NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 654 More Respect (Daily Chapter)

On Sunday, June 2009, 6, in Game 7 of the Finals, the matchup that fans had been waiting for finally appeared, which made the game, which started at 2 p.m., very exciting.

Before the game, the commentators made a lot of analysis and kept listing Kobe's advantages in the matchup, but after the game started, Mamba was a little embarrassed and the Lakers' game rhythm also had problems.

As the broadcaster, ABC would focus the camera on Kobe with a sullen face and Li You with a relaxed look during each timeout, trying to remind the fans in front of the TV that tonight would be a "duel" between the two.

The Lakers, who were in poor form in the first quarter, only scored 18 points. Kobe made 4 of 1 shots and scored 3 points, which excited the New York fans at the scene.

During the rotation stage of the second quarter, Duncan returned early. The Lakers, who gradually regained their offensive form, were still unable to catch up. This made it difficult for the three commentators in the commentary booth to comment, as there were significant problems on both offense and defense in the half.

The Lakers continued their defensive strategy from G1, still actively double-teaming after the pick-and-roll, but the Knicks responded early from outside the three-point line, which made the players on the court begin to hesitate.

As the half was about to end, on the ABC commentary booth, seeing Kobe and Duncan's arc-top pick-and-roll, Van Gundy once again talked about the rhythm problem:
"The Lakers were too slow and looked lacking in confidence. The Knicks didn't show their best shooting form, but they easily took the lead with three-pointers and counterattacks."

"Kobe has a hard time getting out of defense, and that's become the biggest problem on offense, and he can't dominate the game with the pass."

He swayed to the right and then to the left, standing beside Duncan. Kobe accelerated sideways with the ball in his left hand. Li You, who encountered a fake screen, easily chased to Kobe's side. Chandler quickly slid to delay him, and then immediately returned to defense.

Kobe made a ground pass to his teammate while moving, and began to squeeze towards the basket, trying to get a position and grab the frontcourt rebound in time!
He bent over to catch the ball and looked at the basket expressionlessly. In the right blocking area, Duncan protected the ball on the left side of his body. After a simple tentative step, he suddenly raised the ball and threw it.

"Shh!"

Amid boos, the score came to 46:55, the difference returned to single digits, and there were only 24.5 seconds left in the half.

Phil Jackson on the sidelines was obviously very dissatisfied with the performance in the first half. The old KFC man kept shouting loudly, reminding the players to concentrate while also venting his own depressed emotions.

JR Smith dribbled across half court and protected the ball on the left wing. Fisher's interference did not have much effect and it took about 8 seconds before the ball was returned to Li You near the logo.

The stars faced off again, and the noise in Madison Square Garden got louder. Compared with G1, the game was less exciting, but more fun:
"Let's go Knicks!."

The tempo of the cheers also quickened, but facing Kobe with a "ferocious" look on his face, Li You, holding the ball in his right hand, still calmly controlled the time.

Fisher, who was near the right sideline, began to loudly remind Kobe that the offensive time was almost up, but Kobe, with a focused expression, still chose not to step forward to interfere, and stared at Li You again.

In the last 5.8 seconds, Li You began to move slowly, and then suddenly dribbled the ball between his legs. Kobe hurriedly moved, and saw that his "mortal enemy" suddenly lowered his center of gravity, changed direction between his legs again, and immediately slid to the left rear with all his strength.

"Oh!"

Li You dribbled the ball between his legs continuously and then took a "boom start". The fans in the front row only had time to cheer before they saw Kobe being broken through.

It was as if the defense didn't exist. There was a physical confrontation when approaching the free throw line. Li You just paused slightly before squeezing past Kobe and making a layup in the paint. Although Duncan was assisting in defense, he tried hard to control his body.

Kobe, who was defending, jumped up and tried to block the shot from behind, but Li You pushed Duncan away, held the ball with his left hand, tilted his body and tried to glide in the shot, but he just avoided the defense.

Near the left baseline, Odom was defending with his eyes again, watching Li You flick his wrist and throw the ball to the backboard while being surrounded by two people.

"Bang!"

As the basketball hit the backboard and went into the basket, the New York fans sitting in the front stood up and cheered. With 1.3 seconds left, Li You just completed the last attack of the half.

On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere group had already started celebrating in advance. It was a pity that Duncan didn't receive three fouls, but the 3-point difference was enough for everyone to build a psychological advantage.

Fisher's long three-pointer missed, and the scene was full of joy. Marion noticed Kobe's "death stare" and laughed and laughed:
"Hey! Man, why don't you take action? What are you afraid of?"

半场7中2，三分线外2中1，罚球2中1，6分2篮板4助攻2失误，曼巴又哑火了。

When he was on the Suns, Marion would not be so arrogant. When Kobe saw the hacker's smiling face, pursed his lips and said nothing, turned around and walked quickly towards the locker room, he was a little confused.

Kobe has gained rich defensive experience from watching a large number of game videos. He can predict Li You's offensive choices, but his body cannot keep up.

"Videographer!"

"Shaq is on the sidelines, you need him!"

"."

New York fans on both sides of the tunnel began to laugh at Mamba again, but Kobe ignored the provocation with a stern face. He will be 31 years old in two months, and his physical condition has declined a bit compared to when he was young.

Injuries are inevitable, and the self-disciplined Kobe previously believed that his physical condition was no worse than Li You's.

After a real one-on-one matchup, Mamba felt that his "mortal enemy" was not only stronger than before, but even faster than in the regular season.

Although he didn't want to admit this fact, basketball doesn't lie. Outrageous emotions kept surging in Kobe's heart, and he didn't fully come back to his senses until he entered the locker room.

Duncan and Odom were sweating profusely. Both performed well, making 8 of 4 shots and scoring 10 points each. However, the opponent's three-pointers put the game into another rhythm and they fell behind by double digits inexplicably.

As the leader of the locker room, Fisher wanted to encourage them first, but when Phil Jackson came in front of everyone, he was particularly angry and criticized loudly with an angry face:
"What are you afraid of? We wasted too many opportunities and it was even difficult to launch a successful counterattack!"

"Catch the ball, shoot the ball, that's what you do."

In the first half of the game, the Knicks made 16 of 7 three-pointers, while the Lakers made 8 of 3. If it weren't for some free throws, the score difference would have been even greater.

The old man from KFC didn't want to see such a competition. He noticed that everyone was staring at him seriously. After calming down, he spoke loudly again:

"Reduce some help defense, we must prevent the opponent from scoring outside the three-point line."

Ariza and the others were in no mood to talk. As the game progressed, the opponents were almost always defending near the paint area. There were some three-point shooting opportunities from time to time, but no one was able to complete the task.

When they fall behind after missing shots many times, they can't help but look for a big shot, while the opponent seems to be more casual when shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Fisher looked at the somewhat silent locker room, then looked at Duncan who was concentrating, and noticed that Kobe's eyes were wide open. In the end, he chose the leader on the court and said seriously:
"Tim, the coach is right, you can keep passing the ball, everyone will get back into shape, we have to close the gap in the third quarter."

Duncan was already used to the Lakers' locker room. He glanced at his silent partner, then clapped his hands and reminded him:
“We still have time.”

During the halftime break, the stadium was already buzzing with excitement. After the cheerleaders' hard performance, there were also some fan activities organized by sponsors.

In addition, the director would occasionally focus the camera on O'Neal and his teammates, making the atmosphere even more joyful. Seeing his little brother's poor performance, the old shark smiled even brighter. Although he often stood up and cheered loudly for Kobe during the game, every time Li You scored a goal, O'Neal shouted even louder.

"God-Lee!!"

At this time, in front of the camera, O'Neal, wearing a loose white T-shirt, took the lead in shouting Li You's name. Under his leadership, many New York fans in the screaming seats also shouted happily.

In the ABC commentary booth, the three people who saw this scene were speechless. In front of the media, the OK combination that had reconciled obviously still had some problems, and O'Neal obviously did not completely forgive Kobe.

"He will be turning 32 this year, but Li doesn't look like a veteran."

"I noticed a lot of times where Kobe made the right defensive decisions, but his body just wasn't able to support him on defense."

Mark Jackson was upset when talking about this situation. In the past, Li You should have declined at his age, but now he is getting stronger and stronger, which overturned the views of many basketball commentators:

"Kobe was being crushed mentally and physically. Lee was constantly attacking him, and he had no way to deal with it."

After hearing his partner's comments, Van Gundy agreed again after looking at the technical statistics. Li You scored 15 points in the first half, with 10 of 7 shots, 4 of 4 from beyond the three-point line, and 4 of 28 free throws. The gap was too big:
"If Lee can show his defensive ability in the regular season, he will win a DPOY trophy!"

“I was never worried about Lee’s offense, but I was pleasantly surprised that Lee’s defense was also improving.”

"The anticipation of the ball and the timing of assisting defense were impeccable. Lee completely restricted Kobe's offense with the ball. Maybe he will bring us more surprises in the future. This is not Lee's limit."

Li You returned to the court early to warm up. Wearing the Knicks' orange training suit, he did not show any signs of fatigue. Fast breaks, breakthroughs, three-pointers, and Kobe's defense in the first half made him feel at ease.

"You have to show all your strength, Li. You need to respect my little brother!"

O'Neal, who was sitting next to Spike Lee, stood up again, shook his head and called out to Li You loudly, which made the big director wearing the No. 1 jersey of the Knicks laugh out loud, and he joked with the old shark:

"Shaq is right! Kobe needs more respect."

Li You kept greeting his old friends in the front row. When he heard the two people making a fuss, he also showed a serious look and responded seriously:
"I watched a lot of videos these past two days, and I got instructions from God! In the second half, I will destroy his defense from beyond the three-point line."

"."

Some of the audience who bought front-row seats for the finals obviously did not understand New York's "fun culture". After hearing Li You's assurance, they shouted loudly:

"I'm with you, Lee! God bless you forever."

O'Neal almost couldn't hold back when he returned to his seat. People believed Li You's serious nonsense. He had a new understanding of the outrageousness of New York fans.

When Old Shark thought about his little brother being beaten up again, he felt happy and wanted to rap a song right now. He regretted making peace with him, otherwise he could have attracted more attention.

As the third quarter began, the atmosphere became increasingly heated. Duncan's jump shot in the left blocking area after the pick-and-roll did not affect the good mood of the New York fans. They were too familiar with the double-digit score difference in the first half.

There were waves of cheers. Chandler set a fake screen and Li You, holding the ball in his right hand at the top of the arc, accelerated horizontally and broke into the basket. The combined force of Duncan and Kobe made the cheers even louder.

Duncan quickly slid to the left and back, successfully delaying Li You who rushed into his arms, and created a defensive opportunity for Kobe who was chasing him.

In the right blocking area, as Duncan returned to defend the basket, Li You took advantage of Kobe's pursuit to his side and immediately stopped, dribbled quickly behind his back, turned around and switched to his left hand, noticed Mamba moving his feet, suddenly exerted force, and quickly stepped back.

Kobe was a beat too late to realize what was wrong. Although he jumped up to block the shot immediately, Li You took a jump shot with a slight backward movement from outside the three-point line!

Kobe was falling in the air, watching the basketball fly over his right arm. After landing, he immediately turned his head and saw the basketball go into the net. He couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Get ready for a timeout, Bro! God told me I'd score 9 straight points."

Li You smiled and patted Kobe, who was still posing in front of him. Without giving his opponent a chance to respond, he immediately retreated along the sidelines. The fans in the front row who were "spoiled" stood up and tried to interact.

"Shet!"

After being shot in the face again, Kobe came to his senses and cursed, but he still remained calm, watching Odom catch the ball and quickly run towards half court.

At the free throw line, Duncan did not rush to attack after receiving the ball. He saw Odom pretend to cut in from the left wing and suddenly run back. He immediately moved sideways and then passed the ball hand to hand.

The cooperation between the big men made Gasol lose his defensive position directly. Odom took advantage of the screen and successfully broke through the basket, and sent the ball into the basket under the interference of Chandler.

Odom roared in response, and the atmosphere group on the Lakers bench also shouted. With consecutive successful attacks, they seemed to have regained their offensive form.

"Let's go Knicks!."

Come on, Gasol stopped as soon as he passed half court and set a high screen. Li You first dribbled the ball behind his back to briefly get rid of Kobe's pursuit, then saw Odom coming out to assist, and quickly went in and out with his left hand while moving.

Odom was shaken and hurriedly stepped back. His body's instinctive reaction made him lose his defensive position. He watched Li You suddenly stop and pass the ball. He didn't stretch out his hand and watched him take a jump shot.

"Oh!!"

The cheers started again, and the consecutive three-pointers made the New York fans regain the feeling of bullying the weaker opponents, and the shouts became louder and louder.

Kobe, who had just caught up to him, pursed his lips and said nothing. He could see that Odom had tried his best.

The Lakers tried to slow down the pace of the game and scored continuously. However, 24 seconds ago, Fisher missed an open three-pointer from the left wing.

Seeing the long rebound being picked up by Li You, Phil Jackson on the sidelines shouted loudly, reminding Kobe to delay the opponent who was speeding along the left sideline.

Kobe retreated to the half court and tried hard to lower his center of gravity, but after Li You dribbled the ball between his legs twice in a row at an extremely fast speed, he suddenly blew the ball with his left hand and stepped back quickly, but still created enough space for the shot.

Jumping up to defend, Kobe watched Li You twist his body in the air to shoot a jump shot, and immediately turned his head after landing.

"Whoa!" The three-pointer hit the net.

The Lakers immediately requested a timeout. Li You saw Kobe still staring at the basket and couldn't help but joked again:
“Man, God has told me the outcome of the game!”

"."

(End of this chapter)