The buzzer sounded, and the stats for the Lakers team were set:
Kobe made 7 out of 23 shots, 1 out of 5 from the three-point line, and 5 out of 6 free throws, scoring 20 points with around a 30% shooting percentage. In addition, he also had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers.
This was a bad game.
It was also Kobe's worst performance in the finals.
Yao Ming made 6 out of 12 shots, hit all 5 of his free throws, and ended up with 17 points. He also had 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks along with 3 turnovers.
The shooting percentage looked alright.
But there are many ways to limit the defense inside.
One of them is to limit his shots.
Yao Ming was only given 12 shooting opportunities in this game.
As the team's "second-in-command," just this output was clearly insufficient.
If Yao had made 8 out of 12 shots, even with fewer attempts, you could say his performance was excellent.
