NBA: Miracle Workers
Chapter 185 Becoming a mortal enemy
Chapter 185 Becoming a mortal enemy ([-]-word chapter)
2000年6月11号，总决赛G3将在当晚20:30正式开战。
The time left for the two teams to adjust is very short. After this game, there will be two days of rest.
For the Lakers, if they can win an away game, they can regain the initiative. For three consecutive away games, the schedule is extremely unfriendly to them.
In the G2 game, the Lakers determined their rotation. Starting No. 4 AC Green only played 18 minutes in this game, and Horry on the bench played longer.
Rick Fox on the striker also got more opportunities, and Brian Shaw also got more playing time.
Phil Jackson has finally figured out the appropriate rotation through two games. The old man is not good at basketball, so he still needs players with fast lateral movement.
There are exceptions among the rotation players. The young Fisher's playing time is getting less and less, and he only played 2 minutes in G12.
"Little Fish"'s tendons didn't do much good, and he also suffered from his height.
Even though Brian Shaw is already 34 years old, Phil Jackson still trusted the veteran more in the last game, and a lot of "little fish" time was eaten up.
However, for New York fans, these players are all country dogs. In the eyes of everyone, only O'Neal has won everyone's recognition:
"The Lakers can't even win a game without Sharks!"
While the Los Angeles media was hyping Kobe's performance, some sports columns in the New York newspaper analyzed the Lakers' strength in detail:
"Kobe Bryant, a poor imitator, a star-making product of the league!"
Although they only had one day of rest, everyone on the Lakers team who came to New York read the newspaper and were very angry.
Although personal attack articles are in the minority after all, New York fans are like this. No one can remember moderate comments. The more extreme they are, the more impressive they are!
NBC has released interviews with celebrities from the two teams in the past few days. Magic Johnson also behaved very modestly when faced with the topic of the best point guard in history.
In the interview clip, Magic Johnson showed his iconic smile and laughed before answering:
"There's no comparison. What I mean is that our technical characteristics are completely different. I can't hit a lot of three-pointers like Lee."
"For the same reason, Lee won't appear in the low post as often as I do. We have different sizes and different technical characteristics, but I like his "math problem."
"At 22 years old, Li will most likely surpass me in the future. The future belongs to young people. I like to see the duel between the two teams on the stage of the finals!"
Willis Reed, a staunch Knicks supporter, was less polite in his interview.
When asked about the player's strength, Willis Reed just praised O'Neal:
"In addition to free throws, O'Neal really showed the strength of an MVP-level player."
"But the Knicks are more talented. Pat may be older and can still contribute to the team."
"No one on the Lakers' perimeter can limit Lee. I even think he is underestimated. Although Kobe Bryant was selected to the All-Defensive Team, that does not mean that he is an excellent defender."
"Three consecutive championships. I believe the team will achieve everyone's long-cherished wish. This is the era of the Knicks!"
MVP-level celebrities stood up to support their players. Before the start of the G3 game, a new round of war of words also kicked off.
In the last game, Li You scored 30 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. The Lakers' defensive strategy changed significantly, and O'Neal really delayed his comeback.
But this is just Li You’s feeling on the court, and intuition can sometimes be deceiving. The Knicks coaching staff quickly came to a conclusion through game videos and statistics:
"O'Neal's delays are all fake."
Letting Li You pass the ball and letting Kobe Bryant chase and defend is the purpose of the Shark's running. Although the opponent will also lower its focus and defend decently, judging from the results, most of them are bluffs.
The court is changing rapidly, and the key to winning lies in making the right choices. Jeff Van Gundy and the coaching staff are well prepared for the next home game.
At 19:30 that night, one hour before the game started, Li You wore a "Superman" T-shirt to warm up at the Madison Square Garden Arena.
The rest time is very short. In order to allow the inside players to fully rest, most of the time is spent watching videos and doing simple recovery training.
The blue customized Superman T-shirt was a small gift given to Li You by Spike Lee, specially used to put eye drops on the opposite "Superman".
Although it was just warm-up shooting and simple ball-handling training, the media did not want to miss these shots. The surrounding media reporters surrounded the half court again.
To catch up with the explosive popularity of the weekend finals, ticket prices have increased again.
James Dolan may not understand basketball skills and tactics, but this big boss knows the fans' preferences very well. Since Li You scored high scores, the enthusiasm of New York fans has increased visibly.
Unlike Jim Gray, who is responsible for the news about the Knicks, the one responsible for reporting on the Lakers is Ahmed Rashad, the former royal reporter of McQueen.
"Jordan's successor" attracted this one, but what Rashad regrets is that Kobe is still relatively immature and not attractive enough.
"The Lakers haven't relaxed since they came to New York. Head coach Phil Jackson will be strict with his players during training sessions!"
"As far as I know, the Lakers will continue to expand their rotation tonight. In less than two days of rest, most of the tactical drills will focus on pick-and-roll defense."
Wearing a black formal suit, Ahmed Rashad faced the camera and told the Lakers' preparations over the past two days. In the studio behind NBC, the three people nodded after hearing the news.
Host Hannah saw that Bill Walton seemed to have something to say and immediately waved his hand. The latter picked up the microphone and loudly said:
"The Lakers' defense has started to work. We all underestimated Shaq's physical ability. He is a real monster!"
"The inside line started to delay, and at the same time, after Horry got a lot of playing time, the Lakers' offensive space became even better."
"I believe the Lakers will regain the initiative!"
When the score reached 1:1, Isiah Thomas' prediction seemed to be more accurate. He did not rush to refute, but smiled and continued with the data:
"In the two games, Lee's three-point shooting percentage did not fluctuate, which shows that the Lakers' defense did not have much effect at all."
"The last game was more about offensive choices. Of course, it also has something to do with the scale of whistleblowing!"
"The test for O'Neal has just begun, and the Knicks will not waste this opportunity!"
"."
There was another wave of quarrels before the game. In order to increase the popularity of the finals, the sports commentators were also working hard to express themselves. Several mainstream media programs "quarreled" every day.
Players and the media have basically become a community of interests in this era. Both parties need popularity. Just like the selection of MVP has never been based on performance on the court, the aroma of wine is also afraid of the alley.
More than 8000 fans filed in one after another. Li You, wearing a Superman T-shirt, began to greet some "superficial friends" in the front row.
Matthew McConaughey, who likes sports, sat in the front row tonight because of his bleeding. This handsome guy is not yet famous for his acting skills.
Dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt, Matthew McConaughey stood up and fist-bumped with Li Youhe to chat:
"Lee, how about winning it at home, right at Madison Square Garden!"
"I haven't been able to see the championship award ceremony live for the past two years. It's such a shame!"
More than one "superficial friend" has already mentioned this matter to Li You. After all, there are still only a few people like Spike Lee who follow him to watch away games:
"This is definitely a good suggestion. I can already feel everyone's energy. Remember to buy your tickets in advance."
Li You blinked, smiled and joked with the other party. The two exchanged business blows with relaxed expressions, which angered Kobe who had warmed up in advance.
After arriving in New York, everyone in the Lakers team was bombarded with advertisements. Although Li You's signature sneakers this year were "reskin products" and lacked sincerity, Hook took advantage of the three consecutive championships to continue to expand marketing:
The advertisement "Watch Clay-Lee become a legend together" has been launched for a long time. The sentence in the advertisement:
"Every step Li took was remembered by history" is even more heartbreaking to watch.
Without Li You, Kobe, who was selected to the All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Team, would be the focus of this year's finals with the title of "Jordan's successor".
But the reality is that all the rookies in the same class were suppressed by Li You and did not get the attention they imagined. Kobe's mood was not beautiful after he came to New York.
After the early warm-up, Li You returned to the locker room, and the physical therapist was still relaxing Ewing's muscles.
The gorilla returned to the home court with full confidence. Seeing that his teammates were all here, he took the initiative and said:
"The situation in the last game will not happen again tonight. 30 free throws will not happen at our home court!"
Being defeated by Yifenyu aroused Ewing's fighting spirit again. Thinking of the situation in the last game, Oakley also cursed:
"Fuck! They called it like shit and the other team made 49 free throws! They can't have an easy time tonight!"
Everyone is gearing up. After three consecutive home games, everyone wants to end the series at home.
Li You fist bumped with Alan Houston, and he had to strengthen his defense against Kobe tonight. Larry Johnson was also encouraging his teammates:
"There's nothing to worry about, the opponent won't get too many free throws!"
The atmosphere team all responded loudly. After Jeff Van Gundy came to the locker room and watched the players cheer up, he clapped his hands with satisfaction and simply said:
"Win all the home games in one go. This year we will win the O'Brien Cup at home!"
"."
The home team's appearance ceremony ignited the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden, and everyone on the Lakers, who were the first to appear, was holding back their energy at this time.
After losing a home court, O'Neal also realized the seriousness of the matter and stopped talking loudly after coming to New York.
The boomerang hurts the face too much. If you say more, you may make more mistakes. It is a safer choice to win the game and take back the initiative before speaking.
When the lights came back on and the two sides began their final warm-up, O'Neal saw the Superman T-shirt on Li You and immediately cursed inwardly.
Head coach Phil Jackson was very nervous about tonight’s game. When the game was about to start, he did not forget to tell the players:
"Delay, mutual response, timely communication on the court, and our defensive aggression showed from the beginning!"
Although most of the break was spent explaining defense, the Lakers coaching staff was still a little worried. After all, they rarely encountered such opponents in the Western Conference.
The arena became more and more noisy. Before the game even started, the New York fans at the scene had already stood up and shouted loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
O'Neal and Ewing came to the center circle and both stared at the ball. As the referee threw the ball high, the Gorilla took the lead and successfully dialed the basketball.
Seeing Li You catch the ball, Kobe immediately stepped forward to lead the defense. At the same time, everyone on the Lakers quickly retreated to half court to defend the opponent.
Larry Johnson ran directly to the left corner, and Alan Houston stopped on the left wing.
In the paint area, Ewing and Oakley were still observing the situation on the court. When they saw Li You passing the ball to Alan Houston after halftime, the two immediately began to move.
Kobe was a little surprised when he saw Li You handing over the ball directly, but he didn't dare to relax and followed Li You quickly to the right corner.
O'Neal saw Ewing moving to the right wing and Li You was also moving, and quickly directed Kobe to pursue the defense.
Oakley gave Li You a no-ball screen near the right sideline, and then ran to the right side near the baseline. Kobe squeezed through the screen in time and chased behind Li You.
Soon he was near the top of the arc. Ewing's cover was of high quality. Li You briefly got rid of the pursuit. After receiving a cross pass from Alan Houston, Kobe Bryant came up to defend again.
After catching the ball, Li You immediately released the ball with his left hand. He relied on Kobe to turn around sharply. While grabbing the ball with his right hand, Ewing twisted around and moved again, making another off-ball screen.
Kobe failed to squeeze through in time this time. O'Neal saw Li You holding the ball in his right hand appearing on the right wing, lowered his center of gravity and quickly moved up, while beckoning Kobe to continue chasing.
At this time, Ewing suddenly followed down the ball very quickly, and O'Neal subconsciously moved back to prepare to shrink to the basket.
Kobe didn't expect the shark to retreat so cleanly. Before he could adjust his center of gravity to attack, Li You, who only made one jump dribble on the right wing, immediately combined the ball and threw it away!
"Shua!" The three-pointer hit the net hollowly.
"Wow!"
To the New York fans at the scene, Li You's offense looked extremely easy. He would throw the ball whenever there was an opening, and he would score as soon as he threw it. The cheers began to ring through the arena.
There was a communication error on the defensive end, but Kobe didn't complain. After receiving the baseline ball, he quickly rushed through the half court despite the boos.
Harper had already pulled Li Youshen to the left corner. Kobe, who came to the right wing, immediately passed the ball across to Glenn Rice at the top of the key.
O'Neal was desperately arching in front of the basket, while Ewing was behind him. AC Green moved to the right elbow area in order to make room for the Sharks to attack.
Oakley saw Ewing stuck behind him and immediately moved back quickly. Glenn Rice hesitated and failed to stuff the ball in, but transferred the ball to Ha who came to the left wing. amber.
In order to avoid being double-teamed, Olney once again pushed low to the left, and Ewing, who was well prepared, desperately pushed the opponent out.
Being pushed to the left blocking position, O'Neal didn't pay attention, but continued to ask for the ball with his back.
Harper, who received the ball, was interfered by Li You and failed to send a high throw at the first time. After a feint, he quickly sent a ground pass.
The quality of the pass was average. O'Neal had to bend down to catch the ball, so he subconsciously took another step forward.
O'Neal, who had just received the ball with his back, didn't have time to release the ball. Li You suddenly shrank, almost rushed into the opponent's arms, and cut the ball off.
The ball was gone in the blink of an eye. Before O'Neal had a chance, the referee complained about the thug. Li You, who had completed the steal, took the ball and rushed.
Harper cursed secretly and subconsciously moved forward to block the ball. Unexpectedly, Li You came and passed the ball. The basketball flew past Harper's left side, and Li You feinted and went around the sideline on the right side.
The beautiful pass happened in front of the fans in the front row. Many people subconsciously stood up and cheered. Li You returned to the court and grabbed the ball with his left hand. Harper still stood there stupidly without moving.
Before most of the Lakers could react, Li You had already passed half court.
On the other side, Kobe, who was actively defending, was accelerating along the left sideline, trying to block it.
It's just that Li You sprinted faster than he expected with the ball. Kobe had just caught up to the three-point line, and Li You had already rushed up in three strides, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and easily completed a gliding dunk!
"Wonderful goal! From stealing to passing the ball, Li is so fast!"
"His defense is definitely underrated!"
In the NBC commentary box, Bob Costas shouted excitedly, and Doug Collins also sighed when he saw the boiling scene:
"The Knicks entered the state faster. It can be seen that they are fully prepared and seem to be fully adapted to the Lakers' offense."
For the same defensive action, the referee might have blown the whistle in the previous game.
But after returning home, after a defensive round, everyone in the Knicks realized that the scale of the whistle had become wider again.
Attacking again, O'Neal tossed back and forth on the baseline, but several people on the line were pressed. In addition, the key position was not deep, and the Sharks failed to receive the pass for a while.
In the end, AC Green gave Glenn Rice a pick-and-roll, and the latter made a jumper from the right elbow of the free throw line.
The moment the basketball came out of the frame, the Knicks all shrank to the basket. Ewing was fighting with O'Neal, Alan Houston blocked Kobe who was about to rush, and Li You grabbed it in front of Harper, and the basket The lower left grabbed the rebound.
After a successful defense, cheers arose again. Li You did not speed up the offensive rhythm, but showed tactical gestures, protected the ball sideways, hung on Kobe's defense, and rushed through the half court in 8 seconds.
Everyone on the Lakers immediately realized that the Knicks had played the same tactic, but in a different direction.
After a quick handover, Li You ran to the left corner and once again used double screens to reach the top of the arc.
Alan Houston sent a cross pass. The moment Li You received the ball, he noticed that Kobe failed to squeeze through the screen. After receiving the ball, he immediately turned around, exerted force on his feet, and slightly drifted from the top of the arc to shoot a jumper!
O'Neal, who switched defense in front of him, didn't expect that Li You would catch the ball and throw it. He was still squatting on the spot and preparing to slide. He subconsciously turned his head and saw the basketball hollow into the net.
At 0:8, Madison Square Garden is boiling again.
"Your defense is as slow as a turtle!"
Li You's voice came to his ears. When O'Neal came back to his senses, what he saw was the back of his head. Li You had already begun to retreat.
The same tactic, but the difference is that Ewing stood firm this time and didn't even think about passing down, and firmly blocked Kobe.
"Squeeze through the screen! Don't lose your defender again!"
The depressed O'Neal immediately whispered to Kobe as he ran towards half court.
This is Shark's privilege in the Lakers. Everyone's defense has to serve him, and Kobe can only nod silently.
It was AC Green who broke the deadlock for the Lakers. After O'Neal was double-teamed in the low post on the left, the latter caught the ball in the right elbow and hit an open jump shot.
"Shh!"
When the Lakers scored in a sports game, huge boos resounded throughout the arena. Phil Jackson immediately clapped his hands on the sidelines and continued to loudly remind the players to focus.
But in the next few minutes, Phil Jackson's frown deepened. The Knicks frequently used double screens. Li You would also act as a decoy, running without the ball and cutting into the basket.
Watching Li You circle and cut into the basket from the top of the arc, Alan Houston did not choose to pass the ball but used Ewing's screen to get rid of the defense and succeeded in a mid-range jumper in the left block. The Lakers immediately requested a timeout.
At 6:14, the Knicks made every shot and showed excellent performance on both offense and defense after the opening game.
Glenn Rice and O'Neal scored one after another, but there was a big problem on the defensive end.
In the commentary box, Doug Collins did not expect that O'Neal could not catch the ball after the game started:
"Head coach Van Gundy and the coaching staff made targeted adjustments. Oakley made very good position selections several times, just enough to double-team in time."
Bob Costas felt the changes in the scale of whistleblowing in this game:
"The Lakers did not match the intensity of the game in time after the opening game. They seemed not ready to play in New York."
The strict whistleblowing in the last game seemed to make the Lakers relax their vigilance. They wanted to call for a whistle after the game started, but the referee gave no indication.
After the timeout, the Lakers' offense looked for O'Neal immediately.
After just 14 seconds of waiting, the score was scored, but there was no good opportunity. Kobe received the ball again on the right wing and immediately released the ball with his right hand to break through.
Alan Houston slid quickly, and Kobe, who was in the block, stopped suddenly, switched to his left hand and hit twice, then shook his shoulders and turned quickly toward the baseline.
Unable to get rid of the defense, Alan Houston's block made Kobe subconsciously lean back a little more. After adjusting the arc, the shot successfully passed the basketball over his fingertips.
After two knocks on the basket, the basketball finally fell into the basket.
"A difficult offense, Kobe made a beautiful fadeaway jumper!"
Bob Costas immediately praised Kobe Bryant loudly when he saw him falling on the floor. When he saw the Knicks' quick baseline kick, he exclaimed:
"OH! Li suddenly accelerated his advancement!"
Kobe, who had fallen on the floor, had just stood up when he saw the Knicks' quick baseline kick, and Li You accelerated against Harper.
Cursing secretly, Kobe hurriedly chased Alan Houston, but Li You just moved back along the three-point line following Harper's confrontation, and then changed the direction of his right crotch, shaking away from the defense and blocking his position.
On the right wing, Li You, who switched to his left hand, broke through with his shoulder and continued to accelerate straight to the basket. Harper completely lost his defensive position.
O'Neal, who had retreated to the basket, had just moved to meet him. Li You in the paint area threw the ball to the upper left side of the basket. Ewing, who was unguarded, jumped up to get the ball, and then dunked the basket with both hands!
"Boom!" The empty catch dunk was successful!
The gorilla who successfully ate the cake and completed the dunk also roared.
The beautiful response ball made the cheers in the stadium unable to stop. Phil Jackson's face was ugly. He didn't want to see such an easy score.
The first quarter was when the Knicks' defense was at its strongest. As the game progressed, Ewing and Oakley couldn't stand it anymore.
Although the score is behind, O'Neal is not in a hurry. He has figured out the old guy's strength. After one quarter, he can swim inside.
However, the development of the next game did not go as O'Neal imagined. Kobe took over the offensive ball for several rounds in a row, attacking from left to right, and the iron was bang bang.
This time the Lakers attacked, Kobe, who was constantly hitting the iron, no longer chose the difficult fadeaway jumper. Instead, he used the cover of Horry, who had just appeared, on the left elbow area of the free throw line, circled around, and went straight inside.
Kobe, who kept accelerating with the ball in his right hand, used his speed advantage to quickly break through to the basket.
Although he noticed that Li You had shrunk towards the basket, Kobe didn't hesitate at all. He took a step forward and immediately jumped into the air. He grabbed the ball with his right hand and was about to reach out and dunk!
Kobe's jump was a little further away, and his posture in the air was beautiful. However, Li You, who was helping to defend the basket, jumped up and hit the basketball with his right hand in the air!
Unexpectedly, Li You shot first. Although he just barely blocked the shot, Kobe failed to catch the basketball in the air. The two competed, and the basketball immediately came out of his hands.
"Wow!"
The beautiful block once again ignited the atmosphere of the scene. After landing, Li You immediately rushed forward. Larry Johnson controlled the ball and rushed through the half court with the ball immediately.
Glenn Rice didn't know who to guard for a moment, and Larry Johnson immediately got the ball. Li You, who received the ball in the middle, rushed forward with the ball.
After hesitation, Glenn Rice immediately lost his defensive position and could only watch Horry chase after Li You.
After landing, Kobe jumped directly into the street and stood up to chase after Li You. When he saw Li You slowing down in the paint, Horry bumped into him. When the referee blew the whistle, Kobe immediately stopped in frustration.
"squeak!"
At the same time as the referee blew the whistle, Li You leaned against Horry and succeeded in picking up the basket with his left hand in three slow steps!
"Lee's transition attack scored again! The Lakers should probably ask for another timeout. During this time, they lost their offensive rhythm."
Doug Collins glanced at the scoreboard and immediately gave his opinion. Bob Costas was still thinking about the block just now:
"Lee's defense is really underrated. When he puts his energy into the defensive end, he always appears in the right position!"
"Kobe seems to have underestimated his opponent. He should choose to lay up safely. Standing on the free throw line may be a better offensive option."
Li Youxiao walked to the free throw line with a smile. It was very easy to switch offense and score points quickly. He could also achieve "fast break as fierce as a tiger".
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
The Knicks fans at the scene shouted loudly. Kobe glanced at Li You, lowered his head and walked to the bench. Phil Jackson directly replaced him.
The extra penalty was a solid hit, and Li You successfully hit a three-pointer to help the team expand the score again.
12:23，第1节比赛还剩最后的3分14秒，分差刚好来到双位数。
Brian Shaw and Rick Fox came on the court, replacing Harper and Kobe.
Phil Jackson expected the team to respond on the offensive end. As a result, the Lakers continued to strike in the last three minutes, relying on O'Neal's strong attack on the basket and free throws to score some points.
At 16:29, after the first quarter, with a 13-point deficit, New York fans began to cheer and celebrate.
O'Neal returned to the bench with a face. He would no longer complain to the referee about defensive problems. This was the Knicks' home whistle.
5 of 3, 2 of 1 free throws, 7 points and 3 rebounds. Of course, O'Neal was not satisfied with his performance. He picked up the energy drink and drank it.
"Energy! We have to defend the opponent's offense, and at the same time, we have to hit the ball to the basket. Stop shooting inefficient jumpers, attack the basket, and shoot free throws!"
Phil Jackson loudly encouraged his players and tried to get everyone to play harder. In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers were obviously lost in the confrontation.
Kobe could sense the coach's gaze and nodded expressionlessly. He scored 5 points on 1-for-2. For a while, he really led the game.
In the rotation of the second quarter, O'Neal continued to play without rest. Horry and Rick Fox partnered on the front line, and Brian Shaw and Kobe Bryant were in the backcourt.
尼克斯队，李佑打满首节，5中4，三分线外3中2，罚球1中1，11分2篮板3助攻1抢断1盖帽。
Ewing, who also played the entire first quarter, controlled his fouls well, but at this time he began to breathe heavily again.
The Lakers' offensive rhythm was slow, and O'Neal was stirring things up inside. The gorilla's physical energy was consumed very quickly, and Oakley was also tired and kept replenishing water.During the rotation phase, Alan Houston and Larry Johnson took the lead in leading the team. Kukic is in mediocre form and will not appear for the time being.
After the game started, he noticed that the sharks were still not resting. Jeff Van Gundy cursed in his mind, then stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, secretly praying that the rotation lineup could hold up for 3 minutes.
O'Neal, who was like a perpetual motion machine, started to explode again when facing Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace. In less than 2 minutes, the Lakers went straight to a 6-0 run.
22:29, the point difference was narrowed to 7 points.
O'Neal caught the ball in the low post and scored with two people under the basket. This scene also made the New York fans at the scene scream in surprise.
The Lakers' atmosphere team also began to roar loudly, which was a way to vent the dull emotions in the first quarter of the game.
As soon as he saw something was wrong, Jeff Van Gundy immediately requested a timeout.
In the commentary box, Doug Collins looked at it happily, and he did not hesitate to praise at this time:
"This is O'Neal's dominance at the basket. If he does not choose to foul, the Knicks cannot limit his performance during the rotation."
Bob Costas thought of the Trail Blazers' interior configuration and joked:
"Perhaps future championship teams will need to sign some tall insiders who can defend in the low post!"
Li You, Artest, and Kukic came on the stage, and "Little Ben" was beaten by O'Neal again in these 2 minutes.
O'Neal, who returned to the court, regained his confidence and shouted loudly to Li You:
"I'm going to start turning the game around, get ready to foul now!"
Glancing at the plausive shark, Li You raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
In the first offensive round after the timeout, Li You hit a three-pointer from the right wing. Feeling that he had made a successful defense, Kobe immediately pumped his fist in excitement.
O'Neal also smiled. When the Lakers attacked in the round, the Sharks who attacked the inside caused a foul on Ben Wallace's beater and stood on the free throw line.
"Shh!"
Amid the boos from the fans, O'Neal made two free throws beyond everyone's expectations.
At 24:29, the Lakers continued to chase points.
Seeing that the score difference was narrowed, the New York fans at the scene quickly followed the DJ and shouted loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
With Kobe Bryant leading the defense, Li You, holding the ball in his left hand, quickly advanced to the left wing. Kurt Thomas immediately stepped forward to cover, hung up and immediately passed down.
Li You took the opportunity to dribble behind his back. After switching to his right hand, Ben Wallace also moved to the top of the arc and stood still.
This time the strong screen worked. Kobe failed to squeeze through immediately. Holding the ball in his right hand, Li You quickly turned around and got rid of the defense.
At this time, Ben Wallace suddenly accelerated and drove straight to the basket. Kobe saw that O'Neal had already defended in front of Li You, and hurriedly accelerated to follow Ben Wallace, cutting off the passing route.
Seeing O'Neal coming on defense, all the fans stood up and cheered loudly.
The shark looked serious and kept moving, lowering his center of gravity while not forgetting to interfere.
Holding the ball in his right hand, Li You slowly walked to the right sideline. Taking advantage of O'Neal's sliding step, he suddenly leaned forward and accelerated.
Taking advantage of O'Neal's step to the back left, Li You immediately crossed and pulled back. While grabbing the ball with his left hand, he saw O'Neal approaching the defense again. He immediately shook his shoulders and pretended to turn towards the baseline.
The sudden shaking almost caused O'Neal to do a big split as he adjusted his center of gravity.
"Oh!"
O'Neal, who was completely devoted to defense, did not notice the exclamations on the scene. When he saw Li You holding the ball in his left hand, he changed the direction of his hips. After grabbing the ball with his right hand, he suddenly cut along the baseline. O'Neal pounced again.
Breaking through close to the paint area, Li You pushed the ball again and changed direction. When he picked up the ball with his left hand, he just squeezed past O'Neal.
Directly in front of the basket in the paint area, Li You jumped greatly, completely got rid of the defense, faced O'Neal's block, and shot a fadeaway jumper!
"Shua!" A steady hit in the middle distance.
After hitting the shot, Li You had no expression on his face. He immediately raised his right index finger to his mouth and walked back to defend. At the same time, Madison Square Garden was completely blown away.
Seeing the "dancing" shark, everyone cheered and celebrated.
Unable to see Li You pretending to be X, O'Neal, who completely entered the violent mode, began to frantically ask for the ball, constantly attacking the basket.
Soon the game turned into a point battle between the two.
O'Neal reached the basket, and the two turned around and succeeded in a throw. Looking back, Li You made a 45-degree right-side shot of Kobe Bryant, approaching the paint area, and responded with a sudden stop and throw.
The Lakers attack, Ben Wallace fails to defend, and O'Neal catches the ball and dunks!
The Knicks attacked and received a handoff from Kukqi on the right elbow. Li You got rid of the defense, broke through to the basket and caused a foul on O'Neal's thug, and made two free throws!
The two of them played one ball for each other, showing extremely high efficiency. Occasionally, the two sides began to speed up frantically, striving to create a transition attack.
The cheers couldn't stop, the games were lively, and everyone loved the duel.
At 48:55, at the end of the half, the Knicks still led by 7 points.
湖人队单节轰下32分，奥尼尔11中6，罚球4中2，这节比赛又砍下了14分。
Jeff Van Gundy and several members of the coaching staff seriously doubted that O'Neal had become a technology player. In the second quarter of the game, he was still able to follow a pass.
When the second half started, there were more and more exclamations in Madison Square Garden.
With Ewing's physical fitness declining, he seized the opportunity and the Sharks began to attack again.
According to the game plan formulated before the game, Oakley continued to foul hard, but in the second half of the game, O'Neal, who stood on the free throw line, frequently sent the ball into the basket.
Perhaps O'Neal found his touch after scoring 30 free throws in the last game. Jeff Van Gundy frowned on the sidelines, but there was nothing he could do.
Taking the initiative to slow down, the Lakers relied on O'Neal's outstanding performance in this quarter to close the point difference again.
75:79, after three quarters, the point difference was narrowed to 4 points.
For the Knicks, this situation is also very rare. The opponent's ability to respond to the ball is much better than that of their opponents in the Eastern Conference.
During the intermission, the scene also started to be noisy. Obviously, the New York fans also felt the pressure.
李佑并没有受到奥尼尔的影响，第3节比赛7中4，三分线外3中1，罚球3中3，单节也有12分入账。
On the contrary, Ewing and Oakley were in low spirits, and there was no positive feedback from the defense at all. O'Neal made 5 of 5 free throws, which made them feel dizzy.
Jeff Van Gundy sat in front of everyone, looked around and then shouted out chicken soup:
"Hang on! We only have the last 12 minutes left to win. Don't care about the opponent's performance and continue to implement the game plan we made!"
"Believe in each other, we are still ahead of our opponents!"
Alan Houston, who performed well in the third quarter, also high-fived and encouraged:
“Do our job and we will win the game!”
The atmosphere was great tonight. Fortunately, the lead was large enough in the first quarter. Li You didn't want to think too much, so he stood up and reminded loudly:
"We have controlled our fouls very well. We will continue to send free throws to the opponent when necessary, and leave the rest to me!"
When Larry Johnson heard Li You's words, he immediately stood up and gave high fives to encourage everyone to continue.
In the fourth quarter of the game, both sides unanimously chose to continue using the main lineup. The nervous New York fans began to shout loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
The Knicks took the lead in attacking. There were no complicated tactics. With his physical fitness declining, Ewing moved to the top of the arc and stood still, but the screen was directly squeezed by Kobe.
O'Neal came out to defend, saw Ewing passing down, and Kobe's defense was in place, and then he moved and shrank.
Holding the ball in his left hand, Li You slowly moved to the left wing. Kobe lowered his center of gravity and put his right forearm beside Li You, sensing the defensive movements while staring at the basketball in his hand.
Approaching the three-point line, Li You suddenly blasted the ball vigorously on the spot, then quickly turned around, lowered his center of gravity, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and leaned forward to accelerate.
After successfully sensing the offensive trend, Kobe immediately took a step to the left and back. After the two bodies collided, Kobe almost lost his center of gravity and quickly adjusted, but there was a loophole in the defense.
Stepping on the three-point line, Li You immediately stopped and quickly dribbled the ball behind his back. While switching to his left hand, he slightly raised his body weight and looked up at the frame.
Kobe hurried forward to defend, but Li You took the opportunity to change direction with his hips again, pretending to accelerate and break through.
Following his body's instinct, Kobe slid back to the left again, only to find that the moment Li You switched to his right hand, he completed the crotch pullback and returned to the three-point line.
Realizing that his defensive prediction was wrong, Kobe quickly jumped up to block the shot. He noticed that Li You stepped back to complete the shot, and tried to control his body in the air.
The block shot had no effect. The basketball drew a beautiful arc and accurately fell into the basket!
75:82, the point difference returned to 7 points!
"Wow!"
Seeing Li You raise three fingers, cheers resounded throughout the arena again.
After landing, Kobe tried hard to control his expression, pretending not to care and went to the baseline to catch the ball.
The good mood of the New York fans did not last long. The ball was successful in the low post on the right side. O'Neal received the pass from Harper on the right wing and turned directly towards the baseline to complete the hook shot without any extra movement.
Ewing was completely stuck and subconsciously jumped up to block the shot, but ended up hitting the opponent's arm. When the referee blew the whistle, the basketball also hit the net.
"Shhh!!"
Despite the huge boos and interference from the fans behind the basketball stand, O'Neal was not affected in any way and made the extra penalty!
"God! O'Neal has scored six consecutive free throws. Incredible performance!"
"If he can continue like this, no one can stop his offense."
Bob Costas praised loudly, and after making the free throw, O'Neal beat his chest excitedly, and the Lakers bench was also in jubilation.
The game soon entered a stalemate again, with Li You hitting the target and O'Neal missing a tip-in under the basket.
Li Youqiang drove to the basket, causing Kobe to foul. Looking back, Kobe's post-up shot and Alan Houston's foul also sent the opponent to the free throw line.
Seeing that the score difference remained unchanged and the score slowly increased, the New York fans at the scene became more and more nervous, and their shouts almost broke through the arena.
With 2 minutes and 43 seconds left in the game, the score was 85:89. For more than 3 minutes, the two teams did not score a point.
The law of conservation of character broke out, and O'Neal suddenly couldn't score a free throw again. Phil Jackson was so anxious that he walked around on the sidelines and kept shouting loudly.
Li You and Larry Johnson also followed the iron during this period. The 4-point difference was too small. Jeff Van Gundy was completely unable to hold back and also screamed unconsciously.
The Knicks' offense took another 16 seconds. Under the Lakers' desperate defensive rotation, there was no good chance for either passing the ball up the line or scoring a breakthrough goal.
O'Neal, who was squatting under the basket, kept loudly reminding his teammates of defensive rotations. He had already seen hope of equalizing the score!
At the last moment, Alan Houston once again threw the ball to Li You who came near the right sideline. If the tactics were defeated, the core had to take over.
There was not much time to attack. After catching the ball, Li You first firmly protected the ball on the left side of his body, and then quickly took a tentative step forward with his right foot to the left.
Kobe kept his body center of gravity extremely low and did not cut the ball easily. Instead, he used blind defense and always maintained his body center of gravity.
Seeing that the attack time was coming, Li You released the ball with his right hand after another probing step, accelerated with all his strength, and broke through smoothly.
Kobe quickly slid to the left and back, breaking through to the right side near the baseline. Li You suddenly pulled his hips back sharply, then directly connected the ball, used his feet to make a fadeaway jumper!
At the sudden stop, Kobe immediately lost his defensive position and immediately jumped to block the shot. However, a beat later, the basketball passed over his fingertips and flew towards the basket.
"Shua!" The two-pointer went into the net!
Kobe, who struggled to defend, lost his center of gravity in the air and eventually fell in front of the Lakers' bench.
The cheers of the fans were heard in his ears. Kobe looked up helplessly, and the next second he saw Li You stepping over his lap with an expressionless face.
The atmosphere team on the Lakers bench was also stunned at this moment. Everyone watched Li You step back to defend, and then the shouts and shouts of breaking through the arena rang in their ears.
Kobe felt his blood surge and his head swelled twice. He stood up and was about to rush in the direction of Li You, but before he could get close, he was pushed away by Larry Johnson.
Harper wanted to pull Kobe away, but instead rushed into the crowd and received a black punch. Before the referee could react, players on both sides were already pushing and shoving on the Lakers bench.
Kobe, who was above, found that Li You actually raised his hands to signal the fans at the scene to cheer up, and he was almost furious for a moment.
Just being pushed around by everyone, Kobe couldn't rush out for a while and could only watch Li You pretending to be X in the center of the field.
At 85:91, when the referee pulled both sides back to the court, Kobe's eyes widened.
Seeing Li You switch in front of him again, Kobe didn't care about any tactics or big brother. He just dribbled and swayed at the top of the key.
O'Neal was still stuck under the basket. After shouting twice, he found that Kobe was already holding the ball in his right hand, head buried in the ball, and for a moment he cursed in anger.
In the right block, Kobe's breakthrough was blocked by Li You with his body. He still did not choose to pass the ball. He switched to his left hand and slammed into the basket.
It's just that his upper body moved widely, but his feet remained motionless. Ignoring Glenn Rice who was connecting from the wing, Kobe quickly turned toward the baseline, only to be blocked by Li You.
It seemed that there was no room for him to take action. In the end, Kobe simply twisted his body, exerted force with his feet, leaned back on the spot, and just threw the ball!
O'Neal almost yelled, "Don't touch the ball." The basketball fell directly into Ewing's arms.
Phil Jackson didn't expect that his instructions had no effect. Seeing Li You shaking his head and spreading his hands, leaning on Kobe and slowly squeezing through the half court, he was so angry that he cursed twice secretly.
At the top of the arc, Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand, kept protecting the ball sideways. At this time, Kobe kept cutting the ball.
Faced with such a defense, Li You suddenly turned around and swayed to the right. Taking advantage of the opponent's sliding step, Li You immediately changed direction in a large way.
It was just a simple misdirection change, but Kobe was passed directly. Li You, who was holding the ball with his left hand, was stuck in his position and went straight to the basket.
O'Neal pounced directly at this time, and as a result, he saw Li You throwing the ball high to the upper right side of the basket!
Ewing, who was completely unguarded, grabbed the ball from the air and slammed the basket with both hands!
"Boom!" The empty catch dunk was successful!
"what!"
The dunk that almost killed the game made Ewing bang bang beat his chest and raise his head and scream.
Madison Square Garden was completely elated. The fans in the arena were shouting excitedly, and the atmosphere team on the bench also jumped up and cheered loudly.
85:93, there is only 1 minute and 24 seconds left in the game, and time seems to be running out.
Phil Jackson's face darkened and he asked for a timeout again. O'Neal pointed at Kobe angrily, but was pushed to the other side of the bench by Harper.
"Excellent offense and defense, Li took control of the game again, scored a key goal to break the deadlock, and assisted his teammates to expand the score!"
"This is the MVP! The Knicks may have to accept the victory!"
Bob Costas took a long breath and commented excitedly, while Doug Collins just shook his head slightly and said regretfully:
"The outcome of the game may be determined by one or two rounds. Unfortunately, at the last moment, Kobe seemed to have lost his calm. Perhaps this is the price of growth."
When the Lakers gave the ball back to O'Neal, Oakley laughed and sent the opponent to the free throw line.
On the first penalty kick, Spike Lee on the sidelines immediately cheered and raised his hands to signal that the scene was agitated.
"BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!"
Amid the happy shouts of the New York fans, O'Neal's second free throw, which he had been aiming for for a long time, was made again.
Ewing protected the rebound and Li You responded, slowly passing the halftime again.
With an explosive mentality, Kobe kept cutting the ball. Soon the referee blew the whistle and Li You walked to the free throw line with a smile.
O'Neal was so angry that he didn't want to speak. He stood next to the paint area with his knees in hand and subconsciously looked at the free throw line, only to see Li You knocking in the ball with his eyes closed.
"Shaq! This is a free throw!"
Li You said this with a smile, then took the basketball and still made the second free throw steadily.
Now O'Neal couldn't hold back any longer. He didn't care that the referee was right next to him. He just put the ball away and smashed the ball towards Li You with his backhand.
Unexpectedly, Li You seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. As soon as he turned around, the basketball flew past him. He turned around and showed his hands to O'Neal.
O'Neal, whose mentality was completely exploded, ignored the referee's stop and rushed up again. Soon the two sides were pushing each other again. The New York fans who like to watch the excitement cheered loudly:
“Fuck!＊＊”
85:95, pushing and yelling could not change the score, and there was no suspense in the game.
Although Harper suddenly hit a three-pointer, the game time was not enough.
With the penalty shootout between the two sides, Alan Houston made the last two free throws, and the long minute finally came to an end.
90:99, with the cheers of the fans in the audience, the Knicks successfully protected their home court!
Everyone on the bench had smiles on their faces and immediately stepped forward to high-five Li You in celebration.
Phil Jackson's face darkened when he saw Jeff Van Gundy's proud smiling face. After shaking hands, he quickly walked to the tunnel.
Kobe covered his head with a towel. Harper hugged his little brother's shoulders and seemed to be comforting him. O'Neal was still cursing and ran quickly to the locker room.
In the NBC commentary box, the two of them looked at the Lakers who were leaving the arena quickly, and then looked at the Knicks bench who were still celebrating happily, and they could only sigh again:
"O'Neal made 7 of 1 free throws in the last quarter. Unfortunately, maybe as long as he hit a few more free throws, the result of the game would be completely different."
"Lee is so calm. He knows how to win. He made 7 of 3 in the fourth quarter, 3 of 1 from beyond the arc, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 11 points. Every score is extremely important!"
As soon as Doug Collins finished speaking, Bob Costas also added:
"As long as both teams can take the lead at the start, they will win the game with a high probability!"
"I believe that the Lakers will get off to a good start in the G4 game. They can also take the opportunity to adjust their physical condition after more than two days of rest."
出场47分42秒，奥尼尔28中17，罚球18中9，砍下43分13篮板1助攻2盖帽3失误。
出场39分钟，科比15中6，罚球4中2，贡献14分4篮板3助攻1抢断3失误。
Looking at the playing time of the two, Bob Costas did not make any further comments. Phil Jackson only let O'Neal breathe in this game.
The Madison Square Garden Arena was still very noisy, and many fans did not leave the stadium after the game and continued to celebrate happily.
Although the process was a bit bumpy, with a big score of 2:1, the Knicks will have a chance to get the match point in the next game!
Just thinking about this makes some young fans so excited that they can't stop.
出场45分钟，28中15，三分线外12中5，罚球12中12，47分4篮板7助攻2抢断1盖帽3失误。
Back in the locker room, Jeff Van Gundy hugged Li You again. Everyone clapped along and cheered loudly:
"Only two wins left to win the championship!"
"Wow!"
Li You also shouted with his teammates. Everyone was very satisfied that the atmosphere team was able to win the game tonight.
Only Phil Jackson attended the press conference after the Lakers game. The champion coach still looked very ugly after sitting on the stage.
In addition, the New York media continued to add insult to injury, and the questions they asked only rubbed salt into the wound:
"Phil, how would you evaluate Kobe Bryant's performance in the last two minutes?"
Without answering the question directly, Phil Jackson frowned and complained:
"That's not a basketball move! That's not in line with the spirit of competitive sports!"
"Maybe Lee's data is very good, but I don't agree with his approach. The referee should punish him instead of being indifferent."
Hearing the complaints from the championship coach, the New York media who were irritated felt comfortable. Some old reporters have not forgotten Phil Jackson's proud look when the Bulls won in the past.
As long as they can taunt each other, everyone will do their best.
阿兰-休斯顿今晚表现出色，17中8，三分线外4中1，罚球5中5，不声不响拿到22分五篮板4助攻2失误的数据。
When he attended the press conference with Li You after the game, as soon as the two sat down, applause broke out from the audience.
When the TNT reporter saw both of them smiling, they immediately asked the questions that everyone was concerned about:
"Li, can you talk about that action in the 4th quarter? I think many people want to hear your explanation."
Before Li You could speak, Alan Houston straightened the microphone and said seriously:
"There is nothing to explain. Kobe lost his center of gravity and fell to the floor. In order to defend in time, Lee stepped over the opponent's legs. This was just a normal round!"
"The referee didn't say anything. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. At that time, everyone was fully focused on the game and didn't have much time to think."
Li You on the side shrugged his shoulders and added:
"Allan is right, it was just an ordinary basketball possession!"
Soon the New York media took control of the conversation. Everyone was laughing and joking and starting to talk about each other's business. The Lakers reporter stayed for 2 minutes before leaving.
On June 6, Li You's 12 points and the Knicks' victory once again swept the major newspapers in New York.
The same headline appeared on the front pages of the New York Times and New York Post:
"BEAT LA!"
The accompanying picture is a photo of Li You stepping over Kobe's lap. The photographer's timing to capture the shot was very good.
Li You looked very domineering with his expressionless face. Kobe on the floor looked surprised, and everyone on the Lakers bench behind him had their mouths wide open.
Of course, O'Neal's angrily smashing the ball also angered the New York media, and many sports columns began to ridicule the Sharks' MVP in various ways.
The Lakers team members who were still in New York were bombarded with these news early in the morning.
Although Phil Jackson asked the players not to read boring newspapers, the whispers and teasing looks from the hotel staff still hurt everyone on the Lakers team.
O'Neal ignored his teammates all night, and Harper became the current leader in the locker room.
After breakfast, Kobe returned to his room and looked through the newspapers he had secretly obtained. He even read several print media, only to find that the photo of him being crossed was on the front page.
The more he watched, the angrier he became. Kobe's eyes turned red with anger, and he tore the newspaper in his hand into pieces. From this moment on, Li You became his mortal enemy.
Seemingly still feeling dissatisfied, Kobe simply yelled and cursed repeatedly:
"F***!"
Thank you book friends for your subscription support (﹃)
qaq
(End of this chapter)
2000年6月11号，总决赛G3将在当晚20:30正式开战。
The time left for the two teams to adjust is very short. After this game, there will be two days of rest.
For the Lakers, if they can win an away game, they can regain the initiative. For three consecutive away games, the schedule is extremely unfriendly to them.
In the G2 game, the Lakers determined their rotation. Starting No. 4 AC Green only played 18 minutes in this game, and Horry on the bench played longer.
Rick Fox on the striker also got more opportunities, and Brian Shaw also got more playing time.
Phil Jackson has finally figured out the appropriate rotation through two games. The old man is not good at basketball, so he still needs players with fast lateral movement.
There are exceptions among the rotation players. The young Fisher's playing time is getting less and less, and he only played 2 minutes in G12.
"Little Fish"'s tendons didn't do much good, and he also suffered from his height.
Even though Brian Shaw is already 34 years old, Phil Jackson still trusted the veteran more in the last game, and a lot of "little fish" time was eaten up.
However, for New York fans, these players are all country dogs. In the eyes of everyone, only O'Neal has won everyone's recognition:
"The Lakers can't even win a game without Sharks!"
While the Los Angeles media was hyping Kobe's performance, some sports columns in the New York newspaper analyzed the Lakers' strength in detail:
"Kobe Bryant, a poor imitator, a star-making product of the league!"
Although they only had one day of rest, everyone on the Lakers team who came to New York read the newspaper and were very angry.
Although personal attack articles are in the minority after all, New York fans are like this. No one can remember moderate comments. The more extreme they are, the more impressive they are!
NBC has released interviews with celebrities from the two teams in the past few days. Magic Johnson also behaved very modestly when faced with the topic of the best point guard in history.
In the interview clip, Magic Johnson showed his iconic smile and laughed before answering:
"There's no comparison. What I mean is that our technical characteristics are completely different. I can't hit a lot of three-pointers like Lee."
"For the same reason, Lee won't appear in the low post as often as I do. We have different sizes and different technical characteristics, but I like his "math problem."
"At 22 years old, Li will most likely surpass me in the future. The future belongs to young people. I like to see the duel between the two teams on the stage of the finals!"
Willis Reed, a staunch Knicks supporter, was less polite in his interview.
When asked about the player's strength, Willis Reed just praised O'Neal:
"In addition to free throws, O'Neal really showed the strength of an MVP-level player."
"But the Knicks are more talented. Pat may be older and can still contribute to the team."
"No one on the Lakers' perimeter can limit Lee. I even think he is underestimated. Although Kobe Bryant was selected to the All-Defensive Team, that does not mean that he is an excellent defender."
"Three consecutive championships. I believe the team will achieve everyone's long-cherished wish. This is the era of the Knicks!"
MVP-level celebrities stood up to support their players. Before the start of the G3 game, a new round of war of words also kicked off.
In the last game, Li You scored 30 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. The Lakers' defensive strategy changed significantly, and O'Neal really delayed his comeback.
But this is just Li You’s feeling on the court, and intuition can sometimes be deceiving. The Knicks coaching staff quickly came to a conclusion through game videos and statistics:
"O'Neal's delays are all fake."
Letting Li You pass the ball and letting Kobe Bryant chase and defend is the purpose of the Shark's running. Although the opponent will also lower its focus and defend decently, judging from the results, most of them are bluffs.
The court is changing rapidly, and the key to winning lies in making the right choices. Jeff Van Gundy and the coaching staff are well prepared for the next home game.
At 19:30 that night, one hour before the game started, Li You wore a "Superman" T-shirt to warm up at the Madison Square Garden Arena.
The rest time is very short. In order to allow the inside players to fully rest, most of the time is spent watching videos and doing simple recovery training.
The blue customized Superman T-shirt was a small gift given to Li You by Spike Lee, specially used to put eye drops on the opposite "Superman".
Although it was just warm-up shooting and simple ball-handling training, the media did not want to miss these shots. The surrounding media reporters surrounded the half court again.
To catch up with the explosive popularity of the weekend finals, ticket prices have increased again.
James Dolan may not understand basketball skills and tactics, but this big boss knows the fans' preferences very well. Since Li You scored high scores, the enthusiasm of New York fans has increased visibly.
Unlike Jim Gray, who is responsible for the news about the Knicks, the one responsible for reporting on the Lakers is Ahmed Rashad, the former royal reporter of McQueen.
"Jordan's successor" attracted this one, but what Rashad regrets is that Kobe is still relatively immature and not attractive enough.
"The Lakers haven't relaxed since they came to New York. Head coach Phil Jackson will be strict with his players during training sessions!"
"As far as I know, the Lakers will continue to expand their rotation tonight. In less than two days of rest, most of the tactical drills will focus on pick-and-roll defense."
Wearing a black formal suit, Ahmed Rashad faced the camera and told the Lakers' preparations over the past two days. In the studio behind NBC, the three people nodded after hearing the news.
Host Hannah saw that Bill Walton seemed to have something to say and immediately waved his hand. The latter picked up the microphone and loudly said:
"The Lakers' defense has started to work. We all underestimated Shaq's physical ability. He is a real monster!"
"The inside line started to delay, and at the same time, after Horry got a lot of playing time, the Lakers' offensive space became even better."
"I believe the Lakers will regain the initiative!"
When the score reached 1:1, Isiah Thomas' prediction seemed to be more accurate. He did not rush to refute, but smiled and continued with the data:
"In the two games, Lee's three-point shooting percentage did not fluctuate, which shows that the Lakers' defense did not have much effect at all."
"The last game was more about offensive choices. Of course, it also has something to do with the scale of whistleblowing!"
"The test for O'Neal has just begun, and the Knicks will not waste this opportunity!"
"."
There was another wave of quarrels before the game. In order to increase the popularity of the finals, the sports commentators were also working hard to express themselves. Several mainstream media programs "quarreled" every day.
Players and the media have basically become a community of interests in this era. Both parties need popularity. Just like the selection of MVP has never been based on performance on the court, the aroma of wine is also afraid of the alley.
More than 8000 fans filed in one after another. Li You, wearing a Superman T-shirt, began to greet some "superficial friends" in the front row.
Matthew McConaughey, who likes sports, sat in the front row tonight because of his bleeding. This handsome guy is not yet famous for his acting skills.
Dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt, Matthew McConaughey stood up and fist-bumped with Li Youhe to chat:
"Lee, how about winning it at home, right at Madison Square Garden!"
"I haven't been able to see the championship award ceremony live for the past two years. It's such a shame!"
More than one "superficial friend" has already mentioned this matter to Li You. After all, there are still only a few people like Spike Lee who follow him to watch away games:
"This is definitely a good suggestion. I can already feel everyone's energy. Remember to buy your tickets in advance."
Li You blinked, smiled and joked with the other party. The two exchanged business blows with relaxed expressions, which angered Kobe who had warmed up in advance.
After arriving in New York, everyone in the Lakers team was bombarded with advertisements. Although Li You's signature sneakers this year were "reskin products" and lacked sincerity, Hook took advantage of the three consecutive championships to continue to expand marketing:
The advertisement "Watch Clay-Lee become a legend together" has been launched for a long time. The sentence in the advertisement:
"Every step Li took was remembered by history" is even more heartbreaking to watch.
Without Li You, Kobe, who was selected to the All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Team, would be the focus of this year's finals with the title of "Jordan's successor".
But the reality is that all the rookies in the same class were suppressed by Li You and did not get the attention they imagined. Kobe's mood was not beautiful after he came to New York.
After the early warm-up, Li You returned to the locker room, and the physical therapist was still relaxing Ewing's muscles.
The gorilla returned to the home court with full confidence. Seeing that his teammates were all here, he took the initiative and said:
"The situation in the last game will not happen again tonight. 30 free throws will not happen at our home court!"
Being defeated by Yifenyu aroused Ewing's fighting spirit again. Thinking of the situation in the last game, Oakley also cursed:
"Fuck! They called it like shit and the other team made 49 free throws! They can't have an easy time tonight!"
Everyone is gearing up. After three consecutive home games, everyone wants to end the series at home.
Li You fist bumped with Alan Houston, and he had to strengthen his defense against Kobe tonight. Larry Johnson was also encouraging his teammates:
"There's nothing to worry about, the opponent won't get too many free throws!"
The atmosphere team all responded loudly. After Jeff Van Gundy came to the locker room and watched the players cheer up, he clapped his hands with satisfaction and simply said:
"Win all the home games in one go. This year we will win the O'Brien Cup at home!"
"."
The home team's appearance ceremony ignited the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden, and everyone on the Lakers, who were the first to appear, was holding back their energy at this time.
After losing a home court, O'Neal also realized the seriousness of the matter and stopped talking loudly after coming to New York.
The boomerang hurts the face too much. If you say more, you may make more mistakes. It is a safer choice to win the game and take back the initiative before speaking.
When the lights came back on and the two sides began their final warm-up, O'Neal saw the Superman T-shirt on Li You and immediately cursed inwardly.
Head coach Phil Jackson was very nervous about tonight’s game. When the game was about to start, he did not forget to tell the players:
"Delay, mutual response, timely communication on the court, and our defensive aggression showed from the beginning!"
Although most of the break was spent explaining defense, the Lakers coaching staff was still a little worried. After all, they rarely encountered such opponents in the Western Conference.
The arena became more and more noisy. Before the game even started, the New York fans at the scene had already stood up and shouted loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
O'Neal and Ewing came to the center circle and both stared at the ball. As the referee threw the ball high, the Gorilla took the lead and successfully dialed the basketball.
Seeing Li You catch the ball, Kobe immediately stepped forward to lead the defense. At the same time, everyone on the Lakers quickly retreated to half court to defend the opponent.
Larry Johnson ran directly to the left corner, and Alan Houston stopped on the left wing.
In the paint area, Ewing and Oakley were still observing the situation on the court. When they saw Li You passing the ball to Alan Houston after halftime, the two immediately began to move.
Kobe was a little surprised when he saw Li You handing over the ball directly, but he didn't dare to relax and followed Li You quickly to the right corner.
O'Neal saw Ewing moving to the right wing and Li You was also moving, and quickly directed Kobe to pursue the defense.
Oakley gave Li You a no-ball screen near the right sideline, and then ran to the right side near the baseline. Kobe squeezed through the screen in time and chased behind Li You.
Soon he was near the top of the arc. Ewing's cover was of high quality. Li You briefly got rid of the pursuit. After receiving a cross pass from Alan Houston, Kobe Bryant came up to defend again.
After catching the ball, Li You immediately released the ball with his left hand. He relied on Kobe to turn around sharply. While grabbing the ball with his right hand, Ewing twisted around and moved again, making another off-ball screen.
Kobe failed to squeeze through in time this time. O'Neal saw Li You holding the ball in his right hand appearing on the right wing, lowered his center of gravity and quickly moved up, while beckoning Kobe to continue chasing.
At this time, Ewing suddenly followed down the ball very quickly, and O'Neal subconsciously moved back to prepare to shrink to the basket.
Kobe didn't expect the shark to retreat so cleanly. Before he could adjust his center of gravity to attack, Li You, who only made one jump dribble on the right wing, immediately combined the ball and threw it away!
"Shua!" The three-pointer hit the net hollowly.
"Wow!"
To the New York fans at the scene, Li You's offense looked extremely easy. He would throw the ball whenever there was an opening, and he would score as soon as he threw it. The cheers began to ring through the arena.
There was a communication error on the defensive end, but Kobe didn't complain. After receiving the baseline ball, he quickly rushed through the half court despite the boos.
Harper had already pulled Li Youshen to the left corner. Kobe, who came to the right wing, immediately passed the ball across to Glenn Rice at the top of the key.
O'Neal was desperately arching in front of the basket, while Ewing was behind him. AC Green moved to the right elbow area in order to make room for the Sharks to attack.
Oakley saw Ewing stuck behind him and immediately moved back quickly. Glenn Rice hesitated and failed to stuff the ball in, but transferred the ball to Ha who came to the left wing. amber.
In order to avoid being double-teamed, Olney once again pushed low to the left, and Ewing, who was well prepared, desperately pushed the opponent out.
Being pushed to the left blocking position, O'Neal didn't pay attention, but continued to ask for the ball with his back.
Harper, who received the ball, was interfered by Li You and failed to send a high throw at the first time. After a feint, he quickly sent a ground pass.
The quality of the pass was average. O'Neal had to bend down to catch the ball, so he subconsciously took another step forward.
O'Neal, who had just received the ball with his back, didn't have time to release the ball. Li You suddenly shrank, almost rushed into the opponent's arms, and cut the ball off.
The ball was gone in the blink of an eye. Before O'Neal had a chance, the referee complained about the thug. Li You, who had completed the steal, took the ball and rushed.
Harper cursed secretly and subconsciously moved forward to block the ball. Unexpectedly, Li You came and passed the ball. The basketball flew past Harper's left side, and Li You feinted and went around the sideline on the right side.
The beautiful pass happened in front of the fans in the front row. Many people subconsciously stood up and cheered. Li You returned to the court and grabbed the ball with his left hand. Harper still stood there stupidly without moving.
Before most of the Lakers could react, Li You had already passed half court.
On the other side, Kobe, who was actively defending, was accelerating along the left sideline, trying to block it.
It's just that Li You sprinted faster than he expected with the ball. Kobe had just caught up to the three-point line, and Li You had already rushed up in three strides, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and easily completed a gliding dunk!
"Wonderful goal! From stealing to passing the ball, Li is so fast!"
"His defense is definitely underrated!"
In the NBC commentary box, Bob Costas shouted excitedly, and Doug Collins also sighed when he saw the boiling scene:
"The Knicks entered the state faster. It can be seen that they are fully prepared and seem to be fully adapted to the Lakers' offense."
For the same defensive action, the referee might have blown the whistle in the previous game.
But after returning home, after a defensive round, everyone in the Knicks realized that the scale of the whistle had become wider again.
Attacking again, O'Neal tossed back and forth on the baseline, but several people on the line were pressed. In addition, the key position was not deep, and the Sharks failed to receive the pass for a while.
In the end, AC Green gave Glenn Rice a pick-and-roll, and the latter made a jumper from the right elbow of the free throw line.
The moment the basketball came out of the frame, the Knicks all shrank to the basket. Ewing was fighting with O'Neal, Alan Houston blocked Kobe who was about to rush, and Li You grabbed it in front of Harper, and the basket The lower left grabbed the rebound.
After a successful defense, cheers arose again. Li You did not speed up the offensive rhythm, but showed tactical gestures, protected the ball sideways, hung on Kobe's defense, and rushed through the half court in 8 seconds.
Everyone on the Lakers immediately realized that the Knicks had played the same tactic, but in a different direction.
After a quick handover, Li You ran to the left corner and once again used double screens to reach the top of the arc.
Alan Houston sent a cross pass. The moment Li You received the ball, he noticed that Kobe failed to squeeze through the screen. After receiving the ball, he immediately turned around, exerted force on his feet, and slightly drifted from the top of the arc to shoot a jumper!
O'Neal, who switched defense in front of him, didn't expect that Li You would catch the ball and throw it. He was still squatting on the spot and preparing to slide. He subconsciously turned his head and saw the basketball hollow into the net.
At 0:8, Madison Square Garden is boiling again.
"Your defense is as slow as a turtle!"
Li You's voice came to his ears. When O'Neal came back to his senses, what he saw was the back of his head. Li You had already begun to retreat.
The same tactic, but the difference is that Ewing stood firm this time and didn't even think about passing down, and firmly blocked Kobe.
"Squeeze through the screen! Don't lose your defender again!"
The depressed O'Neal immediately whispered to Kobe as he ran towards half court.
This is Shark's privilege in the Lakers. Everyone's defense has to serve him, and Kobe can only nod silently.
It was AC Green who broke the deadlock for the Lakers. After O'Neal was double-teamed in the low post on the left, the latter caught the ball in the right elbow and hit an open jump shot.
"Shh!"
When the Lakers scored in a sports game, huge boos resounded throughout the arena. Phil Jackson immediately clapped his hands on the sidelines and continued to loudly remind the players to focus.
But in the next few minutes, Phil Jackson's frown deepened. The Knicks frequently used double screens. Li You would also act as a decoy, running without the ball and cutting into the basket.
Watching Li You circle and cut into the basket from the top of the arc, Alan Houston did not choose to pass the ball but used Ewing's screen to get rid of the defense and succeeded in a mid-range jumper in the left block. The Lakers immediately requested a timeout.
At 6:14, the Knicks made every shot and showed excellent performance on both offense and defense after the opening game.
Glenn Rice and O'Neal scored one after another, but there was a big problem on the defensive end.
In the commentary box, Doug Collins did not expect that O'Neal could not catch the ball after the game started:
"Head coach Van Gundy and the coaching staff made targeted adjustments. Oakley made very good position selections several times, just enough to double-team in time."
Bob Costas felt the changes in the scale of whistleblowing in this game:
"The Lakers did not match the intensity of the game in time after the opening game. They seemed not ready to play in New York."
The strict whistleblowing in the last game seemed to make the Lakers relax their vigilance. They wanted to call for a whistle after the game started, but the referee gave no indication.
After the timeout, the Lakers' offense looked for O'Neal immediately.
After just 14 seconds of waiting, the score was scored, but there was no good opportunity. Kobe received the ball again on the right wing and immediately released the ball with his right hand to break through.
Alan Houston slid quickly, and Kobe, who was in the block, stopped suddenly, switched to his left hand and hit twice, then shook his shoulders and turned quickly toward the baseline.
Unable to get rid of the defense, Alan Houston's block made Kobe subconsciously lean back a little more. After adjusting the arc, the shot successfully passed the basketball over his fingertips.
After two knocks on the basket, the basketball finally fell into the basket.
"A difficult offense, Kobe made a beautiful fadeaway jumper!"
Bob Costas immediately praised Kobe Bryant loudly when he saw him falling on the floor. When he saw the Knicks' quick baseline kick, he exclaimed:
"OH! Li suddenly accelerated his advancement!"
Kobe, who had fallen on the floor, had just stood up when he saw the Knicks' quick baseline kick, and Li You accelerated against Harper.
Cursing secretly, Kobe hurriedly chased Alan Houston, but Li You just moved back along the three-point line following Harper's confrontation, and then changed the direction of his right crotch, shaking away from the defense and blocking his position.
On the right wing, Li You, who switched to his left hand, broke through with his shoulder and continued to accelerate straight to the basket. Harper completely lost his defensive position.
O'Neal, who had retreated to the basket, had just moved to meet him. Li You in the paint area threw the ball to the upper left side of the basket. Ewing, who was unguarded, jumped up to get the ball, and then dunked the basket with both hands!
"Boom!" The empty catch dunk was successful!
The gorilla who successfully ate the cake and completed the dunk also roared.
The beautiful response ball made the cheers in the stadium unable to stop. Phil Jackson's face was ugly. He didn't want to see such an easy score.
The first quarter was when the Knicks' defense was at its strongest. As the game progressed, Ewing and Oakley couldn't stand it anymore.
Although the score is behind, O'Neal is not in a hurry. He has figured out the old guy's strength. After one quarter, he can swim inside.
However, the development of the next game did not go as O'Neal imagined. Kobe took over the offensive ball for several rounds in a row, attacking from left to right, and the iron was bang bang.
This time the Lakers attacked, Kobe, who was constantly hitting the iron, no longer chose the difficult fadeaway jumper. Instead, he used the cover of Horry, who had just appeared, on the left elbow area of the free throw line, circled around, and went straight inside.
Kobe, who kept accelerating with the ball in his right hand, used his speed advantage to quickly break through to the basket.
Although he noticed that Li You had shrunk towards the basket, Kobe didn't hesitate at all. He took a step forward and immediately jumped into the air. He grabbed the ball with his right hand and was about to reach out and dunk!
Kobe's jump was a little further away, and his posture in the air was beautiful. However, Li You, who was helping to defend the basket, jumped up and hit the basketball with his right hand in the air!
Unexpectedly, Li You shot first. Although he just barely blocked the shot, Kobe failed to catch the basketball in the air. The two competed, and the basketball immediately came out of his hands.
"Wow!"
The beautiful block once again ignited the atmosphere of the scene. After landing, Li You immediately rushed forward. Larry Johnson controlled the ball and rushed through the half court with the ball immediately.
Glenn Rice didn't know who to guard for a moment, and Larry Johnson immediately got the ball. Li You, who received the ball in the middle, rushed forward with the ball.
After hesitation, Glenn Rice immediately lost his defensive position and could only watch Horry chase after Li You.
After landing, Kobe jumped directly into the street and stood up to chase after Li You. When he saw Li You slowing down in the paint, Horry bumped into him. When the referee blew the whistle, Kobe immediately stopped in frustration.
"squeak!"
At the same time as the referee blew the whistle, Li You leaned against Horry and succeeded in picking up the basket with his left hand in three slow steps!
"Lee's transition attack scored again! The Lakers should probably ask for another timeout. During this time, they lost their offensive rhythm."
Doug Collins glanced at the scoreboard and immediately gave his opinion. Bob Costas was still thinking about the block just now:
"Lee's defense is really underrated. When he puts his energy into the defensive end, he always appears in the right position!"
"Kobe seems to have underestimated his opponent. He should choose to lay up safely. Standing on the free throw line may be a better offensive option."
Li Youxiao walked to the free throw line with a smile. It was very easy to switch offense and score points quickly. He could also achieve "fast break as fierce as a tiger".
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
The Knicks fans at the scene shouted loudly. Kobe glanced at Li You, lowered his head and walked to the bench. Phil Jackson directly replaced him.
The extra penalty was a solid hit, and Li You successfully hit a three-pointer to help the team expand the score again.
12:23，第1节比赛还剩最后的3分14秒，分差刚好来到双位数。
Brian Shaw and Rick Fox came on the court, replacing Harper and Kobe.
Phil Jackson expected the team to respond on the offensive end. As a result, the Lakers continued to strike in the last three minutes, relying on O'Neal's strong attack on the basket and free throws to score some points.
At 16:29, after the first quarter, with a 13-point deficit, New York fans began to cheer and celebrate.
O'Neal returned to the bench with a face. He would no longer complain to the referee about defensive problems. This was the Knicks' home whistle.
5 of 3, 2 of 1 free throws, 7 points and 3 rebounds. Of course, O'Neal was not satisfied with his performance. He picked up the energy drink and drank it.
"Energy! We have to defend the opponent's offense, and at the same time, we have to hit the ball to the basket. Stop shooting inefficient jumpers, attack the basket, and shoot free throws!"
Phil Jackson loudly encouraged his players and tried to get everyone to play harder. In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers were obviously lost in the confrontation.
Kobe could sense the coach's gaze and nodded expressionlessly. He scored 5 points on 1-for-2. For a while, he really led the game.
In the rotation of the second quarter, O'Neal continued to play without rest. Horry and Rick Fox partnered on the front line, and Brian Shaw and Kobe Bryant were in the backcourt.
尼克斯队，李佑打满首节，5中4，三分线外3中2，罚球1中1，11分2篮板3助攻1抢断1盖帽。
Ewing, who also played the entire first quarter, controlled his fouls well, but at this time he began to breathe heavily again.
The Lakers' offensive rhythm was slow, and O'Neal was stirring things up inside. The gorilla's physical energy was consumed very quickly, and Oakley was also tired and kept replenishing water.During the rotation phase, Alan Houston and Larry Johnson took the lead in leading the team. Kukic is in mediocre form and will not appear for the time being.
After the game started, he noticed that the sharks were still not resting. Jeff Van Gundy cursed in his mind, then stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, secretly praying that the rotation lineup could hold up for 3 minutes.
O'Neal, who was like a perpetual motion machine, started to explode again when facing Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace. In less than 2 minutes, the Lakers went straight to a 6-0 run.
22:29, the point difference was narrowed to 7 points.
O'Neal caught the ball in the low post and scored with two people under the basket. This scene also made the New York fans at the scene scream in surprise.
The Lakers' atmosphere team also began to roar loudly, which was a way to vent the dull emotions in the first quarter of the game.
As soon as he saw something was wrong, Jeff Van Gundy immediately requested a timeout.
In the commentary box, Doug Collins looked at it happily, and he did not hesitate to praise at this time:
"This is O'Neal's dominance at the basket. If he does not choose to foul, the Knicks cannot limit his performance during the rotation."
Bob Costas thought of the Trail Blazers' interior configuration and joked:
"Perhaps future championship teams will need to sign some tall insiders who can defend in the low post!"
Li You, Artest, and Kukic came on the stage, and "Little Ben" was beaten by O'Neal again in these 2 minutes.
O'Neal, who returned to the court, regained his confidence and shouted loudly to Li You:
"I'm going to start turning the game around, get ready to foul now!"
Glancing at the plausive shark, Li You raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
In the first offensive round after the timeout, Li You hit a three-pointer from the right wing. Feeling that he had made a successful defense, Kobe immediately pumped his fist in excitement.
O'Neal also smiled. When the Lakers attacked in the round, the Sharks who attacked the inside caused a foul on Ben Wallace's beater and stood on the free throw line.
"Shh!"
Amid the boos from the fans, O'Neal made two free throws beyond everyone's expectations.
At 24:29, the Lakers continued to chase points.
Seeing that the score difference was narrowed, the New York fans at the scene quickly followed the DJ and shouted loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
With Kobe Bryant leading the defense, Li You, holding the ball in his left hand, quickly advanced to the left wing. Kurt Thomas immediately stepped forward to cover, hung up and immediately passed down.
Li You took the opportunity to dribble behind his back. After switching to his right hand, Ben Wallace also moved to the top of the arc and stood still.
This time the strong screen worked. Kobe failed to squeeze through immediately. Holding the ball in his right hand, Li You quickly turned around and got rid of the defense.
At this time, Ben Wallace suddenly accelerated and drove straight to the basket. Kobe saw that O'Neal had already defended in front of Li You, and hurriedly accelerated to follow Ben Wallace, cutting off the passing route.
Seeing O'Neal coming on defense, all the fans stood up and cheered loudly.
The shark looked serious and kept moving, lowering his center of gravity while not forgetting to interfere.
Holding the ball in his right hand, Li You slowly walked to the right sideline. Taking advantage of O'Neal's sliding step, he suddenly leaned forward and accelerated.
Taking advantage of O'Neal's step to the back left, Li You immediately crossed and pulled back. While grabbing the ball with his left hand, he saw O'Neal approaching the defense again. He immediately shook his shoulders and pretended to turn towards the baseline.
The sudden shaking almost caused O'Neal to do a big split as he adjusted his center of gravity.
"Oh!"
O'Neal, who was completely devoted to defense, did not notice the exclamations on the scene. When he saw Li You holding the ball in his left hand, he changed the direction of his hips. After grabbing the ball with his right hand, he suddenly cut along the baseline. O'Neal pounced again.
Breaking through close to the paint area, Li You pushed the ball again and changed direction. When he picked up the ball with his left hand, he just squeezed past O'Neal.
Directly in front of the basket in the paint area, Li You jumped greatly, completely got rid of the defense, faced O'Neal's block, and shot a fadeaway jumper!
"Shua!" A steady hit in the middle distance.
After hitting the shot, Li You had no expression on his face. He immediately raised his right index finger to his mouth and walked back to defend. At the same time, Madison Square Garden was completely blown away.
Seeing the "dancing" shark, everyone cheered and celebrated.
Unable to see Li You pretending to be X, O'Neal, who completely entered the violent mode, began to frantically ask for the ball, constantly attacking the basket.
Soon the game turned into a point battle between the two.
O'Neal reached the basket, and the two turned around and succeeded in a throw. Looking back, Li You made a 45-degree right-side shot of Kobe Bryant, approaching the paint area, and responded with a sudden stop and throw.
The Lakers attack, Ben Wallace fails to defend, and O'Neal catches the ball and dunks!
The Knicks attacked and received a handoff from Kukqi on the right elbow. Li You got rid of the defense, broke through to the basket and caused a foul on O'Neal's thug, and made two free throws!
The two of them played one ball for each other, showing extremely high efficiency. Occasionally, the two sides began to speed up frantically, striving to create a transition attack.
The cheers couldn't stop, the games were lively, and everyone loved the duel.
At 48:55, at the end of the half, the Knicks still led by 7 points.
湖人队单节轰下32分，奥尼尔11中6，罚球4中2，这节比赛又砍下了14分。
Jeff Van Gundy and several members of the coaching staff seriously doubted that O'Neal had become a technology player. In the second quarter of the game, he was still able to follow a pass.
When the second half started, there were more and more exclamations in Madison Square Garden.
With Ewing's physical fitness declining, he seized the opportunity and the Sharks began to attack again.
According to the game plan formulated before the game, Oakley continued to foul hard, but in the second half of the game, O'Neal, who stood on the free throw line, frequently sent the ball into the basket.
Perhaps O'Neal found his touch after scoring 30 free throws in the last game. Jeff Van Gundy frowned on the sidelines, but there was nothing he could do.
Taking the initiative to slow down, the Lakers relied on O'Neal's outstanding performance in this quarter to close the point difference again.
75:79, after three quarters, the point difference was narrowed to 4 points.
For the Knicks, this situation is also very rare. The opponent's ability to respond to the ball is much better than that of their opponents in the Eastern Conference.
During the intermission, the scene also started to be noisy. Obviously, the New York fans also felt the pressure.
李佑并没有受到奥尼尔的影响，第3节比赛7中4，三分线外3中1，罚球3中3，单节也有12分入账。
On the contrary, Ewing and Oakley were in low spirits, and there was no positive feedback from the defense at all. O'Neal made 5 of 5 free throws, which made them feel dizzy.
Jeff Van Gundy sat in front of everyone, looked around and then shouted out chicken soup:
"Hang on! We only have the last 12 minutes left to win. Don't care about the opponent's performance and continue to implement the game plan we made!"
"Believe in each other, we are still ahead of our opponents!"
Alan Houston, who performed well in the third quarter, also high-fived and encouraged:
“Do our job and we will win the game!”
The atmosphere was great tonight. Fortunately, the lead was large enough in the first quarter. Li You didn't want to think too much, so he stood up and reminded loudly:
"We have controlled our fouls very well. We will continue to send free throws to the opponent when necessary, and leave the rest to me!"
When Larry Johnson heard Li You's words, he immediately stood up and gave high fives to encourage everyone to continue.
In the fourth quarter of the game, both sides unanimously chose to continue using the main lineup. The nervous New York fans began to shout loudly:
"Let's go Knicks!."
The Knicks took the lead in attacking. There were no complicated tactics. With his physical fitness declining, Ewing moved to the top of the arc and stood still, but the screen was directly squeezed by Kobe.
O'Neal came out to defend, saw Ewing passing down, and Kobe's defense was in place, and then he moved and shrank.
Holding the ball in his left hand, Li You slowly moved to the left wing. Kobe lowered his center of gravity and put his right forearm beside Li You, sensing the defensive movements while staring at the basketball in his hand.
Approaching the three-point line, Li You suddenly blasted the ball vigorously on the spot, then quickly turned around, lowered his center of gravity, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and leaned forward to accelerate.
After successfully sensing the offensive trend, Kobe immediately took a step to the left and back. After the two bodies collided, Kobe almost lost his center of gravity and quickly adjusted, but there was a loophole in the defense.
Stepping on the three-point line, Li You immediately stopped and quickly dribbled the ball behind his back. While switching to his left hand, he slightly raised his body weight and looked up at the frame.
Kobe hurried forward to defend, but Li You took the opportunity to change direction with his hips again, pretending to accelerate and break through.
Following his body's instinct, Kobe slid back to the left again, only to find that the moment Li You switched to his right hand, he completed the crotch pullback and returned to the three-point line.
Realizing that his defensive prediction was wrong, Kobe quickly jumped up to block the shot. He noticed that Li You stepped back to complete the shot, and tried to control his body in the air.
The block shot had no effect. The basketball drew a beautiful arc and accurately fell into the basket!
75:82, the point difference returned to 7 points!
"Wow!"
Seeing Li You raise three fingers, cheers resounded throughout the arena again.
After landing, Kobe tried hard to control his expression, pretending not to care and went to the baseline to catch the ball.
The good mood of the New York fans did not last long. The ball was successful in the low post on the right side. O'Neal received the pass from Harper on the right wing and turned directly towards the baseline to complete the hook shot without any extra movement.
Ewing was completely stuck and subconsciously jumped up to block the shot, but ended up hitting the opponent's arm. When the referee blew the whistle, the basketball also hit the net.
"Shhh!!"
Despite the huge boos and interference from the fans behind the basketball stand, O'Neal was not affected in any way and made the extra penalty!
"God! O'Neal has scored six consecutive free throws. Incredible performance!"
"If he can continue like this, no one can stop his offense."
Bob Costas praised loudly, and after making the free throw, O'Neal beat his chest excitedly, and the Lakers bench was also in jubilation.
The game soon entered a stalemate again, with Li You hitting the target and O'Neal missing a tip-in under the basket.
Li Youqiang drove to the basket, causing Kobe to foul. Looking back, Kobe's post-up shot and Alan Houston's foul also sent the opponent to the free throw line.
Seeing that the score difference remained unchanged and the score slowly increased, the New York fans at the scene became more and more nervous, and their shouts almost broke through the arena.
With 2 minutes and 43 seconds left in the game, the score was 85:89. For more than 3 minutes, the two teams did not score a point.
The law of conservation of character broke out, and O'Neal suddenly couldn't score a free throw again. Phil Jackson was so anxious that he walked around on the sidelines and kept shouting loudly.
Li You and Larry Johnson also followed the iron during this period. The 4-point difference was too small. Jeff Van Gundy was completely unable to hold back and also screamed unconsciously.
The Knicks' offense took another 16 seconds. Under the Lakers' desperate defensive rotation, there was no good chance for either passing the ball up the line or scoring a breakthrough goal.
O'Neal, who was squatting under the basket, kept loudly reminding his teammates of defensive rotations. He had already seen hope of equalizing the score!
At the last moment, Alan Houston once again threw the ball to Li You who came near the right sideline. If the tactics were defeated, the core had to take over.
There was not much time to attack. After catching the ball, Li You first firmly protected the ball on the left side of his body, and then quickly took a tentative step forward with his right foot to the left.
Kobe kept his body center of gravity extremely low and did not cut the ball easily. Instead, he used blind defense and always maintained his body center of gravity.
Seeing that the attack time was coming, Li You released the ball with his right hand after another probing step, accelerated with all his strength, and broke through smoothly.
Kobe quickly slid to the left and back, breaking through to the right side near the baseline. Li You suddenly pulled his hips back sharply, then directly connected the ball, used his feet to make a fadeaway jumper!
At the sudden stop, Kobe immediately lost his defensive position and immediately jumped to block the shot. However, a beat later, the basketball passed over his fingertips and flew towards the basket.
"Shua!" The two-pointer went into the net!
Kobe, who struggled to defend, lost his center of gravity in the air and eventually fell in front of the Lakers' bench.
The cheers of the fans were heard in his ears. Kobe looked up helplessly, and the next second he saw Li You stepping over his lap with an expressionless face.
The atmosphere team on the Lakers bench was also stunned at this moment. Everyone watched Li You step back to defend, and then the shouts and shouts of breaking through the arena rang in their ears.
Kobe felt his blood surge and his head swelled twice. He stood up and was about to rush in the direction of Li You, but before he could get close, he was pushed away by Larry Johnson.
Harper wanted to pull Kobe away, but instead rushed into the crowd and received a black punch. Before the referee could react, players on both sides were already pushing and shoving on the Lakers bench.
Kobe, who was above, found that Li You actually raised his hands to signal the fans at the scene to cheer up, and he was almost furious for a moment.
Just being pushed around by everyone, Kobe couldn't rush out for a while and could only watch Li You pretending to be X in the center of the field.
At 85:91, when the referee pulled both sides back to the court, Kobe's eyes widened.
Seeing Li You switch in front of him again, Kobe didn't care about any tactics or big brother. He just dribbled and swayed at the top of the key.
O'Neal was still stuck under the basket. After shouting twice, he found that Kobe was already holding the ball in his right hand, head buried in the ball, and for a moment he cursed in anger.
In the right block, Kobe's breakthrough was blocked by Li You with his body. He still did not choose to pass the ball. He switched to his left hand and slammed into the basket.
It's just that his upper body moved widely, but his feet remained motionless. Ignoring Glenn Rice who was connecting from the wing, Kobe quickly turned toward the baseline, only to be blocked by Li You.
It seemed that there was no room for him to take action. In the end, Kobe simply twisted his body, exerted force with his feet, leaned back on the spot, and just threw the ball!
O'Neal almost yelled, "Don't touch the ball." The basketball fell directly into Ewing's arms.
Phil Jackson didn't expect that his instructions had no effect. Seeing Li You shaking his head and spreading his hands, leaning on Kobe and slowly squeezing through the half court, he was so angry that he cursed twice secretly.
At the top of the arc, Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand, kept protecting the ball sideways. At this time, Kobe kept cutting the ball.
Faced with such a defense, Li You suddenly turned around and swayed to the right. Taking advantage of the opponent's sliding step, Li You immediately changed direction in a large way.
It was just a simple misdirection change, but Kobe was passed directly. Li You, who was holding the ball with his left hand, was stuck in his position and went straight to the basket.
O'Neal pounced directly at this time, and as a result, he saw Li You throwing the ball high to the upper right side of the basket!
Ewing, who was completely unguarded, grabbed the ball from the air and slammed the basket with both hands!
"Boom!" The empty catch dunk was successful!
"what!"
The dunk that almost killed the game made Ewing bang bang beat his chest and raise his head and scream.
Madison Square Garden was completely elated. The fans in the arena were shouting excitedly, and the atmosphere team on the bench also jumped up and cheered loudly.
85:93, there is only 1 minute and 24 seconds left in the game, and time seems to be running out.
Phil Jackson's face darkened and he asked for a timeout again. O'Neal pointed at Kobe angrily, but was pushed to the other side of the bench by Harper.
"Excellent offense and defense, Li took control of the game again, scored a key goal to break the deadlock, and assisted his teammates to expand the score!"
"This is the MVP! The Knicks may have to accept the victory!"
Bob Costas took a long breath and commented excitedly, while Doug Collins just shook his head slightly and said regretfully:
"The outcome of the game may be determined by one or two rounds. Unfortunately, at the last moment, Kobe seemed to have lost his calm. Perhaps this is the price of growth."
When the Lakers gave the ball back to O'Neal, Oakley laughed and sent the opponent to the free throw line.
On the first penalty kick, Spike Lee on the sidelines immediately cheered and raised his hands to signal that the scene was agitated.
"BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!"
Amid the happy shouts of the New York fans, O'Neal's second free throw, which he had been aiming for for a long time, was made again.
Ewing protected the rebound and Li You responded, slowly passing the halftime again.
With an explosive mentality, Kobe kept cutting the ball. Soon the referee blew the whistle and Li You walked to the free throw line with a smile.
O'Neal was so angry that he didn't want to speak. He stood next to the paint area with his knees in hand and subconsciously looked at the free throw line, only to see Li You knocking in the ball with his eyes closed.
"Shaq! This is a free throw!"
Li You said this with a smile, then took the basketball and still made the second free throw steadily.
Now O'Neal couldn't hold back any longer. He didn't care that the referee was right next to him. He just put the ball away and smashed the ball towards Li You with his backhand.
Unexpectedly, Li You seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. As soon as he turned around, the basketball flew past him. He turned around and showed his hands to O'Neal.
O'Neal, whose mentality was completely exploded, ignored the referee's stop and rushed up again. Soon the two sides were pushing each other again. The New York fans who like to watch the excitement cheered loudly:
“Fuck!＊＊”
85:95, pushing and yelling could not change the score, and there was no suspense in the game.
Although Harper suddenly hit a three-pointer, the game time was not enough.
With the penalty shootout between the two sides, Alan Houston made the last two free throws, and the long minute finally came to an end.
90:99, with the cheers of the fans in the audience, the Knicks successfully protected their home court!
Everyone on the bench had smiles on their faces and immediately stepped forward to high-five Li You in celebration.
Phil Jackson's face darkened when he saw Jeff Van Gundy's proud smiling face. After shaking hands, he quickly walked to the tunnel.
Kobe covered his head with a towel. Harper hugged his little brother's shoulders and seemed to be comforting him. O'Neal was still cursing and ran quickly to the locker room.
In the NBC commentary box, the two of them looked at the Lakers who were leaving the arena quickly, and then looked at the Knicks bench who were still celebrating happily, and they could only sigh again:
"O'Neal made 7 of 1 free throws in the last quarter. Unfortunately, maybe as long as he hit a few more free throws, the result of the game would be completely different."
"Lee is so calm. He knows how to win. He made 7 of 3 in the fourth quarter, 3 of 1 from beyond the arc, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 11 points. Every score is extremely important!"
As soon as Doug Collins finished speaking, Bob Costas also added:
"As long as both teams can take the lead at the start, they will win the game with a high probability!"
"I believe that the Lakers will get off to a good start in the G4 game. They can also take the opportunity to adjust their physical condition after more than two days of rest."
出场47分42秒，奥尼尔28中17，罚球18中9，砍下43分13篮板1助攻2盖帽3失误。
出场39分钟，科比15中6，罚球4中2，贡献14分4篮板3助攻1抢断3失误。
Looking at the playing time of the two, Bob Costas did not make any further comments. Phil Jackson only let O'Neal breathe in this game.
The Madison Square Garden Arena was still very noisy, and many fans did not leave the stadium after the game and continued to celebrate happily.
Although the process was a bit bumpy, with a big score of 2:1, the Knicks will have a chance to get the match point in the next game!
Just thinking about this makes some young fans so excited that they can't stop.
出场45分钟，28中15，三分线外12中5，罚球12中12，47分4篮板7助攻2抢断1盖帽3失误。
Back in the locker room, Jeff Van Gundy hugged Li You again. Everyone clapped along and cheered loudly:
"Only two wins left to win the championship!"
"Wow!"
Li You also shouted with his teammates. Everyone was very satisfied that the atmosphere team was able to win the game tonight.
Only Phil Jackson attended the press conference after the Lakers game. The champion coach still looked very ugly after sitting on the stage.
In addition, the New York media continued to add insult to injury, and the questions they asked only rubbed salt into the wound:
"Phil, how would you evaluate Kobe Bryant's performance in the last two minutes?"
Without answering the question directly, Phil Jackson frowned and complained:
"That's not a basketball move! That's not in line with the spirit of competitive sports!"
"Maybe Lee's data is very good, but I don't agree with his approach. The referee should punish him instead of being indifferent."
Hearing the complaints from the championship coach, the New York media who were irritated felt comfortable. Some old reporters have not forgotten Phil Jackson's proud look when the Bulls won in the past.
As long as they can taunt each other, everyone will do their best.
阿兰-休斯顿今晚表现出色，17中8，三分线外4中1，罚球5中5，不声不响拿到22分五篮板4助攻2失误的数据。
When he attended the press conference with Li You after the game, as soon as the two sat down, applause broke out from the audience.
When the TNT reporter saw both of them smiling, they immediately asked the questions that everyone was concerned about:
"Li, can you talk about that action in the 4th quarter? I think many people want to hear your explanation."
Before Li You could speak, Alan Houston straightened the microphone and said seriously:
"There is nothing to explain. Kobe lost his center of gravity and fell to the floor. In order to defend in time, Lee stepped over the opponent's legs. This was just a normal round!"
"The referee didn't say anything. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. At that time, everyone was fully focused on the game and didn't have much time to think."
Li You on the side shrugged his shoulders and added:
"Allan is right, it was just an ordinary basketball possession!"
Soon the New York media took control of the conversation. Everyone was laughing and joking and starting to talk about each other's business. The Lakers reporter stayed for 2 minutes before leaving.
On June 6, Li You's 12 points and the Knicks' victory once again swept the major newspapers in New York.
The same headline appeared on the front pages of the New York Times and New York Post:
"BEAT LA!"
The accompanying picture is a photo of Li You stepping over Kobe's lap. The photographer's timing to capture the shot was very good.
Li You looked very domineering with his expressionless face. Kobe on the floor looked surprised, and everyone on the Lakers bench behind him had their mouths wide open.
Of course, O'Neal's angrily smashing the ball also angered the New York media, and many sports columns began to ridicule the Sharks' MVP in various ways.
The Lakers team members who were still in New York were bombarded with these news early in the morning.
Although Phil Jackson asked the players not to read boring newspapers, the whispers and teasing looks from the hotel staff still hurt everyone on the Lakers team.
O'Neal ignored his teammates all night, and Harper became the current leader in the locker room.
After breakfast, Kobe returned to his room and looked through the newspapers he had secretly obtained. He even read several print media, only to find that the photo of him being crossed was on the front page.
The more he watched, the angrier he became. Kobe's eyes turned red with anger, and he tore the newspaper in his hand into pieces. From this moment on, Li You became his mortal enemy.
Seemingly still feeling dissatisfied, Kobe simply yelled and cursed repeatedly:
"F***!"
Thank you book friends for your subscription support (﹃)
qaq
(End of this chapter)
Tap the screen to use advanced tools
Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.
You'll Also Like
-
I Traveled Through 36 Worlds At The Same Time
Chapter 289 6 hours ago -
Reborn Nobleman: Starting From Eagle Sauce, He Made Hundreds Of Billions
Chapter 156 6 hours ago -
Reversing life starts with saving the most beautiful educated youth
Chapter 188 6 hours ago -
Journey to the West: Reform of the Underworld and the Start of Developing the Internet
Chapter 188 6 hours ago -
Curse Back: From Demonic Hollow to Heroic Spirit Summoning
Chapter 131 6 hours ago -
Diamond company shoots commercials, you shoot Titanic
Chapter 139 6 hours ago -
Quick Wear: The yandere boss always wants to monopolize me
Chapter 117 15 hours ago -
Holy Covenant Master
Chapter 103 15 hours ago -
The World of Omniscient Spirits
Chapter 187 15 hours ago -
Why not? A song, the cool school beauty is turned sweet
Chapter 185 15 hours ago
