Artest is a player who will not give in and will not admit defeat, he has never played on the stage of the finals before, and it is the first time he has played well in the finals, he feels that now he has experienced the feeling of superstardom, and in the future he will be recorded in history like Scott Pippen or Rodman the big worm.

"There's nothing you can do about me, Kobe." Artest said to Kobe Bryant proudly and arrogantly.

But in fact, this is clearly not the case.

Kobe Bryant defends one, and in the case of similar heights, whether the opponent is speedy or skillful or a strength type like Artest, he can defend very well, because Kobe Bryant himself is a very well-rounded player, with speed, skill and strength, and most importantly, a strong attitude.

Under Kobe's targeting, Artest couldn't even catch the ball in his next attack.

"Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest are so entangled fiercely! I really didn't expect Kobe Bryant to defend Artest so seriously! ”

Kobe Bryant's defense against Artest is so fierce, which further promotes Artest's desire to compete, and he wants to catch the ball more than before, and Artest is often a person who has no sense of proportion, and when he wanted to push Kobe away at one time, he accidentally used too much force, and was seen by the referee and punished Artest for a foul.

"What?" Artest looked aggrieved, he didn't think this level of confrontation was nothing.

"The referee helped you once." Artest said to Kobe.

Soon, Kobe Bryant let Artest know that if he wanted to guard against someone, he didn't need the referee's help at all.

Kobe Bryant doesn't defend passively when he really wants to defend someone, he takes the initiative to attack, and as a natural attacker, when he defends, he also thinks about offense.

Artest dribbled the ball in general and the speed was average, so after Artest got the ball, Kobe Bryant stretched out his hand coldly while defending, and made a steal, forcing Artest to resist quickly and nervously, and when Artest wanted to make another move, Kobe launched an attack like this, resulting in time being consumed by Artest.

In this case, unless Artest has a strong determination or fast speed, he can break through Kobe's defense at once, otherwise, if it goes on slowly, Artest may not be able to break through Kobe's defense, but time is exhausted.

It turned out that under Kobe's strict defense, Artest failed to hit another ball, and he didn't even have a chance to shoot, and the commentator even called Kobe's defense a biting defense.

In the audience on the sidelines, some fans couldn't help asking: "Why didn't Kobe Bryant defend Sun in person, and then use such a defense?" Are you afraid of losing your physical strength? ”

Many people have looked at Phil Jackson, Kobe's physical fitness is unexpected, he should not be treated as an ordinary player, Kobe is obviously the one in the Lakers team who can defend Sun Zhuo the most, and Kobe should be allowed to not only attack but also let Kobe defend Sun Zhuo, even if all his physical energy is exhausted.

Zen masters, on the other hand, feel that they have some emotions that they can't share with others.

"Is it just because of physical fitness? Apparently not. "Phil Jackson knows Kobe and Sun Zhuo better than anyone else, and he also knows very well that if Kobe Bryant defends Sun Zhuo, Sun Zhuo will never score 70 points in a game.

"Physical fitness is one thing, foul count is one thing, and most importantly, when Kobe Bryant comes up with a crazy defense like he did with Ron Artest just now, if Sun can still score goals, it will be too big a blow to Kobe, and Kobe can't bear that kind of loss."

Think about it, when a person puts all his strength into doing something, but the result is in vain, how helpless will it be? This will even affect Kobe's performance on the offensive end, so the Zen master is reluctant to let Kobe Bryant defend Sun Zhuo, because Sun Zhuo's personal offense is too strong.

However, judging from this game alone, even without Kobe's main defense, Sun Zhuo's personal offense is not satisfactory, and the offensive efficiency has decreased compared with the previous two games.

The same goes for Kobe Bryant of the Lakers.

Kenny Smith said: "When Son and Kobe Bryant attack, the opponent's whole team has formed a conditioned reflex, they know more and more how these two guys should attack, how they will choose to shoot, and even predict the approximate position of the rebound, plus, they are both focused on defense, they will become more and more difficult to score, and the next moment, it will be the moment when the role players dominate the game, which side of the role player scores more points, and it can also show the level of personal threat of Son and Kobe." ”

In terms of the scoring ability of other players on the two teams except Sun Zhuo and Kobe, the Lakers and the Magic are actually about the same, but in this game, it is obvious that the role players on the Magic's side score more.

First, there was Artest, and then Montaellis also hit a three-pointer from time to time, Turkoglu also had an outside three-pointer, and Marc Gasol also slowly scored inside.

Conversely, Odom, Fisher, and others don't have enough scoring consistency.

It's not all about the role players themselves, it's about the different defenses they encounter, in other words, Kobe Bryant and Sun Zhuo pose different levels of threat to their opponents, and the more pressure these two superstars put on their opponents, the better their teammates can score.

In the end, in this game, the Magic won the first home court of the finals with the whole team playing well, and the finals score was 2:1.

With a 2-1 lead with a repeat challenge card still available, Sun Zhuo has already won the game, and the Lakers should begin to have a sense of crisis.

Although they didn't know that Sun Zhuo had a repeat challenge card, they did have a sense of crisis at this time, because the next game is still the home of the Magic, and once the next game is won by the Magic, they will get the match point.

Everyone knows what it means to be given match point by Sun Zhuo.

If it weren't for Sun Zhuo's second season, the Lakers would only have Sun Zhuo and Kobe, and Sun Zhuo might have become the first undefeated monster in history in the playoffs.

After the game, when he returned to the locker room, Kobe Bryant looked a little depressed, although this is only the third game of the series, the Lakers still have a chance, but Kobe knows Sun Zhuo too well, Sun Zhuo is once he takes the lead, he will never let the other party catch up again.

"In the next game, I'll keep an eye on Sun." Kobe Bryant said to Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson also nodded: "I've always had this idea, on the one hand, you have to pay attention to the number of fouls, and on the other hand, you have to be mentally prepared. ”

Phil Jackson didn't say it explicitly, but Kobe and everyone else knew what kind of psychological preparation the Zen master made Kobe prepare, Sun Zhuo scored too much, and it was easy to prevent the collapse of confidence, for others, they may have been used to it, but for Kobe, can he withstand such a blow?

For example, in a game, Sun Zhuo cut 60 points on his head? Watching Sun Zhuo shoot and dunk in front of him again and again?

"I'll admit from the bottom of my heart that he's a superstar who can score 60 points in a game, and all I have to do is stop him as much as I can, make him more turnovers and don't give him a chance to pass." Kobe paused for a moment and said in a calm tone.

When Kobe Bryant finished saying this, the entire locker room was completely quiet, Odom, Fisher and others all looked at Kobe with surprised eyes, Kobe Bryant actually faced Sun Zhuo with such a low profile and such a humble attitude?

Phil Jackson was also surprised, but then smiled and nodded, if Kobe Bryant has such an attitude, then Kobe will be invincible in the next game.

"He threw away all his pride, Sun, this guy, is the only one who can make Kobe Bryant change his attitude, even Michael Jordan failed to do it......"

The Zen master sighed that since Kobe Bryant faced Sun Zhuo with such a posture, no matter how many points Sun Zhuo cut on his head, it would not affect Kobe's mentality, and thus Kobe's performance on the offensive end.

Sun Zhuo didn't know that his top scoring ability in history had made Kobe Bryant have to admit defeat.

……

Soon, it was time for the fourth game of the finals.

"If you win this game, you will get match point, and when I get match point, I have never lost." Sun Zhuo can't wait to end this finals and win the championship again.

Because if he wins another championship, he will complete the three consecutive championships, in history, it is not that there are no teams that have completed three consecutive championships, like the Bulls Dynasty and the Lakers Dynasty, but when they complete the three consecutive championships, the core lineup is still there, and even strengthened every year, but the Magic is different, the Magic's lineup this year is too shabby, if it can also complete the dynasty with three consecutive championships, then Sun Zhuo's historical status will rise to the top ten.

At the beginning of the game, Sun Zhuo planned to take the lead with all his might, but at this time, he was surprised to find that the person standing next to him was Kobe Bryant.

It's not strange that Kobe Bryant came to defend Sun Zhuo, but when Sun Zhuo saw Kobe's posture when he was defending, he felt that the person in front of him was very unfamiliar, as if he had changed from a superstar to an ordinary role player, Sun Zhuo didn't know why he felt this way, maybe from Kobe's eyes, maybe something else.

Because it was Kobe Bryant's defense, Sun Zhuo also became cautious, not only because Kobe was a better defender, but also because Kobe was the Lakers' top star, every time he attacked, he would bring a psychological impact to Kobe, and Sun Zhuo could also increase Kobe's foul count, once Kobe was troubled by fouls early, then everything in the game would be much simpler.

On the court, every time Sun Zhuo moves, Kobe Bryant will react accordingly, and Sun Zhuo does not attack hastily, and seems to have been thinking about offensive methods.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy looked at the situation on the court, but he was also worried: "Kobe's defense has made Sun's offense more complicated, Sun thinks more, and is no longer so pure to score points, if Sun can increase Kobe's fouls as he wishes, it must be a good thing, if he can't ......"

Stan Van Gundy has watched Kobe play for many years, and he has been witnessing Kobe's growth every year, and Kobe's experience is above Sun Zhuo's, that's for sure.

Several attacks in a row, Sun Zhuo tried his best to consume Kobe and lure Kobe, but he failed to succeed, and Sun Zhuo did not complete the scoring in such a situation, and Kobe's scale when defending can be said to be extremely accurate.

"That's the most classic defensive pattern, and Kobe Bryant is really an underrated defender." Charles Barkley praised.

"However, in any case, defending Sun is an extremely physically exhausting thing, will Kobe's offense be affected by this?" Kenny Smith was worried.

Judging from the first two quarters, Kobe Bryant has a full physical distribution, knows how much effort to defend, how much effort to attack, but that is Sun Zhuo has not gone crazy, once Sun Zhuo really enters the state and forces Kobe to consume physical and mental energy, at that time, can Kobe still play the same value on the offensive end?

In the third quarter, Sun Zhuo was no longer polite, and suddenly became powerful, shooting Kobe Bryant two three-pointers in a row at the beginning!

Kobe Bryant's every ball was sealed on his face like Battier, completely blocking Sun Zhuo's sight, but Sun Zhuo could still hit, because he was afraid of fouls, Kobe's defense did not dare to have any physical contact with Sun Zhuo, which also led to Sun Zhuo's consecutive shots, which could not be blocked at all.

"It's strange that Kobe Bryant didn't say a word of trash to me today." Sun Zhuo had already scored 36 points, but found that Kobe, who was opposite him, was so silent throughout the game.

Even if the two are friends in private, there are so many confrontations in the whole confrontation today, and they shouldn't be so silent.

"Kobe's attitude today was really not easy." Phil Jackson felt sorry for Kobe Bryant for the first time in history, Kobe Bryant has always been strong, from the time Kobe Bryant first entered the league and was still very weak, he had to be so strong that he couldn't do it, Phil Jackson never thought that he would feel sorry for Kobe Bryant one day in his life, not at the end of Kobe's career.

"What's wrong with you today? It's a bit different from your usual you. Sun Zhuo said to Kobe Bryant that Kobe Bryant had made Sun Zhuo 4 turnovers in this game, blocked Sun Zhuo once, stealed twice, and Kobe himself scored 28 points.

Kobe didn't reply at first, and after a while, Kobe said to Sun Zhuo: "Sun, you are a superstar." ”

Hearing Kobe's words, Sun Zhuo didn't understand very well.

Until Sun Zhuo scored the 40th point, Kobe's mentality still did not change at all, he still treated him defensively as always, and endured the attrition on the defensive end to desperately make fouls and go to the free throw line.

Sun Zhuo gradually understood.

"I'm a superstar, and you've admitted that I can win you, but I can't win the fight, right?" Sun Zhuo asked in his heart, in terms of understanding Kobe, how could Sun Zhuo be worse than others?

Since the first season, the two have been on the same team, Kobe Bryant is domineering, Sun Zhuo is the most knowledgeable, as strong as Sun Zhuo, a genius with bugs and systems, has been squeezed out by Kobe in a city like Los Angeles.

Thinking about the heads-up between the two before, Kobe Bryant was even more endlessly fighting with Sun Zhuo, and Sun Zhuo was not allowed to win at all, if Sun Zhuo won, then he would continue to compete until Kobe Bryant won, or until neither of them could get up.

Thinking of this, Sun Zhuo felt that the outcome of this game did not matter.

Because, in Kobe's heart, he finally admitted that Sun Zhuo was better than him.