At halftime, 65 to 63, the Lakers only led the Celtics by 2 points.

The situation in the second quarter was very anxious.

After Sampson and Malone returned to the court, Louis also immediately replaced Garnett, and paired with the tragedy maker to play a more open inside high and low tactics.

The Celtics situation is even more interesting.

Hill, who was lifeless, suddenly came to life after his two legs came back. He wanted to make breakthroughs, and he wanted to shoot.

The atmosphere of the game changed, and both sides entered a state where neither could do anything to the other.

You score, and I score, so no one scores.

Moreover, the scores on both sides are almost the same, so the point difference has almost not changed.

"It's easy to see from the score that both teams played to a very high level."

"This is the finals."

Costas and Laimbeer praised the content of the game. On the other hand, the attitude of Louis and Daley in the midfield interview is also worth pondering.

Louis is relaxed and casual.

When asked if the Lakers would play "beautiful basketball" in the second half, Louis smiled: "I know what the fans are expecting. Don't worry, everything will be there."

In contrast, Daly was not so relaxed.

"I have never been as wary of my opponents as I am now." Daly said with lingering fear. "They have their own rhythm and state. The scary thing is that they have found a way to maintain this state. Since the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers have become another player.

As a team, they can easily do things that other teams cannot do."

Daly is indeed worried.

Although the score was only 2 points behind, the Lakers' condition was obviously getting better and better as they played.

This was even after something went wrong at the beginning of the second quarter.

The Celtics wanted to bring the Lakers into their own rhythm, but neither the inside effort nor the whole team's efforts to restrict Wilson had a good effect.

If the Lakers can really maintain this state, it would be terrible.

What's even more frightening is that the Lakers have a tendency to get better and better as they play.

Daly wanted to change this situation, but the problem was, he didn't know how.

To change the rhythm of the game, we can only start from two aspects, either attack or defense.

The Celtics' problem is that they don't have the offensive ability to compete defensively with the Lakers. That's the Lakers' advantage over offense.

So Daly had only one last resort left.

Try to put players into the right roles as much as possible, and then trust the players' performance.

In the Lakers locker room, Louis laid out the strategy for the second half in a brisk pace.

Regarding the Celtics issue, Louis didn't say much.

Because there is no need to waste your breath on this matter.

In his opinion, just being yourself is enough.

Louis' speech was so concise that it didn't look like a midfield arrangement in the finals.

It only took Louis three minutes to explain the tactics for the second half, and then asked the players to return to the scene to shoot and warm up.

Only then did everyone suddenly realize that this was to give Benj more warm-up time!

"Benjamin, you can't really feel numb all night, right?"

Kobe even said something to Wilson during the warm-up.

Wilson said with a straight face: "I'm not embarrassed enough to worry a rookie, just mind yourself!"

Kobe, whose good intentions were not rewarded, rolled his eyes.

Soon, the second half began.

The biggest change for the Lakers is that Barkley came on the bench.

The player replacing Barkley in the starting lineup is... Ben Wallace!

Lambir smiled and said: "I'm used to it. Coach Lu often does such amazing things."

"Ben Wallace?"

Most people are questioning this decision, especially Jerry West in the underground parking lot.

West was sitting in his car listening to the game on the radio. When he heard Ben coming on as the starter in the second half, he was like the seventh game of the 1969 Finals when his head coach got furious and made a statement because Chamberlain had Princess Disease.

Both at the time and now, it can be considered an undercover decision⑴.

"What is he doing?" West's lips trembled with anger, "He's crazy! He's absolutely crazy! What can Ben Wallace do against Ralph? Is he right? He doesn't have the ability! Damn it.

Louis! You fucking @_#…!!!”

However, West's mood quickly calmed down again.

Because he heard on the radio that Ben was facing Malone.

In West's view, this is still not a fair matchup, but it is better than facing up to Sampson.

It soon proved that the worries were unnecessary.

Although Ben is young, he has very strong defensive skills, which makes Malone's offense extremely difficult.

As the core of the Celtics' offense, Malone should have completely penetrated the paint against his opponent. However, due to being too superstitious about shooting, his shooting percentage was not high.

The Celtics were in a precarious situation, and Sampson stood up at this moment.

Holding the ball in the high post to beat Garnett in isolation, catching a buzzer-beating three-pointer from his teammates on the outside, breaking through with the ball from the baseline and hitting high for a layup, facing Garnett in the low post with up-and-down hook shots to score - and the most outrageous thing.

With one goal, the Golden Rooster faced the Lakers' double attack from outside and scored four points independently!

In a few minutes, Sampson scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shots.

"Ralph is unstoppable!"

Costas' words can only be regarded as general flattery.

The one who really knows how to brag is Ranbir.

"Ralph Sampson is the greatest player of the past fifty years, and he has 10,000 ways to dominate the game!"

However, Sampson's outburst did not give the Celtics the lead.

Because offense is only half of the game.

If you want to make a difference on the offensive end, you have to work harder on the defensive end.

However, the Celtics also had trouble taking advantage of the Lakers' offense.

The Lakers' offense only has two moves.

Wilson goes to the low post to attack himself or attract double-team passes.

Barros and Wilson scored with the ball and helped their teammates shoot three-pointers.

It was simple and lacked changes, but the Lakers shot 6 of 11 three-pointers in a single quarter without making any mistakes.

Sampson went from the beginning of the third quarter to the end of the quarter, scoring 22 points in a single quarter, as if he was back to his peak. However, in the last two minutes, he was obviously unable to do what he did, and the Lakers were still in the lead at that time.

Due to declining physical strength, Sampson did not score in the last two minutes of the third quarter, but Wilson, like a killer who never missed any opportunity, seized the opportunity to kill the enemy.

Suddenly, Benjamin Wilson, who had been working hard all night, suddenly opened.

Three-pointer, mid-range shot, mid-range shot, mid-range shot.

In the last two minutes of the third quarter, Wilson made all four shots.

At the same time, the Celtics were in a scoring drought, with one gain and one loss. Sampson, who played for most of the quarter, not only failed to let the Celtics take the lead for a moment, but also allowed the Lakers to widen the point difference to double digits.

Louis looked at Sampson regretfully.

Looking at his performance in this quarter alone, Sampson is still worthy of being a super player.

Mr. Only is still Mr. Only, but his physical ability limits him.

Now, Celtics fans will get to know Karl Malone all over again.

Although Malone's body and muscles make him expected to become the most secure player in the NBA, in the playoffs, it is very easy for Malone to lose himself in this moment of grinding his teeth and sucking blood.

The more critical it is, the higher Malone's turnover rate is.

But tonight, after Hill dug a hole with his front foot, Malone kicked Sampson in with his back foot.

If Louis was a Celtics fan, he would feel a sense of silent despair at this moment.

The Lakers are not invulnerable, and they make mistakes.

The problem is that they have the ability to correct their mistakes.

Wilson and Barkley are both superstars with strong defensive abilities, and they are also very capable role players.

The Celtics do not have such a good configuration, and everything they do revolves around the two giants inside.
To be continued...