The Spurs adjusted their defense in the second game of the Western Conference Finals. Popovich believed that the main reason for the Spurs' loss in the previous game was not Kobe's game-winning shot, which was purely a matter of luck. The Spurs' biggest problem was allowing O'Neal to score too easily in the paint, which created serious defensive loopholes. Once the inside defense collapsed, the perimeter defense also suffered.
Therefore, Popovich decided to address the problem at its root by strictly guarding O'Neal inside. Since it was the Lakers' home court, the Twin Towers paid a significant price to contain O'Neal. David Robinson incurred five fouls and was close to being ejected, while Duncan also had four fouls and was on the verge of fouling out.
The Spurs did succeed in limiting O'Neal's performance, reducing his scoring to 20 points. However, Kobe, fueled by home-court advantage and the confidence from his game-winning shot in the previous game, had a breakout performance in this game, scoring 35 points with drives and outside shots. Alongside Kobe, Glen Rice also exploded from beyond the three-point line.
With Kobe and Rice leading the charge, the Spurs' interior defense held, but their perimeter defense was burned.
Although He Xi Meng tried to go head-to-head with Kobe and Rice from three-point range, attempting to defend by attacking, the outcome was not optimistic. The Spurs lost the game 89-95, an even more decisive defeat than the first game.
Popovich was then somewhat bewildered.
"We contained O'Neal, so why couldn't the Spurs win? Could it be that my strategy of sticking to the inside defense was flawed?"
Unable to figure it out, Popovich, on the way back to San Antonio, convened his coaching staff for repeated simulations to pinpoint the cause of their loss. The final conclusion was that the strategy of sticking to the inside was not the problem; the issue lay with the shooting guard and small forward positions, the wings.
Currently responsible for defending the Spurs' wings were Mario Elie and Elliott, who were matched up against Kobe and Rice at the Lakers' shooting guard and small forward positions – the two most potent offensive threats on the Lakers besides O'Neal. The Spurs lost the second game because of these two players.
Moving forward, with the series returning to the Spurs' home court for two games, how they would contain the scoring of these two players would be crucial to the outcome of the games.
The two big men in the paint, Duncan and David Robinson, could hardly provide much help to the wings. This was because guarding O'Neal inside was already extremely difficult and physically draining. The Twin Towers could only ensure they provided adequate help defense when Kobe or Rice drove to the basket.
This meant the Spurs needed to dig deep within their roster, looking for a player with better individual defensive capabilities than Elliott and Mario Elie. He Xi Meng recommended Bowen.
He Xi Meng's advice to Popovich was threefold: First, bring Bowen into the lineup to play small forward. Utilize Bowen's tenacious defensive will to stick to Rice like glue, denying him open looks and cutting off the Lakers' perimeter playmaking, thereby isolating Kobe.
Second, He Xi Meng would switch to defend Kobe. Mario Elie was no match for Kobe and was consistently outplayed by him. Although He Xi Meng couldn't completely stop Kobe, he could at least reduce Kobe's scoring efficiency and prevent him from going on a rampage.
Third, have Elliott play shooting guard and switch to defend Harper. Utilize Elliott's height advantage to disrupt Harper's passing and maintain the fluidity of the Lakers' offense.
On the surface, He Xi Meng's suggestion seemed like a minor adjustment, merely replacing Mario Elie with Bowen at small forward. However, the defensive assignments for all three perimeter positions were switched, representing a significant change for the Spurs.
As for the interior, He Xi Meng believed the Twin Towers were doing a good job limiting O'Neal. The only area needing improvement was reducing their foul count. He felt this would naturally occur as they transitioned from the Lakers' home court to the Spurs' home court, without needing any specific actions.
After these adjustments, the Spurs, who had lost two consecutive games, finally exploded in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
Bowen, seizing this valuable starting opportunity, poured all his effort into the game. He stuck to Rice like a shadow, expending all his energy on defense, even resorting to subtle tugs and holds that greatly annoyed Rice. In one instance of tight defense, unable to contain his frustration, Rice, with a "scorched earth" mentality, pushed Bowen, hoping to provoke him into a fight, leading to both being ejected.
Was trading Bowen for Rice a good deal for the Spurs? In essence, they wouldn't lose out. But Bowen didn't want to be traded. He had finally earned a starting spot and didn't want to be ejected for fighting. Therefore, Bowen chose to endure. While it might have appeared cowardly, it was the best choice for him to establish himself on the Spurs in the long run.
With Rice neutralized, Kobe was truly isolated in the starting lineup.
Harper was a capable defender but an average offensive player. When he played alongside Michael Jordan, Harper's role was relatively simple: bring the ball past half-court and defend the opposing point guard.
As for A.C. Green, his offense was once decent, but his performance had noticeably declined with age. Furthermore, he was matched up against the league's top 21-year-old rookie. It was already impressive that he wasn't completely dominated; expecting A.C. Green to provide significant support to Kobe was too much to ask.
As a result, Kobe was forced into his preferred "state": isolation offense.
However, He Xi Meng, who was guarding Kobe on a switch, was extremely familiar with Kobe's offensive techniques. Even if he couldn't completely shut Kobe down, He Xi Meng could disrupt Kobe's rhythm and lower his shooting percentage.
Kobe, after two games of explosive scoring, saw his shooting touch return to its normal mean. Facing the Spurs' basket at home, Kobe's shots clanked off the rim repeatedly.
In this game, all three of the Lakers' core players were sluggish. The best performers were actually a few players from the bench rotation. Da Zhi and Horry both scored in double digits, with Da Zhi putting up 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, while Horry contributed 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
However, with the starting lineup faltering, the rotation players, while performing well, could only do so much and were not enough to turn the tide or change the ultimate outcome.
Finally, the home team Spurs defeated the Lakers 88-79, tying the series at 1-2.