Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 641 - 219: A New Round of High-Stakes Gambling, Two Era-Defining Players (Yesterday’s Birthday Break)_3

It was a moment when Curry faced Kobe's defense, dribbled continuously, stepped back, and hit a three-pointer.

On the court, Kobe, who was shot by Curry right in front of him, gave a resigned smile and patted Curry's backside as he prepared to turn around for defense. (As shown in the picture) 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Although considering Qin Yue's long-standing contentious relationship with Kobe, Curry's expression remained very calm.

But in reality, Curry, recognized by Kobe, was overjoyed inside.

"That's Kobe Bryant! The only one who has long been able to rival the Messiah in the NBA!"

Curry later said in an interview: "When he patted my butt, I felt like I might die any moment from excitement."

Trailing by a big score of 1 to 2, if the Lakers want to keep their hopes alive for advancing, they must win their upcoming fourth game against the Warriors.

Two days later, the good news for the Lakers was that during this period, Curry indeed needed more time to grow.

But the bad news was...

With Curry silent, the Warriors still had Steve Nash.

In the game, noticing the old rival Lakers used very clever double-team positions and timing, Qin Yue didn't take any reckless action but chose to pass the ball to Nash, and through Nash's threading the needle, showcased a textbook off-ball offense at Staples Center.

On this night when Kobe was extraordinarily valiant, scoring a total of 45 points for the Lakers against tight defense from Wallace, Qin Yue's scoring method was on a different difficulty level, which determined the final direction of the game.

In the fourth quarter, as Kobe's stamina inevitably hit its limit...

Qin Yue was still able to run all over the court...

As the buzzer alarm rang for the final quarter, the final score of this fourth game was solidified at 126 to 118.

The Warriors, unexpected losers of the first game, won three consecutive games afterward and successfully secured the match point of this series in the Western Conference Semifinals.

After the fourth game, Brown, unexpectedly becoming the variable control for the Warriors, even took the initiative to take on the task of carrying bags for Curry and other young players.

"Kwame, there's no need for that, at least you're a merit for this team." On the evening of boarding the plane with teammates to return to Oakland, Qin Yue said to Brown, half-crying and half-laughing.

Upon hearing this, thinking Qin Yue implies reproaching him for acting self-important in ordinary times, Brown shook his head repeatedly and said: "In this series, since I contributed little on the court, at least off the court, I have to serve you all attentively."

In the fifth game, at Oracle Arena, the Warriors didn't give the Lakers any chance of an upset.

From start to finish, they maintained control over the court.

On the court, as the game reached its final moments, Kobe stood calmly in his own half and patiently waited for Qin Yue to exhaust the remaining time of the game for the Warriors.

End of the game, 110 to 124.

After the game, Kobe walked up to Qin Yue and said calmly: "Congratulations to you and your team for advancing to the Western Conference Finals once again."

"Thank you." Qin Yue said. "You guys played great too."

As the loser, Kobe's reaction to losing in this Western Conference Semifinals was far more composed than Qin Yue imagined.

This once made Qin Yue mistakenly believe he had completely subdued the always defiant Black Mamba.

So the question arises, could Kobe be truly subdued by Qin Yue?

The answer is certainly negative.

Only after this series where Kobe's best efforts couldn't reverse the Lakers' fortunes...

Kobe, more aware than anyone else of the gap between the Lakers and the Warriors, accepted the defeat calmly while preparing to make a comeback in the following year.

And in the stands, Lakers' General Manager Mitch Kupchek, who witnessed the entire Western Conference Semifinals, was also very aware...

If they want to compete for the championship, the Lakers have to reinforce their guards and forwards.

"Now, we have to take our chips to the poker table for a new round of gambling."

After the fifth game, Kupchek thought to himself.

...

PS: Done, yesterday was my birthday, Ah Qiao also took a big break, another short and powerless update!