"I wonder if the two teams will make adjustments after the timeout?"

In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers and the Spurs basically gave up their tactics, playing without a little discipline, to be precise, both teams were not able to play the tactics they are good at, the Lakers under the Spurs' high-intensity defense, especially Meng Xu's kraft candy defense against Kobe, as an important rotation point in the Lakers' triangle offensive tactics, after Kobe was stung to death, the Lakers' triangle offense could not run smoothly at all. After the Spurs did not have David Robinson, they also gave up the two-tower tactics that they had been using in recent years, and re-picked up the inside-out combination tactics of the Robinson era, but the Spurs now lack a shooting power forward, and there is no strong point on the outside. As a result, both teams' tactics eventually turned into a one-man strategy that relied on superstars.

21-21, the first quarter of the game between the Lakers and the Spurs was like this, it was also very surprising, O'Neal and Duncan played the whole quarter in the first quarter without the slightest rest. O'Neal finished with 15 points and six rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting and 1-of-2 free throws in the first quarter. Duncan, who was directly opposite O'Neal for the first time, shot 6 of 10 and 2 of 2 free throws, scored 14 points and 4 rebounds, and did not fall behind at all.

"At the moment, the only person in the league who can match O'Neal is Tim Duncan." Kenny Smith, the game's commentator, let out a sigh from the commentary seat.

With the continuous change of the rules of the game, the four centers are known as the last prosperous age of interior players, and as the only remaining of the four centers O'Neal, who is still in his prime, this big guy who has entered the top 50 stars in history after playing in the league for 3 years, after the other three centers gradually slipped to the top, O'Neal has always been invincible in the league's interior line. And Tim Duncan is another dominant interior player, who beat Karl Malone to the best team of the season in his rookie season, became the strongest power forward in the league, and led the Spurs to the championship in his second season and was crowned FMVP. And Duncan and O'Neal are also known as the last glory of the inside line, but Duncan and O'Neal are both in the West, and only one is destined to stand out and enter the finals.

After the restart of the game in the second quarter, Avery Johnson brought the ball to the front court very easily under the close defense of Ron Haber, and after a cover with Meng Xu, Johnson handed the ball directly to Duncan on the inside.

After Duncan received the ball, he directly faced O'Neal again, and the rest of the Spurs' players all pulled away, letting Duncan go to single O'Neal, and the Lakers did not go to cover Duncan, it may be that Phil Jackson did not have a plan to cover Duncan, or it may be that O'Neal couldn't hang his face and didn't let his teammates go to the bag.

Duncan leaned his back against O'Neal and pushed back twice, followed by a back turn and a step-back step, and a straight back-to-back jumper hit the board.

After Duncan singled O'Neal successfully, the Lakers also chose a similar tactic, after Ron Haber dribbled through the half, he also handed the ball directly to O'Neal, in contrast, O'Neal's back hit Duncan was a little easier, under O'Neal's continuous impact, Duncan inevitably lost his position, although the size was large, but O'Neal's turn was very flexible, and then after Duncan was out of position, O'Neal quickly turned around, and then directly hit the basket and scored a violent dunk.

This kind of superstar duel where you score a goal and I score a goal is a favorite scene for fans at any time. After O'Neal scored this goal, the entire Staples Stadium instantly erupted in warm applause and cheers.

"Tim, I'm the strongest." O'Neal, who got off the basket, stared viciously at Tim Duncan beside him. But Duncan did not respond to O'Neal's provocation, but gave O'Neal a glance and left.

O'Neal and Duncan have a very good personal relationship, but on the court, the two are not so friendly. O'Neal is also very dissatisfied with the media's comparison of Duncan with himself, and has never had the opportunity to directly confront Duncan before, but in this round of the series, due to David Robinson's injury, O'Neal finally waited for the long-awaited opportunity, and in this round of the series, O'Neal will prove to the world that he is the strongest one in the league and the only one.

It's very silly for Duncan to argue with others about their strengths and weaknesses, and Duncan has his own unique way of responding. After the exchange of offense and defense, Duncan directly held the ball on the right side of the free throw line, after two consecutive steps, followed by continuous changes of direction and turn, very easily past O'Neal, in the face of AC Green, Duncan completely ignored him, and forced a jump against AC Green, directly deducting AC Green from the bottom line. After completing the response to O'Neal, Duncan still began to retreat with a blank face.

"Beautiful dunk, after O'Neal completed the dunk in front of Duncan, Duncan responded to him in the same way."

Duncan and O'Neal's answer-ball, not only the audience and commentary at the scene, but even Meng Xu on the side watched it enthusiastically, this kind of showdown between superstars is really inspiring.

Although he really wanted to steal the limelight, Meng Xu also knew that with his current strength, it was not enough to see it. I have also heard from Anna that O'Neal had a strength evaluation of 98 at his peak, and Duncan's strength evaluation at the peak was also 97, and now these two on the field are at their peak, and at this moment, Meng Xu looked at Duncan and O'Neal with both envy and jealousy.

But this kind of answer-ball is also extremely physically demanding, in the second quarter of the halfway point, the physical strength of the two people who have obviously decreased the shooting rate began to decline, in this case, Popovich decisively called a timeout, with Filton Spencer replaced Tim Duncan, Terry Porter replaced Avery Johnson, Mario Elie replaced Sean Etellio, after the substitution, Meng Xu returned to the position of small forward, and at the same time will serve as the core of the organization on the court, In the second half of this season, Popovich has always wanted to transform Meng Xu into an organizational striker, but has not been able to do so.

The opposite Lakers replaced O'Neal with John Celey, Robert Hawley replaced AC Green, Fisher replaced Ron Harber, Rick Fox replaced Glen Rice, and after the substitution, Kobe Bryant became the only core on the court.