"Beep--!"
The referee blew his whistle again.
Eight minutes into the third quarter, Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal had just gotten deep into the paint, and the ball was still in mid-air when Ben Wallace roughly grabbed him.
Another tactical foul.
O'Neal, breathing heavily, shook off Big Ben's arm and slowly walked towards the free-throw line. His once dominant and massive body now revealed an undeniable fatigue.
This marks the eighth time Boston has used the " Hack-a-Shaq " strategy against O'Neal in this game.
At the free-throw line, O'Neal's first free throw hit the neck of the rim, and his second free throw was even more absurd, hitting the front edge of the rim.
Garnett grabbed the rebound and, without hesitation, launched a long ball forward.
The Lakers ' veterans dragged their weary legs as they desperately returned to defense. They had been standing on either side of the free-throw line for over a minute, and the cold wind had made their muscles stiff, causing their first step to be a beat slower than usual.
Chris Paul Pierce received a pass in the attacking third, and facing Marion who was desperately chasing back, he slowed down to create space and scored with a bank shot.
78 to 64.
Although the point difference didn't widen to over 20 points as early as in the first game, this 14-point gap felt like a Mountain weighing on the Lakers' chest.
After their collapse in the first game, Phil Jackson and Jordan still fought hard to maintain their pride. Midway through the third quarter, when O'Neal's rhythm was frequently Hack-a-Shaq" strategy, Jordan stepped up.
Despite being extremely exhausted, Jordan gritted his teeth and forced two incredibly difficult shots from the right corner with his beautiful fadeaway jumper, including a 2+1 play against Artest's defense.
During those rounds, the New Garden even fell into a brief silence, as if people were seeing the God of Basketball who dominated the 1990s again.
Charles Barkley also gave it his all. In a scramble for a loose ball, the veteran, who weighs over 250 pounds, just like Boston rookie Gerald Wallace, lunged forward and snatched the precious ball from a group of young players.
However, these sporadic flashes of brilliance cannot mask the Lakers' overall lack of strength.
Boston's roster depth is just too deep.
After Jordan expended tremendous energy on offense to score those incredible shots, he faced a barrage of attacks on defense from Grant Hill and Stephen Jackson, who had just entered the game and were full of energy.
Jordan could defend once or twice with his experience, but he couldn't maintain that level of intensity on the defensive end for the entire game.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers ' fatigue crisis erupted again.
With five minutes remaining in the game, the score was 92-80, with the Lakers trailing by 12 points.
Kidd held the ball at the top of the key, trying to organize one last counterattack. He glanced at the paint, where O'Neal was being double-teamed by Big Ben and Rasheed, unable to get into position. He then glanced at the perimeter, where Jordan was panting heavily, his hands on his knees, too exhausted to even move.
Only the young Marion was actively cutting to the basket.
Kidd a subtle bounce pass, finding Marion perfectly. Marion caught the ball and jumped, preparing for a layup.
But just as he took off, a figure suddenly appeared from the side.
It's Garnett!
Garnett's terrifyingly long arms, like a giant fan, swatted Marion and the ball down from mid-air.
"Smack!"
With a crisp, cracking sound, the basketball was swatted to the ground, bounced once, and headed towards the scorer's table.
The referee didn't call a foul; it was a clean block.
Marion crashed heavily to the floor, while Garnett, without any hesitation, rushed to the scorer's table to save the ball that was about to go out of bounds.
He saved the ball back onto the field, but ended up crashing headfirst into an advertising board on the edge of the scorer's table.
The game didn't stop because Garnett fell to the ground. Billups received the ball that Garnett had saved and immediately launched a fast break, hitting a devastating three-pointer.
95 to 80. The suspense of the game was completely killed.
The team doctor rushed over to check on Garnett. Garnett had a cut on his forehead, and blood was flowing down from the corner of his eye.
But he pushed away the team doctor's hand, casually wiped the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand, and roared at Marion, who was lying on the ground, with a beast-like fervor in his eyes.
"This is Boston! If you want to score against us, you'd better be prepared to bleed!"
The buzzer sounded to signal the end of the match.
98 to 82.
The Boston Celtics secured a hard-fought victory in Game 2, taking a 16-point lead and bringing the NBA Finals score to 2-0.
Boston's resilience and ruthlessness in this game sent chills down the spines of the entire league.
The post-match press conference room.
Phil Jackson looked even worse than in the first game.
"We played better than in the first game," Phil said, his voice a little hoarse. " Michael and Charles showed admirable fighting spirit. But..."
He paused, as if searching for the right word to describe Boston.
"But Boston is like a bunch of lunatics. They don't even need a head coach on the sidelines directing any complicated tactics; they just keep bringing on those tireless young guys, using physicality and fouls to wear us down."
On the other side, Rick Carlisle looked at Garnett, who had a band-aid on his forehead, his expression still cold.
"We just won the games we were supposed to win," Rick Carlisle calmly replied to a reporter's question.