Champion, please stay!

Chapter 291, page 289: Shocking Angel City!
The fans in the stadium cheered wildly. Kobe's shot not only tied the score but also brought his personal score to 47 points! He now led Yi Shui, who had 44 points, by 3 points!
When the Knicks were on offense, Yi Shui received a system notification... 'Pseudo-Snake Heart' had been triggered!

He came to the low post and leaned against Artest to receive the ball, drawing a deafening chorus of boos from the crowd.

However, tonight, the fans in Angel City and the Big Apple had the same mentality. When they saw Yi Shui get the ball, although there was a lot of booing, they all wanted to see Yi Shui score a goal and continue his duel with Kobe.

Yi Shui used a low post post-up move and turned around. Artest defended him very roughly and fought hard, but he still couldn't stop Yi Shui's movement.

Bynum under the basket and Kobe, who had moved in from the high post, were prepared to double-team Yi Shui and "kick" him, but Yi Shui really turned to the left, facing the baseline, and met Artest, who had moved to the right position in time. He jumped with his left foot on the three-second zone sideline and hooked the ball out with his right hand... The ball hit the rim, spun around, and fell into the basket!

107 is better than 105!

The Knicks have taken a two-point lead!

When the Lakers were on offense, Kobe received the ball just outside the three-point line in front of Ray Allen when Curry and Yi Shui double-teamed him from both sides. Kobe raised his hand, and Ray Allen was faked out!
Kobe slapped the ball between Ray Allen's legs as he jumped, squeezed through the double team of Curry and Ray Allen, rushed to the free-throw line, caught the ball, jumped, tilted his body to the left, and faced Yi Shui who was rushing towards him from the right, and released a long two-point pull-up jump shot... and it went in again!
The fans at the scene went wild. Yi Shui had just executed a big fat-style turnaround hook shot, and Kobe immediately responded with a beautiful mid-range jumper!
In the transition between offense and defense, Yi Shui continued to drop to a low position, received the ball, and touched the left side with his right foot before turning around and jumping!

Bynum and Kobe, who had moved in from the high post, lunged towards the top of the restricted area, while Artest lunged towards the baseline. Yi Shui was wide open and took a close-range turnaround jump shot... and it went in cleanly!
Artest and Kobe reacted quickly and rushed forward, but it was too late. Embiid was tall and jumped faster!
In the early stages of his career at Yi Shui, when his skills were limited, his most common tactic was to exploit the tempo difference!
The Knicks regained a two-point lead at 109-107!
When the Lakers went on offense, Kobe continued to isolate and attack. This time, Ray Allen didn't think about what to defend; he just stuck close to Kobe and didn't want to become such a big liability.

Facing tight defense, Kobe pushed Ray Allen back half a step and seized the opportunity to drive to the three-point line.

Ray Allen's defense was poor, but at least he gave Curry, who was double-teaming on the left, the opportunity to stick to Kobe. Kobe drove all the way to close range, and under Curry's pressure and Yi Shui's interference from the other side, he rushed to the right front of the basket, stopped abruptly, and faked a move.

At that distance, the opponent had already stopped the ball, and Yi Shui and Chandler jumped up without hesitation to interfere.

Kobe abruptly stopped his jump, pivoting on his left foot and stepping between Chandler and Yi Shui with his right. With both feet pushing off, Kobe squeezed through the gaps between the players. Even as his body was tilted at a 30-degree angle to the floor and he was about to fall, he tossed the ball from behind Chandler toward the basket...

In!

The fans cheered wildly, and Chandler, Curry, Ray Allen, and Yi Shui, who formed a circle around him, couldn't help but swear.

That waist is absolutely incredible! With that body posture, he can still maintain his balance and put the ball in the basket!
Yi Shui and Chandler each extended a hand and helped Kobe up.

Kobe laughed and patted Yi Shui on the back: "Your turn next."

Effective trash talk is often not the kind that's loud and boisterous.

Garnett's trash talk, including insults directed at female relatives, might be okay for bullying role players, but against superstars in the same position, he'd almost always get crushed if he started hurling insults. During his years in the Western Conference, except for 04 when he had the help of the "Old Alien" and "Old Madman" to reach the Western Conference Finals, he was always brutally beaten in the first round by various superstar centers.

But Kobe's casual remark caused Yi Shui, who wanted to use his scoring threat to set up Curry or Ray Allen, to continue demanding the ball and going one-on-one, or to stay in the low post!

Yi Shui received the ball, took a deep breath, and was about to make a move when Kobe and Bynum immediately double-teamed him!

Yi Shui remained calm, straightened his posture, dribbled the ball to the left and back, and stepped into the three-second zone. Kobe and Artest pressed forward to block Yi Shui... Bynum was blocked by his two teammates!

Yi Shui grabbed the ball, gripped it tightly with both hands, and raised his hands.

Kobe and Artest immediately pressed forward to block Yi Shui. Yi Shui pivoted on his left foot, turned nearly 360 degrees to the right, straddled Kobe's right side with his right leg, and propelled himself forward to the left. He raised the ball with his left hand and hooked it towards the basket as Bynum attempted to block him...

The ball flew over Bynum's fingertips and fell into the basket!

The Knicks led 111-109 with 11 seconds left on the clock, and the Lakers called a timeout!

Yi Shui staggered a couple of steps. He was already exhausted, and this high-difficulty combo made his legs weak. Fortunately, he managed to land firmly in a horse stance and didn't fall.

Watching Yi Shui walk back to the bench surrounded by Curry, Ray Allen, Chandler, Frye, and others, Kobe recalled Yi Shui's back-to-the-basket turnaround move, where he took on three opponents...

Using skillful dribbling, move the opponent's position, separate the tallest inside player, and then use agility and strength to turn sharply to block the opponent and create shooting space.

Isn't this the same playing style as another fat guy?
The Emperor, this skinny bamboo pole, can even learn this move?
However, the Great One is also a power monster. He looks thin, but his strength is more than most power forwards. Coupled with his exaggerated shot-blocking instinct, as long as the opponent does not have a low-post ball-handling and strong attacking center like Bynum, or a high-post and high-playing skill center like Gasol and Duncan, he can even guard the center!
As Kobe walked back to the bench and took the towel from Vujacic, he said to Paul, "I feel like I've had the best basketball career ever?"

Pao Ge: "Huh?"

Kobe: "When I first entered the NBA, I was able to compete against players like Jordan, Payton, and Malone. After I developed my skills, I encountered superstars like Duncan, Nowitzki, Nash, and Kidd. Now that I'm old, I still have Big, Wade, Paul... Oh, Chris, you and I are teammates now, but there are still opponents like James and Howard..."

Especially Chris, and Big, you guys are both so over-the-top. I remember when you were in your third year, you were already almost as good as I was at 29. It's outrageous; I only just became a starter in my third year.

Paul found this pleasant to hear and replied, "Big is the real monster. He was an MVP in his second year, and he's become even more terrifying this year. He's learned T-Mac's techniques on the perimeter and developed a new crossover style for tall perimeter players. Even Durant is learning from him."

The center has learned techniques from O'Neal, Randolph, and Ewing, and he's using them quite well. He also seems to be refining his playing style to better suit his faster pace.

Paul started to feel a bit of a headache as he talked. This opponent was only 23 years old; in three or four years, when he'd reach his true peak, how would he possibly handle him? Kobe, on the other hand, became increasingly excited, chiming in, "Yeah, he's a true monster! I used to regret not being born 20 years earlier, so I could have played against Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but I don't regret it now. Embiid is like a combination of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird..."

Paul was taken aback. Why was he so excited when he faced such an opponent?

During the offseason, the first thing Paul did after receiving news of the trade was to call Kobe. But after hanging up, besides the anticipation of playing against the best shooting guard, he also felt worried and uneasy.

He's been the leader for several years, and now he's going to be the second-in-command. What if the new leader doesn't give him ball possession? Should he fight for it? He's a four-time champion; if the team's performance declines after he joins, he'll have to take the blame.

But after joining, I discovered that the old blacksmith didn't care about ball possession at all. As long as you gave him enough opportunities to shoot and passed him difficult attacks, he would be happy to do so. He would even take the initiative to defend the opponent's best one-on-one guard, willing to be a piece of the puzzle in the tactics.

At that moment, the old blacksmith's excited expression when mentioning those powerful opponents filled Pao Ge with admiration, and his mindset became bolder as well.

Paul, thinking about Yi Shui's crazy growth and increasingly overpowered strength, was no longer so annoyed, and a new idea came to him - I'm going to take him down!

The environment has a significant impact on mentality. For example, Bynum was almost showing the potential of the best center in the West while with the Lakers, but after leaving the Lakers, he went back to his old ways...

...

Both teams made lineup adjustments.

For the Lakers, Phil Jackson brought in a lineup of Paul, Fisher, Kobe, Artest, and Bynum.

The Knicks, with Cheeks in charge of the final defensive play, substituted Chalmers, Webster, Yi Shui, Amir Johnson, and Chandler.

After the timeout, the Lakers inbounded the ball from the center line. Paul accurately passed the ball to Kobe, who had cut out to the basket. This time, Yi Shui was guarding between Kobe and the basket!
Kobe should have passed the ball back to Paul after receiving it.

They originally planned to defend and shoot the game-winning shot in the previous round, but Yi Shui also made a crucial one-on-one shot, and the Knicks regained a two-point lead. With a much weaker roster than the Knicks, they had a choice and didn't want to play overtime.

So the Zen Master devised a three-point shooting strategy, and Kobe was naturally the first choice to shoot.

As you can see, the defender is Yi Shui. Kobe has to admit that he is not as fast as Yi Shui now.

Given Artest's screen-setting ability, he might not be able to shake off Yi Shui, even though Yi Shui, who played the entire game, was already exhausted. He was panting heavily during his low-post isolation play and almost fell over when he turned to shoot... Exhausted? Kobe's eyes lit up, and he protected the ball without passing it.

Paul made the same judgment, instead of asking for the ball to play team offense, he ran to close range to look for opportunities to receive the ball and make transitions.

Kobe didn't run down the clock; he dribbled with his back bent, and Paul and Fisher started making runs in sync.

Kobe dribbles to the side, lowers his center of gravity, pulls back, and changes direction in front of his body!

With his current physical condition, Yi Shui has no problem chasing off-ball and interfering with shots, thanks to his long legs, height, and wingspan. However, when defending against Kobe's one-on-one play, his large lateral movement becomes a hindrance, allowing Kobe to shake him off!
Yi Shui, who had stepped out to the right and couldn't pull back, saw Kobe lower his center of gravity and pull back, preparing to rush towards his left rear. He couldn't care less about anything else and reached out to steal the ball...

The ball that Kobe pulled back bounced in front of him. He covered it with his right hand and was about to push it forward when Yi Shui slapped it away!
Yi Shui slapped Kobe's fingers with his left palm, but his fingers were completely covering the ball, slapping the ball towards Kobe's crotch and bouncing it towards Kobe's back!
The player and the referee were on the same page, so the referee didn't call a foul!

Kobe turned around and went back to steal the ball... He witnessed an amazing scene: Yi Shui, who was clearly exhausted, seemed to have been injected with new vitality at this moment, and rushed out like an arrow!
'Charge Ahead' triggered, Yi Shui intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack, starting at top speed!

Kobe refused to give up and fought back... and he actually caught up! But his stamina was almost depleted, and when he caught up with Yi Shui, Yi Shui was already at the free throw line, grabbing the ball and lifting it up.

At this point, Kobe couldn't even commit a tactical foul. He could only jump up and swat at the ball that Yi Shui had thrown out with a step... It was just a little bit short!

The ball flew directly towards the small rectangle above the basket and on the backboard, then bounced into the hoop!

Yi Shui hit the game-winning shot, extending the lead to 4 points! The Lakers had only 1.8 seconds left!
Meanwhile, Yi Shui's score increased to 52 points, surpassing Kobe's 51 points!

After the Lakers called a timeout, Paul passed the ball to Kobe, wanting to force a 3+1 play... but the entire Knicks team huddled inside the three-point line, ignoring Kobe. Kobe received the ball and slammed it to the ground, then turned and walked towards the player tunnel.

Even if this shot goes in, it will only give them two more points than Yishui, and it will have no impact on the outcome of the game.

As the ball bounced high off the floor, a long whistle blew.

Angels fans let out a sigh of despair, but then exclaimed in surprise.

大屏幕上贴出了纽约大帝的数据——52分11板11助攻2抢断2盖帽！

(End of this chapter)