The Spurs' current defensive strategy is to drive to the strong side! This limits the opponent's passes to one side of the court, either left or right. This way, when the twin towers in the paint double-team O'Neal, there won't be obvious defensive gaps.
The best way for opponents to break through the Spurs' defense is to move the ball quickly. Therefore, when the Kings played against the Spurs, they were often able to push the Spurs into a difficult situation. This is because the Kings executed the Princeton system, which emphasizes quick ball movement and sharing, and tries to avoid relying on individual star players to make plays.
However, the Lakers, at this point, did not have this emphasis. This is because O'Neal, Kobe, and Glen Rice were all masters of individual play. During the regular season, the Lakers could break down opposing defenses with their staggered individual attacks. Too many passes would actually lead to many unnecessary turnovers. But as the Western Conference Finals progressed, the Lakers found it increasingly difficult to overpower the Spurs with their star advantage.
The Spurs' twin towers could squarely face O'Neal, and Bowen on the wing could stick to Glen Rice. On the guard line, Kobe was the freest, but with He Xi Meng, the "stranger he knew best," creating traps and obstacles, even the freest Kobe couldn't easily launch a barrage. Therefore, Lakers' head coach Harris, facing a difficult situation, sought a breakthrough from tactics, hoping to break down the Spurs' "zone defense" through quick passes and force the Spurs to ease their double-team on O'Neal...
But this play, due to Glen Rice's lack of decisiveness and thoroughness, failed. His drive to the basket gave Duncan time to get back on defense.
Duncan's ability to execute tactics was not just strong! If he was supposed to help on defense and then recover, Duncan would certainly recover. If Duncan didn't recover, the only explanation was that Duncan had found a more effective defensive position. In short, Duncan rarely faltered on defense.
As a result, Horry on the weak side eventually got the ball, but Duncan had also recovered on defense, not giving Horry a chance to attack the basket. Horry feigned a stop-and-pop jump shot, wanting to draw Duncan out, but Duncan was very shrewd. He accurately predicted that Horry's move was fake, and with just a slide, he closed in on Horry. Facing Horry's subsequent drive, Duncan cleverly used Horry's momentum to quickly turn, and then, using his slide step, kept pace with Horry's drive. Horry drove to the basket, but facing Duncan's tight defense, Horry faked, turned, faked again, and managed a turnaround floater...
In fact, the Lakers' offense was already declared a failure the moment Horry couldn't get an open shot immediately. Horry's subsequent drive was merely an attempt to compensate for the failed offensive strategy with individual ability. Horry's offensive ability was not bad, but strong drives, especially against Duncan, were destined to be ineffective.
As expected, the ball finally bounced off the rim. O'Neal tried to fight for the offensive rebound but was tightly boxed out by David Robinson. Duncan leaped high and secured the defensive rebound, then passed it to He Xi Meng to start the fast break.
Harper's defensive strategy was different from Fisher's. Fisher was more aggressive, and at this point, he might have chosen to stick close and slow down the opponent. If there was an opportunity, he wouldn't mind trying for a steal.
But Harper didn't. Harper's defensive choice was more stable. He first chose to urge his teammates to get back on defense, while maintaining a certain distance from He Xi Meng, neither sticking too close nor allowing He Xi Meng to accelerate past him. Only after crossing half-court would he choose to close the distance to prevent He Xi Meng from suddenly pulling up for a deep three-pointer.
Urging teammates to get back on defense immediately prevented He Xi Meng's long passes. Not sticking close on the frontcourt prevented him from being easily outrun and losing defensive threat. Establishing resistance at half-court specifically curbed He Xi Meng's tendency to take opportunistic shots...
One had to admit, the older the ginger, the spicier it is! Against He Xi Meng, Harper's choice was more stable and more effective. Relatively speaking, it was also more targeted towards point guards like He Xi Meng.
With Harper's combination of tactics, He Xi Meng couldn't find an opportunity for a fast break and had to obediently slow down and play set offense against the Lakers.
The Spurs' recent two wins had different focal points. Game 3 was won through defense, completely suppressing the Lakers with their defense. Game 4 was won through He Xi Meng's perimeter explosion, blowing up the Lakers' interior offense with outside shooting. Although the focal points were different, the foundation for winning was the same, which was thanks to Duncan's rock-solid performance.
Yes, no matter how the tactics changed, Duncan was always the Spurs' most stable scoring option. In the first four games, Duncan averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks...
Duncan was unlike He Xi Meng, who had fluctuations in his shooting touch. When his three-pointers were falling, like in the previous game, he could score 38 points. When his touch was off, he would focus on organizing and passing, keeping his scoring around 20 points per game.
On the opening possession, facing Harper's persistent defense, He Xi Meng knew it wasn't yet his time to exert himself. So, he called for a high pick-and-roll from Duncan, then passed the ball to Duncan in a mismatch situation, while drawing Horry to the wing.
Duncan had the opportunity to take on Harper one-on-one. O'Neal was tense in the paint, afraid that Duncan would explode and dunk over Harper, forcing him to either defend or not. If he didn't defend, he would seem cowardly. If he did defend and wasn't careful, he could be dunked on by Duncan, which would be even more embarrassing... Fortunately, it was early in the game, and Duncan had no intention of flying through the air. Facing the shorter Harper, Duncan chose a high post-up. Before Glen Rice could come over to help, Duncan took a mid-range shot. The move wasn't pretty, but it was effective. The ball went in the basket accurately, and the Spurs scored the first two points.
It was the Lakers' turn to attack. Harper still executed the head coach's tactical instructions, looking for O'Neal first. After O'Neal drew the double-team, he passed to Glen Rice on the wing. This time, Glen Rice didn't mess up and passed to Kobe, who then passed to Horry...
After a series of passes, the Lakers successfully moved the ball from the strong side to the weak side. However, because this tactic had been used in the previous possession, Duncan had a pre-emptive understanding and moved from the strong side to the weak side along with the ball's movement. Horry still didn't have a direct opportunity to attack the basket, but Horry had a near-open look for a stop-and-pop jump shot.
With the tactics executed to this point, Horry didn't hesitate. He caught the ball and shot. The ball spun around the rim and then bounced in. It was a bit close, but Horry didn't waste the shooting opportunity his teammates had created for him...