Swish!
The ball left his hand. Two-pointer.
Kobe's pull-up jumper was a work of art, the basketball swishing cleanly through the net.
The only flaw in that possession was that Kobe's toe had stepped slightly on the line, turning what would have been a three-pointer into a two-pointer.
But it did not matter.
Kobe's forceful offense instantly ignited Staples Center, and the Lakers players' fighting spirit quickly surged.
That was the pressure of the Black Mamba.
"Kobe is about to take over the game. Keep a closer eye on him."
Coach D'Antoni also gave a reminder from the sidelines.
The Knicks suddenly tightened their defense on Kobe as well.
But how could ordinary defense possibly limit him?
Put Su Yan on him?
That would have been a good solution, but the Lakers were smart too.
While letting Kobe attack, they also did everything possible to avoid having Kobe face Su Yan.
It was not the first time the two had faced off.
More than two seasons of matchups had made Kobe understand that, in one-on-one situations, Su Yan was the only player in the entire league capable of stopping him by himself.
Despite Kobe's competitive personality,
he definitely still wanted to challenge Su Yan, score on him, even destroy him.
But the more mature Kobe knew that was not what he wanted now.
Even if he failed to score a single point on Su Yan, even if Su Yan destroyed him, it did not matter.
As long as the team could win, as long as he could ultimately raise the O'Brien Trophy,
then everything would be worth it.
So while Kobe appeared to be taking the ball and attacking forcefully on his own initiative, he was actually accepting his teammates' help behind the scenes and avoiding Su Yan when attacking.