Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 234 Feeling and Routine

The Lakers took a double-digit lead in the first half. After returning from the intermission, the Lakers continued to play steadily and insisted on the tactics of the first half. The Spurs relied on Ginobili's good performance and set off a counterattack several times. Pressed by the Lakers, after the third quarter, the point difference was still fifteen points.

After playing for 5 minutes in the fourth quarter, seeing that there was no hope of chasing points, Popovich replaced the main players and announced that he would give up the game.

102 to 84, the Lakers won the first game of the Western Conference Finals and won a good start for themselves.

The biggest contributor to the victory is undoubtedly Kobe. He played 36 minutes, made 22 of 14 shots, scored 38 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. If you consider that this is the data obtained in the Western Conference Finals against the famous defensive Spurs, it is even more commendable. up.

Garnett had 17 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, and a career playoff high of 6 blocks. Under his leadership, the Lakers' defense can be said to be airtight.

For the Spurs, Duncan made 18 of 7 shots and scored 19 points and 12 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace had 14 points and Manu Ginobili had 16 points.

"There's no doubt that Kobe and Kevin played great games, but I want to give special thanks to Carl, who was so important to us on Tim Duncan's defense, and as a one-time MVP, he contributed to this The team has sacrificed a lot, I believe he can score 20 points anytime he wants, but he believes his teammates can get the job done. This year we are going to win the championship, Karl trusts me, trusts this team, so joining the Lakers, we can't Live up to his efforts." After the game, Jim praised Karl Malone, the behind-the-scenes hero of the game. Malone played 30 minutes and only scored 4 points and 7 rebounds, but under his main defense, Duncan's efficiency was greatly reduced.

Although there was a lot of laughter, Jim was still a little worried. Although the team had a lot of people inside, Ostertag was basically useless in this round of the series. He was very effective against monsters in the paint like O'Neal. But to deal with insiders like Duncan and Rasheed Wallace who are both internal and external, being pulled outside can only be hanged.Nene is too frizzy. Last season on a super-tank team like the Nuggets, and next to Camby, who was the first generation of Canda, he developed a bad habit. His defense was poor, he liked to chase blocks, and he didn't get stuck on rebounds, etc. Although he has improved a lot after a year of training, he was easily overwhelmed when facing a historical beast like Duncan. As for Haslem, although he is active and hardworking, he is too short It is flawed.

Counting the number of usable ones, there is really only one Campbell left. Jim can't help but miss David West, who was reimbursed due to injury. It may be a solution to the backup power forward position.

Two days later, the second game between the two sides was still going on at Staples.The Lakers have a big victory, and the momentum is high, and the Spurs are also bound to fight for a victory in Los Angeles, so as to gain an advantage in the next home game.

The Spurs adjusted the starting lineup, putting Ginobili on the bench, Prince moved to the second position against Kobe, and Turkoglu served as the starting small forward.

This change had a miraculous effect. The Lakers were a little confused at the beginning of the game. Turkoglu's three-pointer felt good. He hit two consecutive three-pointers as soon as he came up, forcing the Lakers to weaken the attack on Duncan. It is unrealistic to try to completely block Duncan. The Spurs blossomed inside and outside.

Jim on the sidelines was very depressed, the defense couldn't defend, and the offense was going to come back?It is enough to play steadily and one by one, but what is the choice for rushing to shoot three-pointers?Billups, Kobe Bryant and Artest each missed a three-pointer, and the team seemed a little impatient.

The Zen master hurriedly called a timeout, replaced Artest, who was a little out of control, and put on a more stable Shane Battier to mark Turkoglu.

After returning, the Spurs still used the inside-out tactics, with Duncan and the fiery Turkoglu playing on the strong side.

After Duncan received the ball, Kobe came from the weak side to double-team and let go of Prince in the corner.

Duncan immediately distributed the ball and found Prince. The Lakers' tactics were very clear. They gambled that Prince, who made only 27.3% of his three-pointers in the playoffs, would not make the open shot.

The basketball bounced twice on the basket and jumped out, and the fans in the audience breathed a sigh of relief.

Garnett singled Rasheed Wallace. After dribbling inward and breaking through, he turned around and hit a jumper.

Although still at a disadvantage, at least the team was playing normally. With the first successful experience, Kobe boldly let go of Prince and double-teamed Duncan.

With open space, no matter how strong you are, you must dare to shoot. If you don’t even have the courage to shoot, then there is no point in staying on the court. In Popovich’s team, execution is the first criterion .

Prince kept getting open shots, kept shooting threes, and kept hitting the iron.

Seeing the Lakers gradually approaching the score, Popovich had to replace the cold-handed Prince with Manu Ginobili.

Although Ginobili came up, the effect was not bad, but the Lakers have recovered from the state of confusion at the beginning, and the offensive end has regained its order. After the first quarter, the Lakers temporarily fell behind 21 to 27.

In the second quarter, the Lakers replaced Kobe and Malone with Wade and Campbell.

The Spurs' fiery feeling continues. Ginobili hits two consecutive three-pointers. The second goal is not even a chance. Facing Wade and directly forcing a shot, it is a very bad choice. The fans seem to be able to see it through the screen. Popovich was heard yelling "Don't vote! ... you're lucky ..."

With these two magic shots, the morale of the Lakers seems to have been hit a little bit. Wade broke through and passed the ball to Campbell, who followed up. As a result, the latter made a direct error and was intercepted by Ginobili and turned into a counterattack. The Spurs A wave of 8 to 0 widened the point difference to 14 points.

Seeing that the trend was not right, the Zen master hurriedly called a timeout, replaced Campbell, who was underperforming, and replaced Artest to the 4th position. Off the mediocre Billups.

After Kobe returned to the court, he played a role in stabilizing the morale of the army. He used precise mid-range shots to hit the Spurs' defense. On the defensive end, no matter how Ginobili scored a fairy goal, he did not give up his enthusiasm for defense.

The lead obtained by touch rather than tactics often cannot last long. The Lakers began to slowly chase points again, and Garnett also began to take more responsibility on the offensive end, whether it was against Rasheed Wallace or Malik. · Rose, he has a certain offensive grasp.

At the end of the second quarter, the Lakers chased the score to 43 to 49, only 6 points behind, which is not an unacceptable point difference.

(End of this chapter)