My Name is Kobe Bryant

"The Suns have won 11 games in a row? Only lost one game in 18 games?" Fisher's eyes widened. After finishing the game against the Utah Jazz, the Lakers and his team returned to Los Angeles, preparing for the last few games.

In fact, at this point in the season, most teams have given up preparing for the regular season.

Playoff-level teams, because their opponents have been determined, they will start to prepare for the first round of playoff tactics in the last week of the regular season. The current first round of the playoffs is still a 5-match 3-win system, and many top teams will overturn within 5 games.

Instead of a playoff-level team, the team's attention has shifted to next season. The players began to enjoy their holidays or contacted their next home, and the management began to prepare for the draft and the free market. They don't care too much about the outcome of the last few games, they just need to clock in and go to get off work.

And there are only two scenarios for a team struggling to get through the regular season right now.

The first is for the home court advantage of the playoffs, such as the regular season battle between the Lakers and the Bulls, and one is to harvest honor. On the other hand, in order to gain the advantage of the home game in the finals, don't underestimate the home advantage. Every slight advantage is crucial in a strong confrontation. In particular, the home field advantage does exist. Every team will always have a higher winning percentage at home than away. This is more obvious in some home games with big ball markets and fanatical fans. Los Angeles and Chicago are obviously examples.

The second is to compete for a place in the playoffs. For example, the Orlando Magic, the seventh in the Eastern Conference, has 43 wins and 35 losses, the eighth Washington Bullets have 43 wins and 36 losses, and the ninth Cleveland Cavaliers have 42 wins and 36 losses. The records of these three teams are closely tied. It is difficult to say which of the last two teams will enter the playoffs, and what will be the seventh and eighth rankings.

Hardaway, Webber, and Brandon are three stars who are desperately trying to bring the team into the playoffs.

On the one hand for honor, on the other. The monetary rewards for entering the playoffs are also amazing. Currently, the salaries of the NBA only cover the regular season, and all playoff bonuses are provided by the team owner with an additional bonus pool. The best record in the league, the first to sixth place in the division, the winner of the first round of the playoffs, the winner of the second round, the winner of the division finals, the winner of the finals and the losing team can all get a generous bonus.

Even in the first round, you can get a valuable bonus from the team owner. If you win a few more games and the team owner is happy, then naturally there will be more rewards. The richer the boss, the richer the reward. The better the player, the more bonuses he gets!

This year's bonus pool totals $6.5 million, and Bryant knew it would grow to $10 million in a few years. Although it is not much for superstars, for most players and professional players, it is very gratifying to be able to get this salary.

The performance of the Suns in March and April is really amazing. Kevin Johnson seems to have become the omnipotent explosive point guard again. The representative of this flying point guard is Westbrook screw wal. Before them, there was already a player named Kevin Johnson playing like this.

"It is said that the player of the month in April is in Kevin Johnson's bag." Campbell is also talking about gossip.

On April 9, after the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, they immediately had a day off. On April 11, the Lakers returned to the Great Western Forum Arena again. This time the Lakers knew nothing about the Suns, from Harris to Fisher. Everyone has not even watched and studied the recent Suns game videos. At present, they only know that Kevin Johnson has regained the state of competing for MVP, and he led the team to a wave of 11 consecutive victories, forcing the team into playoffs.

"What the hell, we have Kobe and Shaq!" Most of the Lakers players seemed a little indifferent, which is a common pride of the giants. After O'Neal's return, the Lakers won these few games easily. With Wang Zha in hand, the fight is simply not too pleasant. The offensive space created by Kobe and O'Neal made the role players very comfortable. No wonder these players have a sense of arrogance.

"Don't be careless." Kurt Rambis looked at the Lakers players with some worries. Now the Lakers players are very energetic, but they are indeed physically tired. At the end of a long season, the Lakers were lucky to have very few injuries. But almost all the players have played more than 70 games. In such a team full of rookies, the physical consumption of the players is very high.

Especially the game against the Jazz the day before yesterday, although they won. But every player went all out in that game, and was exhausted in the end.

Barry is only half of 90!

Curt Rambis is very worried about the state of the Lakers players.

Sure enough, the game against the Phoenix Suns fell behind from the beginning.

The Lakers' starting lineup returned to normal, Kobe, Jones, Bowen, Campbell, O'Neal.

The starting lineup of the sun is PG Jason Kidd SG Kevin Johnson SF Cedric Ceballos PF Danny Manning C Holt Rod Williams.

Danny Ainge's defensive arrangement is very similar to that of the Jazz.

Kidd defended against Kobe alone, and the effect was very good. Kidd is a rare point guard with perfect strength, speed and defensive skills. At the age of 24, he is in his prime, and his defense against Kobe is no worse than Payton.

Danny Manning resisted O'Neal inside, and Holt Williams waited for an opportunity to help defend. The two physical qualities and their excellent inside line made O'Neal a little awkward.

The same is to pinch the inside and only defend the outside line. This is already a standard way of defending the Lakers. The point of this defense is to need a player who can defend Kobe Bryant one-on-one. At the same time, the first defender on the inside can resist O'Neal's direct scoring and wait for the second inside to complete the double-team. This can minimize the offensive threat of the OK combination.

If Bryant and Eddie Jones have good hands, they can finish the offense with a lot of mid-range and long-range shots.

It's a pity that the Lakers players in this game are not in the right shape, their shots are inaccurate again and again, and O'Neal is in a deadlock by two talented men in the paint.

Harris continuously adjusted the lineup, and the appearance of Horry and Dell Curry on the bench gave the Lakers a certain vitality. The offense and defense of the two veterans are still very stable, but the Suns also have Rex Chapman, Steve Nash, Wesley Person and other giants on the bench. The substitutes of the two sides fought to a close.

Kobe forced to change his name against the sky at the beginning of the fourth quarter, scoring consecutive shots with sudden shots. Kevin Johnson backed off, and firmly maintained the lead with a score that was not inferior to Kobe's explosive power.

The final score was fixed at the Suns 114:98 Lakers.

Kevin Johnson was elected the best player of the game, 11 of 17, scored 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Kidd had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Ceballos had 21 points and seven rebounds. The three formed a trident, and under the mobilization of Danny Ainge, they directly dispersed the Lakers' defense.

Kobe had 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.

O'Neal had 26 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 5 turnovers.

The Phoenix Suns ushered in a 12-game winning streak, while the Lakers lost their tenth game of the season.