Chapter 19: The Spirit of Kobe
The Lakers are already standing on the edge of the cliff at this time, falling behind 2:3, the sixth game, there was an accident just seven minutes into the first game, the Celtics' starting center Patrick Perkins sprained his knee in the process of competing for rebounds, and he couldn't walk directly, and he needed the support of his teammates to get off the court, Perkins is the last gate of the team's defense, and it is also the guarantee of the team's rebounding, and it is a weapon to defend Bynum and Gasol's low back! As a result, Perkins was injured, and the Lakers easily defeated the Celtics 89:67 in the sixth game, the Lakers grabbed 52 rebounds in this game, and the three players on the team rebounded double-doubles, compared to the Celtics, they only had 39 rebounds, and the Celtics' shooting rate was only 33.3%, such a poor performance, it is strange not to lose, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and 11 rebounds in this game, Gasol scored 17 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocks, Altai scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
On June 18, 2010, Beijing time, the last game of the NBA Finals officially started at the Staples Center, the home of the Lakers, and the visiting Celtics showed an aggressive posture as soon as they came up, they played the Lakers 23:14 in a single quarter, and the Lakers were digging a big hole for themselves in the first quarter, Kobe Bryant shot 7 times in the first quarter, but only hit 1 ball!
In the second quarter of the game, Pierce scored 9 points in a row with free throws, Kobe Bryant continued to feel sluggish in this quarter - in fact, he has been in a slump this game, this game is the worst of his seven finals this year - Kobe Bryant shot 7 times and only hit 2 shots, at the critical moment, Artest became the savior of the Lakers, he scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the second quarter, helping the team chase the score to 34:40 at halftime!
In the third quarter, both teams played relatively teamly, Artey felt down to only 1 of 5 shots in this quarter, Kobe Bryant only hit 2 of 6 shots, Odom scored 6 points with 3 shots, Celtics Garnett scored 7 points in a single quarter with 3 shots in 5 shots, the Lakers recovered 2 points again at 19:17 in this quarter, and at the end of the third quarter, the Lakers trailed the Celtics by 4 points at 53:57!
In the first round of the fourth quarter of the game, Gasol singled Glenn Davis, a turnaround jumper, scored, Davis also hit, Rivers is also strong, Davis has proven countless times that he can't guard Gasol, Rivers just doesn't change the lineup, insists on using Davis to defend Gasol alone, in fact, at that time, the team can also consider letting the roaring Tianzun Rashid Wallace try to defend.
Gasol missed a free throw, Rondo grabbed the rebound, and the Lakers only trailed by 2 points at 55:57, and then for 3 minutes, both teams spent the time in a clanging iron sound, until the fourth quarter marched to 9 minutes, Rondo under the high hanging basket Garnett, who made a basket to break the deadlock, Kobe Bryant's shot outside the three-point line caused a foul on Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant made all three free throws in the MVP shouted all over the court, and the Lakers chased the score to 58:59! Only 1 point behind! Then Ray Allen immediately shot 2 points and colored, Atai forced the basket to Pierce to score two plus one, but unfortunately missed the free throw, Ray Allen shot caused Kobe Bryant to foul, Allen made one of two free throws, and then Ray Allen hit the basket and caused Fisher's foul again, Ray Allen hit both free throws, the Lakers fell behind 61:64, Derrick Fisher shot a three-pointer with a bow and arrow outside the three-point line, and the two teams tied at 64 with 6 minutes left before the end of the game!
Kobe Bryant's strong attack caused Davis's foul, Kobe Bryant hit two free throws, and the Lakers overtook the Celtics by 2 points! Ray Allen misses a shot, and Kobe Bryant stops again and leans back to hit a shot! The Lakers' lead extends to 4 points! Pierce popped up with a three-pointer, and here Gasol forced Garnett to cause the latter's foul, Gasol hit two free throws, and the Lakers led by 6 points! The Lakers have momentum, and the balance of victory is gradually tilting in favor of the Lakers!
Kobe Bryant didn't shoot in the middle, Pierce hit a step-back jumper, Kobe Bryant hit the basket and caused Pierce's beating foul, one of two free throws, the Lakers still held a 5-point lead, Garnett made a sneak attack under the basket and scored 2 points, at this time the Lakers only led by 3 points at 71:68! Gasol attacked the basket again, causing Garnett to foul, hit both free throws, Pierce missed the shot, Artay won the defensive rebound and passed to Gasol, who would have thought that Gasol did not give the ball to Kobe or the point guard, but dribbled to the front court by himself, taking advantage of Pierce's foothold and unstable defensive foothold, leaning his body up, and then falling coquettishly......
"Toot toot!"
Pierce defensive foul!
Because the Celtics had already completed the number of fouls, Gasol easily won two free throws, and this time he hit both free throws, and the Lakers' 74-68 lead was extended to 6 points! I have to say that at the critical moment, Gasol really played the role of the anchor of the sea, and it was his continuous killing of the Celtics' interior line that made the Lakers gradually pull the score away!
Pierce concocted the same method, and the dribble breakthrough caused Artest's foul, and the Lakers fouled the number of fouls, Pierce hit both free throws, and the Lakers 74:70. There are two minutes and eleven seconds left in the game!
Odom hit a three-point iron, Pierce held the ball all the way into the Lakers' interior, and was about to make a layup, but was slapped by Gasol! Rasheed Wallace failed to save the ball and went out of bounds, and the Lakers offense once again handed the ball to one of the team's most consistent points - Gasol, who lived up to expectations and hit a 2-point hook under the basket! The whole Staples boiled in an instant!
The Lakers led by 6 points at 76:70 with one minute and thirty seconds left on the game! But at this time, the situation suddenly changed, and Pierce passed to Wallace on the weak side, who hit a three-point shot! Only 7 seconds have passed! The Lakers only lead by 3 points at 76:73! At the critical moment, Atai stood up! Fisher didn't find the right time to attack with the ball, he passed the ball to Kobe Bryant, Kobe dribbled twice, found that Atay was empty outside the three-point line on the left, and immediately jumped up to pass, Atay took a step to the right after receiving the ball, and Pierce hesitated in his heart, so he didn't stick it in time, and gave Atay space to shoot, and Atay got up and down with a knife and scored three points! The whole Staples Arena was plunged into a sea of joy! But the Angelens weren't happy for long, as Ray Allen hit a hollow three-pointer in the bottom left corner! Kobe Bryant took a strong three-point shot outside the three-point line at the top of the arc and missed! The basketball smashed into the neck of the rebound and bounced into the air, and was directly taken down by Gasol! Seeing this, Kobe Bryant immediately cut in from the middle, Gasol quickly stuffed the ball into Kobe's arms, and Kobe's layup was pulled down by Rasheed Wallace! Kobe Bryant made free throws, and the audience shouted MVP again! Kobe Bryant hit two free throws! The Lakers lead by 5 points at 81:76!
The Celtics came back from a timeout and arranged a three-point tactic, Ray Allen received the ball and made a quick shot and shot a three-pointer, but the rebound was won by Rondo, and Rondo turned and stepped into the bottom right corner and made a three-point shot directly! The ball went into the Nets incrediblely! The Lakers only led by 2 points at 81:79 with 16.2 seconds left in the game! Lakers ball possession, at a critical moment, Phil Jackson is also a master of the arts, and even handed over such an important free throw task to Sasha Vujasic, who only played five minutes in this game, if both free throws are hit, the game is basically over, if one of the two free throws, the Celtics still have a chance to equalize the score with three points, of course, there is also the possibility of missing two free throws, but Vujacic is also competitive enough, under such great pressure, Vujacic made two free throws and two hits, completely locking the victory for the Lakers! At the last moment, the Celtics' tactics failed, Rondo missed a three-point shot in a hurry, and Kobe Bryant's happy smile after getting the ball became an eternal classic in the NBA!
In fact, in this game, the Lakers can win and Kobe Bryant has little to do with it, Kobe Bryant struggled to find a feeling on the offensive end throughout the game, the shooting rate of only 6 of 24 shots was unimaginably low, he finally scored 23 points and 15 rebounds, Artest played A+ in this game, scored 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals on 7 of 18 shots, Gasol can also get A+ He scored 19 points on 6 of 16 shots and grabbed 18 rebounds, yes, the rebounds decided the outcome of the game, The Lakers grabbed 53 rebounds and 23 frontcourt rebounds, while the Celtics only had 40 rebounds and 8 frontcourt rebounds. It can be called the greatest opponent of the finals since the 20th century!
Pau Gasol completely took off the hat of "soft egg" with an average of 18.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.6 blocks per game! Throughout the seven finals, Kobe Bryant won the Finals MVP with an average of 28.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game, a shooting rate of 40.5%, and a three-point shooting rate of 31.9%. It can't be controlled by muscles, as if it's broken, so Kobe Bryant used a bandage to tie the index finger and middle finger together to continue the game, once in the regular season, the team doctor clearly required Kobe Bryant to have surgery, but Kobe Bryant categorically refused, the reason is very simple, he is worried that his truce will affect the team's record, he once said the following to the team doctor,
My right hand is gone, and my left hand, if my leg is broken and I can't move, OK, I'll listen to you right away, but now it's just one finger, get rid of this one, I still have nine heels.
These clips remind me of a game on April 13, 2013, in which Kobe Bryant suffered the worst and devastating injury of his career - a torn Achilles tendon, when Kobe Bryant had two injuries in the period before this game, but for the sake of the team's victory, he refused to take a break, and finally, for the third time, Kobe Bryant fell, his right hand kept kneading the Achilles tendon of his right ankle, but he did not back down, but insisted on standing on the court and making free throws, After hitting a free throw, he limped off the court, and when he watched this game, he didn't feel the pain of this injury until January 6, 2015, when Pistons big man Brandon Jennings also suffered the same injury as Kobe Bryant in the game, when Jennings lay directly on the ground and kept rolling, wailing loudly in his mouth, tears flowing out, and smashing the floor with a fist in his hand, the scene was extremely terrifying, and its tragic situation was shocking! At that time, I knew how much pain Kobe Bryant had to endure to stand at the free throw line and make free throws, and I also admired the strong willpower in Kobe's heart from the bottom of my heart!
Here, I would like to ask, how many fans who like Kobe Bryant like Kobe's strong and indomitable spirit?