Chapter 61: Kubček's Joys and Sorrows
The win over the Phoenix Suns was the first game of the Pacific Conference away game, and after a super-high slaughter, the Knicks set off for the Staples Center in Los Angeles to take on the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers in three days. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info
At this time, the Lakers were completely reduced to the bottom of the West, and they were only a little better than the Philadelphia 76ers who were aiming to play badly, and Kubcek spent more time on Kobe's retirement tour, just to squeeze the last trace of residual value from Kobe, and he didn't care about winning or losing the game.
Recently, the Knicks have been too sharp, scoring more than 130 points in three consecutive games, and Kubuchak didn't want to stage a bloody massacre at the Staples Center, so he had prayed that the Suns could limit the Knicks' scoring, and if he could, he even hoped that the Suns would beat the Knicks to curb his continued upward momentum, but his wishes were all in vain.
"In any case, I must limit the score of this game to less than 130 points, the protagonist of this game is Kobe, and I don't want to completely disappoint the Lakers fans!"
Kubcek knew in his heart that it would be wishful thinking to win against the Knicks team in front of him, and his only hope was to stop the Knicks' streak of 130+ points, so two hours before the start of the game, he called Byron Scott to the office and solemnly admonished.
Lakers head coach Byron Scott also understands that the Lakers have disappointed fans by giving up this season, if it weren't for Kobe's reluctance to give up, I'm afraid he wouldn't have bought the Lakers' account a long time ago, it's not terrible to lose, the key is to lose with dignity, not to mention that this game is still broadcast live in the United States.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, the stars are shining, the light is shining, I'm Greg Sagar, I'm about to bring you the exciting game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers, is it the Knicks who are soaring all the way to the popularity, or Kobe Bryant who is entering the countdown to retirement is more worthy of our affection, please follow me into this much-anticipated game!"
The Staples Center's on-site narrator was TNT's veteran sideline reporter Greg Sager, still wearing a brightly colored suit and a brightly patterned tie, who was clearly out of cancer and back to his "man in a colour suit", holding a microphone and facing the camera, talking and smiling.
At the beginning of the game, Hibbert jumped to win, Russell dribbled across the half, the pace of the Lakers was very slow, the ball passed in and out, and finally at the end of 24 seconds, Kobe Bryant forced a jump shot from the middle distance, the ball hit the front of the basket, Lopez grabbed the defensive rebound, and handed it to Jerry Grant.
Grant wanted to advance quickly, but the Lakers' players were very active in their defensive awareness, and suddenly made a full-court press, killing the Knicks' chance to quickly counterattack.
Wang Zhuo, who was standing next to the court, smiled slightly, he already understood Scott's true intentions, he didn't care if the 130+ point record could be extended to the fourth game, all he valued was the result of the game, and the Knicks' record after three consecutive wins had come to 31-30, including defeating the eighth-place Detroit Pistons, and the difference between the two wins was only one game.
The Knicks lost the opportunity to break fast and had to fall into a positional battle, Grant handed the ball to Anthony, and singled Jordan Clarkson with his back, Anthony's strong body carried Clarkson to the inside, Russell came from the right side to help defend, but Anthony didn't give them any chance, turned his back and supported the floor with one foot, a Nowitzki-style golden rooster leaned back independently, and the ball was hollowed into the basket.
Although Clarkson has improved a lot, he still owes a lot of fire in the face of a superstar like Anthony, his body is thin and weak, and his skills are even tougher, so Anthony can be said to be demanding on the offensive end.
The Lakers team is still slow and meticulous, paying great attention to the transmission of the ball, and the team itself does not have a so-called tactical system, every time it is about to stay up to 24 seconds, it will be handed over to Kobe Bryant to end the offense, if Kobe is prevented from death, who will shoot the ball in his hand, Wang Zhuo on the sidelines smiled bitterly.
Kobe Bryant is not in good shape, the shooting rate is below 40% throughout the season, falling to a career low, which is not unrelated to his injury, played a game, Kobe Bryant shot 2 of 5, and he is no longer the Peter Pan who scores like chopping vegetables and cutting melons, but this does not affect the fans' love for him.
Although the Knicks' fast break was deliberately targeted by the Lakers, there were few wonderful cooperation, but with patient running and tactical coordination, at halftime, the Knicks led the Lakers by 8 points with a score of 48:40.
Wang Zhuo knew that this was a game where the result was already known at the beginning, and when he returned to the locker room at halftime, he didn't say a word.
Kubček, on the other hand, looked like he had succeeded in his conspiracy, thinking that he had scored 48 points in the first half, and if he wanted to score 130 points in the final game, he would have to score 82 points in the second half, which was almost an impossible task, and he sat in his office, watching the live broadcast, and in his excitement, he took out a cigar from a drawer and lit it, and put it in his mouth.
However, what he didn't expect at all was that at the beginning of the second half, the situation on the court changed dramatically, and the Knicks players suddenly changed their tactics, reducing the number of passes when switching offense and defense, and paying more attention to the quality of a pass after grabbing a defensive rebound.
Offense drives defense, and on the defensive end, the Knicks players have also become very active, not letting go of a steal opportunity, trying their best to cut off the Lakers' passing route, and even making risky steals at the expense of position, the Lakers have no choice but to speed up the offensive tempo, pass or shoot before the Knicks players have formed a systematic defense.
Wang Zhuo secretly praised the Knicks for not needing him to mention his face now, and he can play the required tactical strategies according to the situation on the court, and the improvement in speed has caused the Lakers players who have slowed down the pace for half the court to be very uncomfortable, and the number of iron and mistakes on the court has increased significantly, so the situation on the court is very conducive to the Knicks to play a second fast break.
Sure enough, the Knicks' three-point rain came again as scheduled, and although Scott kept calling a timeout, hoping to contain the Knicks' three-point shot, it never achieved the desired effect.
Five minutes before the end, the Knicks had already led the Lakers by 20 points, Kobe Bryant had left the game early and did not appear again, the Lakers also completely surrendered, and all the substitutes were dispatched, Wang Zhuo also changed to the rotation lineup, the overall situation has been decided, but whether it can break through 130 points is still a question.
The Knicks' bench players did not stop killing after coming on the court, and continued to hit the ball, with only 1 minute left in the game time, the Knicks had scored 80 points in the second half, and the score on the scorer also came to 128 points, as long as one more shot was made, the record of 130+ could be extended.
Since the second half, Kubchak has been lighting cigars in the drawer, one after another, and in the last minute of the game, his heart was close to collapse, and when he almost wanted to call Scott to yell at the Knicks' last damn attack, Wang Zhuo made a gesture on the sidelines, signaling the players on the court to stop attacking, wasting time, and waiting for the end of the game.
In the end, the Knicks' score was fixed at 128 points, and the record of 130+ consecutive wins came to an abrupt end.