Game four of the Western Conference Finals continued on the Spurs' home court.
After winning the previous game, the Spurs maintained their overall strategy. The Lakers, having lost, actively sought change and made some adjustments to their previous lineup.
Coach Harris's decision was to replace the out-of-form AC Green with Horry, who had a better playoff performance, and to substitute Harper, who was strong defensively but weak offensively, with Fisher, who possessed greater offensive ability.
This adjustment by the Lakers had both advantages and disadvantages.
The beneficial change was a certain improvement in the Lakers' interior offensive efficiency. Horry's all-around style, capable of offense and defense, inside and outside, to some extent compensated for O'Neal's direct style. Moreover, Horry's passing awareness was quite good; a few interior passes were perfectly timed, providing significant support to O'Neal in the paint.
The disadvantage was that Fisher couldn't defend He Xi Meng! Logically speaking, Fisher's defensive ability was not weak. When matched against ordinary point guards in the league, Fisher's strong physique even gave him a defensive advantage. However, when matched against He Xi Meng, Fisher's height and defensive capability seemed insufficient.
What was even more critical was that, for some reason, He Xi Meng always seemed to accidentally deliver devastating blows when matched against Fisher.
In this game, Coach Harris admitted he was taking a gamble. He gambled on finding a balance between Fisher and Harper. Harris's original intention was that if Fisher couldn't defend, he could bring in Harper for adjustments and cover. But he didn't anticipate that once He Xi Meng found his rhythm against Fisher, bringing in Harper would be less effective!
Once He Xi Meng's three-point shooting heated up, he became unstoppable. Coupled with the home rim's advantage and the cheers of the home crowd, He Xi Meng seized the opportunity for a minor outburst on the Western Conference Finals stage.
In this game, He Xi Meng shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc, totaling a game-high 38 points and 11 assists!
As O'Neal finally broke free from the twin towers' restraint and had a small breakout performance, He Xi Meng also had a breakout game, successfully counteracting the damage O'Neal inflicted in the paint. 138 Reading Network.
Meanwhile, Kobe had limited impact in this game as Coach Harris shifted the offensive focus to the interior to allow O'Neal to break through. Of course, this also had to do with Kobe's average shooting touch. Since Kobe's touch was average, Head Coach Harris naturally didn't tilt the offensive possessions towards him.
And Glen Rice, after being harassed by Bowen in the previous game, continued to be closely guarded by Bowen in this game.
Popovich was also a coach who seized opportunities without hesitation. Seeing that using Bowen to limit Glen Rice was effective, he naturally disregarded the "resentful" expression on backup Mario Elly's face and prepared to let Bowen start until the end, aiming to completely stifle Glen Rice, the Lakers' third-highest scorer.
Of course, He Xi Meng privately reminded Bowen: "Don't trip anyone, don't intentionally injure anyone! Don't ask why, just do it, I won't harm you..."
103:97, the Spurs won again, successfully tying the series. Both teams were back to square one, entering the most crucial Game 5, the "King Mountain" battle.
Whoever won Game 5 would hold the first-mover advantage on the road to the Finals.
This critical game was held on the Lakers' home court. He Xi Meng's girlfriend, Kayla, also came to the arena to cheer him on. Of course, cheering was only one objective; the other was for Kayla to pick up He Xi Meng and take him "home"!
In the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, He Xi Meng had "passed by his doorstep without entering." He didn't stay at home when he arrived in Los Angeles, but dutifully stayed in a hotel with his teammates.
However, He Xi Meng had promised Kayla that if they won this game, he would go home for one night before returning to San Antonio for Game 6.
Therefore, in this game, Kayla disregarded her past as a Lakers fan and firmly stood on the Spurs' side, hoping for a Spurs victory!
When Scarlett learned that Kayla had "betrayed" the Lakers for this reason, she became even more resolute in supporting the Lakers, hoping the Spurs would lose and He Xi Meng wouldn't be able to go home. Truly, sisterly affection.
To increase the probability of winning this crucial battle, even if it was just a theoretical sliver of a chance, Jerry West decided to allocate a portion of the management's operating budget to reward the fans in attendance that day by giving each of them a Lakers jersey!
The objective was to transform the Staples Center into an ocean of purple and gold, creating visual pressure on the Spurs and increasing the tension for their players, thereby affecting their competitive state.
This was because Jerry West clearly understood that this game would directly determine the ultimate trajectory of the series.
If the Lakers won, they would likely win the series and the championship.
If the Lakers lost, they would likely lose the series and he would also lose.
The game commenced amidst the fervent cheers of all the Lakers fans. O'Neal forcefully won the tip-off, giving the Lakers the opportunity for the first possession.
Harper received the ball hooked by O'Neal and brought it past half-court.
Yes, Harper had returned to the starting lineup. The strategy of using Fisher had proven to be a double-edged sword, instead affecting the Lakers' overall stability. Therefore, Coach Harris had returned Harper to the starting lineup but maintained Horry's starting position.
Facing He Xi Meng's retreating defense, Harper steadily lobbed the ball to O'Neal, who had posted up at the edge of the paint.
The Lakers' offensive focus at the start was still on O'Neal in the paint. Even though O'Neal would likely face a double-team from the Spurs' twin towers after receiving the ball, the Lakers still chose this approach because they needed O'Neal to draw the Spurs' overall defense, thereby creating relatively ample shooting space for others.
As expected, on this possession, O'Neal, after drawing a double-team from Duncan, chose to pass the ball outside to Glen Rice, who was setting up.
Glen Rice, using a screen from Harper, temporarily shook off the sticky Bowen. Finding himself mismatched against He Xi Meng, Glen Rice drove with the ball, intending to test He Xi Meng's defensive intensity. However, He Xi Meng clearly had no intention of going easy on Glen Rice, sticking to him tightly and not giving him an easy opportunity to drive past.
Seeing no opportunity, Glen Rice quickly passed to Kobe, who had been signaling for the ball. However, Kobe's request for the ball this time was not for himself to drive, but to quickly pass it to Horry, who appeared open on the weak side!