Zhiba NBA

Chapter 69 (68) A blessing in disguise

5月16日，斯台普斯球馆迎来了生死之战。1年前的5月1日，湖人在这里输给了火箭结束了他们对联盟长达三年的统治。这一幕是否会重演呢？
This is really a back-to-back fight, and the Lakers players are holding back their energy.In the locker room, you can see O'Neal clenched his fists tightly, and the veins on the back of his hands are bulging; you can see Kobe gritting his teeth, with an expression of refusal to admit defeat; you can see Payton's face is confused, as if thinking about whether he made the right choice to join the Lakers; you can also see Zen Master frowning and serious.

"Don't think about whether you can continue the season, don't think about whether you can tie the Toyota Center in Game [-], and don't think about whether you can win the championship. Just think about the game in front of you and win this game." Jackson said.

In such a dull and slightly tragic atmosphere, the Lakers players walked into the player tunnel led by O'Neal.

Zen master looked at the court full of thoughts, and couldn't help being distracted for a while: "As a coach, I have led the team to win 9 championships (I won the Knicks as a player), and I am famous in the NBA. The end of this season may be the time for me to leave the Lakers."

He saw O'Neal force Yao Ming to grab an offensive rebound and make a stop to tie the game. "Thank you Shaq. It is because of you—an unparalleled big mac inside that I can achieve such success in Los Angeles. But now you and Kobe have a lot of conflicts. Will the Lakers fans see this funny you in the team next season?"

He saw Payton scramble for a floor ball and fell to the ground. "Gary, it was me who led Michael's Bulls to prevent your Sonics from winning the championship. Carl's Jazz is the same. Now you come to me, hope that I can accompany you to win the championship, and hope that I can fulfill the last wish of your career. But sorry, it seems that we are going to lose."

He saw Kobe slamming McGrady fiercely, forcing the latter to pass the ball. "Kobe, you are the star with the most similar playing style to Michael Jordan, but now it seems that McGrady is his successor. I changed from an assistant coach to the Bulls coach in 89. I won the championship for the first time two years later, and won all 2 championships in the history of the Bulls together with Michael. Michael is a natural leader. He has the same energy as Kobe and you, infinite fighting spirit, and is different from ordinary people. But he is better at handling relationships with his teammates and can bring the team together. Kobe Bi, the gap between you and Michael is not only in physical talent, but also in mentality. Of course, you are still young, and you will continue to grow, and you will be infinitely close to him in the future."

He saw McGrady hit a three-pointer under Kobe's defense and opened up the point difference again. "McGrady, you shoot like Larry Bird, have a killer instinct like Reggie Miller, and dominate like Michael. I would also like to have the opportunity to coach a player like you, instead of seeing you destroy my team in the opposing team. I wish you were not there!" Thinking of this, he not only shook his head, "Oh!"

McGrady fell to the ground in response, and the referee whistled.

The referee gave Kobe a malicious foul. Kobe moved too much in the rebound and interfered with McGrady's landing, causing the latter to sprain his foot when he landed.

***
"I'll leave it to you, Michael!" McGrady patted Reed's shoulder with pain and said, "You have to persevere, I don't know if I can continue to play this game. If not, it depends on you and Joe."

Reed looked nervous and nodded heavily.

McGrady forced a smile, but he was really worried.After all, I suffered a sprained ankle when I landed last season, which led to the team being eliminated. I won't repeat the same mistakes this year, right?

Fisher made a shot.The Rockets executed the final attack of the first quarter and passed it to Reid many times. He made a three-pointer and missed it. Time is up.The Rockets led the Lakers at 26:21 in the first quarter, but the departure of the main player made them less confident.

Reed's shooting has not been stable in the past month, which has also caused his playing time to drop sharply.Pitchers occasionally encounter a period of continuous slump. Reed has been training hard for a long time, but the touch does not mean that he can come back when he finds it.He even began to be confused about whether he should agree to the invitation of the Magic or the Bucks the summer of the previous year and go to an underdog.This can make Reid a star player, but he insisted on renewing his contract in Houston at a low price of 1 million.

He looked in the direction of the Lakers. Jackson was explaining the tactics, and the Lakers players seemed to have confidence on their faces.Tracy McGrady is gone, the Rockets lack a backbone, and the Lakers' opportunity has come.

A hand patted his back. "Michael, focus on your game and don't worry about others." Yuan Fei said: "You and Tracy are different players. You can't learn his skills, but what you can do, Tracy can't do."

"I'll pass the ball to you, and I'm sure you'll throw it into that damn basket." Billups looked at him, sincerely.

"I will do my best!" Reed's expression finally became firm.

***
Kobe glared at Reed with a look of dissatisfied anger.While other Lakers players may be grateful for Tracy McGrady's end, Bryant will only feel annoyed.Even if he defeated an unknown person like Michael Reid, it would not be able to reflect Kobe's prestige.What Kobe wants is to crush MVP McGrady in 1v1 and lead the team to win the game.

Because of this, he relaxed for a moment.

Reid made a three-pointer, and this time the shot was very fast, like a natural throw or push.Goal scored, 29:21.

Payton broke through and scored 2 points for a layup.Billups held the ball steadily and slowly looked for opportunities.Reed spared no effort to run all over the court, and Kobe quickly instructed George to switch defenses. He didn't want to chase Reed all over the court.

Reed rushed to Payton's side to cover, Billups knew how to break through, and George was still trying to chase Reed, but did not keep up with Billups.Chauncey attracted O'Neal's move, and Yao Ming dunked with a wonderful pass at 31:23.

Kobe faced Wallace and missed a drifting jumper. Reid ran to the offensive position early this time, received the pass and made a three-pointer, and scored 34:23!

This time Kobe chose to break through the pull-bar and layup. This wonderful goal caused the audience to stand up and cheer.But he was horrified to find that the Rockets players seemed calm, as if his beautiful goal was nothing to them.

In fact, Jason Wang has already done psychological counseling for Rockets players based on Kobe's technical characteristics-"No matter how gorgeous and difficult the ball is, it is 2-3 points, and a simple layup is [-] points. You are professional athletes, not fans. Fans should be moved by beautiful goals. And you should not be confused by opponents. Remember, basketball is ultimately about scores."

Unmoved, Chauncey found Reid who ran out of the open space, and the latter made another three-pointer, but unfortunately missed.Yao Ming caught O'Neal and pulled out the rebound, but George missed the rebound.The ball happened to fall into Reid's hands again, and he was unmarked at the moment.

Reid took a deep breath, jumped high and made another quick three-pointer, a beautiful arc, and the goal was scored! At 37:25, the point difference widened to 12 points.

"McGrady's position, I will fill it!" Reid's roar resounded through Staples.

　Many fans don't study basketball seriously and are impetuous. When they see their favorite team lose, they wantonly blame the opponent for being dirty and the referee for being biased.I saw a lot of that in yesterday's finals.Seriously learn basketball knowledge, look at tactics, look at employing people, and look at the ability of stars to cope with changes.Such a wonderful game, just paying attention is not enough, how can there be time to talk about it?I hope that all book friends have correct values ​​and can find more happiness from basketball.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)