Chương 336: Chapter 336: The Lakers Must Win This Game
This is Wade's personality.
If you make me a background board, I'll make your entire team background boards.
Wade's previous offensive play, even more impressive than a dunk, not only shocked the home fans but also affected the players on the court to some extent.
Harden missed two consecutive shots!
Fortunately, the Suns lacked height, and at this critical moment, Howard fought hard, grabbing two consecutive offensive rebounds and then dunking over Green.
Score: 107-105!!!
With 1 minute and 23 seconds left in the game, the Suns led by 2 points.
The Lakers' offense.
Curry defended Harden, who wanted to play one-on-one against Curry, but Wade was only two steps away, ready to help defend if Harden got past Curry.
Gasol called for the ball in the mid-range!
Harden passed the ball to Gasol, but when Gasol received the ball, Durant closed in to defend, and Wade positioned himself one step away from Gasol.
Wade's defensive pressure was too strong!
Gasol had no choice but to pass the ball back to Harden, who organized the offense and passed it to Howard.
Durant took a step back to help Green defend Howard, and the Suns' quick switching defense suffocated the Lakers, who had less than 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
Howard made a high lob pass to Kobe!
"Kobe, take the shot!"
With the shot clock running out, they had no choice but to let their star player take the shot.
Wade's attention was still on Gasol, and Durant stepped up to defend Kobe, who made a probing step and, at the moment the ball touched the ground, turned and jumped!
He shot a fadeaway three-pointer, an incredibly difficult shot.
"Swish!!!"
The ball went in as the 24-second shot clock expired.
Score: 107-108!!!
With 59 seconds left in the game, the Lakers took the lead again, and Kobe had already scored 36 points.
"Give me the ball."
Wade got the ball in the backcourt, trailing by just 1 point. There was no need to call a timeout yet.
Playing it safe would still win them the game.
Wade was also thinking that with 59 seconds left, theoretically, the two teams combined would have three more offensive possessions, and the Suns would have at least two. So, this shot must go in, and the shot clock must run down to at least 10 seconds.
Kobe pointed at Durant and said to Gasol, "This shot will most likely be a one-on-one by Wade, but you also need to pay attention to Durant's position and don't let him receive the pass!"
Kobe had watched countless Wade's game footage and had noticed a pattern: the more critical the moment, the less likely Wade was to pass the ball.
Wade dribbled to the frontcourt, using up 4 seconds. Time ticked away, second by second!
"Come on, Wade!"
Kobe also shouted at Wade, "You won't make it!"
"Is that so?"
Wade dribbled closer to Kobe, made a behind-the-back dribble, and then turned to get past Kobe!
However, Kobe's lateral movement was quick, and he blocked Wade again. Wade didn't panic and, in the moment Kobe hadn't stabilized his stance, he abruptly stopped, backpedaled, and took a three-pointer.
"Swish!!!"
The turnaround, backpedal, and three-pointer were executed in one fluid motion, and the ball went in smoothly.
With 45 seconds left in the game, Wade raised his right arm in a fist, his posture somewhat arrogant.
Score: 109-108!!!
The score on the big screen also changed.
Wade hadn't noticed the referee's signal and, seeing that only two points were added, turned and asked, "Was that just a two-pointer?"
"You stepped on the line."
The referee pointed to the three-point line and explained.
"Hmm..."
Wade blew on his fingertips, feeling a bit helpless. During the one-on-one against Kobe, there were at least three changes in rhythm, and he hadn't noticed if he had stepped on the three-point line.
However, leading by only 1 point was somewhat dangerous.
...
The Lakers called a timeout.
Mike D'Antoni held the tactical board and said, "Gasol, Howard, you two come out and set a double screen for Kobe. Harden, run a backdoor cut... This play is for Kobe to take a one-on-one, and we want to get a two-pointer, leaving time for the last shot."
"Okay!"
Kobe and his teammates put their hands together and shouted, "Let's go, beat the Suns!"
The timeout ended.
The Lakers inbounded the ball from the sideline, and Kobe received the pass with Wade defending him.
Harden ran a backdoor cut, taking Durant with him.
Howard set a screen for Kobe at the three-point line, and Kobe used Howard's screen to get past Wade. Wade instinctively shifted to the left to catch up with Kobe, but Gasol blocked him again.
"Damn it!"
Wade cursed.
Mike D'Antoni's tactic was somewhat shameless, using two big men to block Wade and prevent him from defending Kobe.
However, Green and Thompson also collapsed into the paint, ready to stop Kobe's layup.
"Green, if you can't stop him, foul him!"
Wade saw that Kobe was going for a layup and shouted at Green.
The reason Wade shouted at Green instead of Thompson was that Thompson's defense wasn't aggressive enough. If Thompson had defended, there was a high chance that Kobe would still make the shot even if Green fouled him.
"Clap!"
Green took a step forward to block Kobe, but Kobe jumped and collided with Green.
"Beep!!!"
The referee immediately blew the whistle and called a blocking foul on Green.
"Are you looking for trouble?!"
Green had just been pulled up by Thompson when Kobe charged forward and pushed Green in the chest.
"I..."
The tough guy Green shrank back when Kobe glared at him. He was intimidated.
Green's decision wasn't wrong. If Kobe had taken one more step and jumped for a dunk, a hard foul at that moment would have been considered a flagrant foul, and a soft foul would have likely resulted in Kobe scoring.
Green took a step forward, which was clearly a blocking foul, but after colliding with Green, Kobe couldn't take the shot anymore.
Seeing Green looking a bit scared, Wade put his arm around Green's shoulder and gave him the courage to stare back at Kobe.
"Your decision was correct, but don't commit such fouls in the future."
Wade reminded Green and added, "A collision between two big men must hurt."
Wade somewhat regretted letting Green commit the foul, but at that moment, it was better to gamble on Kobe's 80% free throw percentage than to let him score a guaranteed two points.
Kobe stepped to the free-throw line and said to Wade, "This game, the Lakers must win!"
"Swish!!!"
"Swish!!!"
Kobe made both free throws.
Score: 109-110!!!
The Lakers took the lead again with 39 seconds left in the game.
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