NOVEL NEXT Chapter 119 O'Neal was kicked off? The competition has changed dramatically!
As Lin Fei scored 5 points in a row on the offensive end, the Heat quickly led the Lakers to 23 points.
Less than halftime, the Lakers had already shown a tendency to collapse.
The Heat allowed Wade to play at such a high level. The strength gap between the two teams can really be said to be a world of difference.
The angry Kobe seemed to be burning with flames in his chest. When he came to the offensive end, he directly grabbed his jersey collar, and the monstrous battle in his eyes seemed to roll into a sea of blood.
"Give me the damn ball!"
Kobe faced Lin Fei at the top of the arc and yelled at the point guard Atkins who was holding the ball.
Naturally, Atkins shouldn't have disobeyed his boss's orders and passed the ball quickly.
But in his heart, Atkins dared not speak out against Kobe, and even waited for his blacksmithing performance.
This also fully reflects the current internal and external troubles of the rebuilding Lakers.
Atkins, a non-draft player, was dissatisfied with Kobe in his heart. Naturally, Odom and Caron Butler had never really admired "Peter Pan".
After all, even after Kobe retired with five championships, many fans still believed that Kobe's first three championships were all due to the boss O'Neal.
If Kobe's position at that time was replaced by Wade's now, then the Lakers would probably win more championships.
Kobe faced Lin Fei with the ball at the top of the arc, but the angry sword pointed at O'Neal first.
The frontal block that was overturned by O'Neal with the ball just now obviously really stimulated Kobe's paranoid self-esteem.
Especially in front of the Lakers fans at home, Kobe knew that even if he worked hard, he had to prove himself.
He made a pick-and-roll gesture to center Chris Mihm, who quickly moved up to the top of the arc and blocked Lin Fei's right space with his strong body.
Lin Fei quickly bypassed Chris Mihm to block Kobe's breakthrough route, but Kobe's breakthrough speed was very fast with the help of the pick-and-roll, and Lin Fei could only catch up after he circled around.
O'Neal came up to guard Kobe, and Lin Fei was also ready to double-team Kobe with O'Neal. After all, Chris Mihm basically had no basket in the mid-to-long range, and his independent offensive ability at the basket was also very limited. It was completely right to let him go. s Choice.
But O'Neal signaled to Lin Fei not to double-team, he obviously wanted to give Kobe a chance to fight one-on-one.
Faced with the ok group's love affair with each other, Lin Fei naturally understood the fun and quickly stepped aside. After all, it was just a Christmas game, and the Heat led by 23 points early. There was no need to take it too seriously.
It is also a feast for the eyes to see whether O'Neal can defend Kobe in the penalty area from a close distance.
But the ball was too close to O'Neal. Kobe seized the opportunity to lower his center of gravity and accelerate in a different direction, completely passing O'Neal in an instant.
O'Neal turned over and chased again, but his excessive tonnage and height made his flexibility and speed completely unable to compare with defenders, let alone Kobe?
In terms of small and big, Kobe still has a great advantage against O'Neal.
Kobe, who quickly reached the basket, leaped up and delivered a signature one-arm dunk.
"Boom!"
O'Neill staggered back to catch up, but the defense was still a bit slow after all.
The Lakers' next offensive possession.
Kobe faced O'Neal again after the pick-and-roll, and O'Neal didn't dare to get too close to Kobe this time, which made Kobe almost half-empty.
"Shh!"
After the feint, he directly started a high jumper, and the basketball flew over O'Neal's head and went into the net again.
On the offensive end, he scored 4 points in a row against O'Neal, and Kobe also showed his terrifying output on the offensive end.
O'Neill admitted that it was difficult for him to guard against Kobe, after all, the two were too far apart in position.
When they were teammates with the Lakers, the two had singled out many times. Basically, they exploded each other on the offensive end, and neither of them could restrain the other on the defensive end.
If it were O'Neal who was at his peak, around 2000, he might have been able to limit Kobe's breakthroughs to a certain extent and also interfere with his shooting.
The Heat came to the offensive end, and this time O'Neal also found an opportunity to misplace Kobe in the low post.
Kobe also clenched his teeth and faced O'Neal head-on, signaling Chris Mihm to open up space.
Just like this, holding up Kobe and avoiding his steal, O'Neal directly turned over and jumped up, delivering a powerful and heavy dunk.
"Boom!"
Seeing the old OK combinations blowing up each other one after another, the Lakers fans at home were filled with emotions. Will the former purple and gold team never come back?
At this time, sitting on the sofa in a luxury box on the roof of the stadium was Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.
The reason why Kupchak let O'Neal go during the offseason was on the one hand his own decision, and on the other hand it was also caused by the stinginess of the Lakers owner Bass family.
Originally, the Lakers management thought that Kobe was a more suitable core for team building than O'Neal, but O'Neal was already 32 years old and no longer at the peak, and the renewal of the big contract was obviously unreliable.
What's more, the contradiction between the OK group has reached an irreconcilable point, and one person must be sent away.
But now seeing that O'Neal is playing well in the Miami Heat, his state has improved significantly compared to last season, and the strength of the Heat is also very terrifying.
On the other hand, the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant are in disarray. Whether they can make it to the playoffs is a huge problem.
This made the Lakers' management somewhat regret sending O'Neal away, thinking that they could fight for it again during the offseason.
At the same time, Kupchak also has a lot of concerns about Kobe's ability to lead the team.
In the final analysis, he is just a part-time worker. Since the Bass family is unwilling to spend money, he has no good solution.
On the court, the ball was switched again and the Lakers attacked.
Kobe Bryant's dislocation continued to force O'Neal this time.
The big shark, who was beaten twice in a row, obviously made better preparations, turned around and returned to defense quickly, swooped up and completed a wonderful chasing cap on Kobe behind him.
"Snapped!"
"Beep!"
However, the whistle sounded, and the assistant referee signaled O'Neal to foul Kobe's shooting hitter.
This is O'Neal's third foul tonight.
O'Neill's eyes suddenly widened with an innocent look on his face, and he turned around and spread his hands towards the assistant referee.
Although Kobe fell to the ground after layup this time, it was entirely because of his personal body losing its center of gravity, and O'Neal's block was relatively clean and did not hit Kobe directly.
The white assistant referee did not explain too much, and the head coach Stephen Jiawei also frowned, thinking that the assistant referee's penalty was indeed unfair.
A few minutes ago, Kobe's chasing Lin Fei was scored 3+1, and then he was called a technical foul, which also came from the first assistant referee.
But Stephen Jiawei didn’t say much. After all, this Christmas game was just an ordinary regular season game, and any penalty that wasn’t too controversial was acceptable.
What's more, the assistant referee did not obviously favor any team and treated both sides equally.
"Shh!"
"Shh!"
Kobe was quite stable when he got to the free throw line and made both free throws.
Seeing that there was only one minute left in the second quarter, Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy replaced O'Neal, who committed three fouls, in advance to provide some protection for him.
Without O'Neal, the Heat's offense naturally revolves around Lin Fei.
Roughly and Haslem set up an elevator door screen at a high position, allowing Lin Fei to suddenly accelerate and run backwards while slipping to the bottom line, and went through the elevator door directly outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the right.
This was the first time the Heat used the elevator door tactic tonight. Kobe was caught off guard, and because he was chasing too fast, he knocked Kobe to the ground.
At the same time, Lin Fei had already received a precise cross pass from Jason Williams on the left, bent his bow and arrow, faced Odom, who was misplaced and changing defense, and took off decisively.
"Shh!"
"Beep!"
When the ball went in, the buzzer sounded, and referee Stephen Jiawei gestured that Lin Fei's three-point goal was valid. At the same time, Kobe, as a defender, knocked down the attacker who was not holding the ball. He also awarded a foul and an additional penalty goal.
Lin Fei was roughly pulled up from the ground and walked to the free throw line for additional penalties.
"Shh!"
The foul that Kobe just knocked down was also his third foul tonight.
The OK combination was in foul trouble at the same time, and they must control the number of fouls in the second half.
The Lakers fans at home were in an uproar. This was Lin Fei's ninth three-pointer in the first half tonight. He made 9 of 9 three-pointers and 9 of 4 free throws. Lin Fei had already scored 4 points.
The Lakers executed the last attack of the first half,
Seeing that Lin Fei made 9 of 9 three-pointers in the first half, Kobe was not to be outdone. When he came to the frontcourt, he took advantage of Lin Fei's defense to widen the distance, and directly shot a cold arrow from the top of the arc. point.
"Bang!"
This three-pointer was a little short, and it was a bit powerful, but the offensive rebound was grabbed by Odom. The latter avoided Haslem with a jump step and tipped the ball to score two points.
"Shh!"
There were only the last 3 seconds left in the first half. Lin Fei was tightly guarded by the two Lakers. Jason Williams, who was receiving the serve, could only try a long-range three-pointer across half court.
"Bang!"
Williams' aim on the ball was pretty good. When he shot it from such a long distance, the basketball at least hit the basket.
The first half of the game is over.
The Heat entered the 24-minute break at halftime with a huge 15-point advantage.
Lin Fei played 19 minutes in the first half. He made all 9 three-pointers and 4 free throws. He scored a game-high 31 points, plus 1 rebound, 2 steals and 1 block. Both offense and defense showed top performance. level.
Especially against a top offensive and defensive shooting guard like Kobe, Lin Fei still maintained a super high level of output.
Judging from the entire first half of the game, Lin Fei is undoubtedly the first focus of this Christmas battle.
During the halftime break, the Lakers fans at home unconsciously talked about Lin Fei's accurate three-pointer.
A few neutral fans who were not die-hard Lakers couldn't help but take out their mobile phones and cast an All-Star vote for Lin Fei.
"It feels like after giving up Wade, the Heat not only didn't lose strength, but actually played harder. Isn't this crazy?"
"The Heat's overall lineup is really strong, especially with the addition of Jason Williams and Shane Battier. It's a championship-ready lineup!"
"I have always felt that Lin has too little shot power. He often gives way to Dwayne and Shaquille. He averages less than 12 shots per game. Tonight Wade retired due to injury. It seems that Lin will have to do it again. There’s going to be a big explosion!”
"Kobe also scored 27 points in the half, and his shooting percentage exceeded 50% tonight. He played really well, but he was still robbed of the limelight by Lin!"
"Who said Shaquille is old? Can 32 be considered old? Look at his skills, which are obviously more powerful than last season. It seems that his mediocre performance last season has a lot to do with the conflict with Kobe!"
"There were already 9 three-pointers in the half, and the shooting rate was still 100%. If Lin was allowed to play another 15 minutes in the second half, would that be enough?"
"Anyway, the Lakers have no chance of winning. How about watching Lin break another three-point record at home tonight? The Christmas game is worth the money!"
"I can't help but vote for Lin as an All-Star. This guy is so accurate!"
"With Lin's level of three-pointers, doesn't he have the skills to win the All-Star Three-Point Contest? I guess no one dares to compete with him. It's a complete humiliation!"
After the start of the second half, the Heat have always maintained their advantages on both ends of the offense and defense, and the game is also very united.
Although Jason Williams's gorgeous pass will inevitably make one or two mistakes, giving the Lakers and Kobe Bryant a chance to counterattack the fast break.
But O'Neal's dominance at the basket has always existed. Even if he was cut off, his performance at the free throw line was still above 60%.
Lin Fei's three-pointer was further restricted by the Lakers' defensive end, which liberated O'Neal in the penalty area and the open teammates.
For this reason, Tomjanovich has no choice. Just like the Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, he knew that Lin Fei's three-pointers had to be restricted, so that he could not break the record again.
But for a super 3D like Lin Fei, no matter how restricted it is, it is impossible to completely lock it down. Through constant cover tactics and sharp movements,
Lin Fei had three opportunities to catch the ball in the third quarter, but Kobe Bryant and the Lakers' defensive players chose to foul them immediately.
Although he failed to hit a three-pointer, Lin Fei went to the free throw line three times, including two three-pointers and one two-pointer. He made all eight free throws, as steady as an old dog.
Through free throws, Lin Fei scored 8 points in the third quarter and contributed 2 steals on the defensive end.
With a steal attribute of 97, coupled with his increasingly improved speed and explosive power, as well as his ability to always concentrate on the game when he steps on the court, Lin Fei has the capital to win the NBA season's steals title.
The game reached the last minute of the third quarter, when O'Neal went to the free throw line and made 1 of 2 free throws.
At this time, the Heat already led the Lakers by 29 points.
Heat (89): (60) Lakers.
This Christmas Day game was a complete massacre, and the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant were crazily humiliated.
Originally, fans thought that the game had lost its suspense in advance. After all, it was just a festive regular season, and the lagging Lakers did not need to work too hard.
Trailing by nearly 30 points in the third quarter, there was basically no chance of a comeback.
However, in the next defensive round of the Heat, something unexpected happened.
Kobe's difficult pull-up layup was blocked by Lin Fei and O'Neal, and he missed the ball.
However, just as O'Neal landed after grabbing a defensive rebound, his left foot accidentally stepped on the instep of Chris Mihm, and he immediately fell to the ground gritting his teeth.
Chris Mim looked up at the sky with his hands outstretched and made a very innocent expression, showing that he didn't mean it at all.
Lin Fei, Jason Williams and others rushed up to ask about O'Neill's situation.
Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy, who was standing on the sidelines, was also startled and suddenly regretted not replacing O'Neal a minute earlier.
Wade is injured and O'Neal is also injured now?
"Whoosh whoosh!"
The team doctor immediately trotted into the court. After a simple inspection, he confirmed that O'Neal's ankle had no tissue damage and was fine.
But Stan Van Gundy still chose to let O'Neal return to the locker room and no longer play tonight's game.
Even without Wade and O'Neal, the Heat are already 29 points ahead of the Lakers. With Lin Fei on the court, there shouldn't be a big problem.
But with O'Neal's touch, the Heat's penalty area quickly missed, and the situation of the game changed suddenly...