Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

At halftime, the Lakers returned to the locker room. Although the lead was only 5 points, the Lakers were in control of the rhythm, so everyone seemed very relaxed.

The entire first half.

Robinson took the initiative to sacrifice himself, and Duncan scored 18 points in two quarters. Duncan also bit the bullet and played hard, gave Robinson some feedback passes, and scored 8 points with medium and long-range shots towards the basket.

In other words, the Spurs brothers scored 26 points together in the first half.

This score is not small, but the score is still behind, and all the crux lies with Li Shengli. No matter which line the Lakers attack, Li Shengli has made a big contribution, no matter how the Lakers' defense is positioned, the Spurs Brothers and even the whole team must try their best to avoid him.

…

How to fight this horse?

Popovich racked his brains but couldn't come up with a miraculous tactic. He could only focus on core status and effective time. The Spurs brothers were in the locker room. When they thought about their inability to chase points in the first half, they really wanted to cry. ah.

Although there is only a 5-point gap at the moment, what makes them panic is that the Lakers' control of the court is too strong and too stable. Let alone catching up to these 5 points, it would be a good thing not to be pulled away in the third quarter, because the Spurs' ball transfer errors were It's really quite a lot, at least much compared to the Lakers.

"Tim, can you still do it?" David Robinson secretly said to Duncan. He didn't want his worries to be seen by his teammates, but just wanted the Spurs brothers to digest it internally.

"It's too difficult to play. Originally we thought we were well prepared, but now... we still underestimate the Lakers and Lee!" Duncan usually doesn't have much expression on his face, but he still wants to win in the Western Conference finals, and he frowned He continued tightly: "Li...to be honest, his offensive stability is terrible, and his defense is still around him. I may not be ready to compete with him, even if what I encounter now is just Ben Wallace, if he comes to guard me and lead the offense, you may need to play."

"This shouldn't happen. After all, Ben Wallace's defense has passed the test, and there is Rodman who can supplement him later. And you underestimate my role too much. Apart from Li Nanda, Ben Wallace and Rodman When we come out, we can play high and low, and unless I'm not on the court, there's no reason for him to look for you to defend."

The Spurs brothers looked at each other and nodded, and Robinson continued: "It would be easiest to hit a turn-up jumper against Barkley. I think we might choose to foul Ben Wallace. You know, from this time on, This is not a new topic since the second round of the NBA, and the tactic of killing people is not prohibited by the league."

"But I don't think it's of much use!"

"Why is it useless? Just let Ben Wallace shoot free throws. His performance is only 50%."

"That's not what I'm talking about, but the Lakers can replace people who are not good at free throws at any time. Maybe my shots are a little higher, but it will be more difficult for the Lakers to deal with the combination of Lee + Barkley + three guards. Don't forget After learning the lesson of the Trail Blazers, Li Fa, who was accurate at 5X5 in a single quarter, went crazy, and neither of us could stop him."

Duncan said a few words, and Robinson was not a fool. He could completely understand what Duncan was thinking. After all, in these years... Ewing and O'Neal were both in the East, and Olajuwon had many helpers. He was the only one who was beaten and beaten. He has the most people, so he knows Li Shengli better than anyone else.

It's just that I was alone originally.

But now that Duncan, who doesn't need to grow up, is here, the Spurs brothers join forces and continue to get beaten? When does this day end? Is it possible that the West never sees the sun and only sees the Lakers?

The two brothers didn't say a few words. Head coach Popovich called a meeting with all the staff and rearranged the tactics for the second half. The idea of ​​​​the second half was to drag, drag hard, stabilize the point difference as much as possible, and then drag the game to fourth place. Festival.

It's just that in this line of thinking... Sean, who is not the Spurs brother, has been upgraded to a higher level on the offensive end, and in the Lakers, Barkley, who is not Li Shengli, has also been upgraded to a higher offensive level.

…

Li Shengli can’t be dealt with for the time being!

Then get rid of Barkley. After all, in the untargeted first half, Barkley had already committed three fouls before playing two full quarters. He rushed to Barkley's defense and caused several fouls. First, Barkley was It's best to give it away.

Popovich thinks differently than everyone else.

On the surface, everyone thinks that the Spurs are eager for the Lakers to put Barkley at the fourth position, but in fact... if they want to use the "killing tactics" that the Trail Blazers have expanded, then the Lakers cannot use Barkley at the fourth position, and It should be Ben, who shoots 35% of his free throws, and Rodman, who shoots 43% of his free throws.

To be honest, the killing tactic only targets the core, and it can only target the core.

Just like O'Neal, the reason why the exclusive shark-cutting tactic is so powerful is because the Celtics can't come up with substitutes on both offense and defense who can replace or partially replace O'Neal, so the result is...either O'Neal is cut, or The Celtics replaced the backup center, and both were offensive and defensive blows to the Celtics.

However, taking the initiative to foul non-core players will definitely have a much worse effect.

Because opponents can directly choose to make substitutions, and the replacement of role players does not have that big an impact on the entire team. Specifically for the Lakers... the Spurs will attack Ben and Rodman, and the Lakers can replace Barkley.

But what if Barkley commits a foul and leaves the game?

The Lakers don't dare to use Ben and Rodman. The only substitute they can use is Horry, who has just recovered from his back injury and has been on the bench for a long time. And objectively speaking...defensively, Horry is not as good as Ben, Rodman, and Barkley. , Duncan will usher in a scoring explosion; offensively, Horry is not as good as Barkley, and the Lakers' offense will have to be slightly reduced; overall, the Spurs have a greater advantage.

So this is the Spurs' opportunity.

As long as Barkley is eliminated, the Lakers will either let Ben and Rodman come out and be cut, or they will put Horry on and be beaten wildly by Duncan. In the third quarter, the Spurs' task is to stabilize the points difference, and the second is to create Barkley's foul and finding opportunities in the final quarter.

…

The second half started.

It was the Spurs who attacked first, but what surprised Li Shengli was that David Robinson rested, and he was replaced by veteran substitute center Will Perdo. What was even more surprising was that the starting point of the tactics was someone other than the Spurs brothers... Sean - Elliot.

When the fight started this round, Sean was still a little strange.

Because Li Shengli, Ben and Barkley were all present, Barkley was defending Sean, and Sean's offense was not rushed at all. He finally found the opportunity after a long time, holding the ball with both hands and covering Barkley's arm. , and then took a quick shot. Although there was no 2+1, he still got 2 free throws, 1 of 2.

Wait until it's back to the Lakers offense.

It's not that Li Shengli bullied Perdo, a ten-year veteran, but the problem was that Robinson had rested, so he had to choose a weak point to break through, so he pushed his back all the way to the basket, and when he was about to turn around, Perdo touched him. , went to the free throw line and also made 1 of 2.