Chapter 487: Only a Close Game Feels Like an Event
The Lakers inbounded quickly and Fisher brought it across half court.
This trip, the Suns dropped into a classic 2 to 3 zone. Chen Yan and Nash sat at the left and right elbows, with the other 3 forming the back line.
Garnett floated to the top as a 3 point option, caught the swing, and immediately moved it to Kobe on the wing.
The moment Kobe touched it, Phoenix showed him special attention. Nash slid over from the elbow, trying to form a trap with Raja Bell.
Kobe sold a shot fake, got Bell to shift, then put it down and drove toward the baseline, where the zone was thinner.
Nash closed the gap fast, cutting off the lane and taking away the rim.
As Kobe neared the short corner, he slammed on the brakes with a sharp between the legs dribble, then turned his back to shield the ball.
Nash bit hard and froze in place for a split second.
Kobe started to rise into a turnaround, but Bell recovered and sprinted back into the play.
That was exactly why Phoenix insisted on sending 2 bodies at him.
Kobe tried another fake. Bell did not bite this time and stayed attached.
With the ball dead and the clock running, Kobe refused to pass. He adjusted his feet and launched a brutal, standstill fadeaway, forcing rhythm out of nothing.
Clank.
It rattled out.
Garnett crashed in, tipped it twice, but on the third try he lost balance and could not secure it. Jordan finally pulled it down.
Garnett did not get the offensive rebound, but he did delay Phoenix's break just enough for the Lakers to get a breath.
Jordan hit Nash, and Kobe jogged back on defense at his usual steady pace.
Chen Yan ran alongside him for a step and, without changing expression, tossed out a cold line.
"You take that shot? You think you're me?"
Then he exploded forward and took off.
Kobe froze for a beat.
Wait, did this kid just talk trash to me?
Kobe immediately motioned to Posey, signaling a defensive switch.
As soon as Nash crossed half court, he fed Chen Yan, and Kobe matched up on him.
Chen Yan palmed the ball in 1 hand, waiting. Nash sprinted over.
It was not a handoff. Nash was setting a screen, trying to spring Chen Yan onto Fisher.
The moment Kobe saw Chen Yan hunting Fisher, he accelerated to blow up the action.
Still trying to call names with me right here?
Nash was not a typical screener. His frame was smaller, and Kobe powered through the contact cleanly.
Chen Yan read it instantly. Instead of dribbling into pressure, he paused.
Kobe's momentum carried him straight into Chen Yan's side.
Chen Yan rose immediately into a 3.
Whistle.
3 free throws.
Kobe pressed his lips together, frustrated. He had gotten baited.
Mike Breen chuckled from the booth. "That is veteran level composure from a second year player. Chen manipulated the contact, stayed balanced, and took the highest value shot."
Jeff Van Gundy agreed. "That is smart basketball. He turns Kobe's aggression into 3 points and puts a foul on him. That is a winning decision."
Chen Yan calmly knocked down all 3.
101 to 90.
Down double digits again, mocked on one end and burned on the other, Kobe's engine finally hit redline.
Phil Jackson yelled from the sideline to get the ball inside, but Kobe seemed to have selective hearing.
He took it himself.
Kobe changed pace, drove to the right elbow area, then turned his back into a post up.
As he shifted his hips to spin, Chen Yan's double team arrived.
Chen Yan knew exactly how to make scorers uncomfortable because he lived in that same world.
Phoenix's other defenders tightened passing lanes, but that part was almost unnecessary. Kobe had no intention of giving it up.
He leaned back into an almost reclining fadeaway and fired anyway.
Clank.
Another miss.
The ball hit the front rim and kicked out. Fisher was quicker to the loose ball and secured the offensive rebound.
Charles Barkley said, "That is the right defense on Kobe. Even if his touch is off, you cannot relax. You never know when he is going to catch fire."
Kenny Smith added, "Fisher keeping it alive is big. They get a second chance."
Before Kenny could finish, Fisher kicked it right back to Kobe.
Kobe rose again.
Clank.
Miss number 16.
Kenny paused, then said, "Now it has to change. This is too simple. When everything becomes Kobe shooting over a crowd, the Lakers are doing Phoenix a favor. They need to run something and get Garnett touches again."
Phoenix came back, and Chen Yan immediately saw the Lakers loading up on him again. Help defenders were already pinching from the baseline, ready to swarm if he drove.
This time he did not force it. He hit Diaw at the free throw line.
Chen Yan was not going to hit impossible fadeaways over 3 or 4 bodies every trip, no matter how hot he was.
Diaw had a clean look, but he chose to put it on the floor and attack.
The Lakers rotated fast. Posey flew in from the wing, and Diaw went up for a normal layup.
Posey met it at the glass and pinned it hard.
Diaw had been careless. He underestimated Posey's 219 cm wingspan.
Posey secured the ball after the block, and Kobe immediately waved for it again.
Phil Jackson did not let it continue.
Timeout.
In the huddle, Phil's voice stayed calm, but the message was sharp.
"Kobe, we have to change our approach. They are loading the defense on you. Forcing shots is killing our efficiency. Trust your teammates. When the double comes, move it. If they get going, your looks get easier."
Kobe's face stayed stern. He did not answer.
He wanted to compete with Chen Yan. More accurately, he refused to waste a single chance to compete with Chen Yan.
People liked to say that after the MVP, Kobe matured. That was true most of the time.
But when he got heated, the old version came back, the one that tried to win the whole building by himself.
Phil pulled him aside, reading the emotion behind the silence.
"Kobe, remember our goal. We are chasing wins and a championship. Personal battles can wait. Trust your guys, and we bring this game back."
Kobe finally nodded.
Phil exhaled. He believed Kobe had heard him.
Play resumed.
Kobe took the sideline inbound, drove right, and Phoenix sent the double immediately.
This time, Kobe made the simple play. He fired it to Fisher in the corner.
Fisher did not shoot. He bounce passed it inside to Garnett.
Garnett caught, used the momentum to turn outward, and finished a soft hook over Diaw.
101 to 92.
"That is the right basketball," Breen said. "They have an interior advantage. Getting back to that gives them their best chance."
Van Gundy nodded. "That timeout mattered. Now we see if Phoenix can answer."
Phoenix came down, and Nash brought it up with Fisher guarding him.
Fisher gave space, inviting the jumper and taking away the drive. Nash's touch had dipped in the fourth, and he still had not scored in the quarter.
Nash drifted to the right side where Chen Yan was waiting. The other 3 Suns spaced to the opposite side.
Chen Yan set the screen and popped to the perimeter.
Nash glanced at Chen Yan, and that look alone fooled Posey and Fisher for half a second.
On the next beat, Nash accelerated straight into the lane.
The side was cleared. No traffic.
Garnett rotated over, and Nash lifted a running floater before Garnett could erase it.
Off the glass and in.
103 to 92.
Nash finally got one to fall, easing the pressure on Chen Yan.
That same side action was a D'Antoni adjustment, using Nash and Chen Yan together to crack the Lakers' aggressive traps.
Phoenix did not get to breathe.
On the next possession, Garnett ran a pick and roll, rolled hard, and finished an and 1 over Jordan.
It was Jordan's 5th foul.
With his limited experience and heavy minutes tonight, he had not managed his foul count well.
D'Antoni had to sit him and went to Barnes.
Phoenix was forced into a small ball look.
The Lakers immediately leaned into their size advantage, lobbing into the paint and hunting high percentage finishes.
Even on misses, they had a strong chance to get the offensive rebound and keep the possession alive.
It made Phoenix miserable. Chen Yan and Bell had to crash down from the perimeter just to help on the glass.
And even in small ball, Phoenix could not generate clean fast breaks, because they were constantly in scramble mode on rebounds.
Defensively, the Lakers applied heavy ball side pressure, loading up on Chen Yan and Nash.
Any time either of them caught it, at least 2 defenders were already waiting.
So the game turned into a chess match.
Could Phoenix's role players hit open shots when the stars were smothered?
Unfortunately, several of the Suns on the floor did not have rhythm. That was partly because Chen Yan and Nash had carried so much of the offense through the first 3 quarters, leaving fewer touches for everyone else.
The Lakers seized the opening and surged, cutting the lead to 4.
Now it was D'Antoni's turn to be fed up.
He called timeout.
And the fans inside Staples Center finally got what they secretly wanted most.
A game that actually felt tight.
Because only a close contest turns a big stage into a real event.
.....
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