When O'Neal and Kobe teamed up, it was at least a 1+1=2 effect.

This is not good news for the Rockets.

and...

Even worse things happened in the first quarter. In less than three minutes, O'Neal drew two defensive fouls from Yao Ming.

"You should substitute Yao Ming."

Gentry's smile vanished, and he substituted Yao Ming with Posey.

Yao Ming was an excellent center. Although he was at a disadvantage in his matchup against Shaquille O'Neal due to his height and skills, no one else on the Rockets besides Yao Ming and Wei Guo could contain O'Neal.

Posey is a veteran, and it would be difficult to rely on him to defend O'Neal.

"Brother Wei..."

When Posey came on, he glanced at Wei Guo.

Wei Guo said, "I'll help you defend. If we can't stop him, we'll foul him. Anyway, O'Neal's free throws are terrible."

O'Neal, "???"

Does Wei Guo not even bother to keep his mouth shut anymore? Hearing Wei Guo's words made him feel...very unhappy...

........

There were 3 minutes and 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

21:19!!

The Rockets lead by 2 points.

After Posey replaced Yao Ming, he received a pass from Wei Guo under the basket and scored a layup.

23:19!!

The Rockets extended their lead.

This play cannot be attributed to O'Neal's defensive lapse, because he was supposed to cover for Wei Guo, but he didn't expect Wei Guo to deliver the ball so accurately to Posey from such a tricky angle. Wei Guo's assist rate is extremely high; the balls he passes out are basically the best offensive options.

Popovich once said that he wasn't afraid of Wei Guo's offense, but he was afraid of Wei Guo's passing, because once Wei Guo passed the ball, his teammates would definitely get an excellent scoring opportunity.

Then...

Lakers on offense, O'Neal drives hard against Posey.

Wei Guo came up to help defend, and Kobe immediately circled to the three-point line, raised his hand and shouted, "Give me the ball!"

"Whoosh~~~"

O'Neal passed the ball to Kobe.

Francis was guarding Kobe, but Kobe got past Francis and pulled up for a jump shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

23:21!!

that's all...

The Rockets and Lakers remained neck and neck until the end of the first quarter, with the score still close.

........

Looking at Wei Guo sitting on the bench, Gentry felt a pang of sympathy.

The break was almost over, and Gentry pressed down on Wei Guo's shoulder to stop him from standing up. "Brother Wei, you should rest for a while."

"My physical strength is fine."

"I know..."

Gentry joked, "Just to give me face, you don't rest for even a minute, which makes me look incompetent."

"That's right, that's right..."

Cummings chimed in, "Brother Wei, please give Old Jin some face."

Wei Guo understood what Gentry meant, but since Gentry had already said so, he could only sit on the bench and rest for a while.

We've been playing the second round of the playoffs for a while now, and Wei Guo hasn't had a single minute of rest. The Rockets won both away games, but they won hard-fought victories.

Kobe and Shaq didn't play either!

When the Zen master saw that Wei Guo was also resting, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, "I almost thought I was playing ball with God."

Wei Guo scored 60+ points in three consecutive games, but the biggest drain on his energy was not physical strength but mental strength, which led to mental fatigue.

That's one way to put it...

Scoring 60+ points in three consecutive games is as difficult as scoring 100 points in a single game.

Gentry could tell that Wei Guo's mental state wasn't very good; although he kept sprinting, he didn't have many smiles on his face.

Wei Guo still has more than a dozen stamina runes, but only one spirit rune. He doesn't know why the system is so stingy. Wei Guo can never draw a spirit rune. In fact, Wei Guo has already felt that his spirit power is not keeping up, but because he has too few spirit runes, he is reluctant to use them.

Gentry said he was asking Wei Guo to give him face, but he was actually giving Wei Guo a way out. Don't underestimate the two or three minutes of rest... it can relax your tense nerves.

........

Gentry seems to have reached an agreement with Jackson.

Wei Guo, Kobe, Shaq, Yao Ming, Francis...

None of these key players played.

The first five minutes of the second quarter could only be described as a disaster.

The substitutes worked hard for five minutes and finally scored a 3-2 score, with the Lakers scoring 3 points and the Rockets scoring 2 points.

"Whoa~~~"

"Whoa~~~"

"Whoa~~~"

The arena was filled with boos.

........

In the tNt live stream, both Barkley and Johnson were laughing hysterically.

Barkley: "Are we really watching an NBA game? It feels like a bunch of high school kids playing."

Johnson: "It's so ugly, I want to turn off the live stream!"

Barkley said, "Even if you put Shaq's grandma on the court, she could still sink two shots."

Johnson said, "And these players combined only scored two goals."

It's no wonder that Barkley and Johnson made such comments. Both teams had only substitutes on the court, and these players, lacking a leader, couldn't find their rhythm when they came on.

No cooperation...

Losing your backbone...

It feels cold to the touch...

However, one commendable and crucial point is that they did not let their guard down on defense.

........

Five minutes later... the substitutes completed their tasks, and Gentry and Jackson simultaneously substituted in the starters.

31:32!!

The Rockets are down by one point.

"You did a great job, don't worry about the score."

Wei Guo high-fived each of the substitute players who were leaving the field, saying, "Leave the rest to me."

The same thing happened on the Lakers' bench. O'Neal and Kobe said the same thing to their teammates. After a five-minute rest, not only Wei Guo, but also O'Neal and Kobe got back into shape.

The Rockets are on offense.

Wei Guo received the ball beyond the three-point line, changed direction without slowing down to get past Kobe, and drove straight to the basket. In mid-air, he performed a folding layup to evade the defense of O'Neal and George.

"Bang!!!"

He scored with a powerful two-handed dunk.

33:32!!

The Rockets took the lead.

......

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

"This is the kind of game we want to see..."

"I was just thinking of getting a refund!"

"Brother Wei! Brother Wei! Brother Wei!"

"That bastard Gentry actually wasted five minutes of Wei's performance time."

......

Whether it was fans at the stadium or watching on TV, Wei Guo's dunk brought them back to their senses.

Then...

Kobe attempted a one-on-one shot to defend the country, but his turnaround fadeaway jumper missed.

Yao Ming grabbed the defensive rebound.

Francis dribbled the ball up the court and, near the free-throw line, tossed it towards the basket.

"Is this... using aerial leverage?"

Many people saw through Francis's thoughts.

But right now the two players under the basket are Kobe and Fisher, while O'Neal and Yao Ming are still running hard up the court. So who should Francis pass the ball to?