Chapter 799 - 717: Jackson: We’re in Big Trouble

Chapter 799: Chapter 717: Jackson: We’re in Big Trouble

Eight minutes into the game, the Phoenix Suns were up 21-18, leading the Lakers by 3 points.

Nowitzki was stealing the show, scoring through a combination of jump shots and drives to the basket. He had already racked up a game-high 9 points.

Chen Yu couldn’t tell if Jackson was holding back his strategy or if he simply had no answer, but his response to Nowitzki was clearly lacking.

Odom simply couldn’t guard Nowitzki.

The so-called "Big Four" hyped by the Los Angeles media was complete bullshit.

Artest might have a weak claim to being one of the "bigs" thanks to his All-Defensive Team selection, but Odom? Did he even deserve to be in the conversation?

He was a jack-of-all-trades. Playing alongside Yao Ming, he was great at covering for mistakes, rotating, providing help defense, and connecting the offense. But in a high-stakes series, he just didn’t measure up.

He could follow Nowitzki everywhere, but what good did that do?

In an isolation play, Nowitzki could score on two Odoms combined.

’In this situation, if I were Jackson, I would definitely have Artest provide help defense.’

That’s what the Spurs did.

If they didn’t, the Spurs would’ve gotten crushed even sooner.

But the Lakers weren’t doing that at all.

’Is it just because Artest isn’t good enough at help defense and rotations that they’re afraid to use him that way?’

Before the series, Chen Yu had personally thought the Lakers would be a tough opponent and a difficult matchup. He had even mentally prepared himself for the Phoenix Suns to be eliminated.

But after watching these first eight minutes, Chen Yu suddenly felt confident.

On the surface, the Lakers acquiring Artest looked like a highway robbery, a massive bargain. Had they made it to the Finals, he would have been incredibly effective against Hill.

As he gets older, a strong isolation player like Hill is actually quite vulnerable to a lockdown defender like Artest.

But now, it was clear that if the Lakers’ intention in acquiring Artest was to counter the Phoenix Suns, it was anything but a masterstroke.

Especially against this technically evolved version of Nowitzki.

To completely shut down the current version of Nowitzki, a team needed a power forward with enough strength and size, plus a small forward agile enough to constantly provide help defense and rotate over.

Neither Odom nor Artest fit that description.

Chen Yu had a strong feeling that in this series, Nowitzki was about to go off, to have a legendary, god-tier performance!

A little over eight minutes into the game, both teams began to make substitutions.

Hardaway came in to lead the bench unit.

Yao Ming was also subbed out. He had played well in those first eight minutes.

With Kobe shooting 0-for-3 and getting smothered by double-teams, the Lakers had only managed to stay close thanks to the 8 points Yao Ming scored in the paint.

When it came to their bench lineups, the Phoenix Suns and the Lakers were six of one and half a dozen of the other.

In any case, the days of having several All-Stars sitting on the bench were a thing of the past.

Raja Bell’s defense showed its quality, sticking to Hardaway like glue and causing him significant trouble.

However, Chen Yu could see that Skiles’ strategy for the bench unit was simple: just let Ben Gordon shoot at will.

When Ben Gordon got hot, nobody could stop him.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find his rhythm today.

After missing two three-pointers, he stopped taking shots.

It was still up to Hardaway, who continuously drove to the hoop, drawing contact and scoring.

The way the game was being officiated favored driving, and Hardaway knew how to take advantage of it.

Fortunately, the Lakers’ bench was also atrocious, so the Suns’ lead remained intact.

In the second quarter, when Nowitzki returned to lead the team, he completely went off.

He’d get the ball at the elbow, back his man down for a step, and then fire off a fadeaway jumper.

All Odom could do was stare helplessly.

Then, from the same spot, he’d curl off a screen, catch, and shoot.

He had a lightning-quick release.

In the second quarter alone, Nowitzki went 5-for-7 and, with free throws, exploded for 14 points, completely taking over the game.

By halftime, he had already racked up a full 23 points.

The Phoenix Suns led 53-44, a 9-point lead.

"Chen, looks like you guys are going to win," Owen said from beside him.

A smile spread across Chen Yu’s face. "I think so too."

If the Lakers didn’t make a change, the Phoenix Suns would surely take this game.

This result left the TNT commentary crew and Zhang Weiping on the sports channel exclaiming that they couldn’t understand what was happening.

Everyone expected a clash of titans, but instead, the Lakers had completely shit the bed.

Kobe, who averaged 28.2 points per game in the previous series, had gone completely cold, scoring only 6 points in the entire first half.

Nowitzki, on the other hand, was playing as if the Lakers defenders weren’t even there, racking up an insane 23 points by halftime.

Yang Jian was too embarrassed to put Zhang Weiping on the spot again, so he turned to Su Jun and asked for his take on the Lakers’ first-half performance.

Su Jun cut straight to the point, saying in a heavy tone, "I feel the Lakers have a problem at the power forward position, namely, in how they’re supposed to handle Nowitzki."

Zhang Weiping, sitting next to him, also frowned. He had wanted to say the exact same thing.

What the hell was Odom doing out there? He was a human pylon, offering absolutely no defensive presence.

Su Jun continued, "I didn’t feel this way before the game, but watching this half, I have a growing suspicion that in terms of personnel, the Phoenix Suns might just be a natural counter to the Lakers."

He only had a faint suspicion. But as halftime ended and the team headed back to the locker room, Jackson didn’t go in with his players. Instead, he grabbed Lambis, his gaze frantic behind his glasses. "Kurt, we have a huge problem."

"Phil, what do you mean?"

Lambis didn’t quite understand.

Jackson’s brow was deeply furrowed. "I’m suddenly thinking," he said, "that acquiring Ron wasn’t a good decision."

At the start of the season, when the opportunity to get Artest came up, Jackson went all-in without hesitation.

His thinking at the time had been very clear: the Lakers were weak at small forward.

Then, come the Finals, against the Magic, the Lakers would need a player like Artest to limit Hill.

In previous years in the East, whenever the Magic met the Pacers in the playoffs, Hill had been shut down quite effectively.

"But I never imagined the Phoenix Suns would become our stumbling block."

The entire season—tactics, personnel adjustments, all of it—had been aimed at the Magic.

Because the Lakers’ goal was the championship, after all.

Jackson had completely dismissed the other teams in the West, believing they wouldn’t cause the Lakers any real trouble.

O’Neal couldn’t carry the Mavericks alone, the Spurs only had Duncan, and the Phoenix Suns had downgraded their roster, effectively removing themselves from championship contention.

As for those young teams full of rookies, they weren’t even worth mentioning.

And yet, who would have thought that the Phoenix Suns, the very team he’d paid the least attention to, would deliver such a massive shock.

After an entire season of development, Nowitzki had suddenly evolved in the playoffs!

What was worse, Nowitzki and Duncan were completely different types of power forwards.

’Against the Spurs, Duncan is a beast, but he operates in the paint, where Yao Ming would be waiting for him.’

’But Nowitzki is different. He drifts to the outside.’

’Yao Ming can follow a player out, but not that far out.’

For a moment, Jackson even regretted having Yao Ming bulk up this season to deal with a muscle monster like Howard.

’In that case, who on the entire Lakers roster could possibly stop Nowitzki?’

’He had studied how the Spurs defended Nowitzki.’

’But Artest was no Bowen.’

’Artest’s help defense was poor, he wasn’t the sharpest player, and he was prone to mental lapses. Expecting him to make timely rotations was a pipe dream.’

’So who else did they have? Walton? Cook? Medvedenko?’

’There was no one!’

"Kurt, we’re in huge trouble."

Jackson hadn’t been the least bit panicked about Kobe being smothered by double-teams.

But now, having realized this fundamental mismatch, he was truly panicking!