Chapter 120 Zheng Yang and Kobe's scoring feast
On December 2006, 12, the Knicks faced the Western Conference Lakers in the regular season. Zheng Yang and Kobe, the two players who ranked top two in the season's scoring average, staged an ultimate offensive battle.

This game is the Knicks visiting Staples Center to play against the Lakers.

The Lakers currently have a record of 13 wins and 6 losses, which is not a bad record and is a steady improvement compared to previous seasons.

However, after losing O'Neal, the team has not been able to show the strength to compete for the championship. In addition, the management has always made a lot of noise but little results in recruiting players every year, which has made the star player Kobe begin to feel dissatisfied.

According to the original history, after the end of this season, he will have an extremely intense conflict with the management, directly forcing the management to apply for a trade.

Of course, originally the Lakers management had no intention of trading Kobe, as he was the spark of their team's revival. But after a tape of Kobe privately scolding Lakers owner Buss was leaked, Buss was very angry and immediately said he would put Kobe on the trading shelf.

It was just that the subsequent transactions were not negotiated, and both sides gradually calmed down, and finally Kobe chose to continue to stay with the Lakers. The management later traded for Gasol, making him a powerful assistant to Kobe.

Of course, these are all things that happened later. Let’s first take a look at the current starting lineup of the Lakers!

Kobe, Odom, Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker!

Many people may not know that Kwame Brown was once a teammate of Kobe for a period of time. In the summer of 05, the Lakers management traded the team's two main players Butler and Atkins for the bust No. pick Kwame Brown.

It seemed that they were planning to scratch Kwame Brown's ticket again, which had already been scratched out with "...patronage".

But in the end, no miracle happened, and what was finally scraped out was “Thank you for your patronage”!
This guy was later added to the offer list in exchange for Gasol, and then he wandered around.

Just by looking at this starting lineup, it can be seen that this Lakers team is at best a team on the edge of the playoffs. It is simply impossible for them to win the championship!

The game started quickly, Eddy Curry passed the basketball and helped the team get the first offensive opportunity. The Lakers knew that the Knicks liked to play fast break counterattacks, so they fell into the formation quickly.

In the Knicks' first offensive round, the ball was still given to Zheng Yang. The person defending him was Luke Walton, a rookie born in 03 and the same year as Zheng Yang.

Of course, this second-round pick cannot compare with Zheng Yang in terms of strength or fame. If the host hadn’t reminded him, not many people would know that the two were rookies in the same year.

Kobe Bryant, who was standing aside, had a look of desire in his eyes, and it was obvious that he wanted to defend Zheng Yang himself. Regardless of the fact that the Zen Master did not give him this task, he had to stay aside for the time being.

Zheng Yang had some impression of this white forward. He should have seen him and played against him, but Zheng Yang really couldn't remember his defensive characteristics.

Therefore, in the first offensive round, Zheng Yang did not do anything fancy. He simply took advantage of the opponent's unstable position and accelerated to break through to the right.

Luke Walton is a player with a very positive defensive attitude. However, due to his limited physical talent, his defensive ability is very average. When facing small forwards, his speed cannot keep up, and when facing power forwards, his strength cannot match them.

It feels a bit fishy!
In this round, his weakness was exposed again. Facing Zheng Yang, a young player with extremely explosive physical fitness, he could only watch him pass by him and he could do nothing.

Luke Walton: I can't protect anything...

After passing Luke Walton, Odom and Kwame Brown surrounded Zheng Yang, ready to capture him, but the latter used a nimble European step to freeze the two in place, then easily scored with his left hand.

Zheng Yang's Eurostep is neither as large-scale as Ginobili's nor as fast as Wade's.

He is like an agile elf. Sometimes his European step is not that fast, but the players defending him are often frozen by him, as if he has cast a spell to freeze them.

Zheng Yang's fans even gave this move of his a special name, "Freezing Step". Although it doesn't sound very high-sounding, the fact that this technical move of his was given a special name is enough to show how impressed the fans were with this move.

When Zheng Yang scored, Kobe couldn't wait to ask his teammates for the ball. He also wanted to show off his arsenal.

Fighting against strong opponents is what Kobe likes to do most. The two of them are currently ranked top two in the scoring list, so he wants to see in this game which of them has better scoring ability.

Kobe, who got the ball, started his one-on-one against Crawford. Crawford looked at the opponent's excited eyes, and for some reason, he felt a little scared.

No buddy, why are you looking at me like that?

I'm just a role player, do you want to beat me into hero pieces?

Kobe's attack was also extremely fast. He changed direction and rushed to the right, then stopped and jumped at the free throw line. The basketball flew out from his fingertips. Zheng Yang's defense was ineffective. The basketball drew a perfect arc in the air and fell accurately into the basket.

2-2 draw!
After the OK combination broke up, Kobe has never been able to prove his ability to lead a team. He didn't make the playoffs in the first year, was eliminated in the first round last season, and would have been eliminated in the first round this season in the original history. The other member of the OK combination has now won his fourth championship ring.

However, although Kobe has not yet proven his ability to lead a team, no one has ever doubted his personal ability.

Last season, he averaged 35.4 points per game and won the scoring title with an absolute crushing momentum. This season, he can still maintain the level of 31+. As long as he does not get injured later, 30+ will definitely be no problem.

At the same time, he was selected to the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star starter in the past two seasons. It can be said that in terms of personal strength, he has fully demonstrated the strength of a super giant these days.

So with his abilities, it shouldn't be a big problem for him to beat Crawford.

Hey, seeing Kobe return a goal, Zheng Yang became more motivated. Last season, these players were going back and forth on the scoring list, and Zheng Yang was itching to catch up.

It’s a pity that due to team factors at that time, Zheng Yang couldn’t compete with them. Since they meet today, he will compete with Kobe to see who has better scoring ability.

In terms of scoring, Zheng Yang now doesn’t think he will lose to anyone!
So Zheng Yang continued to ask for the ball in the next round and played against Luke Walton alone!

……

Larry Brown on the sidelines noticed Zheng Yang's abnormality soon after. Although Zheng Yang usually has a strong desire to score, he rarely "solos" like he did today.

Normally, he often uses his breakthrough ability to create opportunities for his teammates.

Larry Brown, who has coached in the league for many years, saw through Zheng Yang's thoughts at once, but he did not want to interfere with his thoughts.

This is just an ordinary regular season game. As the boss of the team, since he wants to flex his muscles in this game, let him do it!
It doesn’t matter whether he wins or loses, just let him play happily!
This is a reward for him!
Besides, the kid is actually only 21 years old, so it's normal for him to be a little bit aggressive. If he really has no aggressiveness at all, Larry Brown would really have to suspect whether this guy lied about his age. Otherwise, how could he be so mature?

The Zen Master on the opposite side did not interfere too much. Of course, his ideas were completely different from Larry Brown's.

In his opinion, it is good for the Lakers to let Zheng Yang compete with Kobe in scoring ability, because in terms of team strength alone, it is obvious that the current Knicks are above the Lakers.

If the opponent plays as reasonably as before, it will be difficult for them to win this game.

On the contrary, in the current situation, if Zheng Yang and Kobe decide the direction of the game, their chances of winning will be greater.

He is well aware of the scoring ability of his beloved disciple!
It’s not that easy to defeat him!
When the game changed from team basketball to Zheng Yang and Kobe taking turns to show off their arsenals, the game became a visual feast for the fans on the scene!
Kobe and Zheng Yang's playing styles are both quite good looking, elegant and chic, making people feel very involved when watching them.

Spectators get bored of watching regular NBA games, but now it’s a novel experience to see two players taking turns playing one-on-one!

Of course, what they hope more is that the two can face off. If the two face off and then continue to play singles, the game will definitely be more exciting!

Well, it's not just the fans who think so. Crawford of the Knicks and Luke Walton of the Lakers both think so.

God knows how devastated they both are right now!

They both came to the NBA to be players, not to be dungeons for others to clear. Can those two guys please show a little respect to them?

Can't you see that they are all about to turn into hero fragments? Can't they just fight with someone else?
If you keep bullying people like this, they won’t fight you anymore!
……

"This is a special game, with two players who are in the top two in scoring per game this season, trying their best to score!

Facing an opponent who was also good at scoring, Zheng Yang and Kobe had no intention of giving up. They changed their previous playing style and turned this 5V5 game into a two-person singles match.

I have to say that the audience who can watch today's game are extremely lucky, because one of these two players is the scoring champion in the 04-05 season and the youngest scoring champion in NBA history.

The other was last season's scoring champion, averaging 35.4 points per game and also holding the second place in the NBA's single-game scoring record.

It is indeed a blessing to see the two of them put on a scoring feast. "

In the CCTV studio, host Yu Jia was explaining to the fans in a serious tone, and coach Zhang nodded beside him.

The head-to-head confrontation that the fans had been looking forward to for a long time did not occur. Halfway through the second quarter, Zheng Yang faced Kobe!
(End of this chapter)