"Bastard, asshole 。。。。。。" At 11 o'clock in the evening on June 13, 2002, when the battle between the Pacers and the Lakers was over, when the head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, walked into the team's locker room after finishing the post-game press conference and was physically and mentally exhausted, he saw O'Neal, the big man of the Lakers, beating the locker with an angry face, as for the other Lakers players, they were all listlessly leaning on the locker closet, drooping their heads, and did not dare to look directly at O'Neal, who was still in a state of rage.

Not only O'Neal, but even Phil Jackson now doesn't understand how his team suddenly fell into a desperate situation, the first three games are over, and it seems that the Lakers, who have won the championship, have lost two games in a row, and after losing today's battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Lakers, who are 2-3 behind, have stood on the edge of the cliff.

The course of today's game was much the same as the previous game, from the beginning of the game until the official timeout in the fourth quarter, the Lakers were always in the lead, but when Larry Bird in the final minutes of the game, he repeated the same tactics in the fourth quarter of the previous game, the Lakers collapsed, and in less than 3 minutes, the Pacers hit five 3-pointers in a row, completely extinguishing the Lakers' hopes of winning. At this moment, the Lakers players involuntarily have a sense of frustration from the bottom of their hearts, and after being reversed continuously, the kind of situation that no matter how hard they try, they can't hold on to the lead to the end and turn it into a victory will indeed make people feel desperate.

"Where's Kobe?" After looking around the locker room and finding that there was one person missing, Phil Jackson asked Brian Shaw, who was closest to him, Phil Jackson is undoubtedly most concerned about O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal and Kobe's condition is the key to whether the Lakers can win, and whether the relationship between O'Neal and Kobe is harmonious determines whether the Lakers can continue to maintain, in such an unfavorable situation for the team, what Phil Jackson wants the most is that the contradiction between Kobe and O'Neal is made public.

"After the game, Kobe Bryant didn't go back to the locker room, he should have stayed on the court to practice." After hearing Phil Jackson's question, Brian Shaw finally raised his head, on Brian Shaw's face, Phil Jackson could see the frustration and shame very clearly, in this game, Brian Shaw replaced Rick Fox as the Lakers' starting small forward, after Kobe Bryant went to defend Reggie Miller, the responsibility of defending Meng Xu was put on Brian Shaw and Robert Hawley, but Brian Shaw, who was defending Meng Xu, was blown up by Meng Xu in this game, 16 of 26 shots, 6 of 12 3-pointers, 8 of 11 free throws, 46 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists, Brian Shaw was in front of Meng Xu in this game, immature as a primary school student, all kinds of being pushed away, all kinds of step-by-step, all kinds of being forced, Rick Fox was wronged and tortured in the previous game, Brian Shaw finally experienced it in this game, if the team can win, even if he is humiliated, it is worth it, but the Lakers lost this game, so his performance in this game will definitely be further amplified, And become the object of everyone's accusations.

Just looking at Brian Shaw's face, Phil Jackson knew how hard this game hit him, and finally squeezed out Rick Fox and became the team's starter, Brian Shaw was not only able to prove and show himself, but also messed up, if the Lakers' last loss was Rick Fox, then the cauldron of this game can only be carried by Brian Shaw, as a veteran who coincides with the contract year, today's game is enough to ruin Brian Shaw's career with the Lakers, Brian Shaw knew in his heart that Phil Jackson wasn't going to give himself a chance.

"Okay, Shaq, if you lose this game, you lose it, and don't forget that we still have two home games, go back to Staples, and we'll be the ones who win." After adjusting his mood a little and squeezing out a smile very reluctantly, Phil Jackson waved at the players in the locker room: "Hurry up and go take a shower and change clothes, it's not early, we have to go back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning." ”

"Phil, I'm angry right now, I really feel helpless." After most of the players in the locker room trotted into the bathroom, O'Neal sat down in his seat after venting, and the seat shook a few times under the pressure of O'Neal's huge body.

"Shaq, I know your feelings very well, I can understand your thoughts, and I am very confident in you, as long as you can continue to fight, then victory will always be ours." Phil Jackson did not respond to O'Neal's question head-on, but after pouring a bowl of chicken soup, he stretched out his palm and shook O'Neal together, O'Neal is 30 years old this year, but his character is still somewhat childish, O'Neal has not become old and lifeless as he grows older.

Although there are still some deficiencies in on-the-spot command, Phil Jackson is definitely a master in terms of player mental ability mediation, and now he can be compared to Popovich of the Spurs and Pat Riley of the Heat in the entire league, even Larry Bird is slightly inferior to him, so Phil Jackson is very clear about the character of the players under his command. Although the Lakers lost two games in a row, the two games they lost had nothing to do with O'Neal, O'Neal's performance in these two games was good enough, 33 points and 19 rebounds in one game, 34 points and 17 rebounds in a game, O'Neal alone blew up the entire interior line of the Pacers, but at the same time that O'Neal burst the Pacers' interior line, the Lakers' outside line was blown up by the Pacers, although Kobe Bryant was strong, but after all, he could only defend one person, and if he prevented Meng Xu, he would miss Reggie Miller, and if he prevented Reggie Miller, he would leak Meng Xu, At the same time, due to the consumption of too much physical strength on the defensive end, Kobe's efficiency on the offensive end of these two games is significantly lower than that of the regular season and even the playoffs.

Compared with the Lakers' locker room, the home team's locker room in the Bankers Life Arena is a different scene at the moment, James Posey, Jamal Tinsley and Bobby Simmons, I don't know where they got a few bottles of champagne, and sprayed wildly at the other players in the locker room, especially Meng Xu, who became the target of their fire, and his whole body was already soaked.

"It's a great feeling to win!" At this time, all the Pacers players have fallen into madness, winning two consecutive games, especially winning the battle of Tianwang Mountain and obtaining the match point in the Finals, which has established great confidence for them.

"Championship, we're finally going to win the championship!" Although the series is not over yet, in the eyes of the Pacers players, the Pacers, who have already won the match point, are only one step away from the championship, as long as they take this step, the Pacers will win the first NBA championship trophy in the team's history, and many of them will also realize their dream of winning the championship.

"Reggie, what's wrong with you? How does it look weird? Just when the carnival in the locker room was still continuing, Meng Xu was extremely excited and took off the jersey on his body and threw it out very casually, but the corner of Meng Xu's eyes swept to Reggie Miller who was sitting at the door, Reggie Miller put his arms on a chair in front of him, supported his chin, and just quietly watched them play, but he did not join in the carnival. Pulling down a towel from the locker door on the side, Meng Xu wiped the champagne on his body, and then walked directly to Reggie Miller's side, pulled a chair and sat on it.

"I'm still wondering if it's real." After seeing Meng Xu coming over, Reggie Miller sat up straight, with a serious expression, and after the words fell, a shallow smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if he was laughing at himself and as if he was thanking. After 15 seasons of hard work, it is finally time to realize his dream, but now Reggie Miller, like most people, looks like he is suffering from gains and losses when his dream is about to come true.

"Reggie, don't worry, we're going to bring the championship to Indiana!" Perhaps infected by Reggie Miller's smile, Meng Xu put down the towel in his hand and assured Reggie Miller in a very serious and serious tone.

"Boss, what are you hiding there for?" Just as Reggie Miller's mouth moved and he was about to say something, a large puff of champagne sprayed over, and Jamal Tinsley and Bobby Simmons immediately rushed over, pulling Meng Xu and Reggie Miller to the middle of the locker room.