In the current Lakers lineup, O'Neal is the main star, and Eddie Jones is the second star!
Even though He Ximeng's perimeter shooting stability is no less than Eddie Jones's, it's still appropriate to give his second brother a chance to perform!
The offensive area Eddie Jones chose was actually the mid-range area between the three-point line and the paint. It was quite different from He Ximeng's main offensive area and O'Neal's main offensive area! The three of them actually had a complementary relationship, and the conflicts between them were not significant.
The biggest conflict arose after Fox left the game, and the Lakers' other star Gemini took the court. Kobe's favorite and most skilled scoring area overlapped considerably with Eddie Jones'!
Although Kobe had been strengthening his off-ball three-point shooting and direct layups after cutting to the basket, it couldn't be denied that his mid-range jump shot remained Kobe's most stable scoring method!
Under He Ximeng's control, the Lakers' rhythm continuously shifted, and what was deadly was that each shift directly attacked the Suns' defensive weaknesses. Although Kidd, as soon as possible, led the Suns in counterattacks based on the Lakers' offensive characteristics, it felt like they were always one step behind the Lakers...
One step behind meant falling behind at every turn! The Suns were led by the nose by the Lakers, and the pace of the third quarter completely fell into the Lakers' preferred rhythm!
He Ximeng, O'Neal, Eddie Jones, plus Kobe who came off the bench... The Lakers' four core players took turns performing in the third quarter, directly breaking open the Suns' defense...
Coupled with the Lakers simultaneously increasing their defensive intensity, they no longer allowed the Suns to score after each of their own baskets, as they did in the first half...
Even with Kidd, the master passer, on the Suns, how could they score if his teammates weren't effective?
At this point, the weakness of "Kidd not attacking" was fully exposed: his individual offensive ability was not sharp enough!
The Suns at this moment desperately needed a superstar scorer who could break the deadlock!
Finley, who was traded away, was such a scorer, but Kidd was clearly not that type...
In the entire third quarter, the Lakers outscored the Suns 35:22, directly expanding their lead to 15 points!
One run decided the victory!
In the final quarter, after playing for half the period without a comeback, the Suns simply removed their starting lineup. Nash finally got a chance to play, but it was garbage time and irrelevant to the game's outcome.
102:91, the Lakers successfully defeated the Suns on their home court, securing their first victory in the playoffs.
O'Neal had a game-high all-around stat line of 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. He Ximeng, Eddie Jones, and Kobe all scored in double digits.
He Ximeng had 20 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, second only to O'Neal. Eddie Jones had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Kobe had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks!
On the Suns' side, Kevin Johnson and Kidd had the highest scores!
Kevin Johnson had 21 points and 2 rebounds and 7 assists. Kidd had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks!
Kidd recorded the only double-double of the game, but he missed all four of his three-point attempts. His scoring efficiency was far inferior to He Ximeng's.
Despite both scoring 20 points, He Ximeng only took 12 shots, while Kidd took 20... The scoring efficiency of the two was worlds apart.
After the first game concluded, He Ximeng received widespread praise from the Los Angeles media! It wasn't just because of He Ximeng's excellent organizational skills, but more importantly, because He Ximeng led the Lakers' offense during the momentum-building phase of the third quarter, delivering a spectacular individual scoring show...
In the second game, neither side made major lineup adjustments. On the Suns' side, they simply swapped the defensive positions of Kidd and Kevin Johnson. Angell's initial intention was for Kidd to contain He Ximeng, thereby disrupting the Lakers' overall rhythm.
However, this adjustment was merely a superficial fix. He Ximeng easily switched Kidd out by continuously setting up pick-and-rolls with Eddie Jones and then organizing the offense. Although the overall rhythm wasn't as fluid as in the previous game, it didn't prevent the Lakers from ultimately winning!
Furthermore, another consequence of Kevin Johnson being mismatched against Eddie Jones was that Eddie Jones exploded in this game, scoring a team-high 27 points for the Lakers!
The Suns, through continuous effort, had managed to slightly reduce O'Neal's scoring. As a result, Eddie Jones's scoring increased by 10 points compared to the previous game. The net result was that all their efforts were in vain...
As for He Ximeng, although his performance wasn't as eye-catching as in the previous game, he still contributed 15 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.
The Suns returned to Phoenix with a 0:2 series deficit. If they lost another game, their playoff journey would be over, and Angell was naturally unwilling to accept that!
In Game 3, Angell directly removed veteran Kevin Johnson from the starting lineup, promoted Kidd to starting point guard, and also brought in backup shooting guard Rex Chapman into the starting lineup!
This adjustment had two major benefits!
First, it increased the overall height and defensive intensity of the Suns' starting lineup!
Second, it allowed Kidd to specifically target He Ximeng to curb his scoring and, more importantly, to curb He Ximeng's unrestrained playmaking.
Even if He Ximeng tried to switch matchups with Kidd by targeting Eddie Jones, Rex Chapman would still be a tough opponent for He Ximeng! This was because Rex Chapman was the same height as Kidd at 1.93 meters and was also a strong defender.
As a result, He Ximeng encountered his worst performance of the postseason. His shooting percentage was only 4 out of 12, his assists were a mere 4, and he had 5 turnovers! Three of those 5 turnovers were direct steals by Kidd... In short, it was a thoroughly disheartening game.
After this game, He Ximeng repeatedly watched the game footage afterwards, trying to learn from his experience and figure out how to break Kidd's defense.
However, He Ximeng's ultimate conclusion was: reduce ball-handling time!
Yes, He Ximeng proactively requested a reduction in his ball-handling time. After bringing the ball past half-court, he would hand the ball to Eddie Jones and Kobe, letting them alternate ball-handling duties, while he would move to the right corner to become a spot-up shooter!
This change by He Ximeng made the Suns very uncomfortable!
The Suns had always believed that He Ximeng was faking it! They thought his feigned relinquishing of the ball and playing off-ball was merely to make the Suns lower their guard against him.
For a point guard, giving up the ball was akin to surrendering, wasn't it?
As a result, He Ximeng showed the Suns a different kind of point guard!