Champion, please stay!

Chapter 290, Chapter 288: The Great Emperor vs. Black Mamba... + Cannon Bro!

In the second quarter, the battle between the two teams became even more intense.

The Knicks have a significant advantage on the wing. If Yi Shui brings any of his wing teammates, they will be able to overwhelm Artest and his wing partners.

The Lakers have an absolute advantage in the backcourt. When Paul and Kobe play together, no one can stop them. When Kobe plays with Blake or Fisher, they can hold their own against Curry and Ray Allen, and even gain the upper hand when they get serious.

At center, Bynum is about the same height as Chandler, but weighs a full 20 kilograms more. If he receives the ball in the right position, his inside scoring ability is probably the strongest in the league today, except for Yao Ming who goes all out in the low post.

Kobe happened to be the best passer to the center in the league, and Paul was also quite good at it.

Fortunately, the Knicks have a clear advantage in roster depth. While some of the Lakers' reserves, like Blake and Fisher, are better than Chalmers and Webster in terms of clutch ability and toughness, their raw talent is not as good. Even Willie Green, the Knicks' third option at both guard positions, could be the Lakers' primary backup for Paul or Kobe.

In the first half of the quarter, the two teams were tied 15-11. Led by Yi Shui, the Knicks extended their lead to 5 points, leading the Lakers 47-42.

But after the official timeout, Kobe hit a tough three-pointer, and Paul stole the ball and made a long pass that went across the court. Kobe received the pass in the frontcourt and connected with Artest, and the two 30+ veterans played an alley-oop, tying the score in just two possessions.

In the second half of the quarter, the Lakers took the lead. Towards the end of the quarter, Jermaine O'Neal, who replaced Bynum, received the ball close to the left baseline and made a jump shot. Starting with an offensive surge led by Kobe and Paul, the Lakers went on an 18-10 run, taking a 3-point lead at 60-57!
In the final possession of the first half, Yi Shui was double-teamed by Kobe and Artest. Ray Allen stepped up at this moment. After missing his first two shots in the first half of the quarter, he received a pass from Yi Shui on the left side of the arc and pulled up for a shot without hesitation... The three-pointer went in cleanly!

The score was 28-29 in the second quarter. At halftime, the Knicks and Lakers were tied at 60!
During halftime, after finishing his halftime interview with CCTV, Yi Shui returned to the locker room and overheard several coaches discussing the performance of the two teams' players in the first half.

Cheeks: "8 points and 2 assists in the first quarter, 8 points and 1 assist in the second quarter. Kobe has 16 points and 3 assists in the first half. And that doesn't even include the few passes that Bynum made when he received the ball and went one-on-one. I can't do anything about it. Mark, I'm counting on you."

Mark Jackson: "What can I do? That guy played like Jordan tonight. Damn, it reminded me of that nightmare 12 years ago. No matter how well we defended, Jordan would score seven or eight points every quarter, every game. He would drag the game to the end, including the Game 7. He averaged 31 points and beat us, and in the end, he also beat those two in Salt Lake City."

The two defensive coaches looked exasperated, but head coach D'Antoni remained calm, saying, "Don't focus on that guy. He's Kobe Bryant. That kind of performance is normal for him. Look at this, we actually defended him very well."

D'Antoni handed the two of them the first-half statistics that his brother had just brought back.

In the first quarter, the Lakers' four stars, Kobe Bryant (8 points), Andrew Bynum (7 points), Chris Paul (4 points), and Ron Artest (2 points), combined for 21 points. The role players scored 10 points each, making it a relatively balanced effort.

In the second quarter, Kobe scored 8 points, Paul, who played the entire quarter, scored 6 points, Bynum, who played 8 minutes, also scored 6 points, and Artest scored 4 points, for a total of 24 points. The Lakers scored 29 points as a team. In other words, before Jermaine O'Neal made that jump shot at the end of the quarter, the only other role player who scored was Blake, who hit a three-pointer over Ray Allen's help defense.

Both defensive coaches had mixed feelings. During the first half, they racked their brains to limit Paul's passing. Paul not only passed the ball out, but also made good use of their interception strategy. In the second quarter, he scored 6 points with 2 of 4 field goals and 2 of 2 free throws, for a total of 10 points and 6 assists at halftime.

想要遏制科比得分，科比半场11投5中、其中三分球4中2，加上4中4的罚球拿到16分；
Bynum... When Kobe passes the ball in place, Bynum's inside attack is unstoppable.

Instead, the pre-planned defensive strategy of having Webster, Willie Green, Amir Johnson, Gibson, and others engage in physical battles to wear down Artest, McRoberts, Fisher, and others' shooting touch, while using Yi Shui and Chandler's mobility to disrupt passing lanes on the wings, proved to be more effective.

However, it wasn't just the Lakers' role players who saw a decline in scoring. The two defensive coaches also noticed a drop in their team's role players' scoring in the second quarter, though not as severe as on the other side.

In the first quarter, the three All-Star guards combined for 21 points, while the others scored 11 points.

第二节易水7分、库里8分、雷-阿伦6分，还是21分，其他人得分也下滑到了7分。

However, given this situation, the next course of action is quite simple.

D'Antoni called Yi Shui over, who had changed into a clean jersey...

...

After halftime, the two teams switched halves and resumed play.

The Lakers brought in a lineup of Paul, Kobe, Barnes, Artest, and O'Neal.

The Knicks brought in a lineup of Curry, Webster, Mike Miller, Yi Shui, and Birdman.

The Lakers took the first possession. Paul passed the ball to Kobe on the right high post as soon as he got to the frontcourt. Just as he was about to spread out, Curry immediately double-teamed Kobe.

Kobe was planning to receive the ball and slowly chip away at Webster's defense, but seeing this, he sped up, turned to the left, took a step down, dribbled the ball, pulled back, faced Curry and Webster's defense, stepped back and launched a fadeaway jumper... and it went in!
In the transition between offense and defense, Yi Shui received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the right side, raised his hand, Artest pressed forward, Yi Shui retrieved the ball, seized the rhythm difference, changed direction to the left front, and rushed to the top of the line!

Paul didn't double-team him, and Curry scored 15 points in the first half, one more than Bynum, who only scored when he received a comfortable pass in the low post.

Yi Shui drove straight to the basket, Kobe Bryant on the wing couldn't help defend in time, and Jermaine O'Neal rushed up to block... but was knocked off the baseline by Yi Shui. Not only did he fail to stop Yi Shui from slamming the ball into the basket, he also received a blocking foul.

Yi Shui dunked over Jermaine O'Neal and even got to make the free throws!

After making the free throw, the score became 63-62, and the Knicks regained a one-point lead!
The first leg of the second half ignited the passion of the Angels fans.

Yi Shui and Kobe Bryant faced off against each other amidst boos and cheers from the crowd.

Of course, it's not a direct one-on-one match between the two.

When Yi Shui was still a rookie and thin, Kobe could still keep up, but now, apart from closely guarding his long-range shots, it's difficult for him to keep up.

Yi Shui is indeed capable of defending Kobe one-on-one, and his defensive effectiveness is definitely among the best. However, he tried it in the first quarter. Whenever he went to defend Kobe, Paul used Kobe's presence to break down their inside-outside defense and launch an offensive surge.

Both sides' strategy for dealing with the opponent's star player is the same: double-team!
The Lakers can only pin their hopes on the frontcourt duo of Barnes and Artest.

The Knicks also pinned their hopes on Webster and other players double-teaming them. Webster was big enough and did a good job defending Kobe in the low post in the first half.

Kobe's stubbornness kicked in; he wanted to go head-to-head with Webster in the low post, but neither Paul nor Fisher passed him the ball. Although he grumbled a bit, once he calmed down, when facing Webster's one-on-one defense, he honestly chose to launch attacks from the high post and beyond the three-point line.

This allows Curry and Mike Miller, both of whom are excellent at help defense, to double-team.

The main problem is that the Lakers' three-point shooting ability is average. In the first five games, they averaged 21 three-point attempts per game, making 7.4 of them, with a team shooting percentage of only 35.2%. Kobe alone averaged 2.6 three-pointers per game.

However, whether it's the tough frontcourt duo of Barnes and Artest, or the combination of Webster, a muscular man and a skilled help defender, defending against them is not only ineffective but also essentially a waste of their time.

After Kobe hit a step-back two-pointer at the start of the second half, on the next offensive possession, he drove to the right side near the baseline, stopped abruptly, turned sideways and leaned against Mike Miller who was helping on defense, then straightened up and made a strong jump shot, drawing a foul from Birdman who rushed out to foul him, completing a 2+1 play.

In the next offensive possession, Kobe drove straight to the basket, spun around the baseline, and made a layup, scoring on three consecutive possessions and racking up 7 points!
On the other side, after Yi Shui dunked over Jermaine O'Neal and completed a 2+1 play, he received the ball at the high post on the next offensive possession, faked a pass and then hit a long two-pointer after fooling Artest. On the next offensive possession, Yi Shui changed direction in front of the three-point line, faked out Artest, drove half a step into the three-point line, and then changed direction again to pull back and hit a three-pointer as Artest and Barnes rushed towards him... scoring 8 points in a row!
一分半钟时间里，两队打出了8比7的比分！尼克斯队68比67领先湖人队1分！
The cheers and boos from the crowd never stopped, and both head coaches were both excited and exasperated—'My guy (Old Ironman) always unleashes a nuclear attack in the third quarter, a magic weapon for widening and narrowing the gap. Tonight he's in nuclear attack mode again, but the other team has someone like that too!'

The relentless back-and-forth attacks over three rounds were a hurdle for both Yi Shui and Kobe, who is now at his age. Continuing to go at it would inevitably increase their physical exertion in the short term, affecting their offensive efficiency for the next period of time, and also impacting the team's offensive efficiency.

Both D'Antoni and Phil Jackson had a good grasp of the game's tempo, and both signaled to their point guards to switch to the team's offense.

During this phase, as Yi Shui discussed with D'Antoni and Mark Jackson during halftime, the shooting performance of pure passers continued to decline, both on their side and the opposing side.

However, when it comes to teamwork, Yi Shui insists on executing tactics, striving to seize the best passing opportunity and help his teammates get better opportunities to receive and shoot.

After discussing with Mark Jackson, D'Antoni made a decision: instead of starting Willie Green, who is better at physical play, and Ray Allen, who is faster on his feet, at the beginning of the third quarter, he started Curry and Mike Miller. This was to give the shooters enough rest time to alleviate the wear and tear from the physical contact.

Ray Allen was substituted in at the 4th minute of the second quarter and played until the end of the first half, while Curry came on at the beginning and end of the second quarter, with a rest period of up to 7 minutes in between... D'Antoni controlled the rotation rhythm very well.

On the Lakers' side, when it came to the team offense phase, they relied purely on Paul's individual ability to carry the team. Their overall offensive firepower during the rotation phase was significantly weaker than that of the Knicks. Even with Kobe actively moving around to find opportunities to receive passes and shoot, they were still at a disadvantage.

However, Paul wasn't dissatisfied because his new team's role player roster wasn't as strong as the Hornets', because he had Kobe! He knew that no matter how strong the opponent, as long as he could lead the team to victory in regulation time, there was still hope of winning!

Paul's ability to provide a floor is truly remarkable. Even if the players he passes to aren't particularly good scorers, as long as they have a specific skill that suits him, he can always create scoring opportunities, keeping the team's offense at a basic level. Midway through the third quarter, the score was 77-73. The Knicks had gone on a 9-6 run in the past four minutes, extending their lead to four points.

Phil Jackson called a timeout and brought in Bynum and McRoberts, while Paul, Kobe, and Barnes continued to play on the perimeter.

With his two starting teammates in the paint, Paul led the team to a significant increase in offensive firepower.

However, D'Antoni seized the opportunity and substituted Ray Allen, Amir Johnson, and Chandler, which greatly improved their close-range double-teaming ability and long-range shooting ability.

In the next four minutes, the two teams traded baskets 11-12. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 88-85, with the Knicks maintaining a slight three-point lead.
When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, Paul passed the ball directly to Kobe in the frontcourt. Kobe faked out Ray Allen, drove into the paint, and faced a double team from Yi Shui and Chandler. He drove along the baseline, pulled up for a layup, and made it, drawing a foul on Chandler and completing a 2+1 play to tie the score!

Turning around, Yi Shui made a strong low post attack against Barnes, turned left and then made a turnaround jump step, coming to the front of the basket. Before Bynum, who was on the baseline to help defend, turned and rushed over, he made a left-handed hook shot, making it 90-88, and the Knicks regained a two-point lead!
The TV commentators exclaimed in surprise, "The gorilla's 'rabbit kick' has really become a regular offensive tactic for the Great One in the low post!"

However, the moves have been significantly improved, making them completely different in terms of aesthetics. Bill Walton even said, "This is what low-post offense should look like. Patrick is so unpopular with fans because his moves are too ugly. Look at me, I've only played a few good games and I'm already inducted into the Hall of Fame..."

At the game, the fans in Angel City were also shocked, but not because of the spectacle of this low-post one-on-two, nor because Kobe had taken a one-on-one opportunity and Yi Shui could immediately respond.

Last season, Yi Shui broke Kobe's record for the highest single-season scoring average in active careers, and everyone knows he is capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone.

In the previous round, Yi Shui was still outmaneuvering Paul and organizing the offense!
In the first half, both teams focused on team offense, which wasn't very noticeable to the fans.

However, in the third quarter, the two teams made a clear shift in their playing styles, and fans noticed something they hadn't seen in the first half.

The opposing Knicks relied on the Yi River to organize their offense, and their star players' duels also depended on the Yi River.

Yi Shui single-handedly went head-to-head with Paul and Kobe, and he didn't fall behind in either team performance or statistics!

That's really outrageous!

This is thanks to Mark Jackson, who infused the small-ball philosophy into the fast-paced offense. During the team's offensive phase, if Yi Shui is responsible for supporting the offense, he always stays in the high post area. With less movement and less contact, he consumes less energy, which allows him to perform like this.

In fact, the wing passes from Curry, Ray Allen, Mike Miller, and others played a significant role in the Knicks' team offense, but the first ball transfer always ended up with Yi Shui at the high post, and that's the only player others remembered.

This is also a characteristic of small-ball offense, which makes certain points stand out.

Just like Draymond Green during the Splash Brothers era, his ability to facilitate and pass the ball was indeed strong, but the role played by Curry, Livingston, Klay Thompson, Iguodala, and even Bogut in passing the ball in other areas was also very crucial. But back then, when people talked about the Warriors' passing, they only thought of Draymond.

When people mention Klay Thompson, they think of his off-ball movement and shooting, ignoring his consistent 2+ assists per game for many years despite not receiving the ball much, and even overlooking that Curry's average assists per game are actually similar to Draymond Green's...

With Yi Shui receiving the ball and making a buzzer-beating floater at the end of the third quarter, the score was 95-93, with the Knicks holding a slight two-point lead going into the break.

The scoreline was astonishing to both the fans at the stadium and those watching on television.

It's not just that the score was over 90 to 90 in the third quarter, which is quite exaggerated, but the two teams were already tied at 60 to 60 in the first half.

The exaggerated part is about the two players!
In the first two minutes of the third quarter, Yi Shui and Kobe went head-to-head, with the former slightly ahead, leading 8-7. The two continued to trade baskets at the end of the quarter, with the latter also slightly ahead, 8-7. In less than four minutes combined, they each scored 15 points.

In addition, Yi Shui scored 5 points and Kobe Bryant scored 6 points in the middle of the 8-minute period...

易水单节9投7中，其中三分球4中3，加上3中3的罚球，单节拿到20分！
科比单节12投8中，其中三分球4中2，加上3中3的罚球，单节拿到21分！
在其他人13次出手只拿到15分的情况下，尼克斯队靠着易水的20分，单节飙出了35分；湖人队也在其他人11次出手只拿到12分的情况下，靠着科比的21分，单节轰出了33分。

With Yi Shui and Kobe leading the charge, both teams unleashed an even more ferocious offensive display than they had during their peak performance in the first quarter!
Meanwhile, the Angel City fans at the stadium were focused on Yi Shui's statistics.

首节9分、第二节7分、第三节20分，三节拿到36分，比科比的37分少1分。

但易水还有首节4次助攻、第二节3次助攻、第三节3次助攻……只比首节3次助攻、第二节3次助攻、第三节5次助攻的保罗少1次！
On the field, in terms of team performance, and in terms of statistics, Yi Shui achieved a one-against-two victory!

Most importantly, Yi Shui still had 7 rebounds in the first three quarters...

The fans in Los Angeles are getting excited; they might see some truly terrifying stats tonight! Even though it's the opponent who put up the numbers... but that opponent is the Emperor!
Unlike the Big Apple, Angels fans aren't keen on seeing their opponents put on a crazy performance.

Unlike Yi Shui, he has always been very popular in California, and even in Los Angeles, he is extremely popular.

In the past, when Yi Shui played at Staples Center, there were always loud cheers. This time, the boos were deafening. The main reason is that he has already won the championship, broken Kobe's single-season scoring record, and unlocked the achievement of winning two MVPs in a single season. He has truly started his journey to catch up with Shaq and Spurs, and Lakers fans feel threatened.

But when Yi Shui put on such a performance, Angel City fans' stance was no longer so firm.

Not only the fans at the stadium, but also major TV stations posted Yi Shui's performance in the three quarters online and on other TV channels... This game, which already had high viewership, saw another surge in viewership.

In New York, at NBA headquarters, Stern, receiving real-time viewership fluctuations, sighed helplessly: 'Does Los Angeles really have to be the only city to fully capitalize on the market benefits brought by Embiid's presence?'

...

Back from the holiday break.

The Lakers brought in their entire starting lineup: Paul, Kobe, Artest, McRoberts, and Bynum.

The Knicks also brought back most of their starters, with Curry, Ray Allen, Yi Shui, and Chandler all back in the lineup. They also brought in Frye for the other center position.

Between rim protection and offensive spacing, D'Antoni unhesitatingly chose the latter.

As the fourth quarter began, the offensive burden for both teams fell on Yi Shui and Kobe!

Both players had terrifying performances in the first three quarters, but in fact, the other stars on both teams also performed better than usual. The ones who performed worse than usual were the role players who were only responsible for receiving passes.

保罗三节12分11助攻、拜纳姆三节16分8板2盖帽；库里三节19分3助攻、雷-阿伦三节17分2助攻。

But while the performance was better, the energy expenditure was also much greater than usual.

Paul only rested for a few minutes at the end of the first quarter, and played the full second and third quarters, totaling 32 minutes. Bynum's playing time was about the same as usual, playing 25 minutes, but he had to shoulder more responsibility and was more exhausted on both offense and defense.
Curry played far less time than Paul, only 24 minutes in three quarters, but he put in more effort on defense and was more exhausted than usual when facing Kobe's defense. Ray Allen also didn't play much time, scoring 17 points in 21 minutes in three quarters, but he is already 35 years old. He was running hard and taking a lot of shots, and he was about to give out.

In this quarter, what Paul did was to take possession of the ball at the right time and launch a few team offensive possessions. Whether he could score or not was not important. The main thing was to ensure his teammates' defensive intensity and to give Kobe a break.

Curry's approach is basically the same. Over the past two years, he has been actively learning Nash's offensive organization methods, and what he has learned... seems to be completely different from Nash's.

Nash orchestrates the offense during regular time and takes the ball himself when necessary; Curry, on the other hand, actively utilizes team offense to score during regular time, directs teammates' positioning, ensures smooth offensive flow, and takes possession of the ball in crucial moments to help Yi Shui make better offensive choices.

However, from D'Antoni's perspective as head coach, Curry has indeed learned the essence of Nash's offensive organization—he didn't blindly copy Nash, but rather made adjustments based on Nash's team-leading philosophy and his own actual situation.

This is precisely why Curry's importance in the coaching staff's eyes is becoming increasingly similar to that of Yi Shui!
Both teams' overall scoring efficiency dropped significantly in the third quarter. In the first half of the final quarter, the Lakers only scored 9 points and the Knicks only scored 10 points, bringing the score to 105-102, with the Knicks extending their lead to 3 points.

However, looking only at Yi Shui and Kobe's individual scoring efficiency, although it was not as high as the third quarter when the two were at their best, it was no worse than the first half. Yi Shui made 3 of 7 shots and 2 of 2 free throws to get 8 points, while Kobe also made 3 of 7 shots, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, to get 7 points!
After the official timeout, both teams went into a scoring drought. Yi Shui and Kobe were both directly double-teamed and tried to pass the ball to their teammates on the wings, but neither side managed to score from open play for several possessions. As the physical contact between the two teams became increasingly intense, the referee was reluctant to blow the whistle at this point. Unless it was an obvious foul, he would not call it, leaving the outcome to the players' own skill.

With more than nine minutes left in the game, Kobe couldn't sit still any longer. He received the ball at the top of the arc, facing Ray Allen and Yi Shui who were double-teaming him. He walked towards Ray Allen, pulled up to the right 45-degree angle, and without getting rid of the defender, he forced a jump and floated out of bounds from the right 45-degree angle to shoot... a long-range three-pointer that went in!

105-105, the Lakers have tied the score!

(End of this chapter)