This season, after coming to Glory, Padgett received more opportunities to play.
Without John Stockton's passing, Padgett can hit 45% on three-point shots, which should be considered a good firepower from the bench.
Padgett in the starting lineup makes Glory's lineup resemble the Kings more, almost like a mirror image.
Glory Team started the game very lightly and swiftly, Tomjanovich requested that the team be even lighter on offense.
So in the opening, after winning the jump ball, Porter and Gan Guoyang completed a pick-and-roll at the high post, then Porter stopped abruptly and jumped up for a shot that scored.
The two old mates are quite in harmony, Gan Guoyang's pick is solid, and Porter's stop-and-shoot is steady.
Porter thinks to himself, while stamina is good now, shoot quickly so he won't get scolded for missing shots when he's tired.
This play exposed a problem with the Kings' perimeter defense: Mike Bibby, being a point guard, has a strong build that's both his advantage and disadvantage.
When tracking the opponent's number one, Bibby finds it hard to keep up completely, and after pick-and-rolls, he struggles to squeeze through, easily leaving a gap and getting punished by precise-shooting point guards.
On the offense, Bibby is quite formidable; he successfully penetrated Glory Team's interior, attracting defensive attention.
Then, he passed to Stojakovic on the left at a 45-degree angle, who quickly shot a three-pointer and scored!
Both teams scored quickly at the start; looks like tonight is destined to be a high-scoring battle.
Both teams indeed score very fast; in a transition play, Gan Guoyang received an arc-top pass and hit a three-pointer!
This season, Gan Guoyang's three-point attempts and shooting rates have reached career peaks unexpectedly.
Soon after, Divac assisted cutting Christie in the high post, Christie received the ball, avoided Miller's block, and made a layup.
This cutting motion was very natural, squatting at the corner initially, awaiting a three-point opportunity.
Seeing the tactic change, seeming to move outside while actually diving inside, receiving and laying in the ball unexpectedly.
The Kings evidently worked hard on cut-in concealment, with quite strong misdirection.
Gan Guoyang immediately took a Miller interior pass in the left low post and scored with a left-handed dunk!
The Kings' defense is indeed average; Divac is getting older, moving slowly, decent in single defense, but struggles in assists.
Besides rebounding anticipation and protection being decent, Wei Bo's defense is quite average otherwise.
Especially facing Ah Gan, he's hesitant to make a move, getting squeezed behind by Gan Guoyang and losing position.
But the Kings can respond on offense; facing Glory's sudden zone defense, Wei Bo hit from 45 degrees for a long two-point shot.
A few rounds later, Glory, initially able to match the Kings, gradually fell into disadvantage.
After both sides settled in, Glory's offensive means were apparently fewer than the Kings'; they were undermanned.
Meanwhile, the Kings have a complete lineup; everyone is in excellent form, and their bench is quite aggressive.
Turkoglu and Bobby Jackson played in the middle and latter part of the first quarter; both have starting capabilities.
Saying they have starting capabilities because they can solve problems strongly during matches.
The game is ever-changing; plans often can't keep up with changes, and when situations change causing issues, they need to solve problems either by switching tactics or putting the ball in the basket themselves.
Jackson and Turkoglu are both very good in this aspect, including during playoffs.
In comparison, on Glory Team's bench, there are very few who can truly solve problems.
The Kings' bench, including Pollard, forms a bench mob that's another success factor this season.
The Kings took a lead in the first quarter, 33:27, with a 6-point margin.
Both sides aggressively swinging arms, but Glory Team can't match up to the Kings, whose firepower is also sustained very well.
Glory Team made adjustments in the second quarter, beginning defensively by assigning Raja Bell to guard Mike Bibby instead of Old Porter.
Porter is getting older and can't keep up with Bibby, and the strength advantage Porter has against most small point guards doesn't apply against Bibby.
Thus, Porter matched against Christie, whose offensive threat is smaller, allowing the better-defending and younger Bell to chase Bibby.
Offensively, Tomjanovich asked Glory to shoot more threes, spreading the space wider.
Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang should initiate more low-post offenses, as the axis leading teammates, which is Glory Team's final trump card.
After the second quarter began, Padgett received an assist from Gan Guoyang and hit his first three-pointer of the game from the right at a 45-degree angle.
After Bell marked Bibby defensively, the Kings' offensive maneuvering was indeed more challenging than in the first quarter.
This is another feature of the Kings' Princeton System, the Bibby+Wei Bo perimeter pick-and-roll duo is the team's core tactic.
Adelman knows very well that relying on Wei Bo alone can't give Princeton System a solid foundation like Ah Gan.
Before Bibby joined the Kings, the team had never become a top-tier League squad.
Bibby's arrival truly transformed the Kings, bringing a qualitative change to the team.
Due to Bibby's stable long-range shooting ability on offense and his diverse pick-and-roll collaboration with Wei Bo, it supplemented the Princeton System excellently, even considered the final piece of the puzzle.