Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 807 807 Untitled Section 3

?Chapter 807: Untitled Section 3 Chapter 807: Untitled Section 3 The Supersonics’ aggressive defense strategy continued to be effective.

The Lakers’ reliance on three-point shots from the perimeter, which had been their lifeline, lost its usual accuracy tonight.

Richard Hamilton missed a three-pointer, Pau Gasol grabbed the rebound, only for DeAndre Jordan to block him under the basket, and James seized the offensive rebound and passed it to Kobe. Kobe’s turnaround jumper still missed.

What was more demoralizing than having the offensive rebounds snatched away repeatedly was missing the chance for extra offense that came from those rebounds.

Hubie Brown of TNT sharply commented, “I don’t know what the Lakers are rushing for; they’re indeed far behind in points, but if they can’t stay calm, they won’t accomplish anything.”

This time, the SuperSonics protected their defensive rebound.

Yu Fei made a long pass to Hughes, who scored on a fast break.

The lead grew to 21 points.

The Lakers made a substitution, bringing in Mike Miller to replace Hamilton.

This proved to be a timely adjustment.

Miller, who had performed very well in the second quarter, entered again and immediately hit a three-pointer from a pass by James.

With the Supersonics missing their position battle, the Lakers countered, Miller followed up and hit a trailing three-pointer.

Miller’s three-pointers breathed life back into the Lakers from the brink of collapse.

Seeing that Durant clearly couldn’t defend against Miller’s off-ball offense, Yu Fei advised Coach Lu to call a timeout.

After the timeout, the SuperSonics employed the same tactics, DeAndre Jordan went off, Pau Gasol moved to the center position, Yu Fei played power forward, and then Alonzo Gee, who was all energy but no precision, was tasked with sticking closely to Mike Miller.

The referee’s generous latitude in defense allowed Gee to effectively limit Miller.

As the game restarted, what the Lakers faced was devil-like physical contact.

James wanted to add the third three-pointer of the quarter on Miller’s performance, but after the rhythm-breaking timeout and Gee’s defense, Miller couldn’t find any chance to shoot.

“Tyronn Lue is absolutely underrated!” Jeff Van Gundy unexpectedly said, “We all thought he was the weak link of the SuperSonics, but throughout the series, he hasn’t looked like a rookie coach at all!”

While many on-the-spot adjustments resulted from collective efforts, like the just-mentioned timeout that was entirely Big Fei’s decision.

But that did not affect Coach Lu’s confidence, smiling and showing off to the camera, “If you’re going to compliment, might as well lay it on thick.”

The best thing the Lakers could do was to respond with equally tough defense.

Lacking sharpshooters, the SuperSonics consciously let their stars handle the situation more than the Lakers.

Yu Fei received the ball in the low post, powerfully backed down, and after drawing a foul from Jamison, made both free throws.

The Lakers moved up the court, passed the ball around, and it ended up back in James’s hands.

James glanced over, remembering how Hughes had been toying around during their time at Knight; now older and not as sharp, how could he possibly guard him?

James drove hard, but Hughes countered with a level of physical contact he had no right to use against James under normal circumstances.

While his defense was forced, it greatly slowed down James, and as other SuperSonics players joined to help, James’s mid-range shot hit iron.

Isolation play was the answer to break the game, but James could not provide the right options.

The rebound from the missed field goal was taken by Yu Fei, the sprinting Supersonics player becoming the center of focus in the stadium.

“Oh! Alonzo Gee!” Mike Breen exclaimed exaggeratedly, “He’s literally flying!”

Yu Fei delivered a beautiful long pass, which was not only accurate but also impeccably timed, leading Gee to sprint forward at full speed.

Finally, Gee caught the ball in the front court, took two steps and rose up, the physical prowess that had been praised in his draft scouting reports now offering the Key Arena audience a spectacular dunk.

As Gee ran back, he pointed with both hands at Yu Fei and shouted, “You picked right!”

Yu Fei had almost forgotten that it was his own suggestion that the team draft Alonzo Gee.

He simply raised his hand and high-fived Gee as he returned to the backcourt, without any unnecessary words.

Facing nearly a 20-point deficit, the Lakers needed three-pointers, but the Supersonics’ defense stifled any chance of a significant tally from beyond the arc.

They had to carry their hopes into the fourth quarter, which would require the stars to perform.

Then came the decisive minutes of the game.

Yu Fei missed a three-pointer, Kobe scored from a mid-range counterattack.

Durant went one-on-one and missed, the Lakers scored again on a counter.

A glimmer of hope shone into the Lakers’ game, and then it was enveloped by Yu Fei’s defiant, defense-ignoring, pull-up three-pointer.

“Swish!”

Kobe scored with a post-up move.

“He’s straining to sustain the Lakers!” ABC’s Doug Collins exclaimed, “The others need to step up; Kobe can’t do it alone.”

But Yu Fei, along with a pick-and-roll with Chris Bosh, threw a pass into the air, which Bosh caught and dunked forcefully.

Hope is such a precious thing, offered by teammates, yet also taken away by opponents.

As James disorientedly orchestrated the offense, he eventually passed it back to Gasol for a buzzer-beating missed three-pointer, Yu Fei grabbed the rebound and pushed a counterattack, expanding the lead beyond 20 points.

“Has LeBron lost his confidence? Why doesn’t he play it himself?”

The commentators’ interrogation echoed around.

James might not have heard what they said, but he could guess.

Kobe did his utmost to break through, drawing a foul, making both free throws.

The Lakers were still hanging on.

Durant had the ball on offense, but was stopped by James’s defense; it was the Lakers’ chance, but Yu Fei’s tactical foul stopped James’s attempt at a fast break.