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Chapter 191 He has entered "The.Zone" (Today is also an update!)

After losing the third game, the defending champion has one foot on the edge of the cliff.

The Lakers' core players, led by Kobe, are well aware of this.
If they fail to win the next Game 4, they will not only fall behind by a large score of 1 to 3, but it will also be a fantasy for them to complete a reversal against the Warriors in the remaining games.

Kobe, who didn't want to sit still and wait for death, practiced three-point shooting with his teammates before Game 4.

This is the advice given to the players by Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw.

In the first three games, in addition to double-teaming Kobe a lot, in order to prevent Curry and Nash from being beaten, zone defense was the main defensive strategy used by the Warriors in the game.

So in Xiao's opinion, only by shooting more accurately can the Lakers further improve the team's offensive efficiency on the court and thereby punish the Warriors' zone defense.

In addition, through the first three games, the Lakers and Warriors have successively revealed the chips they can use in this gamble.

Qin Yue is undoubtedly the ace of the Warriors.

And what about the Lakers?

Before Game 4, Jackson said to Kobe earnestly: "Kobe, this year is definitely the year you have the best chance of beating him."

The Zen Master is a head coach who is very good at inspiring the potential of his star players.

Jackson knew that Kobe was a man who never gave up.

Therefore, compared to comforting Kobe.
In Jackson's eyes, what he needs to do more is to provide Kobe with some motivation to press the switch of God descending to earth on the court.

Two days later, Staples Center.

Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and the Lakers took place as scheduled.

Pre-match warm-up phase.

As soon as he entered the stadium, Qin Yue spotted LeBron James, who always liked to wear his baseball cap backwards, on the sidelines.

Qin Yue was very curious why James came tonight.

"Brown, are you here to cheer me up?" Qin Yue took the initiative to step forward and greeted James.

Hearing this, James smiled bitterly and said, "Cleveland is too depressing. I want to come out and relax."

Is it just repression?
In this year's playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to become the first division-leading team in history to be eliminated after the first round of the playoffs was changed to a best-of-seven system. Therefore, James is criticized by the American media almost every day.

After all, in this era dominated by Qin Yue
James, who is already second to none in the regular season, is seen by countless American media as a player who can compete with Qin Yue in the future NBA.

American basketball urgently needs an American captain to overturn the dominance of Qin and Yue.

Perhaps, in the previous records of James' confrontation with Qin Yue, he had been repeatedly defeated.

But in competitive sports, a temporary failure does not mean everything.

James is young enough.

Just like it took Jordan several years to defeat the Pistons.

As the season progressed, James gradually mastered the trick of playing the role of a ball-handling core.
Whether it is his personal data or his increasingly explosive body, many American fans have seen his extremely bright future.

Fans expect James, who always keeps catching up, to catch up with Qin Yue one day, just like those superheroes in comics who always lose first and then win.

However.
As fans' high expectations for James came to nothing with the Cavaliers' elimination in the first round, James, who gave fans unlimited imagination in the regular season, naturally had to bear the corresponding price.

The price of this is heavy.

It was so bad that James didn't even want to stay in Cleveland for a moment.

So, at the suggestion of Rich Paul, James, who was in urgent need of fresh air, came to the scene of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

On the one hand, this year's Western Conference Finals has become an incredibly popular topic, and James can keep the heat going by watching the game live.

On the other hand, James can also take this opportunity to tell the world that he will not be easily defeated.

"You know, I still have a lot to learn from the Messiah and Kobe."

On the sidelines, when being interviewed by reporters, James took the initiative to lower his posture and said: "I hope that watching the game up close will allow me to understand how these two great players led a team to the end."

At this moment, when James expressed his good wish for progress to the world with a humble attitude, Qin Yue believed that even those American media who had been holding on to him would definitely give him a break afterwards.

As for what James can learn from watching the game live?
that's not important.

What’s important is that James can use this game to show the world that he will not give up easily.

Just like doing a test paper, you don’t have to know how to do the questions, but the sound of turning the pages must be loud.

Warm-up is over.

In the center of the field, the starting players of both teams took their positions one after another.

This night, the jump ball was still between Qin Yue, who played as center, and Gasol Jr. of the Lakers.

Interestingly, knowing that he was no match for Qin Yue in the jump ball, Gasol simply gave up the jump ball and retreated directly to his own half after the game started.

Curry was responsible for dribbling the ball across half court. The Warriors quickly opened up their formation and created an opportunity for Qin Yue to single out Odom on the wing.

The next second, Qin Yue violently broke through Odom's defense zone and made an emergency stop and shot.

In the audience, James, who had just involuntarily put himself into Qin Yue's perspective, frowned when he saw this scene.

Because the moment Qin Yue completed the breakthrough, Gasol's defense was already in place, so in addition to passing the ball, the sudden stop and pull-up shot was indeed the best solution Qin Yue could choose.

However.
This skill has long been James' weak point.

James was very confident that he could use his speed and physical advantages to defeat Odom like Qin Yue did.

But he couldn't punish the Lakers' defense like Qin Yue did with his stable pull-up jump shots.

James is well aware that, except for some divinely-assisted nights, his pull-up jumpers always punish his teammates.

It’s different from what many LeBron haters imagine.

In fact, James has always been a player who is very good at summarizing his own strengths and weaknesses.

After all, if James really didn't know his shortcomings in the pull-up jump shot, how could he often choose to jump and pass the ball when he was halfway through the drive?

In later generations, as a representative figure of utilitarian basketball and pragmatism, it is better to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses, avoid the sharp edge, or travel during off-peak hours.
In short, you can question everything about James.

But you can never doubt that James is a player who is good at using his own advantages to create a simple ball environment for himself and get the so-called stupid points.

Coming back, the Lakers have the ball.

Kobe, who had practiced three-pointers before the game, shot the ball despite Wallace's defense.

Kobe's three-point shooting has always been known for its instability.

However, that night, Kobe's decisive shot from the outside once again awakened Qin Yue's already dead memory.

If Qin Yue remembered correctly, Kobe had a pretty good three-point shooting percentage this season, right up until the finals.

Especially the Western Conference Finals against the Suns.

Kobe's three-point shooting percentage reached 43%. Not only was he extremely accurate, but he also averaged more than 7 shots per game.

Qin Yue knew that if the Warriors wanted to effectively reduce Kobe's three-point shooting percentage, they must first change their zone defense to man-to-man defense.

Because in the zone defense system, with Gasol in the middle, the Lakers can always create three-point shooting opportunities for the Lakers' outside players on both sides of the court.

In the previous three games, the reason why the Warriors insisted on playing zone defense was that this Lakers team had no other stable three-point point except Battier.

But now, with Kobe hitting another three-pointer in the next round, this Mamba snake, which was the first to spit out its tongue, has forced the Warriors to the point where they need to change their defense.

Seeing this, Qin Yue immediately hinted to the other players on the field with his eyes.

Qin Yue knew his old rival.

He wasn't going to bet that Kobe couldn't hit those threes.

I won't even bet that Kobe won't dare to shoot from the outside all night against the Warriors' double-team defense.

Because since he could break the NBA's single-game three-point shooting record in the regular season facing Garnett's retreating defense, then Kobe, who has the same paranoid personality as him, could naturally do it.

On the court, it was the Lakers' turn to attack again.

Kobe found that the Warriors chose to respect him. He asked for the ball, lowered his center of gravity and shook off Wallace, then assisted Gasol, who got an open position near the free throw line, to tip-up and shoot. This was different from the first three games.

Kobe was obviously more active at the beginning of the game that night.

Singles, breakthroughs, assists.

In Qin Yue's eyes, Kobe, who actively leads the Lakers' offense in every round, is more like a version of Luka Doncic with enhanced athletic ability than Jordan's successor.

This is Kobe that Qin Yue has never seen before.

He took control of most of the ball for the Lakers in the first quarter and tried to exert an influence on the game that matched his own.

Although Kobe has never approved of Qin Yue's style of playing in which he takes on all tasks.

But as the Lakers were pushed to the brink by the Warriors.
Kobe, who understood Qin Yue amid doubts and chose to become Qin Yue, has already embarked on a path he had never set foot on before under the subtle influence of Qin Yue.

After the first quarter, the score was 34 to 34.

Kobe scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a single quarter.

In the first quarter, Kobe, who scored, organized and rebounded, seemed to have entered a whole new realm.

But the more Kobe tried to exert a greater influence on the game, the more he realized that Qin Yue, a pioneer of ball-holding core players, had left all the players of this era far behind.

Kobe witnessed Michael Jordan in his prime.

Jordan, the extremely sadistic one who would score points against you until you submit.

And, to become the next Jordan.
Kobe also studied Jordan's playing style day and night and imitated it.

However, in this round of Western Conference Finals, when Qin Yue, who had just returned from injury, used his unparalleled influence on the court to dominate the game, even if Kobe didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that Qin Yue had shown an unprecedented dominating mode to all the superstars of this era.

This dominating mode is different from Jordan's back then.

But Qin Yue did prove through this dominating mode that his influence on the game has surpassed Jordan.

Kobe would have no doubt that if Qin Yue and he swapped teams, Qin Yue would still be able to lead the Lakers to defeat the Warriors.

So if Kobe wants to defeat the Warriors in this Western Conference Finals, he knows better than anyone that, first of all, he must narrow the gap in the quality of the ace players between the Lakers and the Warriors as much as possible.

Kobe would never deny that Qin Yue was a more outstanding player than him.

However, defeating Qin Yue is also one of Kobe's motivations for playing basketball.

Just like he learned from Jordan back then, he also wanted to become Jordan and surpass Jordan.

Although Kobe is no longer young at this moment.

But as long as he can still fight, he will never stop climbing to the top of the mountain.

In the second quarter, after only two minutes of rest, Kobe took the initiative to ask Jackson for permission to play again.

In order to ensure that the Warriors can take the initiative in the lineup rotation stage, in the first quarter, Qin Yue led the mixed lineup to deal with the Lakers' main players, while also leaving the opportunity for the next staggered travel to Nash.

There was no way Kobe would sit idly by and watch the Warriors widen the score during the lineup rotation phase, relying on the staggered travel opportunities created by Qin Yue for Nash.

"My leadership ability is not comparable to his." Kobe said to Jackson, "He can lead a group of substitutes and our main lineup to play back and forth, which is something I can't do."

"If I want to beat the Warriors, I have to stay on the court."

Hearing this, Jackson, who felt the same way, looked at Kobe with deep affection and said, "We can only rely on you, Kobe."

At the Staples Center, Kobe was the first to return to the court.

In response to this, Warriors head coach Malone turned into the opponent's Zen master, using stillness to control movement, and only sent Qin Yue back to the court until the last five minutes of the second quarter.

CCTV, when Qin Yue came on the court, Zhang Weiping said: "Mike Malone finally substituted Qin Yue in, he really wasn't in a hurry at all!"

Why is Malone in such a hurry?
To be honest.

In Malone's view, the Warriors had established an extremely huge lead in the first half.

Although such a lead will not be reflected on the scoreboard for the time being, as the game progresses, Ma Long firmly believes that Qin Yue, who is always in good physical condition, will definitely lead the Warriors to victory in this game.

On the court, as soon as Qin Yue came on the court, he got rid of Odom's defense with a drag step.

Then, Qin Yue noticed that Gasol Jr. had already positioned himself in advance, so he simply pulled up for the ball after retreating from the outside line, and tried a three-pointer to get a feel for his shooting.

Swish!
On the sidelines, James immediately showed an envious expression when he saw Qin Yue's shooting opportunity that he got by relying on his technical advantage.

Compared to his own bald lion cold arrow, which was already famous in the martial arts world,
Qin Yue, who can always shoot as he pleases on the court, has already made James quietly feel the technical gap between him and Qin Yue that he will never be able to catch up with.

but
While personally experiencing Qin Yue's powerful dominance, James' self-confidence, which had been shattered, was also rebuilt.

Because through watching the game live, James found that except for the huge difference between him and Qin Yue in technical aspects, he could basically do everything else Qin Yue could do on the court.

"You know what, Richie, this game has given me a lot of confidence."

James said to Rich Paul next to him: "It makes me believe that as long as I can partner with more suitable teammates, I can definitely prove myself again!"

James knows very well
There is no need for him to demand that he can do something that Qin Yue can do but he can't.

And with the next season, the NBA will revise the traveling and handball rules.
In the new era that will encourage more offense
In James' view, the technical gap between him and Qin Yue is destined to be further narrowed.

Therefore, as long as he could continue to strengthen this historical-level body and find teammates who could make up for his shortcomings, he could completely change the track to catch up with Qin Yue.

At the Staples Center, Qin Yue probably never dreamed that after returning from injury, he would not only inspire Kobe, but also indirectly help James gain confidence.

Before the end of the first half, Kobe took control of the ball for the Lakers who had their last offensive opportunity.

With 8 seconds left in the Lakers' offensive time, Bell took the initiative to double-team Kobe where he was holding the ball.

This was a double-team with impeccable timing and route planning.

However.
Kobe, who had been holding his breath to compete with Qin Yue, suddenly exploded on the court, turned around and shot backward.

Swish!
At the scene, Kobe's difficult three-pointer for the Lakers before the end of the first half instantly ignited the entire stadium.

But at the moment when the home fans stood up and shouted "MVP" for Kobe.
Kobe's early shot gave the Warriors 2.4 seconds of shooting time.
So, Qin Yue noticed Curry's expression of eagerness to catch the ball and perform a backcourt three-pointer, and immediately passed the backcourt ball to Curry.

then
As Stephen Curry threw the basketball from the Warriors' backcourt to the Lakers' half, the fans who were originally shouting "MVP" for Kobe suddenly fell into silence.

Swish!
This is Curry's backcourt SHOW.TIME.

He made an incredible buzzer-beating three-pointer from the Warriors' backcourt!
At this point, the first half of the game ended with a score of 68 to 65.

Thanks to Curry's magical shot, the Warriors entered the second half with a 3-point lead.

Throughout the first half, Kobe scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Lakers. Until he returned to the locker room panting, he couldn't understand why luck was on the side of the Warriors.

There is no doubt that Curry's backcourt three-pointer before the end of the first half was a magical shot that seriously hit the morale of the Lakers.

only.
Was Curry's backcourt three-pointer really just luck?
Qin Yue didn’t know.

But he knows that if this situation happens again next time, he will still choose to pass the ball to Curry.

After all, this is a lucrative deal. Once Curry scores, he can get an assist and Curry can hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the backcourt.

What if Curry didn’t make the shot?
I'm sorry.
According to the rules of the current era, Curry can only add one missed three-point shot to his data panel.

"Well done, Stephen!"

Back in the locker room, rubbing Curry's head, Qin Yue smiled.

Upon hearing this, Curry, who had only made this buzzer-beating three-pointer from the backcourt in the entire first half, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he thought Qin Yue would blame him for his poor performance that night.

“It’s not like he forgot about those open shots you missed in the first half.”

On the side, after pulling Curry to his side and forbidding anyone to disturb Qin Yue, Jack said, "He just entered a state that belongs only to him."

After a pause, Jack explained to Curry, who looked puzzled: "I am absolutely sure that from the moment he walked back to the locker room, he had entered 'The.Zone'."

……

PS: Today is also an update. Sorry, because this cervical acupuncture treatment course has nine days excluding today, and after acupuncture, massage and infusion every day, Aqiao will go home very late, so please forgive the update during this period!
(End of this chapter)