Chapter 35: The Christmas War (5)
"My rebounds." In the second half of the second quarter, O'Neal, who had a decline in physical strength, directly passed the ball to Kobe Bryant, who was moving laterally near the free throw line, after Kobe received the ball, he faced Meng Xu who was close to him, and threw the basketball without making any adjustments.
After grabbing the rebound, Meng Xu directly handed the ball to Johnson, and he accelerated towards the Lakers' half, and after sensing Meng Xu's intentions, Johnson directly made a long pass and passed the ball to Meng Xu who ran to the front court, but this time the pass was slightly deviated, and after receiving the ball at a slow speed, Kobe Bryant had already retreated.
At this time, Meng Xu fell into a dilemma, break through, his breakthrough is too bad, don't talk about Kobe, it's good not to be stealed by Kobe, shoot, he has entered the 3-point line at the moment, and his current mid-range shooting is really poor.
At the moment when Meng Xu hesitated, Popovich on the sidelines went crazy and scolded Meng Xu on the field.
"Shoot, FACK, shoot, boy, shoot that damn basketball." Popovich scolded loudly as he was about to rush into the field, and the assistant coach behind him, Mike? Budenholzer hugged Popovich from behind.
Hearing Popovich's scolding, Meng Xu had no choice but to bite the bullet and jump up on the spot, just at the moment when Meng Xu just jumped, a bloody thing happened, Kobe Bryant in front of Meng Xu jumped up at the same time with Meng Xu, and covered his not too big palm directly on Meng Xu's face, while the other hand pushed Meng Xu in the air very covertly.
Meng Xu, who was originally very bad at shooting, under this sudden change, Meng Xu, who had lost his balance, could only throw the basketball in his hand by feeling.
After Meng Xu landed, Kobe's palm left Meng Xu's sight, and seeing that the basketball he threw seemed to be unable to even touch the basket, Meng Xu also scolded Kobe.
"FACK, YOU SINISTER BRAT."
"Rookie, don't you have a saying in China, don't you give back to the other in the way of the other, I think it is very appropriate to use it here, hahaha." Looking at Meng Xu's embarrassment, Kobe, who was very aggrieved under Meng Xu's defense, also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, this rookie shot from the Spurs is so bad." Seeing the funny scenes on and off the field, the commentators on the field couldn't help but complain.
"I really can't imagine how this guy managed to shoot more from 3-point range than from mid-range range." Hearing his partner's complaints, looking at the Spurs' technical statistics this season, the Magic was also a little puzzled and curious.
"Don't be discouraged." When he returned to the defense, Duncan specially walked to Meng Xu's side, touched Meng Xu's head, and showed a rare smile.
"Meng, be careful of being touched bald by Duncan, Duncan's hands are poisonous." Anna's voice suddenly appeared in her ears, which also startled Meng Xu.
"Bald, what do you mean?" Listening to Anna's out-of-tune laughter, Meng Xu looked puzzled.
"You'll find out later, so you'd better be blessed as soon as possible. Think about it, what it will be like for you to become bald, hahaha, no, I'm going to laugh. ”
"Nerves."
"Meng, let me hesitate when I see you shooting, and you will give me the end." As I passed the bench, Popovich's magnetic roar rang in my ears.
"Rookie, how's my defense." Back on the defensive end, as soon as he ran to Kobe's side, he heard Kobe spouting trash talk at Meng Xu.
"Boy, you can't compare to my defense, it's been a long time, why can't I see you attacking with the ball, if you don't hold the ball, I'll go to help defend that big fat man." Listening to Kobe's ridicule, Meng Xu was also angry, and he could only take advantage of his tongue at this moment.
"Rookie, don't talk big, see if I don't blow you up next." After being taunted by Meng Xu, Kobe Bryant immediately reached out to Ron Harper for the ball.
Seeing Kobe Bryant reach out for the ball, Ron Harper was also displeased, but after pondering for a moment, he still passed the basketball to Kobe. From the second quarter, O'Neal's shooting percentage began to decline, and as his physical strength declined, he was also a little powerless to face David Robinson and Tim Duncan. When O'Neal couldn't open the situation, he could only hand the ball to Kobe.
"It's going to be a little faster next time." Standing between the center circle and the 3-point line, Ron Harper passed the ball diagonally, and there was a bad premonition in his heart, when Ron Harper saw that Kobe was about to receive the basketball, Meng Xu, who was originally defending in front of Kobe, moved over in an instant, blocking Kobe Bryant's catch before he intercepted the basketball.
At this time, Meng Xu was like an arrow off the string, running forward with the ball at an astonishing speed, and when Kobe Bryant came back to his senses, Meng Xu had already crossed the 3-point line with the ball.
"It's amazing." Seeing Meng Xu running with the ball, even the magician was very surprised, there are many fast players in the league, but it is incredible that a forward player can have this kind of speed.
After Meng Xu took the ball into the paint area, he chose a one-handed slam dunk that imitated Magic Johnson, and after completing the dunk, Meng Xu also imitated the magician's famous celebration move, stretching out his right hand to ask for applause from the audience on the court.
"Oh, Elwin, this kid is so much fun." Seeing Meng Xu imitating the magician's signature moves on the court, the commentator on the sidelines also laughed and looked at Johnson.
"yes, that's a funny kid."
Unlike Johnson's generosity, the Staples audience didn't do it, and in their opinion, Meng Xu's behavior was not only a provocation to the Lakers, but also a disrespect and insult to Magic Johnson, one of the greatest players in Lakers history. Suddenly there was a flood of boos in the Staples Center, knowing that even when the Spurs played, Lakers fans did not "welcome" them with boos.
Meng Xu, who was originally a little joking, was also slightly stunned after hearing the boos of the Lakers fans, but then he made a move to make the boos louder, that is, to imitate Allen Iverson's listening action, when Meng Xu put his left hand to his ear and ran on the sidelines, when he passed the bench, the Lakers' backup center John Sailly almost rushed up and beat him.
"Tim, tell your little brother to be more restrained and not be so arrogant." O'Neal crossed his hands on his hips and said fiercely to Tim Duncan beside him with a dark face.
Duncan didn't speak, just shrugged his shoulders and squeezed his eyes at Meng Xu in the distance by the way.