Chapter 453 452: Don’t Miss the Opportunity (ask for monthly ticket!)

Kobe needs James to play like Scottie Pippen, and that’s the last thing James’ team and Nike want to see.

They have always been trying to avoid James becoming like Pippen under Phil Jackson in the Lakers.

Yes, Scott Pippen had a brilliant career and won many honors.

Seven rings, seven All-Star appearances, seven All-NBA selections, ten All-Defensive selections, and one steals title. His honors are definitely impressive enough, and you can’t say his career wasn’t successful enough.

But no matter which magazine’s list it is, Scott Pippen can never make it into the top 20 in the league.

His historical status does not match his honor.

The reason? People think he was so successful because of being around Jordan and Roger.

He is like an actor in an art film. No matter how great the work is, the actor will always be a supporting role.

That’s why Nike will never allow James to become Scott Pippen, and that’s why James was devastated when Roger told him, “You play like Scott Pippen.”

But now, Kobe was asking him to play like Scottie Pippen, and James couldn’t refuse.

Because this is what everyone expected, and because he has already exhausted all the trust of his teammates in the first game.

Because this is the Lakers’ only chance to turn the game around.

So in Game 2 of the series, people saw a completely Pippen-like James.

He put more energy on the defensive end, and Phil Jackson really treated him like Pippen because he let James go toe to toe with Roger from the beginning of the game.

In the last game, although James was constantly criticized by Roger, his effectiveness in defending Roger was actually not bad at the beginning. It was only after his mentality collapsed in the third quarter that his level plummeted like a bungee jumping machine.

But today, James completely ignored the offensive end, and also completely ignored the psychological pressure and team status.

No matter what, let’s win the series first.

After all, this is only the Western Conference Finals. In James’ view, this round of series alone is not enough to sentence him to death.

What if I win the FMVP in the finals?
James was very serious in defending Roger today. Although this resulted in him having almost no participation on the offensive end, his defensive enthusiasm remained unshakable.

This really worked. Roger’s offense was greatly restricted today. Wherever Roger went, James was always with him. Even when chasing Roger without the ball, James did a great job.

Of course, the most important thing is that Roger also has to spend energy defending James, which to some extent affects Roger’s offense. In the last game, Roger, who is physically strong, only lasted three quarters while defending James and attacking at the same time.

Roger did not forget to continue to provoke James with words: “I really didn’t expect that the former king of Cleveland would be willing to be Kobe’s dog.”

James responded calmly: “King? Dog? There are only losers and winners in basketball.”

Not in the entire first quarter, James only took two shots and was running or passing the ball the rest of the time.

He is still active on the offensive end, but he doesn’t have a strong desire to shoot. This means that Roger still can’t relax when defending James.

No matter how Roger insulted him with trash talk, he did not lose his temper and maintained his defensive intensity.

Kobe became the complete leader, scoring 14 points in a single quarter today and leading the Lakers to the lead.

James had 3 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds, still versatile, but his statistics were not at all amazing.

James’s Pippen-ization seems to have worked. The whole world saw the changes that took place in the team after Kobe yelled at James in the first game.

Al Michaels praised James’ performance: “When LeBron found a way to cooperate with Kobe, he played the performance that people expected. I think LeBron has the opportunity to become the best No. 2 in NBA history!”

James heard Al Michaels’ voice. Although his original intention was to praise James, this sentence was like “I wish Dwight Howard many children and grandchildren.” Even if there was no malice in it, it sounded like a curse.

In the second quarter, James maintained this defensive enthusiasm, but Kobe ran into trouble.

Chauncey Billups’ touch was not very good today, and James consumed too much energy on the defensive end, which affected his offensive vitality. As a result, the Warriors were very determined to double-team Kobe.

In many rounds, Kobe had no choice but to be forced to pass the ball or shoot against two defenders.

Scott Pippen was very strong, but as someone who had won four championships with him, Roger knew very well that Pippen was not perfect.

The biggest flaw is that the help he can provide to a star player in terms of scoring is actually very limited.

Both Jordan and Roger had experienced situations in the playoffs where Scott Pippen was out of form and they had to play one against many.

Kobe also started to experience this after getting “Pippen” today, but the problem is that Kobe is not Jordan and Roger after all.

His ability to break through the defense is very strong, but his efficiency is still slightly lower than that of Jordan and Roger.

As for Roger, he has to devote all his energy to defending someone who doesn’t score much, which is really cost-effective.

Roger was indeed restricted by James, but of course, he was not locked up. Moreover, Roger had Brandon Roy to help him.

Therefore, the Lakers were unable to widen the gap, and Kobe was unable to seize the opportunity of Roger’s firepower being limited to completely control the game situation, and the score difference fluctuated back and forth around 6 points.

In the second half, Brandon Roy made many good passes, but Stoudemire, Stephen Jackson and others failed to seize the opportunities.

Stephen Jackson seemed to be infected with the “Billups virus” tonight, and he couldn’t find his aim at all. Stoudemire continued to be suppressed by Dwight Howard, and his mid-range shots and rim-rushing shots were ineffective.

James also sent a lot of wonderful passes, but Billups, the skier and Howard also failed to convert these passes into points. The former two had a bad touch, and the latter was always sent to the free throw line when he was about to dunk.

The game gradually turned into a defensive battle.
In the fourth quarter, Kobe began to play a lot of unreasonable offenses, and Roger also began to increase the number of his personal shots.

The shooting percentages of both teams were not high. In the last minute, Roger personally defended Kobe and accurately cut the ball at the moment when Kobe chose to turn around and jump shot, causing him to make a mistake.

Roger then quickly passed the ball to launch a counterattack, assisting Stoudemire who followed up quickly to score a dunk and reverse the score.

After one round, Roger blocked all of Kobe’s breakthroughs and forced him to the right. Seeing this, Roy on the right quickly double-teamed Kobe.

Kobe passed the ball to Chauncey Billups, who was double-teamed, but the big-hearted man nicknamed Mr. Big Shot missed the key shot.

In fact, Chauncey Billups’ shooting percentage in the deep rounds of the playoffs was not high throughout his career. In the original timeline, from 2003 to 2008, Billups played in the Eastern Conference Finals for six consecutive years, but only twice did he have a shooting percentage of more than 40% in the Eastern Conference Finals. The highest was only 42.9%, and the lowest was only 27%. In 09, when he entered the Western Conference Finals again with the Nuggets, his shooting percentage was only 39%. In the Western Conference semifinals of the same year, he was able to score 50 points with a shooting percentage of 21%.

In the Western Conference Finals or higher-level games, Chauncey Billups will have to face high-level players on the defensive end for several consecutive games. His defensive pressure will be very great, so his offense will be affected and become easily restricted.

That’s why Chauncey Billups is a player who can guarantee the team to at least reach the conference finals. But if he wants to go higher, it’s beyond Chauncey Billups’ ability.

His ceiling is right here, he is just that long, no matter how hard he tries he can’t go any deeper.

So today, Chauncey Billups was just playing at his normal level in the conference finals.

The three-pointer bounced off a long backboard, and Roger took the ball himself and turned around to counterattack. Under the double defense of Dwight Howard and James, Roger pulled the ball twice in the air, first avoiding James and then Howard, and threw it out when his body was already falling, and it hit the backboard.

“An incredible strike, undoubtedly the greatest goal of the 21st century!”

After landing, Roger forced a tired smile: “LeBron, I was wrong, you are not even as good as Scott Pippen. If it was him, he would definitely be able to block the shot.”

In the end, the Warriors relied on defense to win the game with a narrow advantage of 4 points, and the total score of the series was 2-0.

Roger only scored 27 points and Kobe scored 28 points, and both of them had a shooting percentage below 45%.

James had 12 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 turnovers. The term “senior role player” was the most appropriate to describe James at this time.

Although he lost the game, Phil Jackson was not as desperate as he was at the end of G1.

It turns out that making James like Pippen is the best solution for the Lakers to win the game.

Today, the Lakers have successfully limited the Warriors and have the advantage for most of the time.

If Chauncey Billups hadn’t had such a bad touch, the Lakers would have had a great chance of winning the game.

Kobe Bryant thought so too. He was quite relaxed at the press conference: “I can go back to my territory next time.”

James also stated: “Yes, we will regain respect in the next game.”

The reporter laughed and said, “If the Lakers win the next game, but you score less than 15 points in three consecutive games, do you think this will earn you respect, LeBron?”

James’ face was full of black lines, he couldn’t answer this question.

Today he sacrificed his stats and played the role of Scott Pippen, but what was the result? The team was only close to winning, and he became a laughing stock again.

He was beginning to be unable to tolerate this situation.

Maybe coming to Los Angeles was a mistake.

But no matter what, he couldn’t quit halfway.

He still wants to beat Roger, and the home match will decide everything.

Even the super Lakers couldn’t make a comeback after falling behind 0-3.

So, James shrugged: “Whatever you say, I’m not the kind of person who cares about data.”

It is foreseeable that this sentence will become one of the classic quotes like “I never dive” and “I never slack off in any game” in the future.

James continued to add: “I don’t care if I scored 15 points or 25 points. You can say that I scored less, that my data is not brilliant enough, but there is one thing you must admit, that is, you must respect me, respect my contribution to victory, and respect my contribution to limiting Roger. I will continue to freeze him in the next game. As Kobe said, that is our territory.”

He is very witty and clever.

He scored less, but he emphasized his contribution on the defensive end. And, he changed Kobe’s “my territory” to “our territory.”

You can never doubt LBJ’s intelligence.

Roger also knew that this game was very close, and to be honest, the Lakers had a great chance. If they played like this again, the Warriors might not win.

But Roger had already discussed the next adjustment strategy with Spoelstra after the game. Yes, after a victory, Roger was already preparing for the next game.

He told everyone in the locker room: “We will decide the outcome of the next game. Don’t give the Lakers a chance. Now or Never!”

This is not the first time Roger has said this, and CCTV reporters translated it as: Don’t miss the opportunity.

Roger thought the new strategy would work, so he was confident.

“Their territory? I’ll take over the Staples Center with one victory.”

“LeBron said he’s going to keep freezing you out.”

“Oh God, LeBron has so many unfulfilled promises, and he’s still adding to them? Please, let him fulfill those promises first. For LeBron, I just want to tell him one thing.”

All the reporters seemed to prick up their ears.

“Who is my greatest rival? You can say Michael, Kobe, Tim or KG. But who is the biggest clown of my era? There is only one answer, LeBron. Freeze me? I really hope you can do it. If you can’t, the Lakers’ season is over. Don’t miss this opportunity, LeBron.”
–
Dominique Wilkins had a guest at his home today – the now very popular basketball columnist Bill Simmons.

He came for Roger’s autobiography.

“I’m really curious. I remember that when you first joined the Magic, you had a lot of conflicts with Roger. But afterwards, you almost became his number one fan and supporter. You even played the best defensive performance of your career with the Magic. Where did this transformation come from? Is there any inside story we don’t know? Tell me, did Roger threaten you with Michael’s titanium eye incident?” Bill Simmons and Wilkins joked.

“Hahahaha, of course not, of course not. Oh, that was really many years ago. Although it was a short time, it was the best memory of my career, so I remember everything. The root of the change is actually just one sentence: Leader take the lead.”

“Hmm, it really fits the six creeds I summarized. I’m a fucking genius.” Bill Simmons boasted. This is just the kind of person he is.

“The book is called “Champion’s Creed”, right? You said you used six creeds to deconstruct the secret of Roger’s success. I’m curious why you summarized only six?”

“Because God took six days to create the world, and the God of Basketball used six points to explain his doctrine.” Bill Simmons raised his head slightly with pride. He knew that his idea was good and would definitely be liked by everyone.

Dominic Wilkins nodded approvingly. “Interesting. I’m already curious about which six they are. I’ll be the first one to buy them when they’re published.”

“No, I’ll come to your house in person and give you a copy. Now, let’s talk in detail about how Roger led by example. This will be an important chapter.”

(End of this chapter)