Legendary star

Chapter 133 Foul Crisis
"Boy, you are so arrogant." When O'Neill faced the flank attack of Duncan and Samaki Walker, he wanted to pass the ball to Robert Hawley, but was intercepted by Meng Xu, who was rushing diagonally, and looked at Meng. After Xu's fast-break dunk, with a look of beating, the angry O'Neill also yelled at Meng Xu.

"Shaq, thank you for your compliment." After hearing O'Neill's words, Meng Xu didn't feel any displeasure, but instead had a kind of perverted pleasure in his heart.

"Get ready to bear my anger, bastard." Now O'Neal is really angry. Throughout the first quarter, O'Neal played very aggrieved. In order to implement the so-called tactics of the head coach, O'Neal kept thinking To play for teammates, but apart from Kobe, this group of weak chickens did nothing but waste their passes again and again. In the case of this group of weak chickens doing nothing, the Spurs double-teamed themselves crazily. At the beginning, Samaki Walker and Duncan double-teamed, and even Meng Xu would come to flank him later.

You must take revenge, you must find your way back, and let that arrogant rookie know how stupid it is to irritate yourself.

"Ron, give me the ball." O'Neal, who was still near the free throw line, directly reached out to Ron Haber, who was beyond the three-point line, to ask for the ball.

Ron Harper was very cooperative and passed the ball to O'Neal. At the end of the first quarter, it may be due to the decline in physical strength, or it may be because he was afraid of fouling again. In the ensuing game, the pressure on himself gradually eased, and Ron Haber once again recovered his game state with ease.

After dribbling the ball on the spot, O'Neal rushed directly towards the basket, turned around with a simple fake move, and easily shook off Samaki Walker. The pull-up jumper ended the offense.

Although O'Neal's condition is very good, Phil Jackson on the sidelines is a little anxious, because the current situation on the court is already very unfavorable to the Lakers. O'Neal's offense is certainly unsolvable, but his physical strength is still unable to support him. He used this style of play throughout the game. If O'Neal consumed a lot of his physical strength in the first half of the game, then when O'Neal needs to take over the game in the fourth quarter, O'Neal's physical strength can not be sustained. It is also a question.But at this time, when the other players of the Lakers can't score, if O'Neal doesn't stand up, then maybe the Lakers will be finished before O'Neal needs to take over the game. It's over, and the Lakers still have a chance to adjust.

"The Spurs' defense in the first quarter was really strong. Whether it was Tim Duncan or Meng Xu, the defense of both of them was at the historical level. The important thing is that the cooperation between Duncan and Meng Xu is also very tacit. It’s really hard to imagine that they’ve only played together for a year. Phil Jackson needs to find a solution quickly, otherwise the Lakers are really in danger.” After the first quarter, Magic Johnson looked at the two teams The players who walked off the field were also a little emotional.

27 to 22, after the first quarter, the Spurs have led the Lakers by 5 points.In the first quarter of the game, O'Neal made 11 of 6 shots and 3 of 2 free throws. He scored 14 points in a single quarter, but O'Neal did not show a happy look after he left the field.

Because of the score lead, the atmosphere on the Spurs bench was quite relaxed, but Popovich did not dare to relax in the slightest. Perhaps it was because he had consumed too much energy on the defensive end. Meng Xu's shot in the first quarter Not many times, 4 of 3 shots, 6 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 4 rebounds, very versatile data, but the only 3-point shot was hit, which also made Popovich more worried According to technical statistics, as long as Meng Xu's first 3-pointer after the opening can be hit, then Meng Xu's shooting percentage in the whole game will not be bad. It's unscientific, but the technical statistics are actually there.

In the first quarter of the game, Duncan, who served as a power forward, was still the team's first offensive point. Although Duncan scored 8 points on 4 of 9 shots, he was not as bright as O'Neal, but he also maintained a very high efficiency.It's just that in the next game, it is impossible for the Spurs to continue to maintain their defensive strength in the first quarter. Once the Spurs relax their defense, with the Lakers' offensive ability, it is still very easy to reverse the gap by a few points.

After the start of the second quarter, both the Spurs and the Lakers sent out their own substitute lineups. The Spurs, who originally had an advantage in the bench lineup, became even more powerful after Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson came off the bench in this game. Overwhelmed the Lakers' bench lineup, and after only 2 minutes of playing, the point difference between the two teams moved towards 10 points. Phil Jackson quickly called a timeout and sent Kobe. In the first quarter of the game, Because the scene has been in a slight situation, Kobe and O'Neal both played the full 12 minutes without getting the slightest rest.

When Kobe replaced Bryan Shaw, relying on Kobe's outstanding personal ability, the Lakers' bench lineup was also inextricably tied to the Spurs' bench lineup. Finally, when the main players of the two teams played, the score was 36 to 33. The point difference has been narrowed to 3 points.

After returning to the court, according to Popovich's arrangement, Meng Xu continued to attack the Lakers inside with the ball, while Duncan will put more energy on the defensive end, while trying to limit O'Neal as much as possible, and accumulate for the fourth quarter. Physical strength, for the Spurs, it is not yet the final decisive battle. Since there is no way to kill the Lakers with a single stick, they simply hang on slowly and wait until the second half of the game to exert strength again.

With the decline of the Spurs' perimeter defensive strength, coupled with Phil Jackson's adjustments during timeouts, the Lakers' perimeter players have gradually undergone some changes. In order to open up more space for O'Neal, Robert Hawley is getting closer and closer to the basket. Far away, Duncan who is defending Robert Hawley at this time will undoubtedly be very embarrassed. If he does not follow up, Robert Hawley's outside shots are very threatening. The current NBA playoffs record for consecutive 3-pointers is still held by Hawley. , Once Hawley is allowed to make a pass, it is very easy to get 20+ in a single game.But if you follow up, it will undoubtedly become very difficult to double-team O'Neal.

When Meng Xu started to speed up from outside the 3-point line as usual, the Lakers obviously changed their defensive strategy against Meng Xu. Robert Hawley took the initiative to drop and match Duncan with himself, and moved up to the free throw line. A distance of about one meter below.

"It's a good opportunity to draw a foul." When Meng Xu started to speed up and saw Robert Hawley moving, Meng Xu had already made up his mind to draw a foul from Hawley, and drew a foul from the opponent during the breakthrough against the snake. Shape maneuvering, such a breakthrough skill, is still very easy.After Meng Xu got rid of Rick Fox by changing direction, facing Robert Hawley who had already taken his position in advance, Meng Xu continued to change direction, and then leaned against Robert Hawley skillfully from the side, doing at the same time Make the move to shoot the ball.

"What's the situation?" When the whistle was heard, Meng Xu was immediately forced, and the referee on duty whistled Meng Xu's offensive foul.

"Meng, calm down, calm down." Just as he was about to rush over to argue with the referee, Jalen Jackson grabbed Meng Xu from behind.If a superstar like Duncan is whistled, then the referee will still look at face.But a rookie like Meng Xu went to the referee to argue, and with Meng Xu's personality of talking trash, once he chatted with the referee, he would get a technical foul in all likelihood.

"FACK, this is just a normal physical contact." Popovich on the sidelines subconsciously felt that something was wrong when he saw this penalty, and at the same time complained to the referees around him, trying to put some pressure on them.

Soon Popovich's ominous premonition came true. Meng Xu was fouled again while defending Rick Fox. In less than a minute after playing in the second quarter, Meng Xu was called for two fouls. A foul in the first quarter, Meng Xu has accumulated 1 fouls, taking advantage of the dead ball, Popovich immediately replaced Meng Xu with Avery Johnson.

　Thank you for the reward of sleep in death
　　
　
(End of this chapter)