Lao Wang really wasn't prepared to fight this time. He was the one attacking from the front, and this time he wasn't too active in taking positions.
Although he is stronger now, one versus five is not enough. One person really cannot carry a team to the championship, so he must activate his teammates.
On the outside, Richmond ran hard, took the initiative to find pick-and-rolls, used Te Yin Longhill on the right wing to get rid of Jordan's pursuit, and received the ball from Mary Price, and then immediately turned over and shot a jumper.
At this time, Oakley quickly changed defense and pounced on him with all his teeth and claws, and blocked the shot fiercely.
His blocks don't look like blocks, they are directed at people. If you dare to take action, I'll knock you over!
Richmond's shot was affected by Oakley's fierce defense, and he stepped back. The ball was short, bounced off the basket, and was caught by Jordan who turned around, and the Knicks attacked.
"ball!"
O'Neal asked for the ball again.
He hadn't even thrown a ball in yet. Jordan scored all the points. Old K also scored all the Lakers' points. He was suffocating.
This season is considered his strongest. He has successfully lost weight, matured his skills, gained experience, and reached his peak physical fitness. How could he tolerate losing to Jordan and Old K? He must fight head on.
Low on the left wing, he received the ball.
At this time, Jordan cut inside, he pretended to pass the ball, which attracted Wang's attention, and then suddenly turned around quickly and quickly, dribbling the ball into the paint area.
With O'Neal's agility and movement speed, as long as he fails to keep up with the rhythm for half a beat, it will be too late for Lao Wang to pursue the defense.
"Bang!"
He jumped up and dunked hard with both hands, causing the entire basket frame to sink.
"oh!"
O'Neill roared excitedly, and the depression in his chest disappeared.
"O'Neal is indeed Old K's only opponent." Luo Lin said appreciatively in the ESPN live broadcast room.
"Based on Old K's performance this season, O'Neal can only say that he can compete with Old K to a certain extent. His dominance is not as good as Old K's," Oldman said.
"But he has successfully lost weight and his physical fitness will be better. He should be able to make more contributions this season. I think the distance between him and old K has narrowed a lot." Luo Lin said.
Oldman nodded and said: "Of course."
Rollin added: "Now 8:6, the Knicks are in the lead. O'Neal plus Jordan do have a chance to defeat Old K."
Oldman laughed: "The key is that because of O'Neal's presence and Ellis's deadly shooter, Jordan avoided being double-teamed on the wing.
When the three of them form a triangle, they will have the most powerful offensive firepower, and singles will be the best way for them to score points, and this is also the offensive method that Jordan is best at."
Luo Lin said with a smile: "Back then, Jordan was invincible in singles, so there was the anti-isolation singles rule. Because old K's sideways hitting was too brutal, there was also the K rule. Now because of O'Neal, Jordan can be addicted to singles.
.”
At this time, the Lakers attacked, but Lao Wang still didn't have a strong position to get the ball.
The Knicks did not double-team him. Now he faces a problem, that is, he cannot create open opportunities for his teammates. This is also an important problem that must be faced when playing O'Neal.
Although his physical fitness is level 102, he is not a robot. He has to put a lot of energy into defense and rebounding. He must take a break, especially against a team like the Knicks that is even better than the Lakers.
Physical distribution is very important.
As the outside core, Richmond once again took the ball to attack.
Old K came to the Lakers with him and played an eye-catching and luxurious performance, which has conquered the Lakers fans. However, his performance collapsed, which put a lot of pressure on him. Now he strives to perform.
It's just bad luck. The first game was against the Jazz, the second game against his old club, and the third game against Jordan. His performance could never improve.
In the previous two games, Old K could still create openings for him, but this time there was no more space, so he had to rely entirely on himself.
After catching the ball, he made continuous movements to get rid of Jordan's defense, but he was always tightly entangled and could not really get rid of him.
He pulled to the top of the arc again, trying to get rid of Jordan through Mark Price's pick-and-roll, but failed.
Under Jordan's pressure, he could only give the ball to Mullin on the left wing, and then set up a pick-and-roll for Mullin.
Mullin faked a true pass, passed it to Richmond behind him, and immediately moved sideways to make a pick-and-roll, blocking Jordan who wanted to pounce on him. At this time, Richmond shot from behind.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the three-pointer was scored.
"Richmond finally opened the ball. It was a difficult ball to hit. I pulled from the right wing to the left wing before I found the opportunity. Fortunately, I was patient and didn't force the shot." Zhang Lijia sighed.
"Jordan's defense is still too strong. It's not easy to score on him." Su Qun nodded.
8:9, Knicks attack.
"ball!"
O'Neal asked for the ball again. After taking the ball, he shook it continuously. Then a shark turned around and tried to rush in.
Unfortunately, Lao Wang retreated too quickly and took a defensive position first to block him.
"here!"
At this time, Jordan, who was cutting in, shouted.
O'Neal quickly passed the ball, Jordan caught the ball, and Richmond was already catching up, but Jordan still jumped up, and Richmond jumped up as well, and the two flew toward the basket together.
"well!"
Richmond sighed secretly, he started to fall after flying for a while, but Jordan was still high up. He failed to guard the ball, and his talent of staying in the air was not as good as others.
Jordan flew in front of the basket. When Richmond fell, he was also falling, but half a beat too late. This half beat gave him a chance to take a shot and pick the ball toward the basket before landing.
.
"Crack!"
But at this moment, Lao Wang, who was returning to the basket, grabbed the rising basketball with his big hand.
"Beautiful! Old K made a wonderful shot, he blocked Michael Jordan!" the on-site commentator roared extremely excitedly.
"Counterattack!"
Another commentator shouted loudly.
"Damn it, I forgot about old K!" Jordan cursed secretly and quickly turned back to defend.
The Lakers did not play a fast break. There were only Mullin and Mark Price outside, both veterans in their thirties, and they did not have the confidence to play a fast break.
"Richmond did a great job in defense this time. If it hadn't been for him, Old K might not have been able to defend against Jordan's attack." Su Qun said with a smile.
Zhang Liyi nodded and said: "Indeed, if it weren't for him, Jordan's offense would be faster, directly completing the dunk, or using a faster half-volley. At that time, the Tiejun's defense should be slower."
After two ball breaks, Lao Wang once again aggressively demanded the ball.
The left wing was low, suddenly took a step outside, received Mullin's pass and faced the basket directly, making a posture of attacking O'Neal head-on.
"Come on!"
O'Neill slapped his hands hard and shouted fiercely.
Lao Wang snorted coldly and was about to start attacking.
"later!"
At this moment, he heard the harsh scuffing sound of sneakers coming from behind, as well as Mullin's anxious cry.
"Jordan?"
He suddenly turned around and raised his right hand holding the ball high.
At this time, Jordan happened to pounce on his side, and O'Neal immediately pounced on his side, and the two formed a double-team on him.
"Whoosh!"
With a trembling hand, the ball flew towards Mullin.
"Oops!"
Jordan regretted it and shouldn't have come down to double-team him.
At this time, Chris Mullin caught the ball, and Charlie Ward at the top of the arc rushed over, but there was still some distance to go. He took off calmly and the basketball flew towards the basket.
While observing the path of the basketball and judging the rebound point of the rebound, Wang bypassed O'Neal and ran towards the basket, preparing to grab the offensive rebound.
"brush!"
As soon as I entered the paint area, the basketball happened to hit the basket.
"Beautiful point shot! Beautiful three-pointer! Old K's point shot is still so accurate, and God's left-hand shot is also so accurate!" the on-site commentator roared excitedly.
At 8:12, the Knicks were 4 points behind and called a timeout after serving.
Phil Jackson did not change the defensive tactics. He emphasized the original defensive tactics and said: "Listen up, we have to trust Shaq's defense and don't double-team on the flanks, otherwise his passing will cause us a big loss."
.
We need to strengthen the double team on the weak side. Charles and Te Yinlong Hill have average offensive capabilities and their shooting range is not far. You have to help defend the strong side and the basket in time."
After the timeout, the two teams resumed play.
The Knicks did not make any substitutions. The Lakers substituted three players. Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, and Danny Fordson came on to play positions one, three, and four respectively. Richmond was still at the second position.
"Rick, you have to pay attention to helping defend Jordan." Before going on the court, Del Harris said to Fox.
In this substitute lineup, the three perimeter defenders are all good. He feels that the defense can be strengthened on the perimeter to limit Jordan's efficiency.
Zhang Li said with a smile: "Actually, the Lakers' lineup is good. Mullin and Price are pseudo-starters. Their playing time is no more than Fox and Kobe. Fordson also plays a lot of time. The rotation lineup is still not good."
Weak."
"It just lacks adjustment." Su Qun laughed.
"Michael, come on." Kobe ran to Jordan's side as soon as he came on the court, taking the initiative to defend the Knicks' strongest perimeter.
"Boy, you're looking for abuse." Jordan glanced at Kobe and said.
At this time, the ball was served from the sideline of the frontcourt. Jordan suddenly retreated outwards, shook after receiving the ball, and then suddenly jumped on Kobe, reached the three-point line in two steps, and then stopped to take action.
"brush!"
The water splashed and he hit a three-pointer.
"Oh, there is no defender in front of him. I think he can even hit 100 shots from the three-point line." Zhang Lili praised.
"How will Kobe respond?" Su Qun asked with a smile.
"Let's challenge each other." Zhang Li said with a smile.
Sure enough, as soon as he reached the frontcourt, Kobe, who was playing point guard, made a gesture of pulling away. He wanted to single out Jordan.
He is now more and more enthusiastic about attacking with the ball, because judging from the previous two games, Old K did not suppress his offense, which surprised him.
"By beating!"
Seeing Kobe in front of him turning sideways and approaching him with his feet, Jordan knew what this kid was planning and immediately raised his vigilance.
It's not that he looked up to Kobe, but it was because Old K's relying on playing was too prestigious. His Bulls suffered a lot from Old K's relying on playing. Even if Kobe was using this technique now, he couldn't help but not pay attention to it.
.
The moment Kobe started to hit, he took a step back, but unexpectedly he failed to completely withdraw and was still hit.
This time, his center of gravity to retreat instantly accelerated, and his center of gravity was lost.
Of course, the amplitude was not large, and he immediately regained his focus.
But at this moment, Kobe had already seized the opportunity to jump up and shoot a three-pointer. He had no time to make defensive moves.
"Get in!"
Watching the ball fly toward the basket, Kobe shouted loudly in his heart.
"brush!"
Splash, three-point player.
"ah!"
Kobe Bryant roared excitedly, then raised his chin and looked at Jordan through his nostrils.
"Pa bang bang..."
The Great Western Forum Arena also burst into warm applause. Seeing Kobe hit a three-pointer over Jordan's head, Lakers fans were even more impressed by Kobe.
"pretty!"
Zhang Lijia praised: "After these two seasons, I can not only see the shadow of Tiejun in Kobe, but also Jordan's personality. Coupled with his potential, he will definitely have the opportunity to become a superstar."
"I just don't know when he will take over Old K's position. Now that Old K is getting stronger and stronger, there is no hope. I am worried for him." Su Qun said with a teasing smile.
"Haha..." The two laughed.
They were very familiar with Kobe. Kobe used to clamor day after day to take over the position of Sun King, and now he clamored to take over the position of King of Lakers. The ambition in his heart was unabashed. This not only made them appreciate this, but also felt that Kobe was a
Some wishes are difficult to realize.
Old K is only five years older than Kobe. Judging from his current physical condition, there are very few injuries. Now that he has changed his style of play, there will be less confrontation, and the wear and tear on his body will also be reduced. No one knows how long his peak period will be.
, they think Kobe really can survive Old K without just one defense.