Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 610 The Lakers' almost extravagant defensive talent!

Of course not!

Okur isn't an idiot; of course he knows he can't afford to mess with O'Neal.

So, after trash-talking him, this guy sprinted back to his half of the court and yelled at his teammates, "I've angered him! Get ready to double-team! Let's sandwich this fat guy!"

After saying that, Oku was clearly still uneasy. He looked at Lin Tian and said in an almost pleading tone, "Lin!"

"Don't worry, I'm here!" Lin Tian certainly wouldn't let his partner down. He reached out and patted Oku on the shoulder, indicating that he could rest assured.

In the Lakers' offense, O'Neal quickly arrived at the basket, aggressively positioning himself and calling for the ball. Okur was no match for this behemoth and was forced to retreat step by step.

Kobe's pass came so timely and quickly that it was in O'Neal's hands in the blink of an eye. However, as O'Neal received the ball, Lin Tian also rushed towards O'Neal.

The double-team must be quick!

Otherwise, given the depth of this guy's positioning, if Lin Tian had been even a step too late, O'Neal would definitely have scored directly!

But this time, Lin Tian fell for it!

Just as he approached O'Neal, O'Neal, who had caught Kobe's pass with one hand, passed the ball out again without hesitation.

Fisher, who was left wide open by Lin Tian, ​​caught the basketball and decisively took a three-point shot!

"Whoosh!"

This guy isn't even hyped up! He's incredibly calm!

"Lin, have you been missing me because it's been so long?" O'Neal was overjoyed after successfully assisting his teammate to score, and he grinned at Lin Tian.

Hehe... Everyone thinks I'm a pig-brain, that I'll get carried away and keep attacking one-on-one after just one trash talk?

Actually, I'm even smarter than a monkey!

"Then go after me." Lin Tian ignored O'Neal's trash talk. The best way to respond to certain trash talk is to change the subject and let O'Neal suffer.

After saying that, Lin Tian turned around and sprinted towards the frontcourt. Stoudemire quickly went to the baseline, grabbed the basketball, and passed it to Lin Tian. After receiving the ball, Lin Tian launched a counterattack towards the frontcourt!

Although the Lakers are not a traditional defensive powerhouse, their perimeter defensive resources are absolutely luxurious!

Kobe, Kirilenko, and Prince, three top defensive players, almost simultaneously marked Lin Tian. Kobe was in front, Prince was on the side, and Kirilenko was running back to the basket to block the shot!

The three completed their positions in the blink of an eye. This was clearly a defensive formation specifically designed by Jackson to counter Lin Tian's fast breaks, with the aim of rendering Lin Tian's fast breaks ineffective.

Faced with this three-man defensive lineup, Lin Tian didn't hesitate or slow down at all; on the contrary, he even sped up!

He picked up speed again, dribbled with his left hand, and drove towards the Lakers' three-point line, pushing past Kobe!

After squeezing through Kobe's defense and rushing to the edge of the three-second zone, Lin Tian suddenly slapped the ball hard with his left hand, followed by an incredibly fast spin, directly brushing Kobe behind him.

But Kobe was beaten by Lin Tian, ​​and Prince, with his long arms and legs, quickly arrived and stood in front of Lin Tian again.

At the same time, Kobe quickly turned around, intending to double-team Lin Tian from both the front and back, but Lin Tian's reaction was too fast! Or rather, he already knew what kind of situation he would encounter after this turn, so as soon as he completed the first turn, the basketball bounced on the floor, he had already caught the ball.

After receiving the ball, Lin Tian turned around again, leaving Prince behind him once more. At the same time, Lin Tian took off and charged towards the basket and Kirilenko.

"Stop dreaming!" Kirilenko shouted, spreading his arms to block Lin Tian's attack.

However, in theory, Lin Tian should have had little strength left due to the continuous turns, yet he was still able to complete the lever pull in mid-air!

He held the basketball in both hands and shook it twice, making it impossible for Kirilenko to find the right time and angle for his shot.

With Lin Tian's upper body leaning back noticeably, Kirilenko could only watch helplessly as Lin Tian released the ball after he had already begun to fall; there was nothing he could do.

"Whoosh!"

Then came a crisp sound as Lin Tian used an incredibly long hang time to pull back and put the ball into the basket!

"Great shot!" Barkley exclaimed again. "Lin is amazing! One against three! One against three on a fast break! This is definitely not a good choice, it's a terrible choice."

"But that's Lin! Lin can turn a seemingly terrible and reckless choice into one of the top ten plays of the day!"

"Lin's shot was amazing! His speed, technique, reaction time, and even his hang time and touch were incredible! A perfect shot! Absolutely a perfect shot!"

Along with Barkley's praise, Lin Tian continued to trash-talk the Lakers trio: "Come on! I was almost pushed to the brink! You guys were just a hair's breadth away."

Fisher finally arrived late, running to the baseline to receive the ball and advance.

"Look, we're just a hair's breadth away from him." Lin Tian pointed at Fisher and mocked, "Derek, what were you doing just now? Did you pick up a coin from the floor? If you had come earlier, maybe the four of you could have held me off?"

"Just you wait! Let's see who'll be crying for their mom tonight." Fisher may be bad at the game, but he's very stubborn. He hurled a vicious threat at Lin Tian, ​​and when he saw Lin Tian about to press him all over the court, he immediately pointed at Kobe at Kirilenko.

He indicated that Kobe would lead the offense, while he would focus on taking open shots.

He may be stubborn, but his actions tell a different story!

The Lakers' offense still got the ball to O'Neal under the basket. This time, Lin Tian didn't help defend. Although Fisher's other skills are not worth mentioning, his three-point shooting is really good!

His 41% three-point shooting percentage in the regular season was the highest on the Lakers, and in the playoffs, his three-point shooting percentage rose to 44%.

It would be unwise to double-team O'Neal if he wasn't overconfident and wasn't playing recklessly on his own.

Although his assist numbers are average, this big guy's playmaking ability is absolutely top-notch in the league!

Lin Tian knew very well that although O'Neal's assist numbers were mediocre, it was because most of the time he didn't need to use the playmaking move to score easily!

老子篮下命中率60%，轻轻鬆鬆能拿2分或者2+1，何必把球传给那些空位投篮40%的队友？

Just submit it yourself!

Seeing that no one was double-teaming him, O'Neal played with great determination. He dribbled the ball once and then took a step forward, knocking Okur off his feet. O'Neal then jumped up powerfully, put the ball behind his head with both hands, and slammed it into the basket!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, O'Neal pulled on the entire basketball hoop, causing screams and shaking.

The visual impact of this dunk is no less than that of his peak!

"Where is he?" After making the dunk, O'Neal arrogantly raised his hand to his eyes, looking for Okur: "Nobody's guarding me. I'm going to score 80 points tonight!"

"You fatso, run!" Although Okur suffered a great loss and it was basically impossible for him to defend O'Neal, his passing and ball distribution were fast!

The first thing this guy did after being knocked away was to grab the basketball and throw it to Lin Tian.

I may not be as good as you, Shaq, but at your age, can you still keep up with our fast breaks?

You can't even catch up with me!

After Okur delivered the ball from the baseline, he sprinted towards the attacking third, running all the way to the top of the penalty area and standing there, reaching out to ask for the ball.

Lin Tian saw Okur sprinting and immediately pretended to pass the ball to him, which made O'Neal, who was almost at the free throw line, turn around and try to block Okur's shot.

But the basketball didn't fly in that direction; instead, it veered off to the baseline.

After receiving the ball, Anthony made a fake move and then took a step forward to drive past Prince, before pulling up for a shot!

But Anthony underestimated Prince's exaggerated wingspan. Even if Anthony got past him, Prince was still able to contest the shot.

"Bang!"

Anthony missed his shot, Kirilenko grabbed the rebound, and then found Kobe, leading to a Lakers counterattack!

In this possession, Okur changed his defense, switching from the usual defense to fronting the ball. This sudden change in defense prevented Kobe from passing the ball to the inside. Instead, Kobe dribbled past Houston and then pulled up for a mid-range jumper!

"Bang!"

Although this shot completely shook off Houston, it still didn't go in.

O'Neal immediately jumped up to grab the rebound under the basket and successfully caught it. However, just as he landed and was about to pull himself up, Lin Tian's hand had already reached out.

Taking advantage of the fact that the referee couldn't see if he had touched the ball while the player was under the basket and surrounded by people, Lin Tian didn't care at all when he touched the ball, and slapped the basketball three times in a row.

Lin Tian wasn't sure whether he hit the ball or his hand with those three swipes, but anyway, the referee didn't blow the whistle, and Lin Tian successfully knocked the basketball away.

That was a good shot!

Lin Tian completely ignored O'Neal's screams and dribbled the ball all the way to the frontcourt, launching a counterattack!

This time, Lin Tian drove all the way to the Lakers' left wing three-point line. After a slight pause, he changed direction again, leaving Fisher behind before he could even pull up his pants.

Kobe Bryant blew past Fisher in one step and appeared in front of Lin Tian in the blink of an eye. Lin Tian immediately made three small crossover dribbles with his left hand while dribbling the ball at a very low altitude.

Combined with Lin Tian's feints and swaying movements, even Kobe was left somewhat disoriented by Lin Tian's actions.

Lin Tian executed a skillful ball-handling jumper over Kobe, and then, as Prince and Kirilenko both rushed over, Lin Tian's basketball suddenly appeared behind him, passing it from behind to Stoudemire who was following up in the middle.

After getting the ball, Stoudemire roared and pulled up for another one-handed dunk!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, Stoudemire added 2 points for the Knicks.

This time it was the Lakers' turn to inbound the ball quickly. Kirilenko showed his all-around skills, quickly moving to the baseline and throwing the ball directly to the Knicks' three-point line.

Fisher, who had just seized the opportunity, sprinted to receive the ball.

Fisher, without hesitation, passed the ball back to O'Neal, who hadn't had time to get back on defense and was now back under the basket.

After receiving the ball, O'Neal immediately turned around on the spot and pulled up again, slamming the ball into the basket once more over Okur!

"boom!"

Okur felt as if he had been rammed by a mature African elephant once again. He could hear the screams coming from his sternum, as if O'Neal could smash Okur's entire chest cavity if he hit it any harder!

This guy's strength is absolutely terrifying!

This time, Okur failed to quickly inbound the ball from the baseline because O'Neal spread his arms wide after the dunk, interfering with his inbound pass. After taking a few shots and not finding an opportunity, Okur did not force the pass but instead safely passed it to Houston, who was running over from the other side.

"No rush! Press down!" Houston immediately pressed down with both hands after receiving the ball. The veteran could sense that everyone was a bit too excited at this moment. They were playing too fast and were a bit chaotic.

We must play it safe and attack two opponents.

Even though the Lakers are the team that excels at half-court offense, they still need to give the Knicks a breather.

But this pause in breathing caused a problem.

The Lakers' defense was too strong during half-court sets!

Their physicality wasn't as intense as the Pistons', and their defensive system and rotation speed weren't as perfect as the Pistons'.

But they are incredibly talented!

Prince is a standard long-armed, long-legged, and exceptionally gifted gibbon with arms that reach his knees. Kirilenko is an all-around monster who can defend from 1 to 4. There's also Kobe, a top-three 1-on-1 defensive expert in the league. And they also have an interior behemoth guarding the paint!

Their defensive resources are so abundant, it's almost extravagant.

Once the game devolved into half-court sets, the Lakers' defensive talent was fully revealed. Their four-man defensive combination moved rapidly, blocking everywhere, and they all adopted a strategy of allowing drives but not shots.

Shooting? Absolutely not!

A drive to the basket? Shaquille O'Neal is standing right there! Does he really think this guy can't play defense just because he hasn't won any defensive accolades like a block title or Defensive Player of the Year?

For the next five minutes, the Knicks were unable to get going again. Their fast breaks were contained by the Lakers, who began to focus on baseline passing, and they were at a disadvantage in half-court sets.

On offense, Anthony was limited by Prince, Kirilenko's long arms made it difficult for Stoudemire to shoot easily, and when he drove into the paint, he was severely hampered by O'Neal's defense. As for Houston, he was chased by Kobe and had almost no chance to receive the ball.

Lin Tian is the only player on the entire Knicks team who can have an advantage in matchups!

However, Lin Tian's shooting touch wasn't great during this period. He was also wary of O'Neal's presence under the basket, and his mid-range and long-range shots were unremarkable. As a result, the Knicks suffered repeated setbacks and couldn't find their rhythm. They barely scored in the first five minutes.

On the other hand, the Lakers have Shaq as their absolute strength, Kobe as their unstoppable one-on-one scorer, and Fisher and two others cutting and shooting. Their triangle offense is playing very well!

22: 12!

With only 4 minutes left in the first quarter, the Lakers led the Knicks by a full 10 points!

"Pause!" This time, Old Nelson took the initiative to adjust!

He quickly called a timeout and gathered all the players around him.

"I think everyone has noticed that this Lakers team is different from any of our previous opponents; they're on another level! Their defense is no worse than the Pistons', and their talent is far superior!"

"Their offense is far superior to that of teams like the Wizards or the Heat. They are the toughest opponent we've faced this year! And our final test!"

"A team like this, being 10 points behind is nothing! Let's change our strategy."

"They're ahead of us because of their talent, because their entire team has incredibly long arms and legs, so our next step is to compete with them in terms of talent!"

"When it comes to talent, we won't lose to any team! We are the best!"

After speaking, Old Nelson looked at his players and began to give instructions on the upcoming lineup: "Lin, Gerrard, Melo, Josh, and..."

"Alonzo! It's your turn! Remember what I said before, that you'd have your chance to step up and save the world this year? Now it's your turn!"

"As for your task, do I need to elaborate?"

"No need!" Mourning, who was already prepared, didn't need any morale-boosting words from Nelson. He simply took off his jacket and was ready to go on the court.

He had waited a whole year for this opportunity! A chance to prove he could still fight!

He trusted Don Nelson. Since the old man said he would let him play and give him a chance instead of just letting him ride on someone else's coattails to win the championship, Mourning believed him!

"Very good, then everyone, get running again! Everyone, sprint! This time, running isn't just on offense, it's on defense too!"

"Next, let's change our defense!"

After Don Nelson said that, the entire Knicks team was stunned for a moment.

How about changing the defense?

Could it be that Old Nelson has been possessed?

Two years! He's been coaching this team for two years, and when it comes to defense, his most frequent saying is always: "Although we can't stop them, they can't stop us either."

For two years, Don Nelson has never once said: "Let's change our defense."

This is the first time he has changed his defensive formation!

Now, Lin Tian was quite curious. What exactly was this old man planning to do? How was he going to change his defense?

"For the next defensive play, everyone, charge in! Charge out! As long as you don't foul, go all out. Don't be afraid of getting beaten, don't be afraid of them driving into the paint, because we have Alonzo! I have complete faith in him."

"But of course, even if you get beaten, you have to run back and defend! It's not like you can just sit and watch when someone gets beaten."

"Pounce upwards, chase back, and trust Alonzo! That's it, understand?"

"clear!"

The five men pointed out by Old Nelson shouted in unison, they all understood.

After all, there's not much room for him to misunderstand this tactic; it's too straightforward.

It's just letting him in so that Mourning can help defend!

The only problem is...

This heavy burden rests on Alonzo Mourning, who has retired twice due to kidney disease, completely coasted through the regular season this year, and has only played 3 playoff games so far, averaging less than 5 minutes of playing time and less than 1 point and 2 rebounds per game...

That's incredibly bold!

Lin Tian had finally realized: top head coaches are all incredibly risk-takers! (End of Chapter)