Chapter 59: The Prologue to the Battle of the Centers
Today's Knicks have beaten the Lakers' nineteen consecutive wins last season and the Bucks' twenty consecutive wins, which is currently second only to the 33 consecutive wins of the Lakers Purple and Gold Army, and in this wave of consecutive wins, five games were decided at the last moment.
The current Lakers are actually a little troubled by injuries, but as long as they are OK and not injured, in fact, for the Lakers as a whole, the reduction is not too big, but not being able to meet the enemy in their best state still makes people feel a little panicked, but the Lakers are not all like this, for example, there are three people who will not have such emotions in their hearts, O'Neal, Kobe and Phil Jackson.
During the pre-game warm-up, O'Neal took Kobe Bryant directly to step on the plate.
"Yo, Xiaomo, it's been a lot of the limelight lately." O'Neal was very familiar with Mo Xi's shoulder, and Kobe Bryant on the other side also came over to set up Mo Xi's other arm, and the two tied Mo Xi directly to the Lakers' half of the court.
O'Neill suddenly hugged Mo Xi and shouted, "Come on! I've grabbed him, don't let him run, it's New York's handle! ”
O'Neal's pregame interaction made many people laugh, and even Spike Lee, a die-hard Knicks fan, couldn't help but laugh.
Mo Xi spread his hands and expressed his helplessness to Kobe Bryant, what did he do in his last life, would be such a living treasure, Mo Xi felt a headache.
Mo Xi said: "Kobe, your performance has been quite good recently, especially after winning the All-Star MVP, it seems that you have taken drugs, it is difficult to be punished by Vanessa and suffocated by kneeling on the keyboard." ”
Without waiting for Kobe Bryant to defend himself, O'Neal grabbed the conversation and said, "Hehe, you don't know, this kid is about to have a nervous breakdown now, as long as the phone rings, hehe." ”
Although O'Neill didn't finish speaking, Mo Xi knew what it meant.
At this time, Kobe Bryant was a little annoyed, and he said: "Hey, Shaq, we're teammates, but when it comes to state, isn't it you and your Knicks who are in full swing right now?" When Bryant talked about you and your Knicks, there was a strange glint in Kobe's eyes, but neither O'Neal nor Mo Xi noticed.
Mo Xi said: "Ah, after all, we are very strong. ”
After saying this, all three laughed.
"If you're willing to come to Los Angeles, we'll be stronger," O'Neill said. ”
Mo Xi pretended to be surprised and said, "What? Los Angeles is about to submit an application, can you play two basketballs in a game? "Although this is a joke, but it is also reasonable, the three people are good at attacking with the ball, and there is no problem with the combination of two people, but if there are three people, although Mo Xi can also go to the No. 4 position, there is no doubt that the ball of the three people will drop a lot, and more importantly, in this era, people believe in one person and one city.
Although many teams are already dual-core or pseudo-three-core teams, the more atmosphere in the league is still the single-core team of the year, a superstar supports the whole team, plus a number of role players to assist, but some role players are very strong, so strong that one person can hold up half the sky.
The three of them chatted a few more words, and then went back to warm up, after all, the fight still had to be fought, and it was done without leaving a hand.
The game officially began, and Mo Xi and O'Neill stepped onto the halfway line.
Although Mo Xi's figure at this time can be regarded as strong among the center, O'Neill is a lap bigger than Mo Xi in terms of height and weight, and the referee holding the ball on the side looks so small, like a little white rabbit sandwiched between two giant bears, one black and one white.
Both of them grinned at each other like beasts, baring their white teeth, and their eyes collided with each other for a moment, as if they were really shooting some murderous beam from their eyes, and then the two of them refocused their eyes on the basketball.
"Toot ~"
As the whistle blew, the referee tossed the ball high, and both Mo Xi and O'Neal jumped hard and pounced on the basketball.
In terms of strength, although Mo Xi can compete with O'Neal, he is obviously still a little disadvantaged, and in the jump ball, Mo Xi must rely on his own speed to be able to beat O'Neal.
However, O'Neal had the advantage of a longer arm span, and the two men touched the ball almost at the same time, and the two had a momentary but visible stalemate in the air, but in the end, O'Neal bent his arm and forced the ball back.
In the eyes of fans in New York and Los Angeles, this game is already more interesting than the other games, and this game is destined to be very exciting.
The Lakers got the first chance to attack, and after advancing to halfcourt, the Lakers point guard handed the ball to Kobe Bryant first.
Bryant passed the ball to Fox in the bottom corner, and he quickly inserted it to the basket, and Fox received the ball and passed it high to O'Neal.
Because of Mo Xi's strong blocking, O'Neal's position to ask for the ball is not good, not high or low, and it is in a danger zone, but O'Neal still pushed in twice strongly, and Mo Xi took two steps back, and at the same time, Kobe Bryant had run out of the restricted area and walked to the bottom line to the bottom corner, and Fox, who was originally in this position, had drawn a big circle outside the three-point line and came to the free throw line.
O'Neal saw that Moxi's strong push did not achieve satisfactory results, and he was not in a hurry, and made a feint, as if he was going to pass to Kobe Bryant in the bottom corner, but actually passed the ball to Root Horry on the other side of the baseline.
Horry raised his hand directly and hit a mid-range shot.
The Lakers got off to a good start, but then the Knicks fought back.
The Knicks' offense is similar to that of the Lakers, with the interior center at its core.
O'Neill couldn't get stuck in Mo Xi's low post, and Mo Xi couldn't get in O'Neal's position when he turned around, and Mo Xi had to mention the high post to catch the ball.
However, O'Neill clearly underestimated Moxi's recent growth.
I saw Mo Xi press down his center of gravity, lean forward with his right foot, and make a tentative step for the backcourt player.
O'Neill was stunned for a moment, really thinking that Mo Xi was going to break through, and he also lowered his center of gravity and waited for it.
Unexpectedly, Mo Xi suddenly pulled up, and directly made a high-post dry pull-up jumper, and the ball hit the back edge of the basket and bounced into the net.
O'Neill's face was a little unsightly, although he was not particularly serious about defending, but no matter how he looked at it, Mo Xi's attack was too easy, and it was really free.
Madison Square Garden immediately erupted in a huge cheer, and although it was just a shot, it was so pleasing to the eye.
The Lakers served, the game continued, and the confrontation between the two super centers could be regarded as the prelude.