On the Pistons’ side, Grant Hill and Dumas, the dual core on the court, are their offensive guarantee.
In comparison, the Lakers have a stronger overall offense, but their defense is weaker, and the two teams entered a head-to-head scoring phase.
However, as the ga progressed and shooting efficiency began to decline, the Lakers’ advantage beca apparent — offensive rebounds!
Letting Sibaros play one-on-one against Grant Hill, while also dealing with Audie Soper’s help defense, he played terribly, but once he stopped holding the ball and focused on grabbing rebounds, his strong physique worked better.
Together with the best rebounder on the court, Jason Williams, the Lakers gradually started taking the initiative in the latter half of the first quarter!
At 10 minutes and 11 seconds into the second quarter, Grant Hill aggressively broke into the paint, and his floater, t with Sibaros’ defense, was swatted away by Zhang Hao.
Van Exel eagerly grabbed the ball, secured it, and saw Zhang Hao had already dashed past the three-point line... Unstoppable!
Too fast! With a speed of 94, initially the fastest on the court, even Van Exel found it too quick! Grant Hill was blown away just as he reached mid-court!
Van Exel sent a long pass, Zhang Hao received the ball and scored a layup, 51 to 49, giving the Lakers a two-point lead!
Afterwards, Van Exel made a daring three-point shot, Zhang Hao cut in to receive the ball and passed to Jason Williams, who scored high on the play, ending the half with a 5-2 run.
At halfti, the Lakers led the Pistons 56 to 51 by 5 points!
Having played 13 minutes in the half, Zhang Hao made 4 of 9 field goals, 3 of 3 free throws, achieving 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists with 1 block.
The scoring isn’t high, nor are the assists, and he only picked up three defensive rebounds, but it was evident he played more freely.
Finally seeing the team’s offensive formation getting on track, it actually exceeded Del Harris’s expectations; he thought it might take three to five gas to adapt and considered it great progress if by year’s end things were settled. He spent two gas observing, decided on this lineup’s approach yesterday, and implented it today — unexpectedly, it clicked right away! But he still described it as "finally".
This is Del Harris’s stubbornness!
Since this lineup works, let’s keep using it!
During halfti, Del Harris made adjustnts to the details of the offensive lineup, decisively planning an offensive strategy.
At the start of the second half, Van Exel, Anthony Piller, Zhang Hao, Sibaros, and Jason Williams continued playing.
The third quarter, a crucial one, normally leading teams prioritize stability.
The Lakers had overtaken the score, and Doug Scott believed the Lakers would aim for stability, playing defense in the first half of the third quarter, and depending on the situation, either continue or shift to offense if surprises occurred.
But the Lakers started the third quarter by continuing their offense!
If it were last season, this wouldn’t be surprising, but this season, having been played for over a month, playoff-level teams prefer a pace-controlled defensive style.
Zhang Hao more frequently chose to cut in from the middle, and freely took outside shots when necessary, drawing double teams and contributing effectively to dium and long-range setups, helping the team with a good offensive wave.
The Pistons reacted quickly, bringing Grant Hill back early, relying on Hill’s individual capability to withstand the Lakers, narrowly persisting.
When the third quarter reached its midpoint, the Pistons closed in with a score of 63 to 72, preventing the Lakers from widening the gap in a single surge.
However, after the official pause, Zhang Hao, who had attempted multiple shots since the second quarter, began scoring openly!
The Pistons started with Dumas cutting in, receiving the ball and throwing a floater for two points.
But Zhang Hao, continuing on the court, made a three-point shot from the left arc!
to 65, and tonight the Lakers for the first ti opened up a 10-point lead!
Tonight marked Zhang Hao’s first 3-pointer, his career eighth, tonight making just one out of four, a rather poor success rate, yet having scored, it felt different to the opponent.
When inaccurately throwing, no one cares, but when Zhang Hao scored, it looked refreshingly unique.
When it was the Pistons’ turn on offense, Grant Hill felt his scalp tingle — this guy seems to have truly developed his three-point shooting!
Because Zhang Hao’s movents were very smooth, as if he had practiced for ages, only his accuracy was lacking, yet even better than Hill!
At least his three-point shooting wasn’t as confident as Zhang Hao’s; his grasp of the shooting distance also wasn’t as good.
More than a month ago during their matchup, Zhang Hao didn’t attempt a single three-pointer.
Grant Hill felt slightly discouraged; as the universally acknowledged genius among geniuses, the All-Star favorite in his rookie season, currently ranked top three in NBA popularity, even with his mild temperant, at this mont he felt dissatisfaction.
He wants to win!
Grant Hill continued showcasing his crossover, swiftly reaching the free throw line distance after a lateral shift, jumping and shooting...
This shot was hasty, too predictable. As soon as he jumped, Zhang Hao leaped forward decisively.
Such defense by Zhang Hao usually could be predicted and easily evaded by Grant Hill, but this ti Hill aid to score, and just as the ball left his hand, Zhang Hao slapped it away!
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