Chapter 1004
A coward can't become a bastard, he'll only become a laughing stock!
Because Durant exploded in this quarter!
Durant scored 25 points in this quarter, breaking his career high for points in a single quarter. He had never scored 20 points in a single quarter before, let alone 25.
Tonight, however, his touch was absolutely phenomenal.
Not only did he hit five three-pointers from beyond the arc, but he also made several mid-range shots!
Almost all of his goals were catch-and-shoot pull-up jumpers or catch-and-shoot shots. This is his strength, and it is also the move that Garnett, who is getting older and whose lateral movement and speed have declined significantly, finds hardest to defend.
You could have Garnett, with his experience and wingspan, help defend, cover, or even hold down the low post, without any problem.
But if you ask Garnett to chase Durant all over the court now, and then immediately pull up to defend him after catching up, that would really kill the old man.
Garnett couldn't defend him, and Pierce lacked height, so the Suns really had no way to deal with Durant.
Finally, combined with Durant's top-notch shooting touch, intelligent positioning, and Lin Tian's constant ball feeding, this led to Durant's career-high 25 points in a single quarter.
Durant scored 25 points on his own, making 10 of his 13 field goal attempts and scoring 25 points in a single quarter without a single free throw – a feat never before seen in Lakers history.
After noticing Durant's excellent form tonight, consistently making shots, and Lin Tian's willingness to feed him the ball, Phil Jackson made an early rotation, substituting Kobe off the court to stagger their playing time, allowing Durant to shoot freely while ensuring the court still had plenty of firepower after Durant went to rest.
In this quarter, Lin Tian and Durant played the entire quarter, with Lin Tian dishing out 7 assists, 6 of which were directly to Durant.
Led by the two of them, the Lakers scored a whopping 38 points in the first quarter, taking a 4-point lead into the second quarter.
As for Kobe, who went to rest early?
This guy took the initiative from the start, hitting the first shot of the game. After that, he didn't receive the ball much. In the entire first quarter, which lasted 7 minutes, he only made the first shot out of 3 attempts.
Scoring 2 points on 1-of-3 shooting is clearly far from enough to live up to Kobe's earlier boast.
According to the fans' expectations of Kobe, even if you don't set a personal career record like Durant did at the start, you should at least score 10 or 15 points in the first quarter to give us a good laugh.
Otherwise, how will you fulfill your bold statement after the last game?
Kobe was helpless.
He genuinely couldn't touch the ball; Lin Tian simply wouldn't pass it to him, as if he didn't even exist.
Unfortunately, Kobe couldn't say anything.
Who can blame Durant for having such a good shooting touch?
What did he say?
"Even though Kevin's shooting is good, don't give him the ball. Give me the ball so I can pad my stats?"
Kobe simply couldn't bring himself to say something like that.
But if you can't say it, Lin Tian will ignore you.
They just wouldn't pass the ball to Kobe.
In the seven minutes Kobe played in the first quarter, his last two shots were both earned through his own efforts. One was a fast break after grabbing a defensive rebound, and the other was a three-point attempt after grabbing an offensive rebound, which he then missed.
Those were the only two opportunities. At other times, Kobe didn't get to touch the ball at all, but he really didn't have many chances to showcase himself.
"This..." Van Gundy was somewhat helpless looking at the situation on the field.
They roared loudly several times after Kobe made his first dunk, and all said that Kobe was going to "do something big" tonight.
But what about the results?
Kobe pooped a small one.
This guy just gets carried away and starts hitting the ball randomly, hitting it repeatedly but missing nothing.
The louder the thunder before the game, the smaller the rain during the game.
As for why Kobe had so few shot attempts, and why Jackson even deliberately reduced his playing time with Lin Tian and Durant?
There must be only one reason.
"I never expected Dragic to be such a good defender!" During the break, Lin Tian blurted out, "He defended Kobe so well that I couldn't find any passing opportunities for him."
"Fortunately, Kevin is in good form. Thanks to Kevin's hot hand, we were able to score quite a few points. Otherwise, by the end of the first quarter, we would have let the Suns' veterans widen the gap!"
Others might not have noticed the problem with Lin Tian's words, but Kobe and Jackson's eyes widened in surprise.
The two men's eyes conveyed a surprisingly consistent message: there's a limit to how much you can talk nonsense!
That's blatant nonsense!
Jackson stated: "Given Dragic's defensive ability, not to mention the times when Kobe completely shut down his position to get the ball and score one-on-one, Kobe had at least three opportunities to completely shake off Dragic and get absolutely open shots."
But Lin Tian didn't send any messages.
Jackson, of course, didn't notice the small plot point in the very first round that no one else noticed except the two of them.
Kobe might even have forgotten that he once gave Lin Tian a hard time.
And even if Jackson noticed, what could he say?
Durant scored 25 points in a quarter, making 10 of 13 shots and 5 of 3-pointers. He stopped letting Lin Tian pass the ball to Durant and instead made Lin Tian pass the ball to Kobe.
That's unreasonable!
All Jackson could do was stagger his playing time and then investigate to see what was going on.
Let's see if it's because Lin Tian's 'point guard instinct' kicked in, giving the ball to teammates with good shooting touch so they could keep going, or if Lin Tian is specifically targeting Kobe.
This also allows Kobe to play on the court for a while and have some fun.
Jackson didn't know about the affair between Kobe and Lin Tian, but he did know that Kobe had made a boast before the game!
He knew Kobe wanted to score a high score tonight to show off.
So he had to find a way to make Kobe feel good, at least give him a chance to have some fun.
In the second quarter, Kobe entered the game and led the substitutes for the first 4-5 minutes.
With his firepower, facing off against the Suns' bench players at this moment is considered a strategic move, a rather cunning tactic.
But how should I put it?
Kobe is having a rough night.
Right now, the Suns' matchup against Kobe is Dudley.
He's basically the only one among all the Suns' perimeter players who can be considered a decent defender.
Then this guy was full of energy tonight, eager to show off, and immediately displayed considerable defensive aggression.
Perhaps it was a bad shooting night, or perhaps Dudley's toughness caught Kobe off guard, or maybe even God wanted to mess with Kobe tonight.
Of course, the most likely explanation is that Kobe had bad luck tonight.
In short, in the first four minutes of the second quarter, Kobe started to go it alone. Suns coach D'Antoni didn't devise any double-teaming or strategy against Kobe. This guy has always been known in the league for not making adjustments and not being good at micro-management.
So regardless of whether Kobe can score 20 points or miss 10 in a row, he will most likely still let Dudley go one-on-one.
Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant was clearly exhausted tonight, perhaps because he didn't get many opportunities to shoot in the first quarter and spent a considerable amount of time on the bench.
To put it simply, his current state can be summed up in one word: completely numb.
Forging iron, continuously forging iron.
After a series of thuds, Kobe Bryant missed four consecutive shots in the first three minutes of the second quarter, and the Suns took advantage of this opportunity to successfully take the lead.
Then came Kobe's most embarrassing moment of the night.
Beyond the three-point line, Kobe received the ball at the top of the arc, and facing Dudley's defense, he suddenly started to put on a show.
With his continuous crossover dribbling, combined with his large-scale body movements and the continuous changes in his footwork, Kobe's dribbling, though not particularly difficult, looked truly gorgeous, elegant, and graceful.
It's absolutely stunning, truly breathtaking.
Then, after Kobe dribbled between his legs four times in a row, he felt he could do it.
The acceleration was sudden, but Dudley also acted suddenly.
"Snapped!"
A crisp sound rang out, and the ball in Kobe's hand disappeared.
That cut was precise and ruthless!
Dudley himself was taken aback.
My defense is that amazing? I just casually crushed Kobe like that?
Dudley's momentary daze was followed by an immediate dash forward, grabbing the basketball and sprinting towards the frontcourt.
A one-on-one steal from Kobe, followed by a fast break and a thunderous dunk!
Dudley is already thinking about what style of dunk to use. He thinks this play can be added to his resume so that he can get more salary when he signs a contract in the future.
But Dudley was clearly too complacent.
Who was he facing?
The league's number one paranoiac and petty person.
Just as he jumped to prepare for a tomahawk dunk, Kobe had already reached the basket a step ahead of him, and at the last second, he turned and jumped high in front of Dudley.
"Snapped!"
Then came another loud bang as Kobe used almost all his strength to slap the ball away from Dudley's hand, which was about to dunk!
Dudley completely lost his balance and fell face-first to the ground in a sorry state. He truly hadn't expected Kobe to be so fast and so aggressive in his pursuit. The Lakers were retreating on defense, so their players were even faster in their retreat and pursuit. Kobe's shot sent him flying almost to mid-court, where he was caught by Isaiah Thomas, who was also retreating and chasing back.
"ball!"
Kobe was completely fired up at this moment. After blocking the shot, he sprinted off again and roared at Isaiah Thomas.
Even if Isaiah Thomas is incredibly selfish and confident, he wouldn't dare disobey the team leader's request at this moment and quickly returned the ball to Kobe.
Kobe himself didn't stop at all; after receiving the ball, he didn't slow down and drove straight towards the basket.
Fierce, tough, and relentless!
He was absolutely furious.
Although Morris is a rookie, he has been known as a jerk and a bad guy since college. In the first game of the new season, he committed a vicious foul on James when the team was playing against the Mavericks, and then received a flagrant foul.
He got a flagrant foul in his very first game of his career, so you don't even need to guess what kind of person he is.
A complete villain and criminal.
Logically speaking, a guy who's so reckless and arrogant from the start, who wasn't even afraid of LeBron James, wouldn't let Kobe dunk on his head like that.
Even if he wasn't a dirty person, he had to be ruthless to maintain his "persona," to make others fear him, and to quickly establish himself in the league, even if it meant crippling Kobe.
For players like him, this is the best way to quickly establish themselves in the league.
Even the foul on James a few days ago wasn't necessarily because he disliked James or was particularly bad. Ultimately, it was about establishing his tough and fierce reputation and image, making opponents fear him, and earning himself playing time.
But this time, the guy was clearly scared.
This guy had no intention of jumping up to confront Kobe head-on or pulling him down; he was intimidated by Kobe's murderous aura.
As Kobe charged towards him, the guy quickly dodged to the side.
It cleared an incredibly wide path for Kobe, a path straight to the basket.
"boom!"
Then came a loud bang as Kobe slammed the ball into the basket with one hand, finally getting his revenge!
After landing, Kobe glared fiercely at Morris, his eyes practically spitting fire, and he kept saying, "Softie!"
Ok?
In short, Maurice's scoundrel tendencies immediately kicked in.
In addition, he finally realized how embarrassing and ridiculous he had just been, and with Kobe's trash talk, his anger and courage erupted almost simultaneously.
I wouldn't dare mess with Kobe when he was flying in the sky, but now that he's on the ground, I'm not afraid of him at all!
"What the hell did you say?!" Morris roared, lunging at Kobe and shoving him in the chest, yelling, "Say it again, who's the coward?"
"Coward." Kobe had no reaction to the provocation from a rookie like Morris, not taking it to heart at all. He curled his lip, his face full of disdain and mockery.
It would be a miracle if a rookie's provocation could make Kobe lose his temper.
The referee rushed over and separated the two, but Morris continued to hurl trash talk and taunt Kobe relentlessly.
Unfortunately, Kobe didn't even glance at him.
That kid doesn't deserve it.
If he had committed a flagrant foul to bring Kobe down when he was dunking, Kobe would still have treated him like a human being.
We're already on the ground, and you're standing there provoking me?
The more Kobe acted this way, the more relentless Morris became, determined to save face. Of course, given his lousy status, he didn't have much time to trash talk. A referee's patience is directly proportional to a player's status.
Morris, unwilling to let the matter rest, quickly received two technical fouls and was ejected by the referee.
As for Kobe, of course he's perfectly fine.
As a seasoned veteran, he didn't even take the matter to heart and simply stood at the free throw line, ready to take the technical free throw.
And what about Maurice?
His villainous persona is unlikely to be established through this expulsion; instead, his image as a clown—unreasonable, cowardly, and overly impulsive—will surely be deeply remembered.
With less than five games in his professional career, Morris Dow has already been ejected once and committed a flagrant foul once, making him arguably the only player in the league's history to have done so.
Jackson quickly made a substitution during the free throw.
With Durant and Lin Tian on the court, Jackson is about to launch a counterattack.
When Kobe heard the team make a substitution, he unconsciously turned his head to look, and then gave a very slight purse of his lips.
On the surface, it was impossible to tell what this guy was feeling.
But Kobe had already cursed them in his heart.
No, I had just gotten into the swing of things when I swapped in that bastard Lin Tian.
You, Jackson, are you messing with me?
Between me and Lin Tian, who exactly is your loyal follower, you old geezer?
You really can't tell that we're having a fight, can you?
Jackson: Actually, I coached Lin first, and then you, Kobe, came to coach me. Theoretically speaking, Lin was the direct descendant.
As for what you two did on the court, that's nothing!
Jackson knew those two bastards all too well.
Although he didn't know why the two of them were together, he was 100% certain that there was no major problem between them.
What, they're going to start fighting?
Kobe quickly made the technical free throw.
The Lakers had another possession, and they once again passed the ball inbound to point guard Lin Tian.
"No need to rush, stay calm." Lin Tian gestured for everyone to relax and follow the tactics.
On the Suns' side, although D'Antoni didn't give any specific instructions, their players made changes on their own initiative.
The players knew that Durant was in good form and that Kobe had just found his rhythm, so the Suns' entire defense naturally shifted outwards a little.
They need to put more pressure on Kobe and Durant, making it difficult for them to initiate attacks with the ball.
While the Lakers' defense expanded outwards, their offense rapidly contracted.
Lin Tian delivered a high lob pass directly to the basket, and Bynum spun past Gortat, jumped, caught the ball in mid-air, and slammed it into the hoop!
"boom!"
After a loud bang, the Lakers executed another alley-oop play.
"Good turn!" On the way back to defend, Lin Tian reached out and touched Bynum's hand.
"That was an even better pass!" Unlike Kobe, Bynum wasn't arrogant at all. He excitedly high-fived Lin Tian, having thoroughly enjoyed the dunk.
"Then keep fighting for your position! Kill that Ukrainian!" Lin Tian continued to encourage Bynum: "You have the ability!"
“Of course,” Bynum said confidently, “but he seems to be Swedish.”
"Who cares who he is?" Lin Tian shrugged indifferently and immediately returned to his defensive position.
In the following rounds, Lin Tian once again kept his promise.
He kept feeding Bynum the ball until Bynum was burping from the hunger.
Once, after Bynum got into a very deep position, the ball was passed directly to his chest, allowing him to rise and score a layup.
Then Lin Tian successfully broke through Nash, drew Gortat's attention, and passed the ball through Gortat's armpit to Bynum, who was unguarded behind him, assisting Bynum to dunk again.
Gortat then had no choice but to change his defensive approach, switching to fronting Bynum to guard him, no longer daring to let him get opportunities so easily. But less than a second after he changed his approach, Lin Tian's pass arrived again.
He lofted a pass high behind Bynum, who then made a contact and a step-back to secure the ball, before pulling up for another powerful dunk!
After that dunk, the Lakers regained the lead and extended their lead thanks to Bynum's consecutive scores. D'Antoni had no choice but to call a timeout; he needed to make adjustments.
At the very first moment of the timeout, Miller exclaimed, "That was so comfortable! Lin's passes were so smooth! Although this is actually his first time playing with a traditional center, his previous partners were all shooters or face-up all-rounders, such as Schmitz, Okur, Stoudemire, and Webber."
"But his passes were just so comfortable! They weren't particularly amazing or beautiful, but they were absolutely perfect and wonderful. None of these passes would be in the top ten, and they might not even be included in the post-match highlights, but Bynum was really fed by them."
"Every time you get the ball, just get up and dunk. What center would refuse a pass like that? It's so comfortable!"
Van Gundy said, "What's more important is not just the passing technique, but also the timing of the pass, or rather, the overall control of the game!"
"Durant dominated in the first quarter, and Kobe had just scored with a dunk. These two are already top scorers and are in great form, so it's only natural that the Suns would target them extra and increase their defensive intensity."
"Then at this moment, Lin fed the ball to the inside players one after another, catching the Suns off guard! The Suns couldn't adjust at all, and that's when the Lakers pulled away again."
"I can only say he's shrewd! Truly shrewd! From beginning to end, the entire match was under Lin's control. From the rhythm, how to attack, to when and who would take the lead, Lin calculated everything clearly!"
"What else can we say besides 'horrible'?" (End of Chapter)