NBA: I haven't played a game but I'm full of talent

At the end of the game, after a brief exchange in the locker room, the players left the arena one after another.

The core players of the two teams will also participate in the post-match press conference.

For the Suns, Nash, Marion, and Stoudemire are arranged. In fact, in terms of performance, Ling Yang should be the one to participate.

However, considering Stoudemire's long-lost comeback, the team arranged for Stoudemire to participate.

Ling Yang didn't have too many ideas. To be honest, he has already stole the limelight tonight. Regardless of whether he participates in the post-match press conference or not, he will be the one who will be highlighted in the media reports.

As for the Lakers, only Kobe and Odom participated in the post-game press conference with Phil Jackson.

As soon as the few people sat down, a reporter immediately stood up and asked:

"Kobe, you seem to be completely restricted tonight. You only scored 19 points and made 20 of 5 shots. Does this mean that it is difficult for you to score against Ling's defense?"

Kobe glanced at the reporter, raised his eyebrows, and then said:

"It must be admitted that Ling Yang's defense is indeed very good, he is the top defender in the league, he did bring me a lot of trouble tonight.

But, it's just Game [-], and I don't think there's a player in the league who can stop me from scoring in a series. "

The reporter immediately asked: "So do you think you can score explosively under Ling's defense in the next game?"

"I don't make predictions about things that haven't happened yet, the next game, see you on the field..."

Kobe just avoided it.

Throughout the press conference, Kobe was not happy, because what the reporters couldn't get around was his sluggish performance tonight.

Even when asked about Phil Jackson, he basically asked "What tactics will the Lakers use in the next game to make Kobe play better on the scoring end" and so on.

After finishing the press conference, Kobe returned to the hotel near the American West Arena and went directly to the assistant coach.

"Kathy, give me a copy of tonight's video."

The assistant coach of the Lakers was stunned when he heard it, "Kobe, the team will arrange to watch the video replay tomorrow. It's already very late today..."

"I need to see it now." Kobe interrupted directly.

"Oh, okay, you wait."

Ten minutes later, Kobe locked himself in the hotel room and watched the video of the entire game in detail. On the offensive end, there was a round of direct dialogue with Ling Yang, and Kobe would even watch it several times.

Even so, when Phil Jackson organized the whole team to watch the video replay of the game the next day, Kobe was not at all impatient, but watched it again carefully.

And after the team training ended, Kobe stayed and practiced shooting for a long time.

All this shows that Kobe was stimulated by the previous game.

It's no wonder that as the league's top scorer, his performance obviously made him dissatisfied, not to mention the fans from various media after the game.

"Super Rookie Locks Kobe Bryant, Suns Beat Lakers"

"Kobe is sluggish, the Lakers lose to the Suns"

"Lingyang's performance overwhelmed Kobe, the Suns 1-0 the Lakers"

……

As Ling Yang expected before, after the game, the names of him and Kobe were constantly mentioned in various media reports.

Ling Yang's excellent defense in this game is unanimously considered by the outside world to be the most critical factor for the Suns to win.

Although everyone believes that no defensive player can always limit Kobe's scoring, Ling Yang's ability to do so in the first game is already amazing.

And the media are also speculating whether Ling Yang can once again bring great interference to Kobe on the defensive end in the next second game.

There are also media predictions about whether Kobe will be able to usher in an explosion in the second game when he was sluggish in the first game.

Kobe, who was under such pressure, naturally became more ruthless towards himself.

A day later, amidst the outside discussions and various predictions, the second battle between the two sides started, and the game was still at the Phoenix West Arena.

At the beginning of the game, Kobe discovered the difference between the Suns and the previous game.

Unlike the previous game where Bell defended and tested first, in this game, from the beginning, it was Ling Yang who stopped Kobe.

"Coach, in the second game, will the Lakers arrange for Kobe to have more offense from the beginning, help Kobe find the offensive state as soon as possible, and try to attract our defensive firepower?"

This was a question Ling Yang raised during the team training match before the second match.

And Ling Yang's question was also unanimously approved by the Suns coaching staff.

So, there was the current scene. From the first round, it was Ling Yang who stopped Kobe.

Moreover, Ling Yang did not have the slightest defensive vigilance at the beginning of the game. He directly chose to stick to the defense with a step outside the three-point line, and did not give Kobe an easy chance to score.

It's just that Kobe's attack was also extremely decisive. Odom put up the pick-and-roll to the right. When Ling Yang dodged to the right to intercept, Kobe went in the opposite direction and chose to dribble forward from the left.

Ling Yang's speed is not uncomfortably fast, and when he reacted, he immediately flashed back to the left to intercept.

But Kobe is Kobe after all, Ling Yang gave him a gap, Kobe immediately found an opportunity, did not let Ling Yang stick to him, but dribbled the ball to the free throw line, made a decisive jump shot with an emergency stop, and made a two-pointer .

In the next round, Kobe didn't hold the ball at the three-point line, but ran to catch the ball and made a strong attack, constantly causing physical confrontation with Ling Yang, and drew a foul.

The first two rounds showed Kobe's desire to attack and fully stimulated Ling Yang's defensive fighting spirit. Next, Ling Yang once again tried his best to entangle Kobe.

It wasn't just Ling Yang who realized that Kobe was more aggressive today, and the rest of the Suns also actively participated in the double-team defense.

If Kobe played Ling Yang one-on-one, it would be fine, but whenever Kobe wanted to get rid of Ling Yang's defense with the help of screens, pick-and-rolls, etc., the Suns players would attack without hesitation.

As a result, Kobe quickly discovered that the first two rounds of the first quarter became the easiest ball he played in this quarter.

In the next 10 minutes, Kobe's offense encountered a strong defense again, but the efficiency was still not high.

However, after the Suns besieged Kobe Bryant, other Lakers players got more opportunities, and the rest of the Lakers players' state in this game was obviously better than the previous game.

After the first quarter, Kobe scored 7 points, which was higher than the previous game, and the performance of the Lakers in the first quarter was much better than the previous game.

But even so, after the first quarter, the Suns are still leading.

26:28, in this quarter of the game, the Suns scored 28 points.

Bell, who is usually tepid on the scoring end, and Stoudemire, who came off the bench early, became the main scoring force for the Suns.

In the first quarter of the game, Bell made 3 of 3 shots from beyond the three-point line and scored 9 points.

And Stoudemire was replaced after playing 4 minutes in the first quarter. He made 5 of 4 shots in the first quarter and scored 8 points.

In contrast, Ling Yang's scoring in this quarter is very average.

In this quarter of the game, facing Kobe who had a stronger desire to attack, Ling Yang almost put all his energy into the defensive end.

In addition to a counter-attack dunk, the half-court offense had only one shot and it hadn't hit yet.

After the first quarter, Lingyang only scored 2 points.

This situation changed in the second quarter. In the second quarter, Ling Yang played more aggressively on the offensive end and got more opportunities.

After Bell and Stoudemire, who performed well in the first quarter, were a bit misfired in the second quarter, Marion and Ling Yang, the two main scorers of the Suns at the end of the regular season, scored 8 points and 6 points respectively, helping The Suns still scored 25 points in a single quarter in the second quarter.

In this quarter, the Lakers' offense is similar to the first quarter.

Kobe faced Ling Yang's strong defense, coupled with the siege of other Suns players, he still couldn't play an explosive scoring performance.

Kobe scored 6 points in the second quarter and scored 13 points in the first half, which was better than the previous game.

It's only about 30% shooting rate, which is still not efficient.

The Lakers' performance of 24 points in a single quarter in the second quarter made the score of the two teams at 50:53 after the first half, and the Suns led by 3 points at halftime.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, Kobe immediately disarmed Ling Yang's defense in the first round and hit a three-pointer.

The score of the two teams was rewritten to 53:53, directly tying the score.

At this time, Nash, who had not been too eye-catching on the scoring end in the first half of the game, stepped forward.

He first played a pick-and-roll with Marion, and after receiving a return pass from Marion, he made a direct three-pointer from outside the three-point line.

In the next round, after Ling Yang defended against Kobe's offense, Nash dribbled the ball forward quickly.

When Ling Yang cut to the basket, Nash passed the ball to Ling Yang from a very small angle, assisting Ling Yang to attack the basket successfully.

53:58, the point difference was immediately re-opened to 5 points.

For most of the subsequent quarter, although the Lakers once overtook the point difference by 1 point, under the leadership of Nash, the Suns still maintained the point difference at 5 points after the third quarter.

After the first three quarters, everyone thought that this would be an extremely close game, and it was very likely that the winner would be determined at the end.

But after entering the fourth quarter, the Suns suddenly made an offensive effort.

Nash and Stoudemire, the Suns star combination last season, played consecutively on the offensive end. Stoudemire, who did not score much in the third quarter, once again found the feeling of scoring and scored in less than 4 minutes. scored 8 points.

In addition, Nash himself also made a three-pointer, a wave of 11:4 scoring climax, and the point difference between the two sides instantly widened to double digits.

At this time, Kobe tried to stand up and help the team break the scoring shortage, but just like the previous three quarters, Kobe could find some scoring opportunities in Lingyang's defense.

However, in the face of Ling Yang's death entanglement, it is difficult for Kobe to play consecutive scoring performances.

On the Lakers side, apart from Kobe, other players can't play explosive scoring performance.

Facing such an offensive Suns, he couldn't play a good offensive performance, which also made the Lakers completely lose the chance of a comeback.

102:112, the game ended, the Suns won the game again with a 10-point advantage, rewriting the big score to 2:0!

In this game, the Lakers obviously played better offensively than the previous game.

Kobe's scoring has also picked up, although the shooting percentage is still not high, but the performance of 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists is much better than the previous game.

Of course, such a score is obviously much worse than Kobe's performance of 40 points in the regular season.

In spite of the sluggishness of the previous game, Kobe still did not score explosively in this game, which is enough to prove how good Ling Yang's defense is.

In contrast, Lingyang's game is weaker on the scoring side.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with Kobe's defense. After Lingyang performed well on both offense and defense in the last game, Kobe also focused on taking care of Lingyang on the defensive end in this game.

And Kobe is one of the key candidates for the best defensive team this season. Once he shows his defensive focus to deal with Ling Yang, even with Nash's assist bonus, it is indeed not easy for Ling Yang to get a high score.

However, Ling Yang's performance is still not bad, with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist. These are the statistics Ling Yang handed over in the whole game.

Of course, Ling Yang's score is not as good as the previous game, and it is also related to the fact that the Suns scored more points in this game.

In this game, the three All-Stars in the Suns all reached 20 points.

纳什22分15次助攻3个篮板，马里昂21分11个篮板2次封盖，斯塔德迈尔20分4个篮板。

In addition, Bell scored 14 points and Dior scored 11 points, all scoring in double figures, while Barbosa, Thomas and others also scored.

It is undoubtedly great news for the Suns to win the game with more blooming points.

With a big score of 2:0, for the Suns, they can completely take the initiative.

Next, the two teams will switch to the Staples Arena in Los Angeles.

Although the Lakers are returning to their home court, it is obvious that for them, it is full of pressure.

Because of these two home games, if they lose a game, the Suns will hold the match point.

Of course, it's not just the Lakers that feel the pressure.

东西部的几组对决当中，马刺2：0领先国王，小牛2：0领先灰熊，快船2：0领先掘金，活塞2：0领先雄鹿，热火2：0领先公牛。

Except for the Cavaliers and the Nets who lost a home game, the rest of the strong teams have steadily defended their home games.

This also fully shows that the regular season can achieve a better record, which is indeed a manifestation of strength.

At this time, the Suns were obviously not particularly satisfied with getting 2:0. D'Antoni made another adjustment in the team training and actively sought changes.