Chapter 540 Equivalent strength, all-round competition

   The referee didn't make any penalties, the Knicks had the ball, and the bottom line served.

  Jordan did not pass the ball to O'Neal immediately. He hoped that the Shaq would calm down. Instead, he attacked with the ball. After pulling away, he singled Richmond on the left-wing three-point line.

"boom!"

   But he himself missed a shot under Richmond's defense, and Pharaoh protected the backcourt rebound.

  4:7, another Lakers attack.

"boom!"

   Under Jordan's defense, Richmond also missed a shot.

  Oakley grabbed the rebound and the Knicks attacked.

   "Give me the ball."

   O'Neal growled low on the left wing.

  Jordan made the pass, then immediately bypassed Richmond for an inside cut.

   Richmond defended very hard, followed closely, defended on the bottom side, but started in the back and fell half a step behind.

"boom!"

  O'Neal did regain his composure, carrying Old K with his left elbow and throwing the ball to the floor with his right hand.

   Jordan made a quick inward cut while blocking Richmond, who was half a step behind on his left, with his left hand. He leaned over and grabbed his right hand forward, and the rebounded basketball fell into his hand.

   The next moment, he stepped into the paint area.

   At the same time, Pharaoh and Fordson, who was low on the right wing, returned to the basket at the same time.

  Jordan stepped up, flew diagonally towards the basket, his eyes were very firm, he grabbed the ball with one hand with his right hand and sent it to the basket.

  Pharaoh and Fortson took off and blocked shots on the left and right sides of the basket at the same time, implementing closed defense. But the seemingly airtight closed-door defense failed under Jordan's attack.

Jordan's right hand holding the ball suddenly retracted, dodging the cover of the two, and then it was as if he had invisible wings. After they landed, he was still in the sky. Before the landing, he made a second shot and picked the ball to the basket. basket.

"brush!"

  The water splashed and two points hit.

   "This is bullying people with talent!" Su Qun shook his head helplessly.

   "Haha, what is selected in the NBA draft is talent." Zhang Lili laughed.

On the field, Jordan was very excited after he succeeded, but he learned from the previous lessons, instead of spouting trash at Pharaoh, he yelled at Richmond: "Rock, I said you were the second pointback, you still take it seriously. now? But that's just my joke."

   "You? You deserved to be swept by the glider in the finals."

   Richmond's nose was crooked with anger. He happened to see the glider sitting with Barkley and the others. He immediately reacted and spat back a **** remark that made Jordan almost angry.

  Murderous aura appeared in Jordan's eyes. He was swept by the Suns in the 1995 Finals.

"Ha ha…"

   Lao Wang watched the play and laughed.

  6:7, the Lakers attack.

  Pharaoh took the ball again from the low post on the left wing, turned and shook O'Neal away, then got up calmly, hit a frontal hook, and hit a ball.

  6:9, Knicks offense.

   "O'Neal, be careful with his nearly two-point hook." Phil Jackson reminded loudly on the sidelines.

   He made another gesture to Oakley, which was to let Oakley strengthen his defense against the basket and let O'Neal not retreat too quickly.

   Just now, when Old K made a fake shot outside and made a real shot, he directly swayed O'Neal back. When he shot, it was equivalent to an empty position. If he was allowed to hit a 60% hit rate with a hook in the near two-point area, it would be fatal.

   Next, Oakley did strengthen his defense against the basket, which relieved O'Neal's defensive pressure, and the Sharks immediately changed their defensive strategy according to the tactical requirements.

The previous defensive strategy, because of Pharaoh's ability to break through, mainly limited his attack at the basket. Although it wasn't to guard against a breakthrough or not to shoot, it focused on preventing a burst. Knowing that Pharaoh's hook was powerful, he had to defend it like this, right. He's a little less defensive on his near two-point shot.

   Now it's different. Now O'Neal's defense is more focused on defensive shots. Once Pharaoh breaks in, there is still Oakley in it to block it, and O'Neal can return to the basket in time to double-team.

Pharaoh is not in a hurry. In the face of the Knicks' strength, he never intended to single out the other five players by himself, so after the Knicks changed their defensive strategy, he immediately released power and let the outside take over the offense. Focus on defense and rebounding, and attract defenses in the post on offense.

  Jordan broke through Richmond with the ball. When he got outside the paint area, he forced Wang to come out to make up the defense, and then made a pull-up jumper, forcing Wang to take off and block the shot.

   However, this was actually Jordan's fake pass and the ball was passed to O'Neal moving towards the basket.

"boom!"

  O'Neal got the ball under the basket, and no one could stop him. Fortson was too short. Pharaoh couldn't come back from a business trip. He dunked heavily and smashed the basket.

   "This is the combination of internal and external dual cores. Any one needs to be double-teamed. As long as they really join forces, it will be difficult for the Lakers to defend." Zhang Lili shook his head.

   In the 10th minute of the first quarter, at 23:25, the Lakers led by two points, and the Knicks had the ball, which was considered a tie.

   Using the timeout, for the Knicks, O'Neal took a rest, Jordan still insisted on the court, and the inner and outer cores kept one on the court.

   In addition, Oakley is not too young, and he also ends the game.

  In the interior, he replaced the basic salary veteran Terry Cummings, and the veteran Buck Williams, the old Buck is also the current chairman of the league players union, participating in the union's labor negotiations.

  The 3rd position was also replaced by the basic salary veteran Jeremy Corsey, and the 1st position was replaced by the substitute Thompson.

   For the Lakers, of course, Pharaoh is still on the court, and Kobe is also on the court. The other three are replaced by Hill, Chris Mullin, and Mark Price.

Within 10 minutes, Pharaoh made 4 of 5 shots, made 3 of the first 3 shots, and the last two made a two-point hook. Shaquille O'Neal interfered, and added 2 of 2 free throws and scored 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. 1 block and 1 foul.

  Richmond, as the core of the perimeter, faced Jordan's defense, especially after the three-pointer hit by the pick-and-roll from the top of the arc, Jordan strengthened his defense against him. He made 2 of 5 shots with average efficiency and only scored 5 points.

O'Neal made the first two shots, made 5 shots in the back, was blocked 3 times by Pharaoh, ate Pharaoh's cap, made 4 of 7 shots, plus 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 turnover. 1 foul data.

  Jordan still prevailed against Richmond, scoring 6 points on 3-for-4 shooting without free throws.

   In 10 minutes, the core inside and outside lines of both teams contributed 15 points together.

  Zhang made a reasonable analysis: "The Lakers succeeded in defending the Knicks' small forward, veteran Ellis, without letting him get an open position and shooting a deadly three-pointer. He just made 1 of 2 shots and scored only 3 points.

   In addition, Richmond's defense is still good. Although Jordan made a 75% shooting rate, he did not make many shots, only 4 times.

   Of course, Jordan took fewer shots, first because O'Neal took the shot, and second, possibly considering that O'Neal needed time off, he would strengthen his personal offense after O'Neal went off the court to make up for the weakness of the lack of firepower after the Sharks went off the court.

  The Knicks succeeded by using Oakley's back to the basket to let the Iron Army restrain its offense.

   But like Jordan, the Iron Army didn't have much offense in the first 10 minutes, and more consideration may be to strengthen the offense when O'Neal rests. "

  Suqun said: "Guide Zhang, the Knicks also found 4 veterans with a minimum salary, plus the original old Buck, that is 5 veterans, I think their bench lineup is still a bit inferior to the Lakers?"

Zhang Lili nodded and said: "Comparing the strength of these backups, the Lakers are indeed stronger. Chris Mullin, Fox, Teelon Hill, Mark Price, these are all strengths that can still play the main force, but the Knicks have a few strengths. A veteran can really only play the bench.

  Like Old Buck, he only played 41 games in the regular season, and he retired after this season. I guess he came up to implement foul tactics. "

  Su Qun said: "Then in the bench time, the Lakers should attack vigorously and try to widen the difference before O'Neal comes back."

   "It should be like this. It depends on how the Tiejun fights. The Knicks should cut him. The two veterans will definitely not be able to stop him. But there are only two minutes, so there is not much chance." Zhang Lili said.

   At this point, the timeout ends and the game resumes.

   Kobe kept up with Jordan, who immediately took over the ball after halftime and pulled to the right wing to prepare to attack.

   "Double-team him!"

  Pharaoh did not hesitate, as the core of offense and defense, he immediately issued a defense order.

   This is Jordan breaking through Kobe's defense and attacking the paint area. Hill, who was in the low post, immediately made up the defense, and Kobe also caught up behind him.

  Jordan suddenly made a sudden stop and turned around. He used his turn to widen the distance from Kobe. After leaning on Hill, he suddenly turned around again, and then jumped up.

   "Turn around and make a jump shot!" Zhang Lili shouted loudly.

   Before he finished speaking, with a swipe, the basketball pierced the net.

   "4-of-5 from the field, we need to strengthen our defense against Jordan!" Su Qun said anxiously.

   "Already double-teamed, but Jordan is not someone who can be restrained by double-teaming." Zhang Lili laughed.

   turned around and the Lakers attacked.

   Jordan stood in front of Mark Price, with an obvious intention to limit the Lakers' offensive engine.

   Zhang Lili sighed: "This is a very difficult thing for Jordan. He is 35 years and 4 months old, and he is still so hard at the defensive end. You can imagine how much he wants to win the Iron Army."

   But Jordan's switch didn't work. Price didn't hesitate. Seeing Jordan switch him, he immediately transferred the ball to Kobe, who took control of the ball.

  Because the Knicks' two bench insiders have no height, one is 206 cm and the other is only 203 cm, which is still shoe height, so Pharaoh went straight to the basket to get the ball.

   Among the Knicks' two bench insiders, Terry Cummings is playing the center position.

This veteran is 37 years old this year, the No. 2 pick in 1985, and was selected as an All-Star twice in the 1980s. He was at the peak of his debut. He was 23+10 in his rookie season. In seven of the first eight seasons, he scored 20+8. Another season It is also 19.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. He was strong at his peak, but unfortunately he is too old now.

In addition, there are too many injuries and I dare not maintain a large tonnage. The weight is only 105 kilograms, which is 30 kilograms of tonnage difference with Lao Wang, and he has no height. In addition to his wingspan, he is at least one foot different from Lao Wang in height. .

   When Pharaoh entered the basket, Karis had no way to stop it, he couldn't even block it, he could only follow into the basket.

   Kobe just received the ball and saw that Pharaoh was in position under the basket. Suddenly, he pulled horizontally, avoiding the Knicks backup point guard Thompson, and threw the ball in with both hands.

  The ball is very fast and straight, and the inside advantage is too great. Kobe didn't want to give the Knicks a chance to double-team Pharaoh.

"Snapped!"

"boom!"

   "Di!"

   Under the basket, Pharaoh catches the ball and dunks with one hand sideways. All of a sudden, the sound of catching the ball, smashing the basket, and the referee's whistle sounded almost at the same time.

   "Beautiful! Two plus one, it's too easy to play!" Zhang Lili laughed happily.

   "Cummings really played a slashing tactic, but Old K's rhythm of receiving and attacking the ball was too fast, and he didn't make any adjustments at all. He dunked when he got up to catch the ball." Su Qun laughed.

"brush!"

  Pharaoh made a penalty hit.

  25:28, the Lakers lead by 3 points.

   Next, Jordan attacked continuously and missed a shot under Kobe's desperate defense.

   Looking back, Pharaoh continued to enter the basket to get the ball.

   This time, the experienced Cummings seized the opportunity and fouled immediately after Pharaoh received the ball, preventing Pharaoh from scoring two plus one.

   However, Pharaoh made two free throws, 25:30, widening the difference to 5 points.

   Then the Knicks attacked, and Jordan made another shot. At 27:30, the Lakers led by 3 points and ended the first quarter of the game.

   "Old K made 5 of 6 shots and 5 of 5 free throws in the first quarter. I felt good today, and I actually hit all the free throws, haha!" Su Qun laughed.

   Zhang Lili said with a smile: "It's rare! Look at Tie Jun's wrist, it's too sturdy, it's very good to be able to hit 60% of the free throws.

   What I admire the most is his hook, he actually practiced such a good hook, it is more accurate than the sky hook, but the range is shorter than the sky hook, and it can only be used in the penalty area.

  The hook is to press the wrist, and the wrist must be flexible, but his hook is not very particular about pressing the wrist, because his wrist cannot be pressed at all, and it mainly depends on the finger movement.

   His fingers and wrists are the same, as thick as a small carrot. He is very powerful when he hits the ball, and when the ball goes out, there is a very strong rotation force, just like when shooting a basketball.

   We all know that when shooting, the fingers and wrists need to give the ball a spinning force. If the spinning force is small, it will not work, soft! If the ball is soft, it will be weak and the shot will be inaccurate, but Tie Jun's hook is just like shooting a basketball. "

   "Director Zhang, your observation is too careful, I didn't even notice it." Su Qun smiled.

Zhang Lili said with a smile: "I've seen him practice grasping the iron ball a few times, with his palm facing down, holding a 12-kilogram iron ball and grasping it, he can't let the iron ball fall, so the power of the five fingers is very strong, just like a steel hook. , the palms and fingers are all muscles.”

   At the beginning of this quarter, O'Neal came back on the court, Jordan didn't come up, the Knicks still played the bench lineup, but did not execute foul tactics on Pharaoh again.

  Su Qun said with a smile: "O'Neal's free throws are not as good as Old K. I think when the Knicks played foul tactics against Old K, I was scared to death, right?"

   "Haha, so I shouldn't dare to play this tactic all the time, for fear that the Lakers will turn against O'Neal." Zhang Lili laughed.

   Two minutes before the second quarter, the Knicks had the ball three times, O'Neal made one of two shots, both used hooks and another pass error.

  The Lakers also attacked three times and scored twice, but Pharaoh did not shoot, but defended, and others were responsible for the offense.

   This is because Harris believes that the Lakers' bench is stronger than the Knicks, and Pharaoh can take the opportunity to save his energy.

  The first two minutes of the game, 29:34, the Lakers temporarily lead by 5 points.

   At this time, Jordan came on the court and formed a dual core with O'Neal. Oakley, Ellis, and Charlie Ward also came on the court, and the Knicks resumed their main lineup.

  TNT live broadcast, Bill Walton said: "The Lakers did not follow the Knicks' substitution rhythm, because the Lakers' benches are stronger and younger."

  Kenny Smith said: "Richmond is 33 years old, he is still at the end of his prime, he doesn't talk about it, he is not a veteran.

   In addition, Rick Fox is 29 years old, and Tyron Hill is only 30 years old, both of them are playing years, and they are not veterans.

  The real veterans, Chris Mullin is 35 years old and Mark Price is 34 years old. Both of them can still play the main force now, but they can't play for too long.

   So in comparison, the Lakers' bench lineup is better, which requires the Knicks' main lineup to play more time. "

Bill Walton nodded and said: "In the regular season, the Knicks can let a few veteran players play more time and let the main players rotate more, but now in the finals, Phil Jackson will definitely compress their playing time and let the main players have more main players. Hit it."

   "When they recruited veterans in the offseason, they still believed in the strength of the old K. It is said that Chris Mullin rejected Jordan and then agreed to the recruitment of the old K." Kenny Smith said.

   "After all, in the finals, Jordan faced the old K, and it was a loss... Well, we won't mention this topic, haha!"

   When the two of them said this, they both laughed.

  Although the Lakers' bench players are stronger and the overall rotation is stronger, the Lakers still didn't take advantage when O'Neal and Jordan were on the court.

   After playing in the second quarter, Jordan strengthened his defense against Richmond, weakened the Lakers' perimeter offense, and also strengthened his cooperation with O'Neal.

   Instead of strengthening his own individual offense, he cooperates with O'Neal's flank pass and cut in the triangle offense, and the offense is of high quality.

On the Lakers side, Richmond was defended by Jordan, and his efficiency was not enough, so he couldn't let him play more offense. Kobe's offense is also a little more tender now. The offense is mainly carried by Pharaoh, but O'Neal's desperate defense , the efficiency is not too high, 3 of 5 shots, 60% hit rate.

   On the defensive end, he had to stand up to O'Neal and Jordan's flank passes and cut and cooperate with offensive tactics. It was a little difficult.

   By the 9th minute of the second quarter, the two sides were tied at 50.

   At this time, O'Neal went off the court to rest, Jordan stayed on the court, and the Knicks replaced the bench again.

   On the Lakers side, except for Pharaoh, everyone else played in turn.

   In the last two minutes, the Knicks again fouled Pharaoh.

   But Pharaoh's free throw was really good today. The Knicks not only didn't take advantage, but also suffered a loss.

   After the second quarter, at 54:56, the Lakers led by 2 points and ended the first half of the game.

Pharaoh made 5 of 7 free throws in the second quarter, made 8 of 11 free throws in the first half, with a shooting rate of 72.7%, and 10 of 12 free throws, with a shooting rate of 83.3%. He efficiently scored 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover. 2 foul data.

   Richmond played 16 minutes in two quarters, made 4 of 9 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 12 points.

   The two teamed up and contributed 38 points.

   O'Neal made 6 of 12 shots in the half, 4 of 7 free throws, and scored 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls.

   Jordan made 8 of 13 shots in the first half, with a shooting rate of 61.5%, 2 of 4 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, and scored 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.

   The two teamed up and also contributed 38 points.

   (end of this chapter)