"Whoosh!"
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Kobe accelerated in one step, and the two of them immediately collided hard.
After facing each other several times during the regular season, Kobe already understood that when it came to talent, the only area where he had an edge over Blake Su was strength.
So if he wanted to beat Blake Su one-on-one, a center with terrifying talent who stood a full 17 centimeters taller than him, Kobe knew very well that he could not rely on speed and explosiveness.
He had to rely on strength and skill.
"Thump!"
Kobe forced his way into the right low post, turned into a back-down, and used contact to apply pressure. George closed in from the wing to double-team.
"Whoosh!"
Kobe's eyes sharpened. He flowed into a half-spin, then used a crossover step to pull back out, instantly creating a bit of space from both defenders.
"Whoosh!"
No hesitation at all.
He rose into a mid-range jumper.
"Thump!"
George lunged up hard, but he still could not block it.
"Swish!"
Kobe's fadeaway mid-range jumper went in!
"Tch!"
George looked annoyed. He had reacted quickly on that play, and his contest had come in time, but Kobe still made the shot.
"George, don't help!"
Blake Su said to George as they ran back. He had also read that shot just now and wanted to block it, but George had been in front of him, keeping him from fully committing to the contest.
"Got it."
George nodded heavily.
He would follow Blake Su's words without question.
Nash brought the ball up, his eyes fixed on Blake Su, who was actively fighting for position. That chain reaction immediately drew the Lakers' attention again.
But a true passing master would never give up any opening.
"Whoosh!"
Nash looked at Blake Su, then fired a bounce pass to Curry, who had found position on the other side. Curry caught it and immediately launched a cold-blooded shot.
"Swish!"
The three went in cleanly.
Lakers ball.
Kobe brought it up himself and arrived at the top of the arc, once again facing Blake Su's defense. No pick-and-roll. No screen.
Just one-on-one. It had to be one-on-one.
Both of them knew very well that if they wanted to win this series, the one-on-one battle between them had to produce a result.
"Blake Su!"
Kobe growled, then charged forward again.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Their bodies collided once more. Although Blake Su was taller than Kobe, he was still slightly weaker in strength.
But not by much.
After all, Kobe was still a guard.
Blake Su gave a little ground through the contact, but Kobe remained within his defensive range. Kobe had been reading the defense the whole time, and when he saw Blake Su retreat, he half-spun and threw in another fake.
"Whoosh!"
He pulled back into a fadeaway jumper.
"I read that perfectly!"
Blake Su's voice tightened. The instant Kobe leaned back to shoot, Blake Su planted his foot, shifted his center of gravity back, and went up to contest.
"Thump!"
Even though Blake Su was a tiny bit late, his strong leaping ability, full 17-centimeter height advantage, and wingspan made this contest extremely disruptive.
He even looked like he might block it.
"What?!"
Kobe was startled. Even while fading away, he felt the threat and had no choice but to increase the angle of his lean and raise the arc of his release.
"Whoosh!"
The ball left his hand, but his rhythm had already been thrown off.
"Clang!"
The shot missed.
"Great play!"
"Wow. Blake Su, a rookie, just guarded Kobe one-on-one on the Western Conference Semifinals stage. That's incredible."
The commentator praised him sincerely.
On the court, time waited for no one. Frye grabbed the rebound and gave it to Nash, who sprinted into the frontcourt. The Suns' run-and-gun offense ignited in an instant.
"Whoosh!"
On the move, Nash passed to Blake Su, with Kobe watching him fiercely right in front of him.
But...
"Screech!"
On the left side above the arc, one step beyond the three-point line, Blake Su stopped sharply. Without even looking at the "league's No. 1 player" in front of him, he drew the bow and pulled the string.
A cold arrow shot out.
Deadly accurate.
"Swish!"
A pull-up three over Kobe's defense, clean through the net.
"Good grief!"
"Blake Su really dared to take that one!"
"That was a three right in Kobe's face. Blake Su... he really has the skill to back up that confidence!"
"On both offense and defense, Blake Su is suppressing Kobe. He really doesn't look like a rookie, and he doesn't look like a center either!"
"..."
Blake Su's unreasonable three blew the arena wide open.
"Interesting!"
Kobe narrowed his eyes. He had been suppressed on both ends, but the fierce fighting spirit surging through him did not fade. Instead, it grew even stronger.
What he had lost, he would take back himself.
"Whoosh!"
Kobe brought the ball over and attacked Blake Su hard again. He drove to the left low post, turned his back to the basket, shook his shoulders repeatedly, then suddenly spun into a fadeaway jumper.
"Thump!"
Blake Su jumped.
But this shot from Kobe was only a fake.
Did Blake Su bite?
Not at all. With [Gary Payton Defense], Blake Su would not fall for it that easily. Although he jumped, he did not fully commit.
With that kind of jump, it would be risky for Kobe to shoot, and there was not much chance to draw a foul either.
In that brief moment, Blake Su had already closed in. But Kobe, with all his experience, stayed calm and gave two more shot fakes in a row.
Then.
"Whoosh!"
He finally released the real shot, a fadeaway jumper.
"Thump!"
But with his absolute height advantage and Payton's defensive awareness, even though Blake Su misread the timing by the slightest bit, he could still jump second and follow.
He still put enormous pressure on the shot.
"Clang!"
Kobe missed again.
"What is with this kid?!"
Kobe frowned.
Blake Su's defensive anticipation and awareness were nothing like what a rookie should have. He looked more like a seasoned defensive stopper.
And more than that.
His defensive awareness was already excellent, and when paired with his height and vertical leap, even Kobe felt a hint of suffocation.
"This kid is stronger than he was in the regular season!"
Kobe's brows tightened.
After missing again and again, and after repeatedly feeling that tremendous defensive pressure, Kobe finally realized it.
Blake Su had gotten stronger again.
Coming back in the second half, a fully serious Blake Su took the initiative to seek out Kobe and pushed ["The Glove" Gary Payton Defense] to its limit.
With that combined with his height and Iverson's Talent, it brought enormous defensive pressure to Kobe, who was feeling this level of defense for the first time.
Throughout the entire third quarter, under Blake Su's explosive defensive pressure, Kobe played uncomfortably. He missed again and again, and his offensive efficiency plummeted.
Across the whole third quarter, Kobe scored only 3 points. One came from a fast-break foul by Curry, where he went 1-for-2 at the line. The other basket came against Blake Su, but...
It was a reverse scoop off the glass after he lost his balance in midair, an insanely difficult shot.
In truth, rather than calling it insanely difficult, it would be more accurate to say there was a fair amount of luck in it.
In short.
Blake Su successfully limited Kobe with Gary Payton Defense.