The Way of the Center

Olajuwon couldn't help applauding in front of the TV. He had given this action to many insiders, but only Anjie could use it in an official game, and he did it very beautifully. ?

"It would be even more perfect if I stepped on the pivot foot when I turned around halfway." Although there are still flaws, Olajuwon is still very pleased.

Bynum is not a good stubble. If Kobe hadn't been pressing in the locker room, maybe this guy would have done something.

Being provoked by An Jie, Bynum will not sit still. But An Jie is not afraid of him, because he, An Jie, is not a "bad guy".

Dizzy and provoked by Anjie, Bynum couldn't respond immediately in the next attack. It's a pity that it's not his turn for Bynum to decide on this Lakers team.

Although Sefoloza's defense is very hard, Bryant has always been one of the top scorers in the league. He used his fast movement to pass Sefoloza by half a body position, then suddenly stopped, changed to a back-up state, and looked for opportunities in the low post!

Anjie knew what Kobe wanted to do, and the black mamba who was getting older was gradually changing his game style. Low post play has become Kobe's usual offensive tactic.

Kobe began to shake his shoulders. Seeing the familiar shoulder shaking, Anjie made a decisive decision, pushed Bynum away secretly, and rushed towards Kobe.

After Kobe shook his shoulders, he quickly turned over and shot a jumper. An Jie guessed right!

Sefoloza reacted quickly, but still not as fast as Kobe's shot. When Kobe threw the basketball, Sefoloza stretched out a big hand behind him.

Bryant's shot went past Sefoloza, but not the Eastern Tower.

"Kobe's shooting is very beautiful! It's a pity that Anjie has already seen through his intentions!"

The fly in the ointment is that the blocked shot still fell into Kobe's hands. Kobe chose to break through directly after receiving the ball again. An Jie also quickly adjusted his pace, jumped after Kobe, and knocked Kobe to the ground due to inertia.

Kobe still scored the ball, and the referee didn't call a foul, because Anjie's hand didn't touch Kobe's cylinder at all.

Although he successfully prevented Kobe's first shot, the person who had the last laugh was still the indomitable No. 24.

After An Jie landed, he was going to pull up the fallen Kobe, but Kobe didn't give An Jie a look, and he cooperated with An Jie's outstretched hand.

Even so, neither Anjie nor Kobe spoke to anyone, and neither of them smiled. They have a good relationship in private, but now they are enemies of each other!

"On the court, Anjie and Kobe don't respect anyone, even if they are friends in private! Because Kobe and Anjie are full of desire for victory!" Reggie Miller can understand the current mood of the two, Because he used to have the same attitude towards Jordan.

Bynum was very upset about Kobe's own strong play, but he couldn't complain at all. If there is a conflict with Kobe, he will be the only one who leaves.

The aggrieved Bynum naturally took all his anger on An Jie, so in the next attack, An Jie found that he was being subjected to more and more tricks behind his back.

Although this made An Jie very uncomfortable when attacking, he also managed to stick Bynum to his side.

Now Bynum only wanted to completely prevent Anjie from dying, but he rarely cared about other people.

After emptying the Lakers' inside defensive pillars, Westbrook and Angie will be able to perform their best tricks.

For two consecutive inside cuts, Anjie accurately delivered the ball to Westbrook. Facing Odom's supplementary defense, Westbrook has a hundred ways to avoid the block.

After that, Kobe wanted to continue to make a fuss in the low post. Unexpectedly, in this quarter, under the entanglement of Sefoloza and the timely supplementary defense of Anjie, Kobe's shooting rate was not ideal.

As promised, Phil Jackson temporarily replaced Kobe, who was not feeling well, to rest. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Thunder Third Young Master gradually regained the initiative.

The game in the second quarter was much more exciting than the first quarter, mainly because the Thunder's three young players were able to frequently stage wonderful goals.

After Bynum left the field, Lakers backup center D.J. Mbenga even provided a stage for Anjie to perform.

With beautiful footsteps and smooth turns one by one, An Jie showed his hard work since the summer to the fullest.

In the first few games, Anjie still had reservations and played very plainly. But today, An Jie's wonderful performance surprised everyone.

"In today's brutal center, Anjie's performance is really pleasing to the eye! Centers can't play well with only one body, and skills are also very important for big players!"

Scored 9 points in a single quarter on 3 of 4 shots, and also sent 4 assists for Durant and Westbrook. An Jie, who was troubled by fouls in the first quarter, staged a perfect return of the king in the second quarter!

The score in a single quarter was 20 to 26, and the total score was 52 to 51. At the end of the first half, the defending champion did not take advantage of the slightest advantage, only leading by one point!

"The outstanding performance of the Thunder's three young men is the key to their return to decline. Look at the Thunder's scoring in the three-second zone in the second quarter. Zen Master must miss Gasol very much now." Not only Anjie, Durant and Westbrook also used a breakthrough to score a lot of points inside the Lakers.

When Morris is on the inside, the Lakers' defensive pillar can stay at the basket unscrupulously. But when An Jie entered the penalty area, the situation was different.

This is why Morris can only be a right-hand man, and cannot be arranged as an independent role.

Bryant scored 16 points in the first half of the game, which he achieved after playing only a few minutes in the second quarter.

Although Anjie only scored 9 points, all of these 9 points came from the second quarter. After a half-time contest, it can be said that neither of the two sides could stop the other, and neither could find a way to restrain the other.

In the locker room at halftime, Zen Master and Van Gundy could not make many adjustments. How to win will have to wait for a while in the second half to see.

Therefore, when the two sides came back in the third quarter, the situation remained unchanged. Kobe Bryant's post-up singles repeatedly caused Sefoloza's fouls, and Odom played with ease no matter whether he faced Morris or Ibaka.

Morris has more experience than Ibaka, but his ability cannot keep up.

Ibaka has the ability to limit Odom, but his understanding of American basketball is still not thorough enough.

As for Collison and Krstic, these two inside defensive black holes can't help much.

The Thunder's offense also made the defending champion unable to think of a countermeasure. Compared with the strength of the offensive end, Odom's performance on the defensive end is not satisfactory.

But today Durant faced the defender he was most afraid of, but unexpectedly played very smoothly and with extremely high efficiency.

His off-the-ball movement is different from last season's greenness, and Durant's off-the-ball offense left Artest confused. As long as Durant has a chance, Anjie can pass the ball in time and accurately to help his teammates score.

If Anjie is like Olajuwon in the second quarter, then in the third quarter Anjie has become Divac of the former gorgeous king.

In addition to the three young players, Sefoloza also stood up to share some scoring pressure. He made three shots, hit a three-pointer and a mid-range shot, and the missed shot was made up by An Jie who was stuck in the basket. When Kobe's shooting rate was still not good and he could only get points by drawing fouls, The Thunder have unknowingly turned the tide!

Under the defense of Anjie, Bynum got very few shots. He only hit one ball so far in the third quarter, and that was his only shot.

When Kobe once again made 1 of 4 shots, Bynum finally couldn't hold back.

Seeing that Kobe was double-teamed again, Bynum raised his hand to ask for the ball. Kobe also knew that the team was behind and had to mobilize others. So he hit the ground and passed the basketball through the legs of Durant and Sefoloza, and it came to Bynum's hands steadily!

From the beginning of the second quarter to the present, Bynum made 2 of 3 shots, which can be said to have performed very well. He believes that the reason for his low score is simply because of the low number of shots.

Facing Anjie's singles this time, Bynum is still full of confidence!

An Jie quickly steadied his footsteps and supported the strength of Bynum's waist. Although Bynum had excellent physical fitness, his skills at the basket were also not bad. But like Bynum, Anjie is full of confidence in his defense! In front of him, he only allowed Bynum to score two goals!

Bynum began to push hard. He didn't have the exquisite footsteps and turns of Anjie. If he wanted to advance to the basket, he had to play with his back.

With a weight of nearly 130 kilograms plus a strong body and great strength, Anjie was knocked back again and again by Bynum. Angie's weight almost stopped growing after entering the NBA because he wanted to maintain his flexibility. Although An Jie's strength is good, the disadvantage of weight is still not resolved.

It seems that the weight gain plan still has to be picked up and continued.

On the surface, although Bynum made successful advances again and again, he actually played very hard. An Jie's resistance made him very uncomfortable, and the small movements behind it were no less than his own!

Kobe had already got rid of the double-team at this time. He raised his hand and asked Bynum for the ball, hoping that Bynum would return the ball. It's just that Bynum, who finally advanced to the three-second zone, gave up this chance to score so easily.

He chose to ignore Kobe, turned around forcibly, and prepared to attack the frame.

Bynum was too close to Anjie at this time, so when Bynum turned around, Anjie saw everything in his hand at the time and slapped the basketball from Bynum's hand.

Just when Westbrook, who picked up the basketball and prepared to counterattack, started to mention it, the referee's whistle sounded.

"Thunder 16, fourth foul!" Immediately, the entire Chesapeake Energy Arena was booed.

"Are you kidding me!? I fucking hit the ball with my whole hand!" An Jie couldn't bear it anymore, this was obviously a perfect defense.

Bynum proudly gave his teammates a high-five. No matter what the sentence was, as long as it was beneficial to him, he would gladly accept it.

The referee really didn't see the ball clearly. After all, the naked eye is different from the machine, and mistakes are inevitable. Although it is a misjudgment, the result will not change. Knowing that this was a misjudgment, the nBa replay center did not replay it on the big screen and TV at the scene to cover up the referee's work error.

Fortunately, Sefoloza went up to pull An Jie away, and An Jie stopped complaining to the referee. The referee knew that he was in the wrong, and did not punish the nagging An Jie.

Bynum stood at the free throw line, the audience boos everywhere. The first free throw, too short, missed.

Bryant shook his head with his arms akimbo, and did not go up and high-five Bynum.

The second penalty, too heavy, hit the neck of the basket, but still missed. An Jie immediately lay across the basket, blocking everyone behind him, and took off the rebound steadily.

Although this free throw didn't allow the Lakers to score, it made Anjie commit the fourth foul, which was very dangerous!

After that, Van Gundy quickly took Anjie down and sent Morris up again. Although there is a lack of Anjie, Westbrook and Durant who opened up still controlled the rhythm of the court.

71 to 73, this time the leading side became the Thunder. Kobe's 1-for-4 shooting rate has become the main reason why the Lakers are behind. If it wasn't for Odom's sudden explosion today, the point difference might have been pulled to double digits long ago.

"I can't believe that the Thunder, which was ranked ninth last season, were inextricably tied to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers! After winning the first few games, some people will question the strength of the Thunder, but now, I don't think there will be any more There's no better opponent than the Lakers. The Thunder are strong, there's no need to doubt that!"

That's right, Presti's draft has finally paid off this year. The Thunder are strong, but the Lakers are also strong. The outcome of this game is uncertain.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, all three Thunder players sat on the bench, and Zen Master also left Kobe, Odom and others off the court to rest. Now the score is almost tied. When these people play, it is the time for the two teams to start a decisive battle.

Morris and Ibaka played brilliantly against the Lakers' weak second-unit interior defense. But Zen Master is not in a hurry. After all, the Lakers still have Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar and others on the outside.

However, Morris and Ibaka's inside offense is more efficient than the outside shooting with a lower hit rate.

These two rookies with excellent physical fitness turned the Lakers inside upside down, but when Zen Master took Bynum to the field ahead of time, the situation turned around again.

Bynum's appearance completely cut off the offensive momentum of Morris and Ibaka. At this point, it is completely meaningless to keep the second team on the court. Van Gundy waved his hand, five ups and downs, he took the lead in sounding the horn of the decisive battle!

The impatient Bynum still failed to score points on Anjie's head again, and Kobe's three-pointer was still "dang dang". Just when the Lakers fans were almost desperate, Artest, the outside giant, suddenly stood up.

He first hit a three-pointer with a flat arc from the outside and it seemed impossible to hit.

Durant continued to break through the thin body, trying to make Anjie's foul. But fortunately, Krstic helped Anjie carry it down, but what didn't change was that Artest got a lot of free throw opportunities.

The Lakers slowly approached the score. To be exact, the score between the two sides has never been stretched.

It wasn't until the last 29 seconds of the game that Durant missed a three-pointer from the outside, which allowed the Lakers to bite the score. 9o to 9o, the defending champion was dragged into a desperate situation.

At this time, many TV stations gave the number of Kobe's lore successes at the bottom of the game screen. There is no doubt that this No. 24 has a strong ability to end the game!

All An Jie can do is stick to the inside line, he can't rush forward rashly, everything depends on Sefoloza.

Sefoloza had completed a lore last season and had also prevented the opponent's lore. He stared at Kobe fiercely, without fear!

Through Odom's off-ball pick-and-roll, Kobe quickly got rid of the defense and came to the left corner. At this time, Artest made a large-scale transfer, allowing Kobe to receive the basketball.

After Kobe received the ball, there were endless boos from the entire Chesapeake Energy Arena. They hoped to interfere with the cold-blooded killer's swing in this way.

In fact, Kobe turned a deaf ear to the noise, Sefoloza was half a beat slower, and Kobe took it easy!

"No, no, no." Seeing that Kobe hadn't been disturbed too much, An Jie's heart went cold. He was so engrossed in staring at the basketball that he ignored his position.

The basketball bounced on the rim and flew high again. The second time it fell, the basketball missed. It was impossible to score the ball!

Just when An Jie was about to grab the rebound, he found that Bynum was already lying in front of him!

"Fatal mistake! Ann let Bynum grab the offensive rebound!" Mike Breen yelled badly, how could he lose a rebound at a critical moment!

Bynum proudly took off for the second time, he was finally able to feel elated and ended the game himself!

All the Thunder fans hugged their heads and fought against the defending champion for 48 minutes, but in the end they were going to lose on the inside?

Anjie rarely lost defensive rebounds, but this one of the few times was very fatal.

Seeing the time on the timer gradually decrease, seeing the basketball in Bynum's hands getting closer and closer to the basket, the suspense seems to have been killed.

"Bang!" The basketball hoop made a loud noise, and Bynum was hanging on the rim. At this time, the red light on the backboard has been turned on, and the game is over.

Everyone subconsciously looked at the score on the big screen, because it was impossible for people to see the whole process of what happened just now.

Everyone, including the players and referees on the field, was waiting for the replay on the big screen, but An Jie just gritted his teeth and walked to the bench... (To be continued.) 8