In the locker room during halftime, the Los Angeles Lakers displayed a completely different state.
Jason Kidd and Sean Marion were panting heavily, their jerseys soaked with sweat, and their legs wrapped in thick ice packs. Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal, sitting on the other side, however, was breathing steadily. Thanks to the "four-man fast break, center playing deep" strategy in the first half, he had conserved a lot of energy.
Phil Jackson walked to the whiteboard, glanced at the slight deficit, and looked at O'Neal.
"In the first half, the others bought you some rest time," Jackson patted O'Neal on the shoulder. " Shaq, Boston will definitely play a slow, half-court game in the second half. That's when it's your turn to take over the game."
Jackson drew a circle in the paint with his pen. "Go inside and punish them. Force them to double-team, and the perimeter will be wide open. Blow the game out in the third quarter, and we'll win."
O'Neal pulled the towel off his neck and nodded grimly. "Leave it to me."
The third quarter began with the teams switching sides.
The Lakers resolutely implemented Jackson's instructions: as soon as the ball entered half-court, it would immediately be handed to O'Neal. The energetic " Big Shark " instantly displayed terrifying dominance in the paint.
At the start of the game, O'Neal established position on the left low post. Ben Wallace kept his center of gravity low and held on, but against the energetic O'Neal, this one-on-one defense proved very difficult.
With a dull thud of muscles colliding, O'Neal backed down and used his strength, delivering two consecutive hard drives that pushed Big Ben half a body length away, followed by a light half-turn hook shot that went in smoothly.
In the next possession, O'Neal got into position again. This time, after receiving the ball, he forcefully pushed off the ground, over Big Ben and Garnett who was helping on the wing, and slammed the ball into the basket, drawing a foul on Garnett.
2+1!
Scoring 5 consecutive points, O'Neal single-handedly tore a hole in Boston's paint.
" Shaq has taken over the game!" Beal Walton exclaimed from the commentary booth. "He conserved too much energy in the first half. If Boston doesn't change their defensive strategy, they simply can't stop Shaq right now!"
Phil Jackson finally smiled on the sidelines. The tactical sacrifices in the first half were all for this explosion in the third quarter.
Faced with O'Neal's rampage in the paint, Boston's defense instinctively began to collapse. Garnett and Pierce positioned themselves further inside, attempting to use their numerical advantage to compensate for their disadvantage in one-on-one defense.
On the coaching bench, Rick Carlisle watched the Boston players' defensive strategy on the court, but instead of calling a timeout, he leaned back in his chair.
In the fourth minute of the third quarter, O'Neal once again had the ball in the low post.
This time, the moment he gathered the ball, Big Ben, Garnett, and Pierce instantly closed in, forming a tight encirclement in the center of the penalty area.
But O'Neal's excellent vision allowed him to quickly find the opening. He keenly spotted the gap on the perimeter through the crowd, flicked his wrist, and the ball flew precisely to the corner, where Sean Marion stood completely unmarked.
Drawing double teams inside and punishing open shots on the perimeter – this is the Lakers' most basic yet most lethal tactic.
On the Lakers ' bench, several players had already stood up.
Marion received the ball, but there was no one within three meters of him.
He adjusted his breathing, bent his knees, jumped, and released the ball. He had made countless three-pointers from this corner position in practice.
However, at the moment of takeoff, Marion clearly felt that his legs were as heavy as lead. The high-intensity shuttle run in the first half, which disregarded physical exertion, had prematurely depleted his leg muscles.
Without the support of his lower body, Marion's jump height was greatly reduced, and the arc of his shot became very straight.
"Clang!"
The basketball slammed heavily against the front of the rim, bounced high, and Garnett turned and calmly grabbed the rebound.
"His shot was too short, just bad luck!" Phil Jackson yelled from the sidelines, clapping his hands. "Keep playing like that!"
The same scenario played out again in the next round.
O'Neal dominated in the low post, drawing a double team, and then passed the ball to Jason Kidd, who was left wide open at the top of the key.
Kidd catches the ball, aims, and shoots.
"Clang!"
There was another crisp clang as the basketball struck the rim.
Lin Qi sat on the sidelines, watching Kidd's slightly heavy landing after his shot, then turned to Rick Carlisle beside him. " Phil Jackson is gambling; he's betting everything on these few minutes of the third quarter."
"That's the only card he can play." Rick Carlisle crossed his arms, his tone carrying a hint of respect for his opponent. "Sacrificing the energy of his perimeter players to push the transition, in exchange for O'Neal's abundant energy in the third quarter. If this were the Chicago Bulls of yesteryear, with Kerr and Kukoč on the bench, this style of play could have even swept us in the third quarter."
"Unfortunately, their bench can't handle this kind of strain." As the team's general manager, Lin Qi pinpointed the Lakers ' fatal flaw.
Lin Qi glanced at the Lakers ' bench. "Besides these starters, the Lakers' bench is full of veterans. Phil Jackson simply can't field a rotation that can replace Kidd and Marion and still make open three-pointers. He doesn't dare to make substitutions and can only rely on the starters. But in the high-intensity NBA Finals, no one can maintain a consistent shooting touch in the second half just by running back and forth in the first half."
Rick Carlisle nodded, which was precisely the source of his confidence in not calling a timeout in the first half, "Shooting relies on leg power. No matter how perfect the tactics are, they ultimately require physical strength to execute."
Phil Jackson knew better than anyone the dangers of overworking perimeter players, but he had no choice. Faced with Boston's deep and defensively strong frontcourt, the Lakers ' weak bench and severe imbalance in their player development became the final shackle that blocked this tactic.
This is not just a matter of winning or losing on the tactical board between coaches, but also a comprehensive difference between the two teams in terms of team building philosophy and roster depth.
The situation on the field took its most dramatic turn at this moment.
O'Neal could still get the ball in the low post, but he found that Boston's defense had tightened up considerably. Garnett and Pierce had now abandoned even the token perimeter defense, and whenever O'Neal got the ball, almost all five Boston players were around him.
A wide-open shot on the perimeter? No problem, we'll let you shoot.
As the Lakers ' outside shooting went cold, Boston began to punish them on offense.
On the offensive possession, Boston spread out. Billups passed the ball to Brad Miller at the top of the key. O'Neal, meanwhile, stayed inside the free-throw line, unwilling to go out and contest.
Miller catches the ball and swishes a three-pointer into the net.
In the next possession, Rasheed Wallace, in the same spot, faced a retreating O'Neal and pulled up for a three-pointer.
Boston used the most basic basketball principles to gradually dismantle the Lakers ' tactical system.
No matter how much O'Neal dominated the paint, as long as the Lakers couldn't make their outside shots, Boston could widen the score gap with mid-range and long-range shots on offense.
At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers made only 3 of 11 three-point attempts. Boston took advantage of this and went on a 26-16 run, extending their lead to 18 points.
Phil Jackson sat on the bench, his face grim. He looked at Kidd, whose legs were trembling, and then at O'Neal, who was sweating profusely in the paint, isolated and helpless. He finally realized what kind of tactical trap he had fallen into.
In the fourth quarter, the game was effectively over.
When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard showed 109 to 88.
The Boston Celtics won Game 2 of the NBA Finals by a 21-point margin, taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Back in the locker room corridor, Lin Qi headed towards the coaching staff office. Rick Carlisle placed the tactical materials he was holding on the table, his tone indifferent.
"Let's go to Los Angeles," Rick Carlisle said, "And see what other tricks Phil Jackson has up his sleeve."