May 10, Sacramento, Golden One Arena.
The game began as O'Neal defeated Divac and helped the Lakers get the ball.
Duen originally thought that tonight's game would be more difficult, but he thought that the Kings were in disarray and adjusted their defensive strategy again.
Perhaps it was because Durn scored a lot of three-pointers with unexpected shots in the last game. Tonight, the Kings set up a 122 zone defense formation to limit Durn's shooting from the outside.
The difference between 122 zone defense and 32 zone defense is whether the defensive player leading the ball carrier stands at the three-point line or the free throw line.
The two seem to be similar, but in fact, the area that needs to be defended in 122 zone defense is much larger than that in 32 zone defense, and the corresponding defense difficulty is naturally greatly increased.
It is worth mentioning that both of them have the problem of relatively weak low-post defense.
You know, with only five players on the field, a team's defensive resources are limited.
The Kings have strengthened their defense of Doon, an outside player, and accordingly reduced restrictions on inside players O'Neal and Malone.
We all know that offense requires space, shooting requires space, low post plays require space, and cutting to the basket also requires space.
The larger the offensive space for the offensive side, the more opportunities to get simple balls, and the difficulty of attacking will become correspondingly smaller.
The Kings asked Doug Christie to run to the three-point line to lead Duane, with the purpose of limiting Duane's shooting.
Du En understood and immediately signaled Malone to pull outside the three-point line to cover him, preparing to use the cover to break through.
Weber followed Malone out of the low post, but failed to reach beyond the three-point line.
In order to prevent Dunn from suddenly passing the ball to O'Neal under the basket, others had no time to defend, and Divac could not guard O'Neal alone. Webber could only follow to the free throw line.
Only by standing at the free throw line can Weber have the opportunity to consider both inside and outside. He can not only delay Duan from accelerating to the basket, but also immediately retract to the basket and double-team O'Neal after Duan passes the ball to O'Neal.
However, as Malone moved beyond the three-point line, he helped Duane block Doug Christie. Duan used the screen to get rid of the pursuit, and undoubtedly got a semi-open shooting opportunity when Weber was not guarded.
Seeing Duen suddenly take off, Bibby, who was guarding Payton, could only step forward to interfere with Duen's shot.
Unexpectedly, Du En guessed early that Bibby would come to cover up the defense, so this was a common pass-cut cooperation between Du En and Payton at the beginning of the regular season with fake shots and real passes.
I saw Payton cutting to the basket, using O'Neal to attract Divac's attention under the basket, and easily completed the layup.
It can only be said that cleverness can lead to mistakes. Rick Adelman previously wanted to limit the OK combination, but now he wants to prevent Duane from dying too.
Unexpectedly, Duen's excellent game reading ability enabled him to discern the loopholes in the Kings' defensive lineup and easily activate Payton, who had previously been a role player.
Payton was unable to hit the ball in the triangle offense before. On the one hand, it was because of poor shooting and was not suitable for the triangle offense. On the other hand, it was also because he offended the Zen Master.
In fact, Payton's own strength, excluding shooting, is still at the league's starting level.
The Lakers' starting lineup is originally a four-star configuration. Once Payton is activated by Duan's pass, there will be no way to defend.
Although, O'Neal still fell in the low position, affecting the Lakers' speed of returning to defense.
However, not long after playing G2, the Kings players who returned home were also quite tired.
G3's transition attack speed and scoring efficiency are obviously not as good as G2.
Halfway through the first quarter, Jackson replaced O'Neal without replacing Payton. Only then did Rick Adelman realize what the problem was...
To this end, Rick Adelman used a 131 zone defense to try to limit the Lakers' offense.
Under the leadership of Duen, the Lakers mainly used double screens in the high post, leaving Kobe alone in the low post for post-up singles.
Kobe, who had just returned from Eagle County not long ago and was full of energy, was also very motivated.
In a single quarter, he made 5 of 7 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 13 points in the first quarter!
Duan could only say that the rush rule was indeed well-deserved.
30 to 24, the away Lakers, supported by Kobe's efficient scoring, took a 6-point lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Kings re-established the 32 zone defense from the previous game.
Duen was not polite when he saw this, pretending to call a pick-and-roll, but in fact, he suddenly shot a cold arrow.
As long as Weber can come out of the basket, even if Duane strikes, as long as the rebound falls under the basket, O'Neal still has a good chance to grab the offensive rebound and launch a second attack.
Of course, Duane's touch was pretty good in the second quarter. He made 3 of 6 three-pointers to help the Lakers further expand their lead.
At the same time, Kobe was still in hot form. In the second quarter, he made 3 of 6 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 9 points.
It was also because Duane and Kobe scored efficiently enough, and O'Neal, Malone, and Fisher also scored some goals in the second quarter.
Even though the Kings' scoring efficiency became higher in the second quarter, the Lakers still further widened the point difference.
61 to 52, the Lakers entered the second half with a 9-point lead.
Speaking of halftime, O'Neal, who was originally reluctant to play a pick-and-roll with Duen, had to take the initiative to propose to Duen to play a pick-and-roll in the second half because he only had 13 minutes of playing time in the first half and scored 9 points and 3 rebounds.
Duan rejected O'Neal's suggestion on the grounds that the cooperation was not tacit enough to harm the team through in-game training.
Duan is planning to use the pick-and-roll with O'Neal as his trump card. If tonight's game can be won in other ways, it is naturally best to hide it.
Of course, the main reason is that the pick-and-roll cooperation between Duen and O'Neal is indeed not tacit enough.
In order to avoid doing bad things with good intentions and losing inexplicably, Du En chose not to change his original playing style and continued to play steadily and win the game.
After being rejected by Du En, O'Neill could only take a bottle of glucose, opened the lid, and drank heavily, showing that the bitter wine was in his throat and his heart ached.
Seeing this, Du En had nothing to say, and could only mutter in his heart: "Kobe is in such good shape tonight, it's obviously his thigh, so it's right to pass the ball to him.
Besides, I only had 13 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half, so I’m not allowed to take the ball too much in the second half?
If you, O'Neal, take more of the ball, what will I take? "
In order to prevent O'Neal from harming the team on the defensive end, Duan also felt that since O'Neal was targeted by the Kings, it would be better to rest off the court first.
Anyway, every time O'Neal comes up, Duan will pass him a few balls to increase the Lakers' low post threat and inside scoring.
However, in the third quarter, the Kings strengthened their defense against Kobe.
Although Kobe Bryant, who had a rush-to-play rule, was fierce, he was also stubborn.
Facing the double-team of three people and still showing off his beautiful back, Duan decisively chose to double cover in the high position to beat Malone and Grant.
Malone only scored a dozen points diligently in the first two games, and he worked more on the defensive end and playing pick-and-rolls with Duen.
O'Neal is not on the court, and the Kings focus on defending Duane as the ball handler and Kobe as the end point.
For Malone's defense, at most it is one-on-one with Peja and others switching defenses.
Occasionally, Malone can get an open shot because of a lack of timely defense.
Malone really took control of the main force. Before O'Neal returned to the game, he scored 8 points on 4 of 6 shots.
When O'Neal came on the court, Divac and Brad Miller, who couldn't run or hold up, naturally couldn't do anything about O'Neal.
The Kings could only use a stupid method and use substitutes to kill sharks in advance.
However, O'Neal played less time tonight than in G2. Although there was a lot of physical confrontation, he was still able to handle free throws.
The 3 of 6 free throws in the third quarter, although not outstanding, at least helped the Lakers bite the score and not waste the ball.
85 to 77, the Kings recovered 1 point in the third quarter, but it had little impact on the game.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Duan took advantage of Doug Christie's absence and started shooting three-pointers from the outside again.
After scoring two consecutive three-pointers, Rick Adelman had to replace Doug Christie on the court again, and the Kings sent their entire starting lineup to compete with the Lakers.
Not to be outdone, Jackson continued to field the main lineup except O'Neal who was still on the bench.
Relying on the high double screen, Kobe played in the low post, Duan and Kobe attracted the defense inside and outside, and Payton, Malone, and Grant got some offensive opportunities.
The King restricted Duan and Kobe, but could not prevent others from dying together.
Less than half of the game in the fourth quarter, the Lakers have already scored more than 100 points.
As the point difference widened, the Kings' defensive moves became a little bigger. When Payton was making a layup on an air cut, his waist was pushed by Brad Miller.
As a result, Payton insisted on finishing the free throw, and was immediately helped back to the visiting team's locker room.
Injuries are part of the playoffs too! The Lakers are lucky that Payton doesn't have a big impact in the Lakers' system.
Fisher naturally took over Payton's position and even played better.
Also because Payton was injured, the Lakers players on the court somewhat shared the same hatred.
As the saying goes, a sad soldier will win! With more than 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, after Kobe hit two consecutive turnaround jumpers, the point difference widened to 15 points, and the Kings' morale completely collapsed.
It can only be said that the Kings' configuration is not bad. The team's play style imposes great restrictions on O'Neal, but it is still not enough to compete with a super team like the Lakers!
Just like tonight's game, Kobe was in extremely hot shape under the rule of rushing to the court.
The Kings tried to pin Kobe to death through double-teaming, but the Lakers are not the only star in Kobe.
With the help of Kobe's attracting defense, Duane, Malone and others can stand up.
Even though O'Neal doesn't have much playing time, his scoring efficiency is actually quite high in the limited playing time.
In other words, as long as one player from the Lakers breaks out, the Kings cannot win the game.
And it is impossible for the Kings to wait for all the Big Four Lakers to fail.
114 to 102, the Lakers won three consecutive victories in the Western Conference semifinals, directly pushing the Kings to the cliff 3-0.
There are only two days left before the next G4.
(End of chapter)
