69novels Chapter 73 What do you want, a helicopter?
Chapter 73 What do you want, a helicopter?
When Kobe received the ball beyond the three-point line, Wang Kai did not closely guard him, but instead gave way to one side of the court, blocking the side where Kobe had the strongest dribbling ability.
Wang Kai's physical strength was almost completely exhausted, and he could only try his best to limit Kobe's breakthroughs from the strong side.
Kobe's physical fitness is indeed outstanding. In this game, his physical exertion was definitely greater than Wang Kai's. However, Wang Kai was already basically exhausted, while Kobe was still able to continue making relatively stable movements.
With two minutes remaining in the game, the Warriors finally took the lead, putting them ahead of the Lakers 107-106.
Facing Wang Kai's defense, Kobe broke through from the strong side, pushed Wang Kai aside, and then took a fadeaway shot.
The basketball swished cleanly into the net, giving the Lakers the lead once again.
The Warriors did not launch any more fast breaks, as their stamina was also greatly depleted under the Lakers' high-intensity competition.
After Baron Davis brought the ball up the court, Wang Kai went to the three-point line to ask for the ball.
Baron Davis hesitated for a moment, somewhat worried about Wang Kai's stamina, but ultimately passed the ball to Wang Kai.
After receiving the ball, Wang Kai made the same triple threat move and immediately broke through while Kobe was still adjusting his center of gravity.
Kobe immediately adjusted his footwork to get close to Wang Kai. Wang Kai used the exact same motion as Kobe to lean towards him, and then, taking advantage of Kobe's outward force, he released a mid-range shot with the same leaning-back motion.
The basketball swished precisely into the net.
This is what makes Wang Kai better than other rookies. Even though his physical strength is almost exhausted, his touch doesn't seem to be affected too much. Even though his shooting percentage has dropped to some extent, it has only returned to a normal level of over 40%, which is still more accurate than many rookies and even stars.
The score difference between the two sides remained at one or two points. The Lakers missed their next attack, but Odom grabbed the rebound and assisted Kobe to drive to the basket for a dunk.
The Warriors' weakness in the paint and the players' lack of focus were finally exposed in the final moments of the game, which is why Don Nelson was dissatisfied with some of the Warriors' players.
With one minute remaining, the Warriors' offense was forced to wait until nearly 24 seconds before they could shoot. Baron Davis hit a buzzer-beating two-pointer, keeping the Warriors' hopes of winning alive.
But then Kobe scored a powerful and-one on offense. Wang Kai's exhaustion caused his defensive movements to become distorted, resulting in his fifth personal foul and allowing Kobe to score a and-one.
Surprisingly, Kobe missed his free throw, and Biedrins grabbed the crucial rebound.
With 27 seconds left in the game, the Warriors had one last chance to attack, while the Lakers were still leading by one point.
Don Nelson called a timeout, but during the timeout he did not devise a specific offensive strategy for the players. Instead, he only assigned Wang Kai to take the last shot.
After the timeout, Wang Kai inbounded the ball to the corner, where Baron Davis controlled the ball at the top of the key to run down the clock.
With seven seconds left on the attack, Wang Kai suddenly moved towards the top of the arc.
Kobe blocked Wang Kai's path, using his superior stamina to prevent Wang Kai from receiving the ball smoothly.
Kobe knew the Warriors would definitely assign Wang Kai to take the final shot, because Wang Kai was currently the Warriors' most accurate shooter.
Biedrins set a screen for Wang Kai, but Kobe Bryant skillfully bypassed the screen and continued to closely guard Wang Kai.
With only four seconds left on the shot clock, Wang Kai still had no chance to receive the ball. Baron Davis was about to take it himself, but Wang Kai suddenly circled around and came directly to Baron Davis's side.
Baron Davis immediately passed the ball to Wang Kai handoff, with two seconds remaining on the shot clock.
Wang Kai received the ball and made a shooting motion, but Kobe immediately jumped to block it. With little time left on the shot clock, Kobe concluded that Wang Kai had no choice but to force a shot.
To everyone's surprise, Wang Kai did not shoot directly, but waited until Kobe started to fall before jumping to shoot.
Wang Kai's shooting motion is very strange. He hoists the ball onto his shoulder with his right hand, while his entire left arm completely protects the basketball.
Seeing Wang Kai leaning towards him, Kobe didn't hesitate and immediately pressed down with both hands, intending to commit a foul and prevent Wang Kai from getting a chance to shoot.
Wang Kai's body was pulled by Kobe and fell directly to the ground, but Wang Kai still managed to throw the ball with his right hand.
The referee blew his whistle, but everyone's attention was focused on the basketball flying through the air.
The trajectory of a basketball is not the normal trajectory for a shot; instead, it has a slightly higher arc.
The Warriors fans at home stood up, their heads moving as the basketball flew through the air.
Wang Kai, lying on the ground, also looked up at the basketball. Kobe's hand was still tugging at Wang Kai's jersey, but his body was turned behind him, focused on the flying basketball.
The basketball hit the backboard, then miraculously bounced back to the rim, bounced twice on the rim, and then fell into the net. Cheers erupted as Wang Kai, in the final moments of utter exhaustion, delivered a near-game-winning three-plus-one to seal the victory for the Lakers.
Kobe shook his head helplessly, bit the collar of his jersey, and turned around to help Wang Kai, who had fallen to the ground, up.
This time, Wang Kai didn't raise the "seven" sign to Kobe. Instead, he patted Kobe's arm and prepared to walk to the free-throw line.
With Wang Kai calmly making the free throw, the Warriors have taken a three-point lead over the Lakers.
With only 3.4 seconds left in the game, Phil Jackson called a timeout, giving the Lakers a chance to tie the score and go into overtime.
Surprisingly, however, a dispute seemed to have broken out on the Lakers' bench, with Kobe and Phil Jackson arguing.
After the timeout, the Lakers entered the court, and Odom inbounded the ball from the sideline.
Kobe received the ball smoothly using Mihm's screen, but he received the ball very close to the sideline. Wang Kai could not keep up with Kobe, so Jason Richardson had to guard Kobe.
Kobe dribbled and tried to break through Jason Richardson, but Wang Kai used his last bit of strength to double-team him.
Everyone knew that Kobe wouldn't let anyone else take the shot at this point, and no one was surprised. Kobe shot from more than two meters beyond the three-point line, facing the defense of Wang Kai and Jason Richardson.
The red light indicating the end of the game illuminates as the basketball flies through the air.
The Warriors players were all staring intently at the basketball, just like when Wang Kai had made his shot earlier.
The miracle did not happen; Kobe's shot spun inside the rim before flying out again.
The game ended with the Warriors winning 111-108 at home.
Kobe played 44 minutes and scored 42 points, while Wang Kai also played 44 minutes, hitting a miraculous three-pointer and scoring 32 points.
Kobe left the Bay Area with regret. When the old Kobe returned to Wang Kai's soul space and learned that the current Kobe had lost to Wang Kai by a helicopter, he immediately roared, "What helicopter do you want?"