Legendary star

Chapter 32 Christmas Battle (1)

On December 1999, 12, American time, the much-anticipated Christmas battle will start tonight. Today's Christmas battle has attracted countless eyeballs before it even started.

In the first game of the Christmas War, the New York Knicks, the Eastern champions of last season, played against the Indiana Pacers. The ceremony took place at Madison Square Garden.The New York Knicks now have Latrell Sprewell, Alan Houston, and Patrick Ewing, three first-tier players in the league. The Indiana Pacers are led by Reggie Miller and have Rick Schmidt. The Pacers, including Dale Davis, Mark Jackson and many other All-Stars, are also strong this season. They are currently ranked 4th in the Eastern Conference, only half a game behind the Knicks who are 3rd in the Eastern Conference.

The other game is the Los Angeles Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples. This game is also the pinnacle match between the two strongest teams in the league. With the triangle tactics, the Lakers' record has also improved by leaps and bounds. So far, they have achieved a record of 22 wins and 5 losses, second only to the Spurs' 23 wins and 5 losses, ranking second in the league.

Like the Spurs and Lakers battle for the top spot in the league, the MVP battle between O'Neal and Duncan has also entered a heated state. The current MVP ranks first is Tim Duncan, and Shaq O'Neal ranks second. The season averaged 30.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, and 0.5 steals per game, which is better than Tim Duncan in terms of statistics, but the Spurs currently overwhelm the Lakers in record, which makes O'Neal fall behind in the MVP selection Yu Duncan.

"About Tim and me? There is no doubt that I am the best insider in the league, and I am the most dominant player in the league." At the press conference before the game, O'Neal also answered unceremoniously. Reporters in the audience, about who is better, he or Duncan.O'Neill didn't shy away from the question that these unscrupulous reporters were obviously fanning the flames. After receiving O'Neill's answer, the reporters in the audience began to prepare their press release for tomorrow with satisfaction.

Now O'Neal can be said to be a high-spirited moment. As the youngest of the four major centers, as a player who entered the league in the Jordan era, it can be said that O'Neal is also one of the countless victims of Jordan's rule.Since reaching the finals last time, they haven't even made it to the division finals in the past few years. Since Jordan retired, the other three of the four major centers are getting older, and no one can suppress O'Neal anymore.This season, O'Neal's physical and competitive state have reached their peak. After the team ushered in Phil Jackson and the triangle tactics, it has become even more powerful.

In O'Neal's heart, if there is any team that can pose a threat to him now, it can only be Duncan and the Spurs.

Tim Duncan did not respond to O'Neal's declaration of war before the game. For Duncan, there is no such need at all, and he doesn't like to fight with other players.

As the players of the visiting team, the Spurs also took the lead in entering the stadium, but unlike other away games, what greeted the Spurs was not boos, but sparse applause. The Lakers fans, who have always regarded themselves as nobles, did indeed There is rarely booing from the audience.

Immediately after the Spurs, the Lakers' players also played one by one. When it was the team's head player O'Neal's turn to play, the fans in the audience chanted "MVP, MVP" in unison.This year is the 4th year that O'Neal came to the Lakers. Although he has not brought the Lakers a championship, but with his outstanding performance in the past few years, O'Neal has already conquered all Lakers fans.The team's record this season is also very good. According to the current state, after the end of the season, at least 60 wins can be won. You must know that the last time the Lakers won 60 wins dates back to 10 years ago. Liberd's black and white era.

"Shaq is currently the strongest player in the league, just like my former partner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, no one can stop him on the court." In today's game, the Lakers also invited Irvin Johnson to be the on-site commentator .

When the game started, O'Neal overwhelmed David Robinson with almost no pressure, and moved the basketball to the backcourt in the air, giving the Lakers the first offensive opportunity.

After landing, O'Neal ran towards the Spurs' half court without looking back. After Ron Harper got the ball in the backcourt, he slowly advanced towards the frontcourt.Ron Harper, as the hero of the Bulls' 3rd consecutive game, is the same as Scott Pippen. After Jordan retired, he became the target of the Bulls' sale as he got older. After Phil Jackson joined the Lakers this season, he also Bringing his capable disciples to the Lakers, he wanted to rely on Ron Harper to quickly establish a triangle offense. With the arrival of Ron Harper, the team's original main point guard Derek Fisher also Sit on the bench.

After Chucky Brown was traded, Meng Xu also started this game for the first time. The opponent in this game will be the former "Queen Bee" Glenn Rice, who is also a famous 3-pointer in the league. A shooter, he averaged 26.8 points per game at his peak and made an astonishing 3% of his 47-pointers.Glenn Rice not only has outstanding 3-point shooting ability, but also has various offensive methods. He has been selected to the league's best team and All-Star many times.

In the first round when the Lakers got the ball, Ron Harper dribbled the ball into the half court and passed the ball directly to O'Neal who was below the free throw line. O'Neal, who had his back to Robinson, received the ball, first Relying on David Robinson to push hard, then turned around with an extremely relaxed back, passed David Robinson, faced Tim Duncan's supplementary defense, and took the lead in scoring 2 points with a powerful dunk.

Seeing O'Neal's domineering celebration, David Robinson could only lament that he was old. When O'Neal entered the league, it was his peak period. At that time, he relied on his strong upper body strength, amazing jumping, and rich games. With experience, O'Neal has repeatedly played with the applause. In those years, even if he averaged 29.3 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, O'Neal could only be stabilized by himself and Olajuwon Pressed in the third lineup, as I grow older, I gradually lose control of this big shark.

(End of this chapter)