On December 25, 1999, U.S. time, the much-anticipated Christmas war will begin this evening.

In the first game of the Christmas game, last season's Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks faced off against arch-rivals Indiana Pacers, and the two teams also had a long-standing feud, and sparks would fly in every game, with Reggie Miller's famous neck jam and throat cutting taking place at Madison Garden Square. The New York Knicks now have three league first-line stars, Latrill Sprewell, Alan Houston, and Patrick Ewing, and the Indiana Pacers are led by Reggie Miller, and the Pacers, who have Rick Schmitz, Dale Davis, and Mark Jackson, are also strong this season, and are currently ranked 4th in the East, only half a win behind the Knicks, who are 3rd in the East.

The other game is the Los Angeles Lakers sitting in Staples against the San Antonio Spurs, this game is also the pinnacle matchup between the two strongest teams in the league at present, this season Phil Jackson joined the Lakers and brought a triangle strategy to the Lakers, the Lakers' record is also improving by leaps and bounds, so far with a 22-5 record, second only to the Spurs 23-5, ranking second in the league.

Like the battle for the top spot in the league between the Spurs and the Lakers, the MVP battle between O'Neal and Duncan has also entered a white-hot state, the current MVP ranking is Tim Duncan, and the second place is Shaq O'Neal, averaging 30.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, 0.5 steals per game this season, and it is also better than Tim Duncan in terms of data, but the current Spurs have overtaken the Lakers in terms of record, which makes O'Neal lag behind Duncan in the MVP selection.

"About Tim and me? There's no doubt that I'm the best interior player in the league, and I'm the most dominant player in the league. At the pre-game press conference, O'Neal also unceremoniously answered the questions of the reporters in the audience about who is better between him and Duncan. O'Neill did not shy away from the problem that these bad reporters were obviously fanning the flames, and after O'Neill's reply, the reporters in the audience began to prepare their press releases for tomorrow with satisfaction.

The current O'Neal can be said to be the moment of high spirits, as the youngest of the four centers, as a player who entered the league in the Jordan era, it can be said that O'Neal is also one of the victims of countless Jordan's rule. Since the last time he reached the Finals, he hasn't even made it to the Division Finals in the past few years, and since Jordan retired, the other three of the four centers are getting older, and no one has suppressed O'Neal anymore. O'Neal has reached his peak of fitness and athleticism this season, and has been even more powerful after the team welcomed Phil Jackson and the triangle strategy.

In O'Neal's mind, if there is any team that can pose a threat to him now, it can only be Duncan and the Spurs.

Tim Duncan did not respond to O'Neal's pre-game declaration of war, for Duncan, there is no need for this, and he doesn't like to have a war of words with other players.

As a visiting player, the Spurs were also the first to enter the court, but unlike other away games, the Spurs were not greeted with boos, but some sparse applause.

Immediately after the Spurs, the Lakers players also played one by one, and when it was the turn of the team's leading player O'Neal to play, the fans in the audience chanted "MVP, MVP" in unison. This year is O'Neal's 4th year with the Lakers, although he has not yet brought a championship to the Lakers, but with his excellent performance in the past few years, O'Neal has already conquered all Lakers fans. The team's record this season is also very good, according to the current state, after the end of the season, at least 60 wins, you must know that the last time the Lakers won 60 years back 10 years, when it was still the era of El Vin Johnson and Larry Bird's black and white.

"Shaq is the best player in the league at the moment, and just like my former partner Abdul-Jabbar, no one can stop him on the court." In today's game, the Lakers also invited Elvin Johnson to serve as the on-site commentator.

When the game began, O'Neal pressed David Robinson almost without any pressure, and flipped the basketball to the backcourt in the air to win the Lakers' first offensive opportunity.

After landing, O'Neal ran towards the Spurs' half without looking back, and Ron Harper slowly pushed forward after winning the ball at the back. Ron Harper, as the hero of the Bulls' last 3 consecutive years, like Scott Pippen, after Jordan retired, with the increase in age, also became the target of the Bulls' fire sale, this season after Phil Jackson joined the Lakers, he also brought his right-hand man to the Lakers, wanting to rely on Ron Harper to quickly establish a triangle offense, and with the arrival of Ron Harper, the team's original main point guard Derrick Fisher also sat on the bench.

After Chaggie Brown was traded, Meng Xu also started this game for the first time, and this game will be against the former "Queen Bee" Glenn Rice, Glenn Rice is also a famous 3-point shooter in the league, averaging 26.8 points per game at his peak, and the 3-point shooting rate reached an astonishing 47%. Glen Rice is not only outstanding in 3-point shooting ability, but also has a variety of offensive methods, and has been selected to the league's All-Star team and All-Star several times.

In the first round of the Lakers' possession of the ball, Ron Harper advanced the ball to the halfcourt, passed the ball directly to O'Neal below the free throw line, and turned his back to this Robinson's O'Neal, after receiving the ball, he first relied on David Robinson to push hard, and then turned around with an extremely easy back, shook David Robinson, faced Tim Duncan's supplemental defense, and took the lead with a powerful dunk to score 2 points.

Looking at O'Neal's domineering and somewhat arrogant celebrations, David Robinson had to sigh that he was old, when O'Neal entered the league, it was his peak, at that time, with his strong upper body strength and amazing bounce, as well as rich game experience, he repeatedly toyed O'Neal in applause, In those years, even if he averaged 29.3 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, O'Neal could only be firmly pressed by himself and Olajuwon in the 3rd lineup, and as he grew older, he gradually couldn't control this big shark.