Pat Riley had a challenge.

Because the Celtics' five-three-point lineup successfully put pressure on their defense and caused them to lose sight of one thing.

Midway through the second quarter, Riley saw the Celtics leading by 5 points.

Bird pretended to pass the ball. His movements were very realistic, but no matter how realistic, how could Wilkins be shaken to the point of losing his center of gravity?

Standing on the sidelines, he couldn't feel Wilkins' pressure, he just wanted to curse loudly.

But he couldn't do that.

Bird's three-pointer gave him a jolt, and he ran to the technical table to request a timeout.

"38 to 33! Little's change gave the Celtics the lead!" Dick Stockton handed the question to Heinsohn, "Tom, what do you think of his change?"

Heinsohn has forgotten the snub at the Louis Legend.

"I think I already know why Reid chose him as the head coach of the Celtics." Heinsohn clearly pointed out, "He is a young man who is willing to accept new things, and the three-point line is a game-changer.

A product that many old coaches ostracized and longed to banish from the game, we are almost certain that the three-point line is here to stay. If you can't make it go away, you have to learn to live with it."

"Louis is more forward than I thought. He not only wants to coexist with the three-point line, he also wants to use the three-point line."

Heinsohn said in surprise: "The five Celtics on the field have all taken three-pointers in the past few minutes. Although their three-point threats are different, they have proven that they can play in three-pointers."

The shots outside the arc put a lot of pressure on the Lakers. Larry's instigation from the high post ran through the Celtics' offense. Now, I think Isiah and Ralph are almost rested."

In the second quarter, Louis only retained John Long and replaced all the other four players.

Especially Bird, who played for a long time.

He changed the lineup and now it's Thomas, Carr, Long, Maxwell and Sampson.

"Isiah, your strength should be more than this. Can Dennis Johnson pose a threat to you?" Louis never believed that Thomas would be guarded by any Lakers player.

With the Lakers' defense, if Thomas wants to perform well, it all depends on his own mood.

"Next, play more No. 1 systems. Ralph and Cedric, you have to cooperate more with Isiah." Louis emphasized, "When necessary, you can use one-on-one to solve the problem. Isiah, the Lakers have no one."

I can match you in speed."

Thomas nodded yes.

Lambir said sourly: "Come on, you can save some of the lead I have worked so hard to gain for me!"

"Look, I'm so proud of you. Does the lead in the score have anything to do with you?" Maxwell asked disdainfully.

Laimbeer said confidently: "Four people can't play the game."

Louis pushed Maxwell onto the court and told him to stop talking.

On the other side, the Lakers made many targeted arrangements against the Celtics' large number of high-post pick-and-rolls, with Bird controlling the ball and bombarding the offense.

As a result, Louis waved his hand and changed all the people.

"Don't worry, their attack will still be launched from the outside!" Riley shouted loudly.

Dave Wall, another assistant coach of Riley, said after watching: "If it is this lineup, we only need to keep an eye on John Long's three-pointers, and the others can maintain defensive intensity and apply pressure outside the paint area.

Limit their attacks."

Riley doesn't think the Celtics' offense is that easy to control.

"That kid is not simple, let's see and talk about it." Riley decided to try the Celtics.

The Lakers also rested Magic and replaced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Dennis Johnson, Sterling, Michael Cooper and Jamal Wilkes.

He has defense, athletic ability, and a forward who can shoot from the high post, but his backcourt is a little short.

Sure enough, the Lakers asked Johnson to guard Thomas, and then asked Scott to chase Long.

Johnson's defense likes to let Thomas take two steps, because Thomas doesn't have the ability to pull up and make a strong shot if he takes two steps.

Thomas used Maxwell's pick-and-roll, and the Lakers' defense just showed its fangs.

They still bullied Thomas's unstable long-range shooting, so they directly bypassed the defense when encountering pick-and-rolls. Johnson, the big boy, was scheming. Although his speed was far inferior to Thomas, he was able to stick to people and prevent Thomas from getting to the basket easily.

His teammates waved their arms, adding obstacles to Thomas' passing route.

With one mistake, the ball passed to Wilkes' hands.

Wilkes passed the ball to Scott again, who was about to start a fast break, but Long caught up with him and fouled him heavily.

The two sides finally remembered their old enemy relationship, and for the first time there was a tense atmosphere on the field.

Scott stood up and yelled at Long: "Nigger, you're playing with fire!"

Lang didn't want to scold him, so he raised his hands to back away after the foul.

"Even if you feel you are in the wrong, don't surrender like the French!" Louis shouted.

Hearing this, Long put his hand down. Scott kept chattering and wanted to come up. Maxwell stood up for his teammates and came forward to exchange several rounds of trash talk.

The referee did not want any friction or accident to occur in this game, so he stepped forward to stop it in time.

Only then did both parties get control.

"As long as Isiah's three-pointers are unstable, his pick-and-roll offense will no longer be a threat." Louis couldn't help but say, remembering the embarrassment of Thomas being surrounded just now.

Tomjanovich shook his head and said: "It's not that easy. He only started practicing three-pointers after he entered the league."

"Humph!" Louis was annoyed by this kind of comment the most.

It's as if the three-point abilities of Bird, John Long, Laimbeer, Paxson, and Ainge were all given by God.

To counter this kind of self-destruction, a quote from Ray Allen can be used to refute: "Don't hate me, God doesn't care about my three-pointers."

The implication is that don't always use the phrase "talent" to insult other people's efforts.

From a human perspective, there are really not many talents given by God.

Scott was fouled by Long and the result was one of two free throws, which was considered a valuable foul.

Thomas dribbled over again.

Louis reminded him: "Don't call the pick-and-roll."

Thomas didn't know what he meant.

"Larry and Bill can share your pressure with three-pointers, but Cedric and Ralph can't. Instead of calling a pick-and-roll, it's better to find a way to break the game yourself." Louis suggested quickly.

Thomas, like the Magician opposite, was hampered by the luxurious configuration of his teammates, which limited his space to display his personal abilities.

Even Louis underestimated Thomas.

In this round, he dribbled with his fingertips, raised his center of gravity, lowered his center of gravity, and accelerated. Dennis Johnson, the defensive guru that Buster hired to wipe Magic's butt, didn't even have a chance to react.

Thomas shook him off, got behind him to eat the exhaust, and then rushed to a position two steps inside the three-point line to stop and start suddenly.

40 to 34

"NieShot!" Louie shouted.

The Garden is also shouting for Thomas. The recognition he cannot get from the media can be obtained here.

Thomas ran back and the Lakers tried to integrate their offensive resources.

Without the magician, it's best to keep everything simple.

Ultimately, the Lakers are a team that relies on fast breaks to destroy their opponents. When they fall into a positional battle, they seem to have many options, but taken together, there are only two options.

Give the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or give the ball to someone else.

If you need someone to force the ball in a positional battle, wouldn't you pass the ball to the most stable two-pointer in history and let someone else do it?

They gave the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with Sampson behind him.

It's been the first time since the opening ceremony that they faced each other head-on.

Sampson used the trick Thurmond had taught him to dig into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's left shoulder.

Although both he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tend to be thin, but the latter is older, but Sampson has built muscles using scientific recipes, and his strength may be stronger than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was very uncomfortable with suddenly encountering such fierce resistance.

He roared, turned sideways, and forced his left elbow into Sampson's chest, trying to use his skyhook.

His desire to be superior aroused Sampson's bloodshed.

Sampson shouted angrily and jumped up with all his strength.

Seven feet four inches, with enough bounce height to flatten the basket, in front of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he blasted the skyhook that seemed impossible to block out of bounds.

Louis, Tomjanovich, and Cowens' mouths opened into an O shape at the same time.

After Thurmond was shocked, the first thing that came to his mind was to pretend: "He has the same demeanor as I did back then."

Heinsohn blew some nonsense at Sampson.

Listen to what he said:

"Ralph's block makes me think that Wilt's blocking of Kareem twice in one round is not a great achievement!"

The Lakers were blinded by Sampson.
To be continued...