But the basketball still went in.
In the previous two games, if James managed to disrupt Roger to this extent, Roger couldn't score.
But tonight, under the same disruption, Roger could easily make the shot.
The reason? In the last game, Roger was too exhausted on the defensive end and didn't have a good shooting feel.
But tonight, Roger faces almost no pressure on defense, making his offense hard to stop.
5 to 4, Warriors overtake, Roger pointed at James's stats on the big screen: "Is this how you freeze me?"
For the rest of the first quarter, James realized that Roger seemed to be ignoring his defense.
That No. 14's shooting feel was too good, any slight gap, he could guarantee hitting the shot.
Tonight's Roger is the most offensively potent since entering the Western Conference Finals.
He switched back and forth between ball-handling and off-ball, making it hard for the Lakers to target.
