One Year Left to Play-Chapter 355 - 110: The Moment of Full Throttle!
The five Lakers players about to take the court were overwhelmed with excitement. This kind of treatment, Zen Master feels, might just be a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the players had the same feeling.
...
End of the interval break, the second quarter is about to begin.
The Bulls sent out a lineup of Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, Pippen, Rodman, and Kukoc.
Looking at Pippen taking the court, Zen Master muttered seeing the opponent’s lineup: "Had I known their offensive adjustments were that good, it might have been better to let Michael and Scott rest a bit in the first quarter."
Bulls on the offensive first, Pippen initiated the attack by breaking through and distributing the ball to the weak-side cutting Ron Harper.
Ron Harper’s cut and catch with the floater was slapped down by Campbell!
Jason Williams and Rodman battled for the rebound, George Lynch benefited, snatched the ball, held it tight, and gave no chance for the Bulls to steal.
Campbell’s presence stabilized the Lakers’ defense in the three-second zone!
Facing this Lakers lineup, the Bulls decisively launched full-court pressure mode, completely unafraid of the opponents initiating a counterattack.
Time-consuming, Sedale-Srte moved the ball to the front court and started consuming time, down to 6 seconds left when George Lynch received the ball for a strong inside drive, but missed the floater due to Rodman’s coverage.
By the time George Lynch took his shot, the Lakers were already retreating defensively.
The scoring efficiency of both teams seemed to have drawn a dividing line across the interval break! Suddenly, it turned into a defensive battle!
Moreover, it was clearly visible that the Lakers intended to slow down the rhythm!
Lakers had another failed offensive attempt, this time Rodman secured the defensive rebound, quickly passed it to Pippen, who was about to launch a counterattack, when George Lynch directly grabbed Pippen’s arm.
Tactical foul!
Steve Kerr and Ron Harper were already fast breaking; if the opponents launched a counterattack, the Lakers would likely be unable to defend, hence opting for the tactical foul!
Zhang Hao on the sidelines watched his teammates operate, connecting with the tactics he heard during the interval break and the legends’ advice, suddenly understood the confusion he had always had.
The Bulls were indeed anxious to score and expand the point gap; it wasn’t just his illusion.
The reason the Bulls had this idea was their formidable strength, a 19-4 record, top in the league, and an average of a 16-point net victory margin; the Bulls had the confidence and strength.
But the necessity of execution might be due to stamina...
Moreover, he now understood, not only had he figured it out, but their sly old fox had seen it too!
Not substituting the Magician in for power forward to enhance offense was clearly intended for consumption!
After several more rounds, the Bulls hit 6 for 2, and the Lakers hit 5 for 1, with the score at 45 to 42, the leading Bulls called for a timeout.
This was Zen Master’s first timeout tonight, but it was necessary.
Continuing like this would only become increasingly unfavorable for the Bulls.
The Lakers would definitely go all out for victory, and the Bulls players were very aware, Zen Master also understood, realizing upon learning the Magician chose to make his return when facing the Bulls.
Both were in the second of back-to-back games, with significant exhaustion.
However, the Lakers players were mostly in their physiological peak between 24 and 26 years old!
In this aspect, the Bulls were at a disadvantage.
Thus, Zen Master’s decision was to establish an advantage in the first quarter.
However, the Magician’s superb networked offense performance in the first half of the opening quarter, Del Harris’s lineup arrangement ignoring defense caught Zen Master by surprise.
And most crucially, the legends emerged when the Lakers were already in a slump!
The Lakers weren’t lacking in strength; before the trade, they were a team capable of challenging 55 wins, even if their strength declined and the perimeter became weaker. They still had a chance at 50 wins; with the Magician’s return, 50 wins seemed certain.
In such circumstances, the legends played a pivotal role.
How to rotate?
Zen Master originally thought of simply competing with defense, letting Pippen and Jordan rest a bit longer... Suddenly, Zen Master’s eyes widened, abandoning this decision.
Meanwhile, Del Harris looked at their outside line, really insufficient!
The main issue was the lack of shooters.
This was a problem Del Harris was aware of after deciding to use Eddie Jones as a trade chip. Originally, they could wait, originally the Magician didn’t need to come back so early, originally facing the Bulls not caring so much about victory... but they had to win tonight!
Whom to use as the shooting guard?
... 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Looking at the opponent’s lineup of Van Exel, Zhang Hao, Sibaros, Magician, and Jason Williams taking the court, Zen Master knew exactly what the opponents would do.
He also sent out an offensive-oriented lineup, Steve Kerr, Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, and Rodman.
However, Zen Master still didn’t quite understand — what’s with playing four power forwards on the opposing side?
Zhang Hao also wanted to ask the same question... Looking at this lineup, he is clearly the shooting guard!
No matter...
Judging from the offensive formation, this lineup, it’s still acceptable.
After briefly playing defense for 4 minutes, the Lakers once again sent out the offensive lineup.
Originally, Del Harris thought the opponents might reinforce their defense; he was just betting to see if they could break through the opponents’ defense. The probability seemed quite high, the opponents might let the second of back-to-back games’ Pippen and Jordan rest a bit longer. After all, the mysterious guy would protect his stars, and that’s quite famous.
