On June 8, 2000, the American sports media continued to report on the G1 finals that ended last night.

The Eastern Conference Finals in '98 had a peak of more than 30 million viewers, but by the time it came to the Finals, the number of viewers had plummeted by half.

The Jazz really don't have much appeal, and most of the people who choose to watch the game are going to the Knicks.

'99 was even worse, affected by a shrinking season, coupled with the Spurs' appeal, even with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the number of viewers did not reach 15 million.

After the first game of this year's Finals, the NBA league was completely comfortable.

In the big ball market showdown, the media on both sides of the game blew violently before the game, coupled with the blessing of explosive data, the heat was hyped, and the expectation value was directly full.

G1 seemed to have a big difference in the end, but during the game, the Lakers chased the points several times and almost completed the overtake, and the game was fierce, and the number of viewers exceeded 20 million again.

The front page headlines of USA Today and the New York Times used the same headline:

“Superman！”

This title used to belong to O'Neal, but after last night's game, it became a description of Li You.

In the G1 game, the Lakers made 2 of 12 three-pointers, while Li You made 6 of 14!

The number of attempts to shoot and the number of three-point shots exploded the entire Lakers team.

Really, one person tops one team!

In the finals, the last person to shoot crazy outside the three-point line was Li You.

It's not the first time this has happened in '98 with 9-of-17 from beyond the three-point line in G4, so the Lakers lost, and Phil Jackson and the coaching staff were forced to take the blame after the game.

In the 232 schedule, the Knicks won an away victory, the Lakers lost the initiative, and the next home court cannot afford to lose.

Broke his personal playoff scoring record and scored 40+ in the Finals for the second time in his career.

In the team's historical record, Li You has completely surpassed the team's famous Willis Reed and became the first player to score 40+ times twice in the finals.

Scoring 40 points in the finals is never an easy task, so even if O'Neal loses, there will be a bunch of people after the game:

"The Lakers lost, the Sharks didn't!"

With a day's rest, it was difficult for Phil Jackson and the coaching staff to make effective adjustments.

In the training session on the afternoon of the 8th, seeing that O'Neal was still full of vitality, Phil Jackson was also relieved in his heart, without the sharks, the Lakers were directly cold.

Throughout the Western Conference playoffs, O'Neal has mostly played 40+ minutes.

In the finals G1, he was tossed by the block and dismantled for a whole game, and O'Neill did not overdraw, but became full of motivation.

This situation not only fooled the Lakers' coaching staff, but also made all teammates follow suit.

The Knicks didn't do any training at all today, and they all focused on stretching and recovering.

Ewing, Oakley, Ben Wallace, and Kurt Thomas all had muscle aches.

Defending O'Neal is a physical job, full of strength, and very flexible, with a soft hand at the end of the basket, a body of flesh that can keep up with the fast attack, and the defense can not be relaxed at any time.

"Playing more than 40 minutes in so many games in a row and digesting so many balls, you should be tired, right?"

Ben Wallace was completely blown up by O'Neal, one-on-one single defense is for nothing, the gap between the two is not small, and O'Neal is more experienced in the game.

After the stretched "Little Ben" muttered this, Oakley touched his chin and said in an uncertain tone:

"There should be a lot of consumption, and most of the rounds in the second half were near the three-point line, which should be a lot of consumption for him."

O'Neill's state is not clear, but for his body, the gorilla has been in a sore state since he woke up, and he hasn't played so many confrontations in a long time:

"We still have a chance to win again, and as long as O'Neill doesn't play well, the rest of us won't be our opponents!"

Ewing comforted himself and kept cheering himself on, and Kurt Thomas agreed with this and immediately nodded.

The four took turns to defend, but they couldn't limit O'Neal, and they were still hit by the opponent with a very high shooting percentage.

Jeff Van Gundy was still in a winning and smiling state at this time, and according to the game plan made before the game, he got an away win, and he had achieved the team's expected goal.

For tomorrow night's G2, the coaching staff didn't do much and still handed the game to the players.

Larry Johnson was secretly stunned after looking at G1's technical statistics, and he had the impression that the Knicks were all involved in defense, but they were still hit by O'Neal with a 60% shooting percentage

"Won't this guy get tired? Just 30 shots are already a lot of physical consumption, and the defense has to protect the basket, and I don't believe he can be so efficient all the time. ”

Alan Houston, who was doing free throw practice, was not so surprised to hear "Big Mom":

"Maybe it's a talent, it's a God-given ability!"

“.”

Looking at his teammate who suddenly turned into a god stick, Larry Johnson was immediately speechless, wanting to complain about God's partiality, considering that the person in front of him was a devout believer, and swallowed the words that came to his lips.

Lee Woo was also interviewed by NBC on the other side at this time.

Jim Gray has been in charge of the Knicks for several years, and during the Finals, the news about the Knicks basically broke from his side.

Noticing that Li You did not lie on his stomach like several veterans, and the afternoon training session still did basic exercises according to the usual practice, Jim Gray nodded secretly in his heart and asked a question with a smile:

"After an away win, back in New York, you'll have a chance to finish the series at home."

"Lee, can you talk about the team's plans for the future? Will there be more adjustments in the following games? ”

It blew too hard last night, and Li You was much more low-key in this interview:

'We all want to win at home and that's going to be the best.'

"As for the tactical adjustment, maybe it's what the Lakers should do, we still start with blocking and dismantling, and tomorrow night, everyone will go all out to win!"

Secretly noting Li You's physical state, Jim Gray smiled and blessed after asking a few daily questions:

"Come on, Lee! A lot of people are looking forward to you achieving a triple crown! ”

“.”

On the morning of June 9th, TNT was still discussing the G1 game on the show, and it was also a warm-up for tonight's G2.

Mike Fratello, as a member of the coaching circle, did not follow the trend in criticizing Phil Jackson's tactical choices:

"Like I said before, the Lakers have never had an MVP-caliber core guard in the entire Western Conference playoffs."

"Jason Kidd and Anfernee Hardaway are also superstars, but at the moment they can't play Lee's dominance on the offensive end."

"O'Neal takes on a lot of scoring tasks on the offensive end, so the Lakers have to take the load off his feet on the defensive end."

"There is no problem with the Lakers' game strategy, but Lee has given a response, and this is the MVP!"

With role player Bon Bang playing iron, Kenny Smith didn't talk too much about the issue, instead pointing out O'Neal's flaws:

"Whenever the Lakers are close to a point deficit and are about to complete a comeback, there will be a problem with Shaq's free throws."

"This gives the Knicks too many opportunities, and free throws and fitness will be key in this year's Finals!"

"Unfortunately, the Knicks have the advantage of these two points, and in the Eastern Conference playoffs, they swept all their opponents and got a lot of recuperation before the Finals."

"I'm optimistic that the Knicks will defend their title!"

Ernie Johnson saw that Mike Flatello on the other side did not refute, and knew that the other side had also lost some confidence in the Lakers, and finally concluded:

"It's supposed to be a long series, and at the moment the Knicks are just having some advantage, and we're looking forward to seeing the Lakers respond tonight."

“.”

There were problems everywhere after the loss, and before kick-off at 19:30 that night, Phil Jackson was annoyed by these wall grass questions, and finally simply showdowned and said:

"The team won't make too many changes, we're still going to give the ball to Shaq and the role players will respond."

"Tonight, we're going to put the ball in the basket again and again, and that's how the Lakers responded!"

Staples Arena was boiling again as Lakers fans entered.

For tonight's game, the Lakers were bound to win, and after the game began, O'Neal showed his aggressiveness, constantly attacking the basket.

Glenn Rice, who was 1-of-8 in G1, finally found his shooting touch and responded from the three-point line.

At 50:52, the Lakers failed to pull away at halftime and only led by 2 points.

However, the Knicks had their share of troubles, with Ewing picking up three fouls in two quarters.

O'Neal made 5 of 14 free throws in the half, and although he only scored 15 points, the Lakers showed a trend of blossoming more points.

At the end of the third quarter, the difference between the two sides was still only three points, and in the final quarter of the game, O'Neal once again played his dominance.

4-of-4 in the quarter and 6-of-12 free throws, O'Neal scored 14 points in the final quarter!

Ewing and Oakley were both sent off with 5:17 left in the game.

At 100:106, in the end, the Lakers successfully protected a home court and achieved the expected goal.

In 45 minutes played, O'Neal was 12-of-20, 13-of-30 from the free-throw line, 37 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and two turnovers.

30 free throws, really stupid Jeff Van Gundy.

After the game, seeing O'Neill's playing time in terms of technical statistics, the bald young marshal couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart:

"Simple and crude tactics, monster-like physical fitness"

Played 41 minutes, 7-of-16, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 turnovers, and won the first Finals victory of his career.

"That's the real strength of the Lakers, we played for each other and Shaq dominated the game!"

'It's three consecutive away games, but we're all confident we'll get back in the driver's seat.

"The Lakers are the better team tonight!"

Facing the camera, Kobe Bryant talked eloquently, his excitement was overflowing, and when he walked to the players' tunnel, he kept waving to the fans on both sides.

At the post-match press conference, Jeff Van Gundy still couldn't hold back and complained twice to the media reporters in the audience:

"Ewing picked up two fouls very quickly after the opening period, and then Charles was in trouble."

"We didn't have problems offensively, but we couldn't play on the defensive end at all, and I didn't like the blowing scale tonight."

The New York media in the audience had already put this defeat behind them, and at this time continued to ask inflated questions:

"Jeff, we have a chance to finish the series at home, can you talk a little bit more about our player form?"

The schedule was indeed more favorable, but Jeff Van Gundy still didn't swell and just replied in a modest way:

"The team had a long break, everyone's form was not affected by the defeat, and tonight our perimeter players were still very efficient."

"As for ending the series at home, we haven't thought about it yet, you know, the playoffs are going to be played one game at a time!"

"But it's a wonderful thing to lift the championship at Madison Square Garden, and we're going to work towards it!"

“.”

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(End of chapter)