The second half begins.
As the starting lineups from both sides re-emerged through the player tunnel, the dome of the New Garden seemed about to be lifted by the roar of 20,000 fans.
But the Lakers players on the court only had an extremely cold killing intent in their eyes.
On the first possession of the third quarter, Phil Jackson's strategic intention of "slowing down to the extreme" was clearly revealed. Fisher slowly dribbled the ball across half-court, and the entire Los Angeles Lakers forcibly spread out, completely clearing the strong side.
Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal dropped deep into the low post, effectively blocking the space in the paint.
Facing Dikembe Mutombo's half-front defense, the 325-pound interior behemoth displayed extremely ferocious destructive power. Without the slightest hesitation, he simply and brutally lowered his center of gravity and backed down... With a dull thud of muscle collision, Mutombo was directly knocked off balance and forced to take a half step back.
Just as Garnett attempted to collapse the defense from the weak side, O'Neal leaped up and slammed the ball into the basket with an extremely brutal two-handed dunk!
45-30. To make matters worse, the referee blew his whistle at the same time, Mutombo committed a defensive foul and made the free throw.
This was Mutombo's fourth personal foul of the game. Just one minute into the third quarter, the Celtics ' interior anchor was in foul trouble.
But the Lakers ' tactical adjustments go far beyond that.
Turning back, the Celtics advanced to half-court. Eddie Jones, who had racked up seven three-pointers in the first half, had just positioned himself on the right wing when he felt unprecedented defensive pressure. Kobe Brian was right next to Jones, his arms fully outstretched, completely cutting off his passing lanes. At the same time, Fisher moved silently to the strong side, and O'Neal Jr. was also lurking in the high post.
The Lakers formed a "three-man stranglehold" against Eddie Jones. Phil Jackson's intention was clear: even if it meant allowing other Boston players to score open layups, they would never allow Jones to make a single three-pointer.
Faced with this extreme defense, Jones executed the midfield tactic perfectly. He sprinted from the right wing all the way to the left corner, drawing the attention of Kobe and Fisher away from the defense.
The strong side was instantly cleared out, and Garnett exploited O'Neal Jr.'s slow lateral movement, taking a probing step before driving into the paint and dodging O'Neal's block attempt in mid-air to score with a layup.
Although the Celtics were still able to score by stretching the floor on offense, O'Neal on the other end of the court had completely transformed into a relentless crushing machine.
With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, O'Neal once again attacked in the low post, forcefully pushing past Mutombo and turning for a powerful dunk. The referee blew the whistle again, and Mutombo committed his fifth foul!
Doc Rivers was forced to call a timeout, replacing the five-time fouled Mutombo with Ben Wallace.
But the Big Shark's furious comeback had only just begun. Facing Ben Wallace, who was at a significant height disadvantage, O'Neal used his back-to-the-basket power to gradually chip away at the paint, followed by turnaround hook shots, offensive rebounds, and put-back dunks... In the entire third quarter, O'Neal scored a whopping 20 points, single-handedly breaking through Boston's interior defense.
Under the Lakers' highly targeted perimeter defense, Eddie Jones failed to hit any three-pointers in the third quarter. However, he astutely exploited the Lakers' fatal weakness of slow transition defense, taking the lead twice in transition offense and using explosive fast-break dunks to help the Celtics maintain their lead.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 57-51. Thanks to O'Neal's unstoppable performance, the Lakers managed to narrow the 17-point deficit to 6 points.
" Shaq was an unstoppable monster in the third quarter." On the NBC commentary booth, Isaiah Thomas exclaimed repeatedly, looking at the stats. " The Lakers ' defense successfully shut down Jones's outside shooting. If they keep playing at this pace, the Celtics ' interior defense will collapse sooner or later."
The fourth quarter, the decisive moment.
The atmosphere at the New Garden was extremely tense, with the physical battles on the court reaching a fever pitch.
With 3:30 left in the fourth quarter, O'Neal overpowered Ben Wallace in the low post, drawing the latter's sixth foul.
"Beep--!" The referee signaled that Ben Wallace had fouled out and was ejected from the game!
The crowd gasped in surprise. Doc Rivers had no choice but to reluctantly bring in Mutombo, who had five fouls.
However, just three minutes later, O'Neal received the ball in the paint, faked out Mutombo, and then jumped to draw a foul.
The whistle blows. Mutombo commits his sixth personal foul, also fouling out!
Just past the halfway point of the fourth quarter, both of the Celtics ' key centers were ejected!
In the 8th minute of the fourth quarter, O'Neal, facing Rasheed Wallace at center, used overwhelming force to push him aside and then turned and hooked the ball in. 67-67! The Lakers finally tied the game!
The entire Staples... no, the entire Boston New Garden fell into a deathly silence, while the Lakers ' bench erupted in a frenzy of excitement.
"They're out of interior defense! Keep getting the ball into the paint!" Phil Jackson shouted, pumping his fist on the sidelines.
Doc Rivers was forced to call a timeout. The atmosphere on the Celtics ' bench became extremely tense.
"We still have a chance." Lin Qi braced his hands on the whiteboard, his gaze sweeping across half-court to O'Neal, who was panting heavily and drenched in sweat. " Shaq has been playing at this pace for a full quarter and a half; he's reached his limit. Rasheed, move to center! Don't let O'Neal get the ball, and even if he does, double-team him immediately!"
After the timeout, the course of the game took an extremely dramatic and brutal turn.
Physical fitness has become the most fundamental and brutal logic of this sport.
When the game resumed, the Lakers still tried to pass the ball inside. But with Rasheed's fronting interference and Garnett's fierce double-teaming, an exhausted O'Neal found it extremely difficult even to establish position in the low post.
In the 9th minute of the fourth quarter, O'Neal forced a turn and shot while being double-teamed, but the basketball bounced off the front of the rim.
The instant the basketball bounced off the court, Garnett grabbed the rebound and, without hesitation, launched a long pass across half the court directly towards the frontcourt.
"Run!!!" Thibodeau roared from the sidelines, his veins bulging.
Eddie Jones had already shot across half-court like an arrow. Kobe and Fisher, after a game of intense, close-quarters combat, were completely exhausted and unable to catch up. Jones received the ball and easily slammed it home with a one-handed dunk!
69-67!
This shot definitively sounded the clarion call for the Boston Massacre.
The next four minutes became a true nightmare for the Los Angeles Lakers. O'Neal repeatedly missed shots on offense, and when retreating on defense, he could only drag his heavy legs in the backcourt and watch helplessly as the opponent scored.
With 10:30 left in the fourth quarter, Garnett held the ball at the high post, faked a drive to shake off O'Neal Jr., and then passed the ball to Pierce, who was cutting in. Pierce made a tough shot over Kobe's help defense!
Kobe tried to take over the game, but his pull-up three-pointer went wildly off target under Gary Payton's suffocating tenacity. Garnett grabbed the rebound again and initiated a fast break. This time, Jones selflessly passed the ball to Gary Payton on the fast break, who easily made a layup!
The Lakers ' defense completely collapsed due to the chain reaction of fatigue. The Celtics unleashed a tsunami-like transition offense, scoring a brutal 16-2 run in the final three minutes!
As the final red light flashed and the piercing whistle echoed through the stadium, the score was finally set at...
93-74.
In a hard-fought battle that was expected to go down to the wire, the Boston Celtics not only survived the near-certain defeat when both of their inside players fouled out, but also used their superior speed and stamina to win by a full 19 points in the final moments!
NBA Finals score 2-0!
Full match statistics.
The director displayed the key statistics of both teams on the big screen, and the stark contrast was breathtaking.
Boston Celtics.
Eddie Jones: 34 points. He ripped through the opponent with three-pointers in the first half and destroyed the Lakers ' defensive formation with his off-ball movement in the second half, making him the undisputed MVP.
Kevin Garnett: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists. With two big men fouled out, he recorded a super triple-double, becoming Boston's perfect offensive and defensive hub.
Chris Paul Pierce: 13 points, 6 rebounds. He used his strength to cause trouble for both Peja and Kobe.
Gary Payton: 14 points, 10 assists. His extremely tough defense made Kobe struggle throughout the game.
Los Angeles Lakers.
Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal: 34 points, 15 rebounds. His explosive 20-point performance in the third quarter briefly gave the Lakers hope of a comeback.
Kobe Brian: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists (5-for-18 shooting). Under Gary Payton's intense pressure, he delivered his least efficient performance since the NBA Finals.
Other players: scored very few points and were completely unable to provide any offensive support for the OK Duo.
Post-game, NBC broadcast booth.
"A thrilling, tactically brilliant classic battle!" Bob Costas's voice still trembled with excitement as he looked at the stat sheet. "With their interior defense almost paralyzed, the Celtics used their counter-attacks to completely wear down the Lakers!"
"This is a complete domination in terms of physical fitness and roster depth," Isaiah Thomas pointed out the key to the game's outcome. " Shaq displayed historic dominance in the second half, but he's still a 300-pound giant. The Boston Celtics forced him to run back and forth the entire game. That devastating comeback in the final three minutes was proof of the Lakers' complete physical collapse."
Inside the stadium.
The Celtics players embraced each other in the center of the court. Garnett raised his arms high, let out a roar, and basked in the cheers of the 20,000 fans in the arena.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, in front of the Lakers ' player tunnel.
O'Neal, wrapped in a thick towel, head down, panting heavily, walked toward the locker room. Sweat dripped from his chin, and his back looked incredibly heavy and lonely.
Kobe followed behind with a cold face and an extremely icy killing intent in his eyes, walking into the dark passage without looking back.
0-2.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, they have been pushed to the very edge of a precipice.
Two days later, at the Staples Center.
It's either a desperate counterattack or plunging into an abyss.