My Name is Kobe Bryant

Chapter 39 Take Over the Game

O'Neal was restricted, and Harris didn't think of a good solution. In the NBA, when a coach can't come up with a solution, he'll hand over the burden to the players.

Who will come forward? Harris looked around, and he selected Kobe.

Harris believes that the future star of the team will solve the problem, even if it cannot be successful, this is a kind of grinding for him. He called Kobe aside, "I need you to break the shackles that lock O'Neal, do you understand how to do it?"

"I see, Coach." Bryant knew the team was only down by single digits, and it was too easy to overtake. The difficulty is how to suppress the momentum of the opponent while overtaking the score. At the same time, give some lost Lakers players a shot in the arm.

Liberating O'Neal's offense is easy, the hard part is getting the team going.

The halftime break ended and the players returned to the field. Harris removed Ceballos in the second half and replaced Bowen at small forward. Harris is worried that Larry Johnson will beat Ceballos again, so this game is really hard to say.

Harris dare not take risks, the regular season is very long, and no team can maintain a complete victory. But let O'Neal lose to Ewing, the head of the team will definitely feel uncomfortable.

How to maintain the state of the team's leading star? That is to make him play comfortably. When the star plays comfortably, your team will naturally be on the right track. This is West told him, the rules for the use of O'Neill.

Changing sides to fight again, Kobe played more pick-and-rolls with O'Neal. The effect was not very good. The reason was that Ewing and Oakley's squatting defense filled the inside. After O'Neal's pick-and-roll, he couldn't go down and cause effective damage. The attack power of the pick-and-roll was weakened by half, and it became a tactic that could only create space for Kobe to shoot.

Kobe knew that if he continued to play like this, the game would be decided in the fourth quarter. So he began to hand the ball to Eddie Jones. Eddie Jones, who did not perform well in the first two games, seized the opportunity in the third quarter, made an air cut, and scored repeatedly with jumpers.

The CIC king Alan Houston's defense is not very good, and New York's defensive focus is involved in the inside melee O'Neal, which gives Eddie Jones a good offensive opportunity.

For New York, the offensive method is still Alan Houston and Patrick Ewing's singles. The New York team led by Jeff Van Gundy has excellent defensive capabilities, but the offensive end did not knead several stars together. Especially Larry Johnson, the role of the star on the offensive end is too small.

Kobe was replaced in the middle of the third quarter, and the team was played by O'Neal with a group of substitutes. Harris was determined to win this game, so he let O'Neal play for a long time.

The inside defense of O'Neal and Ben Wallace is very good, but there are some conflicts on the offensive end. Ben Wallace, who has almost zero offensive ability, is a natural mismatch with O'Neal. Oakley can double-team O'Neal without any scruples, causing O'Neal to struggle on the court.

Starks still showed his scoring explosive power in front of the Lakers' backup guards. After three quarters, he came off the bench and scored 19 points on 8 of 14 shots.

Neither Van Exel nor Fisher can effectively limit him, and Starks' speed is his greatest weapon. Having played with Ewing for many years, he knows how to play the best performance next to Ewing. This is not as good as starters Alan Houston and Larry Johnson.

Fortunately, the inside line composed of Ben Wallace and O'Neal firmly restricted the New York Knicks' scoring in the penalty area, and the points were not pulled away.

At the end of the three quarters, the Lakers 73:78 Knicks. Eddie Jones scored 4 of 7 and scored 4 free throws. He maintained the Lakers' offensive efficiency in the third quarter with 12 points in a single quarter.

The decisive battle started in the fourth quarter, and O'Neal continued to stay on the court at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Harris was prepared to let O'Neal play the entire second half. The Lakers lineup is PG Kobe Bryant, SG Eddie Jones, SF Bruce Bowen, PF Campbell, C Shaq O'Neal.

The New York Knicks also kept Ewing on the court, knowing that the unrestricted O'Neal had the ability to quickly rewrite the score as long as Ewing was not on the court.

Kobe has been waiting for an opportunity, a chance to turn defeat into victory in one fell swoop. Now, the opportunity has come. After 3 quarters of hand-to-hand combat, the aging Ewing has already had physical problems. Maybe there won't be too many problems on the offensive end and O'Neal's defense, but his defensive ability has declined.

What Kobe was waiting for was now, dribbling across half court.

"ISO!" Kobe called a tactic, and the audience opened up. It was Charlie Ward single-handedly defending Kobe, who had a hundred ways to score against the diminutive point guard.

Kobe first shook his crotch back and forth, and Charlie Ward, who had a low center of gravity, didn't take it. But when Kobe accelerated, Charlie Ward's line of defense was quickly rushed away. Kobe's breakthrough was simple and effective, and Charlie Ward was quickly pulled behind after Kobe accelerated.

"Make up defense!" Charlie Ward yelled, he couldn't hold the player who rushed inside like a panther. If it's possible in the first quarter when he's full of energy, why does this guy have such speed in the fourth quarter?

Ewing stuck O'Neal and didn't step forward to make up the defense. Oakley let go of Campbell and rushed to Kobe immediately.

Kobe ignored it, put away the basketball, and strode into the air!

Oakley's supplementary defense was very timely. He jumped up and crashed into Kobe in the air. He would rather pay a foul than let Kobe get an easy inside scoring opportunity.

Kobe and Oakley collided in the air, and there is no doubt that the thin Kobe was knocked away by the strong Oakley. But Kobe forcibly controlled the center of gravity of his body in the air, pulled the ball back to the range of force, and threw the ball steadily before falling.

"Doo! The goal is valid, and the penalty will be added!" The referee blew the spoon immediately. The ball is so beautiful. Even the referees who have watched countless games couldn't help but be convinced.

"Damn it, brat, you'd better not step into the penalty area again." Oakley, who landed steadily, looked at Kobe fiercely, and let him score. Scoring two free throws and hitting 2+1 have completely different meanings to the team. Being scored 2+1 made Oakley very angry.

"Boy! You are simply a beast!" O'Neill rushed up immediately and pulled up Kobe who had fallen to the ground. When Kobe landed, he removed the impact very skillfully and landed firmly on the ground.

"Be careful, they are a bit ruthless." Campbell stepped forward and reminded Kobe. He's a bit worried about the bad guys in New York getting their young talent out of harm's way.

"It's okay, this is just the beginning." Kobe's stern face was expressionless, as if he was not the one who scored the performance that was firmly selected as the top ten goal.

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