LeBron James, your house got robbed.

Chapter 136 The Troubles of Happiness

At halftime, the Cavaliers led the Lakers by 16 points, 68-52.

Even so, Coach Lu, considering the special nature of the China Tour, did not go all out on the defensive end, trying to keep the game suspenseful.

In the past two quarters, although Leonard showed the most serious defensive attitude and fought hard against Kobe, Garnett never helped or double-teamed him.

In other words, the knight didn't even have to bare his fangs before easily crushing this galactic warship.

With Kobe's basketball IQ, he could certainly sense that the Cavaliers weren't playing at full strength, at least not on the defensive end.

The fact that he had never been caught in a pincer movement speaks volumes, and the more this was the case, the angrier he became.

If you can't get past this Cavaliers, what's the point of talking about a sixth championship trophy?

In the second half, both Gasol and Nash were limited in playing time and would not return to the game.

The promised Lakers' Big Four super team has turned into Kobe Bryant playing solo.

Chen Shuo also got to see the Lakers' "luxury bench" that Pojamin had described.

Sacre replaced Gasol, while Blake replaced Nash.

The Lakers' already disorganized Princeton offense has completely disappeared.

All we could see was Blake dribbling the ball across half-court and passing it to Kobe time and time again.

Tyronn Lue was quite lenient, never initiating a double-team, and instead allowing Kobe to engage in endless one-on-one plays on the court.

However, he will have to face the Cavaliers' formidable frontcourt.

Leonard, Ariza, Danny Green, and Battier took turns on the court at full intensity, providing Kobe with a thorough and personalized massage throughout the game, allowing the Black Mamba to put on a spectacular display of missed shots at the Wukesong Arena.

Seeing Chandler and Garnett dominating the paint, Kobe didn't bother to drive inside. Instead, he repeatedly turned and shot fadeaways, hitting one block after another.

The beautiful fadeaway shot captivated the fans.

To be honest, Kobe's shooting percentage in this game wasn't low, close to 50%.

To achieve this level of efficiency against the Cavaliers' star-studded frontcourt truly earns him the title of a historic scorer.

The reason why the sound of missed shots was so frequent was because the Lakers' shots were all focused on Kobe.

The more you throw, the more iron you'll get.

It wasn't until the beginning of the fourth quarter that Kobe threw away his towel and entered the game, to the thunderous applause of the entire arena.

A 30-point deficit is almost impossible to overcome, especially when the Lakers' opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Everyone thought Kobe was going to take a break too.

Catching the ball, swinging the elbow, turning around, and jumping to shoot—a series of fluid and skillful movements.

"Duang"

'

The sound of hammering iron was particularly jarring.

He made his move time and time again.

Chen Shuo could clearly see the beads of sweat covering Kobe's face.

The fans at Wukesong Arena were naturally happy to see Kobe play.

Kobe's stamina was indeed excellent. Despite seemingly being on the verge of exhaustion, he still managed to contribute 8 shot attempts in half a quarter.

Two of them hit, resulting in a foul.

You could still feel Kobe's fatigue.

The cheers and shouts of encouragement never stopped at the scene.

With six minutes remaining in the game, Mike Brown called a timeout and substituted Kobe Bryant, who had scored 41 points on 15-of-33 shooting.

The Wukesong Arena erupted in applause. Kobe played for 37 minutes, and the fans thoroughly enjoyed the game.

Kobe is such a good guy, he kept fighting even when we were so far behind, this vote was worth it.

"Awesome!"

"Kobe, Lakers are the champions!!!"

Kobe walked back to the bench, wiped the sweat from his head with a towel, and sat down with a blank stare.

This seemingly luxurious galactic warship is actually riddled with leaks and difficulties.

How exactly can he help the team?

Chen Shuo looked at Kobe, who seemed lost in the distance.

He can see further.

This is a season destined to fail for the Lakers.

Most people might not realize it now, but once the season is halfway through, anyone with a brain will understand that this season's Lakers are simply...

There's no hope; it's beset by both internal and external troubles.

If you know you're destined to fail, is it worth fighting until your Achilles tendon ruptures?

In the equally chaotic and hopeless 18-19 season, James chose to lie low and recuperate, which ultimately led to a 20-year bubble championship.

If Kobe were to choose again now, would he make the same choice?

After Kobe left the game, Tyronn Lue finally brought in the third unit in the final minutes.

That's why Coach Lue is so influential; to let fans see as many star players as possible, the Cavaliers always fielded their full starting lineup when Kobe was on the court.

Chen Shuo looked up at the field.

With Beverley, Green, Parsons, Tucker, and Draymond Green, this lineup is not only strong offensively, but also defensively solid.

Facing the Lakers' third point guard, Duhon, Beverley made two consecutive steals from him, drawing another climax from the crowd.

"Who the hell is this? He's acting like a mad dog during garbage time."

"I don't know, I've never seen this person in the Knights before."

"Damn, that's awesome. It almost broke down again. Where did Chen Shuo find these people?"

"Bro, I have a feeling something's off with the Lakers."

Even during garbage time, it wasn't Beverley who stood out the most. Parsons, who finally got playing time, hit four consecutive three-pointers in the final moments, completely dominating the Lakers.

The crowd erupted in cheers from Parsons' fans.

After the Cavaliers draft last year, Parsons, as one of the five major factions, had quite a few fans thanks to his handsome looks.

Unfortunately, he never got enough playing time with the Cavaliers.

Chen Shuo didn't have many options for dealing with this.

Parsons was basically used as a forward for the Cavaliers.

The players ahead of Parsons are Leonard, Ariza, and Battier.

None of these players are replaceable by him, especially on a defense-first team like the Cavaliers, where Parsons' priority is even lower.

Moreover, with Tucker and Draymond Green lurking nearby, the Cavaliers have far too many talents at the small forward and power forward positions.

It has to be said that this is a kind of happy trouble.

Chen Shuo certainly didn't want the players he selected to end up mediocre and waste their careers because they didn't get playing time.

However, Chen Shuo was reluctant to send the team to another team, as it would be a waste for them. He wasn't doing charity work.

Besides pursuing Draymond Green, Chen Shuo had another target in the second round of this year's draft.

Jay Crowder from Marquette University was a promising 3D talent, but Chen Shuo didn't push him further, precisely because he couldn't cultivate him to the same level.

In the end, the Celtics benefited from the situation.

Chen Shuo subconsciously rubbed his temples.

The Cavaliers have been using a long rotation to maximize their defensive intensity in short periods and make the most of their overall high level of player quality.

But even with a longer rotation, Parsons only gets four or five minutes per game, and most of that is garbage time.

Unfortunately, the NBA does not have a loan rule.

Otherwise, it would be a win-win situation.

Besides that, there is another approach.

We prioritize quantity over quality, and then upgrade our products accordingly.

Chen Shuo did indeed have some candidates in mind.

Unfortunately, the problem has come full circle: if we want to trade quantity for quality, we at least need to make these players live up to their market value.

Sufficient playing time is a prerequisite for demonstrating one's value.

No solution.

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