The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

This, however, further highlighted his all-encompassing field of view, with various no-look passes and "behind-the-head passes," making this Christmas night extraordinarily glamorous.

But due to the "post-up" position, most of the time he could only pass the ball to teammates who moved to his side, rather than using various offensive means to disrupt the opponent's entire defense.

This made him, tonight, exceptionally like "Chasing Dreams" Green, becoming a fixed-position "Dealer."

Su Wan frequently took the initiative to receive the ball in this game, facing Kobe's defense, continuously breaking through to the basket, forcing the Lakers to contract inside.——No choice, Chris Paul's constant harassment of Stephen Curry made it difficult for him to even connect with the ball.

Plus, other Lakers positions helping Chris Paul on defense made Stephen Curry even more passive.

He needed Su Wan to help him create more shooting space.

But whether it's because Kobe changed his playing style or because tonight he's facing the New York team, he focused more on his duel with Su Wan tonight, and with Tucker and Al Jefferson's help defense, even without contracting under the basket, the Lakers could stabilize Su Wan's offense.

This was also one of the few games this season where Su Wan entered solo mode, but even though he scored consecutively, the Lakers kept pace with his scoring speed.

The issue of Tyson Chandler and Dior's lack of inside post-up ability became prominent.

Luckily, Paul George broke out in this game.

After Su Wan and Stephen Curry were both focused by the Lakers' defense, the Lakers' defense resources were clearly insufficient.

Of course, Ariza was defending Paul George, and Phil Jackson originally thought it would be enough, but the result...

Paul George's "jump shot" after various receptions and the "interference outside the three-point line" along with cuts to the basket for slam dunks were electrifying, eliciting continuous cheers from the audience.

By halftime, he had already scored 17 points!

Phil Jackson tightened his nose bridge, looking pained.

These New York Knicks are really...

Unstoppable!

In the second half, the Lakers adjusted their offensive focus, launching attacks from Chris Paul's point.

Stephen Curry's entanglement with Paul did not have a noticeable interfering effect; Paul wasn't afraid of this type of defender.

Paul George interfered from the side.

In the first half, Ariza was 0-for-3 from outside the three-point line, but he suddenly woke up in the second half, receiving Chris Paul's pass, completing two consecutive "three-pointers."

The situation remained deadlocked until the last moment when Su Wan "quasi-fatal" defended Kobe.

Kobe, facing his relentless hounding, lost control of the ball, but it flew directly into Chris Paul's hands.

Paul made a quick mid-range floater.

Curry couldn't reach it.

The ball bounced four or five times on the rim before finally dropping in.

The Lakers narrowly defeated the New York Knicks on Christmas night with a 103 to 102, a 1-point advantage.

This tense game made the commentators talk more in their summaries.

Bill Walton said: "The Lakers clearly gained more than Al Jefferson in this trade; they also got a very strong reinforcement in PJ Tucker!"

Any keen observer could see that tonight his defense against Dior was exceptionally successful!

Barkley also said: "After this Christmas battle, the Lakers have returned to the championship contention!"

Kenny Smith agreed: "Clearly, PJ Tucker playing at the 4 was Phil Jackson's sudden brilliant idea in this game. We can notice, he has never done this before, but this game allowed Phil Jackson to find the correct way to use PJ Tucker, making the Lakers' lineup more solid!"

From the data, we can also see tonight's Lakers:

Kobe 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal; Chris Paul 18 points, 8 assists, 2 steals; Ariza 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; PJ Tucker 10 points, 5 rebounds; Al Jefferson 16 points, 9 rebounds; Odom 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists...

A set of established rotation has emerged.

And they defeated the defending champion New York Knicks tonight.

No team has managed to make them look so embarrassed this season.

The Lakers accomplished it, further proving the team's potential ceiling!

After the game, Chris Paul was obviously in a very good mood; although his stats weren't "top-notch," if you knew Stephen Curry only had 14 points, 4 assists, and shot 2 of 7 from the three-point line, you'd understand why he was so happy!

Tonight he showed everyone, including Stephen Curry himself:

Chris > Stephen!

Previously, they just lost due to an unreasonable lineup!

And this is just the beginning, they will continue to prove this point!

The next morning, all the media had a similar attitude:

The Lakers have returned to the championship contention!

And after the "Christmas Battle," the All-Star voting opened, and it was at this time that LeBron faced another major challenge in his career. Next, he would return to Miami for the first time after being traded and challenge the Heat team...