Kobe Bryant didn't know if the Lakers could come back and beat the Bobcats and become the fourth team in history to come back from 2-0 down in the NBA Finals. He just wants to win this game, and if he loses this game, there will be no suspense. No team has ever managed to come back from 3-0 down.

As the leader of the Lakers, Kobe has been compared to Hayes after entering the playoffs, but he is not bad. In a series of questionnaires such as the player with the highest IQ and the best team leader, Kobe Bryant can be ranked in the top 5.

If the strength of the two lineups is close, Hayes has a better chance of winning, which Kobe Bryant also knows in his heart. But he doesn't want to lose, even if it's a training game, he doesn't want to be a loser, and Kobe Bryant is such a competitive person.

Billups' injury didn't affect Bryant's mentality, and he exploded in the third quarter.

During this time, Weaver was defending Bryant. Weaver is still not tight enough with people, not enough pressure on Kobe, always allowing Kobe to easily take the ball and turn calmly. Once Kobe Bryant turned around, it would not be easy to defend against him. Bryant dribbled past Weaver and Dribbled inside, and Gerard Wallace stepped forward from the weak side to free Butler.

Bryant took a step to the right and crossed the ball to Butler on the left, who caught the ball and hit a pull-up jumper! Butler's half-volley was still accurate today.

"Fan, keep up and don't let him catch the ball easily." Hayes shouted.

The Lakers used 122 on the defensive end, with four players occupying four corners of the restricted area, narrowing the defensive range and allowing the Bobcats to shoot from the outside. This tactic worked immediately, and at this time, the Bobcats lineup was the only one who could shoot three points consistently, Hayes, Rondo, Camby, and Wallace were not allowed. Weaver is a nerve knife with a good and bad hand, and this time he missed the outside shot when the opponent took a step to defend.

Gasol grabbed the backcourt rebound and passed to Kobe Bryant for a fast break, Kobe Bryant ran all the way to the Bobcat penalty area with Wallace's follower, jumped up and didn't score a layup, but caused Wallace's foul.

Bryant hit both free throws, and the Bobcats fell behind more and more.

With five minutes left in the third quarter, Gerard Wallace picked up his fourth foul of the game when he tried to block Gasol inside and was replaced by Bagnani. Weaver was also substituted for Coronna Azubuke.

The Lakers also made substitutions, with Odom and Bletche coming on to replace Butler and Bynum. Gasol moved to the center forward position, and he didn't play well on the offensive end, but he still had the ability to contain, so he stayed on the court.

In the regular season, the Bobcats adopted a roster rotation system, and the players had many opportunities to play, entering the playoffs, in order to ensure the victory, the playing time of the fringe players was generally reduced, among which the most reduced playing time was Azubuk, Durant often played about 35 minutes, and he had to compete with Miller for playing time as a substitute. Miller has more accurate three-point shots, more experience, and better passing than Azubuuk, so he has more playing time.

Kobe Bryant was in great shape today, scoring 30 points before the third quarter was played. The Bobcats sent Azubuke in order to put him on the burden of defending Kobe, and Durant and Weaver didn't do a good enough job on the defensive end.

"Corunna, your goal is to try not to let Kobe catch the ball. If the Lakers' interior players are covering, you get around the defense and wrap up Kobe Bryant. D'Antoni said.

Weaver's offensive ability is good, and he hit two mid-range shots and Kobe Bryant points before, but he can't defend well, making it too easy for Kobe to run without the ball and catch the ball, and several dry pull-up jumpers are successful. When Wallace was defending, Kobe would wait for his teammates to cover and then play against Weaver. Azubuike's defense is much stronger than Weaver's.

If you let Kobe turn around and jump and shoot, it's basically a backward lean, and it's hard to cover him. You've got to work on him and I'm going to have to keep up with him. The inside line locked up Gasol and Bynum, and the Bobcats would definitely win. 'Azubuuk's marking method is very clear, the word "winding"! He swore in his heart: 'Kobe, you wait, even if you run to the sideline to drink water, I will rob you of the bottle!' (Does that make any sense?) However, Azubuike couldn't limit Kobe effectively when he came on the court, Gasol's block was just right to block Kobe's defender, and if Hayes made up the defense, Kobe dribbled the ball in the direction of Blece, looking for a second cover.

After the screen, Azubuike rounded Bletch and Camby to wrap Kobe Bryant. Bryant passed the ball back into the hands of Brighter, who hit the shot unmarked. This ball declared the Bobcat bag a failure. The Lakers' five players on the court now also have good shooting ability, and the big man shoots in the high position, which is difficult to defend. The Bobcats often use this tactic, and so can the Lakers.

In the past, opponents only needed to wrap Kobe Bryant and let him pass the ball, but now the Lakers have many great shooters on the outside, and there are good players like Odom, Bynum, and Gasol on the inside, and the unscrupulous bag may not work. The Bobcats could only defend Kobe Bryant one-on-one, allowing him to shoot in difficult situations as much as possible, and then letting him concede as many shots as possible.

Under the Lakers' combination of offense inside and outside, the Bobcats failed to recover the disadvantage, trailing by 12 points 79-91 into the fourth quarter.

Bryant scored 16 points in a single quarter and has already scored 35 points.

The two Bobcats coaches have been working on countermeasures. The Lakers' offense was too fierce, and the Bobcats' own offense was a bit of a problem. Hayes, who scored the most, only scored 8 points, and the other players were almost completely killed!

During the break, Magic Johnson commented: "The situation is more favorable for the Lakers right now. Their defense was successful in the third quarter, allowing the Bobcats to score only 20 points. Bobcats had terrible outside shooting today. If it weren't for the Lakers' interior line, the fourth quarter would probably have become garbage time. ”

"Although Hayes is only 198cm tall, he can limit the Lakers to a tall interior lineman and make it impossible for opponents to get into the restricted area at all," Joan Barry said. Camby, another center from the Bobcats, stood under the basket and had a powerful block. Most of the Bobcats' scoring in the third quarter came from counterattacks, and without outside shooting, they couldn't break the Lakers' tight defense. It's reminiscent of last season's Bobcats playing Magic. The outside line can't be opened at all, but there are a lot of pitchers on the Bobcats bench this time, so why not change the situation by replacing Miller? ”

"Miller's defense is not good enough, Kobe Bryant and he will score calmly, otherwise he would have been on the court a long time ago. Azubuke is very strict with the defense, he is a pure scoring guard, and the three-point shot is also good, and Kobe Bryant has been guarding him strictly after coming on the court, without any slackness. Kobe Bryant is playing a bit like a leader today. Johnson laughed. From the bottom of his heart, he still wants the Lakers to win. Today's commentary is also somewhat biased towards the Lakers, if he hadn't jumped to ESPN, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to partner with Barkley to comment. Otherwise, Barkley would have quarreled with Johnson.

In the commentary on TN*T radio, Barkley talked about Kobe Bryant for 5 minutes because of Kobe's elbow after that shot. gave some examples of Kobe Bryant's injury, and he hated to play PK Kobe Bryant.

Under Azubuk's defense, Kobe Bryant still hit, his hand has been shot, Azubuike fouled twice to send Kobe Bryant to the free throw line, and all the free throws were hit.

D'Antoni gave Durant a mission during a short break in the third quarter. "Be quick when you change defenses, Kevin, you go on the court to defend Kobe, interfere with his shooting with all your might, and don't be easily passed."

"Chuck, you play point guard on the offensive end of the fourth quarter, their joint defense has killed the interior space, let's attack the outside." D'Antoni played with a five-striker strategy.

Rondo's outside shooting is not good, and now the Lakers' 122 joint defense has blocked the inside line, and if you don't make corresponding adjustments, it will be difficult to win today's game. In addition to Hayes, the Bobcats fielded center Lopez, power forward Bagnani, small forward Miller, and shooting guard Durant. All five players are good at shooting.

"How do I defend Kobe, Chuck, do you have any suggestions?" Durant asked before coming on the court, he was very unsuccessful in today's game.

"The way to do it is to follow him as best you can, interfere with his vision, and don't be discouraged when he shoots, because he's Kobe Bryant, so it's normal to shoot some difficult shots." Hayes laughed, "You just have to follow him." ”

Experts evaluate Kobe Bryant's high IQ, which is aimed at his one-on-one singles, Kobe Bryant does not need to plan what to do next, the opponent is a little slack, stay away from him, he pulls up a three-pointer, and the opposing player is close to him, he can pass the opponent at once and then attack the basket directly.

For both rookies and retirees, defending Kobe Bryant is a technical problem they have to face.

A veteran observer from the West said of Bryant: "He's a mathematician." Because basketball is actually a geometric game. If the opponent chooses the wrong path to defend Kobe, he is doomed. Because Bryant reads defenders quickly and then makes a quick second response, he usually takes this in stride.

The fourth quarter of the game began, and the Lakers had the ball. The Lakers brought on Butler and replaced Blecher.

Hayes was still dealing with Gasol on the defensive end, and Miller was in charge of marking Fisher, which was a relatively easy job. Kobe Bryant gets the ball, and Durant marks one-on-one.

'No matter who defends me today, it's not going to work, I have to win this game.' Kobe Bryant did not rely on his teammates to block and dismantle, and brought the ball from the right side to the inside, if the interior player covered high, the person who changed the defense would only be Hayes, and Durant was better to deal with than Hayes.

Durant didn't suffer in terms of speed, and followed Kobe Bryant to the 45-degree angle three-second line. Bryant took the ball with his back and made a quick stop to the left side, then turned to the baseline and threw a backward jumper. Durant was stunned, but Kobe Bryant couldn't score every time, and this shot was not easy, popping out of the frame, and Hayes grabbed the backcourt rebound.

The biggest advantage of Hayes as a point guard is that he can grab rebounds and organize the offense directly. Miller and Bagnani went down, and Hayes slowed down and accelerated past Gasol, and on the run took the ball and passed it to Miller with one hand. The latter paused outside the three-point line and passed to the plugged Durant.

Durant is not good at Kobe Bryant, and vice versa. Durant hits a pull-up jump shot inside the three-point line! 81 to 91.

(To be continued)