NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 572: Doubt? Understanding! Despair (-word chapter)
On Sunday, June 2008, 6, the carnival for New York sports fans continues!
With the blessing of the Yankees' "ugly baseball", the spectators have turned to the NBA camp.

The Giants Stadium will host a World Cup qualifier tonight, but the US team is likely to lose to Argentina. If the tickets to Madison Square Garden were not too expensive, most New York sports fans would rather attend a basketball party.

The finals turned into a carnival moment, with less competitiveness and more entertainment. This situation was caused by Kobe Bryant's "outstanding" performance!
In the past, the sports news in the New York Post was relatively serious, but this morning an article titled "TIME TO STEP UP, Mr BEST" also made sports fans laugh.
"It's time to step up, Mr. Best!"

The columnist of the Post suddenly came up with a detailed analysis of the Lakers' advantages, and finally concluded and gave the key to victory:
"40+10, Kobe Bryant needs a double-double to lead the team to win the game."

After a serious analysis, the result was an impossible-to-achieve statistic. When ESPN's Sports Center at noon picked up this report, the studio was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

The most abstract one is the New York Times, which published an article just after G1 of the Finals ended - "No You Can't".

Combined with the fact that Obama repeatedly stated "Yes We Can" when he came to Manhattan to raise funds, the fans were all amused. Kobe became the happy pill for everyone, and everyone began to look forward to his performance in Game 2.

World Cup qualifiers, NBA finals, there is always something for sports fans, plus this year's election, June 2008 is more exciting than previous years.
Reddit is also very lively. New York fans looked back at history. Allen Iverson once said "I am the best player in the league". When he was explaining the new fans, he did not forget to tease his old rivals:
"Kobe Bryant is on his way to becoming the next Allen Iverson."

Whenever a player is unlucky, the outdated Iverson is pulled out. To some extent, the "Son of Philadelphia" should thank Li You.

As long as Li You is still active in the league, Iverson will be mentioned. Black and red are also red. So many players are forgotten by fans when they are out of date, but only the son of Philadelphia goes against the current!

In the afternoon, some people on Twitter found that Li You had updated his account, and the traffic suddenly increased:

"Guess the prize. How many points will Mr. Best get tonight?"

This post almost caused Twitter's server to explode. Even fans in Los Angeles followed the comments and left messages. It was like everyone was watching the fun.
The finals motivated many young cloud fans to register for this social software. As an investor, Li Youying was very excited!

Old-school basketball commentators no longer understand it. After Game 1, no one analyzed tactics, no one discussed matchups, and fans were comparing Excel and laughing at Kobe's performance.

The NBA has always been entertaining, but this year its entertainment value seems to have been amplified, the market for professional articles has been further compressed, and “brainless” emotional output has received far more attention than ever before.

Although Boston lost the game, it did not miss the excitement of the finals. The Boston Herald began to dig deep into history and told fans how Ray Allen evaluated Kobe:

"Kobe is just a lucky guy. He couldn't achieve much after O'Neal left!"

"It's hard for him to even do much in the playoffs. In two years, he'll be yelling to Jerry Buss, 'I need help! Or trade me!'"

"I'm not going to lie, all the players in the league know this."

At that time, Ray Allen was still playing for the Supersonics. Kobe later responded, "No one pays attention to Ray Allen's game. He just wants to attract media attention. I understand that he is jealous of my achievements."

The war of words between the two is a thing of the past, but it has been dug up again now. Combined with Kobe's request for a trade, Ray Allen's remarks at the time were simply a "great prophet."

Sports journalists in Boston dug deep into Kobe's remarks over the past few years, and the same was true in other regions. More and more boomerangs came out, and Kobe's poor performance triggered a new round of "criticism."

In this entertaining atmosphere, TNT, which does not have the broadcasting rights for the finals, can only watch helplessly. The ratings of Game 1 of the Finals have increased significantly compared to last year, and ESPN and ABC are already laughing their heads off!
The Lakers and the Knicks met again, and although there was a lot of garbage time in G1, the ratings did not drop until the end of the fourth quarter.

Between 10:45 and 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the average ratings were 10.0, and during the first quarter, the highest was 11.4, which is completely different from last year when it barely reached 10.0.

The collision of the big ball markets made the advertisers of the broadcasting company very satisfied. Even David Stern smiled for the first time in a long time during an interview.

After the betting scandal, the NBA rebounded strongly, which is definitely the best outcome!
The finals G2 will start at 21:19 tonight, and there will be a World Cup qualifier at 30:. Considering the progress of the game, fans will be able to watch the game seamlessly.

TNT was also warming up for the finals in the evening, and everyone was going crazy. The trio suddenly fell behind, Twitter was more interesting than Facebook, and social media made them feel a little "threatened."

Perhaps simply analyzing the game is no longer enough to attract the fans' attention, so this time the program invited Kevin Garnett. As the leader of the "Big Four", his interpretation of the game is more convincing.

In the studio, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith appeared in black suits as usual. When Kevin Garnett appeared in a loose gray casual suit, the staff cheered.

Garnett, with his goatee, smiled brightly, his silver earrings were particularly eye-catching, and he looked like he had recovered from the loss in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After hugging and greeting the two, Garnett sat next to Ernie Johnson and waved again to the camera until Charles Barkley came on the court, and subconsciously whispered:
"God! Come on! Man!"

Unlike his previous formal image, Barkley was dressed in sportswear, wearing the gray body shaping shirt that Under Armour had recently launched. However, the obvious pectoral muscles and six-pack abs in the advertisement had become a lump.

Try to hold your chest high and hold your stomach in. Unfortunately, Barkley has become fatter in recent years. In the past few years, you could still see his muscles, but now he is just a fat man with horizontal growth.
"Shit! I'm starting to worry that Under Armour is going to sue us!"

Kenny Smith saw his partner squeezed into the seat and posing, so he laughed, complained, and held his forehead.

The director quickly showed the original photo to the audience in front of the TV. For a while, the studio was filled with boos because the gap between the seller's show and the buyer's show was too big.

As a non-executive director of Under Armour, Li You will also promote new products on his personal social media platform.

The popularity of this shapewear among young people is inseparable from the spread of Facebook. When Li You puts on this simple gray shapewear, the outline of his chest muscles and six-pack abs can be seen clearly.

The whole dress is completely stretched out, highlighting the nearly perfect figure. The shapewear is selling well and many people are showing off.

"Kevin, it's great to see you here! Although you performed a little badly in the Eastern Conference Finals, at least you performed better than Kobe. We hope to hear your true evaluation tonight!"

Charles Barkley, with his chest puffed out, turned his head to look at the guests. Garnett smiled and shook his head. Everyone knew that he had a good relationship with Kobe.

Ernie Johnson ignored his partner's eye-catching outfit tonight, welcomed Garnett, and quickly got into the game. He played the highlights of Li You's scoring in Game 1, and the sound of the voice followed:

“18中14，其中三分球5中3，罚球8中8，39分5篮板10助攻1抢断，没有失误！”

"I believe many fans have watched these highlights more than once, but I still want to emphasize that this is not Lee's limit. He only played for 31 minutes and 12 seconds."

"In the limited time, his performance on offense was impeccable, but on defense, Kobe made 25 of 8 shots. Perhaps affected by his finger injury, Kobe's performance in the first quarter was simply a disaster."

It is not difficult to find in the highlights that whether Li You was running a pick-and-roll or a one-on-one breakthrough, Kobe found it difficult to keep up with the first step. Even in the third quarter, Li You was able to shake off the defense with the help of his teammates' cover and movement.

Cloud fans who only watch highlights may even have an illusion that this is a finals?
When the camera returned to the studio, Kenny Smith also talked about this matchup. Unlike in the past, this championship guard who likes to play the role of the good guy bluntly criticized Kobe's offensive choice:

"There is personal heroism in basketball games, but Kobe must realize that he cannot break through Lee's defense. Most of his field goals are concentrated in the second and third quarters."

"When the Lakers needed points the most, Kobe failed to respond!"

"Under Lee's defense, almost every attack was a difficult jump shot. He should pass the ball to another MVP more often."

He was forced to stop after breaking through, made continuous fake moves, forced shots, attacked with his back to the basket, turned around and leaned back, and missed difficult shots. In the limited running goals, Kobe's scores were also "crooked" and looked very embarrassing.

"Kevin, this is the first time in your career that you will play against Lee in the playoffs. I believe you will have a different experience!"

"After watching Game 1, do you still think Kobe is the best player?"

As one of Kobe's few good friends in the league, Garnett didn't want to backstab his brother, so he tried to change the subject by using an exaggerated tone when answering questions:
"I used to question Shaq's words. You know, I've been playing in the West and I only play the Knicks twice a season."

"But after this year's Eastern Conference Finals, I began to understand Shaq. He was right. Lee is in a completely different state in the playoffs!"

Perhaps recalling some bad memories, Garnett lost his previous smile. Noticing that the three were looking at him, he once again showed his tough guy character:

"I'm never afraid of confrontation! But Lee is different. He's faster, stronger, and he can finish his attack anywhere."

"Head coach Rivers arranged a lot of defensive strategies, but in the game, they didn't play much of a role in most rounds. Sometimes he was still paying attention to Gasol. Bang!"

"Lee has already broken through to the basket and completed a dunk in front of me! I calculated carefully that it only takes him 4 seconds from receiving the ball at half court to completing the layup!"

"Our back line is unable to resist at all. Four seconds! We can only foul."

Garnett became more and more excited as he spoke and could not help waving his arms. The Celtics played very badly at home, with the game lasting nearly 3 hours. They were badly criticized after the game. This remark explained the reason.

The three people on the side, acting as the atmosphere group, exclaimed, but Barkley soon pointed out the loophole and asked relentlessly:

"Yes, Lee is very strong, but you didn't tell us the answer, is Kobe the best player in the league? Mr Best, I think this is more suitable for him than the special Mamba."

The show obviously wanted Garnett to express his opinion. When he realized this, the outdated "Wolf King" could only stab his brother in the back in a subtle way:
"I think Lee in the playoffs is the best active player. He can control the game in all aspects!"

"But during the long regular season, Lee sometimes lacked motivation. I have been paying attention to him. In the past two years, he seems to have focused more on the sidelines."

"Kobe is different. He puts all his energy into basketball. He is the hardest working player in the league. For young players, Kobe is an excellent role model."

The best became the most hardworking, and for a while the studio was filled with a joyful atmosphere. As Kobe's good brother, Garnett did not approve of the other party, and they could have a big time in the evening!

After confirming Garnett's backstab, Ernie Johnson smiled and talked about the next topic. They also needed to look forward to the game:

"In Game 1, head coach Phil Jackson used 9 players, and Ariza didn't seem to get more trust from the coaching staff."

"In a way, this game is more like a test."

When the three people heard the word "test" again, they couldn't hold it anymore. As we all know, all the teams that tried to test the team in recent years ended up losing miserably. Garnett couldn't help but interject a few words:
"Artest is a bad guy on the court! He will go crazy against Ariza. I respect him very much, but this is the finals, and the coach will definitely trust the veteran."

"When we talk about Lee, we can't forget the other players on the Knicks!"

"In my opinion, Raja Bell, Artest, and Prince can all be selected for the All-Defensive Team. Chandler is a tough guy and he has a chance to compete for DPOY."

"The rookie on the bench is also very good, Boris Diaw, he is very smart and has a different understanding of the game! Can you imagine a talented rookie not getting playing time in New York?"

"9900 million. Don't ignore the salary paid by the Dolan family. Besides the Mavericks, the Knicks have the highest salary!"

The Celtics, with their Big Four, have a salary of $7400 million this season, ranking sixth in the league. From a dollar perspective, the team's roster lacks a bit of depth.

The Mavericks' salary has exceeded 1 million US dollars, and the Knicks are closely behind. The reason why James Dolan mocked Cuban is that the other team spent more money than him, but ended up being eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years.

The Nuggets were also the ones who were taken advantage of. With a salary of over 8000 million, Iverson couldn't even sell tickets. If it weren't for Li You's support, Denver might not have given him a chance to negotiate.

Talking about these issues, Kenny Smith smiled and shared the gossip he got:

"It is said that David Lee, Steve Novak and others are looking for a trade!"

"The Knicks seem to have accumulated too much talent in the 15-man roster, and head coach D'Antoni has once again encountered happy troubles!"

Under the latest agreement, teams must submit offers for restricted free agents by June 6.

The agents have already started taking action. Some basketball critics think that the Knicks may encounter locker room problems and many new players are not trusted.

Garnett felt inexplicably sad when he heard the news. Barea, Thaddeus Young, Gary Neal and others also had decent statistics in the regular season, but they ended up being DNP in the playoffs.

It’s not that these players aren’t good enough, it’s that there are better options on the roster.

In contrast, the Celtics can only fight hard against the old man. Rivers wishes he could rotate 7 players. With such a deep lineup, they still went through two rounds of Game 7. It is really difficult to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

A lot of gossip was shared, but Barkley, who was posing on the side, didn't care about it. He registered on Twitter and naturally saw Li You's updates. Naturally, he wanted to add fuel to the fire on the show:

"I'm not paying attention to the offseason right now. I'm more interested in how many points Kobe can score tonight against Lee's defense?"

"Kevin, you know Kobe better, do you think he will rebound strongly in Game 2?"

"."

The TNT program was still going on, and the Lakers players who arrived at Madison Square Garden began their second warm-up.

In two days, his physical fitness was restored to the best condition, but the psychological problem made Phil Jackson feel difficult. Facing the ridicule of most sports media in the United States, Kobe was furious.
If he was coaching a young Michael Jordan, all he needed was a push and Michael Dunk would have beaten his opponent in anger.

Unfortunately, Kobe is not like that. The angrier he is and the more he wants to prove himself, the more likely he is to make bad offensive choices. The old man from KFC looked at the core player with a dark face and felt a little overwhelmed for a moment.

Fortunately, the coaching staff includes a Lakers legend. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with a white beard, knows the strategy for tonight's game. While everyone is changing into their equipment, he takes the initiative to talk about the tactics that were drawn on the whiteboard in advance:
"Everyone needs to be ready to catch the ball. Opponents will insist on double-teaming Tim. Pay attention to movement. We need more three-pointers tonight."

"Defense is the most important thing. Keep communicating. Everyone should know where the ball is going. Be patient! We did a good job controlling our turnovers in the last game. Keep it up."

Two days is enough time for the coaching staff to complete the adjustments. Most of these tactics are repeated arrangements, mainly to remind the starting players not to play blindly.

Duncan looked at the whiteboard intently and would communicate out loud from time to time. Tonight he will have more control over the ball and will also take on the team's offensive tasks. The coaching staff has completely let go of the constraints on him.

"Remember! Control your emotions! Don't let your emotions affect your performance on the court. This is just an away game!"

“We have to play the right basketball and everyone has to make sacrifices to win.”

"."

Phil Jackson spoke slowly and logically, and at the same time turned his gaze to Kobe. Although he did not mention any names, it was obvious that he wanted to calm the angry Mamba down.

This effective communication solved some problems. Duncan, who became the tactical core, continued to communicate with his teammates. Kobe, who became a defensive tool, was a little frustrated because the head coach deprived him of his core position.

Before leaving the locker room, Kobe was the last one to leave. Seeing Phil Jackson waiting for him, he immediately whispered in a serious tone:

"I don't want to lose, I will execute all the tactics!"

Perhaps seeing the hesitant expression on the KFC old man's face, Kobe quickly made another promise:

"I'm calm! Don't worry about me, I'll take care of everything."

Looking at Kobe's back, Phil Jackson pushed his glasses. It was the consensus of the whole team to increase Duncan's number of shots. In order to win away games, sacrifices must be made.

232 finals, next are the Lakers' three home games. As long as they can get an away victory, the situation of the series will change dramatically.

Kurt Rambis was walking at the end. Seeing that Kobe had already caught up with his teammates, he came up to the old man at KFC and sighed and whispered:

"The management was very unhappy with Kobe's performance in the first game. You know Dr. Buss. He doesn't like Kobe's betrayal. Now I just hope to win an away game."

"With a payroll of over $7500 million, Phil, we are running out of time."

The Buss family is not doing well financially, and with MSG buying the Great Western Forum, the conflict between the two sides is deep. If the finals become a joke, old Buss will probably be furious.
Thinking of the current public opinion environment, Phil Jackson could only shake his head. He was a little out of date and couldn't understand why this year's finals turned out like this:

“Maybe it’s not as bad as we thought!”

Before the game started, a large number of sports reporters surrounded Kobe, but unfortunately, the Lakers staff blocked most of the interviews on the grounds of warm-up.

But the more Kobe refused, the more these reporters wanted to interview him. Everyone wanted to have fun, and compared to the Knicks who accepted everyone, the Lakers became the "focus".

After the game started at 21 p.m., Madison Square Garden was already boiling. After two days of waiting, the people were already exhausted from having fun, and the scene burst into 12 points of enthusiasm.

Since both teams continued with their starting lineups from the previous game, Van Gundy gave his conclusion early on in the ABC commentary booth:

"Kobe must become more efficient, otherwise the Lakers have no chance. In a stage like the finals, I don't expect role players to explode!"

"."

Every time Kobe touched the ball, the noise at the scene would get louder. Li You's successful defense made the New York fans at the scene shout excitedly.

At 7 minutes and 25 seconds into the first quarter, Duncan passed the ball to Kobe at the top of the arc, but the reserved space was too large and Li You squeezed past him and cut the ball hard.

"Oh!"

The collision of bodies and the pain in his fingers made Kobe lose control of the basketball instantly. His body tilted and was then directly intercepted by Li You.

At the moment the ball dropped, Kobe instinctively pulled it. During the struggle, Li Youshi pulled his arm away, so that the pull only touched the jersey. Phil Jackson on the sidelines could only jump up and complain to the referee:
"Look at my players! This is happening right in front of you!"

Kobe, who was pulling at his jersey, could only watch as Li You shook off the defense and rushed across half court in the blink of an eye. The pain in his fingers made it difficult for him to control his expression. He watched the long-distance gliding dunk and couldn't help but curse in a low voice:
"Shet."

Halfway through the first quarter, Kobe only missed one shot. In addition to participating in passing the ball, he was more focused on leading his teammates in offense. Unfortunately, the effect was not very good.

Fortunately, Duncan and Odom were in excellent form. Facing double-teaming and help defense, the Lakers still scored 10 points. With the current score difference of 4 points, the bench can still hold.

"Someone's gone invisible! I can't see him! We need to give him a leg up!"

After completing the dunk, Li You loudly reminded the New York fans behind him near the baseline and waved his hands repeatedly, which made the noise at the scene even louder. Many people who wanted to watch the fun began to shout:
“Lee! Lee! Lee!”

The blue cheering T-shirts turned the entire stadium into a surging ocean. Seeing that Kobe did not receive the ball and stopped on the right wing early, the stadium was booed again for a while. The other side actually refused to cooperate with this performance.

Cross screen at the baseline, when Duncan squeezed near the left blocking area, Fisher immediately made a high pass.

The positioning was excellent, which made Raja Bell, who was on the line to help defend, feel uncomfortable. When the old fish moved towards the top of the lake, the latter had to give up the help defense and turned around to remind Chandler behind him.

Facing Duncan who was attacking the basket, Chandler just raised his right arm. When he saw his opponent put his hand on the ball, he immediately slid to the right to block his breakthrough route.

Duncan attacked the basket forcefully, trying to force his way past the defense. Finally, he stopped, dribbled the ball and switched to his right hand. As Gasol moved toward the paint, he flicked the ball to the left elbow with one hand.

In an open jump shot, Odom received the ball and faked it, almost deceiving Gasol's center of gravity, and forced a breakthrough to the basket with the ball in his right hand!

"what!"

Allowing the opponent to break through with the weak side is also a trap set by the Knicks. Odom forced his way to the basket but was interfered by Gasol. The basketball hit the backboard and bounced out. Even his loud shouts did not make the referee blow the whistle.

Duncan, who wanted to grab the frontcourt rebound, didn't get any chance. Chandler held his position tightly. When Odom fell to the floor, Gasol turned around and grabbed the rebound.

Seeing Li You running faster and faster and successfully catching up with the basketball that flew across half court, cheers rang out again!

Kobe tried to retreat to the defense and tried to pressure Li You outside the three-point line. When he approached the left wing, he immediately chose to move forward to defend.

The moment the opponent moved, Li You, holding the ball in his left hand, suddenly lowered his center of gravity, quickly moved in and out while moving, and swayed his body to the right front, forcing Kobe to move a step to the left and back.

When the basketball bounced on the floor and returned to his hands, Li You took a step back in the opposite direction, and without waiting for Kobe to block it, he instantly passed the ball and made a jump shot!

At this time, Duncan had not yet chased the midline. Li You, who had completed the shot, had already turned around confidently and started to return to defense. As the basketball went into the net, the New York fans at the scene shouted wildly again:

"what!!"

Perhaps because it was the last home game, some fans in the front row who had paid a high price for tickets were particularly devoted, ripping their T-shirts and shouting wildly. The fanatical atmosphere even caused Mike Breen in the commentary booth to raise his voice:

"Lee's signature three-pointer! Kobe looks like there's nothing he can do!"

"Kobe seemed to be dragging his body in the game. Jeff was right. He seemed to have lost his explosiveness, which made Lee look like he pressed the fast-forward button!"

Mark Jackson also loudly expressed his opinion that Kobe was lagging behind in all aspects, including reaction speed, agility, and ball-handling ability, which became more and more obvious in the matchup.

At 10:17, the Lakers immediately requested a timeout, and Phil Jackson was completely silent. This three-pointer was a bad shooting choice no matter how you looked at it.

There was jubilation on the bench, and the Knicks' atmosphere team rushed to the court to celebrate with high fives. D'Antoni rarely gave instructions in the first quarter:
"They're trying to let Duncan take over the game, and all we have to do is test their shooting!"

"Believe me, they can't put the ball into the basket. The Lakers are dominated by fear! They are finished. Protect our rebounds."

The mustache guy didn't talk about tactics. In fact, these two games were all about defense and transition offense. Even if the big guys couldn't keep up, Li You could complete the task alone.

Chandler felt a little pressure, but fortunately Gasol was there to help at any time. The two had a brief communication and the joyful atmosphere on the bench remained undiminished.

Artest felt uncomfortable without the task of defending. It was his last home game, and his family and friends were all there, which made him add drama to himself:

"Where is Mr. Best? How come the Lakers only have 4 players!"

When Kobe returned to the half court, he heard Artest yelling at the top of his lungs and was so angry that his eyes widened. After the Lakers kicked the ball out of the sideline, Phil Jackson started yelling again.

After receiving the ball at the top of the arc, facing Li You's close defense, Kobe, holding the ball in his right hand, slightly turned sideways, took advantage of Odom's fake screen to bounce out to the left wing, shook his shoulders, and suddenly leaned forward to accelerate.

Kobe tried to increase his stride and lower his center of gravity, trying to break through Li You's defense. However, the collision of bodies during the movement made him slow down involuntarily, and his ball-protecting hand had to swing.

Li You's quick and steady sliding steps allowed him to always stay close to his opponent. When Kobe crossed the three-point line, Artest on the right wing suddenly swiped to assist in defense.

When Ariza received the pass from Kobe, he didn't have time to pass the ball back to the boss. He seized this fleeting opportunity and drove to the basket with the ball in his right hand!
Seeing Artest assist in the paint, Ariza did not give up the attack and tried to cause a foul, but the referee did not blow the whistle when the ball made contact in the air.

After the two men collided, they both fell to the ground. The basketball hit the backboard and bounced back hard. Chandler did not react in time and was blocked by Duncan from behind. Before he could turn around to block the shot, the basketball had already hit the backboard and went into the basket.

"Tim Duncan has scored 6 points and has 2 assists. He looks more aggressive tonight!"

"But if they want to beat the defending champions, they have to respond from the outside."

As the Knicks were about to serve the ball from the baseline, Van Gundy began a new round of "guidance". As soon as the championship coach finished speaking, Li You had already rushed across half court and Kobe stepped forward to lead the defense again.

In the same position, Kobe lowered his center of gravity and stepped on the three-point line. He saw Li You dribbling the ball between his legs and switching to his left hand, and then moved his feet again.

Faster than expected, Li You suddenly half turned around with his right foot as the axis the moment he changed hands. Kobe subconsciously moved to the left rear, but the opponent in front of him quickly pulled back.

"Oh!"

In the blink of an eye, Li You faced the basket again. His smooth movement made the New York fans at the scene cheer. Gasol came to the top line at the right time and pretended to set a screen. Kobe immediately slid and tried to squeeze through first.

When the basketball disappeared in front of his eyes, Kobe was stunned in place, and Li You suddenly turned forward and passed him cleanly again.
"OH——!"

Mike Breen couldn't help but exclaim when he saw Duncan, who was helping in defense, slide and crash into Li You. In the right blocking area, Duncan's defense and Li You's acceleration by lowering his shoulders happened at the same time.

"squeak!"

The baseline referee blew the whistle subconsciously, but after the brief collision, Li You did not slow down. He used his left hand to secretly gain force and instead pulled Duncan to stagger.

Odom, who was at the lower left side of the basket, seemed to be stunned. He stood there and watched Li Youssip take three steps forward, grab the ball with his right hand, and turn around to slam dunk!

"boom!"

The basket was shaken after the explosion, and the New York fans behind were shouting loudly to vent their excitement. Odom came to his senses and watched Li You yelling at the camera, and couldn't help but whispered:
"God."

Dunking always lights up the atmosphere in the arena. Before Li You even stepped onto the free throw line, the shouts became uniform again:

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

The lightning-fast goal was replayed and the three people in the commentary booth exclaimed again. Mike Breen stopped pretending and became the commentator for the New York home game:
"God-Lee once again showed us his historic dribbling skills!"

"This is a double crush of physical and technical skills! There is no doubt that Kobe will experience another nightmare game tonight!"

At 12:20, after Li You made the free throw, the sound waves almost broke through the stadium, and the fans in the screaming seats at the back stood up one after another. They wanted to enjoy the last home court of the finals:
"Defense!."

He was responsible for connecting the entire team for most of the quarter, but after being broken through continuously, Kobe could no longer hold on. After crossing half court, he tried to get the ball with his back to the basket in the right blocking zone.

This tactic is also an improvement on the past triangle offense. Kobe replaced O'Neal in the low post and it has been frequently used in recent years.

Moving to the right wing, Ariza received a pass from Ferscher, who ran to the bottom corner. Seeing that Kobe was still struggling with Li You, he immediately accelerated and slipped across the baseline, while directing his teammates to grab rebounds.

Phil Jackson was still putting pressure on the referee, Kobe was pushed out of the sweet spot by Li You, and Artest on the line was also interfering with Ariza's pass, causing the offense to almost come to a standstill.

Amid the cheers of the defense, Ariza barely passed the ball and Kobe had to move upwards. The moment he received the ball, he was surrounded by Li You and Artest.

The old man at KFC on the sidelines was so angry that his face turned red. He watched Li You pull the ball out of Kobe's arms:
"Fuck!"

Phil Jackson was dragged back to the sidelines by the assistant coach. He was still very excited, especially when he saw Ariza foolishly retreating early. He waved directly at Radmanovic in anger.

Kobe's fierce counterattack had no effect. Li You immediately passed the ball to Artest who was speeding up. The latter was unguarded and rushed forward with the ball.

All the Lakers players quickly retreated. Li You slowly accelerated along the left sideline and noticed that Kobe had lost his composure and was only focused on returning to defense. He immediately raised his hand to signal when he approached the left wing.

Artest, who was dribbling the ball steadily, suddenly showed off a trick in front of the newbie when he was near the top of the arc. He threw the ball behind his back with his right hand while moving, and cheers rang out again!
The ball was very fast and the height was not enough, so Li You had to take a big step forward. Kobe, who had come to his senses, immediately adjusted his center of gravity and pounced like a hungry tiger.
Li You turned nimbly at the moment of catching the ball. Kobe lost control of his body due to inertia. His feet stumbled, his body tilted, his right hand stuck on the floor, and he fell to the ground in pain.

"Oh!!"

With a low cry, Li You, who was completely unguarded, calmly passed the ball, looked down at Kobe on the floor, and then made a steady jump shot!

"Beautiful move!"

"OH——! Lee got it!"

The three-pointer went into the net and the arena was filled with cheers. Mike Breen's tone became more cheerful. Such scenes were rare in the regular season. In his opinion, New York fans should thank Kobe.

Mark Jackson wanted to continue his comments, but when he saw Kobe standing up and rushing towards Li You, he didn't care about blowing X and shouted excitedly:

"Kobe seems to be losing his cool! What a great game!"

After being teased continuously, Kobe's mentality exploded at this moment. He lost his composure facing his "mortal enemy" and before he could even get a shove, he was pushed to the sidelines by Artest who rushed up from the side.

The linesman had no time to react as the two men had already twisted into a ball and both fell into the front seat.

The fans who were watching the excitement were still cheering and cheering. When they saw Artest locking Kobe, they cheered and the people who reacted quickly surrounded him.
With the help of the referee, Fisher separated the two. Seeing that Kobe was still trying to charge, Fisher hugged his old teammate and called out to Ariza and others:
"Calm down Kobe! Hey! Come here."

Li You was right next to the referee, with his hands on his waist and shaking his head helplessly. Kobe's eyes were red, and all the emotions accumulated over the years burst out. He was still shouting while being pulled by everyone:

"You're just an arrogant bastard! You'll never get my respect!"

"F*cking clown! Who do you think you are? F*cking"

Artest was also yelling at the opponent. The more the fans cheered, the more he wanted to show himself. If the referee hadn't stopped him, he wouldn't mind starting the "second round".

Amidst the laughter, shouting, and booing, Kobe was held back by the crowd and made a money counting gesture to the referee, only to receive a technical foul on the spot.

Originally, both teams had one free throw each, and now the Knicks had another chance to expand the score. When Li You walked to the free throw line with a smile on his face, Madison Square Garden was completely boiling.

If all the security personnel had not been deployed, there was a high probability that some fans would have thrown beer again. On the Lakers bench, Kobe, who was surrounded by everyone, was still gasping for breath.

The pain in his fingers made him look grim. After the team doctor checked, he indicated that he needed to go back to the locker room for treatment. Phil Jackson was also numb at this time. After sighing, he could only hug his core who stood up:
"Calm down! The game has just begun! The team needs your leadership."

Kobe kicked the chair away and walked towards the player tunnel with the team doctor amid the boos of New York fans. Fans on both sides were still fanning the flames:

"You can't do it!!"

"You are not Jordan!!"

The shouting didn't stop, Kobe's face turned even darker, and when he entered the player tunnel, the Knicks staff all seemed to have smiles in their eyes, emotions boiling, and they cursed under their breath.

The game was still going on, and as time went by, Phil Jackson on the sidelines felt despair. Vujacic, who had just come on the court, missed an open shot, and when he turned around to defend the pick-and-roll, he actually went around the bottom line to defend.

He watched helplessly as Gasol's pick-and-roll led to Odom being easily broken through on the left wing. Li You threw the ball casually near the basket, and Duncan's assist defense resulted in a foul again.

Seeing that the opponent's defensive core received two fouls in the first quarter, D'Antoni, who was watching the ball with his arms folded, returned to the bench with a smile:

"Now we just have to enjoy Lee's performance! I'm considering whether to change the matchup for the away game!"

"."

Assistant coach Mike Malone also smiled. He really didn't know how to comment on this game. Kobe actually blew himself up, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

In the remaining three minutes of the first quarter, Duncan, who remained on the court, also felt desperate. The opponent began to attack the basket frantically, and the two big men kept rushing for frontcourt rebounds.

Without a timeout, Duncan played by instinct and lowered his head and walked to the bench at 20:38 at the end of the first quarter. He seemed to have returned to last year!
Phil Jackson frowned on the sidelines and didn't greet his players as usual. With an 18-point difference, he knew there was no chance of an away win:
"Why is this happening?!"

(End of this chapter)