"Ball!"

Bryant ran to the outside of the three-point line on the right wing and immediately asked for the ball.

His status in the team is very high, and he has always been the focus of the Lakers management, much higher than Ron Harper, and his ball, Harper generally cannot be ignored.

Barry's lateral movement ability is average, and his single defense ability is actually not excellent, but his arm span is excellent, so the steal statistics are not bad.

Before, he didn't pay much attention to defense, like his dad Barry, who focused more on offense, and after joining the defense-oriented SuperSonics this season, under the request and influence of Zhou Quan, he has now stepped up his investment in defense, averaging 1.5 steals per game.

One of his strengths on the defensive end is his ability to judge the path of the ball, which is one of the reasons why he averages 1.5 steals per game.

When Kobe Bryant asked for the ball, he immediately increased his concentration and immediately stepped up his pressing when Harper tried to pass the ball.

Harper was pressing, and could only block with his left hand, pull the ball up with his right hand, and push it with one hand, passing the ball to Kobe.

He is very aware of Zhou Quan's stealing ability, so the direction of the pass is out, and Kobe Bryant needs to take half a step outside to receive the ball.

But when he pulled the ball with one hand and then passed the ball, the ball speed was not fast, giving Zhou Quan a chance.

Zhou Quan stood in front of Kobe, held by his right hand, when the opponent asked for the ball, his eyes were staring at Kobe, although he didn't look at Harper, but his full-level panoramic vision still knew Harper's every move.

At the moment of Harper's pass, he directly opened Kobe's right hand, and used his more powerful confrontation ability to squeeze Kobe Bryant away and grab the front.

"Smack!"

After breaking the ball, he rushed forward, and in the cheers of the fans, he began to go down quickly.

"Iron Fist!"

Kobe Bryant was furious and fought to catch up.

But Zhou Quan's speed is faster, and the speed of running with the ball is not much slower than running without the ball, and Kobe Bryant didn't catch up when he chased to the top of the left arc, but he was still a step slower.

Holding the ball high in his right hand, Zhou Quan took a step into the paint area and took off, feeling a strong wind in the air, he suddenly retracted his right hand.

"Damn it!"

The next moment, Kobe's left hand swept over Zhou Quan's head, and the cover fell short.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan stretched out his right hand again and stuffed the ball into the basket just as he was about to fly under the basket.

"Oh roar!"

The cheers of the central gymnasium burst onto the ground.

"I'm going to have a big burger at halftime, and luckily I'm ready for it."

O'Neill had just run to the halfway line when Zhou Quan's fast break was over, and he had to turn around and run back, muttering as he could.

"Poof!"

Ben Wallace, who was on the side, couldn't help but laugh.

O'Neal glared at Ben Wallace and went from the free throw line to the basket to turn to get in the position, Ben Wallace was on the side to push him away, and he took his left elbow to push Ben Wallace up.

"Huh, what about people?"

Elbows in the air, looking down, it turned out that Ben Wallace was leaning over to fight, his head was only up to his waist.

That's it? He couldn't help grinning, at this height, how to defend him under the basket?

Ron Harper, who was holding the ball, just crossed the halfway line and saw that O'Neal was about to get to the basket, so he directly pulled the ball up, pushed it with both hands, and the basketball flew to O'Neal.

O'Neal received the ball with one hand, the pass was too far, Campbell had already run over, he immediately put the ball together with both hands, left foot still, and then directly forced a turn.

"What?"

Campbell and Ben Wallace were knocked straight away by O'Neill's turn, and they felt like they were competing against an unstoppable beast.

"Bang!"

With the violent sound of smashing the basket, O'Neal hung on the basket, the basket was pulled out of shape, and the whole basket was smashed and sank downward.

"Oh!"

A whirlwind of exclamations rang out from the central gymnasium.

"This is the big shark, the dominance under the basket is invincible!" Zhang Li couldn't help but admire.

At this time, the supersonic fast break had begun, and O'Neal, who had just finished the attack, had to stride to the backcourt, and there was no respite for a moment when the offense and defense were switching.

"O'Neal's shooting rate under the basket is as high as 80%, as long as he gets the ball under the basket, a single defense or a few defenses, it really makes no difference to him." Xu Jicheng also praised.

"But a few people went up to pile him, and his physical exertion was definitely huge. Coupled with the supersonic's constant fast attack, his physical consumption will be even greater. In the end, he can't bear it, and it's time for supersonic to take advantage. Zhang said reasonably.

Kobe Bryant still slowed down Zhou Quan through defense, but as soon as Zhou Quan arrived in the frontcourt, he immediately started attacking, and still didn't give O'Neal, who had just run past the free throw line, any respite.

"Whoosh!"

He suddenly crossed the ball to Barry Jr. on the right flank, who was one step ahead of veteran Ron Harper and had an open spot to catch the ball.

"Bang!"

Barry Jr. received the ball and immediately made a three-point jumper, but unfortunately missed.

The basketball rebounded, and AC Green, who had just run to the right wing, happened to receive the rebound, and O'Neal, who ran to the basket, quickly turned around and ran.

Kobe Bryant took a step ahead of Zhou Quan, and while reaching out to Green to ask for the ball, Green saw it and hurriedly passed the ball to Kobe's front.

In fact, Zhou Quan deliberately lagged behind Kobe, he followed Kobe forward while looking back to observe, and at the moment of Green's pass, he began to chase hard.

His speed is faster than Kobe, Kobe's absolute speed is not very good, the speed of 100 meters is average, a few steps later, when the ball comes, he has caught up with half a step, but he did not overtake, but ran behind Kobe.

At this time, the ball slid downward, and the two jumped up to catch the ball at the same time, but Zhou Quan's position was behind, and the position of receiving the ball became front.

was about to be cut off again, Kobe Bryant was anxious, received the ball with his right hand, but his left arm was deliberately pressed down, trying to press down Zhou Quan in front.

"Smack!"

Zhou Quan's head was pressed, and instead of grabbing the ball, he flew the ball away, and Kobe Bryant didn't catch it.

"Tick!"

The referee's whistle had already sounded, pointing at Kobe Bryant and giving the ball to the SuperSonics.

"You kid has a lot of small movements! Who did you learn from? Jordan and I didn't have those little moves when we were defending. Zhou Quan glared at Kobe.

Kobe shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, looked to the side and said, "I didn't mean to." ”

"Generally, when lying, the eyes will be very erratic, and they will not look directly at each other, and the smiles on the left and right faces will be asymmetrical, commonly known as skin and laughter, you didn't look directly at me when you just explained, and at the same time the left side of the face is smiling, the right side of the face is paralyzed, and the standard lying expression." Zhou Quan said.

"How can I have facial paralysis, is that Duncan? Facial paralysis is Tim Duncan. Kobe Bryant was even more embarrassed, rubbed his right cheek, and hurriedly ran to the backcourt.

"Haha......"

Not far away, everyone who heard the conversation between the two burst into laughter, including several players from both sides of the field and the linesman.

In this game, the SuperSonics always adhered to the fast-break tactics and finally won the victory, and the Lakers won one win and two losses.

The score was 90:105, with the SuperSonics winning by 15 points.

After the game, Zhang said: "O'Neal withstood three quarters, and his physical strength was unbearable in the final quarter, playing a total of 42 minutes, 10 of 17 shots, with a shooting rate of 58.8%, which was slightly higher than the normal level of the regular season this season, plus 7 free throws and 3 shots, got 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks."

His offense under the basket was terrifying, shooting 6-of-7 from the field with a shooting rate of 85.7%, and it can be said that the supersonic interior line was blown into slag by him under the basket.

In addition, he shot 4 of 10 in the last two points, which was slightly lower than his normal level, and after his physical fitness in the last quarter failed, he only made 1 of 4 shots from this kind of ball. ”

"He has averaged 21 shots per game this season, and today he only had 17 shots, and in terms of the number of shots he made, the supersonic defense was successful again," Xu said. ”

"Yes to ......"

Zhang Li nodded and said: "Supersonic limited the outside pass to O'Neal, which was successful, and won the game because of it." ”

Xu Jicheng said: "Zhou Quan played 40 minutes, a lot of fast breaks, 16 of 25 shots, a shooting rate of 64%, 3 of 7 three-point shots, a shooting rate of 42.9%, 5 free throws, 40 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls.

Director Zhang, Zhou Quan's performance tonight should say that his state has returned to the level before his retirement. ”

"Definitely."

Zhang Li said with a smile: "The overall defensive strategy of the supersonic tonight is right, since it can't limit O'Neal, then limit the people who pass the ball to O'Neal, and at the same time improve the offensive and defensive rhythm."

So in tonight's game, the Lakers have been in the rhythm of catching up with the score, and they have not led once in the whole game, and they are very passive. ”

Xu Jicheng said: "Zhou Quan's defense of Kobe Bryant was also very successful, causing Kobe to make 5 turnovers, allowing Kobe to shoot only 6 of 20 shots, 0 of 5 three-point shots, and the overall shooting rate was only 30%, plus only 12 points from the free throw line. The OK combination combined for 35 points. ”

Zhang Li said with a smile: "Although Kobe Bryant's strength is good now, he is still too tender in front of Zhou Quan.

Jordan at his peak also let Zhou Quan complete three consecutive championships on his head, and Kobe's current offensive and defensive ability is still far inferior to Jordan's.

Where is the Lakers strong now, O'Neal's point, no matter what form it takes, as long as it limits O'Neal's scoring and makes his destructive power less great, he will have a chance to win against the Lakers. ”

At the scene, Zhou Quan and O'Neal bumped fists and said happily: "Shark, the playoffs will hit you like this, use your brains and think about how to deal with it." ”

"That's Phil Jackson's thing." O'Neill, who was tired to death, said angrily.

Zhou Quan turned around and said to Kobe Bryant, who came over: "Boy, you are still a long way from Jordan, if you want to be my opponent, you have to be stronger." ”

"I will." Kobe Bryant stared at Zhou Quan and said.

Zhou Quan nodded and said: "The eyes are firm and not fluttering, which means that this is the truth, not a lie." ”

Kobe Bryant's face couldn't help but collapse, snorted, and turned around and walked towards the player's tunnel.

……

After this game, the SuperSonics are 29-9 and the Lakers are 32-7, a difference of 2.5 wins, which is still second in the West and second in the league.

Starting from the defeat of the Lakers, the SuperSonics went through two back-to-backs, played four more games until the 23rd, and added the Lakers to play a wave of five consecutive wins and achieved a 33-9 record.

After the Lakers lost to the SuperSonics, they first beat the Cavaliers and then lost to the Trail Blazers, 33-8.

In just a few days, the difference between the Lakers and the SuperSonics has changed from 2.5 to 0.5.

At two o'clock in the morning on the 24th, the SuperSonics, who had just beaten the Green team on the road, arrived in New York and began their third consecutive back-to-back in recent times.

And on this day, the Lakers will also challenge the Jazz on the road.

He arrived at the hotel at three o'clock, went to bed after four o'clock, and at 11 o'clock the next morning, Zhou Quan woke up from a deep sleep.

Although the biological clock is sparse, the eating time is not fixed, and he often eats breakfast on the plane in the early morning, Zhou Quan is still full of energy after waking up, much better than his teammates.

"Luckily, I have the Sleep Pill Gong."

After two years of retirement, Zhou Quan insisted on practicing Sleep Dangong, and now he has reached the second realm, that is, the realm where he can quickly settle down and have no dreams all night.

In this realm, even if you only sleep for three or four hours, the deep sleep time is actually enough, of course, the more you sleep, the more you meet the requirements of sleeping Dangong.

In the past two years, especially since last year, he feels that his spiritual strength has improved somewhat, which he didn't feel two years ago.

Spiritual power is mysterious, invisible or intangible, but it is a real thing.

To put it simply, for example, in such a dense regular schedule, the player is mentally and physically very tired, and he used to be the same, but now his spirit is not as easy to get tired as before, which is an increase in mental strength.

This increase will be more effective in the playoff series, which can keep him in better shape throughout the series.

There were back-to-back games in the evening, no training was scheduled in the afternoon, and after lunch, Zhou Quan called Rodman and went to Long Island to play golf together.

Today is Saturday, there are a lot of people who come to Long Island to play golf, there is only one non-membership public course on Long Island, the other courses are private membership, the membership fee is very expensive, the people who come here to play are basically New York people with good economic conditions, and the ordinary middle class is not qualified to come to Long Island to play.

He has a lifetime membership card for Fishers Island Club, a mecca of golf courses that he was gifted with when he came to the Hall of Fame to win the championship.

But the club was 140 miles away from New York, so he chose the Black Course in Bethpage National Park, which is the closest to New York, which is less than 40 miles away.

After staying on Long Island until five o'clock in the afternoon, the two returned to the city center, arriving at Madison Square Garden at exactly six o'clock, and after dinner, before seven o'clock, they met with teammates in the locker room.

At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting list.

Sonics: Ben Wallace, Campbell, Cory Magetti, Brent Barry, Zhou Quan

Knicks: Ewing, Larry Johnson, Ratriel Sprewell, Alan Houston, Charlie Ward

The game was narrated by ESPN TV and the commentators were Bill Wharton and Bill Lamb Beal.

Bill Wharton was originally on ABC TV, but he was poached by ESPN with a high salary after his contract ended the year before, and then ESPN found Bill Ranbill, who had resigned before, and paired him with Bill Walton.

Now the two Beals form ESPN's well-known Beal group, Bill Wharton plays whiteface, Ranbir plays blackface, has a group of fans to support, and has a lot of fame in the NBA commentary world.

(End of chapter)