Chapter 233 Match Point
4:4, Lakers attack.

Kobe had just made a shot and felt that his touch was good, so he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and he also adopted the strategy of pressing across the three-point line and shooting before the double-team arrived.

"Bang!"

Unfortunately, Battier blocked his vision and the shot missed.

He Zhongqiu grabbed the rebound and the Knicks attacked.

The Lakers paid good attention to details. Payton entangled Nash, O'Neal prevented He Zhongqiu from passing the ball quickly, and the Knicks' fast break failed.

"The Knicks made 4 of 2 shots, including one dunk by Zhongqiu and one throw in. Let's see who will attack this time." Xu Jicheng said.

"The Lakers fans are working too hard, which has a big impact on the Knicks, but there are times when they can't boo anymore," Zhang Heli said with a smile.

"Before that, Zhongqiu has to stand up and hold on to the score," said Yang Jian.

"Steve?"

Rick Carlisle shouted from the sidelines, and when Nash looked over, he made a tactical gesture to intensify the breakthrough.

The home atmosphere was too strong. The Knicks were booed whenever they got the ball. Their outside jump shots were affected and they could only strengthen their breakthroughs to score.

He Zhongqiu asked for the ball in the high post again. He has a mid-range shot and he and Nash played high-post pick-and-roll tactics, which was very threatening.

This time, after receiving the ball, he immediately passed it back to Nash who was cutting in from the side, then turned around and formed two attacks on the left and right with Nash.

The Postman and Payton were left behind, and O'Neal was the only one under the basket.

Nash jumped up when he reached O'Neal's left front side, attracted O'Neal's defense and suddenly made a side pass.

The next moment, He Zhongqiu jumped from the right front side of the basket, caught the ball in the air, and slam dunked with one hand.

Shaquille O'Neal was unable to stop He Zhongqiu's dunk and could only stand on the left front side of the basket and defend with his eyes.

"boom!"

The extremely powerful sound of the basket rang out in the Staples Center, instantly extinguishing the huge boos in the arena.

"High pick-and-roll, cutting in, this offensive tactic is simply impossible for the Lakers to defend," Barkley shook his head.

"O'Neal was selected to the second defensive team three times during his peak period, but with his current physical strength and commitment to the defensive end, it is true that he cannot defend this kind of offense with one defending two," said Kenny Smith.

“No one can defend against it.”

Dream made the conclusion first, and then explained: "Nash's offense is also very good. He and Wolverine attack the basket together. Even in my prime, it was difficult. If I defended this, I would definitely lose that."

6:4, Lakers attack.

Payton took the ball to the top of the arc and saw that O'Neal still couldn't squeeze the Wolverine and couldn't get to the deep position, so he had to give up the idea of ​​passing the ball.

At this time, the Postman blocked Doriac on the right wing and was about to get into position. He felt that there was no problem for the Postman to play against Doriac, a role player, so he quickly passed the ball to him.

The Postman received the ball, swung his elbows left and right, cleared some space, and then immediately took a jump shot.

But he is old after all, his knee injury is serious, and his offensive rhythm is far less than before, which gives Dorik time to defend and block the shot.

"Bang!"

The basketball went off the rim and was caught by He Zhongqiu.

"Whoosh!"

Blocking O'Neal with his right elbow, He Zhongqiu threw the basketball with his left hand and it flew towards Nash who was running down from the top of the arc.

"Nash is one step ahead of Payton...be careful of Kobe...he didn't catch up...beautiful! Nash scores on a fast break, 8:4, the Knicks are leading by 4 points." Zhang Heli said excitedly.

"Half of the credit for this game goes to Wolverine, who launched a fast break right after grabbing the backcourt rebound." Yang Jian said with a smile.

"Just now, the Postman played one-on-one against Doryac, but Battier did not go down to help defend. The Knicks had no intention of helping defend the Postman." Zhang Heli said.

Zhang Heli smiled and said, "That's not necessary. He is not the postman he used to be. Among the four superstars, let Zhongqiu defend O'Neal alone, and the others can just help defend Kobe."

The Lakers attacked, and Payton tried to find Nash through a pick-and-roll.

He moved to the left wing, and the Knicks' three-two zone defense formation immediately moved to the left wing, with Wells in a high position trying to double-team him.

At this time, Devin George blocked Wells, and he immediately pulled down, so Nash had to switch defense.

"Payton backed up Nash, knocked him away, and made a quick stop jump shot...but it missed! Zhongqiu grabbed the rebound and the Knicks attacked." Zhang Heli explained quickly.

"With Payton's current offensive ability, just let him shoot, it's okay. Just like the Knicks playing against the Nets, just let Kidd attack, haha!" Xu Jicheng said with a smile.

“Zhongqiu was positioned high again, which was different from the first three games, where he was basically pulled to the left wing,” Yang Jian said.

"Because he is the most accurate in mid-range shots from high positions, and he can also play pick-and-roll with Nash," Zhang Heli said.

At this time, Nash passed the ball and cut in.

He Zhongqiu received the ball and turned to break through. O'Neal came out from under the basket and blocked him. He jumped and threw the ball, and the basketball flew over O'Neal's head.

"Throw it!" Zhang Heli shouted.

"It's a pass!" Yang Jian shouted.

Nash quickly cut into the basket, received the ball, jumped up and made a layup.

"Beautiful! The cooperation between Zhongqiu and Nash is getting better and better." Zhang Heli praised.

"O'Neal has never liked defense, but he has been on the second defensive team three times. Now it seems that his defense is really not that good," said Xu Jicheng.

Zhang Heli laughed and said: "He was forced by Kobe. In the 99/00 season, Kobe worked very hard on the defensive end, so he had to work harder on the defensive end, otherwise how could he be the boss?
That season, Kobe made the All-Defensive First Team for the first time, O'Neal made the Second Team, and they also won their first championship."

Xu Jicheng laughed and said, "So this person was forced out."

Yang Jian said: "Let's see what O'Neal can force out under the pressure of Wolverine."

In the 6th minute of the first quarter, the Knicks led by 8 points.

The Lakers' offense couldn't be launched because O'Neal was blocked by He Zhongqiu and his offense couldn't be launched.

Phil Jackson has always believed that the Lakers have only one core, and that is O'Neal.

All of the Lakers' tactics serve O'Neal alone, which is to make O'Neal attack as comfortably as possible.

Under this tactical thinking, once O'Neal was frozen, the Lakers' offensive tactics fell into crisis and the triangle offense could not be played.

Kobe alone cannot stop the Knicks.

The Lakers called a timeout, and Phil Jackson asked the Postman to strengthen his cooperation with O'Neal and create opportunities for O'Neal to enter the basket.

"Kobe, if you don't want to lose the Finals, pass the ball to Shaq."

At the same time, he asked Kobe to pass the ball to O'Neal for the first time today. Now he knows that if the OK combination does not work together, they will definitely lose this finals.

Kobe always knew that Phil Jackson didn't like him, and even knew that Phil Jackson wanted to trade him, so his attitude towards Phil Jackson has always been lukewarm.

Long before the first championship, when he knew Phil Jackson wanted to trade him, he told West that if the Lakers didn't need him, he could leave.

But both West and old Buss kept him, and West even took the time to teach him how to play.

He was also told that O'Neal did not like defense, so as long as he improved his defense, his importance in the team would be improved.

Later he really stepped up his defense, played hard on defense, and was named to the All-Defensive Team that season, and they even won the championship.

He responded to Phil Jackson's request with silence.

Phil Jackson looked at Kobe, who was silent and had a cold face, and he couldn't help but feel irritated with the Zen master's mood.

Afterwards, the timeout ended and the Knicks replaced Mutombo to strengthen the defense in the interior.

After the first quarter, the Knicks led by 27 points, 17:10.

Barkley sighed: "Shaq was watched closely by Wolverine. He played pick-and-roll with the Mailman and only made 4 of 2 shots. He had no more offensive opportunities."

Kenny Smith said: "Kobe made 7 of 3 shots, a hit rate of 42.9%, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 8 points. His performance was not bad, but his one-on-one fight could not help the team."

Dream said: "The Mailman couldn't defend Wolverine at all. Wolverine made 6 of 5 shots and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 13 points in a single quarter."

Barkley said: "Today Nash and the Wolverines used a lot of high-post pick-and-roll tactics. Since they couldn't make outside jump shots, they strengthened their breakthroughs, which had a high success rate. The Lakers couldn't defend against this tactic and lost a lot of points."

Kenny Smith said: "The Wolverines' defense against O'Neal has returned to the intensity of G1 and G2. It is this tough defense that prevents O'Neal from getting close to the basket easily."

Barkley laughed and said, "Wolverine hasn't committed a foul in the first quarter, O'Neal hasn't made a free throw, and it seems like the Lakers didn't get the home whistle today."

In the second quarter, He Zhongqiu did not come on for the time being, and Mutombo and Doriak partnered up.

The outside line is Shandon Anderson, Josh Howard, and Charlie Ward.

Without Alan Houston, the scoring ability of the bench lineup is a little weaker, but there are still people available.

For the Lakers, O'Neal went off for the last two minutes and didn't come back at the beginning of the second quarter, but Kobe, who played for 11 minutes in the first quarter, came back.

Kobe came on the court with a fierce attack. Although Josh Howard played good defense, he still couldn't stop Kobe. Kobe scored 7 points including free throws and made a - run.

Three minutes later, the score was 32:27, with the Knicks still leading by 5 points. A timeout was called, and both sides replaced their main players.

"Bang!"

Wells missed a quick jump shot on the right wing, and He Zhongqiu rushed from the free throw line and jumped over O'Neal's head to grab the offensive rebound.

When he landed, he was double-teamed by O'Neal and the Mailman.

But the next moment, relying on his powerful explosive power and bounce, he jumped again and rushed into the sky from the double-team.

Even with O'Neal and Karl Malone's four arms pressing on him, they were unable to stop him from rising.

"boom!"

A two-handed dunk blew up the Lakers' basket.

"Di!"

The referee's whistle sounded at the same time.

"Beautiful! Two plus one, Zhongqiu grabbed the offensive rebound and slammed the ball under the basket. Neither the Big Shark nor the Postman could defend him." Zhang Heli shouted excitedly.

"The Postman's blocking ability was not very good in his peak period. He has no jumping ability. The Shark can't jump now either." Xu Jicheng laughed.

"The referee gave the Postman a hand foul and Wolverine got an extra free throw." Yang Jian said.

Zhang Heli smiled and said, "Zhongqiu's strength is now really enough to suppress O'Neal."

Xu Jicheng said excitedly: "In terms of physique, O'Neal is much bigger than Zhongqiu, but in terms of strength, Zhongqiu is stronger. He prevented O'Neal from entering the restricted area and had no chance to exert his dominance under the basket."

Yang Jian said: "It was mainly because O'Neal's stamina was not as good as Zhongqiu's. At the beginning, he could barely squeeze in a little, but later when his stamina dropped, he couldn't get in at all."

Zhang Heli said: "The key is that Kobe and O'Neal are completely disconnected, and the core inside and outside are playing their own games. How can they beat the Knicks?

Although there is a Payton in the middle, old Payton does not have the ability to attract double-teaming. Even if he breaks through, he cannot solve the problem that O'Neal cannot enter the restricted area. "

"Without a connection between the OK combination, the Lakers' offensive tactics are basically useless," said Yang Jian.

As the game progressed, the score difference widened to double digits.

He Zhongqiu attacked wildly for nine minutes in the second quarter, making 8 of 5 shots and 3 of 2 free throws, scoring another 12 points. At halftime, he scored 25 points and led the team to a 10-point lead with a score of 49:39.

Nash made 8 of 5 shots in the first half, 4 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 12 points, becoming the team's second scoring point.

O'Neal was closely watched by He Zhongqiu on the offensive end and had few chances. He made only 2 of 1 shots in the second quarter and 6 of 3 shots in the first half, scoring only 6 points without a single free throw.

Kobe got a lot of shots and double-teaming was useless. He was in very good shape. He made 10 of 5 shots in the second quarter, 3 of 1 three-pointers, and 1 of 1 free throws. He scored 12 points in the second quarter and 20 points in the first half.

But Phil Jackson has already seen the result of this game, and the Lakers are likely to lose.

He was very disappointed that Kobe still refused to join forces with O'Neal.

He Zhongqiu focused on attacking in the restricted area in the first half. After he was exhausted, he reduced his attacks under the basket and increased his mid-range shots in the second half.

Although the offensive efficiency has declined, the team still outputs its offensive firepower steadily.

Kobe was under even tighter double-teaming and his efficiency began to decline. In the third quarter, he made only 6 of 1 shots and scored only 2 points.

As Kobe's efficiency declined, it became difficult for the Lakers to score, and the gap between them and the Knicks widened.

At the end of the game, the score was 72:101, the Knicks won by 29 points, won Game 4 of the Finals, and got the match point in the Finals.

"Roar……"

After the game whistle sounded, Mutombo, who was exhausted, became as excited as a gorilla, patting his chest and roaring.

On the sidelines, Ewing was more excited than Mutombo, his eyes turned red with excitement.

"We have the match point and the championship is in sight. Congratulations to the Knicks and congratulations to Mid-Autumn Festival." Zhang Heli said excitedly.

"The championship is basically secured." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.

"It's stable." Yang Jian nodded and smiled.

After the three of them chatted excitedly for a few words, Zhang Heli took the statistics sheet and said, "Zhongqiu played 40 minutes, made 28 of 17 shots, a hit rate of 60.7%, and made 9 of 8 free throws, scoring 42 points and 12 rebounds. His performance was really good."

徐计成道：“奥尼尔下半场只有6投2中，全场12投5中，命中率41.7%，4罚2中，拿到12分10篮板的数据。”

杨建说道：“科比末节7投2中，全场30投11中，命中率36.7%，其中三分球6投2中，5罚5中，拿到29分。”

Zhang Heli smiled and said: "The Lakers lost without any temper. They didn't lead once in the whole game. I think the unity of this team is really important. The locker room should be harmonious."

"Hey, just like the Knicks, how well does Zhongqiu manage the locker room?" Xu Jicheng said.

Zhang Heli nodded and said, "If the OK combination has no conflicts, it will be much more difficult for the Knicks to win."

Yang Jian said: "It's not that there is no chance. At least Zhongqiu can suppress O'Neal. Even if Kobe and O'Neal cooperate, I think it will be difficult."

Zhang Heli laughed and said, "That's right, Zhongqiu's strength has improved too fast."

Xu Jicheng said: "In addition, Payton can't defend Nash. The Lakers' perimeter defense is not as good as the Pistons. The Pistons can't defend Nash, so the Lakers can't defend him even more.

If Nash, the offensive engine, can perform normally, coupled with the stable offensive firepower of Zhongqiu, the Knicks' offense will have no problem.

The Knicks can play well on offense, and they have a chance to win regardless of the OK combination."

杨建算了一下后道：“中秋前四场分别轰下31分46分38分，和刚刚的42分，场均39.25分。”

"Mid-Autumn Festival completely defeated the postman. The postman nowadays is indeed too old to fight back." Zhang Heli laughed.

"How much is O'Neal?" Xu Jicheng asked.

“奥尼尔四场分别是14、15、38、12，场均19.75分。”杨建很快说道。

"Look, this is the power of Zhongqiu. He pushed O'Neal outside and prevented him from entering the penalty area. O'Neal must have felt very frustrated in this finals." Zhang Heli said with a smile.

"That's for sure. This should be O'Neal's worst performance in all the finals." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)