The rest is just noise

75 to 54

Just halfway through the third quarter, the Lakers fell behind by 21 points.

Pat Riley's timeout had no effect. Except for the tragedy maker, the other players on the Lakers were already panicking. They didn't know what the right option was or how to get out of the current predicament.

To them, it seems that whatever they do is wrong.

The tragic player, who had already scored 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, dribbled the ball calmly, with his hands making the same gestures as usual.

Rodman just gave him one meter of space and then took action.

"Whoosh!"

With his 21st personal point, the score became 57-75, and the point difference was no longer 20+.

"Dennis, don't underestimate his shooting," Louis shouted.

The tragic shooter's shooting action is not good-looking, but his shooting is really accurate.

What is the concept of 40% shooting and 2 three-pointers per game in 1990? There are only two players in the league with more production than him.

They are Hornets scoring leader Dale Ellis and Knicks starting No. 2 Reggie Miller.

However, the shooting rate of these two people is not as good as that of Tragedy, perhaps because they take more shots, but Tragedy is a core player. In the contemporary era, he, Bird, and Wilson, these three are rare sharpshooters.

They can create space themselves, and if they can play in a team with a good space environment, they will definitely have many unexpected advantages.

Now the Tragedy Chaser used a three-pointer to chase, and the Knicks used almost the same method to chase back.

Ewing and McHale set up a high double screen for Wilson.

Wilson, who got the open shot, was merciless and returned the favor with a three-pointer.

Unlike the tragic coach who is responsible for the whole team, Wilson only needs to do personal offense and overall defense.

This was Wilson's 25th personal point. He has been going crazy against the Lakers so far.

After being reminded by Louis, Rodman did not dare to neglect the tragedy man's defense. It was no longer possible to shoot three-pointers as easily and comfortably as before.

Rodman is a hound, and Louie holds the leash.

He asked Rodman to show his teeth, and Rodman showed his teeth.

Tragedy's singles became more and more frequent, and just as Louis predicted in the locker room at halftime, Tragedy secretly decided to attack too much.

The previous three-pointer made Rodman frightened, and now he didn't dare to let it go. He used close defense. This way, it would be much easier for the tragedy master to break through him.

The tragedian was singled out in large numbers, and logically speaking, Louis should be happy.

But he didn't, because the tragedy master's duel effect was better than expected.

In the second half of the third quarter, except for the three-pointer, the Tragedy Master made 5 of 9 shots from the field. The 5 goals he scored were all sudden stops in the middle of the breakthrough.

"It's too tricky!" Tomjanovich said, scratching his head, "I really can't imagine what it's like for this person to be guarded!"

83 to 70

Of the 16 points the Lakers scored in the second half, the tragedy maker scored 13 points and 1 assist.

In other words, all the Lakers' scores in the second half were directly related to him.

Tomjanovich was helpless against the Tragedy Master, and the strength of his opponent was frightening. It was not that the Knicks were unprepared for the Tragedy Division to break out. It was precisely that they had considered that the Tragedy Division might take over in a single fight, and had made many arrangements in advance.

But judging from the results, it had no effect.

It is the Knicks' strategy to let the tragedy star and Rodman fight one-on-one.

If the Tragedy Hunter insists on doing this, the Knicks' plan will succeed. When formulating this plan, the Knicks' coaching staff never imagined that the Tragedy Hunter could break Rodman's self-confidence with one-handed shooting.

Because the Tragedy Hunter doesn't like to call pick-and-rolls, Louis' arrangement for the pick-and-roll has no effect. Facing the Tragedy Hunter's outburst, the Knicks can only formulate various defensive methods as the game progresses.

In the third quarter, Louis asked the players to stick to the defensive method of Rodman facing off, while Ewing or others stayed in the penalty area.

Rodman was beaten every time, but he never gave up because of it. He showed a strong spirit and refused to admit defeat no matter how much his opponents tortured him. With Rodman behind him and Ewing in front of him, he also let his mid-range shot go.

His touch.

With a strong enemy in front and pursuers behind, the Tragedy Division used mid-range to break the situation—it seemed to be the most inefficient and least error-prone attack method—but the Tragedy Division destroyed everything as if possessed by a god.

At the end of the third quarter, Louie picked up the tactical board and erased all traces on it.

In professional circles, this is equivalent to telling players, "Abandon all previous arrangements and let's start from scratch."

"Since our opponent is at his best, we must defend him with the most serious attitude!"

Louis replaced Rodman, who had been facing the all-out tragedy for half a quarter and was currently guilty of four fouls.

Replace Alex Stevens with Sam Bowie at center and Ewing at power forward. This is a twin-tower formation.

Wilson continued to play in the fourth quarter.

For the point guard position, Louis was replaced by Hornacek, who was more aggressive on offense and defense.

Just to defend the tragedy master, maybe Stevens is more suitable.

Louis was previously superstitious about Rodman's DPOY favorites and hesitated to make substitutions. However, Rodman's defense is strong in flexibility, diversity and the comprehensiveness of being able to defend any position.

One-on-one marking is still an outside line like the Tragedy Master. He is more accustomed to getting physical and looking for confrontation, but these methods are not enough to defeat the Tragedy Master.

Stevens has been famous for his candy defense since his debut. He is not the best defender in the Knicks, but he is definitely the most desperate. Otherwise, Louis would not regard him as a totem figure of the Knicks.

Stevens represents the Knicks in many ways.

The most representative point is his defense.

Louis doesn't need a pressing defender like Rodman who can intimidate his opponents with his claws and teeth. What he needs is someone like Stevens who can stick the tragedy from start to finish.

One Stevens is just the basic part of the plan. After that, like the tragedy master, he just needs to turn his back and immediately double-team, call the pick-and-roll and let the inside decisively step forward to press the double-team. Also, Ewing, who is standing at the fourth position, has a defensive position from

The basket refers to a small step inside the paint.

That position is the most comfortable position for Tragedy to shoot in the third quarter, and the Knicks will not let him shoot there again.

As a result, most of Tragedy Master's breakthrough was wasted. If he wanted to attack, he could only choose to make an emergency stop at a farther position.

Louis' extreme targeting caused the Tragedy Master's hit rate to drop.

However, his teammates have already woken up.

There is a price to be paid for guarding the attacker so much. Letting Ewing play the fourth position and leave the basket to block the attacker's breakthrough line will not only make A.C. Green happy, but also give Bowie the problem of guarding Robinson.

.

As a backup center, Bowie is impeccable, but to play against Robinson? It's simply a devil.

In the fourth quarter, Robinson's terrifying offensive rebound rate made Louis want to change his defensive strategy several times.

But this is just a regular season game. As long as we can get valuable clues, it doesn't matter if we lose.

With this idea in mind, Louis not only refused to change players and allowed Robinson to bully Bowie, but also told the players to strengthen their faith and trust the arrangements of the coaching staff.

And, he poured a big bowl of chicken soup for Bowie: "Sam, you have played professional basketball for five more years than that bitch, but few people understand you, including that guy! Are you not as good as him? I don't

Think this way, let him know how great you are and let him remember your name!"

Bowie got excited and grabbed an offensive rebound, causing Robinson to foul.

Then, Wilson tried to dunk Robinson, causing another foul.

That was Robinson's fifth foul, and Riley replaced Robinson, hoping to bring him back in the final period.

Without Robinson, the Lakers have no advantage inside.

The strategy they used to imprison Tragedy achieved the desired effect. Tragedy couldn't come to a familiar position to shoot a jumper. After Robinson left the court, he felt a heavy responsibility and used floaters to challenge Ewing's help defense and grab rebounds for himself.

The ball was passed to Pippen for a dunk, he grabbed the rebound again, and he dribbled to the frontcourt and shot a chasing three-pointer.

Some of these shots are played in a way that the tragedy maker likes, and some are not, such as throwing towards the center or chasing a three-pointer.

Louis's strategies became more and more extreme. He just wanted to know whether the tragedy master could be restricted by a flanking attack.

In the last three minutes, the Lakers had caught up to 6 points, and Louis' strategy of defending the tragic player was adjusted again.

As long as the tragic player dribbles to the right wing, no matter what, pinch!

As long as the tragedy maker goes to get the ball in the low post, regardless of what's going on around him, pinch!

As long as the tragic player shows signs of following the screen to catch the ball, there must be two people following him. The moment he catches the ball, pinch!

As a result, there were three tragic mistakes in the final stage, and the Knicks used defensive counterattacks to once again push the score to 11 points.

With more than a minute left, the Lakers had little chance of winning, and Riley called a timeout to let the tragedy maker change his strategy.

They allowed the tragedy maker to break the Knicks' attack by running without the ball. He held the ball less, but the pressure on the defense was still strong. Combined with David Robinson, who had returned to the game, he posed a serious threat to the frontcourt.

The attack was successful repeatedly.

Although the tragedy maker without the ball is still a difficult player to deal with, he is no longer the monster that Louis tried to force him to death.

14 seconds before the end, David Robinson's supplementary dunk enabled him to reach the milestone of 20+20 in a single game, and the Lakers caught up to 1 point.

On the Knicks' last possession, Louis put together a lineup that stunned Pat Riley.

Stockton, Hornacek, Wilson, Miller, Danny Ainge.

There is no inside line and there are no good shooters. Everyone has a three-point shooting rate of more than 34%. Moreover, the tactics Louis drew for them are starburst tactics.

Stockton was responsible for serving, and the other four people scattered like exploding fireworks. The Lakers' defense completely collapsed, and the space was too wide!

Wilson caught the ball, pretended to shoot, and swung the chasing Tragedy away. Then he got up again and hit the game-winning two-pointer 0.2 seconds before the end.

109 to 106

Louis let out a breath, this Lakers team is really hard to beat.