Champion, please stay!

Chapter 258, Section 256: The Emperor vs. the Black Mamba

The Knicks fielded a starting lineup of Curry, Hughes, Yi Shui, David Lee, and Chandler.

At 8 p.m., Bynum beat Chandler to win the jump ball, and the game began with the Lakers on offense.

Kobe received the ball in the frontcourt, and boos and shouts of "Defense!" echoed throughout the basketball mecca.

Standing guard in front of Kobe was none other than Yi Shui!

With excellent defensive posture, superb footwork, and swift movement, Kobe seemed to see a combination of Prince and Garnett!
However, aside from the Yi River...

After Fisher moved to the weak-side corner, Kobe started to isolate and attack, taking two steps to probe before making a strong drive to the left.

After Yi Shui moved into position and engaged in confrontation, Kobe stepped back to the right.

Yi Shui quickly pressed forward to defend the step-back shot, but Kobe pulled away with his right hand and swiftly slapped the ball to the right front with his left hand, using it to deflect the advancing Yi Shui before driving in on the right! A fluid, rhythmic crossover!

Yi Shui quickly turned around and chased after Kobe.

Kobe drove straight to the basket, bracing himself against the double team of Yi Shui, Curry, and Chandler, and fought his way through the baseline before switching hands mid-air for a layup!

The fans in the stadium let out a "whoosh," and if it weren't for the effect of Yi Shui's "Holy Monarch" chant, they would have started cheering for the Black Mamba at this moment.

In that last play, Yi Shui's one-on-one defense, Chandler's rim protection, and Curry's wing-based interception were all excellent, but the more they were, the more amazing Kobe's basket looked!
When Yi Shui was defending Kobe on the perimeter, he actually anticipated that Kobe's step-back was a fake. That reverse step-back to the right and back was clearly out of rhythm, but he still immediately pressed forward. If he hadn't pressed forward, he was sure that even if Kobe was out of rhythm, he would have just shot, because he would have done the same...

In the transition between offense and defense, Yi Shui responded to the cheers of the fans and took the ball to execute the first attack in a one-on-one situation.

Standing in front of him was not Kobe, but Artest.

Yi Shui shielded the ball with his body, withstood Artest's rough tackle, turned and charged forward... and pulled back.

Artest aggressively pressed forward and blocked Yi Shui's lower body. Yi Shui seized the opportunity of the rhythm difference, reversed his left leg, and used his buttocks to block Artest's waist as he pressed forward. He then drove to the right side of the free throw line, facing Kobe's help defense, and pulled up for a jump shot... and it went in!
Kobe stood with his hands on his hips, grinning and shaking his head. He knew Yi Shui would shoot from the high post, so he had positioned himself there in advance. But Yi Shui's speed in the drive seemed a little faster than he remembered...

After their encounter in January, which lasted for more than two months, he could clearly sense that Yi Shui had made further progress.

He has more varied changes of direction, his ball control after dribbling past opponents has improved, and his rhythm for sudden stops is better.

When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, after showing off a shot at the start, Kobe didn't continue to swing the ball. He received the ball at the high post, passed it over his hand, and then fed it to Bynum, who was leaning against Chandler in the low post.

Kobe's pass after receiving the ball looked ordinary, but the angle and force of the bounce were perfectly controlled. Bynum was able to receive the ball and then forcefully drive past Chandler.

Bynum, weighing 129 kg, is the type of player Chandler is least able to handle. Bynum knocked Chandler back into the restricted area in one step and scored high against David Lee, who had already collapsed into position.

Yi Shui moved to the high post, Gasol received the pass and passed again... Artest cut in on the left side to receive the ball, and despite Curry collapsing from the left corner, he made a layup!
Curry, who had been outscored, immediately retrieved the ball, passed it to Hughes, and started driving!
Yi Shui rushed to the frontcourt first, drawing away Kobe and Gasol.

Hughes quickly advanced to the frontcourt, passed to the right wing, Curry received the ball, then passed it again... Chandler followed up, cut in, received the ball, and made a layup!

Chandler wasn't as strong as Bynum, and his physique was far inferior; Bynum was a whole size bigger than him. However, in terms of mobility, Bynum was no match for him.

This fast break gave the Knicks a 4-on-3 advantage, and Yi Shui, who was blocked on the left side of the free-throw line, also drew away two opposing defenders.

4 to 4 draw!
When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, Bynum continued to post up and initiate the offense. Yi Shui and Curry received the ball early in the middle, Gasol received the ball and passed it to the left corner, Fisher received the ball and took a three-point shot... The play was executed beautifully, but Fisher's shot went wide.

Yi Shui retrieved the ball, securing it before Artest could react, and quickly passed it to Hughes for the counterattack... but this time it didn't turn into a fast break.

Bynum immediately retreated on defense when Fisher took the shot.

Kobe physically battled and entangled with Hughes, limiting his speed; Artest failed to grab the offensive rebound, but immediately moved towards Yi Shui, who was passing the ball.

The Lakers' defense against fast breaks was very targeted, focusing on the engine and the spearhead.

Chandler did get going, but Gasol retreated to the basket first, and Bynum, who had retreated to defend earlier, also entered the three-point line one after the other. Chandler was unable to pose a threat, and the counterattack failed to materialize.

Curry receives the ball at the top of the key, faces Kobe's defense, resists the urge to fire a shot at the old blacksmith, and quickly initiates a pick-and-roll offense with Chandler who has come out.

Bynum extended out to defend the pick-and-roll, and Yi Shui seized the opportunity to cut back and cut into the paint. He received the ball on the right sideline of the three-second zone, took a step, and jumped!
Gasol had just retreated to the basket when he saw Yi Shui flying towards him... Before he could even speak, everything went black.

Yi Shui quickly slammed the ball into the basket over Gasol!
Tonight, the Knicks played very aggressively, with a relentless offensive onslaught that the Lakers struggled to contain on the defensive end.

Although the fast break didn't go through, it still had an effect. They forced the Lakers' twin towers to retreat on defense. Curry immediately initiated a pick-and-roll offense after getting to the frontcourt. Gasol, who was responsible for delaying the weak side and collapsing to protect the rim, didn't even have time to catch his breath, and his pace towards the basket slowed down.

The Knicks capitalized on the Lakers' advantage of playing the second game of a back-to-back, where their stamina would be affected. Of course, improving their overall strength is the key.

Compared to their matchup in January, the Knicks now have a more athletic and fast-break-oriented center, Chandler.

Yi Shui's abilities have also improved significantly compared to that time. The most obvious improvement in the first few rounds is his starting position, his change of direction to break through, and his counter-run. As long as there is space, Artest can't keep up with his starting position at all!

接着又打了4个回合，湖人队进了两球，算上开局的3中2，7投4中、其中三分球2中1拿到9分，只看进攻很不错，但防守端……尼克斯队6投5中、其中三分球1中1、加上2中2的罚球，拿到13分！
In the first seven possessions, the Knicks failed to score on only one possession!
Any other coach would have called a timeout at this point, but Phil Jackson didn't.

Because he saw that his teammates had done their best on both offense and defense, and the triangle attack initiated by the twin towers maintained strong offensive firepower.

The fast break defense led by Kobe and Artest was also excellent.

They defended the positional game very hard... but they just couldn't hold on. The players were already trying their best to adjust on their own, and their direction was correct, so there was no need for him, the head coach, to give misguided instructions.

And most importantly, Kobe didn't just impulsively grab the ball and start swinging; instead, he used teamwork to counter the opponent's initial onslaught.

When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, Gasol received the ball at the high post and missed a mid-range shot against Yi Shui's help defense.

After securing the defensive rebound, Curry did not pass the ball to Hughes to start a fast break, but instead gestured to slow down the pace.

Seeing this, the Zen Master on the sidelines breathed a sigh of relief. The opponent's aggressive start had finally been overcome.

In the first seven possessions, aside from Kobe's opening layup against three defenders and Yi Shui's one-on-one response, the Knicks attacked relentlessly in the next six possessions, regardless of whether they could stop him or not.

Phil Jackson was certain that the Knicks couldn't keep pushing forward indefinitely; there would definitely be times when they slowed down and took a break. This could be their chance to launch a comeback. The change in offensive rhythm could have a significant impact on role players... Well, he hadn't thought of that.

He saw Curry get to the frontcourt and immediately passed the ball to Yi Shui!
His gaze followed Curry running to the right corner. Only now did he realize that in the Knicks' first 7 possessions, except for the first possession which was Yi Shui's one-on-one, in the next 6 possessions, whenever the game turned into a half-court set, it was Curry who initiated the attack with the ball!

He recalled how the Knicks had won five straight games at the start of the second half of the season after acquiring Chandler, and then won two more games before the All-Star break, for a total of seven straight wins. The media were praising the Knicks for trading Harrington and two first-round picks for Chandler, saying it was a great trade that relieved pressure on Yishui's defense and unleashed their offensive firepower.

The Zen Master also believes that Chandler's addition will benefit Yi Shui's offense. Since the All-Star Weekend, Yi Shui has scored 40+ points 8 times in 18 games, almost doubling the frequency, and their record has improved rather than declined, with 43 wins and 11 losses in the first half of the season and 15 wins and 3 losses in 18 games after the All-Star Weekend.

But at that moment he suddenly realized that the biggest beneficiary of Chandler's joining might not be Yi Shui, but Curry!

While any blue-collar center could do the same thing as Chandler relieving pressure on Yi Jianlian on the defensive end, it's rare to find a center with Chandler's ability to execute pick-and-rolls!
Curry's performance tonight, initiating the offense with pick-and-rolls at the start of the game, was far better than in our match in January.

Give him a good screen-setting big man and he'll improve so much... Phil Jackson's evaluation of Curry has risen even higher.

The Zen Master was thinking to himself, 'Walsh is so lucky, he drafted two superstars in one year,' when he heard the fans cheering again. He turned around and saw Yi Shui gracefully landing on the left side of the basket.

Yi Shui blew past Artest, drove into the paint and cut to the baseline, crouched down and took three big steps, then made a floater from the left side of the basket.

The Knicks led 15-9, extending their lead to 6 points!
The points lost weren't important, but Artest's inability to even force Yi Shui to pass the ball was a headache for the Zen Master.

When playing against the Thunder, Artest couldn't guard Durant, and Kobe had to guard him personally to effectively limit him.

Artest did a great job defending players like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, keeping up with their height, strength, and defensive skills.

However, given his height disadvantage and the accuracy of his opponents' long-range shots, Artest's age, weight gain, and slower footwork became glaringly obvious.

Yi Shui's ball-handling and attacking ability is far superior to Durant's. Phil Jackson estimates that even if Kobe Bryant were to defend him personally, the effect wouldn't be very good.

When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, Kobe called for the ball and started a one-on-one attack!

Facing Yi Shui's defense, Kobe drove to the elbow area, stopped abruptly, and moved towards Hughes, who was double-teaming him on the right. He then turned nearly 360 degrees to the left, avoiding Yi Shui's pursuit, and jumped towards Hughes, releasing a fadeaway jump shot... and it went in! He also drew a foul from Hughes!
The replay showed that Kobe only released the ball after Hughes slapped his wrist, but it still went in!
Amidst boos, Kobe stepped to the free-throw line and made the free throw, bringing the Lakers' deficit to 3 points, 12-15!
The Knicks players felt frustrated, and just as they were about to widen the gap, Kobe Bryant scored a basket to bring them back to safety.

Why "again"? Because when they were leading 9-4 at the start, Kobe used a screen to run around the cones and hit a fadeaway three-pointer over David Lee, who was switching on defense.

Fortunately, the Knicks players are very resilient; if one attempt doesn't work, they'll try again!
The two teams continued their back-and-forth offensive battle.

On the Yi River side, after taking a break for one possession, Curry regained possession and, together with David Lee and Chandler, took charge of the regular offense.

On Kobe's side, after narrowing the gap to a manageable range, they began to focus on creating space on the wings and pressuring fast breaks, with the twin towers leading the offense.

With 6 minutes and 11 seconds remaining, Yi Shui circled around to Bynum and scored on a putback, making the score 21-16, widening the gap to 5 points again. The Lakers called a timeout, entering the official timeout phase!
If someone else scores, Phil Jackson will continue to hold on, since he has Kobe Bryant, waiting for the ball to die or the opposing team to call a timeout.

But let's give Yi Shui a chance to score, since it's time to rotate the squad anyway.

When Yi Shui widened the gap to 6 points with a single play, the data was displayed on the big screen: Yi Shui's total score this season has reached 2498 points.

With this successful putback, Yi Shui's score reached 8 points tonight, making him the first Knicks player to reach 2500 points in a single season!

...

Back on the bench, listening to the cheers of the fans, Yi Shui felt happy but also under even greater pressure!

The big screen displayed the Knicks' all-time single-season scoring rankings.

Richie Guerin played 78 games in the 61-62 season, averaging approximately 29.5 points per game, for a total of 2303 points, ranking third in franchise history; Patrick Ewing played all 82 games in the 89-90 season, averaging approximately 28.6 points per game, for a total of 2347 points, ranking second in franchise history…

Last week, when Yi Shui returned to his home court to play against the Bucks, he had already surpassed Ewing to become the highest-scoring player in franchise history for a single season, but they lost, experiencing a milestone tragedy.

Not only that time, but on the night he tied LeBron James' record of 7 Player of the Week awards, they also lost, getting blown out by the Pacers...

Yi Shui took a deep breath. Tonight, he absolutely could not afford another tragic journey!
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a system notification popped up!
"On the night when the Big Apple City vs. Angels City is the focus of everyone's attention, you usher in a milestone night in your career... Mission: Reject the milestone tragedy trigger."

Objective 1: You need to lead your team to victory in tonight's game.

Goal 2: Your score needs to be higher than Kobe Bryant's.

Bonus: A quick guide to the turnaround jump shot (Patrick Ewing version).

(End of this chapter)