This is exactly why the Lakers only achieved 59 wins in the regular season; with Garnett missing over 20 gas, their win rate barely topped fifty percent.
Tonight, the Lakers’ starting lineup and tactical coordination didn’t open up; the frontcourt combination changed to Luke Walton, Kwa Brown, and little Gasol. Facing the Bobcats’ defense, it was even harder to open up their coordination.
Despite so adjustnts, Kidd, Kobe, Kwa Brown, and little Gasol strengthened their defense, suppressing the Bobcats’ team offense to so extent, limiting them to 11 points in the latter half of the quarter, but they themselves only scored 8!
At the end of the first quarter, Kobe made 4 out of 9 shots, along with 3 out of 3 free throws, scoring 11 points, Zhang Yang hit 4 out of 8 shots, with 2 out of 2 from three-point range and 2 out of 2 free throws, scoring 12 points.
to 22, the Bobcats lead the Lakers by 7 points!
...
During the break, Carlisle gave the players a few seconds to celebrate, talk trash, and vent that excitent.
When the players cald down a bit, he gathered them together and said: "We played very well in the first quarter. Brad, Grant... Jack, you all did a great job! But the real test is coming up, you all saw the defense from the other side, Garnett wasn’t even on the court..."
Listening to Carlisle, Zhang Yang nodded frequently, not just to flatter him, but really agreeing with Coach’s view.
The defense on the other side was indeed fierce; in the last 5 and a half minutes when they were defending with full strength, his attacking the basket and mid-range shots were only 1 out of 3!
This 7-point advantage, 6 points ca from his two consecutive three-pointers at the start; in other words, he was only 2 out of 6 afterward...
Moreover, with Kidd and Ariza stepping up on defense, Kobe’s defensive burden was reduced, allowing him to be really fierce on the offense, feeling unburdened after swinging for the whole quarter! After starting 0 out of 2, he made 4 out of 7 to score 11 points and add 3 assists! Fortunately, the opposing starting forwards all had poor shooting feel tonight!
When Carlisle made tactical adjustnts, Zhang Yang wanted Felton to remind him a little, but the head coach didn’t miss that point, arranging to strengthen the defense and engage in a physical battle with Garnett and Ariza before developing the coordination... Zhang San felt downhearted, having a good coach makes everything better, except he...ah no, it ans Little Fatty Boss has less to do.
After the break, the second quarter of the ga started.
The Zen Master sent in the combination of Fisher, Kobe, Ariza, Garnett, and little Gasol.
Having two of the Three Giants on the court is the Lakers’ rotation strategy in the playoffs.
Also, when Kobe is on the court, at least either Kidd or Ariza is present to reduce Kobe’s defensive load. After all, he’s turning 31 soon, and after being exhausted to the point of missing two-point shots during triple overti against the Bobcats, the Zen Master enforces this more strictly than before.
Carlisle sent in the combination of Felton, Afflalo, Hill, Okafor, and Perkins.
As analyzed during the Bobcats’ break, the opposing team indeed ca up strengthening their defense with Garnett as the connection point, little Gasol protecting the basket, Ariza pressing defense at the top of the arc, and Kobe on help defense.
Carlisle’s counterasure was—fight fire with fire!
In the first possession, after Felton missed a step-back three-pointer, the Bobcats imdiately retaliated with even stronger physical defense.
The Bobcats’ scoring in the first half of the quarter was frighteningly low, hitting only 2 out of 9 shots in 5 minutes, scoring only 4 points!
But the speed at which the score gap was shrinking was slower than Carlisle anticipated, which also ans that the players’ defensive performance was better than he expected!
Felton’s shooting was influenced by Fisher’s defense, Afflalo and the rotating Pietrus’s physical defense on Ariza, and Okafor and the rotating Millsap’s sticking defense on Garnett were all very effective!
Only Hill was in a pitiful state, constantly being dashed by Kobe, switching from defending Pierce to Luol Deng, and now to Kobe again...he demanded an increase in endorsent fees!
At 5:08, Kobe scored 4 points, Garnett 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, little Gasol 2 points. In a small half-quarter, the Lakers played an 8 to 4 run on the Bobcats, narrowing the gap to 3 points, bringing the score to 30 to 33, and forcing the Bobcats to call a tiout!
Both teams adjusted their lineups, with the Zen Master bringing Kidd, Shannon Brown, and Kwa Brown to replace Fisher, Ariza, and little Gasol. Kobe and Garnett continued to play.
Carlisle brought in Jarett Jack and Zhang Yang replacing Felton and Pietrus, while Hill, Millsap, and Perkins continued to play.
Seeing a chance to tie with a single shot, Kobe was ready for a strong shot...but after the tiout, Zhang Yang faced Kidd’s defense, took a step back inside the top arc after receiving the ball, and launched a ’Hambledon-style’ step-back three-pointer...scored!
to 30, the Bobcats led by 6 points again!
The Lakers’ montum was stopped by this shot!
After painstakingly narrowing the gap by 4 points in a small half-quarter, the opponent imdiately used Yan Ye to shoot a three-pointer over Kidd...from Kidd’s perspective, he didn’t interfere much, but in others’ eyes, Kidd had already contested the shot, yet it still went in.
Even Kobe’s emotions were affected, following up with two anxious missed shots.
Under Kidd’s calming, Kobe regained his composure, starting to initiate attacks properly. Although the team’s offensive power remained low, his overall offensive performance was sowhat stronger than Zhang Yang’s.
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