After Little O’Neal and Ben Wallace came on, Kobe returned to his familiar Shooting Guard position.
Gan Guoyang moved to the three position, facing Tracy McGrady, which meant Gan Guoyang could relax a bit on defense.
Jackson realized the Trail Blazers’ intent, and he immediately shouted to O’Neal, "Opportunity, play inside Shaq!"
With Gan Guoyang moving to the three position, Ben Wallace became the direct match-up against O’Neal in the paint—a rugged man slightly over 2 meters in height but extremely burly.
In the past three seasons, Ben Wallace has only occasionally shown brilliance in the Trail Blazers’ lineup, missing out on most important games.
Within the Trail Blazers’ fluid offensive system, his lackluster offensive ability is a major flaw, making any attack with him a four-on-five situation that stalls the flow.
The management tried several times to trade Wallace for other assets, but Gan Guoyang defended Ben Wallace each time, saying, "Big Ben adapts to this era; he just doesn’t fit the current Trail Blazers. Someday, when the Trail Blazers need to adapt to the times instead of leading them, Ben’s defensive skills will be crucial, very valuable, and we cannot lose him. Because one day, you’ll lose me first."
The Trail Blazers’ management has always respected Gan Guoyang’s opinion, and since Ben Wallace, as an undrafted player, had modest salary demands, they offered him a nice renewal contract.
Entering his fourth career season, Wallace further developed his already impressive muscles.
Wallace knows you can’t train height, but you can develop muscles, and strength can compensate for a lack of height.
Look at those shorter big men in the league; which one hasn’t compensated to the maximum with strength?
Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, even Gan Guoyang, standing 6’10", doesn’t stand out as a center, but he has honed his strength to the extreme.
With such role models around him, Ben Wallace trained diligently, spending countless hours in the gym honing his physique.
Now his upper body has reached quite a terrifying dimension, enough to contend with most of the league’s big men.
Of course, due to limitations in height and weight, going against Shaquille O’Neal is still an impossible task.
The Lakers quickly fed the ball to O’Neal in the paint, allowing him to power through Big Ben, and with one push and spin, he blocked Ben Wallace behind him, finishing with a beautiful one-handed dunk.
The Trail Blazers still had no plans to double-team O’Neal, not wanting O’Neal’s passing to activate the entire Lakers offense.
Soon after, Kobe went one-on-one on the outside against Harper, executing a stop-and-pop jump shot after a crossover dribble. Despite Harper’s best efforts to interfere, the shot went in.
Seeing Kobe’s moves and shooting form, Harper couldn’t help but marvel inside; this kid really is like Michael Jordan.
The Lakers continued passing the ball to O’Neal, and the Trail Blazers still left Ben Wallace to defend solo. Wallace exerted all his strength to hold firm.
During the halftime break, Gan Guoyang told Wallace that it’s impossible to completely stop O’Neal one-on-one, but keeping his success rate around 50% would be enough.
In simple terms, don’t let O’Neal bulldoze through, scoring over your head for four or five consecutive possessions without any defensive solutions.
This requirement is still quite high, and for Ben Wallace, it’s a huge test. If he’s overwhelmed by O’Neal, then the team’s plans fail.
This time, O’Neal failed to finish solo because he pushed so hard inside that his footwork wasn’t clean, and the referee called him for traveling.
"Nice defense," Gan Guoyang came over and praised Ben Wallace.
As long as Wallace holds up, Gan Guoyang can relax a bit, conserving energy for fast breaks.
In a set offense, Gan Guoyang received the ball at a 45-degree angle, easily muscled past McGrady, and made a smooth mid-range jumper.
The Lakers’ defensive intensity was dropping from its peak, a dangerous signal.
The Trail Blazers, in contrast, had freshly entered Big Ben and Little O’Neal, still full of energy.
When O’Neal attempted another solo play, Little O’Neal proactively double-teamed, and O’Neal passed to Holi cutting in.
Holi’s layup through the middle was blocked by both Little O’Neal and Ben Wallace, a double rejection.
Kobe seized the ball, and Gan Guoyang immediately launched a fast break; the benefit of resting hands on hips is the rapid transition!
Kobe threw a long pass to Gan Guoyang, who caught it and slammed it home with both hands!
The Trail Blazers reduced the deficit to 6 points again, while Jackson remained grounded.
Of course, he was a bit anxious inside, surprised that the Trail Blazers’ short-sized three-position could withstand O’Neal’s impact.
Jide no longer fed O’Neal the ball but opted for a drive, circling from the baseline and suddenly throwing an alley-oop pass inside.
O’Neal descended, caught the ball with both hands in mid-air, and finished with a powerful alley-oop dunk; with Gan Guoyang not inside, he was unstoppable.
But Gan Guoyang also found his offensive rhythm, and after warming up for most of the game, his shooting form was back.
Receiving a setup pass from Little O’Neal at the arc, he immediately rose up for a three-pointer and nailed it! His first three-pointer of the night!
The deficit trimmed to 5 points. As soon as Gan Guoyang started his catch-up mode, Jackson finally grew a bit anxious.