not let go as soon as he gets the ball, and must put the ball into the basket himself, even if there is Thomas behind the defense, plus a big Ben He also ignores nothing. To be honest, Malone's success rate on the inside is not low, but this also makes the Lakers' system a mess. What more tactics are needed? Malone himself is a tactic!

Malone's appearance has undoubtedly strengthened the strength of the Lakers, but it has also had a negative impact on the system. Seeing him constantly ask for the ball in the low post, the Zen master wanted to put him on the bench again, but if he did, the team's locker room would definitely go wrong, and Malone himself would let the remaining loyalty disappear.

Now he can only do one thing, and that is to watch Malone score, and the only good news is that Malone is not inefficient in scoring, even in the middle of Thomas and Big Ben, he can send the ball to the basket, but the physical exertion is only known to him.

Soon Ma Long's movement speed slowed down, but this was already very powerful for his age, and Chang Wei didn't expect him to be able to support it for so long, and he was constantly trying to do the work of five people by himself at both offensive and defensive ends. With the "help" of Malone, the Pistons led 35-27 at the end of the first quarter, although they did not lead to double digits, but it was still much better than the previous game, and now the Zen master's face is obviously black to the bottom of the pot.