The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

In the second half, his feelings were validated. The Su Wan from the first half was not in his "prime form." Right at the start of the second half, Su Wan displayed an even more aggressive offense. Kobe could barely withstand it.

Phil Jackson had no choice but to assign Ariza to assist Kobe, with the two rotating to defend Su Wan.

Yet even so, Su Wan's vitality remained undiminished.

Fortunately, the Lakers' defense against other members of the New York Knicks was still very effective.

Including Stephen Curry, who was tormented quite a bit by Chris Paul in this game!

Bill Walton commented, "The toughest part for Stephen is that even if he shakes off Chris, he often holds the ball in hand, and at that moment, the interior players can make better judgments, even players like Al Jefferson at the center position!"

This is the defensive issue for the New York Knicks.

Now onto the offensive end.

An important aspect of the New York Knicks' offensive tactics is "defense counterattack," and the current situation makes it hard for them to defend the Lakers' basket attacks; Al Jefferson can easily take on Tyson Chandler one-on-one...

If at this moment the Knicks double-team Al Jefferson, then the Lakers' outside shooting will punish the double-teaming player.

A tense game continued until the last minute.

The score was 109 to 107.

The Lakers were leading by 2 points.

The ball was in possession of the New York Knicks.

Tyronn Lue called a timeout to set up tactics.

"Stephen!" He first called out Curry's name.

Curry's eyes lit up immediately.

"Be proactive when catching the ball. If they don't give you an easy chance to receive, run to the right side to help Su Wan clear space, let him get the ball; if they let you receive, then find Su Wan's position at the first chance!"

In short:

Find Su Wan!

The hopeful look in Stephen Curry's eyes dimmed slightly, but he still nodded eagerly.

He really wanted to take on this responsibility.

Someone like Su Wan...

But in the New York Knicks, the one to take on such a role could only be Su Wan.

Stephen Curry couldn't deny this, but he... just hoped for the moment, where he could be the one to finish it.

"Buzz!"

The buzzer sounded!

Tyronn Lue didn't give too many instructions to Su Wan, knowing that in critical moments, Su Wan knew better than him how to play.

This strategy, though simple, was quite effective. Stephen Curry actively caught the ball, successfully had it, and before Chris Paul could rush up, he passed it to the three-point line, and then...

Su Wan, with one elbow, pushed away the persistently entangling Kobe, had the ball in hand, signaled his teammates to spread out.

Phil Jackson wanted to instruct others to go up and join Kobe in a double team, but seeing Kobe's eager appearance, he silently chose to watch.

The current situation was...

Even if Su Wan scored two points, the game would still be tied, and the Lakers still had time to complete the "counter kill."

The advantage was theirs!

He had to trust Kobe to single-handedly guard Su Wan!

The Knicks' offensive time had 8 seconds left, Kobe chose to take the initiative, Su Wan didn't make too many moves, attempted a Breakthrough while holding the ball, slapped away Kobe's interfering hand, suddenly accelerated with a "Front Stab Step," then quickly stopped.

Absolute control over his body!

Successfully created space from Kobe.

Then Su Wan, with a "Step Back Three-Point Shot," released the ball.

When Kobe's hand reached up, Su Wan had already taken the shot.

"Swish!"

A continuous "step back jump shot," Su Wan, despite Kobe's defense and the overwhelming boos in the arena, completed the crucial three-point shot.

The New York Knicks took a 1-point lead.

"Ball!"

Kobe glanced at the time, urging his teammates to hurry and inbound the ball, then dribbled it forward himself.

Chris Paul shouted at him, wanting to control the ball.

But Kobe ignored him, headed straight to the frontcourt, faced off against Su Wan.

The last 8 seconds...

All the Lakers players moved to the frontcourt.

Al Jefferson wanted to set a pick for Kobe, but was refused.

Kobe requested everyone to spread out and went one-on-one against Su Wan.

Su Wan kept a distance from him, not allowing him the possibility of a Breakthrough...

Kobe took advantage, continuously observed his teammates, and suddenly went for the dry pull three-point.

The speed was very fast!

But Su Wan's speed was faster...

"Clap!"

As the ball was about to fly out from Kobe's hand, Su Wan slapped it away.

"Oh, no!"

A low murmur ran through the crowd.

Many Los Angeles people held their heads in their hands.

They truly didn't expect Kobe's last attempt would end this way.

"He's old!" Barkley sighed, looking at Kobe whose jumping height was noticeably lacking with this shot.

This time Kobe's jump height was lower than usual.

The reasons were nothing more than wanting to catch them off guard, the power wasn't enough; another reason was the whole game's tight defense against Su Wan, which wore him out.

But regardless of the cause, all of it pointed to one thing:

Kobe was old!

In his younger days, even if this shot ended as an "air ball," at least he could try, it would never be blocked when going one-on-one.

Shaquille O'Neal at this moment didn't reveal his usual mocking smile.

His relationship with Kobe wasn't good, but they indeed shared many beautiful stories.

This made their relationship delicate.

If this moment had arrived earlier, and if Shaquille O'Neal had witnessed this scene, he thought he would surely laugh out loud. But at this moment, he just watched Kobe, and in the usually stingy look in his eyes, there were a few more emotional bits: