Carlisle's pre-game preparation was thorough, and both sides were evenly matched in the first half.
But while Carlisle's tactical goals were met, his strategic aim was not successful—he hoped to exhaust Ah Gan and Jordan in the first half.
As a result, even without much effort from them, Glory's offense and defense remained stable, which was not what Carlisle wanted to see.
The Trail Blazers' defense still had some issues; their targeting of Yao Ming was successful, but the performance of substitutes like Van Exel surprised Carlisle.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were very effective in suppressing Glory's role players, forcing Glory to rely heavily on Ah Gan and Jordan.
The Trail Blazers did not do enough in this regard, resulting in Gan Guoyang and Jordan ending the first half with ample energy, going back to the locker room to rest for 15 minutes and getting ready to exert force in the second half.
