The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 318 - 176: Uncle Drew Finally Reaches a Bottleneck

Chapter 318: Chapter 176: Uncle Drew Finally Reaches a Bottleneck

Kobe scored 20 points in the second half, but the Grizzlies outscored the Lakers 46 to 38 in the second half, ultimately winning the game 104 to 96.

The Grizzlies’ victory was attributed to their formidable presence in the paint with their twin towers, as Little Gasol contributed a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Randolph added 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Hansen had an average performance, garnering 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, similar to Kobe, with his scoring mainly coming in the second half.

The fate of the game still depended on Paul. Paul had scored 18 points and 5 assists in the first half, but added only 2 points and 3 assists in the second half and committed 3 turnovers.

After Hansen started marking him in the second half, he hardly attacked, but more puzzling than his offense was his dramatic drop in performance.

After the game, as the away team, the Grizzlies attended the press conference first.

Hansen and Little Gasol both appeared.

"This is a typical Grizzly-style victory, we beat Kobe with team play in the second half," Hansen set the tone for the evening’s game.

"After you switched to guard CP3 in the second half, his performance noticeably declined. How did you do it?" a reporter asked the key question.

"I didn’t do anything, and I think your statement is flawed. CP3 is a great player; he knows he should pass the ball to the teammate who’s hottest."

Hansen’s response was perplexing, considering he had openly mocked Paul during the regular season!

However, this might be interpreted as Hansen and Paul becoming familiar only through conflict, given they were not in the same division before.

After the visiting team, it was the home team’s turn for the press conference.

Unlike the Grizzlies’ relaxed atmosphere, the Lakers’ press conference was tense due to the loss.

"They kicked our asses hard, and I played like shit," Kobe, never one to spare criticism of himself, said—you certainly wouldn’t hear such words from James.

"We need to recognize the kind of opponent we’re facing, we must discard all distractions, and focus entirely on the game; we need to do that to win," Kobe said, glancing at Paul beside him.

Paul became the center of everyone’s attention, and Kobe didn’t spare his feelings.

Two days later, the playoff series between the Lakers and the Grizzlies continued in Los Angeles.

Okafor made his comeback, strengthening the Lakers’ frontcourt.

But more intriguing was Kobe’s exceptionally serious demeanor throughout the game, wearing a stern expression the entire time.

The atmosphere in the Lakers was grim, but they clearly played much better than in Game 1.

In the final moments, the Lakers capitalized on their stronger performance to win the game 112 to 108.

The Grizzlies’ twin towers were subdued, and Hansen scored 36 points but couldn’t secure the win for his team.

Kobe scored 32 points, and the highly scrutinized Paul turned in a stat sheet of 18 points and 11 assists with only 2 turnovers for the game.

This outcome was somewhat unexpected, given Kobe’s public criticism of Paul; one might have thought Paul would have caused a major scene.

But upon reflection, it made perfect sense because the speaker was Kobe.

Those who expected Paul to create a huge scene greatly underestimated the pressure of being a well-known superstar.

It was like when troublemaker Rodman became quite subordinate after joining Jordan at the Bulls.

It wasn’t that Jordan was overly dominating; rather, he was the core of a dynasty, and at that time, no one understood better how to succeed in basketball.

Kobe’s achievements now are no less than Jordan’s status when Rodman joined the Bulls.

Thus, it wasn’t a matter of whether Paul wanted to or not, but whether he dared to.

Paul could afford to play the "I don’t want a championship without being the Finals MVP" game with Booker, but if this Lakers team made it to the Finals, would he dare to do that in front of Kobe?

Not to mention Paul, even if James were on the same team as Kobe, James wouldn’t dare pull any stunts involving the delegation of power.

Due to the broadcast time on TNT, coverage of Game 2 was delayed but it still became the focus of fan attention.

O’Neal honored a bet by wearing boxer shorts during the game, and the photographer even provided a specialized camera angle.

Unlike the time Barkley brought a donkey to kiss its rear end, the "Big Shark" fulfilling his bet didn’t involve any dilution.

This also triggered continuous laughter on the show, especially Barkley’s triumphant grin that he couldn’t hide.

Since O’Neal joined TNT, the program had continually highlighted his five championships while occasionally teasing him about not having one, giving him a hard time.

Now, with O’Neal shaving his head and stripping down to his underwear, he finally got his revenge.

Of course, the boxer shorts O’Neal chose were very loose, not revealing the shape of the little shark.

"We should predict who will win Game 3 now," Kenny Smith interjected halfway through the show.

Smith must be the happiest among The Big Three since O’Neal’s arrival, because he no longer had to make bets with Barkley and could earn the same salary without much effort, all while enjoying the entertainment.

As the saying goes, there’s no problem with enjoying a spectacle, and now he was indeed the jester among The Big Three.

"You know, I’ve always favored the Grizzlies," Barkley was the first to raise his hand and express his stance.

Then, he continued to watch O’Neal smugly.

"I also favor the Grizzlies," surprisingly, O’Neal didn’t stick to his typical stance.

The program differed from regular commentary, especially their "Deep NBA" show which aimed for realism, had only a rough outline, leaving the rest to Barkley and the others to improvise freely.