Chapter 61: Finals Rehearsal
"Wow, what a good game, Charles, what do you think?" This classic Los Angeles vs. New York, the narrator is no surprise, it is the combination of Barkley and Kenny Smith, watching the confrontation between these two seven-foot men off the court, Kenny Smith feels hot, as if he has followed back to the battlefield of the year.
Barkley pursed his lips, showed as much disdain as possible, and said: "Well, I played well, it's almost a rehearsal for the finals, and that's it for me to play." ”
Kenny Smith feigned surprise and said, "Are you sure you're talking about playing and not fighting?" ”
Barkley was very unhappy and said, "Which fight, O, no, play, Shaq beat me?" ”
Kenny Smith said: "Forget it, Lao Cha, you can also get the hand that fights, just these two centers off the field now, I dare to say, neither of them will have a lower historical status than you in the future, of course, this is just for Mo Xi, O'Neal's status has always been higher than yours." ”
Barkley was very angry and said: "Kenny, you can't comment like that, you know, when I played, there was a twenty-three on it, and before the twenty-third there was a gang of Purple and Gold Army, to tell the truth, I admit that I can't beat them, but even if you change to someone else, you may not be able to beat them, I was born in the best era, but it is also the worst era, put me to the present, you see who can beat me!" ”
Kenny Smith said lazily, "Okay, okay, you're the best, you're the strongest of the uncrowned." ”
Barkley still looked very happy when he heard the first half of the sentence, but when he heard the second half of Kenny Smith's sentence, Barkley instantly exploded, jumped up directly, grabbed Kenny Smith's neck, and came to an all-out martial arts.
However, Barkley is not wrong, if there are no major surprises, according to the current state of the two teams, it is very likely that June will be another clash between the giants of New York and Los Angeles, and it will be another all-round confrontation.
The Knicks locker room at halftime was silent, but this silence was not the kind of dead silence, but more of a composure.
Van Gundy saw the current embarrassment of the Knicks on the court, relying too much on Mo Xi, which also made the Knicks' offensive routine too dull, the Lakers' defense was very targeted, Mo Xi had three mistakes in just one half, although as a center, but Mo Xi is now equivalent to the Knicks' transit station, almost every offense, whether it is initiated or finished, the ball is given to Mo Xi, so Mo Xi can always see the figure of the Lakers players within two meters around him.
Mo Xi sat in his chair and closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the start of the second half.
Time passed quickly, and the second half began without any line-ups on either side.
After half a game of temptation, both sides knew a little bit about the roots, and the opening was a round of crazy onslaught.
Here, Kobe Bryant and O'Neal had an aerial relay, and when they turned around, they and Sprewell returned a low-altitude slam dunk with an inward hand.
A strong center is responsible for opening up the space, and the defender provides firepower, which has always been the most classic combination in the league, and now the center of both sides can be said to be evenly matched, and everything depends on the performance of the outside players.
Sprewell is stronger defensively than offense, while Kobe Bryant is the opposite. With O'Neal entangled in Moxi, Bryant had to forcibly take over the Lakers' offensive banner.
Kobe Bryant took advantage of Fox's pick-and-roll to briefly get out of Sprewell's follow-up defense and receive the ball outside the three-point line.
Tentative step, back turn, cross dribble.
Kobe Bryant's continuous actions made Sprewell, who bypassed Fox's cover, unable to stick to the defense at the first time, and was forced to be helpless, releasing more than one step away.
This more than one step of distance left Kobe Bryant enough space to accelerate, although the young Kobe Bryant offensive ability is also very good, but he does not have the same excellent offensive skills as in the future, and he is better at attacking the basket.
Sprewell lost the lead and failed to prevent Kobe's breakthrough, and Kobe Bryant was already in the Knicks' restricted area in an instant.
Thomas has been taken out of the three-second zone by Fox at this time, and Mo Xi is the only one under the basket to guard, but Mo Xi also has to face O'Neal's entanglement, so it can be said that Mo Xi is facing OK alone at the moment.
Kobe Bryant's eyes flashed with surging killing intent, and he flew up directly, roared, and smashed the ball fiercely towards Mo Xi's head.
After five years of experience, Kobe Bryant is no longer the hairy boy he was back then, and Kobe, who ranks among the league's top attackers, is extremely eager to prove himself.
Kobe Bryant used his waist and abdomen strength to try to directly dodge Mo Xi's defense in the air, but at this time, Mo Xi was twisted by O'Neal and couldn't move, so he could only stretch out his hand and forcibly interfere with the opponent.
Seeing that Kobe Bryant was getting closer and closer to the basket, Mo Xi was in a hurry, and stepped heavily on his feet, which shook O'Neal away, but he was also a little weak, but in the end he grabbed a piece of defensive space.
Mo Xi stretched out his hand with all his might, but he didn't try to defend Kobe from the front, but simply conceded Kobe's front and hit the ball in Kobe's hand from the side.
Kobe Bryant's afterglow saw a giant palm flying towards the ball in his hand, and hurriedly relied on his excellent waist and abdomen strength to fold in the air, pull the rod, and sideways to a small windmill, dodging Mo Xi's block, and sending the ball directly to the basket.
However, something happened at this time of dodging in the air, and Mo Xi took advantage of this almost undetectable time to immediately adjust his body and fly, using the advantage of his arm span to take down the ball cap in Kobe's hand.
Kobe Bryant looked at Mo Xi in surprise, but it quickly turned to anger. A wave of anger burned Kobe's heart, and Kobe's incomparably proud self-esteem exploded.
However, the Lakers' offense didn't end, O'Neal stepped forward, squeezed out of the moxie, and controlled the frontcourt rebound. It's another one, and the top is back to continue to defend Mo Xi, and he hangs the basket directly under the basket with one hand.
Moxi's brilliant defense blocked half of the Lakers' offense, but in the end it still allowed the Lakers to score.
The Knicks plan to fight back, or Sprewell intends to fight back, and he was easily passed by Kobe Bryant just now, although it was partly because of Fox's cover, but it still made Sprewell very unhappy.
However, what he didn't expect was that in the round just now, Kobe Bryant was furious because he was blocked by Moxi, and now he was holding back his strength, and when he saw that Sprewell was going to pass him, he immediately took a gamble step forward, forcibly stealed Sprewell, and then ran wildly towards the Knicks' backcourt.
Riding the dust, no one in the Knicks can keep up with Kobe, Kobe takes off, changes hands in the air, and scores a violent dunk!
Van Gundy immediately called a timeout, and the Knicks instantly trailed by nine points and the situation was critical.