This ball, Jordan first passed it to Pippen at the top of the arc, then ran a give-and-go with Kukoc, blocking Kobe, cutting along the baseline, receiving a bounce pass from Pippen, and facing O'Neal, faked him out with a front-and-center move before laying it up, cleanly giving the Bulls 2 points.
With His Airness on the court, the Lakers' difficulty in scoring continued to increase.
But Coach Harris had told He Ximeng before he came on: "In this game, your shot attempts are unlimited..."
Kobe, standing nearby, heard this and his eyes lit up with envy.
But would He Ximeng go for unlimited shots?
After bringing the ball up, He Ximeng's focus was clearly still on organizing and facilitating. He first tossed the ball to O'Neal at the edge of the paint, letting O'Neal back down and draw the Bulls' defense in, then ran to the wing for a screen with Eddie Jones, and then called for the ball!
After O'Neal passed, He Ximeng feigned an outside shot, drawing a switch from Pippen, then passed to Eddie Jones at the top of the arc!
Eddie Jones looked to drive and score against Harper, intending to go all the way, but He Ximeng cut in from the right baseline!
This play was an exact replica of the Bulls' triangle offense!
The only difference was that the Bulls' offense stopped there!
Jordan drove to the basket and finished with a layup.
He Ximeng drove to the basket, faced up against the rotating Rodman, and chose to pass with his low hand to O'Neal under the basket!
O'Neal caught the ball and slammed it home with two hands!
"In-out-out-in-in"!
He used their own tactics against them! Under He Ximeng's organization, the Lakers not only replicated the Bulls' triangle offense, but the actual flow of the play was even more complex than the original Bulls!
Phil Jackson, ever composed on the sidelines, couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Sly fox!"
Jackson assumed it was Harris's strategy, otherwise, the Lakers wouldn't have been able to execute such a complex play.
But in reality, to set up such a complex play, with the passing between O'Neal, Eddie Jones, and Van Exel, there was a real possibility of failure due to a lack of chemistry.
Because O'Neal and Van Exel didn't have the same chemistry as O'Neal and He Ximeng.
For the first part, if Van Exel tossed the ball into the paint and it reached O'Neal, it was a big question whether O'Neal would even be interested in passing it back out...
The game continued, and the Lakers held tight, matching the Bulls point for point.
He Ximeng, O'Neal, and Eddie Jones formed the strong side triangle, while Kobe was responsible for stretching out Jordan, the Bulls' defensive strong point, and positioned himself as a spot-up shooter on the weak side when opportunities arose!
Although Kobe didn't like being a spot-up shooter, when facing Jordan's isolation defense, stretching the floor on the weak side was indeed the best option.
On the Lakers' side, Coach Harris had truly decided to gamble today. He basically played He Ximeng and Kobe for the entire fourth quarter!
The only exception was when O'Neal went to the bench for a rest, Scott and Van Exel came in for a brief rotation. It lasted for less than two minutes.
With the game entering the final minute, Jordan drove and was fouled by Kobe on a layup, sinking both free throws to give the Bulls a one-point lead, 114-113.
He Ximeng tried a quick hand-off with O'Neal and cut to the paint, looking to get another small floater over Rodman!
However, His Airness soared from behind...
Jordan's position was right in He Ximeng's blind spot, and caught off guard, he was blocked squarely!
He Ximeng turned to try and recover the ball, but Jordan didn't give him a chance.
After successfully securing the ball, Jordan even shook his head at He Ximeng and said, "You're still a bit green..."
"Uh... you got me there..." He Ximeng said helplessly. If you're outplayed, you have to admit it.
Turning around, Jordan drove past Kobe again, throwing the Lakers' interior into disarray. But at the last moment, Jordan surprisingly chose to pass to Kukoc, who was cutting from the weak side.
Kukoc caught the ball and went up for a two-handed dunk!
O'Neal turned back to defend and, with the ball, brought Kukoc down in mid-air.
The referee's whistle blew, calling a defensive foul on O'Neal.
Kukoc went to the free-throw line. The first shot was good, and O'Neal rolled his eyes. The second shot was also good, and O'Neal rolled his eyes again.
Why were everyone else's free throws so accurate?
116-113, Kukoc helped the Bulls extend their lead to three points. With only 33 seconds left for the Lakers.
Harris called a timeout and drew up an outside three-point play for Eddie Jones.
At this crucial moment, Harris didn't choose He Ximeng, nor Kobe, but the more experienced and higher-ranked Eddie Jones!
On the Bulls' side, Jackson anticipated Harris's choice and focused his defense on Eddie Jones and He Ximeng, while weakening the interior defense on O'Neal, intending to lure He Ximeng into passing to O'Neal in the paint, and then have the Bulls foul him strategically to send O'Neal to the free-throw line...
Jackson had a brilliant plan, but in front of He Ximeng, all these calculations were laid bare.
He Ximeng played along with the scheme, seemingly looking for Eddie Jones, but actually giving Kobe a look.
Kobe understood, moved to the weak side to create space for He Ximeng. He Ximeng faked a pass and then drove, appearing to pass to Eddie Jones on the strong side, but instead faked again, changed direction, and drove hard down the left side, successfully drawing Jordan from the weak side. He Ximeng's final move was to pass to Kobe, who was lurking in the left corner!
Two fake plays in succession, first using Eddie Jones as bait to draw the Lakers' main defensive attention, then using himself as bait to draw in Jordan, who was guarding the weak side, and finally achieving the tactical objective by passing to Kobe for the final shot!
Harris had originally hoped for Eddie Jones to take this three-pointer, but during the execution of the play, while it was still a three-point play, the shooter was changed to Kobe!
At the critical moment, Kobe didn't falter! All his past hard work paid off at this moment!
With a decisive shot, Kobe, met by Jordan's recovery, hit a game-tying three-pointer!
Pushing this Christmas Day battle to a new climax!
116-116!
After hitting this near-game-tying three-pointer, Kobe himself was incredibly excited! He roared to the sky, tearing at his number 8 jersey, wanting all the fans to remember his name.
He Ximeng rushed forward and gave Kobe a big hug...