After playing the Suns, the Magic players didn't get much rest and flew back to the East to play the Wizards. Although it wasn't a back-to-back game, the time difference plus the time difference meant that all the time was wasted on the road.
The Washington Wizards have become a strong team in the Eastern Conference since acquiring Arenas. Although no one thinks they have the ability to reach the finals, this team is a troublemaker in the regular season.
Arenas, Butler and Jamison are all good outside players. I won’t go into detail about Arenas and Jamison. They were regular All-Star players during that time. Although Butler didn’t make the All-Star team in those two years,
, but he is definitely a good player.[
This evaluation is not given by me, but by Kobe. You can criticize Kobe and say that he hugs his thighs, that his ability is not good, and that he overestimates his abilities by comparing himself with Jordan, but you can never question his harsh criticism of his teammates. Yes.
It is said that Kobe is the one who has the highest demands on his teammates in the league. Coaches often scold players. Kobe scolded his teammates when the Lakers lost. But during the season Butler was in the Lakers, Kobe spoke highly of him and thought he was very capable.
And the two of them have a good personal relationship.
Let me say one more thing here, if Kobe has the highest demands on his teammates, then James may have the lowest.
Think about it, Mo Williams, Varejao, West, Pavlovic and the like can satisfy him and urge the team to sign contracts with them. Can you imagine this kind of thing with Kobe?
?If the Lakers dared to do this, then Kobe would really dare to change places. Don't say it's impossible. In fact, if Gasol hadn't arrived at the critical moment, Kobe might have gone to the Bulls.
The good topic returns to the Washington Wizards. So if the Wizards, led by these three buddies, have good touch, anyone dares to win, and anyone can win, and even if the opponent is a defensive team like the Spurs and Pistons, if they win
20 points is nothing new.
But the opposite has to be said, if the three brothers don't feel good, then everyone can lose, even if the opponents are the Trail Blazers and Bobcats, who are at the bottom of the league.
And the Wizards are a bit like the Magic. Although they are fifth in the Eastern Conference, there is no one of their players among the All-Star starters in the Eastern Conference, so they are holding back their anger to show themselves. Especially Arenas, he and Nash are
If the direct competitor for the Eastern Conference's backup point guard can win such a direct conversation, it will undoubtedly gain a lot of points among the league's head coaches.
Therefore, the Magic were obviously unlucky today as they encountered a wizard who was in great form.
So the two sides started a bloody battle from the first quarter, both using the tactic of playing quickly and directly looking for England's long pass in the frontcourt from the backcourt. The defense cannot be said to be absent, but because it was too fast, and the coaches on both sides were
A lot of emphasis is placed on rushing for offensive rebounds. The big man can't come back at all, so it can't be organized into a defensive echelon level. There is no chance to rotate to cover the position, and it all depends on the individual performance of the players in man-to-man marking.
As a strict academic defensive coach, Thibodeau hated this kind of attack very much. It made him restless, so he came to Edison and said, "Isn't this not good? We should make some adjustments."
Edison stared at the chaotic situation in the stadium, holding his chin and nodded, "You are right."
Thibodeau was very happy after hearing this. He was about to let Hardaway warm up and then go out to slow down the rhythm, when he heard Edison calling Josh Smith.
"Josh, you come on the field to replace Brand, then rush up and ask Nash to speed up the attack a little more. Now 8 seconds is not enough. I want 6 seconds, or even shorter."
Josh Smith bit his braces after listening to Edison's words, then took off his coat in a few moments, and then went to the referee's box to wait for substitutions when the ball died.
NBA players are angry, and coaches are also angry. Even people like Popovich will sometimes go against each other to compete with each other. Edison, as a young man, is naturally more likely to get involved.
Now Edison is not thinking about stabilizing the rhythm, success rate, and shooting rate. What he sees is, "You Washington Wizards dare to play against me and fight for fast breaks. When it comes to speed, grandpa ranks second in the league.
No one dares to recognize the number one." Edison felt that the Washingtonians were provoking him, so he became furious.
Edison's substitution not only surprised Thibodeau, but also Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan.
Like Thibodeau, he was originally very uneasy about the current confrontation between the two sides. Although it is now evenly matched and he does not suffer a loss, it is unreasonable to play like this after all. If he is not careful, the gap will be 7 or 8 points, and even more
The key is that in this state, the team is completely out of his control. So he is also very excited and is considering whether to let the team slow down the rhythm.
So Edison replaced Josh Smith, which put a lot of pressure on him. He didn't know that Edison was on top. He thought Edison was sure and felt that the current situation was still under his control.
And Josh Smith is indeed a master at fighting this kind of chaotic battle. He adapts to this kind of game rhythm. As an inside post, he throws away his two long legs and runs back and forth on both sides of the court. His speed is definitely not slower than that of a defender.[
So after coming out, Josh Smith first received a pass from Roy during the fast break and dunked directly. After scoring the goal, he immediately came back and gave Jamison a big block.
Jamison's layup was slapped hard on the backboard and came back, but Nash was waiting for him. After Nash received the ball, he made another long pass to Roy who was a step behind in returning to defense. Roy directly made a pass.
Licking the basket succeeded.
The Magic instantly extended the score to 6 points.
Ordinarily, in this situation, not to mention 6 points, even 8 or 10 points would be nothing, and you might be able to get it back in 1 minute.
But Eddie Jordan panicked. Josh Smith's outstanding performance at both ends of the offense and defense became the last straw that crushed his psychology. He asked the players to apply for a timeout, preparing to relax and return the game to a situation that was relatively under his control.
Rhythm within range.
But there is a saying that goes, "The brave will win when we meet on a narrow road." When the players on both sides are fighting hard and getting bloody, your coach gets scared, and the morale of the Wizards players suddenly drops.
In this case, a time-explosion problem for the Wizards was exposed - the age structure of their players was also unreasonable.
Although many people say that the age structure of the Magic is unreasonable, the Magic only have a lot of young people. They have three generations of old, middle and young people. The Wizards only have Mesozoic players and basically no veterans or rookies.
Arenas, Butler, Haywood, and Jeffries are all around 1980, 25 or 6 years old. The only one who is older is Jamison, but he is also a hard worker.
So when the Wizards had morale issues, they had no veterans to help them adjust, and this was also the Wizards' biggest problem in those years.
When we watched the Wizards' games during that period, it was like a tightened spring, with both sides working hard. They couldn't relax, they could only keep it so tight. Once one of them loosened, it would come back and hurt themselves.
So when they are in good condition, it doesn't matter if they compete with each other, they are not afraid, but if they fall into a trough, they will be in big trouble.
Once the Wizards hit a trough, there is only one way or one person to rely on - Arenas.
If Kobe is the most stubborn person in the league, then Arenas is definitely the most confident person in the league. When the team's state enters a low point, he can still stand. Regardless of whether he can score or score goals,
His attitude of stepping forward at critical moments is very good, and his confidence will infect his teammates bit by bit, bringing the team back on track.
But the question is, in the few rounds Arenas played, can the Wizards hold on to the score without being opened up too much? If they can't hold on, the hole is too big and they want to fill it later, then
It's not that easy anymore.
The Magic's offensive firepower is definitely the best in the league. They did not give the Wizards a chance to stalemate. Taking advantage of the Wizards' own weakness, Roy made a three-pointer and Josh Smith dunked, instantly increasing the score to 10.
points or more.
Later, although Arenas descended from the gods again and scored 22 points in a single quarter, the Magic's wolf tactics led to a final 112-125 loss to the Wizards at home.
It can be said that this game was thrilling and brilliant. It was the league's top offensive feast and made the fans addicted to dunks. However, few newspapers highlighted it in the newspapers the next day, even the local newspapers in Orlando and Washington.
The media didn't give them front page.
The reason is very simple. The spotlight of the seven games played that day was all stolen by one person, and that person was - Kobe.
In the game against the Raptors, he once again showed people his ability to "do whatever he wants" in scoring. He made 28 of 46 shots and scored 81 points, surpassing Jordan in the regular season against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 28, 1990.
The team scored a personal scoring record of 69 points. The 81-point score also became the NBA's highest single-game scoring record of 100 points scored by Wilt Chamberlain on March 2, 1962 against the New York Knicks, ranking second in a single game in the history of the league.
Personal highest score. The Lakers relied on Kobe's magical performance to defeat the Raptors 122-104, ending their second consecutive defeat.
After Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, he got a new nickname "Mr. 81 Points."
After the game, gods from all walks of life came forward to comment. Al Harrington said, "Kobe can score 100 points in a game." Bonzy Wells even believed that Kobe can average 40 points per game.
Among the various awards that Kobe has won, he only lacks the title of scoring champion. Finally, in his 10th season in the league, Kobe won the title of scoring champion, fully demonstrating his scoring ability to the entire league. This season
So far, Kobe has averaged 354 points per game, the highest in his career. In the previous 9 seasons, Kobe only averaged 30 points per game in the 2002-03 season, and the remaining eight seasons were all below 30 points. Kobe 354
The season scoring average is the eighth-highest in NBA history. Since Jordan averaged 371 points per game in the 1986-87 season, 354 points are the highest in the NBA in 19 years.[
Edison looked at the photo of Kobe Bryant's dunk in the newspaper and thought, "Although the schedule has changed and the time of the game has changed, the miracle that should have happened still happened as usual."
Kobe's 81 points not only won applause from the fans, but also touched the sensitive nerves of other top scorers in the league. NBA entered into a carnival rhythm ahead of the All-Star weekend.
