The reason why a killing move is a killing move is because it is only suitable for use at critical moments.
Although Kobe played without the ball in the first three quarters, he was running a marathon on the court with Hamilton, which consumed a lot of physical energy.
In the fourth quarter, Jackson finally reused Kobe and let him play with the ball.
Of course, before Kobe held the ball, Jackson asked Duan to take advantage of the fact that he had just finished resting and was still in good physical condition to shoot a few three-pointers to attract the Pistons' defense.
Duan lived up to Jackson's expectations and made two three-pointers in the first quarter of the fourth quarter, forcing the Pistons to open up more defensive space.
When Duan holds the ball and crosses screens with Kobe, the Pistons really pay more attention to restricting Duan's shooting. After all, a three-pointer is one point more than a two-pointer.
In addition, the Pistons focus on protecting the inside, and Kobe will be flanked when shooting from mid-range.
Therefore, as long as the defense outside the three-point line is supplemented, the Pistons' defense can continue to put pressure on the Lakers in all aspects.
However, Kobe's ability to handle the ball clearly exceeded the Pistons' defensive limitations.
After Kobe received the pass from Dunn, he took an extra step out with the help of Ben. When his footing was not stable, he first accelerated to the left and passed Ben, and then slid under the basket to attack the basket.
Roaring Tianzun and Prince hurriedly double-teamed over. Just when everyone thought Kobe was about to stop for a jump shot, Kobe suddenly hit the ground and passed the ball to O'Neal.
Ben retreated to the basket and Billups came to help defend, but after receiving the ball, O'Neal still took a dominant step and turned around for a dunk.
As long as Kobe is willing to make sudden passes under the basket and O'Neal can be activated by Kobe, then the Lakers cannot be defeated.
Duane's three-pointers and organization, Kobe's ball-handling breakthrough, mid-range, low-post offense and inside passes, and O'Neal's finishing at the basket.
The Lakers' three main players perfectly cover all offensive areas on the court. The organizational skills of Duane and Kobe can ensure that O'Neal can receive the ball in a relatively comfortable position.
Faced with O'Neal's low singles and Duco's killer move while picking and rolling, Larry Brown had no good solution in a short period of time. He could only urge the Pistons players on the court to adopt a tougher defensive attitude.
Whether the defense is good or not depends mainly on attitude.
The Pistons' top five are basically all physically strong, and they have all reached the Finals. Naturally, they are not willing to lose to the Lakers like this.
Under the guidance of Larry Brown, they practiced the mixed defense system until it became instinctive.
After investing more physical strength and concentration, the Pistons' defensive intensity actually increased by a few points.
Of course, the current Pistons are no longer the bad boy Pistons they once were.
Today's Pistons defense is different from the Spurs, who are also known for their defense.
The Pistons are iron-blooded and tough enough. Although there are some small moves, they are not particularly dirty and will not strengthen defense with the purpose of useless.
The Pistons' iron-blooded defense also strengthens physical contact and increases the physical confrontation against the ball holder.
One thing to say, the Pistons made a lot of defensive moves. If it were the regular season, the whistle might have sounded.
However, in the playoffs, these actions were tacitly approved by the league!
League executives also know that attacking basketball can increase ratings during the regular season, but in the playoffs fans still like to watch more intense confrontations.
This is also the reason why the NFL dominates North America. In a country where gunfights happen every day, most fans are violent.
Of course, blindly strengthening confrontation and defense will make it difficult to score on the court, which will also affect the enjoyment of the game.
The essence of sports competition is to watch "Superman", to watch taller, faster and stronger athletes killing everyone on the field.
If all the players on the field are doing three irons, even if their backs are picturesque, it will make the fans think that they are just noobs pecking each other, and there is nothing interesting to watch.
Only under high-intensity defense, can you still ignore the defense and score the ball toughly!
With the help of high-intensity defense, super giants, superstars, all-stars, ordinary starters, and rotation players are clearly distinguished, but simply with the help of data.
Only fans will truly recognize and admire the stars who stand out from the playoffs.
Even though the stars who were killing everyone on the TV were not their home team players, they even defeated their home team in the playoffs.
After all, fans have witnessed great victories one after another and know very well what a real ring is and what a well-deserved championship is.
Having said that, the Pistons suddenly strengthened their defense, making Kobe realize that in order to win, it was best to pass the ball to O'Neal.
Kobe didn't struggle, just like Duane didn't struggle with passing the ball to Kobe.
There is nothing wrong with everyone wanting to compete for FMVP. But the prerequisite for winning FMVP is to win the game first.
The Lakers are the No. 1 team in the Western Conference. If the super team loses to a civilian team, this will seriously lower the historical status and personal worth of the OK group.
Besides, for the Lakers' two Nike-owned stars, Nike has already stepped forward to resolve the conflicts and interest disputes between Dunn and Kobe in advance.
In short, the meat must rot in the pot!
It is precisely because of this that Kobe didn't step forward to take over the game until O'Neal encountered the shark-cutting tactics in advance.
Kobe took four consecutive shots. Although he was double-teamed by the Pistons each time, he still relied on his personal strength and hit two mid-range shots to help the Lakers stabilize the situation.
With more than 4 minutes left in the game, the score on the court was 74 to 81, a full 7-point gap, which forced the Pistons to call a timeout first and adjust the Pistons' offensive tactics.
After all, the pace of tonight's game was too slow, and the Pistons' offensive efficiency was indeed not high.
The 7-point gap may not seem like much, but in fact, even if the Lakers don't score a single point, the Pistons may not be able to win tonight.
"Shaq, hold on a little longer and you can go home and sleep right away!"
On the Lakers side, even though Jackson knew that continuing to send O'Neal on the court would run the risk of shark-cutting tactics.
However, Jackson decided to keep O'Neal on the court.
On the one hand, the Lakers need O'Neal's frame protection and rebound protection.
On the other hand, in Jackson's view, as long as O'Neal can shoot 40% of his free throw percentage, the Pistons will lose tonight's game because of their lack of stronger offensive power.
With the Lakers' all-out defense, the Pistons' overall offensive efficiency was just over 40%.
"Phil, I can play off the ball, I can guard Billups."
In order to ensure victory tonight, Du En decided to sacrifice himself a little.
In this game, Duan has made 8 of 17 shots, 6 of 13 three-pointers, and 1 of 2 free throws. He scored 23 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal.
Whether it's scoring or organization, Duan has been perfect enough.
It is also because of the slow pace of the game and the relatively high defensive intensity that the Lakers' 17 shots taken by Doan were second only to Kobe's 20 shots.
In the next more than 4 minutes, Duan did not need to compete with Kobe and O'Neal for the right to take action.
As long as Duane can limit Billups' scoring and Kobe can guard Hamilton again, the Lakers will have a great chance of winning as long as they get two or three points.
Zen Master understood what Du En meant, so he immediately made another adjustment: "Then let Du En play the number one position!
Slow down the pace of the game as much as possible and focus on protecting the ball. Everyone must protect rebounds!
By the way, Devin, you play the third position!
If another teammate passes the ball to you, shoot immediately. Don't hesitate. We believe you can do it. "
Zen Master likes to reuse small figures at critical moments, but due to the main force of Death, Duen and Kobe's physical strength tanks have been almost exhausted.
For shooting at critical moments, stability is naturally not guaranteed.
As a substitute small forward, Devin George only got 7 minutes of playing time tonight.
Although the hands are not very hot, the physical strength is still very guaranteed.
Devin George usually has a good three-point shot, and when Duan and Kobe attract the defense and pass the ball to Devin George, they can basically create an open three-point opportunity for him.
To put it bluntly, as long as Devin George can score a three-pointer, the Lakers will be safe.
However, the Lakers don't need a little guy like Devin George to save the world tonight.
After re-entering the game, the Pistons did not kill the shark immediately, so Kobe carried the explosive bag without saying a word, held the ball to cause damage, and made two free throws to help the Lakers expand their lead.
After Dunn defended Billups, the Pistons' Princeton system did not play so smoothly.
In the end, we could only rely on the singles of Hamilton and Roaring God to complete the finish.
Roaring Tianzun relied on his proud special skill-straight-arm jump shot, making two of two shots, returning to the top, and playing the style of one of the four power forwards of the first generation.
However, Kobe's iron lock also held Hamilton tightly.
The Pistons tried to cut off Shark to chase the ball. O'Neal made 2 of 6 free throws, although his hips were stretched.
However, with Hamilton missing two consecutive shots, the Lakers still held on to their home victory in G1 of the Finals.
With 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score on the field reached 78-85, still a 7-point gap.
The Pistons were trying to get the ball back by slashing the shark, but the Lakers took O'Neal away first.
Stanislav Medvedenko did not become a defensive vulnerability after coming on the court, because free throws were not enough. Instead, the Lakers relied on the abundant fouls of the substitute center to cut down the cost.
With Ben making 1 of 2 free throws to help the Pistons recover 1 point, the Lakers forced the ball to waste time, leaving only the last 2 seconds for Kobe to take over and make a strong shot.
Kobe indeed failed to make the shot, but the long rebound that popped up returned to its original owner and fell into Kobe's hands.
It can be said that it was this rebound that completely killed the game.
Next, the Lakers continued to delay time, cut big costs, and used up the game time to the last second.
Larry Brown was also in a bad mood. He waited until the game was officially over before withdrawing all the main players, unlike O'Neal who left work 2 minutes early to rest.
But so what? 80 to 85, the Lakers firmly won G1 of the Finals with a 5-point advantage!
Kobe, who only scored 21 points in 23 shots in the game, also relied on years of experience in blacksmithing to successfully defeat Hamilton and kill the game with a self-shot rebound!
(End of chapter)
