F4 originally referred to a Taiwanese artist group that was very popular in mainland China in the early 21st century. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info and in the summer of '03, the Lakers recruited Payton and Malone on the basis of the OK combination to form the Four Heavenly Kings combination, and these four superstars are also nicknamed F4 by Chinese fans. When it comes to historical status, these four are the top figures in the entire NBA's nearly 70-year history. Judging from the top 100 superstars in NBA history rated by the famous media ESPN in 2016, Payton, the lowest of the four, is also ranked 41st, and the other three are all ranked in the top 20, which can be described as a superstar among superstars.

And these four got together into a team, of course, it was star-studded. Before Malone returned, the Lakers were only fifth in the West. After finishing F4, they lost their first game to the Timberwolves, and then went on a nine-game winning streak, including the main rivals Timberwolves and Kings. At present, the Lakers can be described as high morale and in good shape.

Facing the leader Rocket, even the Zen master did not dare to be careless. He carefully studied the footage and made some targeted tactical arrangements. The hatred in last year's playoffs is still vivid, and the Lakers players will not keep the Rockets at all when they fall behind 2:1 in the regular season. This time, the coach's tactical arrangement of the players was particularly attentive, and they wanted to defeat the Rockets in one go.

Tang Shuai also took great pains, and the absence of Da Meng and Wallace made the Rockets a little embarrassed. However, Lao Tang thought about it, the combination of Oku and Wang Zhizhi had a good effect on O'Neal, and he could try more. With this in mind, he decided to start with Yao Ming and Bosh as a partner.

On April 1, Staples Arena finally welcomed the long-awaited heavyweight match. The media have made this game the focus of the live broadcast, and Chinese fans in the East are also looking forward to it.

CTM vs. F4 officially kicked off.

Perhaps a little nervous, Payton came up with a dribble error under Chauncey's press, but Billups missed a three-point attempt. Coming back, Malone also missed the shot under Bosh's interference.

Yao Ming singled O'Neal with the ball, and Fox circled around and wanted to wait for an opportunity to cut the ball. Yao Ming found the ball in time and immediately distributed the ball to Maddie, Fox couldn't defend it, and Maddie made a layup.

Kobe Bryant broke through Turkoglou's defense, but Yao Ming made up for it, and Bryant missed the basket. Billups grabbed the rebound to control the rhythm and slowly advanced, and after falling into position, he handed it to Yao Ming again for a single, and Yao Ming turned around and hooked his hand to score 4:0.

Malone hits Bosh with his back and rolls over for a jumper. But the deft Bosh was quite fast, and immediately pounced, and the tip of his fingers capped at the ball. The ball was at the front of the basket, but unfortunately fell into the hands of Malone again. Bosh lost his position with a block that was too big, and Malone missed a layup but caused a foul on Yao Ming. Lao Ma made 2 of 2 free throws.

Maddy played the ball, but many Lakers players used around the front to cut off Maddy's passing lane. If you insist on breaking through, the deterrent power of the inside giant O'Neal is also enough. Maddie didn't have a good chance, and there was not much time left in 24 seconds, so he had to hand over Yao Ming to play a single again, and this time Da Yao missed the shot in a hurry.

Kobe Bryant once again held the ball to break through Turkoglou's defense, Yao Ming stepped forward again to help defend, Kobe avoided Yao Ming hit the rebound ball and passed O'Neal, and O'Fat dunk scored a 4-4 draw.

There was a burst of cheers in the stadium, and the connection of the OK combination was a favorite for Los Angeles fans. Yao Ming realized that Kobe's last breakthrough was just a design to lure him, and this goal was the goal.

The Rockets' tactics of focusing on Yao Ming were mediocre, and soon Maddie turned on scoring mode and began to take over the game. He hit back-to-back shots and scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first quarter with a three-pointer. But the Rockets only edged up 23-21.

Phil. Jackson praised the Lakers' performance in the first quarter: "It's good, everybody's execution of the first quarter is good. The most terrifying thing about Maddie is not his scoring ability but his playmaking ability, he is a point guard who is more than 2 meters tall and has an excellent reach that can pass the ball that none of the league's top point guards can make. As long as you insist on cutting off his passing routes with others, give him a chance to play alone, and try to avoid fouls, he will be lost sooner or later. We were only two points behind in the first quarter, and the rest of the game should be our rhythm. One more thing to emphasize, Carl, listen well......"

The Rockets players also feel good about themselves, according to the past encounters with the Lakers, as long as they come up and drag not too far behind, they can often win, and the Rockets are the advantage of fighting to the bench. In the second quarter, the Rockets maintained the starting lineup, but Bosh immediately felt that something was wrong.

Cal. Malone has a rare developed muscle in the league, but he is a real technical power forward. Especially in recent years, he has become more and more obvious in the middle distance, turning around for jumpers, blocking and dismantling jumpers, and down-and-down pull-up jumpers are all handy. The Zen master asked him to start with the Sharks, and he also liked his excellent mid-range shooting ability, which could open up space for O'Neal. But the problem is that Bosh is tall and has long arms and fast movement, old Malone has weak legs and feet, and his explosive power is weak, and it is difficult to cope with the jump shot to get rid of Bosh. The Zen master woke him up during the break, and beating a thin man like Bosh is the last word (Malone is 6'9 tall and weighs 250 pounds; Bosh, on the other hand, was 6'11 tall and weighed only 225 pounds at the time.)

Under the guidance of the Zen master, Ma Long immediately opened his mind. This veteran doesn't like to play hard, but he doesn't know how to play hard. If it weren't for the birth of Stone Buddha Duncan, "Postman" Malone would still be the No. 1 striker in history. He was naturally not afraid of a rookie skinny guy just past the peak Jordan, and several singles made Bosh stumble again and again, and the Lakers quickly overtook the score.

Tang Shuai saw that it was not good, and immediately changed the formation, and Oku Wang Zhizhi projected the twin towers to appear. The Rockets handed over the ball to Maddie single, and the other players pulled away on the weak side. The Lakers were also prepared for this, Malone followed Wang Zhizhi to defend it, O'Neal simply guarded the basket to prevent Maddy from breaking through, and Oku was ignored.

The Zen master's move is also a helpless move, the Rockets' lineup uses space too strongly, and letting O'Neal prevent it will definitely lead to being disturbed in the three-second zone, so it is better to simply put the weakest point of the shot. In contrast, Dazhi Tekoglu and Billups were more accurate, so they had to let Oku go. Some blood loss is inevitable, and O'Neal will come back on the offensive end anyway.

And this time the Zen master made the right bet, Oku's hand was mediocre, and he only hit one goal in the next three shots. And O'Neill and Ma Long's singles Oku Dazhi are hand-to-hand. On the contrary, the score difference has widened. Tang Shuai was replaced by Yao Ming again, barely supporting the situation. The score at the end of the first half was 42:50.

In the third quarter, the Rockets made another adjustment, with Maddie and Parker leading the run-and-gun lineup. But the Lakers' bench rotation is not comparable to last season. Kobe Bryant was originally a physical superman, and after the ball was shared by his teammates, he was even more energetic, and he was still alive and well in the full half. O'Neal Payton was rested, and the remaining F2 could still effectively support the team's offense. In particular, Ma Long made Wang Zhizhi's defense useless, chopping vegetables and melons and constantly scoring points in singles.

Tang Shuai was a little embarrassed, and the cards in his hand were played one by one, but the Lakers only took them all with superstar ability. This kind of no-trick winning trick is like the constant ridicule of the Zen master. Is the superstar combination F4 really unsolvable?