Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 1007 Kobe vs. the Dragon? No! It's Kobe vs. the League!

Three-pointers, mid-range jump shots, dunks after driving to the basket, catches the ball and shoots immediately after off-ball movement, buzzer-beaters from long range, and fast breaks after steals with a coast-to-coast dunk.

In this quarter, Kobe once again demonstrated his unparalleled skill and terrifying touch.

He not only kept Xu Yong's single-quarter score to a mere 7 points, but also scored a whopping 31 points himself with a combination of inside drives and outside shots!

After scoring 20+ points in the first quarter, Kobe went even further in the third quarter, scoring 30+ points!

Attack and defense integrated!

With Kobe's incredible performance inspiring the Lakers, the other players naturally followed suit, increasing their defensive efforts and focusing their energy on defense.

And what did the Raptors guys say?

Bargnani is known for his inability to withstand pressure, Calderon is not a top offensive player, the team's number one offensive player Xu Yong is completely contained by Kobe, and the remaining player Navarro, although he has a good scoring ability, is not a star player after all.

His physical abilities limited his potential; he could score some points, but it was only a marginal achievement.

In short, apart from dominating in the first two minutes of the third quarter, the Raptors were completely silent for the rest of the game!

They scored 12 points in the first two minutes of the third quarter, but only managed 23 points in the entire quarter.

This means they only scored 9 points in the last 10 minutes of the third quarter.

That's less than a third of Kobe's total points!

But for the Lakers, it's not just Kobe who scores!

They scored a whopping 40 points in that quarter alone!

63: 106!

Kobe Bryant alone scored 67 points!

He scored a whopping 67 points in three quarters, outscoring the entire opposing team!

A true one-against-five, a true one-man wipeout of an entire team!

After a long and frustrating seven games, Kobe finally delivered a super battle that left everyone speechless and was definitely a career milestone!

As for the fourth quarter?

It's pointless.

Or rather, apart from Kobe, the Lakers' other key players all went to the bench to rest with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Only Kobe, seeing that he was excited tonight, Jackson simply let him be excited to the end, letting him lead four substitutes to finish the third quarter on the court.

Of course, that's all.

Kobe will definitely not play in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Raptors showed no spirit whatsoever. They were completely broken down and had lost all confidence. At that point, they mechanically finished the game without thinking about anything else.

In this situation, the entire fourth quarter naturally became quite boring. After the bench players from both sides went back and forth in a chaotic manner, the Lakers ultimately won the game by more than 40 points!

This was their biggest victory of the new season, and also Kobe's most enjoyable game of the new season!

3 sections, 67!

"Kobe's gone mad!" Van Gundy exclaimed, watching Kobe dominate in the third quarter. "He's unstoppable! Nobody can stop Kobe tonight! He's simply invincible!"

"So Jeff, if you were the coach and faced an opponent with a player this crazy, what would you choose? What would you do to help your team win under these circumstances?" Jackson immediately asked with a smile. The game was no longer in doubt, but their work still had to continue!

"Me?" Van Gundy chuckled and said, "I can only think of two options: 1. Use any dirty tricks to cripple this person. Some coaches or players in the league might choose to do that, but I won't."

"So, there's really only one way: an offensive duel! Find someone on your team whose firepower is comparable to this kind of player, and go head-to-head with them. If you score 31 points in a quarter, then I'll score 32!"

"No matter how hard you try, if someone scores higher than you, it's all in vain."

"As for defense, we are all seasoned professionals in the industry. We all know that when a player gets into this state, he is unstoppable. Trying to beat him with defense will only result in a more crushing defeat."

"But where can we find a scorer on par with Kobe when he was on fire? How many scorers of that caliber can a league have?" Miller added, "Jeff's method obviously won't work either."

"Coincidentally," Jackson suddenly said, "if you look at the Lakers' roster, you'll find they have two more monsters on their team. They can definitely do what Kobe did—go toe-to-toe with him when he's on fire!"

"A back-and-forth exchange is too conservative," Van Gundy said. "That's Lin, after all!"

At this point, all three fell silent. They exchanged glances, and then Van Gundy suddenly said, "I think we might have underestimated the Lakers."

"It's true that their bench is terrible, but their starting lineup is excessively strong. As long as they are injury-free, their starting lineup can be split up and used in a way that can mask the inadequacy of their bench players to the greatest extent possible."

"There's another point that's been overlooked," Miller said. "In the playoffs, you don't actually need that many rotation players. Most teams only have an 8-9 man rotation in the playoffs."

"The Lakers' weak bench will only be further masked in the playoffs."

"Besides, there are still a full five months until the playoffs! The Lakers have plenty of time to gel and develop. If they can develop two or three reliable players in those five months, they'll be more than capable for the playoffs!"

Those who didn't have high hopes for the Lakers should be worried now!

The three commentators were clearly very satisfied with the Lakers tonight, and they showered the team with praise!

And what about the Lakers?

Kobe, the absolute star of the night, will of course be present at the post-game press conference.

He sat in his seat, looking at the reporters, his face still cold and expressionless, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Kobe's expression made the reporters below somewhat uneasy.

What's this guy up to?

For a moment, no reporters asked any questions; instead, a group of people were whispering among themselves, clearly exchanging information and asking each other for their opinions.

"As the seventh seed in the league, I think I played alright, right?" Seeing the reporters whispering amongst themselves without asking any questions, Kobe took the initiative and asked, "I didn't disgrace the seventh seed in the league, did I?"

Kobe's provocative question set the tone for the press conference.

The smell of gunpowder!

This evening's interview was destined to be full of tension.

Feeling deeply wronged, Kobe went on a rampage that night, showing no mercy to the reporters. Whenever he had the chance, he would mock and ridicule them.

He showed no respect to these reporters because he knew several of them; these were the people who had published those articles a few days ago that were directed at him.

You started it, so how can you blame me for fighting back?

So Kobe went on a killing spree tonight, both on and off the court!

The reporters didn't sit idly by either, as Kobe was so eager to provoke and cause trouble.

If you dare to fight back, we'll give you another combo punch!

Kobe's 67 points are nothing to celebrate; the Lakers have three major weaknesses, and Kobe remains their biggest vulnerability!

"Sell now while prices are high! Trading Kobe to the Lakers will maximize profits!"

Kobe is getting old! Beating the Raptors made him feel like he was back at the top of the league, but the Raptors are only the fourteenth team in the Eastern Conference!

"A hard-hitting approach against weak teams, but a submissive attitude towards strong teams—Kobe is clearly celebrating too soon!"

Three quarters of dominating the game couldn't mask Kobe's declining form; his problems in this game are still significant.

Kobe Bryant scored 19 goals, but 11 of them came from assists! His exceptionally high assist-to-response ratio reveals his current predicament!

What will Kobe do without Lin? Data shows Lin made 18 direct passes to Kobe per game! He also averaged over 4 assists per game for Kobe!

Kobe's individual creativity has plummeted to a league low; he's now just a high-level lob-making king!

……

This time, the media's criticism was even more intense than the last round.

In the previous round, Kobe Bryant played terribly and was completely ineffective, which is why he wasn't subjected to any ridicule or mockery.

This time, however, even after Kobe delivered a near-perfect performance, the media relentlessly attacked him, finding all sorts of unfounded reasons to continue their war against him.

But this time, the media were clearly a bit careless.

This is Kobe!

It's one thing for reporters to publish articles mocking him when he plays poorly.

He's in such a bad state right now, and you're still bullying him? That's a bit like confusing the big and small kings.

Even Lin Tian was a little confused.

Have these people completely forgotten who Kobe is? Is this guy someone you can bully and suppress in this way?

Or were these reporters all people that Jerry Buss hired to help him provoke Kobe?

Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. This time, Kobe just hasn't won a championship yet, it's not like he broke his leg beforehand, so why is he being provoked like this?

It's important to know that Kobe's greatness wasn't just his explosive scoring ability; his scoring consistency was also top-tier in the league!

After scoring 60+ points in a game, Kobe obviously wouldn't revert to his old ways due to fatigue, a decline in form, or other reasons.

His performance is known for its consistency!

However, Lin Tian didn't care what these reporters were thinking or what they wanted to do. All Lin Tian knew was that in the next few games, he could just comfortably feed Kobe the ball and that was it. He didn't need to worry about anything else.

A day later, in an away game against the Kings, Kobe scored another 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists!

Lin Tian easily scored 19 points and 20 assists without even breaking a sweat.

Two days after the game against the Kings, the Lakers traveled to San Antonio to challenge the Spurs. Facing head coach Popovich, whom he was best at dominating, Kobe once again put up a spectacular stat line of 45 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds!

Lin Tian, ​​without making a fuss, scored 15 points and 21 assists.

Then in Dallas, Kobe faced the defending runner-up and put on another crazy individual show, scoring 55 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. After that, Kobe has scored 40+ points in 4 consecutive games, including one 50+ point game and one 60+ point game!

Kobe completely went into a berserk state!

Of course, Lin Tian also had an easy time in this game, scoring 14 points and 23 assists once again.

While Kobe Bryant was scoring 40+ points in a row, Lin Tian quietly racked up 20+ assists in four consecutive games.

However, with Kobe's equally explosive performance both on and off the court, Lin Tian's performance was inevitably overlooked.

Kobe's firepower during that stretch was just too fierce.

On the court, he scored 40+ points in 4 games, leading the team to a 4-game winning streak, and also won the Player of the Week award.

Off the field, this guy acts like he's going to war every time he attends a post-match press conference. He's all talk and no action, and he rolls his eyes after each question. He's either sarcastic, mocking, or asking rhetorical questions.

"As the seventh-ranked player in the league, I think I barely qualify."

"Anyway, I rely on Lin to pass me the ball. Without him, I wouldn't even get 10 points."

"I only played against bad teams, so these statistics don't count."

"There's nothing to be happy about. After all, there are at least six people in the league who are better than me, and next year there might be 70 people who are better than me. Why don't you go and interview them?"

"It's just a temporary resurgence. I'm going to die tomorrow, and this is just a slight improvement in my condition before I die."

"What? You should ask LeBron about that, he's the best in the league."

"How about you lower Kevin's ranking a bit? He hasn't been performing very well these past few games."

They went berserk.

After these four games, Kobe didn't say a single calm word; he showed no intention of having a proper conversation with anyone.

What can we say about Kobe's performance after this play?

Regardless of what the reporters thought, or whether they wished they could kill Kobe, one thing was certain.

Ranking Kobe Bryant seventh in the league is indeed a bit ridiculous.

This guy is still as sharp as ever, and can still deliver top-tier individual performances in the league!

Similarly, if Kobe's seventh place is too low, shouldn't the rankings of the other Lakers players be raised as well?

After defeating the Mavericks, the Lakers quickly moved to New Orleans, where they faced the equally impressive Hornets.

Under Deron Williams' leadership, the Hornets have become one of the league's top teams. In addition to Williams, the team has Yi Jianlian and All-Star center Kaman, who just joined the team, as well as a group of promising young perimeter players such as Ariza, Vazquez, Aminu, Belinelli, Henry, and Jones.

To put it nicely, they are a group of promising perimeter players, but to put it bluntly, there isn't a single player among them who is truly talented and can be considered a star.

Apart from Deron Williams, the team's other perimeter players are not worth mentioning.

For the Lakers, this kind of team is like a chosen one, a team that can rack up points!

Although they have Ariza, an excellent 3-and-D player who has played for the Knicks for many years and has finally made it to the starting lineup, the rest of the team's defensive configuration is really not worth mentioning. In particular, both Yi Jianlian and Kaman are offensively strong but defensively weak, with mediocre rim protection and help defense capabilities.

Unless there are some exceptions, this kind of team really can't contain the Lakers' perimeter stars.

But tonight, there was clearly an exception.

After all, Kobe has scored 40+ points in four consecutive games. Any team, any coach, even coaches like D'Antoni and Rivers who are not good at adapting, would have to adjust their defensive focus and strategy when playing against the Lakers.

We need to target Kobe, double-team him, apply pressure, press him early, and deny him opportunities to drive or shoot from mid-range, etc.

Any normal team would definitely change their strategy at this point and put more pressure on Kobe.

Wasps are no exception!

During the game, they immediately started double-teaming Kobe. Whenever he got the ball, Ariza and Aminu, two defensive workhorse players, would rush in to put pressure on him.

When Kobe doesn't have the ball, Ariza will stick close to him, not giving him any easy opportunities to shoot or finish the attack.

If Kobe drives into the paint, Yi Jianlian, whose overall defense is average but whose speed is among the best in the paint, will rush in to help defend immediately.

It's fair to say that the Hornets focused most of their defensive efforts on Kobe.

The effect was indeed quite good. In the first half of the first quarter, Kobe only made 2 of 5 shots, scoring 4 points. The Kobe who had been invincible in the previous few games seemed to have finally given up.

However, it's clearly not time for the Hornets to relax and have fun yet.

The Lakers have more than just Kobe as a scoring threat.

After the first timeout, the Lakers quickly changed their tactics.

Kobe moved to one side, and Durant and Lin Tian set a screen on the other side.

After the two players separated, they quickly went their separate ways. The speed at which they separated left Deron Williams and Yi Jianlian, who was defending Durant, somewhat bewildered, and they were unable to react immediately.

If these two players can't react to their offensive moves, then they're just giving away points.

With a whoosh, Lin Tian's pass flew past Deron Williams' head and arrived in Durant's hands in the blink of an eye.

Durant didn't linger after getting the ball; he pulled up and shot from just inside the three-point line.

A long-range two-pointer, and the basketball swished perfectly!

"Whoosh!"

That crisp sound not only meant that the Lakers had scored 2 points, but it also meant that the Lakers were about to make a substitution and have some fun!

After one possession, Lin Tian still had the ball at the top of the arc. This time, Durant used his absolute mobility at the power forward position to run a full lap around the court before getting the basketball. At this point, although Yi Jianlian was giving it his all, he was still more than 2 meters away from him!

One of these two players is quite agile and incredibly fast at the small forward position, while the other is only reasonably mobile at the power forward position. Considering both positions, Durant will naturally be able to create a fairly easy shooting opportunity for himself after running around the court.

"Whoosh!"

With another crisp sound, Durant hit two consecutive mid-range shots, scoring 4 points in a row!

For a player of Durant's caliber, once he's on fire and has a good touch, it's definitely not just about two baskets!

In the remainder of the first quarter, although the Hornets increased their defense on Durant and shifted their defensive focus towards him, they were still unable to stop his scoring momentum.

With a three-pointer and two drives to the basket, Durant scored another 7 points in the rest of the game!

When the quarter ended, Durant had scored another 15 points.

As for Kobe?

He still contributed the same 5 shot attempts in the first half of the game. In the second half, he directly acted as bait, drawing the Hornets' attention and stretching their defensive formation, thus creating huge space for Durant to score.

Kobe has had his fill of fun and enjoyment, and he's handling this kind of support role with ease and without any resistance.

In fact, Kobe suggested this method during a timeout.

Although his initial idea was for him to launch a feint attack while Lin Tian took the lead, it turned out that Durant took the lead at Lin Tian's suggestion.

To reiterate, the Lakers' scoring ability is too strong; they have many scorers, and those scorers are also very strong.

It's impossible to defend against at all.

But this is just the beginning!

In the second quarter, the Hornets tried to shift their defensive focus to specifically target Durant, but the Lakers' players had such sharp eyes.

Kobe and Lin Tian immediately noticed this and switched players to attack!

Lin Tian stood at the top of the arc, observing the situation and using quick and decisive passes to stretch the Hornets' defense.

Kobe and Durant positioned themselves on the left and right sides, respectively, to establish position and look for opportunities.

Then Lin Tian will decide who will finish the attack based on the Hornets players' positioning.

This triangular formation and playing style are completely different from the traditional triangle offense. (End of Chapter)