The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing at home for a while since their previous road trips, and the Lakers' schedule has not been very difficult in recent times, with the first two home games against the Trail Blazers and Nets being more difficult.

After beating the Trail Blazers on January 28, the Lakers' next game and the team's last game in January was against the league's newcomer Bobcats, who hosted a special character in Los Angeles just days before that game.

"Hahaha, Zhuang, thank you very much, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have played like this this season, but when it comes to this year's finals, I won't show mercy"

In a high-end café near Hollywood, Los Angeles, at this time, two people who seemed to be familiar to many people were sitting in a window seat, and these two people in their seats completely didn't feel the crowd outside the café, as if they were still like a world with only the two of them, and then they were talking and laughing about something.

These two people who were watched by many people in the café are naturally no one else, one is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Zhuang Fei, the hottest figure in Los Angeles this year, and the other is the owner of Zhuang Fei's old friend Bobcats, Jordan God, and in fact, in Los Angeles, in Hollywood, there are not many people who can make people crowd outside the café to watch, and Jordan and Zhuang Fei are indeed figures of this level, even in Hollywood, a place full of stars, they also have enough influence.

"Michael, I don't think we're going to be able to meet in the finals. You can rest assured of this," Zhuang Fei looked at the extremely excited good friend in front of him, and said a little speechlessly. The Bobcats have been outstanding this season. Maybe it's not great, it's amazing, you know, in the history of the NBA, no new team has been able to stay in the playoff zone in their first season and maintain the possibility of hitting the top five in the division, and the current Bobcats, they have done that.

"Haha, Zhuang. Don't be so unconfident, the strength of the Lakers is still very strong, there should be no team in the West that can withstand you this year" Looking at Zhuang Fei with a look of contempt, the great god also laughed again and said, and at this time Zhuang Fei was speechless, and seeing Zhuang Fei's expression, the owner of the Bobcat was also very happy. And Zhuang Fei also knew that this was the god joking, just like the five championships in 6 years that the god said when the new season had not yet started.

But jokes aside, the Bobcats' current record in sixth place in the East this season is truly amazing, especially since this team is led by Haslem. Birdman Anderson, Kirilenko. The core of Gerard Wallace and Lakers player Payton is led by former Hawks coach and Dream III head coach Wilkens, who has played with super-athletic talent.

If in the West, the Lakers' athleticism is astounding, then in the East it is the Bobcats, a new army, with an airtight pressing defense, crazy defensive counterattacks, and this team has even quickly gained the approval of ACC fans.

Compared with the Charlotte Hornets, who were extremely struggling in North Carolina back then, this Bobcat attracted the attention of North Carolina fans at the first time under the leadership of Jordan.

In particular, while the team is doing well, Wake Forest's former captain and the team's leading player development Gerard Wallace has also played an amazing game, the player who spent four years in college averaged 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2 blocks per game in his rookie season.

You know, in the entire NBA, there are only two outside players who can play this amazing statistic, one is him, and the other is Gerard Wallace's teammate, the most favorable contender for the most improved player this year, Kirilenko.

It's fair to say that this team's perimeter defense has made almost every team in the NBA miserable. And that's the guarantee of this team's results this season. However, although this team has gained a foothold in North Carolina, it has only only gained a foothold, and it will take time to test what kind of stamina it can have.

And Jordan thanked Zhuang Fei for saying that this is indeed the case, after all, some people in the core lineup of this team, three are Zhuang Fei's disciples in the Celtics, one is a Wake Forest player and the other is a Lakers player sent by Zhuang Fei, it can be said that it is not an exaggeration to say that the lineup of the Bobcat was created by Zhuang Fei.

It's just that for Jordan's gratitude, Zhuang Fei felt a little helpless in countdown, after all, this is not what he wants to do.

Before the game against the Bobcats began, the proud Jordan God came to Los Angeles before the Bobcats arrived, and when the game between the Lakers and the Bobcats began on January 31, 2005, when the first figure in the history of the league appeared on the big screen of Staples Arena, the Lakers fans also gave their own applause.

For them, although the Jordan god was the enemy of the year, the enemy of the year was entitled to his applause at the Staples Arena after retiring.

Of course, compared with the warm expressions of Lakers fans to Jordan, the interaction between Zhuang Fei and the Bobcats players and the Bobcats head coach on the court is also very warm, Wilkens is Zhuang Fei's old boss in the Dream Three team, and he is also a head coach that Zhuang Fei respects very much.

When the coaching failure in the previous years made him ready to retire, it was the Bobcat success this year, which also made Zhuang Fei very pleased, just like the Warriors' head coach Nelson Sr., Zhuang Fei really didn't want these old coaches to withdraw from their historical stage early, and now they are really doing well.

This game with the Bobcats is a very special game for Zhuang Fei, but there is nothing special for Lakers fans, at most they saw the Jordan god in this game, and after the start of this game, Zhuang Fei frowned when he saw the starting lineup of the Bobcats.

Haslem, Birdman Anderson, Kirilenko, Gerard Wallace, Gary Payton, this is a group of super-mobile defensive maniacs, and although Payton is older, he is still in excellent form.

And unlike the warm atmosphere between the Lakers and the Bobcats, this Mr. Payton and Zhuang Fei have a big feud, and there is naturally no possibility of staying in this game, so this game with the Bobcats will be very difficult, especially the Lakers' group of outside players will be a little difficult.

"Coach, maybe we should play more on the inside" After the start of the game, just like Zhuang Fei estimated, this Bobcat's defensive rotation is excellent, even compared to the Grizzlies with the best rotation defense, it is not bad at all, and this team's defense is more ferocious, and the defense is also very strong, and it has the meaning of competing with the Lakers to press all over the court, and in fact, in the first few minutes of this game, both teams are indeed pressing all over the court, but after playing for a few minutes, the two teams see that they can't help each other. I had to give up, and I also started regular offense and defense, and this also made the two teams fall into a see-saw, of course, although it was a see-saw, the Lakers still had the advantage, but the Bobcats were also very tight.

"Well, it's really a good way to play inside," Zhuang Fei looked at the birdman Anderson who was constantly jumping on the court and Kirilenko and Haslem who kept filling in for Birdman Anderson after hearing Green's suggestion, and also smiled.

Although this team is fierce defensively, it is not without loopholes, for example, this team's interior defense has problems, and many times it can only rely on the assistance of outside players, as long as the Lakers play more inside, whether it is the No. 5 tactic or Paul can open the team's defense after going around the inside a few more times after he comes on the court, so that this team can not take care of both inside and outside.

So for this new army, although they fought very bravely in this game, Zhuang Fei still had a way to deal with them.

Therefore, after the start of the second quarter, the Bobcats felt the pressure brought to them by the Lakers' changes, especially after Paul came on the court, constantly looping on the inside, making the Bobcats who were ready to fight for 48 minutes in this game a headache.

And at this time, Wilkens on the sidelines was also a little helpless when he saw Paul constantly going in and out of his interior line, and Haslem and Birdman Anderson were also a little helpless, in fact, the Lakers also had this problem, but he didn't have a Paul, and he couldn't catch such a loophole. Wilkens also had some ideas in this game, but from the current point of view, it is still a little unrealistic to beat the Lakers team.

In the end, when the game ended in the third quarter, both sides also changed their starting lineups, but Kobe Bryant still insisted on staying on the court in the fourth quarter of this game.

In the first three quarters, in the face of the Bobcats' very oppressive play, his score was not very easy, and he was not able to reach 40 points, and after the end of the game, the Lakers finally defeated the Bobcats 116-86, and Kobe Bryant's three-point shot at the last offensive time in the fourth quarter also scored a game-high 42 points, making his streak of 40 points continue.

The Lakers also won their 42nd game of the season, winning 42 of 43 games, and also ended all games in January this year.

"Zhuang, I really didn't think your Lakers would be able to suppress the Bobcats so badly, this season's Lakers are one of the scariest teams I've ever seen"

After the end of this game, Bobcats head coach Wilkens also said to Zhuang Fei a little helplessly, it is obvious that the old coach is really surprised, he hopes that this game can fight with the Lakers for 48 minutes, but in the end the Lakers did not give them this opportunity, and it entered garbage time after the third quarter, and his team was also restricted everywhere in this game.

"Now the Bobcats still need time, this will be a very promising team," Zhuang Fei said with a smile at the end, and Wilkens nodded in agreement.

This Bobcat is indeed a promising team. (To be continued.) )