It was already one o'clock in the morning when Lin Tian and his party returned to the hotel.

After taking a shower and lying on the bed, Lin Tiancai took out his mobile phone when he had time.

As expected, Sistine sent him a message an hour ago. After Lin Tian politely replied, he started to read sports news.

In recent years, the Celtics have been called the Lakers' rivals by major media, and this is well-founded.

As early as the "ancient times", the Celtics and the Lakers were incompatible.

In the 21st century, the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and the Celtics led by Pierce also faced off in the Finals several times.

Therefore, the competition between these two teams has never lacked topics.

Many news headlines tonight contain the words Lakers:

"The Lakers beat the Celtics! Won three consecutive victories!"

"In the middle of the season, the Lakers turned out to be the biggest dark horse this season!"

"From 9 wins and 26 losses to 25 wins and 30 losses! The Lakers have become the most improved team this season!"

"At a critical moment, Celtics star Isaiah Thomas was hidden in the ice!"

…

Lin Tian watched the news for a while before falling asleep.

Early the next morning, the players were on their way again, and their next stop was Indianapolis.

The current record of the Lakers has rushed from last place in the Western Conference to 11th place!

Behind them are the Nuggets, Phoenix, Timberwolves and Suns.

The teams ahead of them are the Kings, Jazz and Rockets.

If they want to reach the playoffs, they must get past these teams.

The current atmosphere within the Lakers team has also completely changed, from being lifeless to being full of vitality.

Especially Howard and Nick Young, both of whom never stopped for a moment on the plane.

Everyone was playing cards with great interest again, and Lin Tian could only put on headphones to catch up on his sleep.

After arriving in Polis, Nick Young and Howard went out in style.

They originally wanted to call Lin Tian, ​​but Lin Tian was not interested.

Since Russell was traded away, Nick Young and Howard have been mixed together, and Lin Tian is not surprised at all.

The two of them can be regarded as social experts, and Nick Young can even be said to be a world-class Internet celebrity because of his famous emoji.

The two of them are also the two players on the team with the most social media followers besides Kobe.

Although Scott did not arrange training in the afternoon, Kobe still took Lin Tian into the Pacers' home arena, City Plaza Arena.

City Square Arena is a relatively small home arena of the NBA and can only accommodate 17,000 people watching games at the same time.

However, the supporting facilities of this arena are extremely complete, and Kobe greeted some of the security guards and staff of the arena quite familiarly.

These staff members are all old acquaintances with Kobe. After all, Kobe comes to Indiana at least once every season.

Every time Kobe went to an away arena, Lin Tian felt like he was coming home, and almost no arena staff hated him.

This is probably also inseparable from his professional attitude.

Regardless of whether they like Kobe or not, no one dares to disagree with his professional attitude.

The two of them were led by security guards to an idle training hall.

Kobe said thank you to the security guard.

The black security guard smiled and said: "According to regulations, this training gym is only open to you tomorrow, but who said you are Kobe?"

Kobe smiled and hugged the security guard.

Lin Tian is not surprised by this. Playing away games is actually more disadvantageous. Sometimes the home arena is not open to away teams at all.

Many away teams have no place to train and can only go to nearby university arenas to train.

The name Kobe has brought them convenience many times this season.

Lin Tian was also very happy to get the right to use the training hall. He said to Kobe: "Do you want to call Nick Young and the others?"

But Kobe shook his head: "Some of them are having fun outside. There is no need to call them to come. Moreover, if some people come and others don't come, it will not be conducive to the unity of the team."

If he were young, he would definitely call on everyone to train together without hesitation, but now he is no longer young and he understands a lot of truths.

Lin Tian also felt that what Kobe said made sense, and the two began to practice shooting carefully.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, as their training was about to end, a figure walked into the gym.

When Kobe saw the person coming, he threw the ball first, then shook his head and walked towards the person with a smile.

Lin Tian also set his sights on the person who came. It was none other than Paul George, the current star of the Pacers.

Paul George was still wearing the Pacers' warm-up clothes, and it looked like he had just finished training.

As soon as he saw Kobe, he said excitedly: "Kobe! Akers didn't lie to me! You are really here!"

Akers should be the security guard from before.

Kobe also smiled and hugged Paul George, and touched Paul George's head by the way: "Of course I'm here, Paul, how are you doing lately?"

Paul George nodded: "Of course!"

Then he smiled, high-fived and hugged Lin Tian.

Paul George and Lin Tian are similar in height and even weight. Looking at him from a close distance, Lin Tian couldn't help but secretly sigh that he is so handsome! It's true that he is called Little Eddie.

Kobe Bryant was not surprised by the arrival of Paul George, and so was Lin Tian.

As far as Lin Tian knows, Paul George is from California and has been a die-hard fan of the Lakers and Kobe Bryant since he was a child.

In the years when he first entered the league, he wore No. 24. This was entirely because of Kobe.

But now his jersey number has been changed to No. 13.

Among the many "Kobe Bryant disciples", Paul George is relatively recognized because many fans believe that he has the true Mamba spirit flowing through him.

The year before last, Paul George suffered the most serious injury in his career, one of the most severe injuries in the history of the NBA.

Everyone thought that he would never be able to return to his peak, and that he might even be kicked out of the league because of this.

But after returning this season, Paul George almost slapped everyone in the face!

Not only is his scoring average this season higher than before, his playing style is also more stable, and his mentality seems to be more mature!

In the eyes of many fans, this is not only a medical legend, but also the best inheritor of the Mamba spirit.

Lin Tian was also full of respect for Pickled Pepper. He stopped listening to the conversation between the two and spent his time shooting.

Paul George glanced at Lin Tian who was shooting and said: "Kobe, thank you for your encouragement during that time and allowing me to get through the darkest year of my life."
Chapter completed!