The Whip of the God of Basketball

In essence, the NBA Finals game is the same as an ordinary NBA regular season game, the same 48 minutes, the same rules, the same opponents, and the same venue. The only difference is the meaning of the game and the mentality of both sides, which often has a decisive impact on the game.

Obviously, at the beginning of the game, the mentality of both sides was not so stable. The Celtics were overly relaxed, which made them a little slow to enter the state; while the Lakers have more experience, but the bad off-court experience and the terrible North Shore Garden Arena made the Lakers players feel unprecedented pressure.

After Payton scored 4 points in a row, neither side scored for a minute and a half, falling into a stagnant stalemate.

In the end, the Celtics' Paul Pierce scored the team's first goal. Facing Fox, he used a calm and plain mid-range shot to send the Celtics the first goal of the finals. goals.

Phil Jackson noticed this. In his impression, it was Kevin Garnett or Gilbert Arenas who fired the Celtics' first shot. Pierce was the Celtics' sharpest knife. , will always wait until the critical moment to exert force. It felt like the Celtics started very differently today. Pierce's first shot came a little early.

"Payton, from the right side, he back-up Arenas again, a beautiful back-up pass... Brown fouled, he pulled O'Neal down." Brin looked at Brown and jumped like a tree. When I got to O'Neal and pushed him down, I felt like a fool in my heart. Because from Brown, Brin felt the ferocity of the New York Knicks in the 1990s.

The Lakers' start was equally unique. During the regular season, Jackson discovered that it was a bit difficult to find a breakthrough from O'Neal. Brown could not guard O'Neal, but he would not collapse alone. If he doesn't collapse, the Celtics won't help defend, and O'Neal won't be able to drive other players to participate in the offense. This is very fatal to the Lakers. Therefore, Jackson decided to look for hope from Gary Payton, who has been stumbling this season and his condition has plummeted.

Therefore, Jackson asked Payton to lead the Lakers' offense in the opening game. When the defense of both sides was not tight enough in the opening game, Payton's chaotic fighting ability could be put to good use. Payton is 35 years old this year and has basically lost all his athletic ability, but his strength and experience are still there. Facing Arenas, when he was full of energy at the beginning, he made two surprise attacks with miraculous results.

Then this beautiful back pass also showed his style as a top point guard back then. You must know that in the triangle offense, there will be no tactic where the point guard uses his back to attack. Payton can regain this tactic that he is best at. Obviously Jackson has made special arrangements.

O'Neal stood on the free throw line and lived up to expectations and missed two free throws. Kevin Garnett got the backcourt rebound. He hesitated and did not pass it to Arenas. Instead, he handed the ball to Pierce. Pierce slowly Dribbling the ball across half court, he organized the Celtics' half-court offense.

Leon squatted half-crouched on the sidelines, patiently observing the offense and defense of both sides. He was highly focused, and his eyes were like cameras taking in every detail of the game in his mind - he had not been this serious for a long time.

"The Lakers' defense is very simple, one-on-one on the outside, O'Neal sticks to the basket, lets us pick and roll, and lets Brown shoot. It seems that Jackson still wants to solve the problem through offense. Not having a low post attack point will still be a big problem for us... Karl - Malone seems to have some knee problems, O'Neal's position is too deep, and Kobe has been ready to move..." Leon stood on the sidelines, and he observed the details of the court more clearly than anyone else. He can figure out the defensive formation at a glance. He is now more concerned about the status and possible direction of the Lakers players.

Pierce held the ball past halftime and set up a pick-and-roll screen with Garnett. Then Pierce beat Fox one-on-one on the right side and made a 19-foot fadeaway jumper. The ball went in again and the two sides tied at 4:4.

The sound in the North Shore Garden Arena was deafening. Just two goals from Pierce made the fans crazy. There is no doubt that this is a feast for the fans. This state of affairs will undoubtedly continue until the end of the game.

When the Lakers attacked again, Payton no longer chose to play by himself. Instead, he handed the ball to Malone and then slid to the baseline. An offensive triangle of Malone, Fox and O'Neal formed on the right side. Malone took the ball at the right time. Passed to Fox, who gave the ball to O'Neal with one click.

"O'Neal ate hard... Why did Kobe change positions? What does this mean." O'Neal caught PJ Brown in the low post after catching the ball. This was what Leon expected, but the moment O'Neal caught the ball, Kobe Bryant came from the weak side. Crossing into Malone's position on the strong side, Malone had to do a cross-position swap with Kobe. But instead of passing the ball, O'Neal turned over and hit a small hook.

"The explosive power is no longer as good as in previous years. It seems that only PJ is enough to deal with him." Leon looked at the ball. He knew that if it was O'Neal from two years ago, he would definitely push away PJ Brown and dunk directly to get revenge. PJ Brown just fouled under the basket. But although this goal was scored, it is obvious that the 32-year-old O'Neal has lost the powerful explosiveness in the past.

Looking back, the Celtics finally launched a quick counterattack. Arenas caught the ball in the backcourt and ran wildly. Payton couldn't keep up with him. Kobe had to leave Reed behind to defend, but Reed stole the corner and hit a three-pointer from Arenas. The Celtics are scoring consecutive goals, 7:6, and their condition is getting better and better.

After the goal was scored, Phil Jackson called for a short timeout. He seemed to have seen some signs of problems, but the two sides were still evenly matched, and after the initial coldness, the two sides were slowing down. Enter the state slowly.

"Phil Jackson called a timeout, 7:6, and the two sides are entering the state. At present, we have no way to see the true strength of both sides, but it can be seen from several attacks that the Celtics rely more on the outside, while the Lakers Relying more on the inside, whoever can make breakthroughs in areas where they are not good at may be the key to changing the situation." Brin gave some of his own opinions based on the current trend.

However, Leon obviously did not want to increase the team's interior offense like Breen. During the short pause, he simply encouraged the players and did not arrange any tactics. The Celtics players didn't seem to be paying much attention. The scene was really too noisy, and the game had just started. The feeling of the game had not completely replaced the tension, and it was inevitable that there were some random thoughts in their minds.

Leon knew that he still needed to continue to observe and wait. He hoped to discover the Lakers' fatal problem and then give them a fatal blow.

………………

Phil Jackson made simple adjustments to the team's strategy during the short pause. First, he replaced Gary Payton and let Fisher, who is more familiar with the triangle offense, come on.

If it were any other coach, Payton would have been discarded and thrown to the bench or traded away. But Phil Jackson is Phil Jackson, and he often considers not only basketball factors, but also other issues. So he has always put Payton in the starting lineup, and the use of Payton tonight is worth it compared to the regular season, so he thinks it is time to let him rest.

"Don't forget our beliefs, don't forget the feeling of our offense, forget the past here, forget the past. Hold on, hold on!" Jackson's meaning is actually very simple, let the players focus. At the same time, he asked the players to persevere, because he could foresee that whether they could survive the first half would be very critical, and it would be an impossible task to complete a comeback in North Shore Garden.

Seeing the players return to the court, Jackson sat back on the bench. He still looked calm, like a Zen Zen master. But he was actually very anxious inside. This was perhaps the most anxious time in his Finals career, even more so than in 1998.

Although the series had just begun, and although the two teams had only scored 13 points in total, he could feel that the dark-haired man who had been squatting on the sidelines was searching for something with his sharp eyes, something that could defeat the Lakers.

"How many cards does this guy have in his hand? What a headache." Jackson couldn't figure out how many cards Leon had in his hand. Indeed, the Celtics' cards were really good. Judging from the regular season, if both sides play their cards straight, the Lakers are almost certain to lose.

The game restarted. As soon as the game started, Kobe took the ball outside the three-point line and made a long three-pointer. The ball went hollow into the net. A very beautiful C\u0026amp;amp;S, 7:9, the Lakers took the lead.

After scoring the goal, Kobe blew into his hands. It seemed that he felt that his hands were getting warm.