"Hmph, damn rookie, do you really think you can just score on me whenever you want?" Devin George said with some irritation.
There were quite a few frustrated Los Angeles Lakers players tonight, such as Robert Horry, who couldn't back down Link in the low post and was mocked as a "showpiece," and Devin George, who was left with psychological scars by Link's unreasonable Three-Point Shots during fast-break transitions.
I don't know where this bastard gets his confidence from, daring to shoot whenever he wants, but then again, this guy really freaking dares to let it fly...
*Swish!* Link pulled up for another Three-Point Shot. With his improved Explosiveness and Jumping Height, he was much harder to Block than before. Combined with the buff from his [Invincible Background Board] personality badge, he hit a Three-Point Shot that left the Los Angeles Lakers' home fans in awe.
"This kid really has some damn guts..."
"Yeah... with the score at such a critical stage of the game, he actually dares to shoot like that. He's truly something else."
Daring to mess around with Three-Point Shots when leading or trailing by a large margin might surprise fans, but it won't shock them.
But at this moment, Link used an unreasonable Three-Point Shot to answer Kobe's previous And-one, giving the fans just one feeling—tough!!!
...
...
For the remainder of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers showed their trump cards.
O'Neal dominated the paint, and Kobe took over with clutch shots.
The chemistry and plays between the two were more frequent than in the first three quarters combined.
With a *boom*, Kobe shook off Michael Jordan with a crossover and drove into the paint. After drawing Haywood's help defense, he threw a lob to O'Neal behind him, who caught it and hammered home a two-handed dunk.
107 to 104, the Washington Wizards led by 3 points with 2:01 left in the game.
After the successful dunk, O'Neal, who had just scored his 30th point of the night, briefly "set aside past grievances" with Kobe and shared a high-five in celebration.
But Link immediately responded with an assist—no, he held the ball at the top of the key, used a Hesitation Move to shake off Devin George, while also fooling "Old Fish" Fisher who tried to help. He drove into the paint, and seeing O'Neal still not coming out to help, he pulled up for a jumper and scored.
Just as the Los Angeles Lakers were about to respond, the Wizards quickly adopted the Hack-a-Shaq strategy.
And this became the most important turning point of the game.
Hamilton picked up his 4th personal foul to send the Shark to the free-throw line. O'Neal lived up to expectations by missing both free throws. Laettner secured the rebound and passed it to Link, who drove straight in and scored over the randomly matched-up Old Fish.
109 to 105!
Immediately after, Haywood fouled out with his 6th foul, and Bison White stepped in.
This time, O'Neal actually went 1-for-2 from the line...
However, the Los Angeles Lakers also made a ridiculous decision: they started Hacking Bison White.
Bison White's free-throw percentage was also terrible.
The Washington Wizards hacked Shaq!
The Los Angeles Lakers hacked Bison!
Both sides were hacking each other!
After four or five rounds of hacking,
the fans were getting drowsy.
But the Washington Wizards managed to stretch their lead to 8 points.
117 to 109!
"Forget it!"
Seeing that there were less than 40 seconds left in the game,
The Zen Master waved his hand.
Surrendering early, he was the first to sub out all his starters.
To this...
Kobe walked off the court with a stubborn and unwilling expression.
Beside him, O'Neal patted his former little brother on the shoulder, and Kobe nodded in response.
At this moment, the relationship between the two seemed to have warmed up.
...
...
At the same time.
On another front.
"Hahaha, did everyone see that..."
"Link and his Washington Wizards actually made the OK combination's relationship warm up, for the first time ever."
"Oh, and... the viewers in the live stream can look forward to the sight of Dallas owner Mark Cuban wearing a diaper."
TNT's Charles Barkley grinned.
"Washington was so resilient tonight..."
"The game was fantastic, except for the terrible free-throw battle in the final minutes."
Kenny Smith also began to summarize tonight's game.
...
...
Elsewhere.
The Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Clippers game was taking place at almost the same time tonight.
As a loyal fan of the team, Mark Cuban came to the home arena to watch, however...
During a timeout, the arena's big screen suddenly displayed the final score of the Washington Wizards vs. Los Angeles Lakers game.
120 to 111!
The Washington Wizards defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by a 9-point margin.
Additionally, there were Link's individual stats...
32 points, 13 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 Steals, and 1 Block.
Facing the defending champions, the full-throttle Los Angeles Lakers, the Washington Wizards not only won the game, but Link also recorded a near triple-double.
This would make it impossible for some haters to label him with "manufactured triple-doubles" in the future.
However...
The fans' main focus remained on Mark Cuban.
In an instant...
*Rustle!*
*Rustle!*
The Mavericks' home fans stood up one after another, looking over in Mark Cuban's direction.