Chapter 96

As the overturned Fox explained how he was flipped over, Yang Mo walked to the side, cheering and encouraging his teammates, "Guys, the Lakers are nothing special. Look, even that big guy was flipped over, right? Tonight, we will definitely take the victory again. Do you have the confidence?"

Yang Mo suddenly became so excited and started motivating them, but his teammates were a bit taken aback. In their minds, Allen never liked to talk much on the court. Whenever the team had problems, he would silently shoulder the burden and seek victory in his own way. However, this method was not accepted by the other teammates because Allen Iverson's style was to play solo, not pass the ball, and he trusted himself more than any teammate.

"Guys, cheer up, let's take the victory together." Seeing that they didn't react, Yang Mo immediately placed his hand in the center, and Mutombo and the others finally reacted, quickly stacking their hands on top.

"One, two, three, victory!"

The five players shouted in unison, stirring up all their passion. They loved this sense of unity. At this moment, they didn't care if their leader was acting strange; they just wanted to win.

After the team doctor finished stopping the bleeding for Fox, he immediately took him off the court to the hospital for a check-up. Fox told the doctor that he was in pain everywhere and asked if he could stay.

Fox was taken off the court, and the Lakers immediately replaced him with Robert Horry, a cold-blooded three-point shooter, but he was just a three-point shooter. This was good news for the 76ers.

The game continued.

However, when they returned to the half-court, Yang Mo deliberately switched defensive assignments with Aaron McKie, making McKie defend Fisher while he took on Kobe Bryant himself. This left McKie very confused. In his view, Allen Iverson's defense was very poor, almost like a sieve. That's why he, a defensive specialist, became the 76ers' starting guard, used by Larry Brown to cover for Iverson.

Now, Iverson actually proposed to defend the opponent's strongest offensive player. Wasn't this just playing around?

He had some objections, but considering that Iverson was the leader, he agreed. However, his attention was entirely focused on this, knowing that if they lost points, the strict Larry Brown wouldn't forgive him.

Yang Mo followed Kobe Bryant, feeling a bit excited. After all, this was his first time facing the top scoring guard of the post-Jordan era. But he quickly suppressed this excitement. He knew very well what his purpose was today. And he didn't know what would happen if he didn't complete his task; he might end up as Allen Iverson forever, and that was uncertain.

"Kobe, guess how many personal honors I've won this year?" Yang Mo said with a smile while following Kobe Bryant's movements. "All-Star Game, regular season MVP, steals leader, scoring leader, and now I've led my team to the Finals alone. Remember, alone!"

"What are you bragging about?" Kobe Bryant stopped running and said with a very bad attitude.

"I'm bragging that I'm the team leader, and you? You're always the little brother under Shaq O'Neal." Yang Mo directly provoked him. To win, you had to use any means necessary. Since everyone knew that Kobe Bryant and Shaq O'Neal had a rift, why not stir it up?

Kobe Bryant was deeply hurt by Iverson's provocation. He couldn't help but envy Iverson, but he also knew he couldn't show this negative emotion to the opponent. So, he replied with a grim face, "Shaq and I are good brothers. Don't use such despicable words to drive a wedge between us."

As soon as he said that, O'Neal forced his way through Mutombo in the paint and dunked, scoring.

Instantly, the entire arena erupted in cheers, and the DJ dragged out O'Neal's name in a long shout.

At this moment, the Staples Center seemed to turn into a personal concert for the rock star Shaq O'Neal, with all the fans as his supporters. He walked arrogantly, drawing more cheers from the fans. This was O'Neal's signature move after a dunk, always stirring up the crowd.

Kobe Bryant watched, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

At this moment, Yang Mo took the opportunity to lean in and whisper, "Look, that's Shaq's magic. Let's face it, he's the master of the Staples Center!"

"Shut up!" Kobe Bryant glared at Yang Mo and quickly ran to Fisher, exchanging a few words with him. Then Yang Mo noticed that Fisher's expression was troubled.

Clearly, even a toe could guess that Kobe was asking Fisher for the ball. As the Lakers' point guard, Fisher had to serve both leaders, but there was only one ball, making it very difficult!

Back in the half-court, Aaron McKie brought the ball to just outside the three-point line and quickly passed it to Yang Mo, then stood to the side, waiting for a pass after a drive, just like before.

However, Yang Mo gestured to him, signaling him to run.

McKie was surprised. What was Allen doing? Was he going to pass the ball?

Despite his surprise, McKie quickly followed Yang Mo's instructions and started running. As soon as McKie started running, Yang Mo quickly broke through, not using the usual dribble moves to find space but directly plowing through.

Fisher, seeing Yang Mo charging at him, was surprised, wondering if he was going to draw a foul. But as soon as he made contact with Yang Mo's body, he immediately understood, but he was already pushed to the side.

Yang Mo directly pushed Fisher aside and charged into the paint. As he approached the free-throw line, Kobe Bryant quickly came over to help defend. Yang Mo quickly passed the ball with a bounce pass to Aaron McKie, who was running from the side.

When McKie received the ball, he had a clear path ahead. He adjusted slightly and shot... swish!

The ball went in!

After scoring, McKie didn't celebrate but looked at Yang Mo in surprise. He couldn't believe that Iverson had passed the ball to him. What was the leader doing today? According to his usual habits, he should have taken the shot himself.

McKie didn't expect this, and neither did the sitting Larry Brown. He stared at the court in a daze, then turned to the assistant coach after a while and asked, "Was that Allen passing to McKie?"

"Yes, sir. It was a very subtle bounce pass. From the way Allen directed McKie to run, it was a premeditated assist."

"A premeditated assist?" Larry Brown was stunned, then his face lit up, and he slapped his head. "Iverson has finally figured it out! He's finally learned how to play point guard, and he finally knows how to lead a team!"

Larry Brown was overjoyed. This was even more exciting for him than the team winning!

...

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends