On the court, 1 minute and 23 seconds passed without either team scoring despite several attempts.
The Suns had possession.
Blake Su brought the ball up the court and reached the top of the key. With Kobe guarding him, he called for a screen, accelerated toward the right wing to shake him off, and was met by Odom's help defense.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su burst forward again.
"Screech!"
Then he stopped on a dime and rose for three, firing over Odom's desperate contest without hesitation.
Blake Su's overwhelming athleticism, his leaping ability, explosiveness, height, and wingspan, allowed him to get the shot off even though Odom had closed out immediately.
"No way!"
Odom turned and growled.
But if yelling could change the result, the game would have ended long ago.
"Swish!"
Blake Su buried the three without touching the rim.
"Great shot!"
Curry rushed over excitedly to high-five Blake Su, and George joined him.
That ruthless three-pointer did more than end the scoring drought. It also shifted the pressure onto the Lakers, who now had to answer.
The Lakers took possession.
Kobe brought the ball across half court and faced George one-on-one at the top of the key. He slowed the pace, then motioned for everyone to clear out.
"Kobe's going one-on-one."
Some sharp-eyed Lakers fans immediately recognized what was coming.
Sure enough, the moment Kobe lowered his center of gravity, he exploded toward the right wing. He reached the three-point line, stopped abruptly, and rose into a fading three-pointer.
George could do nothing but extend his arm and contest as hard as possible.
"Swish!"
The ball traced a beautiful arc through the air before dropping cleanly through the net.
Kobe's picture-perfect fadeaway three was good.
"An answering three!"
"The game is tied again!"
The Suns regained possession.
As Blake Su brought the ball across half court, the Lakers extended their defense. Kobe, Pau Gasol, and Odom spread out to surround him from three directions.
Their intentions were obvious.
They planned to trap Blake Su and force him to give up the ball.
But Blake Su had already decided to finish the game himself. He had no intention of letting them set the trap.
"Thud!"
He stopped near the top of the key, nearly two full meters behind the three-point line. Then, without warning, he rose and launched a deep three.
"What?!"
Pau Gasol's eyes widened.
"Damn it!"
Odom froze for a split second.
"Get out there!"
Only Kobe reacted quickly enough. He sprinted forward with everything he had, trying to contest the shot.
But he was simply too far away.
Or perhaps Blake Su had simply shot from too far out.
Either way, Kobe could not reach him.
"A deep three!"
In the stands, countless Suns fans could no longer remain seated. They rose one after another, throwing their hands into the air as they prepared to celebrate.
"Whoosh!"
The spinning ball drew a beautiful arc across the sky before piercing the heart of the net.
"Swish!"
Another deep three went in.
"Boom!"
The arena erupted with thunderous cheers.
"Holy shit!"
"What kind of three-pointer was that? He's way too accurate!"
In the stands, Klay Thompson stared in stunned silence.
Kyrie Irving clutched his head, unable to believe what he had just seen, while unease gnawed at him.
Blake Su's deep three had not only put the Suns ahead by three again, but also completely ignited the home crowd.
The pressure on the Lakers doubled.
"Tch!"
Kobe clicked his tongue.
Even he found Blake Su's shot absurd, but he had no time to complain.
With the entire arena roaring around him, he had to answer on the next possession.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Kobe brought the ball up himself. The moment he reached the top of the key, Blake Su stepped up to defend him, while Pau Gasol quickly came over to screen.
"Whoosh!"
Kobe slipped around Blake Su and drove toward the right high post.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
George and Curry closed in together, immediately trapping Kobe while completely abandoning Odom in the left corner.
But Kobe had no clear passing lane.
Forced to stop, he sent the ball back toward the middle to Pau Gasol. With Blake Su guarding Gasol, Kobe cut toward the basket, then quickly doubled back.
"Smack!"
He received Gasol's return pass on the right side above the arc.
Only George stood directly in front of him, but George was crowding him tightly to take away the shot. Curry was positioned below him, while Blake Su guarded the space above.
Driving was just as difficult.
In an instant, George put Kobe under tremendous pressure.
Kobe held the ball high and repeatedly faked a shot, trying to make George leave his feet.
George refused to bite.
Instead, he stepped even closer and applied still more pressure, forcing Kobe to lean slightly backward just to protect the ball.
Then, in the next instant, Kobe faked once more before suddenly rising right in George's face.
Despite the suffocating defense, he powered straight up and forced a heavily contested fadeaway three!
"Wow!"
"A three-pointer with George right in his face! To get that shot off, Kobe needs an extreme fadeaway angle and tremendous core strength.
"He also needs incredible touch. The degree of difficulty is enormous.
"For Kobe to force a shot like that at the most critical moment is almost unreasonable. There's no way it goes in."
"Swish!"
Before the Suns fan could finish speaking, the sound of the net cut him off.
The three dropped cleanly through.
"My God, he made that too?!"
Inside the broadcast studio, Mike Breen stared in disbelief.
Van Gundy shook his head with a smile.
"Mike, do you know what's tougher than a pull-up?"
"What?"
"A power pull-up!"