As the game is about to begin, both sides announced the starting lineup for this game.

Magic:

Sujiu, Pitrus, Lewis, Tkoglu, and Howard.

Lakers:

Fisher, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol, and Mbenga.

In this game, the Magic still showed their regular lineup in the last game, and there were not many changes overall.

However, there have been some significant changes on the Lakers. The most important thing is that Bynum cannot play, so when he had no choice, Zen Master Jackson mentioned Mbenga to the starting lineup.

Although Mbenga's personal abilities are really limited, he has basically no offensive ability except eating cakes on the offensive end.

But Mbenga has a height of 213 and a weight of 115 kilograms. If she stands in the penalty area, she is definitely the best candidate for the Lakers to confront Howard.

Because the first two games are fully proved that it is difficult for the inside combination of Gasol and Odom to interfere too much with Howard.

So in this kind of game, the Lakers' inside line urgently needs a center with strong physical strength. Even if their personal abilities are limited, they can at least physically withstand the impact of Howard's inside line.

And when Bynum has been confirmed to be unable to play, Mbenga, who is inside, has obviously become the best choice for the Lakers.

After all, in addition to Mbenga, the only people who can use the Lakers inside are Odom, Gasol and Powell.

Among them, Odom must lead the Lakers' second team to play, otherwise once the main lineup is out, the Lakers will immediately become a mess.

As for why Jackson ended up using Mbenga to start, instead of Josh Powell, who had better offensive ability and overall statistics.

It is because although Powell's offensive ability is excellent, his height is only 2.06 meters and his weight is only about 105 kilograms.

If you were to be a charger in the inside, then Josh Powell was definitely a qualified substitute.

But if he was asked to take on the task of confronting Howard, then Powell would be only astonished as a scumbag.

So today's Zen master Jackson has basically reached the point where he has run out of ammunition and food. The little shark Bynum cannot play, and Chris Meim is absent due to injury.

It can be said that except for DJ Mbenga, there is really no one in the Lakers' inside line for him to use.

After the game started, Mbenga and Howard stood in the middle circle to jump. Although Mbenga had already put all his energy into the jump, the ball rights after the game were still obtained by the Magic.

After halftime, Su Jiu handed the ball over to Tkoglu on the wing, and then turned around and devoted himself to the role of no ball.

Since Su Jiu's efficiency on the off-ball side was too high in the last few games, Van Gundy had already clarified this new tactic of Tkoglu holding the ball and Su Jiu changed to play off-ball.

After all, in normal defense, in addition to joint defense, most of the defensive players will focus on the players who are playing against themselves, and then the offensive players who are holding the ball at this moment.

So when Su Jiu went to play without the ball, he was similar to a semi-invisible state on the court.

Apart from the defensive players who faced Su Jiu, the others didn't have much time to check where Su Jiu was on the court at this moment.

It can be said that when facing a team like the Lakers that is very hard-working but not as good as the Celtics, Su Jiu, who is not at the ball, is paired with Howard and Tkoglu, the combination of these three people can be regarded as a big killer.

In the whole first quarter, the Magic continued the style of playing in the first two games, and there were not many changes in overall offensive and defensive tactics.

After all, relying on this rhythm, the Magic have won three games in a row, so apart from some details, Van Gundy really can't find a reason to make a large-scale adjustment.

However, compared to the Magic's unmoved side, the Lakers have undergone some changes in this game.

Of course, on the offensive end, the Lakers still maintained a triangular offensive tactic, because as long as Zen Master Jackson does not give up the head coach position for a day, his players will definitely perform triangular offensive tactics.

But what is slightly different from before in this kind of game is that while the Lakers still handed the ball to Kobe for a large number of attacks, the rest of the people were all loose.

From the perspective of fans, when Kobe, the Lakers' Kobe, started holding the ball from the right, then the other four people pulled to the left and handed the right to Kobe alone for singles.

This arrangement is obviously to prevent Su Jiu or Lewis from double-teaming Kobe, thereby disrupting the Lakers' offensive rhythm.

At the same time, when the Lakers set up such an extreme position on the offensive end, this also fully proves Jackson's affirmation of Kobe's personal strength.

Even when Su Jiu on the court saw that the Lakers actually set up such a position in this game, he was stunned for a moment.

Because in Su Jiu's personal memory, except Kobe, the previous team was all tied up and handed the ball to the star to play singles was the Chicago Bulls, and the man was named Michael Jordan.

As for Allen Iverson, although he also played four people on the offensive end, the difference is that even Iverson needs his teammates to make pick-and-rolls for himself in most cases, so that he can break through more smoothly into the inside.

However, the situation on the Lakers in this game was completely different, because this situation simply pulled everyone apart, allowing Kobe to fight to the death with Michael Pitrus alone.

It has to be said that although this tactic is very extreme, it is also a microcosm of this era, that is, at a certain period of time, all other players are pulled apart and handed over the ball to the star for singles.

However, although other teams in the league have had similar situations, they are definitely not as transparent as the Lakers.

It can be clearly seen in this game that Kobe had a strong desire on the offensive end, and he completely gritted his teeth and went hard with Pitrus.

Under normal circumstances, without the help of teammates and the deterrence of Howard behind him, it would be difficult for Pitrus to limit Kobe's offense one-on-one on the defensive end.

So in the first quarter, Pitrus was a bit miserable by Kobe, because except for some specific periods in the entire first quarter, as long as the Lakers fall into the positional battle on the offensive end, Kobe will definitely take the lead in the attack.

Although this situation will consume a lot of energy to Kobe's personal physical strength, it is also true for Pitrus, who defends Kobe.

It is also worth mentioning that although Pitrus worked very hard on the defensive end in this game, Kobe's offensive feel was so hot.

Facing Pitrus' close-fitting defense, Kobe can be said to be very hot in terms of shooting percentage, whether it is a backward jump shot after turning over or a pull-out shot after squeezing Pitrus away with his body.

Even when Su Jiu saw Kobe in the offensive state, he began to wonder if the belief in the game could really interfere with the mysterious shooting feel???

Finally, after the first quarter, with Kobe's passionate personal performance, the Lakers who played away were:

24:22

He led the Magic by two points and ended the first quarter between the two sides.

After returning from the second quarter, the two sides replaced the substitute lineup to compete.

Even though the Lakers have Odom on the bench, the Lakers, whose overall level is slightly worse, are still at a disadvantage.

After all, in addition to sitting on the Magic's bench, the overall level of other players is completely higher than that of the Lakers.

Especially Gott and Courtney Lee, the current level of these two players is taken out separately and can already serve as starters in a weak team.

Seeing the situation on the court, Zen Master Jackson was obviously very helpless, because looking at Jackson's coaching career, this season will definitely be Jackson's most unforgettable season.

As the Lakers gradually got at a disadvantage on the court, Kobe, who had just left the bench for two minutes, frowned in dissatisfaction.

Finally, with the dead ball stage on the court, Kobe returned to the court again after only two minutes of rest.

When Kobe returned to the court, the Lakers' offense returned to his hands again. Although it seemed very simple, Kobe's touch in this game was extremely hot.

As soon as he returned to the court, he led the team back on track. Seeing Kobe starting to kill all sides as soon as he returned to the court, Stan Van Gundy off the court was a little anxious, but he still controlled his mentality of immediately replacing the main force.

After all, there are four quarters of a game. If you want to maintain a high level of competitive state throughout the game, then the distribution of physical strength will become crucial.

As the game continued, the main players on the Magic gradually began to return.

Kobe's touch was very hot throughout the first half. Whether facing Pitrus' defense or Su Jiu's defense, Kobe's offensive efficiency was very high, as if he was not affected by defensive interference at all.

Seeing Kobe's efficient performance throughout the first half, Stan Van Gundy seemed a little helpless.

Because the Magic team in this game has already achieved their due level on the offensive end, although they are not better than the first two games in terms of shooting percentage, overall, they are not much worse than the previous two games.

But in this case, the Lakers have always maintained a slight lead. The fundamental reason is that Kobe's offensive efficiency is too outstanding.

Even though the Magic did not make any changes to Kobe's defense in this game, even in the second quarter, Stan Van Gundy did not hesitate to use his weak side to defend three and four, and he must resolutely double-team Kobe.

But even so, Kobe's touch was still hot and hot, and this hot feel even made Stan Van Gundy begin to doubt whether Kobe was possessed by God in this game?!

In the end, after the half, with Kobe's unreasonable passion, the Lakers who played away were:

47:44

He led the Magic three-pointer and ended the first half of the game between the two sides.

Throughout the first half, Kobe's performance could be called the gods descending to earth.

In the first half, Kobe only had two minutes of rest, including 12 of 16 shots on the offensive end, 2 of 5 shots from outside the three-point line, 4 of 4 free throws, and unreasonably scored 30 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The 30 points in the first half of the finals not only set the highest record in the NBA in the past 30 years, but also accounted for more than half of the Lakers' team's score.

It can be said that Kobe's performance in the first half can definitely be called a god descending to earth. At least during the halftime break, Lakers fans were completely in a mess.

Everyone was cheering for Kobe crazy because Kobe's performance in the first half was completely worthy of the fans' expectations for him.

Even at this moment, many fans began to feel that even if the Lakers lose this game again, it would not be a bad thing.

Because Kobe has used a first half to prove to the Magic team that even though the team broke the sand this year, he is still the omnipotent black mamba!!

And in addition, Kobe's crazy performance in the first half also attracted a large number of fans to watch online.

Because with Kobe scoring 30 points in the first half, he still has a high possibility of breaking the NBA finals' single-game scoring high.

Even if it fails to break it in the end, at least you can set a new high in your score.

So far, the NBA Finals' new single-game scoring high is 61 points in the 1962 Finals.

The second place is the 55-point single-game score held by Magneto Barry and Michael Jordan.

So when Kobe scored 30 points in the first half, he still has a high chance of being at the forefront of history in the second half.

Even under the influence of physical exhaustion, athletes often have lower hit rate at the end of the game.

But in the current Los Angeles Lakers team, Kobe has unlimited shooting rights in the true sense.

And if the situation between the two sides is still so close in the second half, Kobe will be forced to be in a state where he must complete his shot.

So from the current trend, Kobe still has a high chance of completing some surpassing his predecessors in the finals, at least he can guarantee a bottom to set a new record in the finals.
To be continued...