Pick Westbrook

Chapter 186 The Battle of Tianwang Mountain

Post-match press conference.

A reporter was extremely worried and said: "From 0:2 to 2:2, the Lakers suffered an unprecedented blow and reversal, all because the Bucks' sudden change caught the Lakers by surprise."

"The Lakers don't seem to have figured out how to solve this lineup?"

At this time, Zen master felt extremely uncomfortable with his hand on his forehead. He no longer had the confidence and calmness he had before the start of the series. After these two games, his face also looked very tired.

Zen Master would like to say that the Bucks are more than just taking out the dead five small lineup. They used offensive tactics to crack the Lakers' triangle offensive tactics that caused him the most headache.

Of course, what the reporter in front of me said was not wrong. The Lakers did not find a way to crack the Bucks' five dead lineups.

In fact, as early as the end of the last game, Zen Master has been studying the Bucks' five-death small lineup. After the ball, take the initiative to attack and hit the basket, and every player can handle the ball and pass the ball out to help teammates complete the offense.

More importantly, Curry's destructive power in this lineup is too great, and it is difficult for you to limit him without double-teaming and assisting defense, but in this way, the offensive environment of the other 4 ball-handlers will be very comfortable. It is the reason why the Zen master has not found a solution.

"The next game is the battle of Tianwangshan. History shows that 80% of the teams that win the fifth game will win the entire series."

Seeing that the Zen master had remained silent, the reporter continued to speak.

In other words, whoever wins the next game will have more control over the initiative in the playoffs and even get closer to the championship trophy.

Kobe stood up suddenly at this time and said: "We will win the next game and the whole series!"

"I'm going to lead the Lakers to win."

6 month 13 day.

Lakers home.

Staples Arena.

Battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Li Lai stood on the sidelines with his hands folded and his face was very ugly. He was extremely dissatisfied with the 2-3-2 finals system.

Originally, the Bucks were the team with the first record in the league in the regular season, and they should have the home court advantage against any team in the playoffs. As a result, they couldn't get the home court advantage in such a crucial game as the Battle of Tianwangshan?
The Los Angeles fans at the scene were overwhelming. They also felt the pressure and challenges the team is facing now, so they wanted to help the team suppress the Bucks in terms of momentum and bring great disturbance to the Bucks players on the field.

The Bucks players looked at the field with firm eyes one by one, and they didn't care about the taunts and abuse from the surrounding fans. They had only one goal, to win tonight's game.

Game start.

Bynum jumped off the Lakers' first possession.

Fisher advances with the ball.

Kobe took the initiative to come to the top of the arc to hold the ball, and immediately showed an offensive posture after lowering his center of gravity.

off the pitch.

Li Lai was very clear about why Zen Master had made up his mind to let Kobe attack with all his strength in the first quarter from the beginning of the game. Even if the opponent risked the Lakers' offensive weakness in the second quarter's rotation, they must do so.

"It is to liberate Gasol and Bynum." Li Lai said after taking a deep breath.

The Bucks' dead five have brought great threats and troubles to the two inside giants of the Lakers, so Zen Master hopes that the two will not consume too much energy in the first quarter, so that they can win the Bucks. When the five small lineups were killed, it caused them trouble inside the offense.

on the field.

Kobe singled out Artest.

Artest had a fierce look on his face, looking at Kobe's rebellious face, as if he wanted to swallow him alive.

Bynum and Gasol both shrink inside ready to fight.

This is the benefit of perimeter players who don't need pick-and-rolls and don't need to get inside to score.

The two tall insiders can participate in the offensive rebounds under the basket, which can greatly drive the opponent's defensive rebounds, thus giving the outside offensive player more offensive space.

"Why did the Lakers equip Kobe with a two-tower lineup, this is the most important reason."

"So this team is born to compete for the championship!"

But unfortunately, Artest seems to be also born to be used by the Bucks to limit Kobe. This attack Kobe used a lot of deceptive fake moves, but Artest didn't eat at all and always covered Kobe. .

Bryant dribbles to the free throw line for a forced fadeaway.

In the past, when Kobe had two or three defensive players hanging in front of him, he was confident to score this goal, not to mention Artest is the only one defending now.

"Kobe leaned back a lot to avoid Artest's defense, almost reaching the three-point line, and the shot was high. It seems that he is still worried about Artest's interference and blocks."

boom!
Hard work!
Li Lai nodded, still confident.

Although Kobe's one-on-one ability and finishing ability are invincible in the world, what he is facing now is Artest, who once won DPOY by relying on one-man defense.

It's never a good idea to single him out for easy points.

This is the reason why Li Lai didn't worry even after he knew Zen Master was going to keep Gasol and Bynum's physical strength in the first quarter.

Because it is impossible for Kobe to solve the entire Bucks team by himself.

They are not Raptors!
beep!beep!
The referee's sudden whistle made Li Lai frown slightly, and then looked over curiously.

The sideline referee whistled for Artest's defensive foul just now. Kobe, who had been shooting hard, was ready to return to defense, but now he got two free throws.

"What are you kidding!"

Artest held his head in great confusion. After seeing that the referee on the sidelines still confirmed the result of the penalty, he stretched out two fingers and made a friendly gesture of greeting.

Kobe went to the free throw line and made two free throws.

"It is impossible to say that Ron has no small moves in defense. After all, he is defending Kobe. His feet are too flexible, so any defender will use his hands to additionally limit Kobe's offense when defending him. .”

Tylen Lu said very seriously.

Using hands to participate in the defense to destroy the offensive player's cylinder can of course be called a foul.

It's just that the defensive intensity in the playoffs is already extremely high. If every ball is blown like this, when will it be blown?Do you still want to play the game?

So in the playoffs, everyone is used to this kind of defense, and every team's players will tacitly use this defensive trick.

Fisher and Kobe also used such defensive tricks when defending Westbrook and Curry.

And this is still the stage of the finals, such a defensive strength should be acceptable, but what do these referees mean by bragging about Artest?
"Ron used to be a problem player after all, and he was not pleasing to the referees and fans, so he should be targeted for this reason."

"But this kind of targeting is only once at most. They can't catch Ron and call the whistle all the time. The eyes of the fans are sharp."

Li Lai thought for a while calmly, and completely agreed with Tyronn Lue's statement.

He didn't want the confidence of the players on the field to be ruined by this offensive round in such a critical Tianwangshan battle, so Li Lai applauded Artest and the players near the sideline.

"Don't pay attention to those fouls, Ron, and don't be impulsive."

"We're going to continue to stick to our offensive strategy and our defensive strategy."

Hearing Li Lai's applause, the players on the field came back to their senses and stopped thinking about the foul just now.

Westbrook used O'Neal's pick-and-roll outside to go straight to the basket, and Bynum desperately returned to defense.

Curry used Artest's off-ball screen from outside the three-point line to run out of an open space, and after receiving a wonderful pass from Westbrook, he steadily made the first three-pointer after the opening.

"The Lakers still have nothing to do with the Bucks' perimeter duo."

"From this point of view, I'm afraid Zen Master still hasn't found a tactic to crack the Bucks' dead five small lineups."

"So in the second half of the first quarter, Gasol and Bynum will face another great test."

Lakers offense.

Kobe held the ball again from the outside. This time Artest was very smart. He took the initiative to give Kobe the offensive space on the right, let him reach the middle distance, and then defended the shot.

In this way, it is impossible to punish Artest for physical confrontation with Kobe Bryant on the move, and the referee has no reason to continue to call Artest for defensive fouls.

"This is the experience and strength of DPOY's defensive players. His adjustments on the court are very timely."

Su Qun highly praised Artest's performance.

Although Artest averaged only 8 points per game in this year's playoffs, he is the most indispensable part of the Bucks' defensive end.

The Bucks can reach the Finals and even tie the Lakers now, thanks to Artest. His defensive restrictions on James and Kobe are even more crucial.

Kobe held the ball, switched his left hand to his right hand, changed his body behind him, accelerated suddenly and stopped suddenly.

Starting and stopping in a hurry is the most demanding on the physical body of the offensive players, and such continuous feints also extremely test the experience and patience of the defensive players.

Artest was swayed a step but did not lose his focus, and then immediately pounced on to continue to defend Kobe.

Kobe was a little annoyed by being entangled, and the space of one step was already a huge vacancy for him.

Swish!
Shoot!

beep!beep!
"The referee blew his whistle again?"

Yu Jia frowned as he watched from the commentary stand.

The match of Tianwangshan has just started, and the referee has been stealing the spotlight, and just now Artest's defense looked extremely clean, and he didn't even touch the opponent because he was one step away from Kobe, so how did this foul come about?

On the court, both Li Lai and Artest spread their hands and were extremely speechless.

Rasheed Wallace even tried to get on the court and cut the referee.

"If you don't tell me the truth, you will have no good fruit to eat!"

The referee who whistled the foul went to the technical platform to signal that Artest fouled again, Kobe 2+1!

"I'm CNM! What a foul!"

"Just now you called a foul on that defense, but you called a foul on this ball, is there something wrong with you?"

"So Artest touched Kobe's body hair?"

"Then the body hair transmitted a lot of force and interfered with Kobe's shot?"

"Depend on!"

Tyronn Lue and Marshall on the side hurriedly pulled Li Lai back, and Artest, who wanted to get angry, saw that his head coach was stronger than him and went over to persuade him.

"Coach, you just told me not to be impulsive, why are you looking like a cow now than I am?"

The referee was completely at a loss by Li Lai.

Because he really didn't see clearly just now, but found that Artest was attacking fiercely, so he instinctively called a foul.

At this time, Li Lai was still reluctant, "Quickly tell me! Did Artest touch any of Kobe's body hair!"

"Don't think I don't know you, Baldhead! Number 17! Joe Crawford!"

"Duncan was expelled by you after laughing on the bench, right! You are amazing!"

Seeing Li Lai scolding more and more fiercely, Joe Crawford really couldn't stand it anymore. He had never seen such a head coach who was good at spraying.

Which body hair of Kobe was fouled?Damn Kobe has so much body hair, how do I know which one it is!
Two other referees came over at this time and warned Li Lai not to interfere with the court order, otherwise he would be called a technical offender.

Tyronn Lue and Marshall, who heard this, couldn't help but drag Li Lai to the coach's bench.

"Coach, stop yelling at him, you didn't see that Joe Crawford has gone far, he should know he was wrong."

"Yes, yes, Tianwang Mountain is important!"

Li Lai finally calmed down, but his chest was still heaving.

Now that Artest is facing two foul crises, he can't stay on the court anyway, otherwise once he leaves the field with 6 free throws, without his defensive strategy against Kobe, the Lakers can think of a way to break the Bucks all tactics.

They were no match for the Lakers at that time.

"I put Artest on the bench in the first 2 minutes, really good!"

Li Lai made adjustments and substitutions.

Danny Green was taken ahead of schedule and Artest was replaced.

"Not to mention, the Bucks really trust this young player. You must know that Danny Green has not played for a long time in the entire playoffs."

"But since the finals, he has played at critical moments in three consecutive games, and even came with the task of defending Kobe."

Kenny Smith has carefully discovered some of the reasons.

Since the Bucks started to play the dead five small lineups in the phased time, Danny Green's playing time has increased suddenly.

Except for Danny Green who was completely blown up by Kobe in the third game, although he was also blown up by Kobe in the last game, he contributed 3 three-pointers from outside the three-point line, which gave the Bucks a great perimeter fire support.

Moreover, Danny Green is still an extremely important point for the Bucks to defend Kobe in rotation. Having this person and not having this person are completely different things.

"The Bucks dare to play the death five small lineup, and Danny Green's role in it is absolutely crucial."

Barkley said with absolute certainty.

He doesn't just see the surface like his old partner Kenny Smith.

Barkley has a very delicate heart under his cynical appearance. In this regard, he is very similar to Shaquille O'Neal of the Bucks.

Both are notoriously retarded elites, but they are recognized as extremely smart players.

"Danny Green can't guard Kobe yet, but his performance on the court is extremely hearty."

"If I remember correctly, he was the captain of North Carolina and helped the school team win the NCAA championship trophy in 2009."

"He's a very solid, mature player."

"Even though he is a rookie this year, he is actually one year older than Westbrook."

"Presumably this is why Li Lai, the head coach of the Bucks, dared to use the opponent at this time."

on the field.

Kobe, who played routinely in the first four games, finally showed his power in this game.

With Artest's defense, the fans still think Kobe is good, and even think Artest is a kind of DPOY, but they have never seen Kobe defending only 10 points.

But now without Artest's defense, Kobe suddenly made 9 of 6 shots in a single quarter, 7 of 7 free throws, 19 points in a single quarter, and fans all over the world called God.

Li Lai became more and more angry off the court.

Because not only Artest encountered a foul crisis, Danny Green still couldn't escape the bad luck of being whistled for fouls against Kobe after he came on the court.

Kobe went to the free throw line 7 times in a single quarter, which is already equal to his average data in the playoffs!
Fortunately, after Danny Green came on the court, he also completed the task assigned by Li Lai. He made 1 of 1 three-pointers and successfully attracted defensive attention for Curry, helping the latter hit 2 three-pointers in the first quarter.

The Bucks trailed the Lakers by 31 points at 36:5.

The second game.

Artest was finally taken on the court by Li Lai, and Rasheed Wallace, Iverson, George Hill, and Yi Jianlian continued to play.

"Because of Artest's playing time problem, the Bucks did not take the death five small lineup in the first half of the game, which also gave the Lakers a great breathing opportunity."

Kobe encountered Artest's defense again in the second quarter, but he was already hot, even if Artest came back, he couldn't stop him.

Bryant's consecutive mid-range and breakthrough successes completely penetrated all the defense lines of the Bucks.

The most important thing is that after 3 minutes of the second quarter, Artest was whistled for another foul, which was also called by the bald No. 17 Joe Crawford.

The other party even gave Li Lai an extremely arrogant look after blowing.

Li Lai held back the anger in his heart, knowing that the other party was deliberately provoking him, so he didn't erupt at this time.

He still left Artest on the court, and Kobe's touch gradually cooled down under his efforts, but Artest's fourth foul followed.

In less than half the game, 4 fouls!
Li Lai said: "Humans and monsters are both born of mothers! The difference is that people are born of people's mothers, and demons are born of mothers' mothers."

Joe Crawford was already whistling, waiting for Li Lai's next abuse, and sent him out of the Staples Center with a whistle.

But in the end Li Lai spoke a sentence in Chinese calmly in front of him.

Originally, Yi Jianlian didn't intend to laugh when he was behind the game and was so anxious on the court, but he couldn't help laughing when he heard Li Lai's words.

Joe Crawford approached and said, "Hey Yi, what is your head coach calling me?"

Yi Jianlian shook his head and smiled, "No, no, he didn't scold you, he was asking your mother's name."

Halftime is over.

The Bucks are still 60:67 behind.

The second half of the third quarter.

The Bucks' death five small lineup is on the scene again.

Westbrook broke through and scored consecutive dunks. These consecutive dunks also stopped the Lakers, and Zen Master called a timeout urgently.

In this game, the whistle of the Zen master was almost broken. Even though Kobe had already played such a phenomenal performance, Artest also encountered a foul crisis, and the Bucks still had the strength to tie the score.

"It's this death squad!"

Zen master has changed from contempt for the Bucks to importance, and his attitude towards Li Lai has also changed from admiration to great approval.

Only he knows why the Bucks didn't take the five small lineups in the second quarter.

Because at that time Gasol and Bynum's physical strength is still sufficient!
If this lineup dared to be used at that time, it would inevitably be bombarded by Gasol and Bynum in the interior.

But now in the second half of the third quarter, the Bucks suddenly came up with a five-death lineup, and Gasol and Bynum had great physical problems again.

Looking at Gasol and Bynum, who were almost exhausted by the Bucks on the court, Zen Master finally understood that he could no longer hold on.

If the five minors continue to stick to the twin tower tactics in the face of the Bucks' death, the only thing waiting for the Lakers is failure.

Game four.

Kobe caused consecutive defensive fouls by Artest and Rasheed Wallace.

In this game, every time Kobe launched an offense with the ball, he either won a foul or scored a score.

"The Bucks have absolutely no way to take this black Mamba in tonight's game."

"In the battle of Tianwangshan, Kobe fulfilled his promise and insisted on winning this victory for the Lakers."

Artest then received his sixth personal foul again and left the field with 6 fouls.

Staples Center fans stood up and chanted, and everyone applauded Artest as he left the stadium.

Artest threw away the towel on his shoulders angrily, but this time he didn't rush into the auditorium like he did at the Palace of Auburn Hills and fight with the fans, but stretched out his right hand and pointed with two fingers Point to your own eyes.

"Look! I will block your heroes in the next game!"

on the field.

106: 107.

There are 2 minutes left in the game.

Even if Artest is expelled, the Bucks are only 1 point behind.

Barkley finally changed his point of view because of this game and said: "The Bucks are really not afraid of the Lakers now."

"Since they took the death five small lineup, the Lakers have not once taken advantage of them against them."

"Even if Artest, the defensive core of the Bucks, encountered an unprecedented foul crisis and was even expelled in this game, they still have the strength to compete with the Lakers."

Li Lai walked to the technical stage and urgently called a timeout.

"We don't have Artest now, Kobe will definitely stand up at this time, so all of us have to participate in the defense against Kobe."

"Zen Master is a very good coach. He will definitely take advantage of this. Next, Kobe will definitely become the main offensive core with the ball, but there may be other players at the end point."

"So while ensuring defense against Kobe, we must pay attention to rotating defenses. Everyone has to swing their legs and feet for me, and be more alert in defense!"

"At the same time, we have to play more aggressively on the offensive end. We are now behind and we have to score."

Westbrook and Curry nodded one after another, and the offensive burden at this time was entirely on the two of them.

Westbrook has to rely on breakthroughs or passes to open up the situation for the team, and Curry has to be keen to find open receiving points, and at the same time help Westbrook attract defensive attention.

The game continues.

The Bucks attack.

Curry slid the bottom line, Yi Jianlian gave Westbrook a high pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, and the Lakers switched defenses.

Rasheed Wallace cuts in to catch the ball, and after Bynum's back defense, he decisively points the ball out.

Curry ran back from the bottom line. Danny Green and Westbrook had already set up a screen at the top of the arc. Curry only needed to go straight through, and at the same time catch the ball and shoot steadily, and the score would be overtaken.

"This is the elevator door!"

"Squeeze through!"

Zen Master stood up excitedly and shouted at the court, "Hurry up!"

At this time, Fisher's heart tightened and he also came to his senses, so he knocked Westbrook away with a heavy shoulder, and then rushed straight towards Curry.

Still caught up.

After receiving the ball, Curry did not force a shot against Fisher's defense, but gave the ball to the weak side without hesitation.

Fisher and Kobe looked at the past at the same time, secretly thinking in their hearts!
After Danny Green discovered that the elevator door tactic failed, he decisively bounced to the weak side at a 45° angle.

Pick and roll, pick and roll, one pick and one roll, this is the essence of this cooperation.

Barkley looked at this scene on the court and shook his head in amazement.

"The Bucks cooperated really well!"

"The players on the field are also tacit enough, otherwise it would be difficult to play such a wonderful tactic!"

Duang!

"Strike the iron!"

"Danny Green hit the iron with this ball!"

"This is the value of Curry! If he comes to shoot this ball, he will be sure!"

The Lakers made a fast break.

Kobe even passed Westbrook and Curry by himself, scoring a one-on-two layup.

106: 109.

The Bucks have no timeouts.

Li Lai stood near the sideline of the court and gave Danny Green an encouraging look.

If the ball just now hadn't been for Danny Green's inspiration to disassemble the catch and shoot a three-pointer, the Bucks' elevator door tactics have failed, so the blame cannot be entirely blamed on Danny Green's missed shot of this key ball.

"It's just a pity."

Tyronn Lu sighed again and again.

After all, in the round just now, he missed a 3-pointer and was scored by Kobe Bryant for a 2-pointer. This in-and-out is 5 points in and out. At such a critical moment, this score is enough to determine the outcome of a game.

The players on the Bucks still haven't given up.

Westbrook drove to the basket and drew a foul on Gasol, but only made 2 of 1 free throws when he got to the free throw line.

"The next ball is the key!"

"As long as the Lakers score, they will almost lock the victory of this game!"

Zhang Weiping stood up excitedly, and said very firmly: "Kobe has to play this ball!"

Offensive.

Kobe still chooses to hold the ball in the high post.

Westbrook volunteered to switch defenses with Danny Green.

Westbrook remembered that he had asked Li Lai many times to defend Kobe alone last season. At this time, he also looked curiously at the coach's bench.

Li Lai nodded affirmatively and applauded the high-spirited Westbrook. After seeing this scene, Li Lai gritted his teeth excitedly, watching Kobe's whole body full of fighting spirit!

The players on the Lakers all opened up.

Kobe lowered his focus and started playing singles!
With a cross step, Westbrook blocked Kobe's progress with his chest out, and he was defended!
"Westbrook's defensive choice is beautiful!"

"In this game, as long as the defensive player reaches out to Kobe, it must be a foul, so at this time Westbrook cleverly used his chest to hit Kobe's travel route."

Kobe failed to break through, and he turned to post-up singles with great experience.

Westbrook raised his right hand and always covered Kobe's head, and at the same time stabilized his center of gravity and exerted force with his left hand to prevent Kobe from hitting his back to the basket.

After Kobe smashed the ball, he moved two steps in a row. This is an extremely difficult steal in singles, relying on the change of rhythm to shake Westbrook half of his body.

Kobe turned around and was about to lean back to end the game, but saw Westbrook follow up immediately after shaking away, and his eyes were still full of fighting spirit!
"What kind of will to fight and desire to win!"

Westbrook has dedicated all his defenses. Originally, he thought the ball was enough to defend against Kobe's attack, but he didn't expect that after lifting the ball, Kobe kept the pivot foot of his left foot still, turned around and dodged again. Westbrook's defense.

"This is no chance! After all, Kobe is the king of singles!"

When Barkley shook his head and was about to say that the Bucks were over, Rasheed Wallace, who had the most defensive experience on the field, rushed over.

"Teaming!"

At this time, the defensive matchup on the court was already extremely chaotic, and Fisher got a huge open space.

"Kobe chose to pass the ball!"

"Fisher catches the ball!"

"Three points."

put in!

Seeing this three-pointer, all the Lakers players on the court clenched their fists excitedly, and Zen master even raised his hands off the court to celebrate.

"The Lakers won the Tianwangshan battle!"

Finally the game is over.

The Bucks lost the game 110:114.

　And at night

　　
　
(End of this chapter)