"beep!"

The whistle blows and the game continues.

After confirmation by the team doctor, Phil Jackson has a clear understanding of Karl Malone's physical condition.

Next, it is unlikely that he will continue to play.

His forty-year-old body can no longer allow Karl Malone to play and contribute.

Otherwise, getting injured would be the best outcome.

This also means that the Lakers' advantage in the paint has disappeared.

The Knicks' inside line will have some advantages.

The most important thing is!

The Knicks' outside players can once again attack the inside and score goals!

This is definitely not a good thing for the Lakers!

Knicks offense.

After Allen Iverson came to the frontcourt with the ball, he habitually glanced inside.

Gary Payton, who was responsible for guarding Allen Iverson, breathed a sigh of relief.

He is also somewhat accustomed to Allen Iverson's style of play where he dribbles the ball into the frontcourt and then passes the basketball into the paint.

But the next second, Allen Iverson looked back.

Then he started to speed up and rushed towards the right side.

Gary Payton reacted and hurriedly chased after him to defend.

However, this experience of suddenly relaxing and tightening the nerves and body muscles again made the 35-year-old Gary Payton very uncomfortable.

He could even feel that his legs seemed to be weak.

It was because of the momentary muscle tension that his body had some emergency reactions.

Plus Allen Iverson is extremely fast.

This made it difficult for Gary Payton, who was chasing the defender, to catch up with Allen Iverson's speed.

However, Allen Iverson, who could pass Gary Payton in only two steps, suddenly stopped.

He pulled the basketball back with his right hand.

Gary Payton, who was unable to react in time, wanted to turn around and pounce back to defend.

But he found that he could no longer control his body.

"Plop." There was a sound.

He fell directly to the ground.

Allen Iverson glanced at Gary Payton, then put his hands on the ball and jumped up to shoot.

"Whoa!"

A long two-pointer scored.

The score gap was narrowed to 18 points left.

Gary Payton got up from the floor, rubbed his knees, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

It’s not okay to refuse to accept old age.

Turning heads, the Lakers attack.

After Karl Malone left the game, the Lakers' dominance in the paint no longer existed.

No matter how strong O'Neal is.

But there is Yao who is not inferior to him, plus Kurt Thomas.

There is no way the Knicks will suffer in the paint.

As for the other power forward players on the Lakers...

Although the number is large, except for Karl Malone, they can be ignored for the time being.

Not to mention Kurt Thomas, even if they have to compete with the Knicks' backup power forward, it won't work.

Medvedenko: “???Think I’m a weakling???”

Brian Cook: "Bah! If you have the ability, let me try it!"

Horace Grant: "I'm old, but I'm not dead!"

Jamal Sampson: "............"

Zach Randolph: "Huh?! You guys have a problem?!"

Medvedenko, Brian Cook, Horace Grant, Jamal Sampson: "Don't you dare..."

After losing their dominance inside, the Lakers' offense was not as smooth as before.

After Gary Payton dribbled to the frontcourt, he passed the basketball inside and handed it to O'Neal.

O'Neal faced Dayao's defense and forced his way to the basket.

However, due to Kurt Thomas' timely double-team defense, he still failed to score the basketball.

There is a switch between offense and defense.

After Allen Iverson dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, he discovered that the person responsible for defending him had changed from Gary Payton to Kobe Bryant.

After seeing this scene, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

You don't need to think about it to know why the replacement was made.

In desperation, he had to pass the basketball to Jose Calderon not far away.

Gary Payton was confused when he saw Allen Iverson pass the ball to Jose Calderon.

Allen Iverson doesn't take this kind of offensive opportunity by himself, nor does he pass the basketball inside to attack.

Instead, the basketball was passed to a rookie player?!

Do you think you are easy to bully?!

Although I am old, I am not useless!

Thinking of this, Gary Payton felt a surge of anger in his heart.

His eyes were fixed on Jose Calderon in front of him.

I vowed in my heart that I would give this rookie player a good look.

Then, after receiving the basketball, Jose Calderon only made a tentative triple-threat move.

Then he started shooting directly.

The determination to shoot was so decisive that Gary Payton had no time to react.

"Whoa!"

Scored three points.

Suddenly, Gary Payton's face didn't look good.

Allen Iverson just hit you and you couldn't guard him, so forget it.

How come a rookie player can score easily on his head?!

After feeling the eye attack from Kobe not far away, Gary Payton's face became even more gloomy.

After the Lakers relied on O'Neal to score a goal with difficulty, Allen Iverson once again passed the basketball to Jose Calderon.

This time, Gary Payton directly chose to defend closely.

He said aggressively: "Boy, if you have the ability, just try another one."

Jose Calderon felt happy when he saw Gary Payton's face.

The original task given to him by his boss was to find ways to use breakthroughs to consume Gary Payton's physical strength.

But just now, after seeing Gary Payton dazed, he unconsciously shot a three-pointer.

Now I see that Gary Payton directly chooses to step forward and defend closely.

Doesn’t this give yourself a chance to break through?!

Dribbling with his right hand and taking a step back, Jose Calderon suddenly made a move.

Dribble the ball left and right with both hands in front of you.

Dribbling with his left hand, he took two sharp steps to the left.

Gary Payton was shocked when he saw this scene.

Good guy.
To be continued...