Chapter 38

At the start of the second quarter, both teams continued to focus on defense. However, the Lakers still maintained a lead of around 5 points. The Lakers’ interior play weakened after Andrew Bynum and Paul Gasol left the court, and Greg Monroe and Chris Wilcox of the Pistons combined to pose a significant threat to the Lakers’ interior defense.

But Shannon Brown, who replaced Kobe on the court, seemed to be on steroids as he exploded off the bench, otherwise the Pistons would have closed the gap long ago. With 6 minutes left in the second quarter, Pistons head coach John Kuester grew anxious, as the score gap had widened to 8 points—all thanks to that Lakers substitute, Shannon Brown.

At that moment, the Lakers made a lineup change, so Pistons head coach John Kuester also adjusted his team. The current lineups were: Lakers – Paul Gasol, rookie Derrick Caracter, Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher; Pistons – Ben Wallace, Greg Monroe, Tashawn Prince, Tracy McGrady, and Zhou Yi.

There’s a well-known saying in the NBA: “He who controls the interior controls the game.” It’s no wonder Lakers owner Jerry Bays invests so much money in strengthening their interior defense. Take Paul Gasol for example—without him, it would be quite difficult for the Lakers to win back-to-back championships, especially relying solely on Kobe.

At that moment, Paul Gasol was dominating the Pistons’ interior. Driven by him, the Lakers’ entire offense seemed to revive, leaving the Pistons helpless. In no time, the Lakers expanded their lead to double digits.

But just as the gap widened to 10 points, Zhou Yi reduced it to single digits by forcefully attacking Derek Fisher, as a response to Paul Gasol’s dominance in their own interior.

Chapter 152: Facing Off Against Kobe (Part 1)

“Clang!” Another miss. Greg Monroe happily grabbed the rebound from the backcourt and passed it to Zhou Yi.

Through his confrontation with Derek Fisher, Zhou Yi realized that although Derek Fisher was strong, his speed and agility were far from what they used to be, especially his ability to follow up and his stamina had serious issues. Zhou Yi believed that breaking through Derek Fisher now wouldn’t be difficult at all. Seeing Zhou Yi about to dart past him again for a layup, Derek Fisher became displeased and grabbed Zhou Yi, using a foul to prevent him from scoring easily—showing some awareness. But then he realized he couldn’t keep using fouls to restrict him!

At that moment, Kobe stepped up to Derek Fisher and whispered, “Leave that Chinese kid to me!” Hearing this, Derek Fisher nodded in agreement.

The Pistons inbounded the ball, and as soon as Zhou Yi caught it, Kobe rushed toward him. Zhou Yi was surprised—was Kobe guarding him directly? But he remained calm; facing the best player in the league made him extremely excited, and his fighting spirit reached its peak.

However, as a rookie—and only 18 years old—Zhou Yi was still a bit nervous facing Kobe, the best player in the league. His dribbling under his arm wasn’t as smooth as before, and with Kobe’s vast experience, he swiftly snatched the ball away.

After stealing the ball, Kobe drove straight to the Pistons’ basket, dunking with both hands while also forcing a foul on Paul Gasol.

It was a brilliant play, made possible by his clever coordination with Zhou Yi.

Commentating on today’s game were Yao Ming’s mentor Jeff Van Gundy and Reggie Miller. Since it was a nationally televised match, both provided professional commentary. To the Pistons’ players’ delight, the team’s owner Bill Davidson and general manager Joe Dumars were also in attendance to watch the game. Thus, when McGrady completed that dunk, everyone on the Pistons’ team, including owner Bill Davidson and general manager Joe Dumars, was extremely excited. If even the team’s owner and general manager were so thrilled, one can only imagine the enthusiasm of the home crowd. The Pistons’ home fans were shouting McGrady’s name loudly, cheering for their team. “T-MAC…” was one of the most common calls from the fans, along with “Zhou.” Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, known as “The Zen Master,” showed little reaction when Pau Gasol was called for another foul, merely frowning slightly but not substituting him out. Pau Gasol had only received two fouls so far, so Phil Jackson wasn’t in a hurry to replace him. “If Lamar wasn’t injured, this game wouldn’t be so tough,” “The Zen Master” murmured to himself. McGrady took the free throw and made it, including the extra shot. Even with all his starters on the court, Phil Jackson sat there indifferently, seemingly unfazed—never showing any signs of panic. Of course, if the referee kept calling fouls on the Lakers’ big men, he would get angry. When “The Zen Master” wasn’t angry, he was fine; but when he was, he was quite intimidating. The Lakers still led by 7 points, so he naturally had the leisure to sit there, chewing gum calmly while watching the game. Kobe controlled the ball, with McGrady closely following, constantly using subtle tactics to disrupt him. But these attempts didn’t cause Kobe to make mistakes. With a behind-the-back dribble and a quick pull to the left, he jumped and shot. With a swish, the basketball smoothly dropped into the basket.

In the next wave of attacks, the Pistons failed to score. Paul Gasol grabbed a rebound in the backcourt and passed it to Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher drove the ball across half-court and, seeing Kobe make an upward gesture, quickly threw the ball toward the top right corner of the basket. However, the pass was a bit too far, and Kobe didn’t catch it easily. Still, he managed to complete the alley-oop in mid-air. Due to the poor coordination, it wasn’t a dunk but just a simple alley-oop layup. Yet, despite being simple, it was extremely difficult. After completing the layup, Kobe lost his balance due to the difficulty of the coordination and fell from mid-air. Fortunately, Kobe had a strong sense of self-protection and wasn’t injured.

At that moment, Zhou Yi was the closest to Kobe, so he quickly stepped forward and reached out to pull Kobe up. Kobe looked at Zhou Yi’s outstretched hand, paused for a moment, then smiled and reached out for Zhou Yi to help him up.

“Thanks,” Kobe said to Zhou Yi with a smile.

“Heh, it’s okay,” Zhou Yi replied.

Zhou Yi still had a significant speed advantage, even over Kobe. Having maintained a calm mindset, he wasn’t as nervous around Kobe as before. With consecutive dribbles under his hip followed by a crossover, he managed to get ahead of Kobe. Seeing Kobe get bypassed, Derek Fisher immediately came over to help defend Zhou Yi. Facing Derek Fisher charging at him, Zhou Yi wasn’t in a hurry. He casually passed the ball behind him to McGrady, who was further away. McGrady caught the ball and hit a smooth jump shot, scoring 2 points.

Seeing Zhou Yi bypass Kobe and complete such a brilliant play with McGrady, especially that effortless and clever behind-the-back pass, the crowd erupted in cheers once again.

“Zhou’s passing is getting better and better,” Reggie Miller said with a smile to Jeff Van Gundy beside him.

“Yes, although I haven’t watched Zhou’s games in person, I’ve seen quite a few of his videos. His performance is more mature than at the start of the season,” Jeff Van Gundy replied.

Chapter 153: Facing Kobe (Part 2)

Watching the situation on the court gradually change, Zhou Yi also sensed some problems with the Lakers’ defense. For example, in that recent play, although Kobe tried his best to defend, he stopped chasing after falling behind by half a body length, and when Derek Fisher came to help defend him, there was no one left to cover McGrady. Leading by 9 points had made the Lakers’ players a bit complacent. There might be another reason as well—Lakers’ fatigue, considering these were back-to-back games, all on the road. So their poor defense could also be attributed to this.

However, despite some complacency in defense, the Lakers’ offense remained sharp. Kobe caught the ball at the high post, broke past McGrady, and faced Zhou Yi’s help defense. With a feint, he turned and took a backspin jump shot—“swish”—another perfect shot.

“Not bad defense!” After that shot, Kobe smiled at Zhou Yi and said.

Zhou Yi had indeed defended well in that play; McGrady couldn’t stop Kobe at all. As soon as Kobe broke through, Zhou Yi immediately stepped in to help. Although he defended well and timed his block well, Kobe’s backspin jump shot was simply too powerful, so Zhou Yi couldn’t stop it.

“I still couldn’t stop it, right?” Zhou Yi replied dejectedly.

Watching Kobe’s smooth and stylish backspin jump shot, honestly, Zhou Yi couldn’t find any flaws in his form—Kobe’s backspin jump shot was textbook-level.

Kobe smiled faintly and said, “If you could stop my backspin jump shot, I wouldn’t need to be in the league. Hehe…”

Zhou Yi could only nod. Indeed, the current Kobe wasn’t the same as before. Just like “The God of Basketball” Michael Jordan, who relied heavily on backspin jump shots in the later stages of his career. Although Kobe was still at the peak of his career, to extend his professional career, he had to take care of his body, so the backspin jump shot became his most frequent move. And Kobe had mastered this skill to perfection—comparable even to Jordan back in the day. (Hehe, just my personal opinion—please don’t criticize, fellow readers.)

“This rookie is quite good, with great potential for development,” Phil Jackson, sitting on the Lakers’ bench, suddenly said to himself while looking at Zhou Yi.

His words surprised the assistant coach beside him, as “The Zen Master” Phil Jackson wasn’t one to praise people casually—every player he had praised had since become a star in the league.
“Which rookie?” the assistant coach asked Phil Jackson curiously.
“That one,” Phil Jackson replied, pointing at Zhou Yi.
Now, the Pistons’ leadership recognized Zhou Yi’s talent. Even the Pistons’ owner, Bill Davidson, mentioned at a major meeting that Zhou Yi would be a key focus for the team’s development, even suggesting he should be turned into an absolute core player. However, the owners and executives hadn’t made such a decision yet; they were still observing how much potential Zhou Yi had. But Zhou Yi would soon hear some good news that would benefit him greatly—though that’s for later.
It wasn’t without reason that the Pistons were betting heavily on Zhou Yi. At least for now, it seemed he was improving in every game, showing significant progress after each match. This growth exceeded even the Pistons’ highest expectations. If he continued to develop like this, he might become a league legend in just two seasons.
Admittedly, Zhou Yi’s progress was related to the development opportunities the Pistons provided, as well as his good friends like McGrady and Bynum, who shared their experience and skills with him. Coupled with his natural basketball talent, this explained his rapid growth. Of course, the dream deep in Zhou Yi’s heart was the key to his rapid development, and LeBron James’ challenges also played a role in his improvement. In short, Zhou Yi’s progress wasn’t sudden—it was inevitable.
With 3 minutes left in the first half, the Lakers replaced rookie Derrick Carakot with starting center Andrew Bynum.
Samuel Dalembert’s jump shots left Andrew Bynum defenseless. As Dalembert’s form improved, Zhou Yi was happy to pass the ball to him for attacks.
Seeing the Pistons gradually closing the score gap, the Lakers were a bit worried. But in critical moments, they could trust their team leader, Kobe, to take over—after all, Kobe hadn’t yet lost his temper!

When Kobe stepped over James Posey’s defense in one move, Zhou Yi immediately stepped in to cover. Now, Kobe saw that this kid Zhou Yi actually had the look of a tough defender—although he didn’t use any tricks (Zhou Yi hadn’t learned them nor had anyone taught him), his moves were clean, yet his defensive intensity was very high. Despite his slender build, he possessed great strength. After periods of intense training, Zhou Yi’s strength had improved significantly, and combined with his defensive skills, most people wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

Zhou Yi had agile feet and high speed, making it somewhat difficult for Kobe to play one-on-one against him. But this didn’t deter Kobe, who was one of the most aggressive offensive players in the league. Kobe faced Zhou Yi back-to-back, pushed him a couple of times, then suddenly turned around and unleashed his signature backspin jump shot. However, under Zhou Yi’s tight defense, Kobe’s shot missed, and Zhou Yi felt a sense of satisfaction.

Yet, Paul Gasol grabbed the rebound and scored on the second chance. Fortunately, Samuel Dalembert also responded with a jump shot inside the paint. On the Lakers’ offensive end, Kobe drove from the left wing, using Andrew Bynum’s screen to break free from Zhou Yi’s defense and make his way into the paint. Faced with Samuel Dalembert’s defense inside, Kobe didn’t back down—he simply shook him off and attempted a beautiful layup. Unfortunately, the layup missed, and Samuel Dalembert secured the rebound.

Kobe looked at the basket gloomily, made a shooting gesture, then shook his head.

Chapter 154: Half-Time Ends

Zhou Yi grabbed the ball again and broke through from the middle, but Kobe’s close defense gave him a hard time. Zhou Yi passed the ball to Teyshawn Prince. “The Beast” Ron Artest kept a close eye on Teyshawn Prince, who drove down the court with the ball, but Ron Artest intercepted it.

At that moment, Kobe was at the top of the key. Seeing Ron Artest steal the ball, he rushed like lightning toward the Pistons’ half-court. Realizing Kobe was already heading forward, Ron Artest quickly threw the ball, which landed perfectly in Kobe’s hands.

But Kobe wasn’t careless at all, as Zhou Yi was not far behind him. Kobe sped up and, by the time he reached the basket, Zhou Yi had already lunged at him. Seeing Zhou Yi about to block his layup, Kobe skillfully switched hands, bringing the ball to his left hand, and scored with a direct layup using his left hand. However, Kobe lost his balance due to Zhou Yi’s impact and fell to the floor, with Zhou Yi also collapsing on top of him.
The referee immediately blew the whistle, calling Zhou Yi’s move a foul. Zhou Yi quickly got up, helped Kobe to his feet, and carefully asked, “Kobe, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Kobe replied with a smile.
“But that move really scared me a bit. Luckily, I have a strong sense of self-protection; otherwise, I might have been sent off right away.”
“Hehe, my apologies!” Zhou Yi replied with a sheepish smile.
Kobe smiled, said nothing more, and prepared to take free throws.
Kobe made both free throws, including the extra one.