The battle between the Big Apple and the Black Mamba did not last long, unlike in the past, today is the much-anticipated Christmas battle, even Kobe Bryant has no reason to deprive his teammates of opportunities at will, not to mention Li Chen, a rookie whose status is not yet stable.

And objectively speaking, Artest's strong winning defense made Li Chen's score today not easy, except for defeating the opponent with his mouth, Li Chen did not really have much advantage in basketball. The Big Apple scored 9 points in the first quarter, shooting 3 of 6, and also hit two free throws.

The corresponding Kobe Bryant scored 8 points in the first quarter, and also used 6 shots, but the great god did not make free throws, and he scored 4 two-point shots to beat Li Chen once, and the overall strength of the Lakers made his offense unusually easy, in addition to the pressure on defense is less than Li Chen, in terms of offense, Black Mamba is also more selective.

"Do you feel tired?" At the end, Kobe Bryant asked in a low voice as he passed by Li Chen.

Li Chen shrugged his shoulders and didn't reply, what did he say? Tired? But what can he do if he is tired, the Knicks are his choice, the strength of the team is like this, since he has decided to put the responsibility on his shoulders, it doesn't matter if he is tired or not.

On the Knicks bench, although the team is still five points behind for the time being, D'Antoni has not become as serious as usual, perhaps because the Christmas atmosphere has infected him, and for today's game, the mustache did not ask too much.

"Don't worry, the Lakers are the defending champions. It's normal to be a little behind, play hard, and every opportunity to play against a strong team is worth cherishing. Maybe we are not as strong as them now, but we will definitely in the future. ”

It doesn't feel good to have the situation completely under control, and the Knicks aren't optimistic about today's outcome, and D'Antoni has to bother to enlighten the guys. But he's right, even if the Big Apple has been on a hot streak lately, it doesn't mean that he alone can beat the defending champions, basketball is sometimes alone. But more often than not, he's five.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Lakers launched an offensive first, and they quickly counterattacked after seizing the Knicks' mistakes. Jordan Farmar scored the ball under David Lee's defense.

In the defense after that, Gasol accurately cut off Li Chen's pass to the inside, and the Lakers counterattacked again, this time it was Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba received a pass from his friend and went straight to the basket. One step past the free throw line, the Black Mamba took off and then sent the ball into the basket like a glider.

After two consecutive rounds without scoring, the young Knicks were a little impatient, Curry advanced quickly with the ball, and caught a glimpse of Larry Hughes, who slipped to the side, had a chance, and he decisively passed the ball over. The steal king is a man who dares to throw, even if the hit rate is a bit miserable. But he threw the ball out without hesitation.

Li Chen took a look at it and resolutely returned to defense, if the arc could be scored, he would dare to eat the ball, instead of listening to a crisp sound of iron, it was better to go back to defend honestly, you know, the Knicks' basket has fallen in the opponent's defensive counterattack twice in a row.

Sure enough, Hughes's power was too great, and the basketball bounced high after hitting the back of the basket, and with Gasol and Bynum escorting him left and right, Odom easily grabbed a rebound.

The Lakers attacked again, because Li Chen and others had prepared to return to defense in advance, this time the Lakers' quick counterattack did not work, Jordan Famar took the ball through the half court and turned the ball into Kobe's hands, this situation can only rely on the gods to figure it out.

With the help of his teammates to cover, Kobe Bryant got rid of the defender and dribbled to the side, but the Knicks have completed the change of defense at the moment, and there is no chance if he wants to attack. Suddenly, Bryant noticed that there seemed to be an opportunity not far behind Odom, and the Knicks players did not notice such a gap, so he dribbled and went straight away.

Chandler saw that this was wrong and quickly pulled out to make up for the defense, and Kobe Bryant also reacted in an instant, a precise back pass, the basketball went straight through the restricted area to Gasol's hands, and the unmarked sister-in-law hit a jump shot sideways, and the Lakers scored two more points. In just a few rounds, the 5-point advantage that was not much has now become 11 points.

D'Antoni called a timeout, in addition to wanting to interrupt the Lakers' offensive arrogance, in his opinion, the Knicks' players also need to calm down, facing a first-class team like the Lakers with almost no weaknesses, being too impatient will only cost him the only chance to win.

"Don't worry!" The mustache makes himself look as calm as possible, and he wants to channel this emotion to his teammates, "If the offense is not fluent, you can slow down appropriately, give the ball to Cruze, the current task is to stabilize the situation, the Lakers are not scary, they also have weaknesses, as long as we seize the opportunity, we can also play a beautiful counterattack!" ”

"Weakness?" David Lee was a little puzzled by D'Antoni's words, the Lakers are the defending champions, how can they have any weaknesses, not to mention, even if there are really weaknesses, the Knicks will definitely be able to catch them.

Obviously, he didn't believe in any miracles when he was used to the fish belly team, even if it was Christmas, and anyway, this was still someone's territory, and Santa Claus would definitely help the host if he wanted to help.

Without waiting for the mustache to explain, Li Chen spoke first, "Weakness, the old problem of the giant team has always been, and after winning a little, they began to relax their vigilance." Believe me, no matter how much the Lakers' coach stresses it, this point can't be changed from beginning to end, it's like a stubborn disease engraved in their bones! ”

The mustache nodded appreciatively, "Cruze is right, although it sounds a little discouraged, but the truth is that the Lakers don't take us seriously, and we should teach them a lesson, of course, the first premise is not to worry!" Especially you, Stephen! ”

D'Antoni highlighted Curry, who was experiencing a major event like the Christmas Game for the first time, making Babyface not calm enough today, and he looked a little overwhelmed than before.

Hearing the coach's words, Curry nodded hurriedly. He has a lot to blame for the Knicks' current dire situation, and from the previous offense, he knows Hughes's character. But he still passed it through, to a certain extent, it was he who caused the subsequent iron, and at the same time fulfilled the opponent's counterattack.

"Come on, guys, let them see how good we are!" At the end of the pause, Li Chen took the initiative to say something to boost morale. Not to mention how much substantive effect it will have, at least it can ignite everyone's fighting spirit.

The short break made the Knicks' situation slightly better, and Curry didn't rush to run away with the ball. Realistically, he took the initiative to return the ball to Big Apple, who has the best handling ability to handle the ball, after half court, and the rookie believes that he can always make the most appropriate choice, whether it is the boss's attack or passing.

Li Chen also did not rush to attack. He's waiting for an opportunity. He is very familiar with the group of guys on the other side, and he knows that the arrogant Lakers will definitely make old mistakes, especially in defense, if these guys don't miss people, it will not be the Purple and Gold Army full of pride in his bones that he is familiar with.

As expected, Battier, who was substituted at the end of the timeout, quickly found a gap, and he quietly lurked in the bottom corner as if he had turned on his invisibility, except for unrelated people outside the court. None of the entire Lakers team on the floor noticed the mistakes they made.

Li Chen didn't look at Battier's position, his eyes locked on the basket, and he deceived Artest who was defending him with his eyes. The hand that was shooting was raised and suddenly thrown straight at Battier in the distance, and Batman, who was lurking in the dark, raised his hand.

"Well done!" Li Chen and Battier slapped each other, and for the Knicks, who had not scored in several rounds, Battier's goal was a timely rain.

"You're pretty!" Battier rarely praised Li Chen, "You didn't notice, when you passed the ball, Ron's eyes were dumbfounded, I guess he thought you were performing magic!" ”

"Sean, I hear you!" The beast made his presence clear with his statement, "Even though we are good friends, that doesn't mean I'll forgive you!" ”

After Battier's important three points, the Knicks regained a bit of momentum, and their offensive efficiency improved greatly in the following games, especially the benches who came on the court in the middle of the game, and their play caught D'Antoni's eye.

"Marcus Thornton is such a baby!" In the CCAV live broadcast, commentator Yang Yi commented on the Knicks' second-round show, "Dare to play and shoot, although the height is not enough, but now it seems that this has not had much impact on him, this season's shooting rate is 45.6, for a player on the outside, such a shooting rate is already very good!" ”

Another commentator, Yu Jia, also agreed with his partner's opinion, "This Thorton may be the best player in this year's second-round picks, and it can even be said that he is better than many first-round picks, and the height disadvantage does not put him in an embarrassing situation."

At least on the Knicks' bench, he did what he had to do, and if this continues, D'Antoni is likely to develop him in the direction of Super Sixth Man, just like Barbossa of the Suns before! ”

In just a few minutes off the bench, Thornton managed to play the role of the team's leading scorer, and without Al Harrington's hindrance, he was given more chances to shoot, and the truth is that he did earn the trust of his teammates and coaches with his efficiency.

He hit three of his five shots, including one three-pointer, and that was just a first-half performance. Seven points, considering his playing time, such a performance has already deserved D'Antoni's commendation.

With the help of Thorton and Little Potato, KFC's grandfather's hopes of Odom to further widen the gap were dashed, and the Knicks not only did not fall behind more during the period when both sides were benches, but on the contrary, they also saved a five-point gap for the main lineup.

Playing again, with the performance of the previous benches as an incentive, the Knicks' main force suddenly burst out with strong combat power, and what the bench can do, they can do the same, and even they can do better.

The cold-blooded three points of the old fish Fisher did not scare the Knicks, the little rookie babyface presented a soul-chasing sword in a blink of an eye, and when it came to three points, except for Li Chen, he was not convinced!

Gasol's singles were interfered with by Chandler, and David Lee showed his opponent his inside singles skills in the later offensive rounds, and after a step of relief, he suddenly turned around, and he forced himself to squeeze out a shot.

David Lee, who has always been despised by himself, has such a good performance, Chandler will naturally not be reconciled, in the subsequent offensive round, he ran more actively than before, and more witty, after pulling his teammates out, he also played a clever reverse run, Li Chen's pass came along the way, and the boxing king was connected to a violent empty catch.

Li Chen also scored, nothing complicated, seizing the opportunity is a three-pointer, for him, shooting is far more reliable than other scoring methods, since the opponent dares to ignore themselves in defense, then they deserve to get the lesson they deserve.

After playing again, the main players of the Knicks played a small climax of 8:3 for a while, although the goal difference was only 5 points, but with the 5 points before the bench, the Lakers' lead gap has been basically erased, and at the moment of the halftime whistle, Li Chen's ultra-long-distance three points finally helped the Knicks successfully tie the score.

It was a scorching first half for the crowd, a surprise for the fans in New York, and a good first half for the neutral fans in front of the TV!

"Well done", D'Antoni's words represent the attitude towards the Knicks, "I knew you guys were the best, and sure enough, you did!" (To be continued......)