"Tang... Tang steps up again at the crucial moment, stopping the Cavaliers' scoring drought!"
The announcer's drawn-out voice echoed throughout the arena.
At this critical juncture, it was Tang Long who stepped up to stabilize the passive situation.
His dominant shot completely swept away the pent-up frustration of the Cavaliers players.
"Well done, we should have played like this long ago!"
LeBron James ran over and excitedly hugged Tang Long, while other players high-fived and celebrated.
The Cavaliers' momentum had returned!
With high spirits, they were ready to counterattack the Lakers!
Beep!
However, at this moment, the Zen Master called a timeout.
As expected of a top coach in the league, as soon as the Cavaliers showed a hint of a comeback, he immediately called a quick timeout to dampen their excitement.
Tang Long and the others walked off the court. Mike Brown's expression didn't change, and he didn't seem angry. He simply took out his tactical board and said a few words.
The twenty-second timeout passed quickly.
Mike Brown put away the tactical board, opened his mouth, then swallowed his words, merely nodding at everyone.
This made the Cavaliers players breathe a sigh of relief.
Since Mike Brown didn't give any special instructions, it meant he now agreed with the team's performance just now.
Then, both teams' players returned to the court. The lineup remained unchanged, with the starting five still playing.
After the timeout in the third quarter, Kobe did not continue to play as aggressively as before, and his shot attempts decreased slightly.
He focused more on facilitating, letting his teammates attack.
Everyone initially thought this would lead to better coordination for the Lakers and an increased lead. However, after both teams' starters played the entire quarter, the Lakers lost by eight points, 17-25.
After three quarters, the Lakers trailed the Cavaliers by two points, 70-72.
This time, not only were the fans in the arena stunned, but even the haters who had been criticizing Kobe for hogging the ball and not giving teammates opportunities were also bewildered.
What was going on?
After Kobe's facilitation, Gasol and Odom took on more offensive responsibilities.
However, Gasol had almost no advantage when he went one-on-one against Tang Long, and Odom was bricking shots from outside, going 2-for-7 and scoring only four points in the third quarter.
The haters were no longer calm.
The Lakers' players were too incompetent. The Kobe haters on Tieba felt like they had a chance to rise up. Furthermore, Kobe's popularity in China was immense.
If Tang Long hadn't come to the NBA, the number of Kobe fans and Yao Ming fans in China would have been roughly the same, which showed how popular Kobe was in China.
Of course, Kobe's attitude towards Chinese fans was also commendable.
However, this meant that the Lakers fans on Tieba quickly gained the upper hand.
These people dug up the posts from the previous two games that attacked Kobe, especially when Kobe went 9-for-26 in the first two games. The haters had mocked Lakers fans for being unable to hold their heads up. How could the Lakers fans let this opportunity pass?
...
"Mike Brown will definitely make some lineup adjustments in the fourth quarter, and that will be our opportunity," said the Zen Master, glancing thoughtfully at Kobe.
Having Kobe facilitate was also his decision.
One reason was that the team had lost the previous two games, and some fans had begun to express dissatisfaction with Kobe. This move by the Zen Master was intended to show the fans the necessity of Kobe's shots.
Another reason was to confuse Mike Brown.
The Zen Master's ability to adapt to the game situation was definitely among the top in the league.
From the second quarter of this game, the Zen Master noticed that Mike Brown was playing very conservatively.
He wanted to use Tang Long's interior defensive ability to play a war of attrition, which would prevent the Lakers from executing their preferred triangle offense.
However, Mike Brown was disappointing. He forgot that they were in Cleveland before, and tonight, this was Staples Center.
As Phil Jackson, who was known as the Zen Master, how could he not have a way to break Mike Brown's naive tactics?
In the second quarter, the Zen Master exploited the Cavaliers' weaknesses, and the triangle offense put the Cavaliers in a very passive position.
In the third quarter, the Zen Master changed his tactics again, not continuing the play from the second quarter, with the intention of confusing Mike Brown.
At this moment, Phil Jackson called Sasha Vujacic over and pointed to the tactical board, saying, "Sasha, your shots need to be more decisive in the fourth quarter, and run more on both sides."
"Okay, Coach, I understand."
Vujacic had played a good quarter tonight, with Kobe attracting the Cavaliers' attention on the perimeter.
At this time, both wings were essentially unguarded, and he could shoot easily.
Thinking of this, Vujacic was full of confidence, feeling as if he and the basketball had become one.
Soon, the referee's whistle blew for the start of the fourth quarter.
As the Zen Master had predicted, as soon as the fourth quarter began, Mike Brown replaced Tang Long and Drew Gooden with Big Z and Varejao.
Leaving James on the court to be the sole offensive threat was clearly within the Zen Master's expectations.
Because James and Tang Long were both resting in the second quarter, the Cavaliers did not have many scoring opportunities, and the situation was very passive.
Therefore, in the fourth quarter, Mike Brown would definitely keep a superstar on the court. Whether it was Tang Long or James, the Zen Master had made thorough preparations.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Gasol scored repeatedly over Big Z.
On defense, Gasol anchored the paint by himself, while Odom and Ariza double-teamed James, directly neutralizing the Cavaliers' frontcourt scoring threat.
Varejao, on the other hand, would occasionally shoot from the free-throw line, but his hit rate was generally poor, with shooting statistics like 0-for-2 or 1-for-4, indicating he was a bricklayer.
Within the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a 10-2 run against the Cavaliers.
"Tang."
Mike Brown was getting anxious. He looked up at Tang Long.
This time, he didn't rush to call a timeout. He called Tang Long over and pointed to the situation on the court, asking, "Tang, if you were the coach, what do you think should be done?"
Tang Long looked at Mike Brown, confused.
"It's okay, you can speak freely!"
Tang Long thought for a moment and said, "Our interior defense is weak right now, and the Lakers are exploiting this weakness. So, most of the possessions are being given to Gasol. If I go back in, Gasol's scoring ability will decrease, and the Lakers will definitely switch to attacking through Kobe."
Mike Brown nodded and said, "Do you know why I arranged the game this way?"
Tang Long thought to himself, "What do you mean by your arrangement? Are you going to say you deliberately lost the game?"
Mike Brown stared into Tang Long's eyes, seemingly guessing Tang Long's thoughts, and couldn't help but chuckle, "That's right, I deliberately arranged this game to confuse the Lakers."
Tang Long's eyes widened in disbelief, looking at Mike Brown.
Was he not going to be shameless anymore?
The change was too sudden!
Besides, we already have a 2-0 advantage. Why would we deliberately lose the game instead of aiming for a 3-0 lead and a match point? What kind of ridiculous logic is that?
"You must be wondering why I did this, right?"
Tang Long nodded impatiently.
He thought to himself, "Let this old fox try to argue. I don't believe he can come up with anything convincing."
Mike Brown cast a faint glance at Tang Long and said calmly, "It's very difficult to play in the Lakers' home court. Even if we go all out, we might not be able to win against the Lakers! So, you understand what I mean, right?"