The Kings advanced to the Western Conference semifinals a little earlier than the Lakers, but they didn't show signs of breaking.

As soon as the game began, Divac was in full swing, flicking the ball back to the back before O'Neill could jump to the top point.

Bibby dribbled the ball forward quickly and Payton couldn't form an effective obstacle.

As soon as the Lakers were in position, Bibby passed the ball to Webber under the basket.

Webb shook the ball and tricked Malone into flying, but Malone controlled his body well and did not lean forward against Webb.

Seeing that there was no chance to make a foul, Webb turned and slipped to the baseline to attack the basket, and O'Neal could only let go of Divac to make up for the basket.

Seeing a behemoth like O'Neal, Weber naturally did not choose to attack, but played strictly according to the Princeton system and passed the ball to Divac who was in an open position.

After Divac took the ball, he shot directly from the middle distance, and Malone pounced in front of Divac, obviously still a beat slower.

Seeing that the basketball fell steadily into the net, the king made a layup and easily scored a mid-distance with exquisite coordination.

As the saying goes, you have a good plan, I have a wall ladder!

It's not like the Kings, who have four All-Stars but play team basketball. As a super team, the Lakers play exclusively around superstars, focusing on superstar basketball!

Doon cooperated with Payton in blocking and dismantling, and deliberately switched to Bibby.

However, the Kings were prepared, Peja followed Doon to squeeze the screen, Bibby stepped forward to delay the clip, and Divac took a step inside the free throw line to prevent Payton from receiving the ball and rushing to the basket.

Thanks to Bibby's lack of height, Doon's vision is always on the basket for Divac and O'Neal.

Doon jumps up and passes the ball to O'Neal under the basket.

Divac jumped up to intercept but couldn't disrupt Doon's pass.

At the same time, after O'Neal received the ball, he turned around and made a layup to help the Lakers smooth out the difference.

Both teams attacked for the first time, and both played their own core tactics, which looked simple and pleasing to the eye.

However, as the game went on, the style of play quickly changed from offensive basketball to defensive battles.

Just like the Warriors' passing, the Kings' Princeton system has worked very well in the first two seasons.

But now that they've played six seasons and the Kings have been a Western Conference championship contender, how can the Lakers not be familiar with the Kings' Princeton system?

Under normal circumstances, the Lakers can basically defend the King's offense, and the Kings rely on the personal strength of Weber, Peja and others to score.

The Kings, on the other hand, focused on protecting rebounds, playing defensive counterattacks, pushing speed, playing fast and slow, bullying O'Neal for being too heavy and unable to run non-stop in the seven-game series.

In order to compensate for O'Neal's speed and fitness problems, the Lakers had to retreat faster from the outside, trying to limit the speed of the Kings' ball-handler and minimize the Kings' conversion offense as much as possible.

As for the offensive end, the Lakers actually have no problem.

Under Doon's tandem, it is a simple block to attract the defense, pass the ball to O'Neal and Kobe, and let them use their individual abilities one-on-one to help the Lakers take the lead.

It's all based on individual ability to score, and the Lakers definitely have an advantage.

The first quarter played more than 7 minutes, and the score on the court came to 14-18, and the Lakers temporarily led by 4 points.

The Kings made the first substitution, replacing Divac with Brad Miller and continuing to top O'Neal.

Fortunately, tonight is only G1 in the Western Conference semifinals, and O'Neal's physical strength is still very strong.

Leaning on Doane's hanging basket, O'Neal received the ball and singled Brad Miller, and the Lakers continued to pull the difference apart.

It wasn't until more than 10 minutes into the first quarter that the Zen master saw O'Neal panting and sweating all over his head, so he changed O'Neill to the sidelines.

However, after O'Neal is off, Doon can call Malone and Grant to block with him in a row, and the Kings will either defend Doane or delay the attack.

The Kings' strategy to defend Doon was to go up and delay, but fortunately, Doon not only had a good passing level, but also had a good passing vision.

As a result, Doon didn't have to put much effort into himself, just passing the ball to Malone or Grant to give them an open mid-range opportunity.

can easily get one or two assists to help the Lakers continue to maintain their advantage.

After returning from the regular season, Ma Long, who has not had a recurrence of injury, is quite reliable in the middle distance.

Relying on Malone's two mid-range shots at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers further widened the difference.

By the end of the first quarter, the two sides were 19-26, and the Lakers' lead was as many as 7 points.

However, Rick Adelman is a little more ruthless than the Zen master when it comes to killing the main force.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Zen master just let the two young men, Doon and Kobe, take the bench to the court and hold on for a while.

When O'Neal recovers his strength, he will naturally send O'Neal to the court to support Doon and Kobe.

Who would have thought, the Kings still sent the full main lineup, Bibby, Doug Christie, Peja, Brad Miller, Divac, only Webber was still resting on the bench for a while.

In fact, the Kings relied on this lineup to win in the first half of the regular season.

Without Weber, the king's cooperation seemed to be more tacit.

After all, the Lakers have bench players, and the defense is not as good as the main force, so it is inevitable that there will be leaks, being cut by the Kings to steal chickens, or playing into a transition offense.

After just over 3 minutes in the second quarter, the difference narrowed to 2 points, and O'Neal and Malone had to get back on the court.

Relying on O'Neal's inside advantage, the Lakers quickly stabilized the score.

Rick Adelman noticed that the Lakers were focusing on O'Neal, so he replaced Doug Christie and Peja for a few minutes to give them a breather.

However, sometimes cleverness is not used that way.

Without waiting for the Zen master to remind Doon to hand the ball to Kobe, Doon motioned for O'Neal to attract the defense in the low post, and Malone came up to respond and cleared the left side for Kobe.

The blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation of Doon and Malone still attracted a certain amount of defensive attention from the Kings.

At this time, Doon handed the ball to Kobe Bryant again and let Kobe single Anthony Piller, a small guard who was just in his early 1.9 meters.

With Kobe's ability, whether it is throwing or sudden, it is as easy as drinking water.

In other words, Kobe Bryant originally had a strong desire to attack, and when Kobe played the Jazz in the first round, he often complained to Doane about why he didn't pass the ball to him.

Just before the first quarter, Bryant also reached out to Doon from time to time to ask for the ball.

Doon only gave it once or twice, and when it came time for the break, Bryant began to complain again: "They only sent Doug Christie to defend me alone!"

You should pass the ball to me, not to Shaq.

I had a good shot and a lot of room to shoot! ”

Now Doon has created a better offensive opportunity for Kobe, and after Kobe Bryant got the ball, he naturally did not hesitate and immediately took the ball and jumped to shoot.

Brush –

The ball scored, Kobe Bryant scored two points, and Doon got an assist!

What is a superstar! It's called a superstar!

The so-called superstar is that the playoffs are almost the same as the regular season, and the state and data do not have particularly obvious ups and downs, but they are particularly stable and reassuring!

To be a bit off the court, Kobe Bryant's career regular season shooting percentage was 44.7%, and in the playoffs it was a little higher than 44.8%.

Although it can't be compared with Jordan, it is still second to none among the four quarterbacks.

And Kobe's hit rate is still thrown in the bag of two, three, and four people, and now one-on-one singles are naturally not a problem.

In Thompson's words – the owner of the team paid him to do this!

As Doon continued to pass the ball to Kobe, Kobe Bryant also gave Doon 3 of 4 shots and scored 6 points in a row.

Before the first half was over, Doon relied on continuous passes to O'Neal and Kobe, and the assist statistics were about to reach a double-double.

If Doon wasn't ambitious, it would be cool to be Pippen next to the OK group.

However, after having the system, Doon obviously wouldn't be so stupid and waste his unique talent.

In other words, the second quarter played more than 7 minutes, and Rick Adelman had to pay for the previous mistakes, calling a timeout to bring Doug Christie and Peja back up.

At the same time, Webber was back on the field, Divac went down to rest again, and Brad Miller continued to carry O'Neal.

I have to say that Weber, as one of the four big forwards, is still strong enough in his personal strength.

As soon as he came up, he relied on his personal strength to win a single game against Malone and help the king recover 2 points strongly.

It can only be said that because there is no championship, he and the driver of the Stone Buddha Wolf King fell behind.

"Pause!"

Seeing that Weber was in good shape, and considering that O'Neill was already sweating profusely, the Zen master called a timeout after Fisher dribbled past half court.

The Zen master said that this timeout was not wasted, because he needed to use this game to experiment.

If the experiment is successful, then the odds of the Lakers winning in this series will undoubtedly become higher.

In fact, it was Doon who reminded him!

At the end of the first quarter, when O'Neal was not on the court, Doon led the team to play well.

The defensive end of the defensive end was effective, and on the offensive end, Doon was able to create easier scoring opportunities for Malone and Grant, and successfully helped the Lakers pull away the score.

Thinking of the decline in O'Neal's scoring efficiency due to excessive physical exertion, which slowed down the team's retreat speed, the Zen master decided to withdraw O'Neal to the court again.

O'Neill was already tired and sweating, so naturally he would not refuse the kindness of the Zen master.

After re-transferring Grant to the court, the Zen master also signaled Doon to continue playing as he did in the last two minutes of the first quarter, focusing on high post pick-and-rolls.

As for Kobe, he was placed in the low post, like O'Neal before him, to attract the defense in the low post.

If given the chance, Doon should also pass the ball to Kobe, and the Zen master believes in Doon's court insight and game reading ability.

Rick Adelman, as a master tactician, is very good at building a team system, but his on-the-spot ability is still a lot worse than that of a Zen master.

The Kings' defensive counterattack was unable to play effectively because of the increase in the speed of the Lakers' retreat.

The Lakers relied on the high post to block and dismantle, and continued to punish the Kings who couldn't defend themselves from the middle distance, and slowly opened up the difference again.

Until the end of the first half, Rick Adelman had no other way to deal with it than to fight the main team.

41-52, intermission.

In the home locker room, the Lakers, who have an 11-point lead, are under the leadership of the Zen master, and the main players are meditating, with a posture of recuperation.

Rick Adelman ranted in the away dressing room: "Doug, you defend Doon in the second half, you can't let him pass the ball out easily.

In the first half alone, he had nine assists and if it continued like this, we would have been ruined by his passing.

Chris, Karl Malone is getting old, I need you to be tougher and help the team catch up!

I know you can do it, you are our king, and you must believe that you can do it!

Peja, keep running, Verratti and Brad will help you get rid of the henchman behind you.

You need to shoot and give the Los Angeles Lakers guys a little bit of color!

Mike, you should attack more, whether it's Gary Payton, or Derek Fisher, they can't stop you! ”

"I know we're all tired, but it's worth it!

As long as we can beat the Los Angeles Lakers, we can break out of the West and win the championship that belongs to us!

Have you noticed? The Los Angeles Lakers' big shark can't run anymore!

Everyone hold on for a while, hold on a little longer, and victory will definitely be ours! ”

After the bowl of chicken soup that Rick Adelman had painstakingly cooked, the exhausted King's main force regained its morale, became scrappy, and soon returned to the field.

Corresponding to this is the energetic and energetic Lakers players.

I saw that O'Neal at this time still had extra physical strength, dancing and amusing the Lakers players on the sidelines.

"Didn't the coach say O'Neal couldn't run?"

(End of chapter)