Legendary star

Chapter 478 The Lakers Forced to the Cliff

"Larry, we made it, we won." On June 2003, 6, at 11 o'clock in the evening, the fourth quarter of the first game between the Pacers and the Lakers was about to end with one minute left , and the Pacers still maintain a 11-point advantage. At this time, almost everyone knows that the Lakers have gone for this game.Although the game is not over yet, Lester Conor, who is the assistant coach of the Pacers, has excitedly started shouting beside Larry Bird.

Larry Bird's seemingly angry defensive strategy had a miraculous effect in this game. Although O'Neal scored 42 points in the first three quarters, in the crucial fourth quarter, O'Neal, who was exhausted, made 9 of 3 shots. Scored 6 points, which also caused the Lakers, who were already behind by a large score in the third quarter, to have no chance of a comeback. If Kobe hadn't had a sudden convulsion in the middle of the fourth quarter and hit several consecutive 3-pointers, the Lakers would have lost the game in this game. It must be more than 20 points to lose to the Pacers.

"We won, we won, we beat the Lakers, we actually beat the Lakers!" 98 to 112, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Tyshawn Prince immediately threw away the Although Larry Bird kept emphasizing before the game that the Lakers are not terrible and the Big Four are just paper tigers, where are the prestigious names of O'Neal, Kobe, Malone, and Payton? I don't say it, but some players in the Pacers still feel apprehensive, especially rookies like Prince, who grew up watching Malone, Payton and others play.

The game is over, not only Prince, but even those media reporters who supported the Lakers before the game, all have incredible expressions at the moment, especially the two reporters from the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, who are even more mournful. Before the start of this competition, it was the favorite of the two of them.After all, judging from the overall strength of the team, the Lakers with the Big Four are obviously stronger than the Pacers. This is why the reporters of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times are so confident. Resolute not to double-team O'Neal, which made these people even more optimistic. O'Neal's dominance is there, and he scored 30 points in the half game. The counterattack reversed the situation on the court, and finally won the Lakers by 14 points. No matter how you look at it, it is very incredible.

And many members of the Pacers also had this kind of emotion. The moment the whistle blew at the end of the game, many substitute players on the Pacers bench rushed into the court in a swarm, and the Pacers eliminated the basket. Net, I have never seen them so excited before reaching the finals. Those who didn't know thought the Pacers won the championship again.

On the opposite Lakers bench, whether it is the team's coaching staff or a group of substitute players, they also have incredible expressions on their faces. What makes them incredible is that the Lakers actually lost to the Pacers. I'm still confused now, I don't know where the Lakers lost?Four superstars, as expected by various media before the game, four superstars, one player and one quarter are enough to crush the Pacers, tell me how the Lakers lost?The Lakers, who were originally extremely optimistic and thought they could win the O'Brien Cup by going through the motions, were slammed by the Pacers in the first game.

"It's only the first game now, and Malone and Payton didn't perform very well in this game, so the Lakers will definitely win the next game." In order to get rid of the awkward atmosphere at the moment, the reporter of the Los Angeles Times directed at the media around him My friends, I yelled a few words loudly.

"That's right, there are 7 games in the finals. If the Pacers can't even keep one of their home courts, wouldn't they be swept away?" After the Los Angeles Times reporter took the lead in speaking, the New York Times reporter seemed to be in the dark. Seeing the lights, it was like seeing a savior in a difficult time, and immediately echoed.

"Great first victory, the Indiana Pacers perfectly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and won the first victory of the Finals!"

"The Lakers of the Big Four suffered a blow! The prospect of winning the championship is uncertain!"

"Larry Bird's magic stroke, the Pacers made a clever change and easily defeated the Los Angeles Lakers!"

"A humiliating defeat, O'Neill was furious after the game, suspected to be dissatisfied with some teammates?"

. . . . . .

It has to be said that following the wind is a natural skill of all media. When the Pacers defeated the Lakers in the first game of the finals, almost all the headlines in the sports section of the media the next day were news about the Pacers. The media who are not optimistic about the Pacers have changed their tone in the face of the Pacers' victory. Of course, many media still firmly believe that the final winner will be the Lakers. The debate over who will win the championship between the Pacers and the Lakers has also occupied the top position of the major forums.

On June 6th, amidst the hustle and bustle, the second game of the finals kicked off at the Bankers Life Arena. In today's game, Phil Jackson adjusted the team's starting lineup. Karl Malone, who was in the body, sat on the bench and was replaced by the key Mr. Robert Hawley. At the guard position, Phil Jackson sent a double point guard combination of Janello Pargo and Gary Payton. At the same time, Kobe was pushed to the small forward position. It can be seen that Phil Jackson racked his brains in order to break the Pacers' full-court press.

But when Phil Jackson made such a change, it also brought a very unfavorable situation to the Lakers, that is, the height of the Lakers' outside players. Janello Pargo's height is only 1 meters, which is worse than Hamilton, isn't it? One star and a half, and Janero Pargo's defense is far inferior to Kobe's. In the last game, under Kobe's defense, Hamilton made 85 of 9 shots and scored 4 points. This game was only in the first quarter. He made 12 of 7 shots and scored 5 points.

However, although Hamilton opened up this point, under Kobe's personal defense and Payton's constant harassment, Meng Xu played averagely in the first three quarters of the game. Under the high-intensity attack of the Lakers, Meng Xu Had to give up possession and play off the ball.

After the loss of the last game, O'Neal played more aggressively in this game. In the first 4 minutes of the first quarter, he made two consecutive fouls each of Mutombo and Jermaine O'Neal. Not only that, even Lorenzen White and Jeff Foster, the two substitute insiders of the Pacers, were beaten to the bench by O'Neal. In the first quarter alone, O'Neal scored 14 free throws. Opportunity, and hit 8 of them. With O'Neal's outstanding performance of 22 points and 7 rebounds in a single quarter, the Lakers led the Pacers all the way after the opening.

Seeing that the Lakers are about to win an away game, Meng Xu, who only took 10 shots and hit 4 goals in the first three quarters, made 14 of 10 shots in the fourth quarter, including 3 of 10 7-pointers and 5 of free throws. 4. Scored 31 points in a single quarter. Under Meng Xu's crazy performance of 30+ in a single quarter, the Pacers reversed the Lakers in the fourth quarter.

In the end, when the game ended, the Pacers defeated the Lakers 106-102 at home and led the Lakers 2-0. When the live broadcast shot captured the head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, Phil Jackson, known as the Zen master, With a look of astonishment and bewilderment on his face, he didn't know whether he was worried about the Lakers' current unfavorable situation, or he was shocked by Meng Xu's crazy performance of 30+ points in a single quarter again.

Obviously, after losing one more game, the Lakers and Phil Jackson have been driven to a dead end. If they can't regain this momentum in the next home game, the Lakers are likely to face a situation of being swept away.

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(End of this chapter)