NBA's strongest prince

Chapter 381
The Suns still scored all the starting points, and Millsap also got a good layup opportunity.

They also managed to take the lead at home. Although not much, it has put pressure on the Lakers.

Normally, Kobe would definitely have started at this time, and the Suns' defense is also good. If they fall behind a little bit, it will be difficult for the opponent to catch up.

But in the face of the sun, Bryant gave him little patience, he is still observing.

Kobe is not the only one who is patient. Their head coach Zen Master Jackson is also more patient and can be said to be very confident.

As a championship coach and a famous coach in the league, Phil Jackson is also very proud.

Except for Kobe, who asked to play more time, the other starters of the Lakers did not play very long.

Like the Suns, the Lakers have given the rotation players a lot of time. Although their substitute players are actually much weaker than the Suns, they cannot lose in terms of team dignity.

Coach Phil Jackson is a decent guy, and the Lakers' backups Farmar and Vujacic also performed well, but the Lakers' rotation defense was also a little anxious, so the Suns' lead increased.

Ellis didn't have a super performance this time. The Lakers still pay more attention to defending him, but the Suns' bench lineup almost all scored. Korver's performance is still very good, and his shooting is very stable.

Gasol Jr. also faced Gasol a few times. Unfortunately, he seemed a little hesitant to face his brother. His performance was not as good as in the last round, but he still hit a goal with the help of Russell.

In fact, under Kobe's humble attitude, the Lakers played in a daze.

Kobe's current style of play, the first thing he doesn't adapt to is his teammates.

Relatively speaking, the Suns still have stable output from Russell and Stoudemire, and Durant has also performed.

Tactically speaking, the Suns are more targeted. The Lakers' triangle offense is referred to as the star single-challenge technique.

And Russell's suppression of the Lakers' No. [-] position is already very obvious.

Farmar's shooting touch is better this time, but he really has a problem with defense. He is not as focused as Fisher and cannot take on the big responsibility.

At the end of the second quarter, Kobe suddenly found that the team seemed to be behind by double digits, and he only started to shoot at this time.

But by the end of the first half, the Lakers still hadn't shaken off the decline.

They were home to the Suns and trailed by 10 points at halftime.

The performance of the Lakers in the first half seemed a little strange. Their head coach Jackson also communicated with Kobe after entering the locker room.

They have all reached the Western Conference Finals, and the opponents they face are not the small players before. Kobe must fully enter the state.

Kobe also realized that he thought badly in the first half, and promised to change his style of play in the second half.

It would be difficult to calm down if he stopped attacking, but asking him to enter attack mode was just a matter of one sentence.

The Suns were also summarizing the situation in the first half during the intermission. They were in the leading position, but they should not be taken lightly. Kobe hadn't exerted his strength yet.

But the team will not try to flank Kobe in the third quarter, at most they will help defend inside.

What they have to do is to lock up the Lakers' role players and prevent them from hitting three-pointers.

When Kobe is cut off from his teammates and only has eyes for the basket, he can try to pinch, which has a good chance of success.

Russell played a lot of simulated games as usual, but because it was the first match against the opponent in the playoffs, Russell still felt that he should be more cautious.

The main thing is defense. Don't let Kobe feel crazy.

As for the offensive end, Russell is not worried, even if Kobe is holding back his strength to defend him himself, he doesn't care.

There's no defense that can't be solved with one screen, or two if that doesn't work.

After all, basketball is not a one-on-one game. There are too many places that can be leveraged in the game.

In the third quarter, Kobe really changed his style of play and became much more aggressive.

It doesn't matter to Russell, anyway, he can't guard against Kobe, that's Ray Allen's business.

In fact, Ray Allen will not lose his position defensively, but he is a little less aggressive and cannot put enough pressure on Kobe.

Of course, because the Suns locked the Lakers' role players, Kobe couldn't pass the ball even if he wanted to. Now only Kobe and Gasol can attack.

On Odom's side, the offensive power has not improved compared to before, but the feeling of shooting is worse.

Because of Bynum's truce, the Lakers really used Odom as an insider.

It may also be that after Gasol came over, Odom had less possession of the ball, and it was more difficult to find the feeling.

Originally, there was a reason why Odom played as a substitute after Bynum returned in history. With the main force, his organizational expertise could not be brought into play.

His kind of comprehensive team is a panacea if it is used well, but it is easy to fail if it is not used well.

Now Odom is an indispensable player for the Lakers, but his performance is only average.

In the case of Kobe Bryant's efforts, in fact, the Lakers lacked performance in other points, and the combination is almost the same. The Suns just need to be careful not to let Kobe go crazy.

They still pick and roll Russell and Stoudemire, and the others beat the side drums.

But with this set of tactics, the Lakers can't prevent it.

The biggest difference between Russell holding the ball and Kobe is that he can activate all his teammates.

There is really no way for the players defending him. Russell can really switch between scoring and passing at will, which is very clever.

In fact, no one noticed that Russell played better in the playoffs.

In the regular season, he can also seamlessly connect between scoring and passing, but the pertinence is not so strong.

In the playoffs, he had enough time to play simulated games to find out the details of his opponents before he could be perfect, so the expansion of defensive intensity in the playoffs seemed to have no effect on him.

No one would think too much, even if the existence was reasonable, they would only think that Russell was really too strong.

"You can go a little slower in the defense, but you have to be decisive when you go up." Russell pointed out his teammates.

Russell's defense is generally due to his body, and his consciousness is really good.

The two teams played inextricably in the third quarter, and the Suns were in the lead anyway.

Because the decisive moment is approaching, both sides have reduced their rotations, especially the Lakers.

Kobe, on the other hand, didn't care about his coffee position at all, and didn't go down to rest at all.

But this time, he didn't just help the bench to feel, he is now very resolute in offense.

After Ray Allen went down, the Suns had some problems with Kobe's defense.

Ray Allen at least doesn't have any problems with his defensive footwork, and the Suns don't dare to reuse Tony Allen now. This defensive master is only a young player now.

When Ellis failed to perform, the Lakers led by Kobe rotated the lineup and began to chase points non-stop.

The score gap between the two sides suddenly narrowed to about 5 points, and D'Antoni was also a little worried.

(End of this chapter)