Gan Guoyang passes the ball to Sabonis, Sabonis drives under the basket, fiercely attacks, but his layup is blocked by Mourning!
The Knicks launch a counterattack once again, Spree rushes forward like lightning, shakes off Kobe, passes Mu Lin, dives towards the basket and scores with ease!
The Trail Blazers call a timeout; unexpectedly, at the start of the first quarter, the Knicks caught the Trail Blazers off guard, prompting Bird to press the timeout button first.
The Knicks players are very excited, Jeff Van Gundy breathes a slight sigh of relief, it seems that his strategy for the opening was successful, now it’s up to the Trail Blazers to see how they respond.
Bird makes personnel adjustments first, substituting Riddle for Chris Mullin to strengthen the confrontation against the outside defense.
The Knicks have exploited Mullin’s defensive issues, they have backcourt dual guns, Kobe alone finds it tough to deal with them.
Dika Hart picks up the tactical board to arrange the defense, the Trail Blazers need to solve their defensive issues first.
Bird pulls Gan Guoyang aside and asks, "How do you feel? Nervous?"
"What kind of joke are you making? I would be nervous?"
"I don’t know, I’m afraid off-court matters might affect you."
"There might be a bit, but it won’t affect the victory of this match."
Gan Guoyang’s performance in the opening is very bland, Bird is worried that off-court news might affect Gan Guoyang’s state.
After all, under such issues and pressure, very few can maintain absolute composure.
Gan Guoyang is certainly not affected; his self-designated plan for the game was to play conservatively in the first quarter and exert force in the third.
The finals are different from the West Finals, requiring more caution; against tough teams like the Knicks, there’s no need to rush to suppress them in the opening.
Mutually pulling to find a state, striving to nail it in the familiar third quarter, that’s what Gan Guoyang has envisioned in his mind.
The Knicks did play well at the start, but the Trail Blazers have ways to respond, Hart redeploys the team’s defense.
The Trail Blazers aren’t hastily attempting to settle the Knicks with an explosive offense.
After the timeout, the Trail Blazers rely on Gan Guoyang’s screen and defense attraction in the offense, passing to Kobe, who drives toward the basket then passes to the flank, Brellock receives the ball, jumps and shoots, scores!
After scoring, Brellock immediately initiates on-place counter-steal, starting full-court press defense against the Knicks.
Among Knicks’ starters, the point guard is the weakest, the biggest loophole.
Chris Childs is at best a competent starter, lacking in comprehensive abilities needed to fully support Knicks’ offense.
Thus, often, Knicks’ outside ball controller is Spree; he directly carries the ball past half-court to lead the offense.
Brellock and Kobe team up to encircle Spree, who, despite being a madman, is not a specialized point guard, suddenly faced with high-intensity trapping, end up losing the ball.
Kobe snatches the ball; seeing a simple score with a pass to the frontcourt, the Knicks have no choice but to foul.
It’s still Trail Blazers’ offensive turn, Gan Guoyang loops to high position to receive the ball, directly plugs under the basket, Riddle cuts in to receive the ball, and scores the layup!
Chased 4 points in a row, now it’s the Knicks calling timeout.
At the finals level of confrontation, spotting any issue, timeouts are called very timely.
Van Gundy pulls out a pre-prepared note from his pocket, decides to make substitutions.
He subs Kurt Thomas in for Shawn Kemp, demanding to temporarily slow down and play more set offense.
"Success rate, we must play for success rate, success rate is our lifeline, don’t let the Trail Blazers take the lead."
Van Gundy knows well that once the Trail Blazers take a significant lead, the game will be quite difficult.
After the timeout, Knicks’ offense becomes more cautious, passing repeatedly, only taking shots when there is absolutely good opportunity.
With Kurt Thomas on the court, on the right low post mid-range shot—Knicks’ offense had just 1 second left.
Extreme shot, buzzer hit! They pass repeatedly, aiming to tear down Trail Blazers’ solid set defense.
In the several rounds after returning from timeout, this strategy worked well, Knicks players indeed opened with a good state.
Yet with increasing rounds, as time slowly dwindles, Knicks’ offense begins to exhaust gradually.
Trail Blazers protect the three-second zone very well, Knicks barely score under the basket, relying solely on inefficient mid-range shots.
Knicks are the team among the 16 playoff teams that shoot the least threes, one of those preferring mid-range shots.
Trail Blazers, by contrast, shoot the most threes among the 16 teams, relatively fewer mid-range—mainly taken by Kobe and Gan Guoyang.
The efficiency gap became apparent as the game progressed; the Knicks from leading by one or two points, to being tied, then to the last minute of the first quarter, pierced heart by two three-pointers from Kobe and Brellock, suddenly trailing 6 points!
29:23, Trail Blazers leading the Knicks by 6 points in the first quarter, both teams enter intermission.
Bill Walton summarizes the first quarter game saying, "I think, between New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers, there exists a generational gap."
"If the Knicks want to win, they must play to their strengths."
"What is their advantage, then?"
"Um... perhaps youth counts as one advantage? Or maybe... their native New York?"