Folding away his complaints, Zhang Hao retreated to the backcourt and was about to wait at the top arc for Anfernee Hardaway to advance, when Doug Christie, who ran back slower, patted his arm.
Zhang Hao understood, left the top arc, and went to follow Dennis Scott who had just run over.
When Anfernee Hardaway advanced to the frontcourt and saw the defender had changed to the slower Doug Christie, he decisively changed direction to break through to the left side!
However, Doug Christie wasn’t as easily bypassed this year as he was last year when encountering Anfernee Hardaway. Anfernee Hardaway again felt that discomfort, but he was already used to it and knew the reason. He couldn’t break through directly, but his threat successfully caused the Lakers’ interior defenders to change positions as soon as he made the breakthrough move.
Seizing the opportunity, Anfernee Hardaway passed the ball to Horace Grant who moved to the right side of the three-second zone. Horace Grant’s threat with a mid-range shot was substantial, and when the Lakers’ players’ defensive attention was drawn by Horace Grant, he passed out again, sending it to the left baseline. Anfernee Hardaway quickly moved there, received the ball, and jumped for a baseline shot... scored!
X-shaped passing cooperation! Zhang Hao immediately recognized this was a tactic from the Bulls’ strategy during their first three consecutive championships!
Initially, Anfernee Hardaway was extremely unaccustomed to not having as big a speed advantage as before, but over time, he found ways to deal with this issue.
Actually, it’s because he encountered Doug Christie; otherwise, Anfernee Hardaway wouldn’t have played so complexly.
It’s like when playing against Zhang Hao, he has ways to find shooting opportunities.
Though Doug Christie’s speed doesn’t match Zhang Hao’s, his ability to defend against breakthroughs is much stronger. Toughness, high enthusiasm, good defensive awareness... These things are key to Doug Christie being able to defend most of the league’s perimeter players.
However, as long as he doesn’t have the ball, Anfernee Hardaway has a significant advantage in movement speed against Doug Christie. Just after passing to Horace Grant, Anfernee Hardaway accelerated to rush to the baseline to retrieve the return pass.
Doug Christie asked Zhang Hao to let him handle the defense, yet didn’t prevent the opponent from scoring, but he wasn’t discouraged, nor did he think his defense was bad.
He forced Anfernee Hardaway to do more!
Last possession, he noticed Anfernee Hardaway slowed down, a difference hard to spot from watching recordings. He estimated he could cause Anfernee Hardaway more wear than Zhang Hao.
Indeed, facing him, Anfernee Hardaway did not opt for a turnaround step-back jump shot like he did against Zhang Hao, but chose to play tactics.
The greatest reflection of Anfernee Hardaway’s slowing speed is not in linear acceleration but in slower lateral movement. For instance, breakthroughs require more skill, and Doug Christie’s best defense is against skills. He didn’t defend at the start because he performs poorly against pure speed.
In summary, as long as Anfernee Hardaway doesn’t attack in the way he’s best at, and the Magic have more ball passing, Doug Christie’s goal is achieved!
When the Lakers attacked, Kenny Anderson seized on Anfernee Hardaway’s weight gain worsening his lateral movement and breakthrough defense, taking control and playing through and splitting.
Zhang Hao and O’Neal restrained their primary attacking desires. Zhang Hao chose to run and utilize Barkley and Doug Christie’s space to find catch-and-shoot opportunities. Kenny Anderson, on breakthrough, first chose to shoot, second chose to feed Zhang Hao, and would feed O’Neal when there was a chance.
O’Neal focused mainly on scrambling and rebounding.
The three hadn’t discussed it, but their fitting tactics at this moment showed unprecedented tacit understanding!
The Lakers seized on an opponent’s flaw and magnified it totally.
Conversely, the Magic’s cooperation began to see increasing errors.
The Magic players aren’t skilled in overly complex cooperation; in the past two years when they won a lot, it was Anfernee Hardaway and O’Neal alternating in isolations and feeding. Although this year’s record isn’t as good as previous years, with Anfernee Hardaway on the court, they still rely on star isolation feeding tactics.
Once the Lakers understood that the Magic just had Horace Grant’s high-low pass options, defense became more focused, and Anfernee Hardaway receiving return balls was instantly double-teamed, cutting off further passing routes, and the Magic shooters’ positions were locked down, causing Anfernee Hardaway or Horace Grant to start making frequent errors.
Finally, midway through the first quarter, Anfernee Hardaway and Horace Grant each made consecutive errors twice, and the Lakers launched a 4-0 counterattack.
20-11, the Lakers widened the lead to 9 points, and the Magic called a timeout!
Originally, with the Lakers grabbing 16 points midway through the first quarter and leading by 5 points, the Magic could have managed.
Indeed, Anfernee Hardaway’s shot performance tonight was quite impressive, scoring 6 points and 2 assists on 5-of-3 shooting. Before the Lakers grasped defending his passes, he also assisted Ronnie Seikaly and Nick Anderson each once.
Trailing by 5 points isn’t much, but in just 30 seconds, being stolen twice by the Lakers, Zhang Hao finished two counterattacks successfully!
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