Chapter 268: Caught off guard
After winning the first game in the West on the road, the Warriors are full of confidence, they have become a strong team in the mouth of the media and fans, and now the Warriors still have a playoff law, that is, as long as they win the first game of the series, they can qualify, such as the previous games against the Jazz and Spurs, and that's it.
Chamberlain's 30+20+6 became the first person in NBA history, and no one has ever scored such a score in the first full-season Finals-caliber game, including the awesome Flyer King and the ancient fierce god Wilt Chamberlain.
Warriors fans are ready to meet the Celtics in the finals, and in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics successfully defeated the Cavaliers led by the little emperor, and the Big Three have begun to charge for the first championship of their careers.
Unlike the much-acclaimed Chamberlain, Bryant was unanimously criticized by fans and the media, and even though he scored a game-high 42 points, what good was that? Didn't his team lose the game 90-105 yet? He scored almost half of the team's points but shot just 40 per cent, and fans began to question his leadership skills and dubbed him 'the lone wolf of the new generation'.
In the face of the doubts of the media, fans and experts all over the world, Kobe Bryant did not say a word, he was silent, waiting for the next game.
Soon, just one day later, the second game of the Western Conference Finals began.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the Warriors launched the first offense but unfortunately did not succeed, and in the end, Kobe Bryant broke through with the ball and caused Jackson to foul defensively, and he made two free throws to open the scoring record for the first time, and Chamberlain immediately returned the color with a single under the basket. Many people thought that Kobe Bryant was going to replicate the style of the previous game again, but this time it was different, he broke through the attraction bag and gave the ball to Gasol for the first time, and the latter hit a mid-range shot.
Then Kobe Bryant assisted Odom to score a layup, so that under Kobe's leadership, the Lakers sent an 11-6 attack wave at the beginning, and the old Nelson had to call a timeout, Kobe Bryant was dangerous today, and the old man had already sensed the seriousness of the problem.
After the timeout, the Warriors began to launch a counterattack, Billups hit two consecutive shots, West also broke through the layup to contribute two points, the Warriors overtook the score in one fell swoop, and at the critical moment, Kobe Bryant and Gasol teamed up to regain the lead. Then the two sides began to alternate scores, and the two sides tied at 20 with 5 minutes and 13 seconds left in the quarter, and then the Lakers controlled the rhythm of the court, Kobe Bryant continued to attract the bag and then transfer the ball, he instead became the team's playmaking guard, and did a good job, the Lakers fired continuously inside and outside, sending a 12-6 attack wave, and the Lakers temporarily led the Warriors 32-26 in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, both teams played a defensive battle, the offense in the first quarter was too smooth, and suddenly a defensive battle was played, the shooting percentage of both sides began to plummet, and the ball bounced out of the basket many times, after Chamberlain and Jackson teamed up to score 4 points, the score gap gradually narrowed, and Kobe Bryant on the Lakers' side suddenly broke out, and he hit two three-pointers in a row to open the score gap again, forcing the old Nelson to call a timeout again.
After the timeout, Chamberlain and Billups combined to play a 9-2 **** to close the gap to 2 points. At the end of the second quarter, after Odom scored 4 points in a row, Billups and Harrington teamed up to score 6 points and also colored, and Kobe Bryant hit a 2-point jumper to hit the whistle, and the quarter ended, and the two sides fought to a 56-all tie.
At the beginning of the third quarter of the game, Kobe Bryant came up and hit a three-pointer from a distance, and the two sides played back and forth, Chamberlain broke through Bynum's defense and scored 2 points and caused Gasol to foul the defense, and hit a free throw, and the two sides fought again to 61 draws, and the court situation was very anxious.
After that, the two teams fought to 65 draws, 68 draws, 72 draws, the game was very difficult, in the second half of the third quarter of the game, the Lakers once again controlled the situation on the court, Odom's mid-range jumper, the old fish Fisher's long-range three-point shot left the Warriors behind again, although the Warriors also performed, but still could not stop the Lakers' inside and outside flowering, Gasol and Odom both opened, especially the former, it was completely the play of the All-Star power forward, which blew up everyone on the Warriors' interior except for Chamberlain.
At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers led the Warriors by double digits at 84-74, and the Zen master deserved to be the master of the masters, and he found the flaw of the Warriors, that is, there was only one Chamberlain on the inside to guard the restricted area, and as long as Gasol pulled out to the high position, then the Warriors had no one to fight him - Harrington's height and strength were not opponents, Evans was too clumsy, only Chamberlain could deal with Gasol, but did Chamberlain dare to leave the restricted area?
At the start of the fourth quarter, Bryant and Gasol combined for five points to extend the lead to 15 points. At the critical moment, Billups stepped up, he first scored 2 points from the mid-range shot, and then contributed 3 points, and Chamberlain also sacrificed a butcher's knife, and even scored 4 points under the basket, and the Zen master could only call a timeout.
After the timeout came back, the Lakers continued to maintain a good hand, Odom and Gasol sent a 9-0 **** under the leadership of Kobe, and the Warriors finally chased back the score, and there was no more. Not to be outdone, Chamberlain made a layup on the inside, then blocked Odom's dunk, and he also shot once from beyond the three-point line and hit it, and the Zen master had to take another timeout.
After that, Chamberlain continued to hit two shots in a row, and then Billups passed Ellis outside the three-point line, who tore through the Lakers' defense and made an easy layup. The game went into the final countdown stage, and neither side had any milestone performances, and in the end, the Lakers defeated the Warriors 102-93 to win the second game.
In this way, after the first two games, the game became a 1-1 draw, and the Warriors fans were not nervous, they still had the last three home court advantages, not to mention that when facing the Spurs, they were also beaten to a 1-1 draw?
Then the Warriors had two home-court advantages, and before the start of the third game, there were many portraits of Chamberlain, Billups and others in the Warriors' Oracle Arena, almost every fan had one, Chamberlain and others were greatly surprised, and later found out that it was the street painter fans of Salt Lake City who came to the scene, but now they have worn the Warriors' jerseys and are no longer Jazz fans.
The scene of Chamberlain rushing into the chaos and rescuing the two children completely won the hearts of many Jazz fans, they abandoned the Jazz team that almost cost them their families, joined the Warriors fan circle, and they painted hundreds of portraits before the game, and then made copies, and finally the Oracle Arena became what it is now.
The actions of the fans encouraged the Warriors up and down, and at the beginning of the first quarter, the Warriors' starting five men attacked strongly and all scored, and suddenly played an 18-6 start, killing the Lakers fans with colorless faces and Zen masters grinning in pain.
But Kobe Bryant was as calm as ever, and the black mamba had become more and more dangerous, and he signaled his teammates not to get excited, and he wanted to pass the ball and organize the offense himself - didn't you say I wasn't a good leader? Okay, I'll lead the team to show you, let you know that I am not only a general who can charge into battle, but also a handsome talent who can win thousands of miles away!
Kobe Bryant organized Gasol to break through and caused Harrington to foul, the Spaniard hit one of two free throws, and then Odom immediately turned around on the left baseline and hit a jumper, followed by Kobe and Fisher left and right to shoot three points, the Warriors' lead was almost chased in a blink of an eye, and that's not all, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to continue to attack fiercely, and after suffering an 18-6 humiliating start, the Lakers played an 18-3 revenge counterattack wave to overtake the score in one fell swoop.
In the last moments before the end of the first quarter, Bryant continued the bravery of the previous game and hit another two points to help the Lakers take a 29-24 lead. But Warriors fans are not in a hurry, on the contrary, they are angry, because the Lakers were able to play such a counterattack because Chamberlain inexplicably ate two fouls in a row, and Nelson Sr. had to change him to the bench, which allowed the Lakers to seize the opportunity.
Without Chamberlain's Warriors' inside line, like a sieve, Gasol teamed up with Bynum and Odom to storm the restricted area and completely dominate that one-acre three-point area.
In the second quarter, Kobe Bryant still helped the Lakers stay strong, and Nelson Sr. had to send Chamberlain, who had already committed two fouls, in advance.
Chamberlain's interior line of this level is too helpful to the team, as soon as he came on the court, the Warriors suddenly opened up the position, Billups directly hit a three-point shot, under the leadership of Chamberlain, the Warriors followed and strengthened the defense, and a wave of 10-2 offense narrowed the gap between the two teams to 1 point.
At this time, Kobe Bryant stepped up again, with him, the Lakers did not have to worry about scoring, he played a leading role and scored 5 points in a row, re-energizing the Lakers' offensive firepower. In the last 39 seconds of the quarter, West hit a jumper, but because Kobe Bryant led the team to play too well, the Warriors still trailed the Lakers 48-51 at halftime.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the Warriors were crazy defensively, all the energy was focused on the defensive end, and the Lakers' offense had serious problems.
The Zen master could only call a timeout to deploy a new tactic, and Kobe Bryant also returned to the game, after he came on the court, he first scored on a mid-range shot, and Chamberlain immediately dunked on the inside to return the color, but just after the halfway point of the quarter, the Lakers still regained the lead with Kobe's breakthrough layup.
Then both sides were unwilling to fall behind, stimulated by the victory, the scores of the two teams alternately rose, at the end of the quarter, Gasol and Odom were replaced, Harrington right-hand jumper two points led the Warriors to set off another wave of offensive ****, by the end of the third quarter, the Warriors led the Lakers 75-65 by double digits.
The show didn't last long, and after the start of the fourth quarter, the Lakers switched to the starting lineup, and Bryant scored five points in a row in less than a minute, forcing the Warriors to quickly pause the game. After the game continued, the Lakers still chased closely, Billups although he hit a three-point shot from the right wing, but the Lakers counterattacked unstoppably, and soon chased the score to 78-79.
At the important moment, the tired Chamberlain defended a three-second violation, and the Lakers took the opportunity to score six points in a row to overtake the score. For nearly seven and a half minutes in the fourth quarter, the tired Warriors scored just four points and were in an extremely sluggish offensive state. 1 minute and 25 seconds after the game, West's long-range shot narrowed the difference to 3 points, but Kobe Bryant hit two free throws in the last 38 seconds, and Chamberlain missed his jump shot at the last moment, and the Warriors lost their first home court!
Losing two games in a row, the Warriors' confidence has been hit, Kobe's splitting and triangle tactics are too sharp, and they have caught a weakness of the Warriors, that is, there is only one super Chamberlain on the inside, as long as Chamberlain is dumb, then this team will collapse.
Although the brain of the Warriors is Billups, the real reliance of this team is Chamberlain!
Warriors fans were not convinced, following Chamberlain's six fouls in the first game, this time Chamberlain suffered six fouls again, and fans angrily questioned the referee's decision, believing that the league was manipulating the game and deliberately suppressing Chamberlain's Warriors.
The league wants to see the rise of the Lakers, and everyone knows this, reminiscent of the Kings in 2000, in the mouth of fans, the Warriors lost unjustly.