The referee tossed the ball into the air. O'Neal, with his wingspan and speed advantage, passed the ball to Kidd, and Game 6 of the NBA Finals officially began.
As soon as Kidd dribbled across half-court, the Staples Center fans noticed a sense of ruthlessness in the matchup.
Ron Artest completely ignored the weak-side tactical runs and went straight for Michael Jordan. Without any symbolic probing, Artest stuck to Jordan, completely cutting off Kidd's passing lanes.
Jordan chewed his gum expressionlessly, attempting to shake off the defense with a baseline V-cut. But Artest had done his homework; he moved laterally beforehand, blocking Jordan's angle to receive the ball. The two men's muscles clashed violently off the ball.
Kidd controlled the ball at the edge of the penalty area. He habitually looked deep into the box.
Ben Wallace was demonstrating to everyone what top-tier defensive IQ looks like. When Kidd had the ball at the top of the key, Big Ben immediately used his quick footwork to slide between O'Neal and Kidd, opting for a semi-fronting defense.
He blocked O'Neal's path to receive the ball like a piece of chewing gum, with his hands raised high. With O'Neal's Big Ben body blocked behind him, Kidd couldn't find a safe straight pass route. If the pass was even slightly low, it would easily be intercepted by Big Ben's long arms.
Kidd was forced to pass the ball to Sean Marion on the wing, attempting to change the angle of the pass.
The instant the basketball flew toward the wing, Big Ben swiftly changed his defensive strategy. He knew very well that if he fronted the ball and encountered a lob pass from the 45-degree angle on the wing, it would be easy for O'Neal to turn and dunk it. So, Big Ben Wallace suddenly spun around and slid directly from in front of O'Neal to behind him.
When Marion tried to comfortably pass the ball to O'Neal in the low post, Big Ben had already lowered his center of gravity. He positioned his broad forearm and elbow against O'Neal's lower back, instantly switching his defensive stance. O'Neal tried to push backward to crush the ball as he received it, but Big Ben's chassis remained perfectly still, even cleverly dissipating the force during the contact, forcing O'Neal's center of gravity to sway slightly.
This seamless switching between fronting and backing down defense not only tested the defender's physical fitness but also repeatedly wore down O'Neal's mental patience.
With only seven seconds left on the shot clock, the Lakers failed to collapse their perimeter defense, and both Marion and Fisher were tightly guarded by their respective defenders, leaving them with absolutely no space to receive the ball.
Jordan was forced to move up, and with a step to the three-point line, he received the pass with difficulty, despite being shoved by Artest. The moment he received the ball, Artest immediately engaged in high-intensity physical contact, constantly disrupting Jordan's dribbling rhythm with both hands. Without any tactical screen or room to adjust, Jordan could only force a pull-up fadeaway jumper before the red light came on.
His jump height was noticeably lower than usual. The basketball bounced off the front edge of the rim, Garnett grabbed the defensive rebound.
Boston immediately launched a counterattack. With the defensive burden lifted, Chris Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett displayed amazing efficiency on offense.
Pierce faced Marion at the right 45-degree angle. In previous games, Pierce had always seemed a bit hesitant when handling the ball in this position, as the immense exertion on the defensive end had significantly reduced his offensive output. But tonight, he lowered his center of gravity and made a sharp crossover. Marion tried to slide to keep up, but Pierce didn't hesitate at all, forcefully breaking through from the left side.
O'Neal was forced to abandon his positioning against Big Ben and took a step forward to help defend. Pierce suddenly stopped in his tracks, looked towards the corner, flicked his wrist, and delivered a bounce pass. The ball accurately passed through O'Neal's defensive blind spot and landed in the hands of Garnett, who was cutting down the court.
Garnett caught the ball and immediately sprang up, slamming it into the basket with both hands. 2-0.
As the game progressed, Rick Carlisle's tactical intentions were executed thoroughly on the field.
Throughout the first half, the Lakers ' offensive pace was significantly slowed down. Big Ben displayed a variety of defensive variations in the paint, sometimes cutting off connections by fronting the defense, sometimes battling in the low post, and sometimes using his speed to box out early. O'Neal was indeed able to make some shots, but every time he wanted to score in the low post, he needed to spend more than fifteen seconds battling with Big Ben.
On the perimeter, Artest's relentless defense was gradually draining Jordan's energy reserves. Every time there was a dead ball, the broadcast cameras clearly captured the dense beads of sweat on Jordan's forehead. He no longer called for the ball as frequently as in the previous games because he found that as soon as he moved, that shadowy defender would immediately loom over him.
Midway through the second quarter, Rick Carlisle made further adjustments: Rasheed Wallace came on as a substitute, and Boston fielded a frontcourt combination of Big Ben, Garnett, and Rasheed.
After Rasheed entered the game, he went straight to the left corner three-point line. This extreme positioning caused trouble for Charles Barkley, who was responsible for guarding him. Barkley was forced to drag his heavy body out of the paint to guard this tall shooter in the corner. The Lakers' interior was instantly cleared out, and O'Neal completely lost his help defense.
Billups astutely seized the opportunity presented by the change in position. He feigned a tactical call from the high post, followed by a wide cross that sent the ball flying directly to the bottom corner.
Rasheed received the ball and, without even adjusting, jumped up and launched a three-pointer over Barkley's slightly sluggish defense.
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
"Your paint is so wide open you could fit a Boeing airliner in there!" Rasheed yelled at the Lakers ' bench as he retreated on defense. " Charles, you're too far away! Do you want some binoculars to watch me shoot?"
Barkley looked quite grim, but the facts were undeniable. The Lakers ' defensive formation had been punished by Rasheed's corner three-pointer.
With the combined offensive talents of these three players, Boston controlled the game on the road.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 78-69.
With a nine-point lead, the Boston Celtics have pushed the Lakers to the brink of elimination.