The fourth game of the finals, starting from the second half of the first quarter, became a one-on-one stage for Meng Xu and Kobe, and the heads-up between the two lasted until the second half of the third quarter, until Kobe's physical strength was exhausted and ended.

The rhythm of the fierce game is a bloody physical confrontation, but at this moment, Pau Gasol, as the second leader of the Lakers, has always sat on the sidelines and stayed out of the matter, with a dull face and staring blankly at the game that is still going on in the court.

As the Lakers' second-in-command, tactical axis, and interior core, today's game should have been the time for Pau Gasol to show his talents, but so far in today's game, Pau Gasol's cumulative playing time has not even been 10 minutes, which is why Phil Jackson can still condone Kobe Bryant with the ball when the score is behind and the situation is not good.

Pau Gasol was fouled twice by Meng Xu in the first quarter, and was immediately replaced by Phil Jackson, in order to not fall too far behind the Pacers in the score before Pau Gasol returned to the court, Phil Jackson could only release the tactic of brainless singles, wanting to rely on Kobe's personal scoring ability to bite the score in a short time.

But what Phil Jackson didn't expect was that Pau Gasol only played 1 minute in the second quarter, got the third foul, and sat on the bench again.

The Pacers are not a team like the Raptors, and Meng Xu is not the Raptors' rotten potato and stinky tomato-like outside, although Kobe Bryant's shooting rate of 13 of 27 today is not low, but Kobe's every offense is completed with the highest intensity defense and the most difficult moves, so Kobe's physical consumption is far beyond expectations.

Kobe, who was replaced by Phil Jackson from the court, sat on the bench, kept wiping the sweat from his head, took the water cup handed by the water cooler manager and drank it down, and then stared thoughtfully at the game that was still going on on the court.

In Kobe's career, there has never been a situation where a game is physically exhausted after three quarters, and in the past ten years since entering the league, Kobe Bryant has played 48 minutes, or even more than 50 minutes, and there are countless games, but how many games he played all over the game were not as tiring as today's game.

Today's game, from the middle of the first quarter, Kobe Bryant kept holding the ball alone, although Meng Xu's defense is very tough and excellent, but the stubborn Kobe Bryant still keeps holding the ball and singles Meng Xu, this kind of unscrupulous ball-holding singles makes Kobe very happy, and even every pore, every hair is stretched because of this, but the consequences of crazy ball-holding singles are also very obvious, the physically exhausted Kobe Bryant missed consecutive shots in a few rounds before the next game, and even two rounds were under Meng Xu's defense, threw a three-pointer, and it was precisely because of this that Phil Jackson called a timeout and replaced Kobe.

Kobe, who was resting on the bench, also became more and more sober, made Paul Gasol's foul, made himself the only strong point of the Lakers, and then kept consuming himself, and when his physical strength was exhausted, a good wave of harvest games? I don't know if Meng Xu thinks so, anyway, Kobe Bryant broke out in a cold sweat on his head when he thought of this.

"Phil, I'm going to play later," after the end of the third quarter, Kobe Bryant took the initiative to stand up and walked to Phil Jackson's side, signaling that he was going to play at the beginning of the fourth quarter, because Kobe Bryant is now very worried that his imagination just now will come true.

"Kobe, you better rest a little longer, wait for Paul to play first, and you will be on the court in the second half of the game." Phil Jackson very simply rejected Kobe's proposal, Paul Gasol was trapped in a foul crisis today, and only played less than 10 minutes in the first three quarters of the game, and his physical strength was no problem, so at the beginning of the fourth quarter, let Paul Gasol take a few substitutes to play for a few minutes, and there is no problem at all with the main forces of both sides playing the decisive battle, and Kobe's current state, in Phil Jackson's opinion, does need to rest a little more, Otherwise, when it comes to the decisive stage of this game, Kobe Bryant is likely to have no shooting strength as he did when he was replaced just now.

"Hey, the Pacers left all their main players on the court after the timeout! The Lakers sent a bench lineup led by Pau Gasol, which is very unfavorable to the Lakers! “

"Yes, the current situation is obviously not favorable to the Lakers, by the end of the third quarter, the Lakers were still 4 points behind, and now they are playing the main lineup of the Pacers with a bench lineup, I am afraid that if they don't hold on to the official timeout, the Lakers will be beaten by the Pacers!"

When the players on both sides walked onto the court after the timeout, the press bench on the sidelines was instantly fried, and even some of the Los Angeles media who reacted were already angry at the Pacers' despicable and shameless, although the Pacers' move to send the main lineup in advance has pros and cons, but in the eyes of these guys who decide their heads, the Pacers use the main lineup to beat the Lakers' bench lineup, which is too insidious.

"Sure enough, this guy is terrible." Kobe Bryant, who had just returned to his seat, couldn't sit still anymore, especially after seeing his previous speculation confirmed, Kobe Bryant was anxiously ready to return to the game, but just as Kobe was about to stand up, he was held down by Phil Jackson, who was sitting next to him.

As the head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson is still calm, and the Pacers' move to replace the main force in advance also has great drawbacks, if the Pacers can't take away the Lakers in a wave in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, then when the Lakers' main lineup recovers its strength and re-enters the game, the Pacers will inevitably be in trouble because of physical problems, and Phil Jackson also believes that with Paul Gasol's ability, he can lead the Lakers to bite the score, This is also why Phil Jackson has always sat on the sidelines and is as steady as a mountain, as the best of the "nanny" coaches, believing that his players can handle everything on the court is one of Phil Jackson's credos, and now, Phil Jackson has chosen to believe in Pau Gasol.

After the start of the fourth quarter of the game, Pau Gasol did not disappoint Phil Jackson, in the first round after the opening, Pau Gasol hit a jumper below the free throw line, narrowing the gap between the two sides to only 2 points, but Meng Xu turned around and frantically hit the Lakers' basket, which also made Phil Jackson a little worried, and even when Meng Xu broke through, Phil Jackson was still silently thinking in his heart, don't make up for the defense, don't go to make up for the defense, Phil Jackson would rather Paul Gasol not make up for Meng Xu than see Paul Gasol fouled by Meng Xu again.

"Oh, shit!" 1 minute and 30 seconds after the start of the fourth quarter, with a whistle on the court, Phil Jackson, who was sitting on the bench, had his eyes tightened, his brows wrinkled directly into a Sichuan character, and even shook his arm fiercely, because Paul Gasol on the court received the fifth foul, and Paul Gasol's five fouls disrupted Phil Jackson's plan.

”F***，F***！“ Pau Gasol, who was fouled by the referee on duty, also rarely burst into foul language, and even smashed the basketball in his hand to the floor, aggrieved, aggrieved, in today's game, Pau Gasol's feeling is helpless, aggrieved, and he wants to play a good finals, is this request too much? Is this an excessive? Why? Why?

Gasol, who hung his head and kept chattering in his mouth, walked to the edge of the bench, took the towel handed by his teammates, and covered it directly on his head.

When Meng Xu walked to the free throw line, Phil Jackson made the decision to make substitutions, DJ Mbenga replaced Pau Gasol, Ron Artest replaced Luke Wharton, Kobe Bryant replaced Sasha Vujasic, Derrick Fisher replaced Jordan Farmar, Ramar Odom replaced Ronnie Turyaf, Phil Jackson replaced all the players on the court in one go, and was ready to fight the Pacers in advance.

"Meng, you sinister fellow, do you think you can defeat me like this? Dream! After returning to the court, Kobe Bryant walked directly to the edge of the paint area, and challenged Meng Xu, who was standing on the free throw line and preparing to make a free throw.

"Hey, Kobe, calm down, what's the matter, wait until I'm done with this ball." After shaking his head at Kobe Bryant with a smile, Meng Xu threw the basketball in his hand towards the Nets under the prompting of the referee next to him.

"Kobe, I just wanted to tell you that even the best of you can't beat me, come on, let me see how much energy you still have." After hitting the free throw, Meng Xu said a word that hit Kobe Bryant with a serious face towards Kobe Bryant who rushed towards him.

"Can't I beat you even at the best?" After listening to Meng Xu's words, Kobe Bryant was directly stunned, he didn't expect that he was so unbearable in Meng Xu's heart, but soon Kobe Bryant regained his confidence and fighting spirit, because Kobe was completely enraged by Meng Xu's words: "I must defeat you, I must defeat you bastard!" Bastard! ”