No Surprises! And There Couldn't Be Any More!

"We're done! It's over!"

The moment the ball ripped through the net, Lakers fans fell into despair too.

"Beep! Beep!"

Coach Phil Jackson had no choice but to call a timeout.

There were only 13.4 seconds left, and they were down by a full five points. How could they come back? How could they win?!

Phil Jackson was completely rattled.

Kobe stayed silent, his face dark.

Paul's body trembled slightly too. It was an involuntary tremor, born of fear that he might lose the championship.

In their first year playing together, he and Kobe had made it to the NBA Finals.

That was an impressive achievement.

But now they were already in the Finals, and the championship was within reach.

To fall here—

To lose just like this—he really couldn't accept it!

Of course he couldn't accept it.

Phil Jackson fought to steady his heartbeat and keep himself from falling apart, then immediately tried to reassure his players:

"Guys, we still have a chance. We still have a chance. First, get a quick three, then double-team them full court and force the Knicks into a turnover. That'll give us an opening.

"If that doesn't work,

"then foul them and send them to the free-throw line. We'll bet they miss, and we'll still have a chance.

"Because...

"On offense, Kobe will make the shot. We have a player who's unstoppable on offense.

"We're going to win this game.

"We'll take the Finals to Game 6 and bring the series back to our home court.

"Come on, come on, come on!

"I believe you can do it!"

The coach did everything he could to fire up his players.

At this moment... tactics didn't matter anymore. What mattered was belief, and confidence.

"Yeah."

Kobe nodded silently.

He knew the situation was extremely difficult,