The Whip of the God of Basketball

Leon's current strategy is very simple. On the defensive end, he is to shrink with all his strength, double-team Kobe, and release the Lakers' mid-range shots. On the offensive end, if you can steal the chicken, steal the chicken. If you can't steal the chicken, then go all out to grab offensive rebounds.

Defending against this is both gambling and psychological warfare. The whole league knows that Phil Jackson likes to play this way, defending with high intensity in some areas and giving up in others, completely disrupting the opponent's offensive rhythm. But few teams dare to play this trick against Phil Jackson's team. Whether it's the Bulls or the Lakers, there are always a few role players who come out to give you a fatal blow when you think you can give up on them.

Armstrong, Hawkins, Cole, Holly, there are always such good players under Jackson. This is not only the ability of role players, but also the embodiment of Phil Jackson's unique team-leading art.

But this year, it is difficult for the Lakers under Jackson to have such a player stand up. Kobe is even stronger, and O'Neal is still dominant. However, this team of three consecutive champions has lost their spirit and aggressiveness, and the status of role players. This is the best proof. That's why Leon dared to bet that when O'Neal was not on the court, those role players would be out of shape and that they would not be able to hit key three-pointers.

Phil Jackson is also aware of this. He has been struggling with quarrels, conflicts and players' self-aggrandizement throughout the season. When he saw that the point difference was only five points, he called a timeout not to wake up the players. But just to replace O'Neal on the court.

On the offensive end, since Hollis Grant left in 2001, O'Neal's pressure on the defensive end has increased dramatically. Neither Hollis nor Fox can match Grant in backcourt rebound protection and rim protection. Not to mention a bamboo pole like Samaki Walker, who is no match for the crafty Anderson.

"Fight according to our established strategy, pay attention to control, control emotions, control the scale, and keep a calm and peaceful mentality. I want to tell you in this game, if one day you face an extremely powerful opponent, please don't be afraid , resist calmly, so that you can die better." Leon said to the players during the timeout. The Celtics players have long been accustomed to Leon's turning points, automatically ignoring the latter and focusing on the front.

For this game, Leon didn't want to give up without any preparation. Each of these young people on the bench before the game was shouted and warned by Leon. They wanted to play this game well. Celtic Every detail must be taken care of on the human side.

After the pause, the two sides continued fighting. The Staples Center, which had been silent for a few minutes, became lively again. With O'Neal reappearing, Lakers fans seemed to see the Celtics being destroyed again.

Derek Fisher also replaced Shaw. He served the ball out of bounds to Kobe, and then returned to the court. Kobe passed it back to Fisher. This pass passed O'Neal and he had already secured his position in the interior.

It's still Dalembert, he still can't stop O'Neal from getting stuck. Fisher easily lobs the ball to O'Neal. O'Neal uses his huge hips to easily open a path to the basket for himself. When he was about to complete a hook shot, Dalembert grabbed O'Neal's arm like a wrestler and knocked him down.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded. Obviously Dalembert fouled the ball, and O'Neal will be sent to the free throw line.

There were boos at the scene. For O'Neal, a giant, free throws are his Achilles heel. Many teams have to resort to such despicable methods in order to prevent O'Neal from scoring under the basket.

Such behavior will undoubtedly make the game quite ugly. No one wants to see that powerful Sharks can only stay away from the basket and struggle at the free throw line.

However, compared with the boos from the fans, Phil Jackson was really nervous. His purpose of replacing O'Neal was to score as quickly as possible and stabilize the situation. But now that O'Neal is standing on the free throw line, his power is only at the basket. One-tenth of. If he misses the free throw, the Celtics' counterattack is likely to bring the score closer, which would be very bad for the Lakers.

Sure enough, O'Neal lived up to expectations and missed two free throws. The basketball looked like an ordinary volleyball in his big hands. Because of this, his fingers could not control the direction of the ball. Chris Anderson's precise positioning and Dalembert's The strong blocking allowed Grant Long to get this rebound.

This time, the Celtics must launch a quick counterattack!

Alexander received a pass from Long, and he ran desperately towards the Lakers' position, and then passed a beautiful ground-breaking pass to Williams who came from the right side. Williams received the ball and avoided Kobe. The pursuit was successful and the reverse layup was successful!

Three points! The gap between the Celtics and Lakers narrowed to a three-pointer.

But sometimes the farthest distance in the world is the distance of a ball. After fouling O'Neal, the Celtics did not continue to foul. As a result, O'Neal grabbed an offensive rebound during the offense and easily Successful dunk.

"A very good opportunity, why don't you continue to foul?" Steve Kerr couldn't help but ask on the bench.

"We can't let fouls become a regular method to stop O'Neal. Today we have six people who can't play. We must learn to control and don't be restrained by the score. It's still early." Leon replied. At this time, he was already sitting on the bench. For him, as long as the score difference was maintained at about 5 points, the task of the first half would be completed.

Sure enough, although the Celtics were never able to overtake or equalize the score, no matter whether they were offensive or defensive, these young people showed their sense and worked hard on the court. Many goals that could not be scored or scored ended up falling to the ground. I got another chance to grab the ball and rush for offensive rebounds. On the other hand, the Lakers relied more and more on O'Neal. From time to time, Celtics players made intentional fouls and sent O'Neal to the free throw line, disrupting the Lakers' offensive rhythm and preventing them from achieving consecutive offensive climaxes.

The score stayed tight until the end of the first half. The score between the two sides was 54:50. The Celtics were only 4 points behind the Lakers. Leon patted the young man on the shoulder and accompanied them into the locker room.

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In the VIP room, Stern was trying to get the sponsor representatives to end the game viewing trip early. In the first half, the Celtics clung to the score, and the scene was not bad. But Stern knows that many times a weak team can compete with a strong team in the first half, but in the second half, as soon as the strong team adjusts and exerts its strength, the score will be completely widened.

The Lakers have always been masters of the third quarter. They are very good at defeating their opponents in the third quarter and then killing them in a stalemate in the fourth quarter. In Stern's view, this game will be no exception. No matter how hard the Celtics fought in the first half, they were still trailing by four points in the end. Now that you've enjoyed a good half of the game, you don't have to watch the terrible carnage of the second half.

But it seems that the sponsor representatives are watching the game with great interest. Obviously they don't understand basketball at all. They also know that the Celtics have pushed all the main players to the bench, but they can actually chase points all the way to just one goal. Four points, and played back and forth with the Lakers in the second half of the second quarter.

"This is an interesting team, very interesting. I always thought the Celtics were a very boring team. Who is their coach? Leon? That guy who fights on the court? Haha, interesting. Guy." Some representatives even commented on the Celtics and Fox-Leon this way, and others also agreed. Obviously, everyone didn't want to leave early, but wanted to watch the game.

Stern could only suppress the thoughts in his mind. At this time, he supported Fox-Leon and the Celtics like never before, hoping that they could hold on in the second half and lose if they wanted, but not too ugly. This way, when Stern fines the Celtics tomorrow, his tone will be gentler.

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There was a cheerful atmosphere in the Celtics locker room. Although they were four points behind, the players seemed to have won the game. Everyone was talking and laughing. Chris Anderson has already been praised by everyone. His performance in the first half was too good, with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, all of which set his half-time record.

With all the main players resting, he unexpectedly became the core player of the team. Although he did not have an independent attack, he used defense and rebounds to help the team move forward. In this half of the game, Leon saw the shadow of Dennis Rodman in him, the man who influenced the team in every corner of the court and the teacher of Chris Anderson.

But Leon did not praise Anderson. He interrupted everyone's conversation and said seriously: "Did we win? Or are we ahead?" As soon as Leon's words came out, everyone fell silent.

"I know, we played great, and everyone thought with the lineup we had, we were going to be down 20 points at halftime, and now we're down four. If we lose this game, maybe we'll get a win. It's glorious, but I have to say that this is the result I hate the most. No failure is glorious. Losers can accept shame and shame, but they cannot accept mercy. Because the former can make us introspective and strong, while the latter will only make us Intoxicated by the good feeling of muddling along, stop moving forward. Tell me, do you want to win." Leon asked the players on the field.

Everyone looked at each other, then nodded in unison.

"Okay, let me tell you, now we are four points behind and we have to catch up in the second half, so this is not the time to be happy and relaxed, we have to be impatient and calm! Everyone, prick up your ears, I want to tell you , what should be done in the second half!”

Leon pulled over the tactical whiteboard and he had to take another gamble.