"When did Phil Jackson become so inflexible!" When the first quarter of the game ended, looking at the players on both sides who were walking off the court, Magic Johnson looked at Phil Jackson, who had become the same as Larry Bird, and also stood on the sidelines, in the first few games, Phil Jackson, who was as steady as a Zen master, couldn't sit still in the first quarter of this game, and began to walk to the sidelines like Larry Bird, pacing back and forth while observing the situation on the court, and shouting at the court from time to time.

In the first quarter of this game, the Lakers played very passively, because they had to wrap Meng Xu all the way, so the Lakers' defense of Reggie Miller was basically useless, and Reggie Miller, who was almost empty on the offensive end, shot 6 of 9 in a single quarter, shot 3 of 5 on 3-pointers, and scored 15 points in the first quarter, but Phil Jackson did not dare to relax the bag on Meng Xu and increase the defense of Reggie Miller. Although in the first quarter of the game, Meng Xu only made 4 shots, but hit 3 shots, as long as the Lakers are a little loose on his bag, this guy will immediately seize the opportunity and give you a hard blow. Although Phil Jackson did not adjust the team's defensive strategy, the players on the field saw that Reggie Miller's hand was so hot, and they would still subconsciously defend him, especially Rick Fox, once he couldn't keep up with Meng Xu's footsteps, Rick Fox would take the initiative to give up the pursuit of Meng Xu and make up for Reggie Miller, but in this case, Phil Jackson did not have the slightest adjustment and arrangement, to take the initiative to change the situation on the field, either continue to firmly wrap Meng Xu, or give up the bag, arranged the defense of Reggie Miller, so the Lakers' current defensive strategy also led to a problem, that is, pressing the gourd to float the scoop, and in the end, whether it was Meng Xu or Reggie Miller, the Lakers failed to limit them well.

Phil Jackson is the leader of the league's nanny coaches, their creed is to believe that the players under their command can solve all the problems they face on the field, on-the-spot command has always been considered a shortcoming of Phil Jackson, in fact, Phil Jackson does not want to be deducted such a hat for the rest of his life, after leading the team to win 7 championships, he has to be subjected to such cynicism, but on-the-spot command of this kind of thing requires talent, even if Phil Jackson works hard in private, This is not something that can be changed overnight, and because of the terrifying scoring ability and scoring explosiveness that Meng Xu showed in the first game, Phil Jackson did not dare to make changes rashly, because whether it was Kobe Bryant or Rick Fox, there was no advantage when defending Meng Xu alone, so for the entire ten minutes of the first quarter of the game, Phil Jackson was hesitating, thinking, and thinking about how to make trade-offs in the later games.

"Phil, we should make some changes." When the players under his command, with a score of 25-32 and 7 points behind, returned to the bench, O'Neal took the initiative to open to Phil Jackson, in the first quarter of today's game, the Pacers were completely slipping away from the Lakers to play, and the Lakers' defensive system was torn apart by the weird running of Meng Xu and Reggie Miller in the first quarter of the game. Similarly, the first quarter of this game is also the only time that O'Neal feels that he can't suppress the Pacers in four games between the two teams, even the night when Meng Xu scored 63 points, O'Neal has never felt this way, and this feeling also faintly makes O'Neal's heart feel a little uneasy, although O'Neal doesn't know why he feels this way, but one thing O'Neal is clear, that is, the Lakers must make changes on the defensive end, Can't let that old guy Reggie Miller score so easily, with O'Neal's understanding of Reggie Miller, if the Lakers defend Reggie Miller like this all in this game, this old guy can score at least 40 points.

"Okay Shaq." After hearing O'Neal's words, Phil Jackson seemed to have made up his mind, and after nodding to O'Neal, Phil Jackson picked up the tactical board that was put aside: "Shaq, in the later games, I will replace Robert with Bryan to strengthen the outside defense, so your defensive pressure under the basket will be greatly increased, and you will face the Pacers' two interior lines alone, so you have to be mentally prepared in advance." ”

"Phil, I don't have any problems, just those salted fish on the inside of the Pacers, even if they play together, I won't have any problems." After seeing that Phil Jackson finally made up his mind, O'Neal, who received a new task, also nodded at Phil Jackson, signaling that he had no problems, even without the assistance of Robert Holly, he could blow up the Pacers' interior line and protect his team's basket.

"Kobe." After arranging O'Neal, Phil Jackson walked directly to Kobe Bryant, who was wiping his sweat: "Kobe, the team needs your defense now, in the later games, I will let Rick and Brian defend Meng, and you will deal with Reggie Miller, lock that old guy, and don't let him continue to score." ”

"Huh?" Kobe, who was wiping his sweat, stopped instantly after hearing Phil Jackson's words, first looked up at Phil Jackson, and when he found that almost all his teammates were staring at him, Kobe Bryant also nodded a little reluctantly. In Kobe's heart, there is no room for anyone else, only Meng Xu, and only Meng Xu is his only opponent, especially after Meng Xu scored 63 points and broke the scoring record in the finals, like the entire Lakers team, Kobe Bryant also regarded that night as a great shame, and at the same time, Kobe Bryant also secretly swore in his heart that one day, he would break this record with his own hands, and it was best to return to him the shame that Meng Xu imposed on his head and his team when facing Meng Xu.

"It's interesting to see how Phil changed." At the end of the timeout, when the players on both sides returned to the court, after seeing the adjustments made by the Lakers, Michaels also couldn't see through the deep meaning of Phil Jackson after making this change, Kobe Bryant is the only player in the Lakers team who can barely keep up with Meng Xu's footsteps in one-on-one, so in two consecutive games, Kobe and Rick Fox's bag of Meng Xu is very successful, in the two games, Meng Xu's scoring efficiency and shooting rate have declined sharply, But now Phil Jackson actually arranged for Kobe to defend Reggie Miller, and instead used Brian Shaw to take Kobe's place and continue to wrap Meng Xu with Rick Fox.

"Al, although Reggie is 37 years old, there are not many people in this league who can really limit him, and in the current Lakers, only Kobe Bryant has this ability." For Phil Jackson's change, Magic Johnson still sees it very thoroughly, Kobe Bryant is the best player on the Lakers' outside defense, but Kobe Bryant has only one, and on the Pacers' side, Meng Xu and Reggie Miller need to defend, since Kobe Bryant can't deal with Meng Xu alone, then simply let Kobe defend Reggie Miller, as long as Reggie Miller can be locked, then Meng Xu will fall into the previous games again, that kind of isolated, Phil Jackson's arrangement is actually a gamble.

When the game continued in the second quarter, the situation on the court began to tilt in favor of the Lakers again, Kobe Bryant always clinged to Reggie Miller, and used relentless running to limit Reggie Miller, and Reggie Miller was the same, running non-stop, trying to get rid of Kobe, but Reggie Miller, whose physical strength and footsteps were not as good as before, was never able to get rid of Kobe's pressure.

And Meng Xu's side, when Reggie Miller was stared at by Kobe, and Jermaine O'Neal couldn't open the situation in the face of O'Neal on the inside, Meng Xu had to start increasing the number of shots, Rick Fox was physically strong, and Brian Shaw had excellent movement speed, but the two of them didn't occupy anything when facing Meng Xu, and the seemingly strong Rick Fox didn't have any advantage in front of Meng Xu at all, as long as Meng Xu squeezed hard, he would be out of position, and Brian Shaw, who had excellent movement speed, When defending Meng Xu, he was also half a beat slow everywhere, Meng Xu was a little better at attacking with the ball, once Meng Xu ran, none of the two of them could keep up. Having said that, but at this moment, Meng Xu did not have the slightest look of excitement because of the continuous scoring, but was a little anxious, although Meng Xu has been scoring, but Meng Xu's scoring efficiency is constantly declining, 4 shots in the first quarter, 6 shots in the first half of the second quarter, and only 5 shots and 2 shots in the second half of the second quarter, as Meng Xu's efficiency continues to decrease, when his teammates can't score, the Lakers also filled the big hole dug in the first quarter of the game in the second quarter, 52-51, At the end of the first half, the Lakers led the Pacers by one point, and the Pacers, who scored 32 points in the first quarter, scored only 19 points in the second quarter.

"Erwin, did you ever think this game would be like this?" The Pacers only played a good game, and then they were played by the Lakers in the second quarter, and Reggie Miller, who scored 15 points in a single quarter in the first quarter, faced Kobe's defense in the second quarter, shot 0 of 2, and did not score 1 point.

"The Pacers' lineup is not as good as the Lakers, and in addition to Meng Xu, they also lack a stable scoring point, so this game is still expected, and if Meng has a teammate like Tim, maybe this year will be a different result." Magic Johnson, who has always been full of confidence in Meng Xu, is now a little pessimistic, whether it is Larry Bird or Meng Xu, it seems that they have lost control of this game, once they lose this game, the Pacers will really be doomed.

"Maybe Meng leaving the Spurs will be a lose-lose result for both Meng and Thiem." Even Magic Johnson, who has always had great confidence in Meng Xu, has been shaken, not to mention Michaels, after the separation of the two heroes of Wake Forest, Meng Xu and Duncan both played explosive personal data, and the two even won the top two in the regular season MVP list, but the two who lost each other can no longer fight against the powerful Lakers, Western Conference semifinals Spurs vs. Lakers, Tim Duncan averaged 30 points, 17.5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3.7 blocks per game, But the Spurs didn't lose at all, in the finals, the Pacers vs. the Lakers, 3 games, Meng Xu averaged 40 points, 8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game, but the Pacers faced the same predicament as the Spurs.