"Oh, shit!" Kobe couldn't help but curse under his breath. He cursed Carter's good luck and his own bad luck today.
He Xi Meng and Yao Ming immediately rushed to Carter's side, helping him up from the floor.
"Today is a good day!" He Xi Meng didn't forget to praise Carter.
Carter, flattered by He Xi Meng's praise, grinned broadly, "I have a feeling I'm going to explode in this game!"
"No need for a feeling! You're already exploding!" Yao Ming added from the side.
"Da Yao is right! You'll be the brightest star in this game!"
With high-fives and encouragement from his teammates, Carter stepped to the free-throw line and calmly sank the bonus shot, helping the Celtics score six consecutive points!
Kobe, unwilling to be outdone, turned and attempted a three-pointer from beyond the arc, but unfortunately, Kobe's three-pointer missed.
Kobe drove in, attempting a put-back, but Yao Ming, shifting over, stretched out his long arms and grabbed the ball before Kobe could touch it.
With his put-back attempt foiled, Kobe landed and shouted, "Get back on defense!"
It was clear that Kobe knew the Celtics' next offensive choice.
As soon as he landed, Yao Ming passed the ball to He Xi Meng, who had retreated. He Xi Meng, with the ball in hand, called out to Carter.
Receiving the signal, Carter immediately picked up his speed, sprinting towards the frontcourt.
The other Lakers players, alerted by Kobe, quickly retreated on defense, but they were still unable to stop Carter's charge.
He Xi Meng launched another quarterback-like, cross-court long pass, using the ball to guide the player, sending it towards the rim again.
Odom had not yet met the Kardashians at this time. While his attitude towards playing wasn't as aggressive, it also wasn't overly passive. His stamina was also quite sufficient.
This time, Odom was the fastest to retreat and the most likely Lakers player to disrupt Carter's shot.
Without Odom's interference, Carter could have easily completed a one-handed windmill dunk on this play.
But with Odom looming behind him, to prevent himself from fumbling the ball and having it blocked by Odom, Carter chose to catch the ball, hang in the air, and perform a layup to evade Odom. He then spun in the air and slammed the ball into the basket with his reverse hand!
Wow! Who would have thought that Odom's aggressive defense would force out an even more spectacular Carter!
This mid-air glide, hang time, and reverse dunk was a level higher in difficulty than a windmill dunk!
The Boston fans erupted in a roar of cheers for Carter's powerful dunk.
"That was truly spectacular, Vince!"
As Carter retreated on defense, He Xi Meng not only high-fived him but also offered his sincere praise.
Carter hadn't intended to play this explosively, but after two alley-oop connections with He Xi Meng, the half-human, half-god blood within him began to boil. Since the UFO had taken off, why would it come down?
Even though he knew He Xi Meng's intentions had a bit of mischief, Carter decided to play along. After all, the Christmas Day game had high viewership, and it was a great opportunity for Carter to gain fans and boost his popularity and influence.
On the Lakers' side, with Carter's three-pointers and dunks, he had already scored 8 points in the opening minutes, putting immense pressure on Kobe.
This forced Kobe not only to score but also to play beautifully, otherwise, the momentum would be completely suppressed by the Celtics!
Unexpectedly, in just a few minutes, Kobe experienced what He Xi Meng had said before the game: "In this game, your opponent isn't me, but Vince..."
He meant what he said! He Xi Meng was becoming more and more confident in controlling the flow of the game.
Kobe took a deep breath, adjusted his state, called for Odom's high pick-and-roll, switched onto Diaw, and used his speed to drive into the Celtics' paint. Before Yao Ming could rotate for the block, he answered with a one-handed slam!
To manage the clock, Kobe didn't dare to try anything fancy, so the dunk wasn't particularly graceful or explosive, just a relatively ordinary one-handed slam.
Without anyone else to draw the Celtics' defensive attention, this was the limit of what Kobe could do in retaliation.
This was the sorrow of leading a team as the sole star.
Without reliable help, even his retaliatory efforts felt weak.
Fortunately, Kobe never gave up. Since his teammates weren't stepping up, he would rely on himself!
Since his dunks weren't as explosive as Carter's, Kobe would compensate for the lack of explosiveness in his dunks with his elegant fadeaway jump shots.
In essence, Carter would primarily score off-ball, while Kobe would focus on scoring with the ball in his hands.
In the opening stages, Carter's two alley-oop dunks and a rare three-point play helped the Celtics gain the lead.
During the rotation, Kobe refused to leave the court. He capitalized on the absence of the Celtics' main players by using his mid-range fadeaway jump shots to tenaciously tie the game for the Lakers.
Just as Kobe completed this feat, the Celtics' core lineup had finished their rest and returned to the court!
Facing an out-of-breath Kobe, Carter showed no mercy. Receiving the ball from He Xi Meng, he unleashed a barrage of offense against Kobe.
Kobe's defensive ability and efficiency were top-tier among shooting guards. However, although Carter was known as one of the "Four Great Shooting Guards," he often played small forward.
In numerous All-Star selections, Carter was voted in as a forward, not a guard.
Therefore, Kobe held an advantage against most shooting guards in the league, but against Carter, that advantage was not significant. Especially in this game, Kobe had played from the opening tip to the middle of the second quarter without a single minute of rest, so his defensive efficiency was understandably affected...
As a result, the lead Kobe had painstakingly helped the Lakers claw back in the early second quarter was slowly given away again in the latter half of the second quarter.
At halftime, the home team, the Celtics, led the Lakers by 7 points once more.
7 points wasn't a lot; it could be overcome with a scoring run.
The problem was that Kobe had played the entire first half and was severely fatigued.
If Kobe's stamina faltered, who would sustain the Lakers' offense?
During halftime, the Zen Master, who had been comfortably seated for two quarters, couldn't sit still any longer and stood up to speak a few words in defense of Kobe.
"Hey, listen up, kids, you can't just watch Kobe work alone out there! You're a team, and you have to rely on each other... Someone needs to step up and help Kobe! The Lakers aren't just Kobe's team..."