At 8 o'clock in the evening on November 28, 2003, the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the game related to the first place in the East between the Heat and the Pacers is about to begin, and the entire American Airlines Arena is already full at the moment, because of O'Neal's joining, the Heat has played the best start in the history of the team this season, and even the attendance of the American Airlines Arena has begun to become hot, and today's game is even more difficult to find.

Before the game started, the two commentators of today's game, Michaels and Magic Johnson, were on the commentary bench on the sidelines, talking and laughing with each other. Due to the super attention of today's game, ABC was originally going to invite another special guest, but after thinking about it, I couldn't find a good candidate, the Heat is a young team, for a new team that has just entered the league for more than a dozen seasons, the Heat's team history has not been able to get a name for it, two retired jerseys are now hanging over the American Airlines Arena, one is Michael Jordan's, and the other is the famous NFL star Dan Marino's, which can also be seen, The history and honor of the Heat in this league is so lacking that ABC had to give up the plan to invite special guests, after all, this is the home of the Heat, and it would be too much to say if a Pacers celebrity came here to participate in the commentary of today's game.

"I think today's game, Meng needs to change his style of play, although as of now Meng still averages nearly 30 points per game, but whether it is the number of shots or the average points per game, there has been a very obvious decline from last season. Although Meng Xu began to shift his energy to organizing the team, it is a very beneficial thing for the Pacers and Meng Xu's teammates, but the Pacers' opponents today are Heat and O'Neal, with O'Neal sitting on the inside, Jermaine O'Neal's play will definitely be limited to a certain extent, so in today's game, if the Pacers want to win, then they must change their style of play. ”

Looking at Meng Xu, who waved his arms out of the player's tunnel in the boos of the American League Arena, Michaels smiled and said for a while, and then shook his head, today's game is obviously very unfavorable for the Pacers, although after Rick Carlisle took office, Meng Xu's core position has not been shaken in the slightest, but Jermaine O'Neal's responsibility in the Pacers' existing system is becoming more and more important, and Jermaine O'Neal is also a direct beneficiary of Meng Xu's reduction in the number of shots. Although Jermaine O'Neal is now the league's "fifth-best striker", he still can't take advantage of Shaq O'Neal. Therefore, if Jermaine O'Neal can't play his due role against O'Neal in today's game, then it will be difficult for the Pacers' tactical system to work effectively.

"Haha, Al, don't you think you're thinking too much? Rick is a very professional manager, and he must be able to take these issues into account. ”

Today's game, whether it is against the Pacers or the Heat, is undoubtedly a very critical game, but for the current Pacers, their starting lineup is basically unable to make any changes, two interior lines Mutombo and Jermaine O'Neal, small forward James Posey, scoring guard Reggie Miller, organizational guard Meng Xu, if nothing else, the Pacers' current starting lineup will definitely continue until the end of this season, because for the current Pacers, This is basically the strongest and most reasonable lineup.

And on the Heat side, the starting lineup has not changed, since O'Neal joined the Heat, under the tutelage of Stan Van Gundy, the Heat has been playing a large and four small lineup with O'Neal as the core, O'Neal's level of the inside, as long as there is one, it is enough to ensure that the Heat's interior line will not be at a disadvantage in the face of all teams in the league, and at the same time, with the increasing use of three-point tactics, coupled with O'Neal's huge deterrence and containment under the basket, it also means that the Heat's outside players, It will be liberated to the maximum, but it is a little embarrassing that the Heat currently does not have a few qualified three-point shooters, and the overall three-shot rate of the whole team is only 33% so far.

In this jump ball, there is still no suspense, Jermaine O'Neal continued the glorious history of the past, once again defeated O'Neal in the jump ball, won the first offensive ball for the Pacers, the current Pacers due to the departure of a number of main players, the team lineup has undergone a lot of changes this season, the shortest of the five starters turned out to be 1.98 meters Reggie Miller, in addition to having the inside twin towers, so the current Pacers have lost the "Indiana track and field team" Although there are still no major changes in the tactics of blocking and splitting, the overall pace of the Pacers' advancement is getting slower and slower.

"Al, what's going on, your worries are completely unnecessary!" When Meng Xu and Jermaine O'Neal hit a mid-range shot near the free throw line through the blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation after the opening, Magic Johnson also expressed his appreciation for the Pacers' cooperation after the opening, although Jermaine O'Neal is not O'Neal's opponent, but O'Neal and the current Heat also have their own destiny, that is, blocking and dismantling, in the Pacers' current tactical system, Jermaine O'Neal's blocking and dismantling for Meng Xu has become the norm, and the Heat's current lineup, O'Neal can't defend at all, and Haslem can't prevent the Pacers' blocking and dismantling at all because of his height and game experience, not to mention that after Jermaine O'Neal and Meng Xu completed the blocking, Damon Jones, who defended Jermaine O'Neal, has a height difference of more than 20 centimeters with Jermaine O'Neal, and Jermaine O'Neal's shot on Damon Jones's head is completely undefendable.

When it was the Heat's turn to attack, Damon Jones, as the Heat's playmaker, did not have any intention of organizing the offense, but handed the basketball to Dwayne Wade after dribbling through the halfcourt, and he himself ran towards the designated position. Although Dwyane Wade is still only a first-year rookie, but through the outstanding performance after the start of the new season, Dwyane Wade has won the trust of Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy, and after only ten games at the beginning of the new season, he has become the outside core of the Heat. Stan Van Gundy took Wade seriously.

After Dwayne Wade got rid of Reggie Miller's defense through the cover of Haslem, he handed the basketball to O'Neal, who was entangled with Mutombo on the side of the basket, although Dwayne Wade has other offensive options at this time, but the current tactics of the Heat are like this, any offense, the basketball must be handed over to O'Neal first, and O'Neal chooses whether to play alone or pass out.

O'Neal was immediately caught by Jermaine O'Neal and Mutombo after receiving the ball, and O'Neal was obviously a little hesitant after being trapped, after all, in the finals last season, the entire series of Pacers never wrapped O'Neal, and today is just a regular season game, and the Pacers actually began to pack O'Neal.

Facing the Pacers' two big interior packs, O'Neal did not pass the basketball to the unguarded Haslem, but blocked Jermaine O'Neal with one arm while holding Mutombo with his back, trying to force a turn under the bag of Jermaine O'Neal and Mutombo.

"Shaq, be careful!" It was only when O'Neal pushed two steps to the basket against Mutombo, and turned towards the opposing defense of Jermaine O'Neal, who was holding him, and was about to use the hook to shoot the basketball in his hand, when O'Neal heard Eddie Jones shouting behind him.

Just when the basketball thrown by O'Neal was about to fly over Mutombo's head, looking at Meng Xu, who didn't know where he was flying from, he slapped directly on the basketball.

At this moment, not only O'Neal, but also the fans who were still cheering for O'Neal just now, also stopped shouting, they would never have thought that O'Neal's first attack after the opening would end in such a way, but what shocked them even more was still to come.

The basketball that was shot out by Meng Xu didn't fly far, and was picked up by the unguarded Haslem, who took advantage of the smooth road in front of him, Haslem, who picked up the basketball, rushed directly towards the basket, and it was obvious that Haslem wanted a dunk to give the Pacers an appetizer. However, just as Haslem took two steps, jumped less than three meters away from the basket, held the basketball high with one hand, and glided in the direction of the basket, Meng Xu, who had just completed the block on O'Neal, quickly adjusted his body posture and position, and jumped up against Haslem.

Although Haslem's position on the field is a big forward, but as an inside Haslem, whether it is weight or height, it is obviously not up to standard, the official height of 2.03 meters Haslem and Meng Xu stand together, obviously a little shorter than Meng Xu, and Haslem's weight is only more than 100 kilograms, therefore, although Haslem rushed towards Meng Xu without hesitation, but when the two collided in the air, Haslem could feel the huge gap between himself and Meng Xu, The moment he collided with Meng Xu in the air, Haslem's body lost his balance, listening to the sound of something jumping in his ear, as if something was being struck, and at the same time feeling the pain coming from his wrist, Haslem knew that his dunk was blocked by Meng Xu.