NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

In their second possession, the ball was passed to Allen on the wing after several passes. This season, Allen has been more responsible for catch-and-shoot and open three-pointers, so although his scoring stats are good and his shooting percentage is not low, his assisted percentage is actually the highest of his career.

This means that his opportunities and ability to create his own offense have declined significantly this season.

But this ball was given to Allen so he could go one-on-one with Kobe.

Allen faked a shot outside the three-point line, dribbled the ball, took a probing step, then suddenly accelerated, faked a step back, backed down, and then turned around again to try to drive.

After a series of maneuvers, Kobe was completely unfazed and was still firmly guarded, leaving Allen utterly helpless.

This bastard, how come he never gets old? How come his lateral movement and defensive abilities don't seem to decline at all?

Although I wasn't as good as him when I was young, I wasn't so tightly guarded by him, and I wasn't so helplessly restricted by him!
Back in the day, I was known as the Italian Stallion, possessing terrifying explosive power!

Why am I aging so fast, while this bastard seems to be still at his peak? We entered the league in the same year!
Allen was unconvinced and couldn't understand it; he simply realized that he really couldn't beat Kobe anymore.

In fact, Allen was completely stuck in a dead end.

He forgot that although he and Kobe entered the league in the same year, he was more than three years older than Kobe.

If they are in their early twenties, a three-year age difference is really not noticeable, as they are at the peak of their physical function.

But once you get to 30 or older, especially around 35, you feel like you're progressing at an alarming rate, almost every six months.

Allen, for one, really couldn't keep up with Kobe anymore. The two were no longer opponents on the same level. Asking him to fight Kobe one-on-one was really asking too much of him.

"Boom!"

With a muffled thud, Allen failed to capitalize on the sliver of space he had painstakingly earned. Perhaps his legs went weak from dribbling too much, or perhaps he had used too much energy to break free, or maybe he was just unlucky.

In short, Allen's second shot tonight was a miss.

Bynum grabbed the rebound and passed it to Lin Tian, ​​who then delivered a long pass to Kobe, who was making a quick run down the court.

Kobe once again transformed into a fast break disruptor. After reaching the three-point line, he turned sideways and used his butt to block Allen, forcibly slowing down his speed.

"Would it kill him to give me an assist? If he likes to play it safe so much, why did he run away in the first place?" Lin Tian grumbled, seemingly quite dissatisfied with Kobe, but in reality, he showed complete trust in Kobe.

The person stood in the center circle without moving forward, clearly believing that Kobe could handle the ball himself.

Sure enough, Kobe backed down Allen and pushed him two steps toward the basket before suddenly turning and dribbling towards the rim. He jumped and made a high layup, dodging James's block, and the ball accurately went into the hoop.

"Snapped!"

After scoring, Kobe quickly returned to defense and high-fived Lin Tian, ​​who had been waiting at the center line.

"Next time, can you just charge straight after getting the ball?" Lin Tian continued, "Right now you have +2 points, but I have -1 assist!"

"Let's play it safe." Kobe rarely showed a mischievous smile. "I hope you don't end up with 9 assists tonight."

"You're the least qualified person on this team to say 'play it safe'," Lin Tian continued, backing away as he continued to berate Kobe. "You're the most likely to get carried away and play recklessly."

"Don't be so obsessed with stats!" Kobe snorted. "Stat padding will ruin team harmony."

The two top players on a team openly accused each other on the court, claiming that the other was padding their stats, owing them stats, and that the other was always playing recklessly on the court.

In other teams, this would be a sure sign of internal strife, or even outright infighting.

But this is the Lakers.

They are not an ordinary team, and Kobe and Lin Tian are not ordinary players.

The more these two act like this, the more it shows that the Lakers have a good atmosphere, everyone is united, and they don't fuss over details.

The verbal sparring between these two will not affect team unity, nor will it affect the defense on the field.

In their next offensive play, the Mavericks may have learned their lesson and didn't let Allen and Williams go one-on-one against Lin Tian or Kobe again, but they weren't exactly obedient.

Because the ball was hit into Bogut's hands under the basket, the Mavericks actually let him go one-on-one against Bynum.

Although Bogut was the number one draft pick and his talent and physical attributes are undeniable, he has been relying on his past achievements for many years in the league. His defense has been able to maintain a fairly good level thanks to his talent and size.

But when it comes to offense, well, that's really hard to say.

Very rough!
At the very least, he's no match for Bynum, who has been training hard with players like Ewing and Kareem since his debut.

Bogut tried several times to create space for himself with his footwork, but Bynum anticipated and intercepted them all. Bogut tried several times but failed to find a shooting space. In the end, he could only force a turn to create distance and then use a rather awkward posture to barely shoot.

The shooting motion was quite awkward and unsightly, but precisely because it was awkward and unsightly, Bynum really couldn't reach it and couldn't complete the block.

Given Bogut's touch and ability, this shot was practically impossible to score, but there are exceptions, aren't there?

At this point, Bynum could only turn around and watch whether the ball would go in or not; there was nothing else he could do.

Just then, a figure that made Bynum feel incredibly reassured suddenly appeared, like a divine being descending from the sky. It stretched out an arm from mid-air and slapped Bogut's shot away!
"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, the basketball was slapped away by Lin Tian, ​​who had circled around from the far side. Durant, who was nearby, grabbed the ball and then dribbled it forward, sprinting towards the frontcourt!

He was tall and slender with huge strides. Although he didn't take many steps, each step he took was almost equivalent to two steps for an ordinary person.

In the blink of an eye, Durant had already swiftly driven to the Mavericks' basket, leaping high and preparing to slam the ball towards the rim with one hand.

"Stop dreaming!" James finally arrived at that moment, leaping high as well and slapping the basketball with his hand.

"Snapped!"

With a loud bang, Durant's dunk was slapped onto the backboard by James, showcasing James's incredible chase-down block once again.

"LeBron! LeBron!"

"Let him die! Let him die!"

"Go to hell, you idiot!"

The cheers from the fans immediately resounded throughout the arena. The Mavericks fans had been feeling very frustrated in the previous few possessions, being repeatedly outplayed and shut down at home, leaving them with nowhere to vent their passion.

But this time, their enthusiasm only lasted a short while.

Because after James blocked Durant's dunk with a huge block, the basketball bounced off and landed right in Lin Tian's hands.

Lin Tian grabbed the basketball with both hands and pulled it up. James, who had just landed and hadn't even gotten his footing yet, couldn't even dodge it this time, let alone block it.

"boom!"

After a loud bang, Lin Tian's hands were hanging over the rim, his legs straddling James' shoulders, who hadn't had time to dodge. He looked absolutely domineering and awe-inspiring!
Dallas fans were definitely the most awkward group at this time.

Their cheers had just reached their peak, and they hadn't even had time to stop.

It looked as if they were cheering for Lin Tian and shouting for him.

Even though they quickly realized what had happened and stopped cheering, it couldn't undo the fact that Lin Tian had just dunked on James.

It hurts so much!
"If you don't want your family to wear black for you, you better get out of the way when I dunk!" Lin Tian landed on the floor after his dunk and started trash-talking James.

James did not respond, but he felt helpless and angry.

Get out of the way? I haven't even landed properly yet, how am I supposed to dodge? Instant teleport?
Come at me head-on if you dare! Don't try to ambush me!
Taking advantage of someone's misfortune—what kind of hero is that? What's there to be proud of?
"You're not convinced, are you?" Lin Tian immediately saw the resentment in James' eyes and said, "Then don't run away! We'll have a chance to face off!"

After saying this, Lin Tian immediately turned around and retreated to defend, while the Mavericks opted to quickly inbound the ball from the baseline this time.

Because the Lakers were playing a fast break, both teams still had a lot of players around the mid-court line. James quickly regained his composure and then delivered a long pass to Williams, who was near the mid-court line.

You want to spew trash talk, huh!

I'm going to catch you completely off guard! If you can teleport, then go after Williams!
James's plan was absolutely brilliant, and his choice was definitely the right and wise move.

But he overestimated Williams' abilities and basketball IQ.

At this moment, Williams clearly only remembered Johnson's pre-game instructions to have him and Allen be the main attackers; he had completely forgotten everything else.

After Williams dribbled to the three-point line, the Lakers' defense failed to close the gap in time. Logically, the Mavericks needed a solid score, and his best option would have been to drive into the paint for a layup to give the team a win.

Unfortunately, Williams had his own ideas.

This guy suddenly stopped outside the three-point line, then pulled up for a three-pointer!
If you're on a hot streak, your team is winning, or you're the absolute core of your team, then taking this kind of shot isn't a big deal.

But when a team is at a significant disadvantage, being pressured by the opponent and desperately needing a point to stabilize the situation, do you suddenly throw one like that?
If it goes in, that's great, it's definitely a good shot. But if it doesn't go in, the impact on the team will be huge!

This time, Williams' touch was clearly off.

"Boom!"

With a muffled thud, Williams' three-pointer bounced off the rim. Kobe turned around, grabbed the rebound, and then unleashed a long, sweeping shot just like James'.

The basketball flew across the court and went straight to the Mavericks' three-point line. Lin Tian, ​​who hadn't had time to get back on defense, grabbed the ball, glanced back at James who was guarding him, and suddenly took a probing step to slightly shift James's center of gravity before pulling up and shooting!
Like Williams, he hit a three-pointer in transition, and like Williams, he took a reckless shot that was unreasonable and did not conform to the tactical arrangements.

But the biggest difference is that Williams missed his three-pointer, while Lin Tian's three-pointer went straight into the basket!

"Shh!"

After a sharp crack, the Lakers' scoring spree continued, while the Mavericks still couldn't score.

"It's time to call a timeout!" Van Gundy shook his head and said, "The Mavericks need to call a timeout! If they don't, the Lakers are going to crush them!"

"No call! What is Johnson doing?" Miller said from the side. "At this point, he should definitely call a timeout to calm things down, but the Mavericks inbounded the ball from the baseline and started attacking immediately! What's the rush? What are they in such a hurry for?"

“Maybe Johnson has already made arrangements,” Jackson said. “He may have already called out the tactics. Actually, the Mavericks’ current situation is simple: just give the ball to Nowitzki and James and let them play. As long as that’s the case, it’s not impossible to play without a timeout.”

No one knows why the Mavericks didn't call a timeout, but everyone was certain of one thing afterward: Johnson didn't make any additional arrangements.

After James dribbled to the frontcourt, he set a screen with Bogut and then passed the ball to Allen in the corner.

Allen was indeed open after receiving the ball, but Kobe's old habit kicked in again, and he went to help defend.

Allen didn't hesitate; his instinct as a top shooter led him to catch the ball and immediately pull it up and throw it!
"Boom!"

Unfortunately, the Mavericks were met with another muffled thud and another missed shot.

"James, just do it yourself!" Miller said anxiously. "What are we doing now? Forget about whether it's reasonable or not, just do it yourself!"

“From a tactical point of view, passing the ball is definitely the best option. Allen is a top shooter and was wide open, so passing the ball out was perfectly fine,” Jackson added. “But at this point, it should be James himself! Even if we don’t care about the tactics, he should take the lead to stabilize the situation and score first!”

But no matter how frustrated the commentators were, the Mavericks' attack still failed to score.

Barnes grabbed the rebound and passed it to Lin Tian again.

This time, Lin Tian wasn't in a hurry.

He waved again to signal everyone to calm down and relax, then calmly dribbled the ball towards the frontcourt.

"No need to rush, let's take it one point at a time!" Lin Tian raised his hand and said easily, "20-0! Our first plan is to beat them 20-0!"

If Lin Tian had said this at any other time, the Mavericks players would have definitely retorted, telling him that he was delusional.

But at this moment, the Mavericks were clearly completely stunned, and the whole team seemed out of sorts.

Silence. Silence was the only response Lin Tian received.

Lin Tian easily passed the ball and directed the tactics, making the Lakers' offense both fluid and dazzling.

After the ball was passed from Lin Tian's hands, almost no one dribbled it. It went from the left side to the bottom corner, from the bottom corner to the basket, and from the basket to the other side's bottom corner.

All five Lakers players touched the basketball and selflessly passed it to teammates in better positions.

Finally, the ball came to Barnes in the corner. This Lakers starter, the only one who wasn't a star, had a tough hand that left the Mavericks in despair.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound, the knife fell swiftly, and Barnes scored another 3 points!
The Lakers' scoring momentum is completely unstoppable!
"Shh!"

With 3 minutes and 23 seconds left in the first quarter, Nowitzki finally made a jump shot from mid-range, which was the Mavericks' first point of the game!
15: 2!

The Lakers started the game with a 15-0 run, and the Mavericks finally broke the deadlock with a two-pointer from Nowitzki.

Since the start of the game, they have truly been in a completely passive position.

The Mavericks have also made adjustments.

Although Johnson was a little slow to react, he had already called a timeout to rearrange the game when the Lakers were down 12-0. He instructed James and Nowitzki to be the main offensive force, to drive to the basket, and to play tougher and more aggressively.

But they were unsuccessful; the Mavericks failed to score in at least two possessions after the timeout.

On the other hand, for the Lakers, Durant drove to the basket and converted a 2+1 play, adding 3 points to the team's tally. (End of Chapter)