Like the All-Stars of his era, Arenas loved going head-to-head in those fiery "duels," those "superstar plays," and he could always lift his team's spirits with his own outstanding offense.
But the Lakers had two players like that.
After Arenas turned to celebrate, Kobe immediately answered with a three-pointer over the defense.
That left Arenas and the Wizards feeling utterly helpless.
They had finally caught a glimpse of hope, only to have it snuffed out in an instant.
And that wasn't all...
Besides knocking down difficult three-pointers, Zhou Ze was also "helping the tiger do harm," using Kobe-style Assists to grab offensive rebounds and score on putbacks.
It was worth noting that in recent games, Zhou Ze had been getting more and more Kobe-style Assists.
Jamison was guarding Zhou Ze for the Wizards.
The Wizards' center, Brendan Haywood, couldn't keep up with Zhou Ze's speed or footwork. Zhou Ze could get open just by running around, so there was no way they could put Haywood on him.
Kobe took a crossover step, then suddenly lowered his body and accelerated, getting past the 201-centimeter-tall Jarvis Hayes in one step. He ran into the help defense, gathered the ball, and took a Euro step, but Haywood disrupted his shot under the basket, and it missed.
Zhou Ze was ready outside the three-point line. Facing Jamison, who was guarding him, he first feinted to the left. The moment he saw Jamison shift his weight, Zhou Ze immediately lunged to the right. Zhou Ze wasn't especially explosive, but he was strong enough that as long as his opponent lost his balance, he could power past him. Bursting past Jamison, Zhou Ze got to Kobe's missed shot first, grabbed the rebound, and scored on the putback.
40–51!
With 7:19 left in the second