The first game between the two sides was held at the SuperSonics home court.

As soon as the game started, Kobe gave Yang Jian a death glare, indicating that I am going to fight you in this game.

However, Yang Jian did not take the call. George Karl arranged for him to defend small forward Devin George, leaving the task of defending Kobe to Bruce Bowen.

The reason for this arrangement is because the Lakers' lineup is not complete. The original starting small forward Rick Fox was injured in the first round and will rest for at least 6-8 weeks and will be reimbursed for the playoffs.

George is a small forward with a height of 203cm and a weight of 100kg. He has strong strength and good elasticity, but his speed is a little lacking. Yang Jian can easily defend him, and that's it. If George can't break through, it will be difficult for him to play his role.

The catch-and-shoot shooting percentage is not high.

George can get stable playing time with the Lakers, mainly because "Zen Master" Phil Jackson is optimistic about his defense.

Seeing that Yang Jian was not playing against him, Kobe was not happy. Is this looking down on him, the second shooting guard in the league?

Kobe decided to beat Bowen first, and then when Yang Jian was forced to defend him, he defeated Yang Jian and led the team to win.

Dreams are beautiful, but reality is very skinny. Faced with Bowen's interference, Kobe's jumper hit hard, allowing Yang Jian to grab a lot of backcourt rebounds.

O'Neal has an absolute advantage when he singles out Brad Miller in the low post, but rarely receives passes while posting up.

"Zen Master" Jackson had to call a timeout to adjust and forced Kobe to pass the ball to O'Neal. However, the Sonics have blossomed under the leadership of Yang Jian, leading by 14 points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Yang Jian did not rest, and partnered with Billups, Jim Jackson, Boozer, and Kemp. At this time, he began to defend Kobe. Kobe suddenly became more energetic and forgot about passing the ball to O'Neal.

One-on-one fight against the sound of iron.

Even if Kobe couldn't make a shot, he still dared to make another shot, confident that he could make the shot next time.

If Yang Jian can play pick-and-roll, he will not challenge one-on-one. He will try his best to create misplaced offensive opportunities and constantly attack O'Neal. Whoever O'Neal is guarding will be pulled out to play pick-and-roll with Yang Jian, or provide off-ball coverage.

He fought like this, and he alone made the OK team uncomfortable.

When Kobe encounters a screen, he has to chase after him desperately, which consumes a lot of energy on the defensive end. O'Neal also has to help defend. Yang Jian is too fast. If Kobe is slower, Yang Jian may be able to escape with his speed.

In the second half, the Lakers unknowingly fell behind by more than 30 points in the final quarter, and the game entered garbage time.

The Lakers have nothing to do with Yang Jian's "snake-in-the-sand" roll call tactic. The main tactic of the Lakers is OK combination duel, the triangle offense known to the whole league, just guard against them and it's done.

Kobe will also help the Sonics defend O'Neal. With the SuperSonics' better offense, it is not difficult to win.

At the end of the game, 117 to 82, the SuperSonics won by 35 points and got off to a good start.

Kobe played 41 minutes, making 16 of 38 shots, 3 of 7 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 37 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 turnovers.

Yang Jian played 40 minutes, making 13 of 18 shots, 5 of 8 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, scoring 38 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals, with only 1 turnover.

People who read the statistics were surprised. Yang Jian took 20 fewer shots than Kobe, but still scored 1 more point, and had a triple-double. Kobe basically took off the passing button, and the coach said nothing.

O'Neal played 39 minutes, making 14 of 20 shots, 4 of 6 free throws, and scored 32 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks, including 7 offensive rebounds. He also made 5 turnovers and 6 fouls, and was severely beaten in the final quarter.

Yang Jian was sent off.

When I met Yang Jian at Star Weekend, O'Neal stopped talking to him.

Only those who are evenly matched can cherish each other, and at least they have to fight back and forth. Yang Jian won every time he faced the Lakers in the playoffs, and was O'Neal's biggest sufferer... Where did their friendship come from? These are enemies!

O'Neal thought so. Yang Jian had no choice. He couldn't have deliberately let the Lakers win in order to save face for the other party.

Only the OK combination of the Lakers team scored in double figures, and everyone else was completely guarded. In this case, it would be too difficult for them to win.

The situation in the second game between the two sides was similar, and Kobe gave another blacksmithing performance.

He made 9 of 24 shots, 2 of 6 three-pointers, 7 of 10 free throws, and scored 27 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 turnovers, and 4 fouls.

Pass? What is that? Put your damn position away, I'm going to have a simple pick with Young.

The result of the one-on-one was not pretty, Kobe lost again. And he once again helped the Sonics defend O'Neal. Brad Miller and Kemp should give Kobe a pennant.

O'Neal made 10 of 14 shots, 7 of 11 free throws, and scored 27 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.

The SuperSonics easily won 124-95, leading the game with a total score of 2-0.

After the game, OK and OK team complained to each other at the press conference, stealing Yang Jian's limelight. People didn't care that Yang Jian had 30 triple-doubles in two consecutive games. How could he get a triple-double as rare as the two Lakers stars?

Kobe Bryant is desperate to seize the position of Lakers boss. He may know that he can't beat the Sonics, but he just wants to take more shots than O'Neal out of anger.

O'Neal was almost going crazy and said he had never seen such a selfish person.

No matter how good the opportunity is at the basket, he can only wait. Many of his points are scored by grabbing offensive rebounds. When playing with Kobe, the only thing he can do is pass the ball to him. Kobe no longer passes the ball to the inside.

A reporter interviewed Jackson Jackson and asked him to evaluate the team's situation.

Jackson chose to remain silent, saying that he had nothing to say. He no longer planned to continue coaching the Lakers and believed that it was impossible for this team to win the championship. He planned to write some inside stories about the Lakers into a book for fans to find in the book.

The answer is, this way he can still make a fortune selling books.

In Jackson's mind, Kobe is not as good as Jordan, and he is even more incomparable to Yang Jian, not even a little bit worse.

Putting aside physical fitness and basketball skills, Kobe and Yang were completely defeated mentally.

Yang Jian is recognized as a genius. Many people think that if he didn't like sports and playing too much, he could be successful in business or even do scientific research. Kobe can only play basketball, and he still plays one-on-one.

He doesn't cooperate well with his teammates.

The core players of the Lakers are in internal strife, and the outcome of the series can be imagined.

The Lakers returned to their home court and were still in disarray. The SuperSonics won two more games and swept 4-0 to advance.

Kobe finally scored one more point than Yang Jian in Game 3. He made 10 of 23 shots, 2 of 4 three-pointers, 17 of 19 free throws, and scored 39 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

However, the SuperSonics' main defender against Kobe was Bruce Bowen. After Bowen came off the court, Yang Jian was the one to defend him. Kobe's shooting percentage was not high, and he could not inspire his teammates.

In this series, Robert Horry and Derek Fisher are all blacksmiths. In a parallel world, they have proven that they have a big heart, but now the Lakers have no key shots for them to shoot.

The Lakers' lineup is no longer deep this season, and it is no accident that they only finished fifth in the Western Conference.

Veteran Brian Shaw can no longer run, and backup power forward Medvedenko is a softie. Mark Madsen, nicknamed "Mad Dog", is a pure blue-collar guy with no offensive ability. Janello Pago and Karim Ra

Wha...who knows what they do?

The Lakers lose games every year, which has formed a vicious cycle. In the free market, capable veterans and young players who are willing to take a salary cut in pursuit of a championship will not choose to join the Lakers. That is not a favor, it is seeking abuse. Mark before

-Jackson is an example.

Yang Jian is the kind of guy who has golden legs. In the third game, he once again scored a triple-double, with 26 points, 14 rebounds, 15 assists and 2 steals. When his teammates' hands were hot, he would not finish his shots.

Throughout the series, Yang Jian only made a few more shots in the last game and did not reach double figures in assists. His averages per game were 34.5 points, 11 rebounds, 12.5 assists and 3 steals, with a shooting percentage of 63.4% and a three-point shooting percentage of 51.6%.

In the series, Kobe scored 32.3 points, 5 rebounds and 3.7 assists with a shooting percentage of 40.3%. His scoring efficiency is not worth mentioning.
Chapter completed!