Chapter 455 Chapter 454: Exchange of equal value (please vote!)
At 17 points in a single quarter, the Lakers suspended the game after Roger scored the ball that knocked down James, and Spoelstra replaced Roger to rest.
James had 10 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in a single quarter. He was undoubtedly his best performance since the Western Conference Finals.
When he only wanted to win without any distractions, he was actually not that miserable.
Kobe actually played well, scoring 8 points on 3-of-4 shots in the first quarter, which was very efficient.
But Roger's performance simultaneously eclipsed Kobe and James.
But the atmosphere at Staples Center is still energizing the Lakers players. Even if the team scores the last 6 points of the first quarter, the Lakers fans are still cheering, shouting, and singing for the heroes.
Kobe did not blame James this time. He could see that James had tried his best to defend today: "LeBron, that bastard can't stay like this for a whole game. Let him see the real you! You can guard him!" ”
"Of course!" James yelled, "Of course I will fucking handle him, you stabilize the situation on the offensive end! Chauncey, you have to attack, you have to be more proactive, you can't let Roger play so easily on the offensive end! I know you didn’t make a mistake in the first quarter, but just not making a mistake can’t kill the Warriors!”
"LeBron is right!" Kobe personally stood up for James.
This is the moment Phil Jackson has been waiting for all season. Kobe and James, these two men put aside all grudges and ideas and led the team to pursue victory wholeheartedly.
Both James and Kobe were irritated. One of them didn't want Roger to score high points, and the other didn't want to let their home court fall easily.
At least tonight, they are united.
On the other side, Spoelstra was squatting in front of Roy: "Don't stop running, don't let Chauncey stop! Consume him and make him panting like an old dog! Brandon, I want you to wear him down!"
Treat others with their own medicine. Although James didn't score any points in the last game, his active running on the offensive end made Roger dare not relax for a moment. As a result, Roger was not very efficient on the offensive end. This attrition strategy was successful.
Today, Spoelstra will use the same method to deal with Chauncey Billups.
How can a woman make a man weak? Get on it and don't stop no matter how much he begs for mercy.
The same goes for one man making another man weak.
Roy doesn't have to score, but as long as he runs actively, Billups has to defend him.
Billups, who has spent too much on the defensive end, has only some passing value left on the offensive end.
What if the Lakers move Billups away from Roy? Then only Kobe will play. But if Kobe pursues Roy for a whole game, will the Lakers' own offense be able to fight?
In fact, Phil Jackson is very aware of Roy's level. In his mind, Roy is the fourth-ranked player in the league after Roger, Kobe and Wade. G1 has proven that even Kobe cannot completely lock him down in one-on-one situations.
Therefore, the defense against Roy must not be relaxed.
Roger is in good condition today. If Roy is allowed to activate this point, the Lakers will be in big trouble today.
So at the beginning of the second quarter, Phil Jackson did not adjust the matchup.
Seeing that James was still standing in front of him, Roger started to attack without saying a word.
He used the pick-and-roll to get rid of James. Facing Howard who was coming up from the flank, Roger hit the ground as if he was going to give Stoudemire the pass, and Howard immediately chased back.
But after the basketball landed, it didn't bounce towards Stoudemire, but bounced back into Roger's hand. He added some spin when he batted the ball down, creating a beautiful scene of a fake pass
Roger shot immediately after sending Howard away. Although James had caught up and caused some interference, this interference was something Roger could bear.
"Brush."
"19 points for LeBron," Roger said with a smile, "You don't have many chances."
Immediately after the Lakers attacked, Chauncey Billups also called for a pick-and-roll to attack Roger. He wanted to contain Roger on the offensive end.
It's not like Billups has never played such a role. When the Pistons won the championship in 2003, when they faced the Spurs in the Finals, Chauncey Billups used pick-and-roll offense to consume Duncan and force Duncan to defend.
It worked. Billups' exhaustion and the Pistons' tight defense allowed Duncan to shoot only 41% in that series.
This is a shooting percentage that is unsatisfactory even for outside players.
But Billups himself has been greatly consumed on the defensive end, and he is not known for his explosive power now.
Therefore, Roger easily bypassed the screen and stood in front of Billups.
Billups is not a mid-range expert, and he did not have very good offensive methods after being blocked by Roger.
He started looking for someone and passed the ball to Howard down the line.
Howard got the ball and was about to explode. Stephen Jackson rushed in in time to foul Stoudemire on Warcraft.
Howard was so angry that he smashed the ball to the floor: "Damn it, why can't you just kick them down? Damn it!"
So far in the series, Howard has not had many smooth attacks. At his peak in 2009, Howard faced high-level opponents in the Finals and averaged only 15 points per game. Therefore, with Howard now, you can't expect him to make any contribution on the offensive end.
You can say that his offense is better than that guy who can't even understand a layup, but it can only be compared with players like Ben.
The Warriors' forward reserves are very sufficient. Even if one of the six fouls leaves the game, the rotation will still be sufficient. So the Warriors never hesitated to foul Howard.
In the stands, Shark shook his head: "Look, an idiot like this deserves to be called the third center in active service? How can he be compared with me and Yao?"
Bill Simmons shrugged: "I don't want to ruin the atmosphere Shaq, but there's nothing you can do about intentional fouls."
"Come on, those who foul me are all big centers. If someone like Stephen Jackson fouls me, I will only give him a 2+1."
Bill Simmons does not deny this. The Sharks during the Lakers era were indeed terrifying, but he felt that it was not too much to call Howard the third center in the league.
"Actually, Dwight is not outrageous. If you know that Eric Dampier of the Rockets (who was traded to the Rockets by the Warriors when Roger came) prides himself on being the second center in the Western Conference, and the Rockets actually gave him a big deal. Contract, will you die laughing?”
"I will not laugh at a person with cerebral palsy. They are very pitiful, and the same goes for Eric. I play against him four times a year, and I am sure he has cerebral palsy."
Bill Simmons loves talking to sharks because they both have a sense of humor.
While talking, Roger scored again.
This time Roger changed his rhythm and switched to attacking without the ball. He received the ball at a zero angle on the left and pretended to break through, but in fact he stopped suddenly and turned around to shoot.
There's really nothing James can do except raise his hands and pray that the ball doesn't go in.
Chauncey Billups followed up with a three-point shot, but Roger blocked it.
Roger knows Billups' playing habits very well. As one of the earliest magic ball guards in the league, you must stick to Billups outside the three-point line, but you can let him go a little bit more in the mid-range.
Moreover, Billups, who consumes too much on the defensive end, has a sharp decline in breakthrough threats, and he will most likely seek opportunities outside the three-point line.
Sure enough, Roger's closeness prevented Billups from even taking a shot.
The plan to let Billups consume Roger on the offensive end came to nothing. Roger could easily guard Billups to death. If the Lakers continue to let Billups attack, they will only lose faster.
Billups, who was playing very poorly on the offensive end, had to follow Roy for the entire half before he could take a breath.
"Fuck you, damn bug!" Billups yelled as he chased, almost breaking his defense.
From Howard to Billups, they are all driven crazy by the pertinence of the playoffs.
Roger gave the ball to Tyshaun Prince in this round. He wanted him to play a dozen times to make his presence felt, and he also took the opportunity to take a breather.
As a result, Prince was cut off by Kobe as soon as he got the ball.
Fortunately, Roger was not far away. He picked up the basketball immediately and took advantage of the chaos to enter the penalty area. Facing the air defense net woven by Howard at high altitude, he performed a pull-up lever similar to Kobe's. After Howard's body fell, Roger threw the ball, successfully hit it, and had to add a penalty! The fans at Staples Center began to feel something was wrong. Roger currently has 21 points, and the extra free throw will bring him to 22 points.
But the second quarter has just begun!
If this lasted four quarters, how many points would Roger score?
People didn't speculate on the result. Roger's extra penalty had been hit.
"LeBron, it's 22 points, are you going to freeze me like this?"
Roger was relaxed. It had been a long time since he had experienced the pleasure of focusing all his energy on the offensive end.
He feels he can keep scoring, keep scoring, if he wants to.
Roger has a strong desire to score tonight, maybe because this is an opportunity to end the series, maybe because James said, "I will continue to freeze Roger in the next game."
The reason is no longer important. What is important is that the fans at Staples Center witnessed how the strongest offensive player in active service scored.
In fact, that was the case for the rest of the game.
Those Chinese fans who watch text live broadcasts on mobile phones will see the most information on the screen: Roger's score +2 and Roger's score +3.
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LeBron James' defense was no different from the previous two games, but tonight, all his efforts on the defensive end were of no value.
By the end of the third quarter, Roger had scored 44 points.
The Lakers were 10 points behind at this time, and the Lakers still had one breath left. Kobe played great today, but he was not as clueless as Roger. James' offensive efficiency has begun to decline because he has paid too much to guard Roger.
James does have a confrontation advantage over Prince, but Prince does not deal with LBJ alone. There are people behind him to protect him.
If LBJ wants to score, the best way is to shoot against Prince's long arms.
This worked before, but now as his touch is depleted, James is hitting more and more iron.
No one knows whether the Lakers can catch up.
Reggie Miller has already begun to sing praises for Roger: "He might score 60 points tonight!"
The last time Roger scored 60 points in the playoffs was many years ago. It was in the 2000 playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks faced the Miami Heat, who eliminated them last season.
Roger vented his anger that he had been holding back for a whole year in G2 and shot a lot.
In the end, Roger scored 62-7 on Sprewell, the most brutal point-to-point massacre in playoff history.
From then until now, in 8 years, 60 points in the playoffs have never happened again.
This is normal. 60 points in the regular season may be a lot, but 60 points in the playoffs have only been counted three times in history. They were created by Elgin Baylor in 1962, Michael Jordan in 86 and Roger in 2000.
A player scores 60 points in two playoff games in his career? This is simply impossible.
But today, Reggie Miller believes that this record will be rewritten.
Next to Reggie Miller, Ernie Johnson asked: "Can LeBron still stop Roger?"
Miller shook his head: "The only thing that can stop Roger now is garbage time and Roger's damn sense of honor. As we all know, Roger is not the kind of person to score points in garbage time. Garbage time is LeBron's only chance. ”
In the fourth quarter, James' defense even began to decline.
Because he was attacking and defending at the same time, the consumption was too great.
So, instead of becoming more difficult, Roger's scoring became easier.
Phil Jackson still did not double attack. He admitted that Roger had scored a lot of points, but at least the Warriors had not been able to completely open the score. This was because the Lakers did not give the Warriors a chance to take away the suspense with consecutive three-pointers. .
If you double team at this time, all your persistence will be in vain.
Chauncey Billups' weak offense, James' physical decline, and Phil Jackson's strategy of not flanking. All of these formed a hotbed for Roger to score high points.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, when Roger's score exceeded 50 points, Roger shook his finger at James, who was already out of breath: "I forgot to tell you LeBron, it's not 50 points either."
"One superstar is killing another superstar!" Reggie Miller shouted. This was a public execution in the playoffs!
Bill Simmons sighed: "LeBron will be completely nailed to the pillar of shame. I think his pursuit of Roger ends here. In the past few years, Roger has proven that LeBron is not as good as him at all." . Even if LeBron continues to run away and win seven or eight championships together, he will never be able to compare with Roger because he is always the one who gets beaten in real head-to-head confrontations.”
O'Neal nodded, remembering his experiences with Roger in those years: "You are right, LeBron is finished. I am very happy that Kobe is finished with him."
In the last 1 minute and 29 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Lakers trailed by 9 points. Roger easily ran away from the already exhausted James with his off-ball movement, and then caught the ball at the top of the arc outside the three-point line.
James gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last bit of his physical energy and rushed to block it. But Roger's shot was faster. Roy fed the ball very comfortably, and Roger hardly needed to adjust to make the shot.
After James landed, his legs became weak and he knelt directly on the ground.
The basketball flew through the air at Staples Center, without touching the rim, and went straight into the net.
This goal almost ended the suspense of the entire Western Conference Finals, and the mentality of most of the Lakers players had collapsed. It will be difficult for them to come back tonight, and it is even less possible for them to come back from being 3-0 down.
The Super Lakers are not only about to lose, they are also on the verge of being swept!
Reggie Miller pumped his fist excitedly: "62 points! For the second time in his career, Roger scored 62 points in the playoffs! LeBron James knelt at Roger's feet, as if he was bowing to the king!"
Looking at James kneeling on the ground, looking at James who kept saying he wanted to freeze Roger but ended up letting him score 62 points, the fans at Staples Center booed.
They can no longer stand that No. 23, they can no longer stand that outsider.
"Go away LeBron, you Luther!"
"How much more do you want to brag? How do you keep breaking your promise every time?"
"Roger was right, you're a fucking clown! A clown!"
James fell to his knees, his heart broken.
In Mission Bay, at Oracle Arena, he had been humiliated.
As a result, at his home stadium, the fans still spoke harshly to him.
At this moment, lying on the ground, he turned into a mouse that everyone shouted to beat.
Seeing the boos and insults from the audience, Roger ignored James who was kneeling on the ground. He was no longer worthy of letting Roger say anything more.
Roger just walked up to Kobe: "Look, everything has a price. I think I have bought the Staples Center with victory. Now, Kobe, get out of my paradise!"
In the stands, Bill Simmons was shocked by the reaction of Lakers fans: "I have never seen Lakers fans boo their own players."
O'Neal shrugged: "First of all, LeBron is not a 'family member'. Secondly, as the star player of this team, he received all the attention before the game. Now, of course, he has to bear all the slander after losing. , This is the fairest equal exchange in the world. Roger told me this truth. I told Kobe this truth. I don’t know if Kobe Bryant told LeBron.”
"Yes, equal exchange, this is within the six tenets I summarized." Bill Simmons was very proud. He believed that he had completely dismantled Roger. No one was more qualified than him to complete this book on Roger. Autobiographical.
"Really? Then let me tell you more about how Roger took the lead, but I failed to do so, which ultimately led to the 'bloody election' incident."
"Wait until the game is over, Shaq. Now, I want to focus on watching LeBron kneel down to Roger. Sure enough, GOAT is all about kneeling."
(End of chapter)