The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 416 - 203 Good Night Kobe_2

Chapter 416: Chapter 203 Good Night Kobe_2

In the last minute of the first half, the Pacers took the initiative.

However, just as the buzzer sounded, Kobe hit a three-point shot, allowing the Lakers to enter the second half with a 54 to 52 lead, a two-point advantage.

Barkley, watching the Pacers being passive the entire night, couldn’t help saying, "The Lakers might actually win tonight!"

Right after he said that, during the crucial third quarter, the Pacers decisively switched tactics and, starting from 2:23, directly went with a "Small Lineup" to counter the Lakers.

Yao continued to demonstrate the performance expected of a top-tier center until 7:34 remained in the third quarter.

You see, by that time tonight, he had already scored 25 points!

His performance could not be described as anything less than outstanding.

Moreover, with those 25 points, Yao was also the highest scorer on the Lakers side.

Kobe had only scored 20 points.

He had given it his all!

Next, it was all eyes on Kobe...

Seeing Phil Jackson’s signaling look, Kobe began to increase his frequency of attacks from the outside.

During this period, the Pacers were unsure if the Lakers had truly shifted their offensive focus, so they didn’t loosen their defense on Yao, making this time the easiest for Kobe to perform.

By the end of the third quarter, Kobe had garnered 6 points, extending the Lakers’ lead to 7 points.

"We can win, the Lakers can really win tonight!" Barkley said again.

Beside him, Kenny Smith always felt that "the Flying Pig" was trying to do something with his notorious "poison milk." He glanced at Su Wan’s data, "Su Wan isn’t performing well tonight!"

It wasn’t essentially a weak performance...

Shooting 7 for 16, one for three in three-point shots, and four for four in free throws, he still managed to score 19 points.

But compared to Kobe, who had 26 points, it was clearly a level behind.

Although Su Wan was slightly overwhelmed by Kobe in the last game, from the statistics, they were still considered on the same level.

"It seems Kobe has found the way to suppress Su Wan!" Kenny Smith could only surmise.

But when a nearby "Su Wan fan" heard this, they were unhappy, "Su Wan is not so easily defeated, this game is just because the other Pacers players were excelling at three-point shooting, so he gave those opportunities to his teammates!"

Kenny Smith: "..."

Barkley insisted on saying this, and Kenny couldn’t refute it.

Tonight, the Pacers’ three-point offensive was indeed fierce, having made 13 three-pointers by the end of the third quarter.

This was a striking amount of three-point shots in a current NBA postseason game.

But, the Lakers still led, revealing that the NBA was still in the "traditional center" era, when a team having stable inside scoring and wing attacks would be the top-tier team.

Not to mention this Lakers team, even the original Lakers team was the only one after the 00~02 seasons Lakers to complete a "repeat" championship.

From this, one could see the lethal impact of the "OK" combination on the current league.

Well, not just in the current league, 17 years later, a core roster similar to the "OK" combination could still clinch the championship in the "Small Ball Era," albeit the roles within the combination were quite different then.

The one handling the ball outside was more focused on the offense, his other roles being distributed.

Of course, this was also largely related to Murray’s characteristics.

And the player inside needed to be more versatile...

For the Pacers to win against such a team, relying solely on three-pointers was definitely not enough.

Look how the Forest Wolves toppled the Nuggets in 24.

The wings must have an exceptional guy stepping up, adding that extra edge.

This person...

Naturally had to be Su Wan!

Rick Carlisle could sense Su Wan’s "slump" today but he allowed Su Wan to experience this "slump" because it was so rare... It would be too harsh to reproach Su Wan just for this.

And this "slump" was to some degree.

Su Wan’s performance wasn’t overly outrageous tonight, it just didn’t reach a "Super Star" level, but it definitely was within an All-Star or higher Superstar Floor level.

Most importantly, he believed Su Wan could adjust.

This was his third year coaching Su Wan, and he trusted his confidence in Su Wan more than any other coach trusted their team’s core.

He could say without hesitation:

I, Rick Carlisle, have blind confidence in Su Wan, completely baseless, even if facing Kobe, he believed the last one laughing would be Su Wan.

This kind of person, usually when sent to a hospital, the doctor would ultimately advise them to treat themselves well.

But Rick Carlisle felt that any coach sitting in his position would empathize.

Su Wan wiped the sweat with a towel.

Tonight he encountered a tricky issue, to the extent that he felt he didn’t recognize Kobe:

This guy, faced with his various "trash talks" tonight, actually kept holding back from responding.

Su Wan was sure he was restraining.

He saw Kobe’s slightly twitching mouth corner.

Hmm...

He was really struggling to hold back!

Phil Jackson, watching Kobe, who was wiping sweat using a towel without saying a word, knew he was enduring it heavily.

But the leading score demonstrated this was the right thing to do.

By not provoking Su Wan, he could not exhibit such a state.

The Lakers’ two-guard spot would turn into a tremendous advantage.

However, he didn’t go and tell Kobe to persevere because he knew that any words now would only act as a provocation to him.

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