Chapter 420: Reincarnation
"Kobe actually fouled Meng Xu, the Lakers in this round of defense, the strategy they chose is a little incomprehensible, there are more than 30 seconds left, the Lakers are only 1 point behind, as long as they can prevent the Pacers' attack, then the initiative will be completely on the Lakers' side, and it is completely incredible to send Meng Xu to the free throw line at this time?" When the sixth game of the Lakers and Pacers finals reached the last moment, Meng Xu, who was ready to attack with the ball, was directly hugged by Kobe, for the defensive strategy of the Lakers and Kobe, Michaels said that he couldn't understand it at all, and judging from Phil Jackson's look, the foul on Meng Xu should have come from his instructions, which made Michaels even more confused, the Lakers were only 1 point behind, and there was still plenty of time to complete the overtake, it seemed that there was no need to use foul tactics in advance at this time.
"Maybe Phil Jackson doesn't have confidence in the Lakers' defense, according to Meng Xu's character, he will definitely not choose to pass this offense like last time, and he will definitely choose to continue to consume time, in case 20 seconds later, Meng Xu hit a 3-point shot, a 4-point gap, and 10 seconds left, the Lakers will really be powerless." After a few seconds of silence, Magic Johnson recounted his thoughts.
"What if Meng Xu doesn't hit?" After listening to Magic Johnson's words, Michaels subconsciously retorted, but as soon as the words came out, Michaels regretted it, how could Meng Xu miss the key shot? Although it has only been in the league for 3 seasons, there are only a handful of teams in the entire league that have not been killed by Meng Xu, or by the key ball. Unlike many soft-footed crabs who are weak at critical moments, Meng Xu is more decisive at critical moments, and the shooting rate is significantly higher than usual, hitting key balls again and again, and killing again and again has made Meng Xu "the king of the fourth quarter" famous, and behind this is a series of teams that have been killed by Meng Xu, and the Lakers in front of him have been killed by Meng Xu more than once, although Meng Xu has also had a lot of failed games, but at this critical moment, Phil Jackson did not dare to bet that Meng Xu missed the shot.
"Mean, shameless, indecentγγγγγγ" After the whistle of Kobe's foul blew, Meng Xu walked towards the free throw line, and scolded Kobe Bryant beside him, when Meng Xu saw a trace of shame on Kobe's face, the scolding became even more vigorous, but in Meng Xu's heart, it was another thought at the moment, Kobe's face was still not thick enough, if it was Rick Fox and Brian Shaw who fouled themselves, they would not only not be ashamed, but would definitely show a triumphant expression.
101-98, when Meng Xu hit two free throws in the boos, widening the gap between the two sides to 3 points again, Phil Jackson immediately called a timeout, ready to arrange the next round of tactics, there are just 30 seconds left, if the arrangement is done properly, the Lakers have enough time and opportunity to complete the overtake at the last moment.
"The Pacers gave up the bag on O'Neal and their defensive strategy was very clear." When the game restarted, the Pacers gave up on wrapping O'Neal, which had executed the defensive strategy of the entire series, and instead used Lorenten White to defend O'Neal alone, while strengthening the Lakers' perimeter defense, Larry Bird's tactical intent was very clear, that is, he would rather let O'Neal score two points than let them shoot 3-pointers, lead by 1 point and tie, the situation facing is completely different.
"O'Neal pushed past Lorenzen White, rushed directly to the basket, and dunked to make it 101-100, and the difference between the two sides was narrowed to one point again." After failing to find a suitable opportunity for more than 10 seconds in a row, the Lakers finally chose a more secure way and O'Neal attacked the basket. There is no suspense, Lorenzen White and Jermaine O'Neal can't defend O'Neal when they join forces, not to mention that now only he is left, Lorenzen White's defensive awareness is very good, but compared with O'Neal, Lorenzen White, who weighs only 110 kilograms, is still too thin, as long as O'Neill exerts a little force, Lorenzen White will be pushed away.
Because of the prediction that the Lakers are likely to continue to foul, so when the Pacers sent the baseline ball, Jamal Tinsley did not have any pause at all, and at the moment of receiving the ball, he passed the basketball directly to Meng Xu at the top of the arc, just when Meng Xu wanted to pass the ball to Reggie Miller and wanted to consume a little more time, the referee's whistle blew, this time the referee blew Robert Hawley's foul, Meng Xu turned his head to look, Robert Hawley was holding Lorencent White in his arms. Among the Pacers' several players on the court, Lorenzen White's free throws were the worst, so the Lakers naturally chose Lorenzen White when executing foul tactics.
"Lorenzen, come on, don't think too much." Since these two free throws are likely to determine the outcome of the game, Lorenzen White, who walked to the free throw line, obviously showed a nervous look, and the 67% season free throw shooting rate really made Lorenzen White a little lacking in confidence, and it was such a critical free throw, nervousness was inevitable. Meng Xu, who was standing on the edge of the paint area, obviously felt the strangeness of Lorenzen White, and immediately stretched out his right hand to pat him, cheering him up, but also hoping that he could calm down.
"Hmm." After nodding at Meng Xu, Lorenzen White found that he still couldn't suppress the nervousness in his heart, especially in the wave of boos from the audience, Lorenzen White was even more nervous, as the basketball thrown by Lorenzen White spun around the basket, and finally brushed out, Lorenzen White was not only nervous now, a strong sense of anxiety and self-blame immediately came to his heart, after missing this goal, Lorenzen White didn't even dare to look at his teammates around him.
"Lorenzen, relax, relax, don't be so tight, you see how you look now is worse than crying." Although Lorenzen White missed the first penalty, Meng Xu still did the same as usual, without the slightest intention to blame him, but once again high-fived Lorenzen White to send him encouragement, after Meng Xu, Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal also high-fived Lorenten White successively, after high-fiveing with his teammates one by one, Lorenzen White's nervousness was somewhat relieved.
"This one must be hit." After bending his legs slightly, aiming and aiming at the basketball and praying in his heart several times, Lorenzen White threw the basketball in his hand, and after seeing that the basketball that was thrown by himself hit steadily, the big stone that pressed on Lorenzen White's heart was finally put down, 102 to 100, with the last 11 seconds left.
"Now that the pressure is all on the Lakers' side, trailing by 2 points and with 11 seconds left, will the Lakers choose to play a steady 2-point game into overtime, or will they directly shoot a 3-point shot to beat the Pacers and end the game?" As the Magic just expected, this game is really going to be won by a lore, but it is a little strange that the Lakers did not call a timeout, but directly sent a baseline ball, perhaps in the timeout just now, the Lakers have already arranged the next tactics.
"Meng, it's all over!" When Fisher passed the basketball to Kobe Bryant at the top of the arc, perhaps the last duel between Meng Xu and Kobe Bryant in this game was finally staged, looking at Meng Xu who was close to him, Kobe Bryant's cold face showed a slightly hideous look, and he shot a lore on Meng Xu's head, this day, Kobe Bryant has been waiting for a long time.
When Kobe and Meng Xu began to face off at the top of the arc, O'Neal, who had already separated the winner from the entanglement with Lorenzen White under the basket, was now staring at Meng Xu and Kobe Bryant with a resentful face, in the NBA, in the last moments of the game, almost all teams will hand over basketball to the most capable star in the team, even if it is a team with the physical strength to complete the tactics, they will choose to let the singles of the leading players decide the outcome of the game. But now, O'Neal, who is the strongest of the Lakers, is excluded from this last offense, although it is because the team is ready to implement the 3-point strategy and is not ready to play overtime, but in O'Neal's heart, he still feels insulted.
When there were still 6 seconds left in the time, Kobe Bryant began to change his body posture, dribbling the ball rhythmically, while facing away from Meng Xu, after another two seconds of time, Kobe started, first feint towards Meng Xu after a while, and then Kobe instantly retracted his steps, first turned to the left with heavy shoulders, and when he turned halfway, he immediately pulled back his body and turned to the right, this time Kobe jumped a lot higher than before, and the time in the air was longer, Meng Xu, who jumped almost at the same time as Kobe, fell before Kobe.
Seeing Kobe Bryant drifting to the side, constantly adjusting his body posture in the air, and then after completely getting rid of Meng Xu, he threw the basketball in his hand, and Meng Xu, who was still in the air and did not fully land, turned his head to look at the basket behind him.
At this time, not only Meng Xu, but also the fans of the entire Staples Center, and countless viewers in front of the TV, were staring intently at the basketball that was thrown by Kobe, staring at the shot that would determine the fate of the game and the fate of the two teams.
When Kobe Bryant's basketball was thrown, drawing a beautiful arc and brushing into the net with a hollow sound, the Staples Center, which was already silent just now, exploded in an instant, and countless fans chanted Kobe's name in unison, and the Lakers players on the court, in addition to O'Neal and Robert Hawley, who were still under the basket, Fisher and Rick Fox rushed towards where Kobe Bryant was for the first time.
"Lorenzen, we haven't lost yet, we've lost the game." Looking at the teammates around him who looked overwhelmed, especially Lorenzen White, who kept whispering "Blame me, blame me", Meng Xu immediately walked over to comfort them, but when Meng Xu's afterglow skimmed the timer, Meng Xu, who was somewhat low, immediately became ecstatic, because Meng Xu saw that the time on the timer was not back to 0, but there were 0.4 seconds left.