One Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy-Seven. European Step to the Gap!
An old man is like a treasure in the family. Nash seized the three-point opportunity steadily and tied the score again.
Kobe really regretted not hooking up with Nash in 2011. At that time, Nash had just worked with veterans such as Carter, Hamilton, and Okur for a year. According to Nash's interview after winning the championship, Nash had just hit a beautiful reversal home run with his old friend to rush into the playoffs. He was at a time when he wanted to partner with someone he had a good relationship with. If it was discussed at that time, Nash would also come to the championship after trading for Paul. It would undoubtedly effectively weaken the Grizzlies' rotation lineup and strengthen himself.
But Kobe is not the type who will actively invite others to join. In 2011, there were opportunities to dig Prince and Hamilton, and in 2010, there were opportunities to dig Yao Ming, Marion, and Battier, but he missed them all.
And these people have said that if Kobe called at that time, they would choose to go.
But Kobe did not invite them, and they had good choices at that time, so they naturally would not take the initiative to get together.
The older generation of players are still very arrogant. Even role players rarely take the initiative to join.
Kobe only regrets, not regrets. If he regrets every time he misses someone, 17 years later, he must regret to the point of collapse. What could be more regretful than the conflict after forming the Big Four in 2003 and parting with O'Neal, who was at the end of his peak in 2004?
Kobe ran to the front court, checked the time, felt his physical condition, and felt that it was time to fight!
When Kobe had a superstar organizing outside lineman who was in his prime as a teammate, even Kobe, who was about to turn 35, was extremely terrifying. In the regular season, he averaged 22-24 points in the first three quarters with a running shooter style. If it was not a critical moment, he would score 30 points per game smoothly; if it was a critical moment, under heavy pressure in the fourth quarter, he could still increase his score to more than 30 points.
In the playoffs, Kobe's performance went a step further, with more concentrated shots and more shots, but he still played relatively easily because he only needed to score; in the Western Conference Finals, it was even more terrifying. He shot whenever he had the chance in the first three quarters, and scored 27 points with 9 of 15 shots... Now, it's Kobe's turn to perform again!
The Grizzlies' lineup rotated too quickly, and there were 9 minutes left. Instead of slowly looking for opportunities, Kobe chose to start singles. Now it's time for him to create rest time for Paul on the offensive end and play the key moment.
In the frontcourt, Kobe leaned on Jimmy Butler in the high position to play back. Paul was already used to Kobe's choice, passed the ball to Kobe, and then pulled to the right sideline to prepare for the response.
Kobe pushed back. Although he was 8 kilograms lighter than Jimmy Butler,
Kobe's explosive power was indeed excellent. He pushed a little, then turned over and shot a fadeaway jump shot...
Solid basic skills, accurate timing judgment, Kobe turned over and made a fadeaway jump shot!
Then, on the Grizzlies side, Sun Ce was blocked, and Nash took the opportunity to pass to Yi Jianlian, who missed the baseline mid-range shot.
Looking back, Kobe turned and broke through Jimmy Butler, and faced Sun Ce's complete vacancy of Leonard's running over to double-team, Kobe made a layup with a pull-up!
After scoring two goals in a row, Kobe retreated to the backcourt, holding his jersey in his mouth, and waiting for Nash to advance.
Sun Ce didn't defend this ball, and he really felt discouraged.
This is actually normal. Kobe often scores this kind of ball that has been double-teamed very well, making the opponent lose his temper or even explode his mentality. This kind of thing, Sun, also often does.
But doing it often and being done are two different things. Sun Ce will also feel discouraged when encountering this situation.
But seeing Kobe holding his jersey in his mouth, amid the crazy cheers of the fans on the scene, Sun Ce knew that the opponent had entered the "Kobe time" mode!
He has used Kobe's card many times and knows Kobe's current feeling very well. His hand feeling is extremely hot. Although it is different from when Sun uses the card and the conditions are met, when Kobe plays himself, there is no such thing as "X shots in the trigger skill event are hot", but it is unpredictable! Including the year and a half of partnering with Paul, this guy has scored 20+ in a single quarter 41 times since 2000!
Sun Ce wanted to use his own containment power to help his teammates score while Nash is there, but now it seems that the situation does not allow it.
When he arrived at the frontcourt, Sun Ce did not go outside the three-point line to contain Leonard and affect the opponent's inside defense movement, but directly asked for the ball when he passed the center circle.
Nash saw this and knew that his performance time was almost up. He did not show off. After the three-pointer just now, he encountered stricter defense. Although it created opportunities for role players, the ability of role players to seize opportunities is obviously not comparable to him and Sun Ce, and Sun Ce... is one of the best players in the last quarter of this season!
On the other side, Leonard saw Sun Ce take the initiative to ask for the ball and saw that Sun Ce was about to start fighting. Even though he was expressionless, he was still devastated in his heart - it was Kobe who did it, not me, don't blame me!
I played against Sun Ce for 20 minutes tonight. The few minutes in the third quarter were okay, but for most of the other time, Leonard was the one who was blown up.
In the fourth quarter, Sun Ce scored 8 points in a row. Now he has only taken two rounds and it's happening again!
On Sun Ce's side, the reason why he didn't hold the ball or respond to the second pass in the previous two rounds was because he felt restless in his heart. He felt like he was No. 24 when he held the ball, and he felt that he wanted to shoot. Knowing that he would be double-teamed by the opponent, he chose to reduce the touch of the ball and try his best to contain it, but now that he has the ball, he no longer thinks about these things.
Concentrating on observing the opponent's defense, Leonard seemed a little nervous, but his basic defensive skills were very solid. He was famous for his defense in college. After being trained by Kobe and Metta World Peace, his defense became more and more outstanding.
But it was still not enough now. Sun Ce grabbed the ball and rushed towards Leonard who was defending on the three-point line, and changed direction to the right when he approached the three-point line.
Leonard had a good sense, good physical fitness, and excellent lateral movement, but when he was about to make contact, Sun Ce suddenly turned around and used Ginobili's change of direction skills to rush towards the middle!
It was a very strange change of direction, and Leonard couldn't keep up!
But Josh Smith came to the backup defense very quickly and focused on Sun Ce. Yi Jianlian had just missed a mid-range shot, and Josh Smith left Yi Jianlian open and double-teamed him, and his position was to block Sun Ce's acceleration and change of direction as he turned and moved. But at this time, Sun Ce took a step that Josh Smith had never seen from Sun Ce before, and jumped one step to the left. When Josh Smith hurried to block him, Sun Ce took a step sideways, faced Jordan Hill's backup defense, and suddenly jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket through Jordan Hill!