Chapter 301 Prove it to me

The Lakers chose to call a timeout after the New York Knicks made this attack.

There was no way around it. The New York Knicks’ first two attacks were all three-pointers. Their firepower was too strong.

Chris Paul believes that as long as he can play at his own pace, the Lakers can turn the situation around.

From this perspective, there is no problem.

So Phil Jackson also concluded that as long as Chris Paul’s condition improves, the Lakers will be able to rebound.

But after these two rounds, Phil Jackson realized that in addition to the Lakers’ poor offense in the first half, more importantly, they did not cause enough interference to the New York Knicks on the defensive end!
This means that even if the Lakers have been attacking all the time, they will still lose the game in the end!

Defending against the New York Knicks’ offense is the key to winning tonight’s game!
only……

Watching Paul George and Stephen Curry walking towards Suwan, the three of them high-fiving each other, and then walking towards the Knicks bench, Phil Jackson’s mind unconsciously emptied, and he suddenly felt that this scene was particularly familiar. In a blink of an eye, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodney, all wearing the same red Bulls jerseys, appeared in front of him!
Although this “trident” has no similarities with the Bulls’ “iron triangle” back then.

But the cooperation and dominance they showed on the court made Phil Jackson feel the unique energy of the “Iron Triangle”.

There was a constant stream of cheers from the audience.

The previous cheers were because of Su Wan’s chase three-pointer.

The cheers now are because of the picture of Suwan, Paul George and Stephen Curry in the same frame.

Tyson Chandler’s decline has been noticed by all New Yorkers.

But now, they see that the Knicks’ “new era” is just around the corner.

As long as there are no problems with this “trio”, the future that New Yorkers can imagine can be described in one sentence:
Win the championship until you vomit!

The ancient Celtics won 8 consecutive championships. It’s not that these New Yorkers dared to go to space with a paper airplane. They really thought that by adjusting the lineup around these three people, the New York Knicks could also win 8 consecutive championships!
Ok……

Just imagine how outrageous this “half-time champagne” is!
This is no longer about popping the champagne in advance for the “three-peat” dynasty.

This has already thought of the future “8 consecutive championships”!
How can we say that it is New Yorkers who dare to think and act?

But that’s okay!
The New York Knicks’ outside trio is indeed eye-catching enough as long as they get into their rhythm.

The game resumes after the timeout.

Phil Jackson didn’t think of any effective defensive measures during the timeout.

The main problem is that the cooperation between Suwan and Stephen Curry is too difficult to solve.

It is true that the pick-and-roll between Chris Paul and Kobe was also very good, but the score gap in the first half was too big. With the two teams running neck and neck, Suwan and the New York Knicks relied on the accumulated advantages in the first half to easily have the last laugh.

108 to 94, a difference of 14 points, the New York Knicks steadily won the first victory of the finals.

Stephen Curry continued to perform well in the second half, eventually scoring 29 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

Chris Paul’s form improved in the second half. With the help of Kobe’s pick-and-roll, he only made one turnover in the second half, but he made seven assists. His personal score also broke through double digits.

It can be said that they played at the average level against the Lakers in the regular season.

But because his performance in the first half was so poor, at the end of the game, Chris Paul’s overall statistics were still slightly inferior to Stephen Curry.

In response, Chris Paul said: “This is just the first game. We are all adapting to the rhythm of both sides. I don’t think this is a problem! We will give a strong response in the next game!”

This can be considered as a harsh statement.

But the New York Knicks reporters at the scene didn’t care.

Before the first game of the finals, Chris Paul said that he could definitely suppress Stephen Curry, but Curry ended up giving him the most eye-catching individual show in the finals in his three years.

If you say harsh words but don’t keep them, then continuing to say them will only make fun of you!
The New York media has already figured out how to ridicule this 183-cm tall guy in tomorrow’s newspaper!
In addition, Kobe and Suwan, the biggest focus of the finals, played in this game:
科比22分5篮板4助攻；苏万33分6篮板6助攻2盖帽2抢断。

Before the start of this round of finals, the outside world commented on Suwan and Kobe’s fourth encounter in the finals:
Blue times!
But after watching the first game of the finals, they had to admit:

Kobe is really old!

This can be seen from the confrontation between the two players in the game.

Whether it’s strength or confrontation, Kobe has no obvious gap compared to Suwan in all aspects.

In fact, getting older has little impact on jumping height and strength.

When full force is exerted, it can even be said that there is almost no noticeable change.

The decline in physical fitness is mainly reflected in flexibility and endurance.

And the degree of full force!
Many times when Kobe was confronting Suwan, there was no problem with the first or second confrontation, but when it came to the third and fourth confrontations, he would easily become powerless.

This is what “Father Time” takes away from a player.

However, Kobe’s “killer nature” has not changed much.

The Lakers were able to keep the score close in the second half because Kobe always stood up at the critical moment.

But this is the limit. They have no way to catch up in the second half after falling behind in the first half. But this also gave the Los Angeles media and all the Lakers players confidence.

If they can play the same performance they did in the second half of tonight starting from the first quarter in the next game and keep the score close, then it is not impossible for the Lakers to beat the New York Knicks.

This is why Chris Paul dares to continue to speak harshly to Stephen Curry.

Phil Jackson thinks so too:
“There are a total of 7 games in the finals, which is a very long time. The first game of the series cannot really decide this round of the series. We still have a chance!”

The Los Angeles media and all Lakers fans are naturally happy to see this mentality from the Lakers players.

After the second game of the finals started, they also found that the Lakers were not just talking.

They do pose such a threat to the New York Knicks.

The first attack today belonged to the Lakers.

Chris Paul played a pick-and-roll with Kobe, and the ball quickly went from his hands to Kobe’s hands.

Kobe continued to pass the ball in, and Al Jefferson turned his head to complete the goal.

Very crisp!
This is a change for the Lakers on the offensive end. Chris Paul was targeted and Kobe became the central axis.

It also elevated Al Jefferson’s position in the system, giving him more shooting priority.

This is a change of formation on the offensive end.

Then there’s the defensive end…

The New York Knicks still use the duo of Suwan and Stephen Curry.

The Lakers have specifically studied their set of cooperation and formulated corresponding measures:
First, the Lakers used “strong pressure” on Stephen Curry, who lacked vision and needed Boris Diaw to help him with secondary ball handling.

It just so happens that PJ Tucker’s defensive suppression on Dio still exists, which means that the Lakers do not need to make additional personnel arrangements for Dio. Tucker alone can play the role of “comprehensive blockade” of Dio.

Without Dio as a “transit station”, Stephen Curry’s lack of vision in passing is reflected.

Chris Paul and the backup players were very aggressive in their defense, so Curry could only hold the ball and attack by himself most of the time, responding with two-point shots.

Or just pass the ball to a teammate he can see.

Once the ball is in his hands, the Knicks’ offense will stagnate a little.

If the ball can’t move, the Knicks’ tactics can’t work.

Mike Malone knew at a glance that Phil Jackson was trying to divide the New York Knicks’ system, allowing only Stephen Curry and Suwan to cooperate with each other, making it impossible for other New York Knicks players to cooperate with them tactically.

If Suwan and Stephen Curry attack heavily from the beginning, then…

Su Wan doesn’t know, but Stephen Curry might have physical problems!

There is a basis for thinking this way:
They just defeated the Thunder in the same way in this year’s Western Conference Finals.

Suwan and Stephen Curry can be regarded as the “New York Knicks version of the king bomb combination”!
Well, the reputation of the “Tsunami Brothers” in this alliance is originally more powerful than the “King Bomb Combination”…

Even so, the Lakers will still have a headache facing the firepower of Suwan and Stephen Curry.

You can see it from the entire first section.

The Lakers successfully cut off the cooperation between Suwan, Stephen Curry and the other three Knicks players.

but……

Suwan and Stephen Curry scored a combined 27 points.

One person contributed 15 points in the first quarter, and another person contributed 12 points in the first quarter.

The two of them alone are the firepower of a team.

The Lakers also trailed by 29 points at 34 to 5.

However, looking at Stephen Curry’s breathless appearance, Phil Jackson thought that if they continued playing like this, the Lakers had a chance to win.

after all……

Kobe is in very good shape!
Another change on the defensive end:
Phil Jackson did not use Kobe to defend Suwan tonight, but used Ariza to defend, and Kobe and PJ Tucker provided assisting defense.

Doing this would not be so effective in restricting Su Wan…

But if the Lakers want to beat the New York Knicks, it is also crucial for Kobe to regain his peak form on the offensive end.

In addition, Phil Jackson needs to do one more thing now…

During the intermission of the first quarter, he called Chris Paul to his side:

“Man, I always believed you could beat Stephen Curry. But now I’m a little skeptical…Man, are you really better than Stephen Curry now?”

Chris Paul couldn’t help it at that time and wanted to explode.

Phil Jackson stopped him: “I don’t need you to tell me anything. If you think you are still better than Stephen Curry, then all you have to do is prove it to me!”

“Slap me in the face with your performance!”

Chris Paul laughed angrily and nodded slightly.

Let performance speak for itself, right?
Row!
Then I will let my performance speak for itself!

The second quarter of the game started, and just over 2 minutes had passed when Chris Paul was eager to take the court.

Phil Jackson’s words were still ringing in his ears, making him eager to go on the court and prove himself.

This is the “Zen Master”.

He often interacts with his teammates and has great stamina.

As the players think about it, they will easily feel a warm current rushing to their heads, and then they will feel a strong desire to perform well.

This is the case with Chris Paul now.

You’re saying I’m not as good as Stephen Curry, right?

Then let me show you whether Stephen Curry is comparable to me!

The New York Knicks watched the Lakers put out their starting lineup, and they quickly replaced all their core players back to the court.

Judging from the Lakers’ state and the overall situation in tonight’s game, it is clear that this will definitely be a tough battle and the New York Knicks cannot afford to be careless.

The first round of offense belonged to the New York Knicks.

As soon as Stephen Curry arrived at the frontcourt, Chris Paul pressed towards him.

From the beginning of the finals to now, Chris Paul has been eyeing Curry on the defensive end.

But this time, it was even more brutal.

Stephen Curry was hit during the confrontation and his face changed.

He looked at Chris Paul, as if he was getting to know this “old friend” whom he had known for four or five years.

Chris Paul’s goal is no different from that of a wild animal looking at its prey.

Row!
Is this how you want to play it?

Stephen Curry thought it was a “fair competition” between friends, but Chris Paul turned it into a game of survival of the fittest, and his temper flared up.

When Su Wan came over for a screen, he indicated that he wanted to play one-on-one.

Su Wan stepped aside in great agreement.

Other players of the New York Knicks also quickly created space for him.

Seeing that Stephen Curry didn’t want a pick-and-roll and wanted to play one-on-one with him, Chris Paul’s eyes became more angry.

How dare you?
Chris Paul was really angry.

But soon Paul discovered that his little brother was no longer the little brother that followed him in the training camp…

Chris Paul defended very aggressively because of his anger.

Stephen Curry noticed this and became calmer. After his “butterfly through flowers” dribbling exhausted Chris Paul’s patience, he made a sudden “reverse direction” breakthrough. Chris Paul completely guessed wrong. When he wanted to chase back, he stumbled and sat down on the ground after losing his balance.

I… was knocked down?

When Chris Paul came to his senses, there was a huge cheer at the scene, and in front of him, Stephen Curry shot a three-pointer very calmly.

ball……

Enter!
(End of this chapter)