With an outstanding outside shooting accuracy, Glory suppressed the Lakers at the start.
An 11-point lead left the Lakers fans a bit bewildered; who really is number one in the Western Conference?
But the game is still long, and shooting accuracy is bound to decline. Both sides will have many changes through dynamic offensive and defensive adjustments.
Gan Guoyang is very confident about tonight’s game; he knows he has already found his groove.
Now, what he needs to think about is maintaining this state until the last moment of the game.
In the past, he never needed to consider this issue; if he got into the zone, his opponents were most likely done for.
Now he has become more cautious and meticulous, needing to wisely allocate his energy and maintain his offensive touch.
Old Tang’s allocation of playing time is one approach, and through regular season trials, he has adapted to this arrangement.
Every game’s time is controlled around 35 minutes, spanning the head and tail segments of the first half, cutting out the middle.
Then exert force in the third quarter, but not excessively, saving some energy for the final moments of the fourth quarter.
It’s different when he’s in the zone; the worse his stamina, the more accurately he shoots.
This situation is recorded in the comic "Slam Dunk Master"—the comic ended when Gan Guoyang first retired, and Inoue Takehiko said, "In memory of the greatest basketball player."
Now, Inoue’s "Vagabond" has been serialized for many years. Unexpectedly, the greatest basketball player is still playing!
After the Lakers’ timeout, the two teams entered a tug-of-war, with the Lakers significantly strengthening their defense, especially against Glory’s quick counterattacks.
Lindsey Hunter replaced the slightly slower Fisher; his defensive retreat is very quick and aggressive.
In one of Glory’s counterattacks, he successfully blocked Arenas’ fast-break layup.
Meanwhile, O’Neal re-entered the game, but he encountered fierce double-teaming under the basket from Glory, unlike in the first quarter.
A missed layup was swatted away by Gan Guoyang; Lakers regained possession and fed O’Neal to attack again.
This time, O’Neal used a fake move first, exploded to the opposite side, and dunked successfully! 40:31.
The Shark was venting his inner energy; he cares a lot about this series and feels quite nervous. Overall, his emotions are exceedingly complex.
Honestly, seeing Gan Guoyang hit three-pointers consecutively outside made him a bit jittery.
Fortunately, Ah Gan seemed to have restrained his edge later, not continuing to hit shots, and the Lakers’ defense indeed strengthened, making Glory’s ball movement less smooth.
Glory scored 34 points in the first quarter, 40 points shortly after the second started; it’s indeed too much, and the Lakers need to focus on defense.
Arenas accidentally fell while dribbling on a breakthrough; Hunter dove in fiercely, the two scrambled on the ground, and the referee called a jump ball.
This is what playoff contention should be like; the atmosphere gradually heated up, and the fans will become more and more frenzied.
Arenas, relying on outstanding jumping and wingspan, tipped the ball, and Gan Guoyang received the ball at the arc top.
His ball-handling breakthrough drew a foul from Pippen, sideline ball; Gan Guoyang received the ball back-facing, passed to the middle where Miller missed the shot.
Lakers got the rebound, high-intensity confrontation made Glory’s shooting accuracy decline.
However, Glory’s defense was equally diligent, triple-teaming O’Neal under the basket, forcing him to pass.
Outside, Arenas and Bell did their utmost to chase the ball, chase the player, not giving Lakers any easy outside shooting opportunities.
Arenas and Lindsey Hunter scrambled together again; the two were quite engaged.
Ball went out of bounds, still Lakers’ possession; sideline ball, Pippen received it, made a mid-range shot, finally scored. 40:33.
Arenas immediately counterattacked, forcefully breaking through Lindsey Hunter, driving into the basket, and floater, scored! 42:33.
"Nicely done!" Gan Guoyang praised Arenas.
Arenas was under intense focus from the Lakers during this period.
Because the Point Guard is the first initiator of the team’s offense.
No matter if Arenas is the brain or not, as the first ball-handler, if disturbed, and the process of passing the half-court and passing the ball is not smooth, Glory’s offense will be affected.
Besides, he’s a rookie, so Jackson craftily assigned veteran Hunter to disrupt Arenas, mess up Arenas’ rhythm, and incidentally make Glory’s offense unsmooth.
Arenas withstood the pressure, steadied himself with scoring and intense ball struggles, thereby stabilizing the situation.
After a series of fierce ball struggles, the game entered a period of calm again.
At this time, the Lakers would always space out, give the ball to O’Neal, letting him aggressively attack low-post several times.
This is quintessential Lakers rhythm, suddenly giving you a few blows, defensive rips, counterattacks, stirring the situation.
Then, everyone charged and was a bit tired, time to ease up, Lakers began to let O’Neal efficiently isolate, while others catch their breath.
O’Neal received the ball, turned, aggressively attacked Willis, scored off the backboard, and drew a foul from Willis.
Willis needed a break; Brad Miller re-entered. O’Neal converted the free throw, completed a 2+1, 42:36, closing the score gap.
Glory’s outside three-point shooting accuracy indeed declined; Arenas’ outside shooting attempts didn’t hit, O’Neal got the rebound.
Then underneath, O’Neal received the ball, hooked his shot again, two points scored! 42:38.
The Lakers closed to within 4 points, pressure returned to Glory’s side.
Gan Guoyang also went to the low post, knowing the game reached another critical juncture.
In a shallower position, he called for the ball to prevent a quick double-team by the Lakers.