CP3's Magic Touch Sparks His Teammates!

Lakers?

The Lakers were absolutely a boss-level title contender this year.

Their overall strength was no weaker than any of the Thunder, Heat, or Knicks.

They had brought in Paul last year, then White Superman Griffin this year.

That gave them two All-Star starter-caliber players, on top of Kobe, Artest, and Bynum already on the Lakers.

This was a bona fide five-star lineup.

When this group played together, inside scoring, outside shooting, talent, power offense, and more—

Every elite offensive and defensive quality one could imagine in basketball

Could be found on this one team.

There was no need to explain just how strong the Lakers were.

It was only natural that they were the boss team of the Western Conference.

You could say the Thunder were strong, but you absolutely could not deny how formidable the Lakers were.

At present, the Thunder had already been defeated by the Knicks, so the team with the best chance of beating the Knicks immediately became the Lakers.

As it happened, two days later, the Knicks would travel to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers on the road.

Knicks vs. Lakers.

This was undoubtedly another Finals-preview-level showdown, and fans had been looking forward to it for a long time.

Under the eyes of countless spectators, the matchup arrived as scheduled.

The Lakers' starting lineup was point guard Paul, shooting guard Kobe, small forward Artest, power forward Griffin, and center Bynum.

It was an exceptionally complete and powerful lineup.

The Knicks' starting lineup remained unchanged.

Point guard Curry, shooting guard Tony Allen, small forward Su Yan, power forward George, and center Chandler.

At 8 p.m., the showdown began.

Smack!

Little Shaq Bynum displayed his talent, tipping the ball away before Chandler could reach it and winning the Lakers the first possession of the game.