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Five minutes later, Yang Rui made adjustments. Hornacek came on to replace Tracy McGrady, Cato replaced Miller, who had committed five fouls, and Boykins, Christie, and Jumaine continued to play.

Due to the team's big lead, Carter will not play again. He only played 30 minutes, making 10 of 17 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 30 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

Playing in the finals for the first time, he didn't feel nervous, but he was still a little unsatisfied. He still had the strength.

On the Lakers side, Phil Jackson replaced the tired O'Neal and played small ball tactics with Fisher, Kobe, Rice, Fox, and Holly.

On the surface, it looked like it was garbage time, but in fact, Jackson still had some illusions, so he let people who were good at shooting come on.

However, the Raptors' substitutes are not weak either. Christie defends seriously. After the pick-and-roll, Jumaine changes defense very quickly and tries his best to pester Kobe. He is 203cm tall and weighs 100kg. He is a small forward and plays power forward.

In his rookie season, Zhu Mein did not get much playing time in the regular season. Now on the big stage of the finals, he has a strong desire to perform and wants to prove himself and contribute to the team.

The Lakers couldn't catch up with the score, so there was no need for O'Neal to play again. Kobe was also replaced two minutes early and entered garbage time.

Throughout the game, the Raptors were on one-on-one defense against O'Neal and fouled when they couldn't resist. This led to O'Neal's terrible statistics, 12 of 18 shots, 17 of 36 free throws, 41 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.

Kobe shot 6 of 18 from the field, 0 of 4 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.

If people who didn't watch the game saw the data, they would probably think that Kobe was too useless and was really guarded by Christie. In fact, Kobe was the one who was taken care of by the Raptors and suffered several double-teams.

Glenn Rice was really bad. Facing Carter's one-on-one defense, he made 1 of 8 shots and missed all 4 three-pointers.

Made 1 of 2 free throws, scored 3 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

The Raptors defeated the Lakers 112-90 and got off to a good start in the Finals.

Mike Breen laughed: "Although Jerry Young's crazy slashing of sharks allowed O'Neal to get a record-breaking free throw, which caused the game to be intermittent, his strategy did reduce O'Neal's efficiency, and the Raptors won without trying their best. Contest."

Frazier smiled and said: "Should O'Neal get so many free throws in every game? The Raptors have two heavy inside players, and sending them on the field can be effective."

Breen analyzed: "Maybe Yang Rui thinks Kevin Cato and Jerome James are not good offensively. If they can shoot, they will definitely be reused."

In the past, stars were the protagonists in press conferences, but this time was an exception. Everyone felt that the coach was the protagonist. Proper tactics were the reason why the Raptors defeated the Lakers easily. Yang Rui made several adjustments with remarkable results, and he did not suffer from being a substitute in the starting lineup.

"Jerry, how do you feel now?"

Jerry smiled and said: "I'm very happy. We are one step closer to the championship trophy. Before the start of the season, few people believed that the Raptors could win the championship. Now, there should be very few people who believe that the Raptors can't win the championship, right?"

The reporter asked: "Will you continue to use shark-cutting tactics in the end?"

"Why not?"

The reporter said: "O'Neal thinks that the Raptors' victory was an act of a coward and shameless. What do you think?"

Yang Rui thought for a while and replied with a smile: "I think O'Neal's 147 kilograms of weight is a coward's move against a lightweight insider. He actually took advantage of his own advantage. It is very shameless. Can he lose 30 kilograms first before playing? ? Of course, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t decrease. I can also give O’Neal some preferential treatment next. As long as he shoots outside the penalty area, I promise not to arrange defense and make it as easy as free throws for him. He will shoot casually and we will only grab rebounds.”

Some reporters burst out laughing. Many people ridiculed O'Neal for not being able to shoot, but none were as straightforward as Yang Rui.

The reporter asked: "Are you confident of winning the next game?"

"Of course we will win. If Vince, Jermaine and others didn't only play 30 minutes, would the Lakers lose so little?"

In the second game, Yang Rui didn't cut the shark at the beginning, letting Cato start to defend O'Neal, and the other starting positions remained unchanged.

Christie is on standby in the bottom corner. Carter holds the ball in the middle and attacks with Cato in a pick-and-roll, looking for mismatch opportunities. Billups actively runs, catches and shoots, while O'Neal Jr. screens from the side and looks for opportunities on the outside.

The Lakers were very embarrassed on the defensive end in the first quarter. O'Neal failed to defend and Carter found a pick-and-roll to get rid of Kobe and directly hit a mid-range jumper. Even Kobe, blocked by Cato for half a second, couldn't block Carter's pull-up.

If O'Neal switches defense, Carter will hold the ball to attract him to stand outside and pass the ball to Cato who is cutting in the middle.

Cato also has an advantage. Kobe can't defend him when attacking in the low post. The weight difference between the two is like O'Neal versus Miller, and Kobe is half a head shorter. This cannot be compensated by defensive skills or experience.

The Lakers' offense was not bad, and the two sides tied at 27 in the first quarter.

When the substitutes came on in the second quarter, the Lakers couldn't stand it anymore.

The Raptors' five-man Hornacek, Christie, McGrady, O'Neal, and Miller can all shoot three-pointers, and the formation is completely stretched. Miller organized in the middle, players moved on both sides, and only Christie's position was fixed.

Mike Breen saw it and said: "The Raptors played Princeton as a substitute, and the ball moved very well. In contrast, the Lakers only played O'Neal and Kobe in isolation, and the role players didn't move much. This doesn't work."

The current players on the field, except for O'Neal Jr., have good passing awareness. They have a tacit understanding when they are willing to share the ball.

In this quarter, Hornacek was in brilliant form and became the protagonist, hitting three three-pointers and scoring 11 points and 2 assists.

In the second half, Billups began to show his strength again under the cover of the inside players, hitting three three-pointers in a single quarter. O'Neal also received passes from his teammates and scored many times with strong low shots. Regardless of Green or Holly, they will suffer physically when defending O'Neal alone.

The Raptors still defended one-on-one inside, and they didn't commit many fouls. The guard locked up the Lakers' long-range shots, cutting off the connection between the guard and O'Neal.

O'Neal consumed a lot of energy when playing against the Trail Blazers, and he took so many shots on the field, so his physical condition was not at its best. He was afraid of taking too many free throws on the field, and his attack was not as decisive as when he was on the field.

On the defensive end, O'Neal consumes a lot of money. He switches to guard Carter, Hornacek, and Billups. He cannot stay near the penalty area to protect the basket.

In the final quarter, the same situation occurred as in the previous game. O'Neal's efficiency dropped, and others were unable to step up and score consecutively. The Raptors widened the score in a wave.

120 to 87, the Raptors won by 33 points.

Billups made 7 of 12 shots, 5 of 8 three-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 23 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals, beating veteran Hubble.

Carter made 12 of 18 shots, 4 of 6 three-pointers, and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored 35 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, and once again defeated Glenn Rice.

Six members of the Raptors team scored in double figures, and even in garbage time, they still dominated the Lakers.

O'Neal scored 35 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists, and made 1 of 6 free throws.

Kobe made 7 of 20 shots and 0 of 1 from three-point range. He continued to be sluggish. He failed to get a free throw in the game and had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Christie's defense was very successful. He followed closely from the outside. When Kobe broke in, his teammates would help double-team, allowing Green and Fox to shoot.

Rice made 3 of 8 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 4 of 7 free throws. He scored 11 points, 2 assists, and no rebounds. Only three of the Lakers scored in double figures.

After two games, everyone felt that the Lakers were doomed.

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