On June 1, after six consecutive iron battles, the Pistons still had the best skills, defeated the Pacers 4-2, and successfully advanced to this year's Finals.

Maybe it's because the Pistons use iron-blooded defense to limit their playoff opponents to 80 points per game.

Many media began to build momentum for the Pistons - defense won the championship, and the Detroit Pistons had a chance to beat the Los Angeles Lakers and win the championship!

Of course, more media still think that the Los Angeles Lakers, a super team that focuses on offensive basketball, are the real unbeatable kings this season!

The Pistons sanctioned the Pacers, who are the first in the East, with defense, but they couldn't use the defense to limit the Lakers, who have a luxury lineup, and swept the defending champion Spurs 4-1.

The Los Angeles media, in particular, have begun to lend championships and FMVPs.

Even a second Lakers dynasty and a three-game championship are starting to be imagined.

It is worth mentioning that on June 2, the Lakers officially announced that Payton had returned from injury, and the Lakers' strength on paper returned to its peak state.

Of course, because Payton was pushed to the waist because of the injury, although he did not hurt his spine, only strained his muscles, but for the sake of safety, Payton still started from the bench and strictly controlled the playing time.

This means that Payton's return will not disrupt the Lakers' rotation, at most it will be to get a little playing time in the bench lineup, and it will not affect the overall situation.

The time quickly came on June 5, and the Pistons arrived in Los Angeles, and the prelude to the big battle began.

Many Lakers fans spontaneously came to the vicinity of the hotel where the Pistons players were staying, and began to make noise for the Pistons players and affect the rest of the Pistons players.

However, it is not as outrageous as when the Lakers players were in the hotel in San Antonio and listened to the gunshots in the middle of the night.

On the afternoon of June 5, Lakers famous Magic, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy arrived at the Toyota Center to cheer for Kobe, Doon, O'Neal and others who were still training.

Because Doon is only a first-year rookie and is not a black player, the three meritorious players are not very familiar with Doon, so they are just a few words of encouragement.

Time came to the evening of June 6th, Staples Center, the 03-04 NBA Finals, the Lakers vs. the Pistons G1 was about to start.

Because it happened to be Sunday, the Lakers players played in platinum jerseys.

However, the Lakers fans at the scene were wearing platinum, gold, and purple gold jerseys, as well as the previous "Take it Back" special jerseys, in short, there were all kinds of them, which did not look neat, but rather messy.

"Doon, it's your first time playing in the finals, right? Don't be nervous, we all believe in you and you can help the Los Angeles Lakers win. ”

The magician, with two protectors, Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, brought the ball from the technical table for tonight's game and handed it to the referee in charge of the jump ball in the center circle.

By the way, just before the start of the game, he gave a few words of encouragement to Dunne and others.

Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy were not as talkative as the magicians, and they laughed and followed the magicians again.

"Relax, bro, if you're nervous, give the ball to Shaq!"

O'Neal patted Doon on the shoulder, then stood up in the middle circle and prepared to jump the ball.

It didn't take long for the referee to toss the ball high and the whistle blew.

Doon scratched his head, "Shaq, didn't you tell me to relax?" Why did you break the law by jumping the ball? ”

O'Neill spread his hands and ran to the bottom of the pitch.

Because the Lakers are a regular starting lineup, Fisher, Kobe, Doon, Malone, O'Neal, so they still try to defend normally at first.

Bryant didn't defend Billups, but got tangled up with Hamilton as soon as he came up, and Doon followed Prince to the corner to smoke.

Originally, O'Neal's defender should have been Big Ben, but Big Ben ran outside the three-point line to play blocking and dismantling with Billups, O'Neal's blocking and dismantling ability was extremely poor, and he couldn't defend in the high position, so he had to change Malone to defend.

In the first round, the Pistons played patiently, first Billups and Hamilton crossed the top of the arc to cover, Hamilton could not get rid of Kobe, and could only pass the ball back to Billups.

Immediately after, Billups and Big Ben played a block on the left sideline, and Malone was forced to step forward to delay Billups.

Hamilton circled around from the right side, using the two covers of Prince and Roaring Tianzun, and cut the basket in the air.

Doon noticed that Bryant didn't have time to chase down Hamilton and could only make up for Hamilton immediately.

Bryant had just squeezed past Roaring Celestial and found that Doon had switched Hamilton, so he stepped back in front of Prince.

After Roaring Tianzun was squeezed through the cover by Kobe, he immediately disassembled and ran outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the right side to help the Pistons open up space.

O'Neal couldn't follow, and Billups passed the ball to Roaring Celestial.

Seeing this, Fisher could only save for O'Neal, but he still failed to interfere with the three-point shot of Roaring Tianzun.

Brush –

As soon as the roaring Tianzun came up, he scored a three-pointer, and the Staples Center, which was originally a little noisy, seemed to suddenly stop time, and the sound disappeared in an instant.

"Shaq, hurry up and pick up the ball!"

Kobe Bryant seemed to be a little dissatisfied with O'Neal's failure to prevent the ball just now, obviously Kobe Bryant was also near the baseline, but he didn't pick up the ball and slipped out of the baseline to serve.

O'Neal didn't say anything when he heard this, and took the ball to Doon, who was also near the baseline, but ignored Kobe.

It is worth mentioning that the Pistons directly pressed the whole court and used defense to put pressure on the Lakers players.

Prince went straight to interfere with Doon's dribble, and even Bryant was on the sidelines with Hamilton's physical contact.

"Derek!"

As he dribbled the ball, he leaned on Cape Prince with his upper body strength, and at the same time motioned to dribble guard Fisher to come over and help him share the pressure of the dribble.

Before the finals started, Doon had secretly planned to try it boldly and win the MVP of the finals!

In the face of a defensive powerhouse like the Pistons, if you want to score high points, you must consume more physical energy on the offensive end than in the previous playoffs.

Therefore, in terms of physical strength, if you can save it, you can save it as much as possible.

Fisher, as the most famous dribble guard in the league, didn't the Lakers sign him to let him do this?

Fisher was also self-aware, and soon came over to pick up Doon.

However, it wasn't long before Doon passed the ball to Fisher, who in turn passed the ball to Doon.

In terms of disrupting dribbling, Billups' defensive pressure is greater than Prince's.

Fisher also wants to be like Doon and turn his back past Billups, but Billups can provide a physical duel while continuing to exert defensive intensity and keep out of position.

In order to prevent a dribbling error, Fisher had to pass the ball to Doon early.

Fortunately, Doon's off-ball getting rid and receiving attributes have already reached the All-Star level, otherwise he might not even be able to catch the ball if he was interfered with by Prince's big long arms!

After dribbling past halftime, Doon immediately beckoned O'Neal to step forward and play a high pick-and-roll.

Before the game, the Zen master carefully analyzed the Pistons' defensive system for the Lakers players, mainly the full-court pressing and mixed defense.

Many people have not heard of the professional term "mixed defense", so what about staring at the quadruple? Maybe you've heard of it.

One stare quadruple is a type of mixed defense, which combines man-to-man marking and regional joint defense.

And in this day and age, there is another word that can be used to describe mixed defense, and that is illegal defense.

However, with the legalization of joint defense, the illegal defense that was famous in the 90s has now become an old calendar.

And the mixed defense of the pistons, in addition to the man-to-man and regional joint defense, is also mixed with infinite change of defense.

It is also because of the infinite change of defense, the Pistons change the defense every time they cover, and then rely on the help of Ben to sweep the defense, and can go to the high position to pinch the ball carrier, and the Pistons' defense can be created like an iron bucket.

Of course, the Pistons' mixed defense is not without weaknesses.

As with joint defense, as long as the space is large enough, the high post can shoot three-pointers, long two points, and someone in the low post can cut into the air, and the mixed defense can be easily solved.

Why did the Zen master insist that Fisher play the starter?

It's not because Fisher can shoot three-pointers! At the same time, the dribbling ability is also good, which is one of the best in the Lakers, and can dribble pressure on Doane and Kobby under the tight defense of the whole court.

The Lakers played the Pistons, and the starting lineup was Fisher, Kobe, Doon, and Malone could all shoot.

As long as the problem of O'Neal squatting under the basket, unable to receive the ball and unable to shoot is solved with a high post block, all the troubles will be solved.

But if Malone is injured, the Lakers use Payton to start, and O'Neal squats under the basket again, then if you want to break the Pistons' mixed defense, you can only take a stupid way - that is, relying on star singles.

Illegal defense was extremely prevalent in the 90s, but as long as you are as accurate as Jordan, even if you don't have a three-point shot, you can kill all sides.

Doon doesn't have Jordan's shooting ability, but with O'Neal's cover, it's okay to shoot a few more three-pointers.

As long as you shoot fast enough with cover and shoot accurately enough, infinite defense changes are for nothing!

"This is my stage!"

Doon knows very well that he definitely has a chance to shine in this series!

Doon is not the same as Kobe! At least Doon won't say to O'Neill and Malone - put away your damn pick-and-roll!

In fact, Doon, like his good brother Wade, is a blocker and pick-and-roll, and the more blocks and pick-and-rolls, the better, how can he take the initiative to let his teammates get out of the way?

This time, Doon also used O'Neal's solid cover to leave Prince behind.

At the same time, Big Ben had just rushed out of the free throw line, and Doon didn't hesitate to make a three-point shot.

Brush –

With his hand up and down, Doon responded with three points to the three points that Roaring Tianzun had just made.

"Shaq, your blocking is fantastic, and eighty percent of my goal is your credit! Let's kick them in the ass! ”

In order to prevent O'Neal from becoming suspicious, Doon only used O'Neal as a cover tool, but he frantically brushed the data, and Doon immediately pua O'Neal.

O'Neal didn't get the ball and didn't think much about it, after all, Prince had already switched defenses, and Roaring Tianzun moved up in the low post again.

Once he is delayed by Prince, Big Ben and Roaring Celestial Venerable are caught in the trap set by the Pistons, unable to break free.

Only Kobe, who ran to the low post, seemed to have seen everything, even when Doon returned to defense, his attention was still on Doon.

(End of chapter)