"Chauncy, speed up your pace! Don't let me see that kid continue to score goals on your head!"
As the first quarter progressed, Larry Brown couldn't help but stand up from his seat and came to the sidelines to yell at Billups and Ben after witnessing Duane hitting three-pointers one after another.
For Pistons players, defense is never one person's responsibility.
The man-marking and unlimited switching parts of the Pistons' mixed defense system were cracked by Duen and O'Neal's pick-and-roll, as well as Duen's extremely fast shooting speed.
Then, in order to further restrict Duan's shooting, it is necessary to strengthen the physical confrontation against Duan and speed up the double-teaming before shooting.
In the situation on the court at this time, Billups has the least defensive pressure, so he has the best chance to allocate defensive resources, let go of Fisher, and double-team Duane who uses the screen to shoot.
And the speed at which Ben can dive out after switching defenses can also become faster.
Only in this way can the Pistons defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, who have a luxurious lineup of the Big Four!
Duane is not deaf. Larry Brown yelled from the sidelines, so Duane certainly couldn't hear him.
Now that we know that the Pistons will make some defensive adjustments to target him, Duen will naturally have to adapt accordingly.
Because the Pistons attack at a relatively slow pace, they play very patiently. Basically, they don't take action until the last 5 to 6 seconds of a round.
Therefore, in the first 4 minutes, Duan only took 3 shots and passed a ball to O'Neal and Malone.
Duan made 2 of 3 three-pointers, and his shooting percentage and scoring efficiency were pretty good.
However, O'Neal came too timely because of the Pistons' double attack, and he would rather O'Neal stand on the free throw line than relax his defense on O'Neal, so O'Neal only made 1 of 2 free throws.
Malone failed to grasp the mid-range well, and the first shot ended in a blackout.
Overall, more than 4 minutes into the game, the score was 6-7, with the Lakers temporarily leading by 1 point.
Due to the heavy pressure on Fisher's dribbling, Duen helped share some dribbling tasks, and coupled with his own offense, he consumed a lot of energy.
Therefore, if you don't want to lose the game with only 8 points, you should give Kobe a dozen more.
As a minority shareholder of Nike, even if Kobe wins the Finals MVP, it will not be a loss for Duen.
Of course, Du En also has to take a look to see if Kobe will blindly do anything after getting the ball just to win the Finals MVP, which will affect Du En's plan to win the championship and set the template for the championship.
As Billups suddenly passed to Hamilton near the free throw line, the latter took off and faked a pass to attract the attention of Malone and O'Neal, but passed the ball to the roaring Tianzun who slipped to the bottom of the basket.
The Pistons relied on the Roaring God to score 2 points and overtake the score.
O'Neal took the ball and quickly slipped out of the baseline to grab the baseline pass. Fisher took the ball quickly and was pressed by Billups. Duan stepped forward to cover, and Fisher went around the screen to reach the frontcourt first.
Duan stepped forward to get the ball, first looked for Malone's pick-and-roll in the high post, and then called O'Neal to pick-and-roll on the left sideline.
Seeing that Duen did not use the pick-and-roll to shoot from the top of the arc, but instead used the screen to hit the basket from the left, the Pistons' defense naturally concentrated on the left side and in front of the penalty area.
Ben and Billups flanked Duane up and down, but Duen suddenly jumped up and passed the ball to Fisher, who was at the top of the arc.
Fisher took the ball and made a fake shot, attracting Prince and Hamilton in the bottom corner after the defense switch.
After seeing Kobe get a half-open opportunity, Fisher immediately passed the ball to Kobe.
Kobe didn't hesitate and took the ball and shot a three-pointer from the bottom corner.
However, Fisher's pass was not as comfortable as Duane's. Kobe's shot was good, but his accuracy was a bit off.
Duang followed the familiar sound of hitting the iron in the Staples Center, and seven or eight players on the court shrank to the basket and rushed for rebounds.
Thanks to Malone and O'Neal, they immediately moved down the line after the pick-and-roll, returning to the basket in time to occupy a favorable position to grab rebounds.
Malone grabbed the ball and turned around and passed the ball to Duan who ran back to the top of the key.
Duan also made a fake shot to attract Ben and Prince to fly out, and then passed the ball back to Malone.
Malone received the ball near the free throw line, but because the Roaring God defended him, he did not rush to shoot a half-shot. Instead, he handed the ball to O'Neal with a ground pass defense.
Hamilton shrank to the basket to interfere with O'Neal, but O'Neal immediately stepped forward and dunked after getting the ball.
No one expected that the Lakers, who specialize in the triangle offense, would actually respond in kind, creating the effect of the Pistons and Princeton.
As a member of the Lakers, Malone has also been completely transformed, either passing the ball to Duan or passing the ball to O'Neal.
This shows that Malone is determined to win the championship!
As a result, although the Lakers lost an offensive point, they gained an additional central axis.
It just so happens that Doane's need for shooting rights is higher tonight.
Malone can help move the ball, and the defensive pressure on Du En will naturally be lighter.
“Shaq, next you catch the ball in the low post, and the team needs to stay in the low post to attract defenses.
Karl, you can attack more in the mid-range after the pick-and-roll with Duen.
Derrick, Kobe, and Duane will help you open up space on the outside! "
Because the point difference never widened, the Lakers, who were in the lead, took the lead in calling a timeout.
Zen Master took this opportunity to rearrange the Lakers' offensive tactics.
After playing for half a quarter, Jackson knew very well that relying on Duan to shoot from the outside alone was not enough.
The Pistons' defense is so oppressive. Once Duan's shooting becomes less stable due to excessive physical exertion, the situation on the court will be unfavorable to the Lakers.
Therefore, the Lakers cannot fall into the Pistons' defensive trap. They must change their offensive strategy, use offense as defense, and break the game first.
Considering that the Pistons mainly rely on Billups and Hamilton's shots to score, Roaring God doesn't take many shots.
Therefore, Master Zen intentionally asked Malone to play more and help the Lakers make contributions in the inefficient but effective mid-range area.
Malone did not disappoint the Zen Master. Although his mid-range shooting percentage was only over 40%, he relied on the strong side to play pick-and-roll with Duan, and O'Neal was under the basket to attract the defense. After Malone opened up and made a few shots, he also attracted the attention. When the Pistons arrived, they made timely defense.
Malone did not choose to hit the man and force the shot. Instead, he attracted the defense and passed the ball to Kobe, or passed it back to Duane.
Because Kobe is on the weak side and has fewer defensive players around him, and Duane is on the strong side and has greater defensive pressure, Malone will pass the ball to Kobe more often.
Of course, for Kobe, as long as it is one-on-one, even if it is a strong shot, it is an excellent opportunity to make a shot.
Tonight, although Kobe did not perform very explosively, he at least stabilized the situation and did not perform too much.
Facing Hamilton's defense, Kobe made 2 of 5 shots and 1 of 1 free throws in the first quarter. His shooting percentage was 40% and his true shooting percentage was 50%, which was not a hindrance to the Lakers.
In fact, against a team like the Pistons, which is not very strong offensively, maintaining a field goal percentage of more than 40% has a high chance of winning.
Although the Lakers did not directly widen the point difference like they did against the Spurs before, they have been steadily occupying the advantage of the game.
The Pistons played very patiently until the end of the third quarter, when the score reached 61-64, the Pistons still played as before.
Because Larry Brown firmly believes that as long as O'Neal cannot catch the ball, the Lakers will not be able to score more points in the paint. By then, they will be able to rely on defense and shark-cutting tactics to turn defeat into victory!
However, as soon as the fourth quarter started, the Lakers launched a long-hidden killer move - O'Neal pretended to catch the ball in the low post to attract the defense, and Duan and Kobe played a pick-and-roll in the high post!
From the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lakers played all their main players.
With the offensive threat of the iron triangle of Kobe, Duane, and O'Neal, Jackson just wanted to defeat the game before the critical moment of the fourth quarter.
Zen Master believed in Duan's ability to misplace and punish small guards. He also believed in Kobe's ability to hit the big players with small players, and even more believed in O'Neal's low-post dominance!
Although Kobe is not very willing to play pick-and-rolls, Kobe has a duty to win for the Lakers!
Even though Duan used Kobe's screen to shoot a three-pointer from the outside and scored two three-pointers in a row, Kobe had no complaints and continued to run the tactics diligently.
Larry Brown on the sidelines looked incredulous: "How is Duan better than Reggie Miller?"
(End of chapter)
