"Do you prefer spurs, or the Suns?"

The Lakers were preparing for the divisional semifinals, and after the day's training session, Sun Hao and O'Neal sat together and chatted again.

"Spurs."

O'Neill gave his own answer.

Sun Hao gave him a puzzled look.

"With the Suns, the interior is more comfortable than playing the Nuggets."

Sun Hao continued.

In order to be fast, the Suns directly let Stoudemire play center.

Don't think that Stoudemire is nicknamed "Little Overlord", it sounds more domineering than "Little Emperor", but people's defense is thin.

If the Suns really use him to play center against the Lakers, there is only one sentence to describe that scene: I beat your out, I hit you in the, and finally hit you with your!

And even if the Suns don't use Stoudemire as a center, the Suns won't be able to hold O'Neal.

Steven Hunter, Jack Wascool...... These names, which you may not have heard of, are much worse than the Nuggets' three interior lines.

"No, no, I don't want to run all over the field with them, it's too tiring."

But O'Neill's next words are true.

Even if the Lakers have the strength to win against the Suns, they can't score the ball in every round of the game.

When you can't score, you have to follow the Suns at high speed.

That intensity is much more than Phil Jackson asked him to train.

After confirming the eyes, this guy is a complete "lazy person".

So in comparison, he prefers to play against the Spurs, who like to play positional battles.

Moreover, O'Neill's next words made Sun Hao unable to refute.

"It's the same with whoever fights, Darrell Stoudemire and Tim Duncan, it's not that big of a difference for me."

There is no difference between Stoudemire and Duncan, and the only person in the NBA who dares to speak like this is probably O'Neal!

"But the two guys on the outside of San Antonio have become much stronger, and the next games will not be so easy to play."

After O'Neill finished pretending, he added very seriously.

The words he said in the first round would at first glance feel a little blind and arrogant.

But actually, this guy is smart.

He can say such things because he knows that there is a huge difference in strength between the two sides, and he will say it, and there is no such thing as being slapped in the face.

But the Spurs are different, and he knows that to underestimate such an opponent is to dig his own grave.

It all started with the finals in 1995.

The experience of beating Michael Jordan that year only to be swept by the Houston team in the Finals will be remembered for the rest of his life.

Sun Hao nodded seriously after listening.

O'Neill could think so, and he was relieved.

Originally, when Phil Jackson said that the Suns had a chance, he also felt that it was not completely impossible.

But as it turned out, this Spurs team was stronger than everybody.

The Lakers, even if he and O'Neal have an advantage in both points, there is still no possibility of an easy victory.

As the media exaggerated, this is a collision of galaxies within the Milky Way.

As for who will win in the end, no one knows.

And for Sun Hao, the Spurs are also an opponent he is all too familiar with.

For the first few years of his career, he had been playing against the Spurs.

Now in the first year of the Lakers, it's happening again.

Well, it's either Duncan who says to him, "The future is yours," or he preemptively says to Duncan "It's mine now."

Definitely, it will be exciting.

……

Two days later, in the midst of the fans' anticipation, the divisional semifinals of the Wizards and Celtics in the East, the Lakers and Spurs in the West officially began.

As before, the Eastern time was earlier and the game was played earlier.

The Wizards and the Celtics are two old enemies, plus Yao Ming and Gasol, the two top interior players in the same class, and their encounters are a lot to watch.

However, it was obvious in the game that the Wizards were better than the Celtics.

In the end, the Wizards built up an advantage from the opening to the final lead and successfully won the game.

97 to 81, although the Wizards' style of play under the guidance of Jeff Van Gundy lacks spectacle, the players perform their duties and are not bad.

Historically, the Houston team under Van Gundy has always been a team in the championship ranks.

It's just that the team hasn't found a powerful role player in those years, and when Yao Mai was found, he was injured one after another, so in the end, there was no result.

Now history has changed, it's still Yao Mai, but they have Hamilton, Lafrentz, Alexander and other high-quality role players around them.

Just as fans expect from the All-Star Game, this year's Finals really have a chance to play out a Wizards vs. Lakers.

That's exciting.

Of course, that's just the expectation of the fans, at least on the Western side, there are still big unknowns for the Lakers to get past the Spurs.

The first game of the series was again played at the Staples Center.

The Lakers have the best record in the West and the league, and they have home-court advantage over all teams in the playoffs.

Staples Center, with overwhelming attendance.

After sweeping the Nuggets, Los Angeles fans' expectations for this Lakers team have skyrocketed.

Although they are against the strong Spurs, they still have a lot of confidence in the team.

Including the owner of the Lakers, Buss Sr., also came to the scene!

Bass said that he would go to the scene to watch Sun Hao play, but he didn't come when he was unwell before, but on such an important occasion as the semi-final opener, he came!

During the warm-up before the game, the photographer at the scene gave a shot of the old Bass in the box, which caused cheers from the scene.

Including the Lakers players on the court, they all felt inspired after seeing this scene.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of both teams appeared one after another.

Spurs, Parker and Ginobili on the outside, Bowen and Duncan on the front, Rassu Nesterovic at center.

Ginobili has been playing as a starter in the regular season this season, and Popovich has not made any adjustments in the playoffs.

Nesterovic was the starting center for the Timberwolves.

After playing the best of his career with the Timberwolves last season, he was snapped by the Spurs last summer on a six-year, $42 million contract.

On the Lakers' side, Phil Jackson retained the starting lineup for the playoffs, but with a slight difference, Finley played small forward tonight and Christie played shooting guard.

The intent of this adjustment could not be clearer, which is to put Christie against Ginobili.

Christie's first game with the Lakers was against the Spurs, and he was also very good at defending Ginobili in that game.

So although this adjustment is small, it also makes fans look forward to the game even more.

There was a small detail before the start of the game.

In the past two games, Parker, Sun Hao's little fan brother, would run over to say hello.

But today he didn't do that.

I don't know if it was the All-Star Game dunk that made Parker have a little temper.

The game started immediately, and the two teams started the game, and O'Neal pressed Nesterovic to pull the ball back to the Lakers half, officially kicking off the game.

As with the previous first-round play, the Lakers played O'Neal first as soon as they came up.

After Sun Hao hoisted the ball in, O'Neill hit Nesterovic directly with his back.

Nesterovic is a Slovenian who stands tall and has excellent matchups.

Spurs fans affectionately called him "Ouchi" at this time, and considered him the most suitable interior player to partner with Duncan in addition to "Admiral" David Robinson.

Actually, Nesterovich's confrontation can really be, typical of the big white bear.

"Bang!"

The first confrontation between the two people made a muffled sound, and it was a complete duel of powers.

And then...... Nesterovic was pushed back a big step.

Obviously, although he was given high hopes by Spurs fans, he still did not see enough in front of the "playoff sharks".

In fact, in the current alliance, there may not be a third one who can carry him a little bit in such a one-on-one way, except for Yao Ming and Dampier.

After carrying Nesterovic away, O'Neal didn't play a big game of the rim, but just a light little hook to send the ball to the basket.

It can be seen that after playing in the Denver Plateau, the big shark also realized that his physical strength could not be compared with when he was younger.

And just like what he said to Sun Hao before the game, he already foresaw that the game against the Spurs would be difficult, so he started to save as much energy as possible.

Of course, dunks and small hooks, as long as they can get the ball into the basket, have the same effect.

The Lakers took the lead.

Back in the day, the Spurs were led by Parker to organize the offense.

In the regular season, in addition to competing for rankings, it is also a game for teams to test each other's strength.

The All-Star Game Spurs and Lakers lost both games, and Christie's role was clear.

Popovich learned that it wasn't feasible to attack from Ginobili like in any other game, so he made the change.

In fact, the Spurs were able to easily beat the Suns in the first round, which also had something to do with their "dual point guard" lineup.

Ginobili's off-ball run on the flank pinned down the defense, and Duncan blocked and went down.

Although Popovich has not studied any "hammer tactics" at this time, the Spurs' offensive system is actually much richer than before.

If it weren't for that, they wouldn't have been able to knock the Suns down in the first round.

Parker tacitly passed the ball to Duncan.

Duncan's catch-and-step step is a ...... Wait a minute!

O'Neal appeared on Duncan's dunk route!

O'Neal couldn't get out after getting fat, and the defensive zone shrank to the three-second zone.

But in this area, he is still the overlord of the forbidden area!

Duncan's shot after the confrontation...... Out of the basket!

In fact, the Spurs' interior partnership is very interesting, Nestrovic has a certain advantage in strength against other centers, and Duncan suppresses almost all opponents in terms of strength.

But only when they meet O'Neill, neither of them will be able to do it!

O'Neal showed flexibility that wasn't his size, blocked Duncan and then turned to grab the defensive rebound.

The first wave of the Spurs' offense came back in vain!

However, the Spurs increased their offense while still retaining their defense, and this time the defense was very fast, and did not give the Lakers a direct opportunity to break quickly.

Turn to positional battles, Sun Hao, continue to give the ball to O'Neill!

In the third or fourth game against the Nuggets, because of O'Neal's physical fitness, Sun Hao's shots increased a lot compared to the previous two games, and his scoring also increased.

But to be honest, he still prefers to hoist the ball to O'Neal to play.

It's not that he has a low desire to score or anything, but it's so simple!

Watching O'Neal take the ball and eat others alive on the inside, is it uncomfortable?

Sun Hao really didn't move the more he played, what was going on in Kobe's head.

When O'Neal was trapped, he easily took the ball and scored on the outside, didn't he save his physical strength? You don't have to do it all too hard.

Nesterovich was once again carried away by O'Neill.

With O'Neill's current weight and strength, he won't be of use to you as a European white bear!

This time O'Neal scored with a light eraser.

The tiger comes out of the cage and sniffs the rose.

Those eight words could not have been more accurate in describing O'Neill's performance.

4 to 0!

O'Neal scored 4 points in a row in the opening game!

Sun Hao said that this ball was a bit effortless.

Nesterovic received a burst from Parker and hit a mid-range shot to score the Spurs' first two points.

can carry and shoot, which may be the reason why Spurs fans love this interior line so much.

When he returned to the defensive end, O'Neal continued to receive the ball.

Only this time, it was no longer Nesterovich who was defending him, but Duncan!

After being beaten like that in the opening streak, Popovich couldn't have made any adjustments.

O'Neill, sink the center of gravity and chisel.

What he said to Sun Hao before was not a joke, Duncan and Stoudemire, there is not much difference between him on the defensive end.

Just chisel.

Duncan...... It means that it is a little unbearable.

A big fat man who weighs you bigger, is taller than you, and is extremely flexible and not lost to you, how can this make people play!

His suppressed center of gravity was a little unable to get up, O'Neill grabbed this one, and turned around to wipe the board and shoot.

Duncan, can't be covered.

"Bang!"

The ball grabs the rebound and bounces towards the basket.

It's a pity that Duncan's defense still played a bit of a distraction in this ball, and O'Neal's shot didn't go straight into the frame, but slammed into the rim of the basket and smashed out of the frame.

Duncan was about to turn around to collect the rebound, and then, he felt a dark shadow press over his head.

When you think O'Neal's weight is no longer enough for him to fly, and the opening back-to-back hooks have proven it, you've lost.

In the exclamation of the fans at the scene, O'Neal missed the shot on the board, and directly jumped up for the second time, and dunked the ball into the basket through Duncan!

Sun Hao, his eyes were straight.

One thing to say, he has always considered Duncan to be the greatest power forward in NBA history, and there is no one.

This Spurs' 20-year rookie, Shi Buddha, the absolute cornerstone, is absolutely dominant in the NBA.

But what is clear is that if the Spurs don't play O'Neal, I'm the No. 1 inside Duncan, and I'm the only nemesis he has when I meet him.

The stone Buddha who was bullied by sharks in those years was so alive in front of Sun Hao.

ps: One more chapter today, 2 chapters tomorrow guaranteed.