Chapter 896: NBA Should Not only Have Victories and Championships!

59 to 56, the Los Angeles Lakers were three points behind in the first half.

However, the Lakers fans who watched the first half of the game did not think that the score difference between the two sides of the game looked so close.

The reason why the Lakers were able to maintain this score difference in the first half when Durant scored 22 points with 8 of 14 shots.

It was completely because Kobe tried his best to maintain it in the first half.

At the same time, the strongest player of the Seattle Supersonics did not shoot much in the first half!

The first half gave people the feeling that Kobe kept picking and rolling with Artest, kept mismatching against Rondo, kept scoring, and kept scoring. In the end, the target of the competition was not Yes, but Durant!

No one may believe it.

In the first half of the seventh game between the Lakers and the Supersonics, it was not Yes who competed with Kobe, but Durant!

The final result was still evenly matched.

Kobe scored slightly more points, but his efficiency was lower.

Kobe scored 25 points in the first half with 10 of 18 shots.

Even with Kobe's performance, the Lakers were still three points behind!

When your big man tried his best and could only compete with the opponent's second-in-command, and the opponent's big man hadn't even made a shot, and you were still three points behind, it was still very despairing.

The Lakers fans and Phil Jackson at the scene were a little desperate.

Even when Kobe came down from the court, sweating profusely, his face was full of disbelief.

In this game, Phil Jackson took the initiative to give up the triangle offense so that he could bypass Yes's defense.

Yes's routine for the triangle offense made it impossible for him to bypass Yes's defense when playing the triangle offense, whether he had the ball or not.

So Phil Jackson designed a tactic for him in this game to use Artest's huge body and strength to constantly pick and roll against Rondo or Durant.

If Rondo defends Artest, then he will play Rondo in a mismatch, and if Durant defends Artest, then he will play Durant in a mismatch.

These two guys are definitely much easier to play than Yes, but they are also not that easy to play!

The wingspans of these two guys are indeed long. Rondo looks thin but quite tough.

The data and efficiency in the first half are really the result of his all-out efforts.

Damn, he tried his best, but in the end he couldn't force Yes out!

Damn, is it because the offense doesn't attack you and avoids you that you have no interest in attacking? !

Kobe's heart is very complicated now.

As a person who has always wanted to fight Yes, he certainly doesn't want to avoid the battle, but the team's victory requires it. After the sixth game, he is willing to listen to Phil Jackson and implement the team's tactics.

But as long as he thinks that his opponent in the first half is not Yes but Durant, Kobe feels as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly.

There is a feeling that I, Kobe, am a good man and I am as famous as Kevin Durant!

He has no opinion on Durant. He still admires Durant. Durant is still a fan of him and TMC. He also took care of Durant during the All-Star Game.

But this makes people feel even more uncomfortable, okay!

In the Western NBA, it is obviously Kobe in the south and Yes in the north. How did this game suddenly become Kobe in the south and KD in the north? !

3 out of 3!

Yes took three shots in the first half!

These three shots were because Artest singled out Yes twice and succeeded twice,

Yes responded twice.

And Randolph singled out Yes once in a mismatch, and Yes responded once.

Except for these three attacks, Yes didn't even have the desire to shoot in the first half!

If Yes wasn't a domineering and face-loving person, if Artest and Randolph hadn't played Yes three times, Kobe would even think that Yes might not even have taken these three shots!

No interest!

Yes had no interest in shooting in this game at all!

In the previous games, he could feel that Yes didn't go all out.

Even if he didn't go all out, he still showed his strength.

But in this game, Yes didn't even have the interest to show his strength!

This is simply a mockery of him and the Lakers!

Kobe's self-esteem was a little hurt!

However!

His pride was hurt, but it was no wonder that Yes was so calm in this game.

Yes carried the Sonics in almost every game this season. Even an iron man would be tired, right?

21 of the 82 regular season playoff games have been played so far, and 103 games have been played!

He finally had a break, why not?

Besides, Kobe Bryant and Durant couldn't beat Durant to death, so what right did he have to ask Yes to do it himself?

In the final analysis, it was not Yes who made them lose their pride, but they lost it themselves!

"In this game, the Lakers are finished."

In this game between the Sonics and the Lakers, the Heat all hoped that the Sonics would lose.

Although James had mixed feelings, he wanted to fight Yes for revenge, but he also didn't want to face Yes.

In general, he would rather see Yes eliminated in the Western Conference Finals than to avenge Yes in the finals.

But the game between the Sonics and the Lakers made James and the Heat speechless.

"Every year, the West seems to have a lot of strong teams and superstars. There are almost 12 or more of the 15 best lineups in the West every season. It seems that the West is strong and the East is weak. In such a game, these strong players can't even beat a second-in-command of the Supersonics."

"Haha, so the strongest team is still our Heat. If they were really strong, would the Spurs be defeated by four consecutive black eights? If they were really strong, would Kobe be unable to control even someone like Durant?"

"The East was indeed weak before, but the West was not much better. What is the most difficult championship in history? Yes last season was born in a good era!"

"If it was the Heat last season, the Heat could win the championship with all wins in the playoffs!"

Listening to the sarcasm of the Heat players around him about Kobe and the Lakers, James didn't say anything on the surface. He is a superstar, and he will have to deal with Kobe and the others in the future.

Some things can't be said, and the relationship must be maintained on the surface.

But in his heart, James agrees with it very much.

Before Yes appeared, Kobe and him were the competitors for the No. 1 player in the league.

His competitive target has always been Kobe.

After Yes appeared, the competition between the two was eliminated.

But no matter what, Kobe is one of the top five or even top three players in the league!

A figure at the top of the NBA pyramid.

Such a figure can only compete with a second-in-command of the Supersonics.

It would be fine if Durant was a second-in-command like Wade.

However, Durant is still the kind of person who is recognized by the world as not very talented. He was trained and promoted by Yes from an ordinary person as Durant himself said.

Kobe can't even control Durant. Does it mean that players of Kobe's level can be mass-produced by Yes?

In the first half of the competition between Kobe and Durant, Kobe did win, but not by much. At least people didn't feel the difference in level.

It can be seen that there is a gap between Durant and Kobe in offense, but they are still at the same level.

This is a bit embarrassing...

I'm afraid it's not just these viewers who are unfriendly to Kobe who think Kobe is a bit embarrassing.

Even Kobe himself feels very embarrassed, right?

But...

You are a superstar of this level, but you can't even control the second-in-command of others. You deserve to be embarrassed!

James thought in his heart with some disdain.

He can beat two people like Durant!

Difficult situation!

The Lakers are in a very difficult situation now!

Durant is the code for the series between the Supersonics and the Lakers.

Durant's state determines the result of the confrontation between the two teams with similar lineups and equal strength, the Supersonics and the Lakers.

If the Durant in the previous sixth game was the Durant that Phil Jackson was most willing to see, then the Durant in this game was the Durant that Phil Jackson was least willing to see.

Without Durant, the Supersonics and the Lakers are inseparable. With Durant, Durant is undercover and the Lakers win. With Durant, Durant is not undercover, and the Lakers are likely to be cold. If Durant is super god, then the Lakers will definitely kneel!

Durant in the first half is the super god Durant!

The Lakers didn't seem to be defeated, thanks to Kobe's performance and Yes's watching.

To be honest, everyone's focus in this series is on Yes and Durant.

The focus of the whole world is whether Yes can help Durant, who has spent so much money in this series, to get out of this mess.

In fact, apart from this focus, Kobe's performance in this series has really made him very, very satisfied.

He averaged 40 points in the first six games, and scored 25 points in the first half of this game.

He took more shots than before, missed more shots than before, and scored more points!

It can be said that Kobe played the best state of his career in this series.

As long as Kobe doesn't have a big breakthrough in the future, this series will be the best series of his career!

Kobe's performance in this series is exactly what he dreamed of Kobe doing before.

Kobe has gone all out to be the strongest, and he has also gone all out to be the strongest. The same is true for other players on the Lakers. Kidd almost washed his hands!

But the most distressing thing is that such a Lakers team can't even beat the Supersonics without Yes!

Looking at Kobe's bloodthirsty eyes sitting in his seat.

Phil Jackson knew very well that Kobe, who has a strong self-esteem, would find it difficult to tolerate the content of the first half.

Because of the outstanding performance in the sixth game, Kobe was willing to listen to him and play his tactics in this game.

In order to win, he avoided Yes and didn't confront Yes head-on.

But...

Losing pride but not winning is really hurtful.

"Boys, congratulations, you have played a very successful season."

When watching the atmosphere of despair slowly fill the Lakers locker room, Phil Jackson finally sighed in his heart and spoke.

Kobe, who was originally in a state of dissatisfaction and resentment, looked up at Phil Jackson, who had a faint smile of satisfaction on his face at this time, and was a little surprised.

This old man...

He originally thought that the failure of becoming a god would make this old man more depressed than him.

After all, becoming a god turned into being beaten by Master Romar...

This kid!

Phil Jackson was very hurt by Kobe's unfriendly look, which looked like "I wonder if you are going to do something bad and spit bad water".

Am I that kind of person? !

However...

Phil Jackson smiled and shook his head in his heart and continued.

The players in the Lakers locker room were completely shocked when they heard what Phil Jackson said.

Is this still the same Phil Jackson as before? !

The Phil Jackson who is known as the victory expert and champion master? !

55...56...48...58...39...

Coming out of the locker room, he stood on the court again and looked at the hand feeling value that kept jumping on the superstar system at this time.

Yes frowned.

This year's playoffs were really unfriendly to him.

From playing against the Spurs to playing against the Mavericks to playing against the Lakers, his hand feeling value was very, very average.

If it is said that playing against the Spurs was too harsh and hurtful to his character, why was it not much better when playing against the Spurs?

So, where did my hand feeling go?

Although with his current strength, he can force a shot even if his hand feeling is not high.

But he can shoot, and he has the position to force shots, but generally speaking, he is unwilling to hinder his teammates and the team.

So when it is not necessary, he will not force shots when the opportunity is not good.

Besides, he doesn't care much about the record of consecutive 30+ points in the playoffs.

Now he doesn't need consecutive 30+ in the playoffs or consecutive 20+ in the regular season to maintain his deterrence.

Of course, his teammates have grown up, and they don't need him to attract firepower for them like before. Maybe Durant and others may attract firepower for him someday.

Durant, who was only slightly inferior to Kobe in this game, gave him such confidence.

To be honest, it's really uncomfortable to be surrounded by two people on the court all the time.

Hmm?

Just when Yes was thinking about a happy future...

"Yes, it's our game, the second half will start!"

Kobe? !

Seeing Kobe, who was still angry at the end of the first half, standing in front of him at this time, Yes was surprised.

When the second half of the game started, not only Yes was surprised, but also the Lakers spectators and old Nelson on the sidelines were surprised!

"Is this the Lakers?"

"Is this Phil Jackson's team?"

Old Nelson was a little confused.

Phil Jackson doesn't want victory, doesn't want the championship?

He actually asked Kobe to not hide from Yes in the second half and actively attack Yes? !

Is this style still Phil Jackson's style? !

"Sure enough, we still lost..."

After the game, looking at the score of 118 to 110, Phil Jackson sighed slightly in his heart.

But soon, Phil Jackson adjusted his mentality.

The game was lost, the victory was gone, the championship was naturally gone, and as for becoming a god... even less.

In this game and this series, he seemed to have lost everything.

But...

"Boys, NBA is not only about data, victory, and championships, but also about heart and dreams. Follow your heart and dreams. Maybe we can go further than data, victory, and championships."

"Boys, I'm sorry. I ruined a game that should belong to you."

Looking at Kobe, who was smiling and hugging Yes and congratulating Yes on the court at this time.

Looking at Kidd who was talking to Rondo, and looking at Randolph who was hugging Millsap...

Phil Jackson felt that he seemed to get more...

"Yes, I still lost..."

"I still didn't force out the strongest you."

Looking at the superstar system's black touch, Yes didn't know what to say.

With this touch, no matter how strong you are, you can't force me to be stronger than you...

However, Kobe still has some small regrets.

In the second half, Yes's offense increased, and the efficiency was still very, very high, but except for the ball he hit Yes successfully, Yes would respond, Yes still didn't show his strongest strength. When he missed, Yes didn't hammer him, but passed the ball.

He is not crazy, but he still feels sorry for not being able to bring out the best Yes.

Even though he scored 55 points in this game, which was better than Yes and Durant, he still felt that he lost because he did not bring out the best Yes. He lost the game and his personal performance.

But...

"Yes, it's another great season, and he has entered the finals again in his career."

"Thank you."

Yes nodded gratefully.

"Don't thank me in a hurry. I hope you won't be abused by the Heat in this year's finals."

"If you really want to thank me, then beat the Heat and make me look less incompetent."

Kobe said jokingly.

"You are not incompetent."

Kobe, who was just joking in his heart, was stunned when he looked at the serious Yes.

"We will beat the Heat."

"..."

Beat the Heat?

Xiao Ye...

I was just joking, you are serious...