The Knicks' interior presence and the Lakers' perimeter game became the focus of all fans' attention.
At the start of the game, Ewing won the tip-off, giving the Knicks the first offensive opportunity.
The most crucial offensive point for the Knicks this season was actually their perimeter player, Allan Houston. However, facing a Lakers team without O'Neal, Coach Van Gundy was unwilling to abandon their advantage in the paint. Therefore, at the beginning of the game, the Knicks' offensive focus was undoubtedly on the inside. Allan Houston controlled his desire to shoot, dribbled past half-court, and lobbed the ball to Ewing at the edge of the paint.
Ewing received the ball and post-up guarded Nate, intending to push him away, turn, and dunk. Ewing's idea was good; after all, in his younger days, Ewing frequently used this move to score in the paint. The issue was that Ewing's footwork could no longer keep up with his intentions. Nate's preparation, on the other hand, was far more thorough than Ewing had imagined.
During the seven-day rest period, He Xi Meng had found Nate and conducted specialized training focusing on Ewing's post-up offense. The emphasis was on how to limit Ewing's turn towards the basket through anticipation and footwork. As long as Ewing was prevented from driving to the basket and scoring while hanging on the rim, Nate's defense would be considered successful.
On this play, Nate moved early to establish position, using his body to block Ewing's turning path, denying him a direct opportunity to attack the rim.
Ewing's strong drive did not result in a shot; instead, he cautiously passed the ball back to Allan Houston, who was waiting on the wing.
Allan Houston drove to the basket, then passed to Larry Johnson on the other side.
Larry Johnson, using his weight advantage, received the pass and drove again, leaning on Horry to get to the basket, attempting a contested layup.
After O'Neal's injury, Horry was the Lakers' most important defensive anchor in the paint.
By all rights, Horry had to give his all on this opening play. If Larry Johnson scored too easily, the Lakers' interior defensive pressure would only intensify.
Under these circumstances, Horry leaped with all his might, disrupting Larry Johnson's shooting rhythm and successfully blocking the layup.
Larry Johnson, his face contorted with anger, turned to try and rebound the ball. Glen Rice, who had been rotating to assist Horry in defending Larry Johnson, secured the ball in his hands.
Facing the aggressively pursuing Larry Johnson, Glen Rice did not hold onto the ball but immediately passed it to He Xi Meng, who was streaking ahead.
This was an excellent opportunity for a fast break. Especially with O'Neal out, the Lakers were not at an advantage in half-court sets, making fast breaks their best way to score.
The Knicks were aware of this problem. Both Ewing and Larry Johnson were players with relatively slow foot speed, and the only ones who could stop the Lakers' fast break were their perimeter players, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward.
Allan Houston positioned himself near the half-court line, attempting to slow down He Xi Meng's progress. He Xi Meng, without decreasing his speed, used a knee-jarring change of direction to blow past Allan Houston.
Charlie Ward established another defensive line about a step outside the three-point line, a position intended to prevent He Xi Meng from pulling up for a quick three-pointer.
It had to be said that the Knicks had done some research on He Xi Meng's playstyle, knowing he liked to score from that spot with a three-pointer.
However, the Knicks seemed to have forgotten that in addition to being an excellent three-point shooter, He Xi Meng was also a very capable point guard. So, the moment Charlie Ward chose to deny He Xi Meng his own scoring opportunity, He Xi Meng's mind had already made another decision! He immediately set his sights on Kobe, who was following behind on the other side.
Before He Xi Meng's three-point shot had fully developed, it was not uncommon for the two stars to run a fast break together, with He Xi Meng drawing the defense and then passing to the basket for Kobe to finish with a thunderous dunk.
However, as He Xi Meng's mid-range three-point shooting became increasingly accurate, this kind of collaboration with Kobe became rarer, to the point that the Knicks had forgotten that the Lakers had this beautiful scoring option.
But while the Knicks might forget, the Lakers fans certainly wouldn't.
So, the moment He Xi Meng lobbed the pass towards the basket, before Kobe could even catch the ball and complete the dunk, most Lakers fans were already on their feet, hands raised in anticipation of a cheer.
Kobe did not disappoint the Lakers fans' trust, successfully executing an alley-oop two-handed slam dunk, opening the NBA Finals.
Turning back, the Knicks continued to look for Ewing. On their second attempt to attack the paint, Ewing exerted 100% of his strength, combined with a few signature pump fakes, and finally managed to evade Nate's strong defense, getting close to the basket and scoring with a bank shot.
The Knicks scored in the half-court, and now it was the Lakers' turn to play half-court offense. For the current Lakers, executing fast breaks in transition was not the issue; stabilizing and executing in the half-court was the real test.
He Xi Meng dribbled past half-court and called for a high pick-and-roll from Horry. Larry Johnson, knowing his foot speed was no match for He Xi Meng's, proactively retreated to create distance from He Xi Meng to prevent a direct drive to the basket after the screen.
However, Larry Johnson's retreat was a bit excessive, unintentionally creating space for He Xi Meng. Without hesitation, He Xi Meng pulled up and shot, hitting the Lakers' first three-pointer of the game!
Without the anchor of O'Neal in the paint, the Lakers' half-court offense was, in general, very limited, and their offensive schemes were relatively simple.
At the very least, they could not break down the Knicks' overall defense through inside-outside coordination. Furthermore, with Coach Van Gundy's inherently conservative defensive philosophy, the Knicks tightly guarded the Lakers' drives to the basket. Whenever He Xi Meng or Kobe had the ball and drove, the Knicks would tighten their defense, essentially denying the Lakers direct opportunities to attack the rim in half-court sets and forcing them to shoot from mid-range and beyond.
Coach Van Gundy's defensive strategy was not entirely wrong. Most coaches in the league at that time believed that scoring near the basket was the most threatening way to score. Correspondingly, on defense, forcing opponents away from the basket was considered good defense.
Even the Lakers' head coach, Harris, held the same philosophy when he had O'Neal. However, with O'Neal injured, Harris had no one to rely on and had to adopt He Xi Meng's suggestion to focus the offense on the perimeter...