Hesitant, Harris ultimately adopted He Xi Meng's suggestion and took the risk of fielding Nate.
After confirming Nate's appearance, He Xi Meng again cautioned Nate: "Don't try to block the Spurs' twin towers. Your goal is to push them out of the paint as much as possible, making them shoot as far from the basket as possible. If you do that, your defense is considered successful! As for whether they make the shot or not, don't pay too much attention to it…"
Nate was initially quite apprehensive about being called upon in such a critical situation. After all, his opponents were the league's strongest interior combination at the moment. Could he defend them?
However, after listening to He Xi Meng's analysis, Nate calmed down and recognized his role: he had no performance pressure!
What Nate needed to do now was to simply disrupt the twin towers as much as possible and minimize their scoring efficiency. As for stopping them completely, the entire team had never even considered such a possibility!
Once he understood this, Nate surprisingly became clearer about how he should play.
After the timeout, the Spurs, seizing the opportunity of O'Neal's injury, used an inside pass to let David Robinson score on Nate.
He Xi Meng immediately retaliated, calling Nate to the high post. Nate then isolated David Robinson, and using Robinson's slow footwork against him, hit a step-back three-pointer!
After O'Neal left the court, He Xi Meng knew that the Lakers' only hope of winning lay in their outside shooting.
Some fans might wonder, since there's a Game 7 to fall back on, it should be alright for the Lakers to strategically concede this game, right?
He Xi Meng didn't think so! What if O'Neal couldn't play in Game 7 either?
This game only had 3 minutes left. Even without O'Neal, they could probably hang on.
If O'Neal were absent in Game 7, the Lakers would face the threat of the Spurs' twin towers for the entire game, significantly increasing the probability of a blowout.
Therefore, He Xi Meng's opinion was to go all out in this game and treat it as if it were Game 7.
He Xi Meng's attitude received support from Kobe and Glen Rice.
Thus, after O'Neal's injury, the Lakers became united, rallying around He Xi Meng.
On the next possession, the Spurs continued to attack the paint, with Duncan scoring another basket.
He Xi Meng persisted with outside attacks. He feigned using Nate's screen to drive into the paint, but instead, before Duncan could rotate to defend, he passed to Kobe, who was receiving the ball on the wing!
Kobe didn't take many three-pointers, but this time, his timing and positioning were excellent. Without much interference, he calmly sank the three-pointer as well!
The Spurs scored two points in the paint, and the Lakers responded with a three-pointer. It was a point-for-point exchange. Not only did the Spurs fail to quickly erase or overturn the 3-point deficit after O'Neal left the court, but they were also countered by the Lakers, further widening the score.
The Spurs fans in the arena were starting to panic, but Popovich remained as calm as ever. He continued to stick to his principle of inside offense and waited for the Lakers to make mistakes on defense. He firmly believed that the Lakers' three-point shooting percentage could not compare to the Spurs' inside scoring efficiency.
Popovich's patience paid off. Although the Lakers were united in the final moments, with He Xi Meng, Kobe, and Glen Rice each hitting a three-pointer, threes were still threes. They couldn't maintain a 100% shooting percentage like shots in the paint.
After Glen Rice missed a corner three and Kobe's mid-range fadeaway jumper also missed, the Spurs finally found an opportunity for a fast break and scored two consecutive baskets.
On the first fast break, Johnson pushed the ball all the way, dodged He Xi Meng's desperate chase, and scored a layup with a pull-up, giving the Spurs 2 points.
On the second fast break, after Johnson pushed the ball quickly, he was double-teamed by Kobe and He Xi Meng. "The General" handled the situation calmly, turned decisively, and passed to Duncan, who was cutting through the middle. Duncan caught the ball, took three steps, and flew towards Horry for a violent dunk! It was an incredibly powerful play!
After scoring two consecutive fast break baskets, the Spurs fans in the arena erupted in a frenzy of cheers.
The score was tied at 110:110 as the game neared its end.
The pressure returned to the Lakers. Although the Spurs were fighting with their backs against the wall, they had the home-court advantage.
Despite holding a significant lead, the Lakers' absolute star player, O'Neal, was injured and out of the game. Their previous advantage had been eroded, and they were at their last gasp.
Giving up was not an option. The question now was, who would execute the team's final play?
If they needed two points, Kobe's post-up game was clearly stronger than He Xi Meng's.
If they needed three points, Kobe's three-point consistency was obviously not as good as He Xi Meng's.
It was decision time again. Harris, taking a conservative approach, handed the ball to Kobe for a solo effort.
Kobe isolated Elliott, drove into the Spurs' paint, and facing a triple-team from Elliott, Duncan, and David Robinson, he forcefully jumped and shot, trying to draw a foul for a potential and-one.
Kobe's idea was sound; he was trying to cover himself in case he missed the shot by trying to get fouled. However, Kobe was still inexperienced. In such a situation, with the Lakers playing away, the referees were unlikely to call a foul.
As expected, Kobe not only failed to draw a foul, but his forced shot also missed the rim under the Spurs' interference.
David Robinson turned and secured the rebound. Popovich immediately called a timeout.
Kobe was still under the basket, chasing the referee and demanding a foul call, claiming Elliott had hit his arm, which caused him to miss the shot, and that it was clearly a foul. But the referee shook his head repeatedly, signaling to Kobe that there was no need to say anything more, as the call was made and that was that.
Seeing Kobe about to lose his temper, He Xi Meng quickly stepped in to restrain him. Arguing with the referees was the most unwise choice. If Kobe continued to chatter, he might receive a technical foul, which would be even more detrimental.
With He Xi Meng's pulling and tugging, Kobe finally returned to his team's bench.
At this point, with only 17 seconds left in the game, the Spurs theoretically still had a chance for a final possession. If the Lakers could defend this possession, they could drag the game into overtime. Although the Lakers' fate in overtime was not optimistic, it would at least grant them an extra five minutes.
After the timeout, the Lakers fully retreated their defense. Besides He Xi Meng, who was guarding the ball, Kobe and the other players retreated to around the free-throw line, effectively leaving the three-point line open for the Spurs, encouraging them to shoot from beyond the arc.
But the problem was that Coach Popovich's strategy was not to shoot threes, but to give the ball to Duncan or David Robinson in the paint!
"The General" Johnson was dumbfounded: Should he shoot or not?