Chapter 802 Another Life and Death Battle

After the first game of the Finals, the balance of victory has begun to tilt towards the Lakers. After all, this is the home court of the Celtics, and the subsequent 6 games have been divided into 3 home games for each side. More importantly... In the next four games, the Lakers' three home games were connected together.

It’s hard to say how big the home advantage is, but no matter what, it’s true that the odds of winning at home are higher than in the away game, and the Lakers, who were the first to conquer an away game, had the advantage, but... the Celtics won in the next game. In the second game, the counterattack was extremely fierce.

When O'Neal and Garnett were not necessarily in better shape than in the previous game, it was just because Pierce attacked the inside again and again, overturned inside again and again, and bravely and stubbornly was ravaged by Li Shengli, finally opening up the dual core of the inside. Dilemma, and finally won 101:103, equalizing the big score.

In this scene...

O'Neal and Garnett combined to score 61 points and 21 rebounds.

In comparison... Pierce, who sacrificed and dedicated himself, was simply miserable. Being entangled by Crotty on the outside and facing a historical penalty area defense like Li Shengli on the inside, he only scored 10 points.

10 points is not a small amount, much more than the substitute's data.

But the problem is that Pierce was the main player who played 38 minutes.

For the main player, such a score was not satisfactory. He even collided with Li Shengli many times during the process, almost causing internal bleeding and a sharp drop in touch. There were 6 free throws in the game, and 1 of 6 was missed.

In addition to the embarrassing scoring, Li Shengli blocked 5 shots by himself in 38 minutes.

Fortunately, Pierce, who had lost all touch, still got 8 assists, becoming the Celtics' winning team in one fell swoop. After the game, O'Neal and Garnett were worried that Pierce, who had poor statistics, would feel unbalanced. He boasted to the media about Pierce's huge role, and then encouraged Pierce to continue to be brave!

…

Then came the third game.

Taking into account the fact that the two teams from the East and West compete in the finals and travel back and forth, the finals will not be the previous 22111 but a 232 format. So as mentioned before, the next three home games will be for the Lakers, and the first game on the 7th , the second game on the 9th, in the past few days, the madness in Boston seemed to have moved to Los Angeles. The Staples Arena on the 11th was crowded with people, and there was a purple and gold frenzy.

All aspects of the home game are positive.

This time, the brave Pierce... didn't eat a few pieces of meat at Staples, and was completely beaten.

What was different from the previous two games was that the score difference in this game was very wide. Not only did Pierce get beaten, but he committed 5 fouls before 28 minutes. His condition was obviously not as good as before, and the game became a huge tough battle.

O'Neal and Li Shengli were arguing with each other, Garnett grabbed Green and beat him violently, Kobe beat Burrows wildly outside, and when Phil Jackson changed again, Artest made great moves as soon as he came on the field, chasing Garnett and beating him, which defeated Roddy death-wrapped Pierce, and the whole scene was in chaos.

The only Celtic who can score consistently is O'Neal, but neither Garnett nor Pierce can do that in this game.

As for the Lakers who can score... not only Li Shengli and Kobe, but Artest, who suppressed Garnett in terms of style of play, also became the main offensive point. After one game, he slaughtered the Celtics by 18 points, a big score. 1:2.

…

The remaining games are the fourth and fifth games.

They are all the same opponents, with fixed lineup tactics.

The further the finals go, the more serious the battle becomes. In such a game, it depends on the feel, the state, and the fighting spirit. Although both sides are not short of fighting spirit, the state of bad performance once again appeared in the fourth and fifth games.

The fourth game...

Garnett felt hot at the beginning and put all the inside pressure on O'Neal. He extended the offensive range and found cover to avoid Artest's confrontation, while Phil Jackson could only let Green , Horry took turns, but the effect was not very good. Garnett scored 43 points in 42 minutes.

There is no one in position 4 who can hold the court!

Phil Jackson was very depressed, and in the fourth game because of Garnett's sudden outburst, the Lakers lost at home and the score became 2:2.

Game 5...

There is no reason not to continue using effective tactics, so the Celtics still want Garnett to be the core of the game.

However, this time it didn't work out.

In fact, it's not that the Lakers' defense is in place, it's simply that Garnett's own touch is not good, and his shots are too far away and frequently hit the iron. As a result, the Celtics can only let Pierce become the core... In the first half, they met Artest. Sturt shot from the screen. In the second half, Crotty broke through the pick-and-roll and launched a death charge against Li Shengli's inside line.

Green was still too old, and his physical strength began to affect his condition after playing at extremely high intensity for 12 minutes, so he persisted until the second half and let Artest play a guest role at the fourth position. For Li Shengli, whether it was Green or a guest player Artest, the power forward, and the inside line are the weakest combination he has played in so far.

Regardless of the Hornets' aunt Larry Johnson, the Jazz's Karl Malone, Garnett in the Mavericks period, or Campbell in the early days of the Lakers, they are all better than this combination.

In the fifth game, Li Shengli guarded the interior and had too much to defend, so he could only put as much physical energy into defense as possible. However, he still failed to achieve a triple-double with 26 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and 12 blocks in one game. Yes, the Celtics' Big Three have already established momentum in this game. Pierce has been playing a role and unlocked O'Neal, so they defeated them again in the fifth game.

…

So far, five games have been played in the finals, with a big score of 3:2.

The Lakers won one away game, but what was worse was that they lost two home games. What was even worse was that the last two games were all home games of the Celtics. The finals were already at match point... Game 6 became the Lakers. A life and death battle.

It’s not like the Lakers have never fought a life-or-death battle.

In the last four games of last year's finals, they still managed to survive the life-or-death situations.

But the problem is that this time is different...The Celtics showed too much fighting power, and it is difficult for the Lakers' defense to block the Big Three lineup of O'Neal, Garnett, and Pierce at the same time. It is so difficult that only one giant can play Without the effect, the game will be particularly difficult to play.

Although the matchup between Li Shengli and O'Neal was fighting each other, it was just fighting each other. They both encountered top-level single defense, and neither one could produce the ultimate explosive effect.

Then came Garnett and Pierce. Although the Lakers found a candidate who could effectively defend alone, the Celtics also found a way to crack it. Garnett would stay far away when he had the touch, and Pierce would charge when he couldn't shoot. The offensive effect was unexpected. good.

In contrast, the only person Li Shengli can trust most now is Kobe...

Just like the Lakers' defense against Garnett and Pierce, the Celtics were not idle against Kobe, and the situation became that Kobe needed to compete with the offensive efficiency of Garnett, Pierce, or the two together... …

Garnett has no touch, but Pierce can play.

Pierce has no touch, but Garnett can play.

But Kobe... he definitely can't do it if he doesn't have the touch. If he has the touch, he will still be afraid of both Kaede and Pi, so the opportunity cost is much greater than the previous two.

As for Game 6?

If the Lakers want to win, Kobe must break out. Li Shengli must not only suppress O'Neal, but also break out. As for the Celtics, the previous five games have shown... The three giants are a trinity. The outbreak of any one person will connect the other two. The output environment, the requirements for reaching the top are lower than the Lakers.