Legendary star

Chapter 137 The Last Struggle
"Is this the end of today's game?" O'Neal, who was resting on the bench in the Staples Center Arena, looked unwilling.

Looking at the fans who were still cheering for the home team on the court, and the teammates around him who were already a little depressed, O'Neal clenched his fists.

"No, I can't just give up." As the No. 67 in the regular season this season, the Lakers, who won [-] wins this season, have been given countless hopes.And this season, O'Neal also ushered in the best state of his career. This season was also considered by O'Neal to be the best opportunity to reach the championship, but he did not expect that this round of the series would end up like this.

As one of the nemesis of the Lakers this season, the defending champion Spurs with David Robinson and Duncan have always been regarded as an obstacle for the Lakers to win the championship.But since David Robinson retired from injury, and after scoring 55+ in two consecutive games, O'Neal believes that the Spurs can no longer stop his Lakers.However, the process of this round of the series has greatly exceeded O'Neal's expectations. Not only did the Spurs tenaciously make the big score 3 to 3, but also in this tiebreaker between the two sides, the Spurs occupied most of the time. With an advantage, more than half of the fourth quarter of the game has passed, 97 to 89, and the Spurs have already led the Lakers by almost 10 points.

Looking at the anxious Phil Jackson, although O'Neal was very unwilling, he couldn't change the current situation on the court. Since the beginning of this game, the Lakers have been led by the nose by the Spurs. Phil Jackson's on-the-spot command ability Obviously not as good as Popovich.After the start of the fourth quarter, he wanted to take over the game early but failed. The Spurs, who have always been good at playing positional warfare, suddenly played a fast break after discovering their intention to take over the game. , O'Neal is also a little powerless. Although Phil Jackson slowed down the pace of the game through two timeouts, the Spurs have already opened the score through this period of time.

"I will definitely win this game." When he walked on the court again, looking at Tim Duncan walking towards him, O'Neal swore secretly in his heart.Since this season, some media have called Duncan and himself the two strongest insiders of the new generation in the league. Although Duncan has won the championship and the MVP of the finals before him, Duncan is still not qualified in O'Neal's heart. , in O'Neill's mind, the insider in the entire league is not worthy of giving himself a shoe. The only insider who can make him respect is now about to retire. Even when he was at his peak, O'Neal didn't have the slightest Not to mention the current Duncan.

When Ron Haber received the ball near the middle circle, under the close defense of Avery Johnson, after advancing two steps forward, without the slightest hesitation, he quickly passed the ball to O'Neal below the free throw line, and The rest of the Lakers players quickly pulled away to create conditions for O'Neal's singles.

After O'Neal held the ball, it was Tim Duncan who defended him. There were more than 4 points left in the game. In order to limit O'Neal to the maximum, Tim Duncan and Samaki Walker, who had committed 5 fouls, changed their defensive positions. The final few minutes will have Duncan directly facing O'Neal.

"If Meng was defending Harper just now, I'm afraid O'Neal won't catch the ball so easily." Avery Johnson, who saw Ron Harper very calmly, jumped up in front of him and passed the basketball to O'Neal. Den Holzer also shook his head helplessly. Avery Johnson is really too short, and Ron Haber is a full head taller than him. Fortunately, Haber's current offensive ability has declined rapidly, otherwise he would have Letting Ron Haber keep playing Avery Johnson is enough for the Spurs to drink a pot.

O'Neal held the ball with his back, leaned directly against Tim Duncan, and tried his best to push back directly. After two consecutive times, Duncan was pushed back by O'Neal for more than one meter. Although Duncan's strength is also good enough , but facing O'Neal is still a bit stretched.

"Tim, you can't stop me yet." After knocking Duncan out of position, O'Neal turned around and made a hook shot. At the same time, he also caused a foul on Duncan who blocked himself. After falling from the air, O'Neal said loudly to Duncan , while Duncan was expressionless, and ran directly to the side of the paint area, waiting for O'Neal to make a free throw there.

"Big guy, I can't wait to grab a rebound, you better hurry up." Seeing O'Neal holding a basketball and aiming and aiming at the free throw line, Meng Xu, who was standing not far from O'Neal, said impatiently Well, Meng Xu is not Duncan, and he can ignore other people's provocations.Although his own strength is not good, he must not let the wind fall in his mouth.

"Bastard, believe it or not, I will beat you up." Hearing Meng Xu's provocation, O'Neill was furious, but he was a little helpless. He always relied on free throws, and he couldn't help but hit him in the face like Jordan Bird.

Seeing the angry O'Neill, Meng Xu curled his lips. Even Barkley can't handle such a big man, so he will intimidate a small body like me.

After O'Neal's free throw shot, without the slightest hesitation, Meng Xu directly rushed towards the basket. After taking two steps forward, Meng Xu quickly jumped up. The others had no chance at all. The jumping height and jumping speed on the defensive end are too buggy. After taking the basketball into his arms in the air, Meng Xu did not launch a fast break with a long pass as he did in the previous few minutes. Instead, he protected the ball for 2 seconds on the spot , Seeing that the Lakers players had retreated past the center circle, they passed the basketball in their hands to Avery Johnson.

After running through the half court slowly, after making a pick-and-roll with Avery Johnson, the basketball was passed to Meng Xu's hands. After receiving the pass from Johnson, Meng Xu did not continue to break through, but moved laterally a few After one step, seeing Duncan coming up to cover himself, Meng Xu passed the basketball into Duncan's hands, and Meng Xu signaled the rest of his teammates to pull away and give the ball to Duncan for singles.

Seeing Meng Xu's actions on the court, Popovich's mouth trembled with anger. If the Lakers still had a little hope of making a comeback, Popovich would definitely replace Meng Xu immediately. Come down, and squirt at him.

"Meng is becoming more and more charismatic." Looking at Popovich beside him, Mike Budenholzer said with a smile, but there was a little weirdness in Mike Budenholzer's smile.

Holding the basketball in his hand, Duncan was also a little speechless when he looked at the teammates who had pulled away. The current situation on the court was not yet ready for him to single out O'Neal. This kind of one-on-one due to a moment of loyalty is very hated, but now that Meng Xu has created the conditions for himself to play singles, I can't refuse Meng Xu's kindness. As for the coach, after the game is over, go to him.Duncan, who has been named the league's No. 1 power forward since last year, although he doesn't care much about these titles, Duncan is still very proud in his heart. Who doesn't want to be NO.[-]?
With his back to O'Neal, Duncan didn't go to compete with O'Neal for strength, but turned around two and a half times in a row after a fake move, directly wiped O'Neal, and rushed into the inside line. How could Robert Hawley, who defended against him, belong to Duncan? After the opponent, Robert Hawley, who was directly facing the air, dunked the basketball into the basket, Duncan did not have the slightest celebration, but began to retreat with a blank face.

"Meng, after the game, go to the coach to apologize, understand?" Seeing Meng Xu running over, Duncan patted him on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)