Chapter 303: Atop the Forbidden City, the New York Dynasty is about to be created!
With the score at 2-0, Los Angeles was in chaos.

Be it the media or the fans, after the Lakers lost the second game of the series, their morale seemed to be drained and everyone was very depressed.

There is no way. If the team just loses consecutively and falls behind 0-2, then the situation is difficult, but it is not the moment to despair.

After all, the next game will be played at home in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is still very strong at home this year.

Even though they have lost two games in a row, as long as they return to their home court, the people of Los Angeles believe that they can perform well enough to turn the tables.

But the problem now is more serious than losing 2 games…

Kobe and Chris Paul had a conflict, which is why the people of Los Angeles felt aggrieved after the loss.

This kind of “unwar guilt” loss is really too painful.

In particular, the New York media hyped up the “luck theory”, making the Los Angeles people who were proud of the “Purple and Gold Dynasty” feel embarrassed.

But they couldn’t refute it…

Otherwise, they couldn’t explain why Kobe and Chris Paul suddenly had a violent conflict in such a game!
And when the formula that “Purple Gold Luck” is no match for “New York Luck” holds true.

The people of Los Angeles feel that what they lost is not just a round of the finals, nor the victory or defeat between teams, but a struggle between cities.

Now they hope that the conflict between Kobe and Chris Paul was just a one-game disagreement and that there was no real problem.

Phil Jackson’s remarks to the media before the start of Game 3 of the Finals gave some Los Angeles residents a basis for their support.

The “Zen Master” said to the media reporters: “Both Kobe and Chris are very mature guys. I believe they will not bring any emotions into the next game.”

“Everyone knows how important the next game is to us!”

The Los Angeles media also tried their best not to provoke Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant.

This is also the biggest difference between Los Angeles media and New York media.

If this happened in New York, the New York media would be the most powerful group of people who “dance on graves”. – After half a century of ups and downs, the original New York Knicks did not win the third championship in the end, because this city has the most difficult media and fans in the league, and the number is huge.

The good news is that Suwan’s arrival has won the hearts of countless New York media and fans, making New Yorkers and New York media particularly well-behaved during this period.

Of course, the New York media would not miss such an opportunity. Various true and false rumors about the Lakers were constantly leaked from the New York media, causing quite a panic…

This caused dissatisfaction among Los Angeles residents.

Before the start of the third game, the entire Staples Center was filled with crazy boos, and the New York Knicks were like a small wooden boat in the ocean.

Fortunately, this team has experienced enough ups and downs, so although there were loud boos, everyone’s expression did not change much, and everyone looked natural.

On the other hand, several players from the Lakers looked unnatural when they came on the court.

People like pj Tucker are actively mobilizing their emotions.

But everyone could see that he was still very nervous.

You can tell from the way he’s constantly gearing up for something.

But this is also normal. Players like PJ Tucker are standing on such a big stage for the first time. Before coming to the Lakers this season, they have never entered such a big stage. He is like this, and so is Al Jefferson.

and so……

The Lakers’ pre-game mood was not as stable as that of the New York Knicks.

Well, there is another very important reason:
The New York Knicks lead 2-0.

If the Lakers still cannot win this game, they will fall into a 0-3 situation, which is a real death situation.

In this situation, tension is inevitable.

During the jump ball phase, Al Jefferson was so focused that he was a beat slower.

Tyson Chandler flicked the ball into Stephen Curry’s hands.

The first moment Curry got the ball, he was intercepted by Chris Paul in the backcourt.

Bill Walton asked, “Is Chris expressing his own attitude?”

It was a tough play defending from the back.

Stephen Curry didn’t argue with him too much. Seeing that Chris Paul wanted to “bite” him so much, he was no longer in a hurry and simply gave the ball to Su Wan.

Suwan dribbled across half court and faced Ariza, killing him directly.

The Lakers quickly double-teamed the defense, but Suwan seemed to have expected it and threw the ball to Paul George who was in the open space.

George drew his bow and arrow, the ball…

Missed!

Watching the opponent protect the rebound, George shook his head in frustration.

In his opinion, this is an opportunity.

Su Wan immediately spoke up to comfort Paul George and told him to stay calm. For the New York Knicks, they were the side with less pressure in tonight’s game. This meant that they were destined to be calm in their tactical arrangements.

The Knicks coaching staff’s thoughts are:

Relying on the restraining power of Suwan and Stephen Curry, try to let Paul George and others “get hot hands” in the early stage.

The Lakers were already under a lot of defensive pressure. The combination of Suwan and Stephen Curry is the most ferocious backcourt in the league, bar none.

This means that once the New York Knicks have other players who perform well besides these two, huge pressure will be given to the Lakers’ defense in the first place… they will be even more wary.

This will make the New York Knicks more and more comfortable as the game goes on.

Therefore, even if Paul George’s first attack missed, for the New York Knicks, it was a tactical choice to continue feeding the ball to Paul George and others.

As for the defensive end.

The New York Knicks’ defensive strategy tonight was simple.

That is to let Chris Paul and Kobe cooperate more.

Once the team conflict breaks out in public, it means that the conflicts in daily life will be even greater.

At this time, as long as the two of them cooperate in defense, as long as the Lakers continue to attack, these two people will blame the other party for the problem of the failure to open up the offensive situation, thus creating greater conflicts!

Although there is also a situation where:

The cooperation between the two people is getting better and better, and in the end, with the victory, it is possible to ease the relationship between them.

Therefore, this is a somewhat risky approach.

But even so, the New York Knicks did it.

There is no way, this is the calmness when leading with a big score of 2-0.

Soon Paul George successfully made his first shot of the night, then the second and the third.

At the end of the first quarter, Paul George scored as many as 7 points in a single quarter.

The Lakers even called a timeout specifically because of a goal scored by Paul George, which shows how much pressure Paul George put on the Lakers coaching staff.

However, the cooperation between Chris Paul and Kobe is also very solid.

It can be seen that there is not much communication between the two people, but they show their complementary sides.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers were barely 29 point behind the New York Knicks at 30 to 1.

This situation obviously cannot aggravate the conflict between Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant. But the New York Knicks are not in a hurry.

As long as one side’s tactics can be implemented, it is good news for the New York Knicks.

Anyway, as long as the game enters the critical moment, Suwan and Stephen Curry’s “super bomb” will be an “intercontinental missile” level “trump card” that will leave all opponents “without a blade of grass”.

So there’s really no need to rush.

In the second quarter of the game, the New York Knicks continued their current rhythm. Looking at the Lakers, their initial rhythm was still maintained in the first quarter, but when the game entered the second quarter at 6 minutes and 34 seconds, the Lakers suddenly experienced a “power outage”.

Neither Kobe nor Chris Paul stepped up during this period.

The New York Knicks took advantage of the situation and launched a wave of offense.

It was also after this wave of offense that the New York Knicks took a 7-point lead.

This was also their biggest lead of the night.

But that’s not the most important thing.

the most important is:

The atmosphere on the field has obviously changed.

The Lakers’ offense began to become impatient.

This actually gave the New York Knicks more opportunities, and by the end of the first half, the score difference reached double digits.

57 to 46, a difference of 11 points.

When the New York Knicks players walked through the away player tunnel, the Los Angeles fans on both sides of the aisle were silent, no longer having the excitement they had before the game.

The team suddenly lost power, so they were in no mood to boo at the moment.

The Lakers players were just like these fans, most of them buried the ball low.

Only Chris Paul and Kobe had different expressions.

One of them was unwilling to accept the result, and the other one was also unwilling to accept the result.

At the same time, there was some resentment.

However, it is unknown whether this resentment is directed at oneself or the other party.

During the halftime break, the ESPN commentary analyzed the reasons why the Lakers were suddenly pulled away in the first half. In addition to the regular tactical analysis, Bill Walton also mentioned a word: “Stability!”

But what he was talking about was not the stability of the team.

It’s the stability gap between Chris Paul and Kobe, and between Suwan and Stephen Curry.

The stability gap between the Lakers’ “dual cores”, especially Suwan, is really huge.

Kobe’s because of age.

Phil Jackson has already discovered this, and in order to ensure that Kobe can perform stably, he has specially adjusted the defensive strategy for Suwan.

But as I get older and am not in good shape, I really am withering away.

There is no way to wake him up at all!
Chris Paul’s instability mainly focuses on his height.

He is too short.

This is also the fundamental reason that limits his upper limit.

The interference in the playoffs is much greater than that in the regular season.

Chris Paul had it even worse.

Many media refer to Chris Paul as “Saint Paul”.

But he obviously had more diarrhea in the playoffs than “Super God” scenes.

Just look at the number of times he’s been reversed in the playoffs.

There’s a reason why it took him many years to reach the Western Conference semifinals.

It can also be seen from this game that the main stage in which the Lakers were widened the gap was when problems suddenly occurred in the offensive state of two of their players.

Kenny Smith mainly analyzed the New York Knicks’ tactical strategy in the first half:

“Their style of play was to win the game steadily. In fact, they did it!”

“This team’s ability to seize opportunities is really outstanding!”

“Once the opponent’s state fluctuates, they can perceive this very keenly and then magnify it!”

“This is the team in this league that knows how to seize opportunities the best!”

“The Lakers will have a harder time in the second half!”

Kenny Smith made a prediction.

The progress of the second half of the game was not much different from what Kenny Smith said.

Right at the start, the New York Knicks had smooth cooperation and Suwan made a three-pointer.

The people of Los Angeles, who had just recovered from the situation, fell into silence again…

Su Wan going crazy at this time is definitely not what they want to see…

Lakers…

Come on!
I don’t know if the inner voices of the Lakers fans were heard, but Kobe responded to Suwan’s three-pointer in the next round.

Afterwards, Kobe seemed to have found his peak period and kept responding to the goals.

Suwan’s offensive momentum during this period was very fierce, but Kobe’s offensive momentum was equally strong. Relying on Kobe’s outbreak, the Lakers kept the score difference in a hopeful range.

But as the game went on, the Lakers fans at the stadium became even more afraid to breathe.

because……

Su Wan’s condition did not deteriorate at all, but Kobe’s breathing became heavier and heavier.

Obviously, the result of continuing like this is that the tireless Suwan will keep holding the ball and forcefully attack, completely suppressing Kobe.

At this time, the Lakers need someone to step up and help Kobe get through this “dangerous period”.

Chris Paul got the ball at this time, but the New York Knicks immediately increased their defensive rhythm and intensity as soon as he got the ball.

For a point guard like Chris Paul who controls the game, if he is asked to slow down and direct the play slowly, the game will definitely be very uncomfortable.

Therefore, when the New York Knicks play against Chris Paul, they will constantly compress Chris Paul’s rhythm space, forcing him to speed up the overall rhythm and reduce his time to think and arrange the lineup.

The result of all this was that Chris Paul was unable to step up when the team needed him to.

On the other hand, Stephen Curry of the New York Knicks broke out afterwards, adding more firepower to the team.

Kobe gradually began to show physical problems.

At the end of the game, the New York Knicks played steadily and relied on the “twin stars” in the second half to defeat the Lakers by 119 points with a score of 95 to 24, winning the third game of the finals.

The big score came to 3-0!

Barkley said: “On top of the Forbidden City, the New York Dynasty will be established!”

(End of this chapter)