Chapter 333 The curtain falls, the Heat have a meeting!
Phil Jackson meant to call it quits and give up the game.
In fact, according to the current competition situation, this is a wise decision.
But everyone knows that Kobe has a character that refuses to admit defeat.
Let him give up the game in the 3rd quarter, and it is such an important game...
No one dared to say anything more, waiting for Kobe's response.
...
...
"The rest of the main players will rest, and I will try my best again."
Kobe thought for a moment and finally said.
As soon as this statement came out, the Lakers generals were stunned for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt it was reasonable.
Be strict with yourself and be lenient with others - this answer is very Kobe!
"I also want to try again."
Gasol whispered.
Throughout the third quarter, he was the one who played the most sluggishly.
This feeling is like returning to the 2008 Finals, when facing Garnett...
With two championships in hand, Gasol feels that he has transformed.
Now it is really difficult for him to accept "making the same mistakes again"!
"Try to work hard for another 5 minutes, coach!"
Fisher said.
"Yes! It's not that there is no possibility of a comeback."
"It's only 18 points. We have reversed bigger points differences before!"
Everyone said nothing to me, and no one gave up.
The Zen master smiled slightly and nodded noncommittally: "Then let's fight for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, if the score difference returns to less than 10 points, we will give up."
"no problem!"
The Zijin generals nodded.
Kobe picked up Gatorade, took a swig, then stood up and returned to the court.
So far in the game, he is definitely the one who consumes the most among the two teams.
But the strange thing is that Kobe suddenly couldn't feel tired at this moment and regained his energy.
............
The timeout ends and the game continues.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lakers sent out all five starters.
The Rockets still have their regular rotation - Lowry, Roy, Danny Green, Griffin, and Oden.
This lineup is definitely not weak, just a little slack.
The game restarted and the Lakers served from the baseline.
As soon as he came up, Kobe faced Danny Green from outside the three-point line and made a three-pointer.
In the transition between offense and defense, Gasol relied on his excellent wingspan in the paint to successfully prevent Roy's layup.
Looking back, Artest made a layup and easily scored two points.
This is not over yet!
Oden made a low-level mistake when serving from the baseline, and the pass was directly blocked by Kobe.
Although the emperor immediately rushed forward to remedy the situation, it was too late.
Kobe Bryant made a "picturesque" mid-range shot and scored two more points.
In less than a minute, the Lakers went on a 7-0 spurt!
80:69, the score difference is only 11 points!
On the sidelines, Mark Jackson didn't hesitate at all and immediately called a timeout.
After the timeout, he replaced Lowry with Curry and replaced Green with T-Mac in order to stabilize the situation.
The effect of this substitution was immediate.
After the game restarted, Curry held the ball in singles.
Despite Fisher's desperate defense, Ku Ritian still easily hit a long three-pointer!
83:69.
This three-pointer was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Lakers.
They couldn't help but think of what happened in the first three quarters - every time they started to gain momentum, they would be given a slap in the face.
"Don't panic, continue with the rhythm just now."
Seeing that Jun's mind was unstable, Kobe immediately said sharply.
Offense and defense transition.
Kobe broke through and handed the ball to Fisher on the outside.
With Curry not out of position, Lao Yu resolutely chose a three-pointer.
Fisher's shooting posture is a bit like a trebuchet, but his shooting speed and shooting arc are both excellent.
The basketball left his fingertips and spun at high speed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air...
"Shua~"
answerball!
83:72, the suspense continues.
After scoring the goal, Kobe, who assisted, was also very excited.
He raised his arms and shouted, and his expression changed into a "gnashing teeth" look.
However, before the Lakers' happiness had passed, McGrady quickly responded.
Facing Kobe's close defense, he chose to force a pull-out from a 45-degree angle on the right!
Relying on his excellent physical talent, McGrady successfully completed the shot.
But after taking action, he also lost his center of gravity and fell backwards to the ground.
The referee did not call a foul.
Everyone's eyes followed the basketball and gradually moved to the basket.
"Shua~"
The basketball hits the net!
"wow~"
"omg, this ball is too hard!"
"t-mac!!!"
The Toyota Center erupted instantly.
86:72, the score difference came to 14 points again!
After being slapped in the face, Kobe went straight to the baseline and asked for the ball.
Regardless of winning the game or not, he is bound to respond to this kind of ball!
Meanwhile, at the other end of the court.
McGrady walked up to Roy and whispered, and then Roy turned and ran towards Artest.
The Rockets fans at the scene also knew Kobe's character very well.
At this moment, they stood up in unison and began to cheer for the home team:
"Defense!!!"
"Defense!!!"
"Defense!!!"
Amidst the deafening sound, Kobe accelerated towards McGrady.
Black Mamba's move "Spirit Snake Breathes Letter" is a move to forcefully kill the insider.
T-mac quickly turned sideways and moved sideways to block.
Unexpectedly, Kobe suddenly pulled his crotch back, instantly opening up two bodies of distance from McGrady, and immediately bent his knees, preparing to shoot!
In a flash of lightning, a white figure suddenly appeared beside Kobe.
The visitor turned out to be Stephen Curry!
He realized something was wrong, so he took the initiative to give up his defense on Fisher and pounced directly on Kobe.
"Snapped!"
Curry cut the ball that Kobe was about to lift with one palm, completing the steal at the critical moment!
Roy stepped forward and took control of the ball immediately.
The Rockets launched a counterattack!
Kobe chased back hard and blocked Roy's way.
Black Mamba vs. Yellow Mamba, this was the "main course" in the past games between the Lakers and Trail Blazers.
It's a pity that Kobe's physical exertion today was too great.
In the process of retreating, he staggered.
Roy took this opportunity to get rid of the distance between Kobe and...
"bang!"
Roy made a powerful one-handed chop, rewriting the score to 88:72.
At this time, about 4 minutes have passed in the fourth quarter.
There is only one minute left before the time set by Phil Jackson!
In the transition between offense and defense, Kobe once again hit a difficult turnaround in the low post.
But looking back, Curry shot another "three-point arrow" through the heart of the Lakers.
Phil Jackson, who was on the sidelines, saw this and with a wave of his hand, he directly replaced five substitutes.
At this point, the game has completely lost its suspense.
In the end, the score of the two teams was fixed at 115:100.
The Rockets were at home and defeated the second-place Lakers in the Western Conference by 15 points, winning their 24th consecutive victory.
In this game, Kobe scored 52 points, scoring more than half of the team!
But with all his firepower, he still failed to help the Lakers win.
As the "big devil", Rocket has more flowers.
McGrady scored 32 points, Curry scored 23 points, and Yao Ming scored 22 points.
The Rockets' "Big Three" scored a combined 77 points, and the offensive efficiency of all three was very high.
To put it simply, this is a team versus individual competition.
Throughout the game, the Purple and Gold Army did not get any chance to win!
After the game, the Rockets players once again celebrated happily in the locker room.
Since this season, they have almost forgotten what "failure" feels like!
............
Some are happy and some are sad.
While the Rockets players were celebrating their victory, on the other side of the beautiful country, the Heat generals were analyzing the game with serious expressions.
"If we don't change, the Lakers of today will be us tomorrow."