Chapter 1230: Chapter 389: As Tonight, So Every Night
The three-pointer went in, and the Lakers overtook by 4 points.
Erik Spoelstra paused the game, and the market of fate reached its peak at this moment.
"A season without an MVP won’t win the championship, and a team that wins one of the first two games of the series has a chance to beat Roger... Is this really Roger’s fate?" Even Al Michaels was saying this stuff.
Roger returned to the bench, taking a couple of sips of sports drink.
He could still hold on, but there was still half the game left.
Erik Spoelstra decided to make an adjustment: "Matt."
Matt Barnes stood up and took off his warm-up suit.
Roger glanced at him and was about to say something, but Barnes spoke first: "Don’t say anything, yesterday was my mistake."
Matt Barnes had been thinking for a long time on the bench.
His mother’s words lingered in his ears: "Treat this team that treats you like family as your family too."
Is it worth sacrificing for them, dedicating himself to them?
When Erik Spoelstra was still willing to give him a chance, he had his answer.
After saying this, he walked up to Roger, giving him an out: "Maybe you don’t need me, but I need you. Come on, lead us to victory, the Golden State Gangsters are ready!"
For the Oakland fans, it was a long pause.
They trusted Roger, but they were also a bit worried.
The Los Angeles Lakers were coming on strong, Kobe Bryant was unstoppable.
When the pause ended, as the Warriors replaced Matt Barnes, Rudy Tomjanovich heaved a sigh of relief.
Good, he welcomed Matt Barnes onto the court.
That guy had no offense, and his defense became distracted.
Unless he could make a 180° turn in his state today, the Lakers would continue to lead.
Mike Dunleavy Sr. expressed this disdain directly: "Haha, ’Mr. Can’t Shoot’ is on the court!"
Matt Barnes glanced at Mike Dunleavy Sr. but quickly regained his composure.
With energy reserves and fierce defense, Barnes made Kobe uncomfortable in the first possession, plus Tayshaun Prince’s help defense made it difficult for Kobe even to pass the ball.
When Kobe was looking for a teammate, Matt Barnes made an aggressive bump on Kobe and seized the opportunity to complete a steal.
Kobe tried to scramble for the uncontrolled ball with Barnes, but the ball was poked out of bounds by Kobe.
Matt Barnes completed a successful defense as soon as he came up and didn’t shoot those uncertain shots on offense again.
When Roger was double-teamed and passed the ball to Barnes, Barnes quickly passed it to Stoudemire who was already open and mid-range.
The latter made a steady mid-range shot, closing the gap to 2 points!
But after an excellent defense and pass, Mike Dunleavy Sr. mocked Barnes: "What? Not even daring to shoot today?"
Jeff Hornacek was furious: "That bastard is practically the Lakers’ best sixth man! Can’t we get someone to take him out!?"
The lethal 3-point shooter worried this kind of provocative shouting might cause Matt Barnes to lose himself again.
But Matt Barnes didn’t even look at Mike Dunleavy Sr., quietly retreating on defense, stepping up to bite Kobe after he crossed half-court.
This time, Kobe’s tough shot was a miss under Barnes’ close defense, and Roger, after resting for a pause plus two possessions, got past Caron Butler, pushed through Nash into the paint, and, against Ratliff’s near basket-block attempt, made a miraculous layup.
Roger was knocked down, and the referee blew the whistle.
Kobe started the counterattack with a 2+1.
Roger responded to this charge with a 2+1 of his own!
Up for the bonus, scored.
The Golden State Warriors regained the lead before halftime!
Matt Barnes ran over to Roger, offering a hand: "The King’s hound is back."
Roger gave him a high-five: "Mike is really noisy, let’s let him perish in failure!"
"I’ll follow you anytime."
In the remaining plays of the second quarter, Kobe’s efficiency was lowered because of Barnes.
Having gotten away from defense, Roger hit another long two after the 2+1, ultimately helping the Warriors enter the second half with a 3-point lead.
In the second half, Kobe still made many high-difficulty recent shots, but Roger, having been freed from the defensive end, maintained an efficiency edge over Kobe.
The rotation of Matt Barnes, Tayshaun Prince, and Jason Richardson allowed the Warriors’ tactics to be executed, keeping Kobe under pressure for 48 minutes.
The Lakers were not far behind, the gap circulating between 3-8 points.
They only needed to reach out to catch up with the Warriors ahead, but until the end of the game, the Lakers could not catch the Warriors’ coattails.
to 98, the Golden State Warriors pulled one back at home.
Roger scored 44 points, Kobe 36 points. Roger’s shooting percentage was 45%, Kobe’s was 41%.
The gap was still not large.
But just as Roger said during the sideline interview: "The real gap is in the win-loss record, second place is just second place."
On the other side, Matt Barnes also became a focus of the reporters.
He only shot twice today, making one, but excelled on the defensive end.
ESPN reporters asked him: "What made you find your rhythm again today?"
"I found my place, I treat the team as family, I will die for my family. I am a protector, and I need these guys (teammates) to help me win, so I must protect them.
I am the King’s hound, I dedicate my life and glory to the King. Tonight is like that, every night is the same."
After saying this, Matt Barnes originally wanted to leave, but suddenly remembered something and grabbed the microphone.
"Oh, one more thing," with that, Matt Barnes flipped the bird at Mike Dunleavy Sr. in front of the cameras, "I’ve never seen such a nasty and failed management person like Mike. If he holds a position in any team for more than 24 hours, that team will definitely not laugh to the last in the playoffs, let’s see!"
Even though Barnes only scored one shot today, Mike Dunleavy Sr. had nothing to say. After all, he and the Lakers lost the game, and Barnes was the key that changed it.
Watching Mike Dunleavy Sr.’s face flush with anger but unable to speak, Barnes wore an evil smile.
Satisfying, truly satisfying.
Roger was right, making the opponent struggle in defeat is the most perfect revenge in the world.
Seeing Matt Barnes give the finger, Roger covered his forehead: "Damn."
"What’s wrong?" Spo asked.
"I’ve already paid him $100,000 in fines this season, God knows how much that finger’s going to cost!"
"You know," Spo patted Roger’s back, "keeping a good hunting dog never comes cheap."
(Though late, it’s here, today’s update because it directly hit ten thousand characters.)