Chapter 14: The Battle of the Green Shirts
The result of the game was that the Lakers had the last laugh, the Lakers with a high degree of obvious interior grabbed as many as 55 rebounds in the whole game, while the Lakers only had 33, and the 5 frontcourt rebounds in the whole game were not as many as Gasol's frontcourt rebounds, which became a hard injury for the Rockets, Gasol took away the victory with 21 points and 18 rebounds, but this victory was obviously boundless with Kobe, who scored 14 points on only 4 of 12 shots.
Former Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovic once famously said - "Never underestimate the heart of a championship", this sentence is also very appropriate for the Celtics back then, look at the big three of the Green Shirts, Paul Pierce, all the way to the Celtics in the trough for a full decade, Ray Allen spent 11 years with the Bucks and the SuperSonics, and Garnett spent 12 years in cold Minnesota, and the three veterans got together for the same goal.
In the first game, the Celtics' big three showed strong combat ability, and the three of them combined to score 65 points, when Rajon Rondo, who was emerging as a star, contributed 15 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, while Kobe Bryant only scored 24 points in 26 shots under Ray Allen's defense, and the Lakers lost 88-98 in the first game.
In the second game, the Lakers lost again, although Kobe Bryant scored 30 points on 11-of-23 shooting, and Gasol and Odom also contributed double-doubles of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 13 points and 10 rebounds respectively, but the Boston Big Three and Rondo broke out more powerful than the first game! The Big Three combined for 62 points, Rondo alone delivered 16 assists and only 2 turnovers, and Leon Powell on the bench became a wonder soldier, he only played 15 minutes in the whole game, but scored a full 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting!
The Lakers, who moved to Staples Arena, won the game 87-81 in Game 3, Kobe Bryant scored 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, and Sasha Vujacic off the bench played the best game of his career, scoring 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting! Boston Pierce was out of sorts, scoring six points on just 2-of-14 shooting, Ray Allen scored 25 points, and Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds to no avail.
In the fourth game, Boston once again changed the trend of the game with a bench, while the Big Three combined for 55 points, James Posey scored 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting, Eddie House scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, on the other hand, the Lakers, only Ariza scored 6 points on 2-of-2 shooting, Vujacic scored 1-of-9 shooting, Famar shot 1-of-6, and Wharton shot 1-of-3, although the Lakers' starting three got a double-double - Odom 19 points and 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant 17 points and 10 assists, and Gasol 17 points and 10 rebounds, but still lost.
1:3, the Lakers on the verge of elimination broke out in the fifth game, although Pierce had 38 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, but Odom and Gasol's performance was not too good, the former 20 points and 11 rebounds, the latter 19 points and 13 rebounds, the bench Jordan Famar contributed 11 points, team leader Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 6 turnovers on 8-of-21 shooting, and in the last two minutes of the game, the Lakers were only 2 points ahead of the Celtics, and then, Bryant stepped up to take over the game, scoring five points on consecutive free throws and making a game-killing steal in the final 40 seconds!
Just when everyone was looking forward to the sixth battle with hope, Boston turned this game into a naked slaughter! :92:131! The Lakers lost by almost 40 points! When the game was not over but the ending was doomed, Kobe Bryant was reluctant to get off the court and struggled on the court alone, but the result could not be changed, just like that, the Lakers lost this year's championship, achieving the classic picture of Garnett kneeling and kissing the three-leaf mark at home, and Pierce pouring a whole bucket of Gatorade on coach Rivers.
In fact, in this round of the finals, in general, the Lakers' bench players actually played quite well, the main problem appeared in the starters, especially Kobe Bryant and Gasol, Gasol was completely inferior in the matchup with Garnett, the former only averaged 14.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, but Garnett averaged 18.2 points and 13.0 rebounds per game, not to mention that Garnett was the defensive core of the Celtics team, and Gasol's poor form made "soft eggs" This name is buckled on his head, and Kobe, he also didn't take advantage of anything in the matchup with Ray Allen, averaging 25.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.8 turnovers per game, and the shooting rate is only 40.5%, while Ray Allen is 20.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 turnovers, and a shooting rate of 50.7%, and what is even more terrifying is that he also shot 7.0 three-pointers with an average three-point shooting rate of 52.4% per game, hitting 3.7 times! So, if there is really the title of "Kobe Bryant Terminator" in this world, Ray Allen - deserved!
In the 2008-2009 season, the Lakers retained last year's main lineup, and made minor repairs on the bench, signed blue-collar interior Josh Powell with a two-year salary, he became an indispensable member of the team's bench, on February 8, 2009, the Lakers sent skier Radmanovic to the Bobcats, got Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison, in this deal, the Lakers mainly wanted to get Morrison, Brown was just an addition, but who knew that then Brown successfully played the value, Morrison was lonely. (For reasons for Morrison's decline, see Charlotte Bobcats are now called Charlotte Hornet Rolls).
Brown is a physical guard who can be called an explosive guard, it is said that his vertical bounce height is the best in the NBA at that time, he often gives a dunk performance against the sky in the game, in addition to Brown's big hands, strong body, and can shoot three-pointers, but this person is short, the ball quotient is not high, the flexibility of playing is not high, will not pass, after getting the ball, there are only three options, the first is to the point guard, the second is to Kobe, the third is on himself, to put it bluntly, he has a tendon in the brain, he will not play positional battles, and there are more mistakes, So he hasn't been able to play, but in this season's playoffs, Brown has played relatively well.
It is worth noting that this season, that is, on August 8, 2008, the Lakers announced that they had signed Sun Yue, known as the "Chinese Magician", for $440,000 a year, but unfortunately, Sun Yue did not play in the Lakers in the end, and even the rotation lineup did not enter, he expired on August 1, 2009, and in the whole season, Sun Yue only played 10 games, a total of only 28 minutes of performance time, and made a total of 11 shots. (including 6 three-pointers, one didn't score, one three-pointer) hit 3 shots, got 6 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 10 fouls, although the playoffs are in the rotation, but they have been in the non-active list, not a game, it is worth noting that in the 10 games that Sun Yue played, the Lakers won 9-1, which can be called the team's most awesome talisman.
The Lakers made a comeback this season, entered the playoffs with the first record in the West, beat the Jazz again 4:1 in the first round, and in the second round, the Lakers faced the Houston Rockets with 1.3 billion Chinese fans.
In the first game, the two teams played very intensely, Kobe Bryant and Artest had a strong conflict, Yao Ming staged the return of the king after the injury, and returned to the court after shooting a key shot, and finally lost the game to Yao Ming 28 points and 10 rebounds and Artest 21 points and 7 assists, although Kobe Bryant scored 32 points, but he used up a full 31 shots.
Yao Ming asked to play after the injury, but the head coach Adelman resolutely disagreed, Yao Ming was anxious and said,
"What's the proudest thing you've ever done in your life? Was it the gorgeous King of Saramento that year? And I, right now! ”
Kobe Bryant, who scored 40 points in the second game, became the absolute protagonist, Luke Wharton made a key shot with 9.8 seconds left in the game to extend the difference to 5 points, the Rockets were powerless after all, and Karl Landry performed well, he scored 21 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting, including as many as 5 dunks! Yao Ming was plagued by fouls and scored just 12 points in the game.
In the third game, Kobe Bryant scored 33 points to lead the Lakers to another game, Odom contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Rocket Yao Ming cut 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Artest scored 25 points but did not take away a victory. After the game, Yao Ming was diagnosed with a fractured bone and was reimbursed for the season.
In the fourth game, I thought that the Rockets would be vulnerable without Yao Ming, but the reality gave the Lakers a blow to the head, and the Lakers lost again, losing to the little black bean Aaron Brooks, who scored 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting, beating the old fish Fisher, and Battier also "rarely" scored a high score of 23 points, although the Lakers Gasol scored 30 points in the whole game, his teammates were too pit, and Kobe Bryant only scored 15 points in the game.
Without Yao Ming, the Lakers' cards were disrupted and the lineup was arranged, but all in all, for the Lakers, the absence of Yao Ming was a great joy, and soon, the Lakers' advantage in the height of the interior line was shown in the fifth game, while Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, the team's four interior players all scored double-doubles, Gasol 16 points and 13 rebounds, Bynum 14 points and 6 rebounds, Odom 10 points, Josh Powell 10 points, and the Lakers beat the Rockets 1118:78.
You think that's the end of the season? The Rockets haven't given up yet, and they won't give up, and the Rockets unexpectedly won the game in Game 6, with Brooks scoring 26 points, Scola 24 points and 12 rebounds, Artest 14 points, Landry 15 points, and the Lakers contributed little other than Kobe Bryant's 32 points and Gasol's 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The big score was tied, and the Lakers and Rockets had to enter the only seven-game tiebreaker in the Western Conference.
The result of the game was that the Lakers had the last laugh, the Lakers with a high degree of interior snatched up as many as 55 rebounds in the whole game, while the Rockets only had 33, and the 5 frontcourt rebounds in the whole court were not as many as Gasol's frontcourt rebounds, which became a hard injury for the Rockets, Gasol took away the victory with 21 points and 18 rebounds in the game, but this victory was obviously boundless with Kobe, who scored 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting.