Wei Guo and O'Neal are different. O'Neal's offensive power is concentrated in the paint, while Wei Guo's offense has no blind spots.

Shaquille O'Neal could draw the defense in the paint, allowing Kobe to shoot from the outside. This would give Kobe more space to play one-on-one, allowing him to unleash his full potential, scoring both from the outside and in the paint, thus fully releasing Kobe's one-on-one ability.

In the previous 33 games, this was the playing style in seven of them: Wei Guo would draw the defense on the weak side, allowing Kobe to take the one-on-one on the strong side.

These seven matches...

Kobe scored 50+ points in one game, 40+ points in three games, and 30+ points in three games. Even his lowest-scoring game had 31 points, and his field goal percentage was over 50% in all of them.

Kobe entered the league in 1996 and has played for more than a dozen seasons. He has even partnered with superstars like Shaquille O'Neal, but he has never had a season as easy as this one. In fact, the head coach felt he was working too hard and gave him a week off. In the past, unexcused absences would have resulted in a pay cut.

......

The Pistons' offense was also running smoothly.

Hamilton made a series of back-and-forth runs to get rid of Kobe's defense, received a pass from Billups, and made a mid-range shot!

The Pistons should never be underestimated...

Of the Pistons' five starters, apart from McDyess, the other four have almost the same number of field goal attempts per game. Hamilton and Billups score slightly more, averaging around 17 points per game. However, all four have three-point shooting ability, with Hamilton and Billups both having a three-point shooting percentage of over 40%!

Kobe is considered the offensive ceiling, with a three-point shooting percentage consistently around 35%. However, this season, with Wei Guo drawing the defense, Kobe had many open three-point opportunities, and his three-point shooting percentage just over 40%.

certainly...

The defensive pressure Kobe faced was on a completely different level compared to Hamilton.

This precisely illustrates that the Pistons are a team-oriented team, and these are the most difficult teams to deal with... Take the Magic, for example. Although they are currently ranked second in the East, they were completely dominated by the Lakers. The reason is that the Magic are a single-core team. As long as Howard is contained, the Lakers can beat the Magic.

The defender is Billups.

Billups' stats aren't particularly impressive, and no one has ever compared him to top point guards like Kidd or Nash. However, Billups plays with great experience and can find opportunities to pass the ball to his teammates even when facing Wei Guo's defense.

The first quarter has ended.

23:21!!

The Lakers lead by 2 points.

Both sides performed well in offense and defense, and the gap between them remained small.

It's really not easy for the Pistons to keep the score close, there's been too much interference from outside the court... Even though it's the Pistons' home court, there wasn't a single fan wearing a Pistons jersey in the stands. This was the team's arrangement; the jerseys were already placed on the seats when the fans entered. This is a scene the Pistons presented to their home team.

Who would have thought...

All the spectators changed into the jerseys provided for them.

The extent of Wei Guo's fanbase will become clear in this season as he prepares to retire, as the entire league gives him the utmost respect.

Wei Guo had just returned to the bench when a spectator in the front row shouted, "Wei, look at me!"

The camera was pointed at the spectator, who immediately appeared on the arena's big screen. The fan suddenly took off his Lakers jersey, revealing a Trail Blazers jersey underneath. Laughter erupted from the stands. This was just the beginning; the fan kept taking off his clothes, jersey over jersey.

Knicks jersey... Suns jersey... Nets jersey... Rockets jersey... 76ers jersey.

This is a die-hard fan; before coming to the stadium, he had already collected all of Weiguo's jerseys.

perhaps...

He only dares to show himself in an atmosphere like today.

In the past, the Pistons and Wei Guo were sworn enemies, and his flamboyant behavior would have kept him from ever leaving the arena.

Now it's different. The entire arena is filled with spectators wearing 76ers jerseys. After he showed them off, the audience cheered and whistled, everyone encouraging him. Encouraged, the spectator actually took off his last 76ers jersey, revealing his large chest and belly, and started breakdancing in the aisle.

He was very brave...

This behavior prompted Wei Guo to applaud him.

Pistons fans have never been so enthusiastic towards an away team. Gentry was somewhat overwhelmed and refused to let Weiguo rest. In Gentry's words, he wanted to give the Detroit guys a great show, no matter how many points they won, he wanted to make sure every shot was spectacular.

because...

This is very likely to be the last game that Wei Guo plays at the Pistons' home court.

The Eastern Conference teams are vastly different in strength. The Celtics did not have a smooth start to the season, but now that their Big Three have successfully gelled, with their current strength, barring any major surprises, the Celtics will undoubtedly be the team to reach the NBA Finals.

......

The second quarter began with Wei Guo remaining on the court.

The audience began to cheer...

Wei Guo felt the passion of the Detroit fans and planned to give them a 48-minute performance. How could the fans not be excited?

For fans, the outcome of this game really doesn't matter... There are 82 games in a season, and the Pistons really don't need one more. The most important thing is to enjoy the performance that Wei Guo brought them, and by the way, witness the birth of the first 34-game winning streak in history.

Pistons on offense!

Rookie Stuckey used his speed to get past Wei Guo and drove into the paint to try and score a layup.

Wei Guo turned around, took two steps into the paint, and slammed the ball against the backboard, delivering a thunderous block to Stuckey. If it were anyone else, this kind of chase-down block would easily make the top ten blocks of the month, but even for Wei Guo... this block was pretty cool.

Many fans are cheering!

Stuckey looked dejected. This was Detroit... Even if he was a rookie, shouldn't the crowd be cheering after he got blocked?

This isn't over yet...

Stuckey tried to steal the ball from Wei Guo's arms, but was too weak and was shaken off by Wei Guo... At midcourt, Maxie also tried to steal the ball, but Wei Guo dribbled past him behind his back. After getting past two people, he reached the three-point line and started a three-step layup. The first step was to dribble behind Prince, the second step was to dribble over Amir, and the third step was to jump!

McDyess, standing tall under the basket, was trying to draw an offensive foul on Wei Guo.

Of course, Wei would not do as he wished...

The Detroit fans were so enthusiastic, it was fine to show off, but they should try not to insult the Pistons. Wei Guo turned 360 degrees in mid-air, right behind McDyess.

"Bang!!!"

As he landed, Wei Guo completed a powerful two-handed dunk!