Su Xi indulged Kobe's obsession.
He went one-on-one with Kobe in the third quarter.
Kobe's offensive skill was on a higher level; that was an indisputable fact.
However, the gap between them wasn't enormous.
Kobe was very focused on passing, so his scoring in the third quarter didn't surpass Su Xi's.
In fact, after the third quarter, Su Xi had 24 points, while Kobe's total was only 22.
Su Xi was up by 2 points.
The Knicks also maintained their lead. Although Su Xi had increased the frequency of his one-on-one plays in the third quarter, he wasn't playing the kind of stubborn, go-it-alone isolation ball of a younger Kobe.
The Knicks entered the fourth quarter with a 6-point lead.
Once the fourth quarter began, the Lakers quickly increased their usage of Yao Ming.
Yao Ming had barely used any energy in the third quarter. This was the Lakers' open strategy; they wanted to unleash Yao's full offensive power in the fourth.
