Although on paper, the fully healthy Knicks seem to be superior, but by the end of the first quarter, the Knicks had fallen behind by a wide margin at 18:26. And the reason for this consequence is Mo Xi, not because Mo Xi performed too badly, but because Mo Xi performed too well, Mo Xi played the entire first quarter, and O'Neal was tough, using his soft hook hand to shoot 6 of 8, and two free throws, cutting 14 points, two rebounds and two assists, in other words, the entire Knicks scored in the first quarter related to Mo Xi, and Phil Jackson didn't even let O'Neal directly face Mo Xi, just cut off the connection between Mo Xi and the entire Knicks, the entire first quarter, The route of passing to Mo Xi and Mo Xi to others was strongly blocked by the Lakers, and the Knicks had four turnovers in the first quarter alone, which is simply unbelievable for a disciplined team.

After the break in the second quarter, the Knicks instead became more focused on team offense because they did not have a good offensive arrow, and in the matchup with the Lakers second team led by Kobe, the second team of the Knicks led by Sprewell had some advantages, chasing the score to within five points.

At this time, the fans in New York couldn't help but have the shadow of the 33rd in their hearts, although he is still in the team, but he has obviously been marginalized.

The first rule of Ewing is that when the team's star is off the court or can't play, the team plays better.

It's a perfect fit for the situation.

The New Yorker was worried, but Mo Xi didn't care about the details at all, and he was still thinking about the alignment with O'Neal in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, not only Mo Xi performed bravely, O'Neal was also strong, also shooting six of eight shots, but two more free throws than Mo Xi, but unfortunately the shooting percentage was not good, but he cut 14 points like Mo Xi, but he scored five rebounds, and at the same time, Kobe Bryant's six shots and four 10 points, which pressed the Knicks.

The biggest difference between the configuration made by the Lakers for O'Neal and Mo Xi is that Kobe Bryant has a strong individual offensive ability, while neither Sprewell nor Houston has this level of ability, in the entire Knicks lineup, the strongest outside single ability is currently Sprewell, followed by Arenas, although Mo Xi feels that Arenas may really have the ability to compete with Kobe Bryant in the future, but it is obvious that now is not the time.

Midway through the second quarter, when the game entered a technical timeout, the Knicks were unable to continue to close the gap, and the two sides remained at a five-point difference.

Mo Xi walked on the court again after a half-quarter break, and at this time, O'Neal was also on the court, and at this moment, Kobe Bryant was replaced, forming a very distinct confrontation of the two centers on the court.

The Knicks' backwardness in the first quarter can still be said to be a non-regrettable sin, so now, it is a little subtle, this is a very direct center collision, and the victory or defeat will be clear at a glance.

After the timeout, Mo Xi took the lead in attacking.

Mo Xi asked for the ball near the baseline, but he did not choose to attack with his back, but turned into a basket to attack after receiving the ball, and Mo Xi's action did not stop at all, and he directly wiped it out and walked to the basket.

Mo Xi's series of movements are smooth and extremely fast, and it is difficult to defend against any other center, but now in front of him is the peak O'Neal, the powerful center with power, speed, and agility at the same time.

O'Neal did not fall behind at all, and followed Mo Xi all the way to the basket, because of his height advantage, Mo Xi has not been able to find a suitable opportunity.

After coming to the basket, Mo had no choice but to push O'Neal on the shoulder, and he turned out with his strength, intending to turn around and hook his hand.

However, O'Neill took advantage of the situation and pasted it, giving Mo Xi's body a certain amount of contact to form a confrontation, making Mo Xi's shot a little weak.

Moxi's hook was short, hitting the front of the basket, and O'Neal turned around and took the rebound directly.

Immediately afterwards, the two sides exchanged offense and defense, O'Neill attacked, and Mo Xi defended.

O'Neal's position is deeper, and he goes straight to the low post close to the basket.

In the past, in this position, O'Neal could have sworn that he had a hundred ways to throw the ball into the basket.

However, in the face of today's ink pity, O'Neill has lost this momentum.

He chiseled in a few times, but O'Neal's distance from the basket was not too far and showed no signs of shortening, and Mo Xi directly steadied his feet, sacrificing flexibility, and forcibly blocked O'Neal out of the three-second zone.

Seeing that the back was approaching five seconds, O'Neal had to dribble the ball vigorously again, and went heavily to Mo Xi, this time he used all his strength, Mo Xi couldn't help it, and leaned back, O'Neal turned around directly, but because of the confrontation with Mo Xi, O'Neal had no strength to dunk, so he could only reluctantly put the basket under the basket.

However, Mo Xi's toughness far exceeded O'Neal's expectations, Mo Xi immediately pulled his body back, stretched out his hands, and overwhelmingly covered O'Neal, under the interference of Mo Xi, O'Neal's shooting was also light, and Thomas on the side stepped forward to pick up the rebound.

The first shots of the duel between Mo Xi and O'Neal ended in misses.

However, just like the Cowboy showdown in the West, it's just getting started.

Mo Xi singled O'Neill again, this time Mo Xi stood up in advance and sat at the 45-degree waist position to ask for the ball, O'Neill failed to squeeze Mo Xi out, and Mo Xi successfully received the ball.

As Mo Xi's experience continued to accumulate, he found that the sharpest ways to pass people were often the simplest and most direct movements.

At the moment of turning, Mo Xi judged that O'Neal's position was a little close to the midline, the decisive left foot side, the center of gravity of the body sank to the left front, the shoulder shrank slightly, and he pushed O'Neal, leaning on O'Neal's body, and suddenly broke out, killing the basket from the outside.

O'Neal wanted to turn around and put pressure on Mo Xi, but he ate a shoulder from Mo Xi, gave up the position of the first step, and had to chase the defense from behind, but Mo Xi did not go straight to the basket in a daze, Mo Xi actually made a European step, and then the master threw the ball in, O'Neal's attempt to chase Mo Xi from behind became a mirror.

However, O'Neal, who was scored a goal, was naturally unconvinced, and chased after Mo Xi to get another strong beat, but this time, O'Neill did not hold it up after pushing Mo Xi, but chose a relatively efficient turn hook hand safely.

The second half of the second quarter of the game became a solo show of two centers, and the two of them were also a little interesting, O'Neill took the heavy sword without a blade, the road of great ingenuity, and he looked at the hard bridge and hard horse, in fact, there was a soft energy everywhere, and Mo Xi was the opposite, the whole person incarnated as an offensive kaleidoscope, and under a variety of offensive skills, it contained a lot of powerful explosiveness.

In the mesmerizing matchup between the two centers, the first half of the game was over, the Lakers led the Knicks by five points 49:44, O'Neal cut 21 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block, and Mo Xi was 24 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, which was another-for-tat.