The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 424 - 204: Defense Wins the Championship!!!_5

Chapter 424: Chapter 204: Defense Wins the Championship!!!_5

Su Wan said deliberately, "If we lose tonight’s game, then I take all the responsibility!"

Anyone could feel the determination in Su Wan’s tone as he spoke.

Rick Carlisle’s arrangements for the fifth game of the finals were even more resolute than in the previous four; they madly double-teamed Yao Ming inside and Kobe on the perimeter.

The Lakers had reached their current height this season mainly because of Kobe and Yao.

And this team was really only about Kobe and Yao.

Odom was the most famous player on the team other than Kobe and Yao, but this was his first finals journey, and it was clear he needed to adapt even to the intensity.

As for Fisher, he had the experience of a 0.4-second kill against the Spurs in the playoffs, but on the finals stage, his performance could be described in four words:

Perfectly ordinary.

Even the Lakers fans, trying to recall Fisher’s performance in the last game, would rack their brains for a long time before finally asking:

Did he even play?

In fact, Lakers fans had long been dissatisfied with Fisher.

They really didn’t understand why the Lakers had to sign Fisher back to the Lakers’ starting lineup.

And why Phil Jackson insisted on starting him!

The dissatisfaction of the past had become a lethal hidden danger tonight.

The fifth game of the finals had always been a "must-contest" for any army.

The team with a 3-1 lead could completely take down the opponent with this game, and for the two teams tied at 2-2, whoever won this game would gain a crucial match point.

The outside world believed that the fifth game of the series would be an epic battle.

But the result... fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

After Rick Carlisle brought out this inside-out double-team strategy and tested the Lakers’ role players, the Lakers immediately became passive on the court. The defense was still acceptable, with Kobe’s leading defense giving the Lakers’ perimeter defense some quality. With Yao protecting the rim, the Lakers’ defense couldn’t be too bad.

But on the offensive end...

It was really painful to watch!

What was expected to be a "collision of Mars with Earth" in the fifth game of the finals started with the Lakers having 1 make out of 7 attempts.

The Pacers easily established a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter.

Then it was time for Kobe’s routine performance of shouldering the team all by himself.

But by the fifth game of the series, after averaging 44.3 minutes in the first four games, Kobe was clearly struggling on the offensive end.

No joke, this was Su Wan and Artest double-teaming him. In the league right now, the only player who could maintain a 47.5% shooting percentage scoring 32.5 points against these two in the first four games of the series was probably Kobe Bryant alone.

And don’t forget, Kobe also had to defend Su Wan!

Just look at Kobe’s shooting percentage in the 2004 finals to know, in games where he had to spend a lot of energy on both offense and defense, his performance was bound to fluctuate.

But Kobe in 2007 was much tougher than in 2004, and it wasn’t until the fifth game of the series that his performance started to fluctuate.

Su Wan, looking at the excellent situation, immediately activated "The zone" mode, slashing and drawing fouls to achieve a finals record of 16 points in a single quarter in the second period.

The Pacers had built up an 18-point lead by halftime, making the game lose any suspense.

Bill Walton said, "Clearly, the Lakers still need to deepen their roster, at the very least, they need to recruit another small forward who can defend to allow Kobe to focus more on offense!"

As for the inside, they needed a more stable shooter, not someone like Odom who was half-full, half-empty.

Odom was more suited to come off the bench to play his role, to drive the entire team in the second unit, becoming the "engine" of the Lakers’ bench rotation.

If Su Wan heard Bill Walton’s halftime analysis, he could only say two words:

Absolutely right!

Because that’s how the Lakers’ later acquisitions were done...

But that would be the future Lakers.

For now, the Lakers, facing a Pacers team that had found the correct defensive method, were about to endure a naked slaughter.

The difference in score quickly broke through 20 points in the second half.

With 2 minutes and 34 seconds left in the third quarter, Phil Jackson, looking at the 28-point difference, finally chose to take out Kobe and Yao, signaling the end of the game beforehand.

Staples’ stands had been incredibly lively before the start of this game.

They firmly believed that the Lakers, having chased down two games in a row, would take the "King Mountain Battle" in one fell swoop, heading to Indiana with a 3-2 lead to completely crush the demoralized Pacers.

Rick Carlisle honestly hadn’t expected tonight’s defensive strategy to work so well.

The Pacers, who had been firing all season, ultimately had to rely on defense to win the most important game.

One can only say...

Defense does indeed win championships!

In the end, the game finished with the Pacers defeating the Lakers 118 to 79, with a 39-point victory.

This difference also set the largest margin of defeat for the Lakers in a finals game in their history.

Barkley said, "David Stern can bring the O’Brien Cup to Indiana now!"

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