Life as NBA Rookie (SlamDunk System)-Chapter 190: If He Can Score 50, I Can Score 60!

Chapter 190: Chapter 190: If He Can Score 50, I Can Score 60!

Losing the first game wasn’t a disaster in Phil Jackson’s eyes.

In fact, that loss had at least unified the defending champions’ mindset.

Sure, the Warriors’ offense looked unstoppable in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. But to Jackson, most of their scoring still came from shooting. In other words, if the Lakers could keep up their defensive intensity, the Warriors were bound to have off nights.

Jackson knew that to win, the Lakers had to capitalize on those moments when the Warriors’ shots weren’t falling and relentlessly attack their weak link at the point guard position.

So, two days later, on the advice of his coaching staff, Jackson shook up the Lakers’ starting lineup. They moved Shane Battier into the starting five and slid Kobe Bryant to point guard.

This new Lakers lineup was tall. More importantly, with Battier and Lamar Odom setting screens, Kobe was guaranteed plenty of chances to isolate Steve Nash one-on-one.

"Kobe," Jackson said before the game, pulling him aside, "if they double-team you, I need you to move the ball quickly. We can’t beat this Warriors team with hero ball."

Kobe nodded. "I got it, Phil."

If the younger "No. 8 Kobe" was the toughest player Jackson ever had to coach, the current "No. 24 Kobe" was a leader he could trust.

Jackson also noticed that Pau Gasol struggled to make an offensive impact against Zack. So, on assistant coach Brian Shaw’s suggestion, they redesigned low-post pick-and-roll plays for the Gasol brothers. Well, "redesigned" might be generous—it was basically a copy of Spain’s national team playbook.

After Game 1, Jackson had a clearer read on the Warriors’ so-called "second-best center in history." Since Zack was too tough to attack directly, the Lakers’ strategy shifted to having Pau Gasol go after the Warriors’ other big, "Wang Jialie."

At Oracle Arena, the Lakers’ lineup change paid off right from the tip-off. To cover for Nash, Rasheed Wallace and Trevor Bell had to keep stepping out of their defensive zones, leaving one wing vulnerable and forcing help from the Warriors’ bigs.

The Lakers focused their attack on the side guarded by Brown. Marc Gasol’s massive frame dominated that night. In one play, while trying to fight through a screen to stick with Zack, Marc cleverly realized he could use a hip-check pick to slow him down. So, to give Pau a clean look at Brown and pull Brown to the Lakers’ attacking side, Marc turned himself into a moving brick wall.

On the court, Brown couldn’t swap onto Marc every possession, even with Zack’s help. It was a night where Brown was destined to be tested.

The question was: could the "second-best center in history" pass that test?

In one Lakers possession, Kobe drew a double-team on the right side and quickly swung the ball to Odom, who relayed it to Pau in the low post. Without moving his pivot foot, Pau used a slick rhythm to fake out Brown, then spun the other way for an easy, smooth layup.

For the first time since Zack became a defensive juggernaut, Pau was having fun against the Warriors.

The next possession? Same story. Except this time, Pau, dancing like he was in a tango, faked Brown out twice before casually dropping the ball through the hoop.

Zack didn’t want to admit it, but Pau was clearly enjoying toying with Brown. From the fans’ perspective, it sure looked that way.

The star-studded Lakers, by hammering Nash and Brown, noticeably sharpened their offense. Meanwhile, the Warriors—who couldn’t be red-hot every night—were forced to lean on Zack to take over in the first quarter alone.

Oh, and late in the first? Zack got a taste of Shane Battier’s increasingly infamous "hand-in-face" defense. Zack still drained a silky pull-up jumper over the Lakers’ defense, but let’s be clear: Battier’s tactic deserved to be outlawed.

Why did the NBA later ban this kind of hand-in-face defense? Because in a league with no moral floor, "hand-in-face" could easily become "finger-in-eye." Without a ban, some clumsy defender was bound to turn an opponent into a blind monk one day.

End of the first quarter at Oracle: 36-31, Lakers.

That single-quarter lead gave the defending champs the confidence to bounce back from Game 1 and believe they could win the series.

That confidence shone through in Monta Ellis, who led the Lakers’ bench during the rotation phase. Ellis always got extra hyped against the Warriors, and in this game, he went 4-for-5, scoring 12 points, including free throws.

The Warriors’ second unit lacked rim protection, and their backup point guard, Jack, wasn’t equipped to handle a speedster like Ellis. That’s why, in Game 1, Karl Malone followed Zack’s advice to go blow-for-blow with the Lakers’ bench to survive that stretch.

But tonight, with Kyle Lowry hounding Stephen Curry, the Warriors’ sharpshooter couldn’t replicate his Game 1 magic. By the end of the game, the Lakers had firmly seized control.

Final score: 121-116.

Despite a late rally sparked by Zack and the Warriors’ shooters in the fourth, the Lakers’ lead from the first three quarters held strong, and they stole a win at Oracle.

"Even if he wasn’t injured last year, we still would’ve won the title," Ellis said postgame, firing back at Zack’s Game 1 comments. "Kobe’s the greatest player on the planet!"

In the Warriors’ locker room, Brown, Wallace, Bell, and Curry braced for Zack to rip into them for their subpar play. But to their shock, Zack strolled in laughing and chatting with Coach Malone.

"Why’s everyone looking so down?" Zack asked, genuinely confused. "It’s just one loss. No big deal."

Brown, knowing Zack’s ultra-competitive nature, was stunned. "Why aren’t you pissed?"

"Why should I be?" Zack shot back.

"Because we played like crap," Brown said.

"Everyone has off nights," Zack shrugged. "Even me."

Before the series started, Zack had mentally prepared for a tough fight. He knew this stacked Lakers team wasn’t an easy out. Instead of dwelling on the loss, he was focused on how the Warriors would counter the Lakers’ adjustments when the series shifted to Staples Center for Game 3.

Still, Brown grabbed Zack’s arm. "Just chew me out, man. It’ll make me feel better."

Curry, Wallace, and the others nodded in agreement, like they needed a tongue-lashing to feel normal.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Y’all are pathetic. Get outta here and let me and Mike figure out how to beat these guys!"

"Much better," Brown said with a grin as he and the others left, practically skipping. "Nothing like a little tough love to lift the spirits!"

To counter the Lakers’ Game 2 adjustments, Zack and Malone agreed that while the Warriors had shown a higher ceiling than the Lakers in the first two games, the randomness of basketball meant they needed to raise their floor to avoid another loss.

"For Game 3, I’m going all-out from the jump," Zack told Malone. "Mike, we need to rethink our approach."

Malone nodded. "What’s the plan?"

Zack laid out his vision, and Malone, instantly on the same wavelength, started crafting a new game plan in his head.

Two days later, Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals tipped off at Staples Center. The Warriors’ starting five shocked everyone—fans and experts alike: Zack, Troy Murphy, Harrison Barnes, Rasheed Wallace, and Stephen Curry.

The Warriors had swapped out three starters, benching two-time MVP Steve Nash.

"Are they saving Nash to lead the second unit?" Lakers assistant Brian Shaw wondered, puzzled. "But why change the other two spots?"

On the court, after the tip-off, Curry brought the ball up and handed it to Murphy at the top of the key to run the offense. With Curry’s movement and screens from Barnes and Wallace, the Lakers’ defense got stretched, giving Zack a one-on-one matchup on the left side.

He didn’t waste it.

Blowing past Odom with a burst of speed, Zack soared to the rim for a layup. 2-0.

The Lakers answered. Kobe, doubled on the wing, passed to Odom, who found Pau inside. Facing Murphy’s defense, Pau hit a smooth hook shot. 2-2.

At first glance, the Warriors’ new lineup didn’t seem to change much. But Phil Jackson, with his championship pedigree, wasn’t fooled. Watching Zack dominate early, he realized: the lack of change was the biggest change.

"That guy," Jackson said with a knowing look, "might be the least teammate-dependent superstar since the game was invented."

Jackson knew that with a lineup built to unleash Zack, the Warriors didn’t have to worry about generating quality offense while Zack was fresh. Plus, saving Nash for the second unit gave them a powerhouse bench.

And while Zack wouldn’t admit it, staggering his minutes with Nash avoided wasting their overlapping playmaking. Even without Nash, Zack could orchestrate the offense single-handedly. Curry, who thrived off-ball and could create his own shot, was the better backcourt fit for Zack.

In one Warriors possession, Curry drifted toward Zack for a handoff, only to accidentally draw a double-team onto him. Unlike, say, a less savvy player, Curry’s shooting gravity meant that when the Lakers focused on Zack, he could pop free, catch Zack’s pass, and drill an open three with ease.

Swish.

The "Staples Curse" that haunted Curry in another timeline? It didn’t matter here. No dim lighting could stop a shot that wide open.

The Lakers had to respect Curry’s range, which gave Zack more one-on-one chances to torment Odom—who was getting beaten and humiliated in front of his then-fiancée, Khloé Kardashian, a courtside standout.

Zack, using a hesitation move, tricked Odom, then blew by him, finishing with an and-one over Marc Gasol that the refs couldn’t ignore.

As Khloé cheered, Zack couldn’t help but wonder why Odom was so hung up on one person when he had MVP chants raining down at Staples. But Zack, uninterested in Odom’s personal life, kept that thought to himself.

Swish. Zack hit the free throw, pushing his first-quarter total into double digits.

Next possession, Zack isolated Odom again. TNT’s Charles Barkley chimed in: "Lamar’s having a tragic night."

To save Odom from total destruction, Kobe doubled Zack—only for Zack to whip a pass to Rasheed Wallace, who cut to the rim for an easy dunk.

Unlike players who need teammates to bail them out of doubles, Zack’s height and vision let him pick apart defenses with direct passes to open teammates. It was an advantage baked into his unique physical gifts.

End of the first: 35-34, Warriors. Zack’s 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists nearly single-handedly kept the Warriors in control.

As the second unit came in, Jackson looked at the Warriors’ bench—Brown, McRoberts, Hill, Bell, and Nash—and felt like cursing. The Lakers, who usually relied on Ellis to torch opposing benches, were now the ones getting outmuscled by the Warriors’ depth.

Brown, despite being outplayed by both Gasols in the prior games, was still an elite rim-protecting big. His presence noticeably slowed Ellis’s reckless drives. After grabbing a rebound and setting up Nash for a fast-break score, Brown pounded his chest and roared, "I’m freakin’ unstoppable!"

Whether Brown was actually unstoppable, Zack didn’t know. But what he did know was that Nash’s playmaking gave him nearly seven minutes of rest in the second quarter—seven minutes that spelled doom for the Lakers.

A fully rested Zack was a nightmare. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Halftime: 70-59, Warriors.

If Zack’s first-half dominance set the Warriors’ floor, their sharpshooters finding their rhythm in the second half sealed the deal. Even a god-mode Kobe couldn’t save the Lakers.

This was the kind of game that reminded Jackson: Zack had surpassed even Michael Jordan.

"Give Zack and MJ the same supporting cast," Jackson thought, "and Zack’s the one walking away with the trophy."

Unlike Jordan, who needed Pippen, Zack turned everyone around him into a Pippen. His teammates just had to do their jobs, follow his lead, and rack up wins.

Final score: 125-112.

Led by Zack, the Warriors stormed Staples Center and reclaimed home-court advantage.

Postgame, when asked about Ellis’s Game 2 comments, Zack said, "Everyone’s got a right to their opinion."

He had no interest in convincing a diehard Kobe fan like Ellis that he was better than Bryant. But when he heard Ellis’s latest claim—that Kobe would drop 50 in Game 4 to lead the Lakers to victory—Zack just smirked.

"If Kobe’s going for 50," he said, "I’ll put up 60 right in his face."

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