Chapter 397 Wolverine, I'm done!
At this time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar analyzed: "Obviously, the Knicks had no fast break opportunity this time because Yao had already returned to defense.

However, the Wolverine is too strong, and Yao is not a first-class defensive center. In a one-on-one match, he can easily beat Yao.

This style of play is very disadvantageous to the Lakers, because the Lakers have no way to get both inside players to return to defense in time during the offense-defense transition.

Moreover, this style of play is very disadvantageous to Yao's physical energy distribution, which requires him to return to defense with all his strength during every offense-defense transition.

Even if he returns to the basket from outside the three-point line, the distance is not short, and he can't return to defense so quickly in every round of the game."

Barkley asked, "Kareem, do you think Wolverine did this on purpose?"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "From the two games of Game 1 and Game 2, the Wolverines attacked the basket, which was also intentionally depleting Yao's energy."

Barkley and Kenny Smith nodded at the same time.

At this time, He Zhongqiu made the free throw, 10:5, the Lakers attacked.

Fisher took the ball to the left wing, and Battier in the high position immediately moved to the left wing.

Odom made a pick-and-roll to block Battier, and Fisher took the opportunity to break through, bypassing Josh Howard and rushing into the penalty area.

When Yao Ming saw this, he immediately cut to the basket, just like He Zhongqiu's previous cut, and formed a coordinated breakthrough with Fisher.

But at this moment, Kobe ran from the right wing to the top of the arc and reached out to Fisher.

The moment Fisher passed the ball, He Zhongqiu in the penalty area reacted and turned around and rushed to the high position.

Kobe received the ball and saw the aggressive Wolverine. Although there was a small open space, he thought of Wolverine's terrifying blocking ability, so he did not force a shot, but passed the ball again.

He casually threw the ball to Yao Min who entered the penalty area.

Yao Min received the ball, turned around, took a step forward, and dunked over Mourning under the basket with great momentum.

"boom!"

Although Mourning jumped up to block the shot, he failed to block the ball and was dunked hard. He was also knocked to the ground and fell heavily on the floor.

He Zhongqiu had already passed the free throw line when Kobe passed the ball. He was too late to turn around and could only watch Yao Ming dunk over Mourning.

"Clap clap clap..."

There was warm applause at the Staples Center.

"Oh no, Mo Ning didn't get up."

At this moment, Zhang Heli shouted from the sidelines.

"Alonzo?"

He Zhongqiu wanted to pull up Mo Ning, but found something was wrong. Mo Ning was sitting on the floor, covering his left knee with a painful look on his face.

"Wolverine, my knee hurts so bad..."

Mo Ning shouted at He Zhongqiu somewhat desperately.

"Joseph, hurry up!"

He Zhongqiu turned around and shouted to the team doctor Joseph Murphy who was already standing on the sidelines.

Zhang Heli was disappointed and said to the CCTV camera: "Veterans like Mourning have advantages and are cheap, but they also have disadvantages. They all have old injuries and no one knows when they will explode.

The Knicks are in some trouble now, with no one available in the interior. Hopefully they can get through this.”

An unexpected injury occurred and the game was suspended.

Barkley was surprised and asked: "With Alonso injured, will the finals favor the Lakers?
"If Mourning can't play, the only inside substitutes for the Knicks are rookie Millsap and marginal inside player Michael Ruffin. There is another inside substitute on the injury list, but he is also a marginal player." Kenny Smith said immediately.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "Mourning's injury is indeed good for the Lakers. However, I am afraid it will activate the strongest Wolverine."

"The strongest Wolverine?" Barkley and Kenny Smith were stunned.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nodded and said, “Although Wolverine scored 57 and 54 points in the first two games, everyone knows that this is not his offensive limit.

Once he loses his helper, Mourning, he will definitely burst into his strongest state. The Lakers will have a chance, but it will also be very dangerous. "

At this time, Mourning was carried away on a stretcher, and the preliminary physical examination results showed that his left knee ligament was torn.

Mourning's left knee ligament has been torn before. This is an old injury. If it is confirmed, he will definitely not be able to play in the finals. Even given Mourning's advanced age, I am afraid he will have to retire and will not have a chance to come back.

The team has been hit by injuries again, and with no one to replace the inside players, the Knicks' morale has dropped a bit.

On the sidelines, David Lee and Crawford, dressed in suits, could only smile bitterly. If the two of them could play, Mourning would not be so important. Unfortunately, they couldn't play.

Rick Carlisle was also a little anxious. As the coach of a three-time championship dynasty, he had no one to use, so he couldn't help but be anxious.

He sent Millsap on to focus on defense and rebounding, as well as to provide screens for He Zhongqiu on the offensive end.

"Wolverine, you have to stand up." After the substitution, he shouted to He Zhongqiu.

"Don't worry, guys. Everything will go on as normal. I can play 48 minutes without any problem. If there's anything you can't solve, just pass the ball in."

He Zhongqiu nodded, without any anxious or nervous look on his face. He just called four teammates to his side and said some encouraging words to stabilize the morale.

Mourning's injury dealt a heavy blow to the Knicks' morale, but it inspired the Lakers. Morale suddenly rose sharply, and fans were looking forward to the finals again.

"Wolverine, you can't blame me for this, it's God's will!"

In addition, David Stern in front of the TV laughed.

James Dolan at the scene seemed to be in a bad mood, covering his face and looking very sad, but in fact he was acting, the corners of his mouth were raised, and he was laughing secretly.

After all, they have won three consecutive championships, and his desire for the championship is not that strong anymore. Now he just hopes that Wolverine will stay instead of retiring after five consecutive championships.

The game restarted, 10:7, Knicks attack.

He Zhongqiu still does not plan to use mid-range shots, because Yao Ming's mid-range and long-range shooting ability is better than his, and with Kobe, the best shooting guard in active service and a superb scoring ability, he cannot beat the Lakers using mid-range shots.

We must get into the basket and play the highest quality offense to beat the Lakers.

In the past, he increased his mid-range shooting because of his physical fitness, in order to make his shots more explosive. Now his physical fitness is enough to support his low-post offensive consumption. He began to enter the basket to take a position, and Yao Min and Kwame Brown immediately double-teamed him in advance, ignoring Millsap, who currently has a poor mid-range shooting.

On the outside, Nash moved to the left wing again and didn't go to Kobe's side.

He first got rid of Fisher in Josh Howard's pick-and-roll, then bypassed Odom and quickly rushed into the penalty area.

Moreover, he chose to break through along the baseline, not going through the left elbow area, giving Kobe no chance to defend him.

When he reached the left side of the penalty area, Yao Ming, who was closer to him, could only come over to defend. In this way, through his breakthrough in the penalty area, Wolverine under the basket got a one-on-one opportunity, which was the biggest purpose of his breakthrough.

"Pass the ball!"

Zhang Heli on the sidelines shouted loudly.

As he spoke, Nash threw the ball high up, over Yao Ming's head and into the basket behind him.

The next moment, He Zhongqiu soared into the air.

"boom!"

With the heavy sound of the ball hitting the basket, the referee's whistle sounded.

"Ugh!"

Countless Lakers fans couldn't help but sigh when they saw this scene.

The referee ran over and first made a gesture for a valid two points, then pointed at Kwame Brown and made a gesture for pulling the player, calling a defensive foul and awarding an extra free throw.

Barkley said, “Now Yao and Kwame Brown each have one foul.”

Kenny Smith said: "The Son of Wind played a very good pass strategy, which attracted the defense for the Wolverines and broke the Lakers' double-team strategy under the basket."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "It seems that Wolverine is very confident in his physical strength and still insists on the most physically demanding attack under the basket."

Barkley said: "It's not necessarily confidence, but the situation. If he doesn't play in the basket, he will definitely not be able to beat the Lakers with mid-range shots."

Jabbar nodded, his expression relaxing a little.

Kenny Smith said: "In fact, the Wolverines' mid-range shooting is very strong, with a hit rate of over 50%, which is higher than Yao's mid-range shooting rate.

But he doesn't have a three-point shot, while Yao has a very good three-point shot, so the Wolverines can't compare their mid-range and long-range shooting abilities with Yao, he doesn't have that big of an advantage.

Plus, Kobe can definitely crush Nash. Once the Wolverines can't play enough advantages on the offensive end, the Knicks will lose, so he must play a higher quality attack under the basket. "

"brush!"

He Zhongqiu made the free throw, making it two plus one for the second time.

13:7, Lakers attack.

Rick Carlisle didn’t change up his defensive strategy, it was business as usual.

When playing against the Lakers, the Knicks' basic defensive strategy is to rely on the defense of He Zhongqiu and Mourning, and to guard the restricted area tightly, allowing Kobe and Yao Min to score outside, but not to attack in the restricted area.

Now Mourning is injured, but Millsap's defense is still good, so he doesn't plan to change the defensive strategy.

Rick Carlisle also didn't plan to let He Zhongqiu go out to defend. Even if Yao Min exploded Battier from outside, he didn't need to go out to defend.

Because if He Zhongqiu is allowed to defend, Kobe will get the opportunity to break through, and it will inevitably consume more of He Zhongqiu's physical energy. It is better to defend the restricted area and focus more on the offensive end.

Yao Ming received the ball at the top of the arc and faced Battier's defense. He calmly made a fadeaway jump shot, hitting his second goal of the game and also his second three-pointer.

"Beautiful! Yao Ming made 4 of 3 shots and scored 8 points, and he made 3 of 2 three-pointers." Xu Jicheng said excitedly in the CCTV live studio.

"Yao Yao only made one mid-range shot out of four shots today. Maybe he's afraid that Zhongqiu will come up to cover him?" Yang Jian guessed.

Sun Zhenping said: "His long two-point shot from the high post is actually not as good as a three-point shot from the top of the arc, which is just one step further."

Xu Jicheng nodded and said, "The defensive intensity he faces on the three-point line is actually lower. The closer he is to the penalty area, the greater the defensive intensity. With Zhongqiu's moving speed, the possibility of him making up for him is very high."

13:10, Knicks attack.

He Zhongqiu attracted a double-team at the basket in advance, and Millsap received a pass from Nash at the right waist position. When he was about to shoot two points, Kwame Brown rushed over to block it.

"Bang!"

"boom!"

The ball went off target, and the moment it bounced out, He Zhongqiu soared into the sky, held the basketball with his right hand and smashed it into the basket, completing a tip-in.

"Ugh!"

Yao Ming sighed and also jumped up to grab the rebound, but He Zhongqiu was nearly two feet taller than him. What a damn talent, it was a bit bullying!

15:10, Lakers attack.

Seeing that He Zhongqiu and Millsap were still defending in the penalty area, Kobe knew it would be difficult to break through.

When he broke out to the outside of the right waist position, he encountered Battier's help defense, and then saw Wolverine from the left waist position to the free throw line, which was Yao who was preparing to defend the top of the arc, so he immediately passed the ball to Odom who cut into the penalty area from the right wing.

It was an overhead pass. He suddenly jumped up and threw the ball with both hands, and the basketball flew over Battier's head in front of him.

At the moment when Kobe passed the ball, He Zhongqiu, who already had top-notch nerve reaction speed, responded in time, took a step forward under the free throw line and caught the ball with both hands.

"Shet!"

When Kobe saw it, he cursed inwardly and turned around and ran away.

"Oh, Wolverine made a high-altitude interception." Barkley shouted excitedly.

"He jumped at least one meter high, but it was very easy for him," Jabbar said with great envy.

If he had such a good jumping ability, he wouldn't need to practice the sky hook at all. He could just rely on his talent to beat all opponents under the basket.

(End of this chapter)