The Jazz eventually lost the crucial Game 5, but the most embarrassing thing may not be the losing side, at least the Jazz players and fans can find plenty of excuses to comfort themselves, but Mutombo feels that if he doesn't come back, he may be laughed at in turn.

Zhang was not very happy with Mason, but most of the Lakers players had a problem with Mutombo.

I still remember that when I was down 1:2, this old dog even spoke a lot louder, and pouted at the defense of the inside line at every opportunity.

Obviously, this is a bit inflated, maybe I think the Lakers can't play without him, and he talked the most in those days.

But it is undeniable that the Lakers at that time were indeed deeply affected, and there were many similar voices in the media, and some people even deliberately made the words "Zhang Mao hugged Mutombo's thigh" to sensationalize.

But now that the Lakers will overtake the total score, this voice is naturally gone, and Mutombo's voice has gradually become smaller since the fourth game, obviously he also knows that if the Lakers turn defeat into victory, then his voice is much smaller than before, because this shows that the Lakers can win without anyone other than Zhang Mao, and he is not irreplaceable as the best defensive player.

Big Ben has been getting better in these few games, although the improvement is still not enough against the sky, until the fifth game, he still can't prevent McDyes, at most he can cause some more impact on the opponent, and then make up for it from rebounding and helping defense, but overall he is still pressed by McDyes.

But in any case, Big Ben can still fill the vacancy left by Mutombo to a certain extent, coupled with the change of Zhang Mao to the center, the inside line composed of the two is not inferior to the previous lineup in the help defense card position, and it is still higher in mobility, the only thing that is not as good as the previous one is the air defense ability, but this group of inside lines can completely intercept the opponent's breakthrough outside the threat area, and it is difficult for the Jazz's outside line to really break through to the Lakers' restricted area to pose a threat in these two games.

The Jazz don't think the Lakers' interior line can compare to the partnership of Mutombo and Mason, and Sloan feels that the main reason for the loss is Malone's hand problem, as long as the "postman" can re-deliver the letter, their iron triangle can break the Lakers' defense again, and the problem on the offensive end will be solved. And the problem on the defensive end is mainly in the unfavorable competition for rebounds. If they can solve this problem, they won't be easily attacked by the Lakers on the defensive end.

Sloan doesn't think there are other problems worth paying attention to, although the Jazz have exposed a lot of problems in these two games, such as the bench not playing as well as the first three games, difficult to control turnovers, etc., but those are the chain reaction after their own offensive and rebounding troubles, as long as they find the real source of the loss, the follow-up problems will not appear.

The Jazz is not wrong to think so, of course, Sloan always has a problem in his heart that cannot be solved, and he doesn't even dare to mention it in front of the players so as not to demoralize, that is, they can't limit Zhang Mao's play for five consecutive games, as long as this koala's state group is good enough, he can ignore any target and do whatever he wants on the court, whether the Lakers win or lose in the end does not affect his performance, and his statistics are always impressive.

Lakers players also know that their boss is powerful, and the main factor in whether the Lakers can win is how well they play except for Zhang Mao?

In the past two years, whether it is the regular season or the playoffs, as long as they can play an average level of performance, they are not too violent by their opponents on the defensive end, and even as long as they complete either of these two options, Zhang Zhu can snatch the victory.

If this kind of thing is standing in the position of other players outside Zhang Zhu, it is actually quite embarrassing. This is equivalent to saying that as long as they don't hold back, the baby koalas can lead them to win. If they play well, the Lakers can win a big game no matter what team they face!

This pressure is by no means as simple as saying two sentences, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but it must be their responsibility to lose, and no matter how big your heart is, it is difficult to exert your full strength in this state.

There is no such pressure on the Bulls' side, Jordan's seven-year itch has not deified him, and people will say "Jordan is not a god, he has to have good teammates to win championships". That said, the Bulls' championship is not just the credit of Jordan alone, from the role players to the head coach, and no one can do without this championship.

The next day, the Bulls didn't give the Heat another chance on the road, and Jordan, who had been teased for several days, finally got rid of it, this time he hit a koala-style performance of 40 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in Miami, and directly took the Heat away with a devastating victory.

The Chicago media naturally praised this, but the Los Angeles media didn't think there was any glory in the Bulls' promotion, and the "Los Angeles Times" instead ridiculed the Bulls' 4:2 elimination of the Heat, which means almost: You have to fight the Heat so hard, if you come to the West, it will be difficult to see the floor of the West.

In addition, the Los Angeles media is also full of confidence in the Lakers' elimination of the Jazz on the road, and they sarcastically said that after the Bulls advance, it is just right to see how the Lakers pierce the Jazz's heart, although Salt Lake City's Energy Solutions Arena is known as the home of the devil and has repeatedly razed the soul of the visiting team, but they are facing the world's most impactful and aggressive Zhang Fu, the Salt Lake Devils can only be scattered under the sharp blow of the koala baby, and they will send Zhang Fu in their hometown to pursue the road to the finals that they have pursued for 19 years.

The Los Angeles Times didn't think the Jazz would ever see the Forum Arena again before the game, and the reason they gave was very simple, the Lakers' easy wins in these two games were not to take advantage of Malone, at most it was just to bring the two teams back to the starting line, don't forget that Mutombo has missed four games.

What about Malone when he recovered? The Jazz still can't win again, because the Lakers have found a way to deal with the Jazz, whether Malone recovers or not, that will only add a little more suspense to the game, but that's all, the final result will not change anything.

The reason, and very simple, is that the Jazz can use their iron triangle to break down the Spurs' twin towers, but they can't conquer the Lakers. In the previous contest, the Spurs' twin towers clearly owed a bit of decisive murderous spirit, Robinson and Duncan's eyes were slightly fragile and dull, and they lacked dominance of the game; On the contrary, Zhang Fu's sense of smell and grasp of the fighter plane are as deadly as the invincible cat, and his terrifying plundering of victory is deeply suffocating. In the face of a "tough-oriented" team like the Jazz, the lethality of the Spurs twin towers is still insufficient, and only koala babies can make them disappear.

Very good, the majority of fans can know from such reports, why the Lakers are particularly hated, you just complain about the Jazz, why do you bring the Spurs to the table, and make up for a few stabs?

It is conceivable that the next time the Lakers meet the Spurs, the eyes of these two will definitely not be fragile and dull.

Before the game between the Lakers and the Jazz, in addition to this kind of hate-attracting news, the Washington Times didn't know where to get a picture of Chris Webb walking with Magic Johnson outside the villa, which was a bit of an explosion!

This photo is really explosive, Magic, the loyal old dog of the Lakers, will not persuade Webb to serve the Bullets team who is about to be renamed the "Wizards", right? And considering the overlapping positions of Webber and Howard, the news about the conflict between the two on and off the court has not been interrupted in the past two years, and the Lakers' mind is basically known to passers-by, because many teams have this mind.

Howard nearly left Miami last year, but was ultimately rejected by the league before having to return to the Bullets to continue playing. Now that the Lakers' intentions are obvious, Webber also seems to be unhappy with the overlapping situation between the two, and he is starting to think about jumping ship. And the Lakers are obviously a good place to go, although they are hated by many people, but it is difficult for a player to refuse to play for the Lakers.

It is not surprising that the Lakers are interested in Weber, Mason is beginning to decline for all to see, although the Lakers have Mutombo, a DPOY-level center, but the offensive power has begun to be lacking, O'Neal Jr. looks difficult to grow up quickly in a short period of time to support the team, then Weber is a good choice, the championship team will never wait for a rookie to grow.

So the question is, do the Lakers have the leverage to trade?

Chris Webber's contract doesn't expire until 01, and next season it's about 9 million salary, who will the Lakers trade?

Also, the Bullets are not the Pistons, and the Capital team that will be renamed the "Wizards" will not do a loss-making business, otherwise they would rather let Webb and Howard continue to overlap.

But don't say it, the Lakers really have a lot of leverage!

The Wizards are not short of interior stars now, what they lack is outside stars, and the Lakers can completely trade Jones + Mason, and it is not impossible to abandon O'Neal Jr. That way, the salaries of the two teams would be equal, the Wizards would definitely not lose money, and if Chris Webber's personal will is strong, then the deal can go through.

After the Lakers sent Eddie Jones away, there is still Starks who can top it, and the strength of the outside line has declined but it can still be bearable, but after the inside line joins Webb, there is really no solution, but poor Eddie Jones is going to be used as a trading chip by the Lakers again.

Zhang Wei was secretly scolding the media mongrel in his heart, this kind of report is never a good thing to see the light of day now, and it is easy to affect the unity of the team, so Jerry West asked the magic to quietly invite Webb to his home as a guest, and he didn't even let Webb go to watch the game live, just for fear of being photographed by the media.

But I didn't expect that these paparazzi, who all became interstellar players when they followed Zhang Qi, were so terrible when they ran to track others!

The only good news now is that the Lakers flew to Salt Lake City the day after Game 5, and the players shouldn't have seen the news yet.

With only one day between Game 5 and Game 6 of the NBA playoffs, Lakers players have to prepare for Game 6 before they even have time to practice. In other words, it is difficult for both teams to make too many adjustments in the sixth game, which is why the fifth game is called "The Battle of Tianwang Mountain", the entire series only has two days of rest before the fifth game, once the game is changed, then the next sixth and seventh games will be fine-tuned at most, and it is difficult to make major changes to the overall tactics and lineup, otherwise too hasty changes will only affect the team's combat effectiveness, and there is no benefit.

Therefore, both teams know what lineup and tactics the opponent will send in the sixth game, and the competition is hard power.

Harris decided not to use the zone defense in Game 6, although this was the basis for the Lakers to limit the Jazz's offense in the first two games, but that was because breaking the joint defense requires a stable mid-range shot, interior strategy, and more breakthroughs to attract defense.

Malone was not there in the first two games, the Jazz lost the mid-range shot, and it was difficult for the outside to break through the Lakers' strange interior line.

This is the role of the coach, people only pay attention to Zhang Fu's performance and data, but ignore that the overall framework and policy are set by the head coach, and only when the direction and strategy are correct, the Lakers can be truly invincible.

Sloan also knows that a stable mid-range shot is the basic guarantee for breaking the defense, and Malone's hand has finally recovered, which is the biggest good news before the Jazz's sixth game, which means that their iron triangle can finally get back on track, Stockton and McDice will be reactivated, and the Jazz's offense will be cured, and now they want to see how the Lakers defend their offense?

The Lakers players didn't worry about Malone in the pre-game shooting drill, because that guy was dealt with by Zhang Fu, since the koala babies weren't worried, what else did they worry about?

Mutombo, the old dog, finally followed the team to the road, and although he still had to wear a suit to cheer for the team on the sidelines this time, the bastard didn't dare to shout loudly when the Lakers players were training.

How to say that, losing is terrible, and the lack of who is expanding; It's not terrible to win, it's embarrassing to be missing.

Now Mutombo has experienced the whole process from swelling to embarrassment, and the voice of talking to teammates before the game has been reduced, but the attitude of encouraging teammates is sincere, but it is inevitable that some people will secretly scold an "old dog" in their hearts.

Zhang Mao didn't give Mutombo a face, because he knew that this old dog was not as easy as Mason to find a replacement, Mutombo could guarantee the DPOY level for at least two or three years, and there was almost no replacement for him, so this old dog is still the interior pillar that the Lakers need, and it is not certain whether Big Ben can reach Mutombo's level in the future, even if he can really reach the DPOY level, it will have to go through another season or two of experience.

"I'm not going to shake his hand anymore so they don't have to close their eyes."

Zhang Zhu squeezed Malone hard at the pregame press conference, which was the result of a response to the Salt Lake City media's unconvincing loss in the first two games, which they thought Zhang could only use this despicable method to defeat the Jazz.

Of course, Zhang Qian couldn't bear this, he knew that these words would definitely attract a fine from the alliance for himself, but Uncle Koala didn't care at all, as long as he looked at the green line in the stock market, a fine of tens of thousands of yuan would be used to help the alliance improve food, and Uncle Koala was a girl with more money.

"Tell the people here that they will face the power of the Purple and Gold Legion, and that time is a luxury that they no longer have."

Zhang Wei erected a tombstone for the Jazz team with riotous words before the game, he, like the Los Angeles media, is not ready to let the Jazz see the Forum Arena again, and it is the greatest mercy for them to die at home.