Chapter 68: The Fruits of Victory
OH――
OH――
The entire Staples Center arena has a collective orgasm.
Kobe Bryant has dominated the city for 20 years, he's the city's influence, he's the pride of the team.
Although he is getting older now, he is no longer dominant on the pitch. But people are still fascinated by him! Crazy for him!
is now a runner of the four, but Kobe's performance on the court is still so amazing!
Hit 2 of 3 three-pointers!
And two picturesque step-back jumpers!
Now, he actually gave the fans a slap again!!
It's still the most potential and talented of this year's big rookies!
The audience at the scene shouted hoarsely, but they still screamed wildly.
Kobe Bryant's goal of a violent dunk from one person and the previous mid-range shot after Yi Feng shook the defender, it is impossible to say which goal is more exciting. But because of Kobe's special position here, and because Kobe is no longer young, the audience in the stadium prefers Kobe's goals.
Under the "indiscriminate bombardment" of the current audience, the Timberwolves once again attacked fruitlessly, trailing by 9 points at 33:42.
In the end, the Timberwolves reluctantly asked for a timeout.
On the commentary bench, Mike Brin said: "I still find it unbelievable! 38-year-old Kobe Bryant can still hit such a goal! ”
Jeff Van Gundy said, "Some people are great because they can always do things that ordinary people can't imagine. ”
"It's like Michael Jordan who shook Byron Russell and hit the killer shot to forge his second dynasty, which we mortals always look up to. You must know that Jordan was already 36 years old at that time. ”
Mike Bryn said: "Kobe Bryant is the greatest scoring guard since Michael Jordan. Before him, there were Jerry West, George Gervin, Reggie Miller, Pete Maravich and other excellent scoring guards; At his time, there were also Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Alan Iverson, who were in the limelight with him, or here there was a sudden rise of Dwyane Wade; After him, there are James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson and others who have only become famous in recent years......"
"However, of these people, his achievements so far are the most remarkable! Except for Michael Jordan, no one can be higher than him at the point guard position. ”
"Judging by his performance so far, he really deserves the word 'great'."
As the hustle and bustle in the Staples Center arena calmed down and the two commentators slowly became calmer, Mike Brin said: "It was an unexpectedly exciting game, just in the first half, there were two goals that were enough to be the best of the week! And the contributors are all from the Lakers! ”
Jeff Van Gundy said: "I said a long time ago that Kobe Bryant is definitely the protagonist of this game! You see, who in this arena doesn't cheer for him right now? ”
――――――
Timeouts always go by so quickly, especially for the current Timberwolves players.
During the timeout, although acting head coach Sam Mitchell kept rambling on and on, they couldn't hear what Mitchell was saying because of the loud cheers in the stadium.
Everyone is a professional player, whether it is a rookie or a veteran, and there are a lot of wonderful goals that have been seen.
Because when Kobe Bryant dunked, he didn't have a physical confrontation with Towns in the air. Although it looks like a slatch, it is not.
Such a goal, scored by someone else, will not have much effect. But the person who scored such a goal was Kobe Bryant, and he is 38 years old, and the place where the goal was scored is the home arena of the Lakers......
All these conditions are brought together, and this is what is happening.
Not only did the audience fall into a hysterical frenzy, but the Timberwolves, who were opponents, were also extremely affected.
After the timeout, the Timberwolves' absence on both offensive and defensive ends is the best proof of this.
There were many mistakes on the offensive end, serious leaks on the defensive end, and the score difference was suddenly widened to double digits!
Although the acting head coach of the Timberwolves, Sam Mitchell, tried very hard to change this situation, constantly calling timeouts, pouring chicken soup on the players and doing his best to lay out some tactics.
But judging by the results, Sam Mitchell's efforts seem to be doing nothing. The gap is still widening.
Although the Lakers had exhausted their bench in the latter part of the second quarter, the point difference was still desperate.
Beep――
As the referee's whistle sounded, the first half ended.
The visiting Timberwolves trailed the home team by 41-58 points at 17:17.
On the commentary bench, Mike Brin was a little puzzled, "Jeff, you have rich coaching experience and a super high level of theory, can you tell me why it was generally considered to be a close game before the game, but only half time has passed, and the game has been clearly won or lost?" ”
Jeff Van Gundy realistically flipped through the stats and said, "In the latest edition of the NBA's official team power rankings, the Los Angeles Lakers are ranked 27th and the Minnesota Timberwolves are ranked 29th. One is fourth from the bottom and the other is second-to-last, both of which are the lowest teams in the league. ”
"So a lot of people think it's a close game. But why did the game become like this after only half-time? ”
Jeff Van Gundy asked Mike Brin rhetorically, but Mike Brin shrugged and shook his head, "I don't know, that's why I asked you." ”
Van Gundy said: "In fact, everyone saw the game just now, because of some unexpected circumstances, the Timberwolves were actually out of shape for a lot of time in the second quarter, so it can be said that they didn't know what to do!" ”
Mike Brin said: "In the first quarter, the two sides were really evenly matched! Just in the second verse of the ......"
"That's right!"
Mike Brin slapped his thigh and said loudly: "It was in the second quarter that after Kobe Bryant scored that magic shot, the Timberwolves began to appear out of shape. The offense couldn't score, the defense wasn't good at defense, and it turned out like this. ”
Jeff Van Gundy nodded, "From the perspective of a regular viewer, that's why. But as a posture coach and commentator, we need to discover more connotative reasons. ”
Mike Brin was surprised, "Could there be a deeper reason?" ”
"Absolutely!"
Jeff Van Gundy laughed and said, "It's two teams playing in one game, you can't just stare at the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves did not play well, and there are indeed reasons why they are not in shape, but on the other hand, it can be said that it is their opponents who forced them to be in such a state! ”
Mike Brin looked dazed.
Jeff Van Gundy explained, "The Timberwolves can't score offensively, and they make a lot of mistakes, which on the surface seems to be their own poor state, but isn't it that the Lakers are giving too much defensive pressure? ”
"The Timberwolves are always touching and leaking on their defense, and on the surface it seems that they have problems with their own defense, but isn't it because the Lakers have too much offensive firepower that they have forced out their defensive holes?"
Jeff Van Gundy looks like a man who has come before, "Actually, it's easy to get carried away by experience and think that something is always the way it was. Such mistakes are often made. ”
"Last season's Lakers, everyone had the impression that the defense was unfavorable and the offense was weak. So in the official power rankings, they are still in the bottom five. ”
'But judging by the performance in the first half, there is a world of difference between their quality and last season.
"Offensively, Bryant has transitioned from an offensive arrow to a cannonball carrier. This not only greatly relieved the pressure on his shoulders, but also completely unleashed the attack power of the Chinese kid. I have to say that the Chinese kid has become the champion show, and he really has a good level. ”
"The attack arrow of the Chinese kid is unstoppable from the current point of view. After he opened the Timberwolves' defense, his teammates had more opportunities, and Kobe Bryant's standing still was also a huge threat, which made the Timberwolves lose one or the other, and the defense line completely collapsed! ”
"On the defensive end, the current Lakers have also been reborn from last season. The previous situation of always leaking people on the defensive end is gone, and we can see that the Lakers players on the court are always actively moving, blocking the opponent all the time. ”
"And the most active of them are the young people. They have a lot of energy, and although they can sometimes be tricked into fouls by their opponents due to their lack of experience, their motivation has not diminished in the slightest. Especially the Chinese kid, he is not only full of deterrence on the offensive end, but also spares no effort on the defensive end! He has greatly changed my perception of the yellow race, because he has been so violently consumed on the field, but so far there is no physical exhaustion! ”
Mike Brin listened to Van Gundy's analysis, nodded from time to time, and after seeing Van Gundy finish his analysis, Mike Brin said: "It seems that Jeff, you are very satisfied with Yi's performance today." Have you become a fan of him? ”
Jeff Van Gundy said: "I was honestly surprised by the Chinese kid's performance today. But I have to say that I was conquered by him today. And it's too early to say that he will become a fan. If he can continue to perform like this, maybe I'll really be a fan of him! ”
Mike Brin snorted: "There are more fans, there are no more of you, and there is no less of you......"
During halftime, acting head coach Sam Mitchell of the Timberwolves did everything he could to get his players back to some form. In the second half, the score gradually narrowed to within 10 points.
However, just when Mitchell thought that things were going in a good direction, Yi Feng came out and destroyed his wishful thinking.
Kobe Bryant was heavily guarded by the Timberwolves because of that miraculous shot in the second quarter. Because of this, he made several mistakes when he was responsible for organizing the team's attack.
The Timberwolves also took the opportunity to close the point difference.
Kobe Bryant gave up the team's tactics at this time and directly handed the ball to Yi Feng and let him deal with it.
Yi Feng did not live up to Kobe's expectations, hitting difficult goals one after another, and opened the gap again in one fell swoop. Until the end of the third quarter, the difference between the two teams was still above 10 points.
As soon as the fourth quarter came up, the Timberwolves fought back strongly, and the point difference was narrowed again. Roy Hibbert was repeatedly eaten hard by Towns with agility and speed, and under Towns' leadership, the Timberwolves unleashed a wave of 9-3 offensive surges.
At this point, the two teams once again fell into a tug-of-war.
The Timberwolves' morale has regained, and the Lakers are gradually unable to suppress each other.
The score was still tight until the last two minutes. I have to say that the role of Downs is the greatest in this. He was in the Timberwolves, just like Yi Feng came to the Lakers, and he brought qualitative changes to the team.
Just when the suspense of the game was repeated, Yi Feng's wave of attacks completely killed the suspense.
He made two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, one against Andrew Wiggins and the other against Carl Anthony Towns!
As a result, both three-pointers were hit!
At this time, there was less than a minute left in the game, and the Lakers completely seized the fruits of victory!