"This game is really bad. The game only started for more than 2 minutes and we have already lost."
As soon as he reached the sidelines after the timeout, Phil Jackson said these words.
Kobe was stunned for a moment and looked up at the score. Indeed, if the game continued like this, the Lakers would announce in advance that they would not end the game.
"Kobe Bryant, what about our tactics? What about the triangle offense? I relied on it to win 9 championships, but your isolation can only make it to the first round of the playoffs, and you can't even make it to the playoffs!
"
"And Andrew, is this your attitude towards playing? The Lithuanian opposite is already 80 years old, you can't beat him?"
"Finally, Lamar, you are the core organizer of the team, why don't you keep the ball? Why do you take the shot?"
Phil Jackson called everyone's names one by one. He made full use of the timeout and just gave instructions without any specific adjustments or arrangements.
Because Phil Jackson believes that there is no problem with the Lakers' style of play, but the problem is with the players on the court.
After the timeout, there were no substitutions on either side and the game started again.
In the Lakers' offense, Lamar Odom is in charge of the ball. From this point alone, Lin Yu discovered the difference in the Lakers.
Kobe played without the ball for a while, and then received the ball. He was already on the weak side with few defensive players, and he only had to face Lin Yu's single defense.
Lin Yu's defense was excellent, but facing a Kobe who went all out and only wanted to score, his defense still failed.
Kobe broke through and suddenly made a fake move in the mid-range to shake Lin Yu away.
Before Drew Gooden in the paint had time to cover up the defense, Kobe had already rushed to the basket, pulled the lever for a layup, and successfully scored 2 points!
"Kobe finally scored, with his iconic pull-up layup, which solved the Lakers' scoring drought!"
In Yangwu's live broadcast room, Director Zhang was a little excited: "This ball was played so beautifully. When it was time to speed up, I accelerated and passed Dayu directly. The subsequent pull-up layup directly avoided the blocks of Guden and Big Z.
, it can be said that Kobe defeated the Cavaliers' defense by himself!"
The score was 9:2, and the Cavaliers led by 7 points. With the ball in their hands, they finally started to play according to their regular style of play. James broke through and then looked for opportunities to attack the frame or distribute the ball.
But with this ball, with Kobe staring at Lin Yu, James, who was flanked, could only pass the ball to Andre Miller in the mid-range.
Old Miller's mid-range shot.
The Lakers then played another round of chasing points, also relying on the triangle offense to open up space, and then handed it over to Kobe for singles. In this round, Lin Yu's defense failed again.
Kobe played a high post, turned around to open up space, and hit a fadeaway jumper.
In the two consecutive games, Kobe Bryant showed his touch, while the Cavaliers began to use James' breakthrough and distribution style, but it was not as efficient as the opening game.
The Lakers continued to chase points. After another half of the game, the first quarter ended with the score becoming 27:23. The Lakers successfully narrowed the point difference to 4 points.
A 4-point deficit in a single quarter is not a big deal. For the Lakers, this is a completely acceptable deficit, especially after being beaten 9:0 by the Cavaliers in the opening quarter. They were able to close the score in the first quarter.
It has exceeded many people's expectations.
"The Lakers played very tenaciously. After two straight shots in the opening game, Kobe Bryant made 3 of 5 shots and scored 11 points with free throws. In the entire first quarter, his personal data was 3 of 7 shots and 11 points. 2
2 rebounds and 2 steals. In terms of offensive performance, Kobe finally defeated China Lin’s defense!”
If he had to summarize the first quarter of the game, Lin Yu would tell Mike Brown that James' breakthrough ball was not as efficient as Zhan Lin's connection.
Lin Yu thought of his previous life, when James won the championship after joining the Heat. The Big Three were a factor, and the connection between him and Wade's James might also be a factor.
The James-Wade connection is not only the cooperation between James and Wade on paper, but also the various passing connections. It actually refers to the defensive counterattack, the main style of play of the Heat in the previous life.
The Heat were able to win the championship, and Erik Spoelstra's anti-counterattack tactics were indispensable.
The Heat always use their defense to prevent their opponents' attacks, then grab rebounds and launch a counterattack. With James and Wade around, their counterattack success rate is very high.
And this is also an opportunity for the Heat to score easily.
Lin Yu feels that the Cavaliers can copy this style of play because of his presence, but Mike Brown obviously still adheres to the previous philosophy, and he only focuses on defense.
In the first half of the second quarter, Lin Yu stayed off the court to rest.
On the Lakers side, Kobe continued to play like an iron man.
Lin Yu couldn't restrain Kobe, and naturally Ira Nubel couldn't restrain him either.
In the second quarter, Kobe played an outstanding game, scoring 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting. At halftime, his score rose directly to 24 points.
It is still 26 points away from the promised 50 points.
Relying on Kobe's explosion, the Lakers further narrowed the point difference at halftime. At 56:54, the Cavaliers' lead was only 2 points.
This midfield score obviously did not satisfy Mike Brown.
During the halftime break, Mike Brown directly changed the established strategy of the first half. He was going to flank Kobe: "In the second half of the game, we are going to flank Kobe and keep flanking him to prevent him from scoring!"
But obviously, a Kobe who has already shot the ball is not so easy to restrict even if he is flanked in defense.
In the third quarter, in the double defense, Kobe shot another 3 of 7 shots, including free throws, and scored 9 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
After the third quarter, Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and led the Lakers to 85:91, trailing the Cavaliers by 6 points.
With a 6-point difference, the game inevitably entered the decisive moment. In 12 minutes of game time, the Lakers still had a chance to come back and win.
And next, all they have to do is seize this opportunity.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Lin Yu rested again. His physical problems were very obvious in consecutive away games.
Under the defense of Ira Nubell, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kobe directly passed a mid-range fadeaway jumper and scored two points.
"With a double team, Kobe Bryant made this fadeaway jumper. He turned on his super mode in this game. This 23vs24 was really exciting!"
After making this fadeaway jumper, Kobe's personal score has risen to 35 points. On the other side, LeBron James has also made 9 of 15 shots with the help of Andre Miller and Lin Yu.
High shooting and scored 28 points.
This 23vs24 game is indeed worth the price of admission.
Kobe Bryant hit a fadeaway jumper and the point difference was narrowed to 4 points.
After the Cavaliers' offense, James relied a little on his teammates for breakthrough points. Once his teammates missed, the Lakers would get a chance to close the score.
After playing for more than three minutes, the point difference was quickly reduced to 2 points.
Mike Brown could only call a timeout urgently, and then replaced Lin Yu back on the court.
There were more than 8 minutes left in the game, and with a 2-point difference, the Cavaliers, who were replaced by all the main players, faced the Lakers, who were also all main players. The decisive moment arrived early...
