Although a fierce conflict broke out between the two sides in the last game, one person on one side was injured and missed the game, while one person on the other side was suspended. However, as soon as this game started, the two sides did not erupt into fierce gunpowder as expected.
On the contrary, there is a feeling of calmness and calmness, and nothing has ever happened.
Because of this, the referee almost became a decoration on the court. In the entire first quarter, only five fouls were called. Three of them were called to the Lakers. This is not because the referee's whistle is too soft, but because the referee's whistle is too soft.
It was too hard. Affected by the rough foul in the last game, the referee of today's game was obviously a little nervous. Most of the actions that were obviously not serious but could be called or not were called fouls. Otherwise, the Lakers and Suns would be in the third place.
The first quarter of Game 2 might even be a "clear" quarter without fouls, which even caused some fans in the stands to boo.
Because both sides played very smoothly, the pace of the game seemed a bit fast, time passed very quickly, and it soon entered the second quarter.
Phil Jackson leaned back on the bench with a relaxed look on his face. On the other hand, on the other side of the Suns' bench, Suns coach D'Antoni frowned. So far, Lakers 33:
35 is two points behind the Suns. With nearly three quarters left, a two-point lead and a two-point deficit mean nothing.
But the reason why D'Antoni frowned was not because of the close score between the two sides. In fact, with the Suns losing a big score in the last game as a background, the anxiety of today's game was within D'Antoni's expectation, and was even slightly better than D'Antoni's expectation.
Just a hint of it.
The reason D'Antoni frowned was because the Lakers played too weirdly.
At the top of the three-point line, Adrian once again used Odom's pick-and-roll to get rid of Boyce Diaw and rush to the inside. Shawn Marion still saved from the inside, but he didn't look too good when he saved.
Determined and somewhat hesitant, although he pounced on Adrian, his eyes couldn't help but wander towards Odom. His absent-mindedness allowed Adrian to find an opportunity to break through him. He turned around with a sharp pull of the ball and took advantage of it.
Taking advantage of Shawn Marion's distracted space, Adrian bypassed Marion, stuck him behind him, and also got a chance to face the basket.
Kent Thomas had to rush over from the other side of the paint and stretched out his arms to block Adrian. Because if he didn't rush forward, there would be nothing between Adrian and the basket.
Adrian's choice was to throw the basketball high.
This throw caused the basketball to cross a high parabola and float past Kent Thomas' hard-stretched palms. It floated past the backboard and past the basket.
From behind Kent Thomas, on the other side of the backboard, with the help of Kwame Brown's pick-and-roll, Trevor Ariza cut through the butter-like Suns defensive lineup like a red-hot dinner knife.
The high-flying small forward Trevor Ariza soared into the sky like a jet, grabbed the basketball at the perfect height with both hands, and performed a domineering and violent two-handed slam dunk that shocked everyone.
On the defensive end, Adrian's opponent is James Jones. A player who is not very strong in offensive ability. This is a very rare situation in Adrian's past games, because under normal circumstances, Adrian
What Adrian defends is the opponent's perimeter scoring knife. Defending James Jones is the easiest defensive task Adrian has faced since joining the Lakers.
But Adrian's defensive task is not just James Jones. Because it is difficult for James Jones to bring too much defensive pressure to Adrian, he can fully utilize his assisting defense ability and fight for the ball.
Backcourt rebounds and side blocks. Adrian showed off his beast-level physical fitness on the defensive end, demonstrating his presence with repeated rebounds and defensive blocks.
This kind of offense and this kind of defense was almost the epitome of the Lakers in the first quarter. This even made D'Antoni couldn't help but think that if it weren't for the Suns' three-point shooting percentage that miraculously exceeded 56%, 16 shots.
They scored 27 points on three-pointers alone. They should be the ones lagging behind now!
In the audience, although the fans were also applauding the Lakers' excellent performance, even though Kobe was injured, the Lakers were still able to play so proactively, which made them happy and a little surprised. However, the expressions on their faces
They couldn't help but show doubts, because the Lakers in front of them were really... a little weird... and seemed completely different from the Lakers they knew.
"The current Lakers are really..." Kenny Smith had a strange look on his face: "It seems like they have completely abandoned the triangle offense."
"That's right, it seems like the Lakers have completely given up on the triangle offense." Charles Barkley echoed. Both of them are veterans on the court. Of course they can see what kind of tactics the Lakers are playing now: "Say
Really Kenny, if I wasn't very familiar with every player on the Lakers, I almost thought I was watching a Jazz game today. Have you noticed that the Lakers are playing exactly like the Jazz's Jerry Stewart?
Long’s pick-and-roll offense.”
"You're right."
Jerry Sloan is a well-known veteran coach in the league. In the Utah Jazz, starting from the era of black and white, Jerry Sloan has been playing a pick-and-roll strategy for more than 20 years. It can be said that as long as he is a veteran with a little bit of experience,
Fans are definitely familiar with the pick-and-roll tactics and the tactical game of the Utah Jazz. Not to mention that these two were veteran stars who were rampant in the 1980s, when black and white were rampant but they could not resist God.
The pick-and-roll tactics are more familiar.
Pick-and-roll, air-cutting, switching to movement, all these are really Jerry Sloan's specialty. And the tactics the Lakers are playing now are exactly the same tactics Jerry Sloan played with the Utah Jazz. Barkley and Smith
It is really hard to imagine that Phil Jackson would give up the triangle offense for which he is famous in such an important playoff game and switch to the pick-and-roll offense of his old rival Jerry Sloan.
And...the Lakers are still playing so smoothly!
"I understand Kenny!" Charles Barkley said suddenly.
"What's wrong?"
"This is not because Phil Jackson wants to change to pick-and-roll tactics, but the Lakers' lineup is really suitable for pick-and-rolls."
"How to say?"
"Look, what is the Lakers lineup like after Kobe Bryant's injury? They have a point guard who is strong, sharp in breakthroughs, and can pass the ball inside and outside. They also have a point guard who, although not strong physically, is better than dexterity and can play inside.
A capable power forward. At the same time, they also have a small forward with excellent physical fitness and explosive power, a forward who can protect rebounds, and a shooting guard who is good at outside three-pointers." Charles said sentence by sentence: "
This is simply the same lineup as the Utah Jazz in the 1900s, right? Although Odom can't rebound offensively like Malone, Adrian's offensive rebounding ability far exceeds Stockton's.
, his strength is not comparable to Stockton. Although his passing is still far behind Stockton, his shooting is not as stable as Stockton, and he does not have the ability to shoot three-pointers, but he has comparisons.
Stockton has stronger personal offensive ability and stronger breakthrough lethality!"
"You put it this way..." Kenny Smith couldn't help but think about it in his mind. This thought really sounded like that: "Odom is a Malone with weakened rebounds and weakened body, but enhanced dexterity and organizational ability.
, Adrian is a Stockton with strengthened body, strengthened rebounding, enhanced lethality, close passing ability, and weakened shooting ability. The configuration of other players is similar."
In this case, it's no wonder that Phil Jackson plays pick-and-roll offense. It's simply unreasonable for such a lineup not to play pick-and-roll!
The two couldn't help but glance at each other, and both saw the same look in each other's eyes.
Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith both saw it, and of course D'Antoni couldn't fail to see the tactical purpose of the Lakers' pick-and-roll offense. But so what if he saw it, he really didn't have a good way to stop it.
If the pick-and-roll offense was so easy to crack, it would be impossible for Jerry Sloan to use this tactic for more than 20 years. Although the Utah Jazz was once lonely, it is still a strong team in the Western Conference that is rampant in the league.
The Suns' high three-point shooting rate has been maintained for one quarter. Can they maintain such a shooting rate in the second quarter? To be honest, D'Antoni expressed considerable doubts about this. The Suns wanted to drive the basketball into the paint but failed.
It was quite difficult. Adrian kept appearing to make up for the gaps in the Lakers' defense. He alone improved the Lakers' defense by one quarter. In addition, although the defense was still a bit rough, it was full of energy.
Trevor Ariza has gained power, like a power battery that will never run out.
In contrast, the Lakers' offense is mainly based on inside offense, and the basketball is constantly being pushed into the penalty area, but the Suns have nothing to do about it!
No, the current situation must be changed! The team's unfavorable internal offensive situation must be changed. D'Antoni finally couldn't help but cast his eyes on the bench: "Amare, warm up quickly and be ready to play at any time."
After being injured for several weeks, Amare Stoudemire, another core of the Suns, is finally going to step onto the court. (To be continued. You are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly votes.
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