"Another one from Tang, I don't know who can stop him anymore."
"Pau Gasol is 2.13 meters tall, he is five centimeters taller than Tang, but in front of Tang, he is like a clumsy gorilla."
"The Cavaliers' tactic this time is too exquisite. Although the Lakers have a height advantage, facing the Cavaliers' fast break, this height seems to be clumsy."
"Every wasted effort by Gasol, the huge energy consumption might be secondary, but confusion and not knowing how to play to his strengths are the problems he needs to solve now."
To be honest, Gasol's performance on both offense and defense in this game was mediocre.
Especially on offense, with more than half of the third quarter gone, Gasol only had 8 points and 6 rebounds, not as effective as Odom.
Under Tang Long's powerful deterrence again, Gasol's mid-range shot missed the rim.
Tang Long grabbed the rebound and initiated a fast break.
The Lakers were now guarding Tang Long's offense. As soon as they crossed half-court, Vujacic and Odom double-teamed him.
Tang Long took a step back and shot, scoring another two points.
"This is insane, isn't this guy a center?"
They had analyzed a large amount of data. Tang Long had been playing the center position all season.
How could he be more agile than a small forward now?
"I also think this guy is too weird."
Vujacic recalled the defense just now. The double-team positioning was not wrong.
"It's just a shot, he can't be this accurate all the time."
"That's right." Odom nodded repeatedly.
It was just a fluke.
Besides, if he could do it, so could he.
Odom was still very confident in himself.
The Lakers restarted their offense.
Kobe probed at the free-throw line. Drew Gooden and LeBron James double-teamed him. After two unsuccessful attempts to break through, Kobe jumped up and hit a pull-up jump shot.
Two points made.
Kobe is difficult to defend. Old fans all know this.
No one can defend these unreasonable shots.
Fortunately, on the other end, LeBron used Tang Long's screen to quickly drive to the baseline and followed up with a two-point shot.
Beep!
The basket counts.
LeBron also drew a foul on Vujacic.
He made the free throw. LeBron whispered to Tang Long as he passed by, "Tang, I think Vujacic's position has great potential. His defense isn't very good, so let's attack his side."
"No problem."
Tang Long had also noticed this.
Vujacic was a good shooter, but unfortunately, his performance in this game was a bit subdued, which also affected his confidence on defense.
After LeBron drew a foul on him, Vujacic became visibly anxious.
Discovering the Lakers' weakness, LeBron and Tang Long coordinated even more seamlessly.
A 6-0 run prompted Phil Jackson to call a timeout.
...
"The Lakers will probably make substitutions. Vujacic's performance in the latter half of the third quarter was average, and he didn't get many chances to shoot. Instead of this, it would be better to let Marko Jaric play, which would also strengthen the protection of the backcourt rebounds."
"Then what do you think Coach Zhang thinks the Lakers will do next?"
"The Lakers have been on the passive side in this period. I estimate Kobe will definitely hold the ball and go one-on-one. At critical moments, it still depends on the star's individual ability."
As he spoke, Coach Zhang couldn't help but chuckle, "Everyone was saying before the game that even though the Lakers were playing away, they would surely have the initiative, especially after the second quarter. I guess many people would think this is a reflection of both teams' strength. Who would have thought the Cavaliers would play so well in the third quarter."
Yang Yi nodded and said, "They did a particularly good job exploiting Vujacic's weak spot. This should be a new tactic discussed between LeBron and Tang Long. I'm not sure if it was the coach's intention or whose intention it was."
"Actually, the Cavaliers' tactics are sometimes player-driven. Based on the news reported by the media, the Cavaliers' players have a certain degree of autonomy."
"Especially Tang Long and LeBron. Mike Brown sometimes listens to their opinions."
Whenever these things were mentioned, Yang Yi couldn't help but recall that game, in the final stages of the fourth quarter, Mike Brown standing on the sidelines while LeBron held the whiteboard and explained tactics to the players.
...
"Come on, teammates, Cleveland cannot stop our progress. The championship rings will be ours!"
Returning to the court, Kobe continued to encourage his teammates.
The Lakers had fought their way from the regular season to the finals, and Kobe had more experience in the finals. He knew how to create difficulties for opponents at critical moments.
Gasol inbounded the ball. Fisher slowly brought it past half-court. It took eight seconds. The players on both sides got into position, waiting for Fisher's next move.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, fifteen or sixteen seconds had passed. At this moment, Fisher suddenly drove inside. Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic attracted attention, but Fisher passed the ball to Kobe.
Kobe caught the ball and drove straight to the basket, charging at Tang Long.
Tang Long's heart leaped with joy. It was about time.
Everyone thought the same thing.
Beep!
The referee blew the whistle.
Tang Long was called for a foul.
Fortunately, Kobe missed the shot, but despite that, Tang Long was whistled for a foul. Coupled with his previous foul, Tang Long now had two fouls.
With more than a quarter left in the game, the Lakers clearly wanted to draw more fouls on Tang Long.
This point was very similar to the Cavaliers, except that Tang Long and LeBron were drawing fouls on Vujacic, while the Lakers were having Kobe draw fouls on Tang Long.
"Kobe, is your free-throw percentage 80%?"
Kobe patted the basketball and didn't even bother to turn his head. He knew with his toes that it was Tang Long who was affecting his free-throw mentality.
Kobe took a deep breath and made both free throws.
The Cavaliers initiated their offense. LeBron drove strong to the basket. When he encountered a double-team, he passed to Tang Long. If the opponent's double-team was not tight enough, LeBron would go for the layup himself.
This had been very effective in the past. Later, in the playoffs, opponents guarded Tang Long more closely, and the Cavaliers rarely used this tactic. Now that it was brought out again, it was quite effective on the court.
Drive, dish.
The Cavaliers' offense was clean and efficient, and their offensive firepower gradually stabilized.
Tang Long made another jump shot, and the score difference had narrowed to three points.
"Next, we need to play good defense."
Tang Long glanced at the scoreboard. There were less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
As long as they could tie the score in the third quarter, then in the fourth quarter, each person would get a stamina potion, and they could basically declare that victory belonged to the Cavaliers.
On the Lakers' side, they still relied on Kobe to orchestrate the team. After the ball crossed half-court, Kobe immediately got the ball, followed by a fake move that shook Drew Gooden, and a sideways step into an unreasonable three-pointer!