Chapter 1202: Leading by a Large Margin at Halftime

In the second quarter, both teams played with half the main players and half the substitutes.

The inside substitutes of the Suns were Haslem and the Polish Hammer, and the outside was Hill + Carter + Li Ba, with Li Ba as the point guard.

For the Lakers, Bynum and Odom were on the field, and the outside was Artest + Kobe + Fisher.

Barkley said: "The Lakers' substitute lineup this season is very strong and has invested a lot. Compared with last season, the strength of the substitute lineups of both sides has reversed."

The Lakers attacked, the Suns switched defense, Li Ba defended in front of Kobe, and Carter defended Fisher.

Li Ba's defense made Kobe unable to do much and it was difficult to catch the ball. The Lakers' offense turned to the inside.

However, Haslem performed well, which made the Lakers' inside offense average. Bynum forced the former to make a layup, but was blocked by the former.

On the offensive end of the Suns, the Lakers also switched defense, with Artest defending Li Ba, Kobe defending Hill, and Fisher defending Carter.

Li Ba plays point guard, so he must break through, because he has no outside shooting ability, so Artest put a step on defense.

Li Ba approached the high free throw line with the ball, and suddenly turned around and made a back-to-back move against Artest.

Artest immediately reached out and hit Li Ba's waist to prevent the latter from breaking through.

But at this moment, Li Ba turned around and broke through, and his speed was too fast. He broke through Artest in one step after turning around.

Artest wanted to turn around and chase, but ran into Haslem who was making an offensive screen behind him.

Li Ba rushed into the paint area from Artest and Haslem, and encountered a double-team of Bynum and Odom.

First, Bynum came up with Haslem who was picking and rolling, trying to block Li Ba.

But Li Ba turned around the second time, broke through Bynum in one step, and then killed with the ball.

Odom was in the reasonable collision zone, and Li Ba changed direction in one step, immediately forcing the former to retreat to the reasonable collision zone, while the latter jumped to attack the basket.

Odom jumped to block the shot, but was knocked over by Li Ba in the air. As he fell under the basket, the basket on his head was smashed.

"Beep!"

The referee signaled that Odom had committed a hand foul and Li Ba was awarded an extra free throw.

Li Ba made the free throw and the Lakers attacked.

Odom singled out the Polish Hammer and made a mid-range shot.

Turning back, Li Ba entered the paint again with the ball, attracting a triple-team from Artest, Bynum and Odom.

He did not force the shot this time, as the Lakers' substitute inside line was not qualified to let him consume his energy to force the shot, but instead passed the ball to the Polish Hammer.

The Polish Hammer missed a jump shot near the basket, and Bynum grabbed the rebound, but was slapped away by Li Ba, and then Haslem grabbed the basketball.

Bynum was very angry because he lost the ball. He lacked IQ and, in an impulse, he actually swung his thick elbow at Li Ba. He took advantage of a turn and elbowed Li Ba in the back of his head.

Li Ba used the lock-on skill throughout the game. Someone was approaching him at high speed from behind. He instinctively dodged to the outside and found a big elbow brushing past his ear.

Instantly, he was furious.

Damn, I beat an adult female bull shark to pieces, and someone dared to elbow him? And elbowed him in the back of the head?

"Someone actually wanted to elbow the hammer!? This is very dangerous!" Barkley saw Bynum's move.

Not only him, but also many fans at the scene, and fans watching the game on TV and computers saw Bynum's move.

"This idiot!" Kobe saw this scene and cursed immediately.

Before Kobe finished speaking, Li Ba was furious and threw a backhand straight punch at Bynum, who was 80 centimeters away.

"Bang!"

Bynum was hit in the face without any reaction under the heavy punch. Blood splattered everywhere, and he was knocked unconscious without a sound. Then he fell straight to the floor with a bang.

"Oh!"

The whole audience exclaimed.

"Damn it!"

In New York, Stern cursed at home.

Li Ba scored three consecutive quintuple-doubles in the first round. Now the second-round match between the Suns and the Lakers is already the most popular sports event in North America. Everyone wants to see Li Ba score another quintuple-double.

This game has broken the 130 million viewership record in North America. I don't know how many people watched this game around the world. There are at least 150 million people in China alone. How could such a thing happen?

There was silence at the scene.

The Lakers fans did not make a fuss about Li Ba.

Some stars in the front row even stood up and applauded Li Ba.

Yu Jiawo wiped his mouth and said, "Elbows from behind are indeed not as fair as punches from the front. This is what the people want!"

"Puff!"

Zhang Heli and Xu Jicheng burst into laughter instantly.

Phil Jackson's head was as big as a bucket. He stayed on the sidelines, and I don't know what he was thinking.

In the private room above, Lakers owner Buss and Suns owner Sarver also looked at each other, and the two Buss boys behind them were the same.

"Jerry, you shouldn't have traded that guy in. He actually elbowed Hammer from behind. Did he want to murder Hammer?"

Sarver shouted immediately after he realized what was happening.

Old Buss looked at Sarver in surprise. Was it necessary to go to the level of murder?

At the scene, the team doctor was checking Bynum's body.

The referee had a headache. Should he send Hammer off? He didn't dare.

Sending Hammer off meant that the league would likely be forced by the rules to continue to punish Hammer and impose a suspension after the game.

But if the Hammer was suspended for this series, how much would the ratings drop? How much money would the league lose? At that time, whether it was the league's top management or all the team owners, they would probably want to eat him, so the Hammer could not be sent off.

So, he immediately made a second-degree malicious foul gesture to the unconscious Bynum, and then pointed to the outside of the court.

"..."

Seeing the referee's gesture, everyone in the audience was stunned.

The referee then made a penalty, and the Suns made two free throws and one throw.

"That's how it should be." Stern was satisfied, he was very satisfied with this referee.

On the sidelines, Phil Jackson spread his hands, but he didn't want to say much.

In this league, he has seen too much. He once saw Jordan chasing Reggie Miller all over the court, and finally Reggie Miller was punched in the face and sent off, and Jordan, who hit him, was fine.

The difference is that Jordan was his player at that time, and now his player was knocked unconscious by the hammer.

There was still a huge booing at the scene, but it couldn't change the referee's decision.

Next, Bynum was carried down and sent directly to the hospital, and then the Lakers replaced Gasol and the game continued.

Although Gasol was strong in offense, his defense was weak. Facing Li Ba's impact on the basket, he and Odom's teamwork could not stop it, and the Lakers' inside line was blown up by Li Ba's breakthrough.

Li Ba mainly attacked Gasol to cause damage.

After the second quarter, Li Ba made 6 of 7 shots and 4 of 6 free throws, scoring 16 points.

60:45, the Suns led by 15 points at halftime.

This score was beyond the expectations of all media.

Everyone thought that the Lakers were stronger, but after halftime, the Lakers fell behind by a large margin.