After a 34-game winning streak, the Lakers are setting records in every game.

They are unstoppable...

The Lakers' ambition can no longer be hidden; the entire league knows they are doing something truly terrifying: launching an attack on a regular season undefeated record.

This is Wei Guo's farewell season.

With more and more games played and the season getting shorter and shorter, Weiguo is experiencing a farewell to this league. Away games are a kind of farewell, especially against Eastern Conference teams. Western Conference teams and Eastern Conference teams only play each other twice a season, so away games in the East are all farewell games.

The Western Conference team's second away game, and also their farewell game.

Every team will make meticulous preparations for the farewell match for the national team. Putting aside everything else, tickets for that day's matches have already been sold out, and most matches are also broadcast live on MTV.

Wei Guo also experienced many touching moments...

He kept in mind the fans' reluctance to part with him. If he hadn't been unable to find an opponent, Wei Guo wouldn't have left the league so early.

certainly...

Fans may be reluctant to say goodbye!

Opponents won't easily let the Lakers off the hook; no one wants to become the backdrop of the Lakers' record. They will do their best to prevent the Lakers from creating an undefeated record, such as the Spurs.

......

After a 39-game winning streak, the Lakers will face the Spurs. If they defeat the Spurs, they will achieve an unprecedented 40-game winning streak.

The regular season is almost halfway through...

The Spurs' roster has remained virtually unchanged over the years, with the core players still being the so-called "GdP trio" of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. They have championship potential every year, but have been defeated by the Spurs every year.

The entire league is focused on the Lakers, and their tactics have been thoroughly analyzed.

Basketball games are like martial arts tournaments. If your skills aren't several levels higher than others, and your moves are figured out, you'll be at a disadvantage.

......

Starting lineup for this match:

Spurs: Parker, Bowen, Finley, Duncan, Oberto

Lakers: Paul, Kobe, Wei Guo, Odom, Gasol

......

Finley used to play for the Mavericks, where he was teammates with Nash and Nowitzki. He played small forward, and before Nowitzki developed, Finley was the leader of the Mavericks. He faced off against Wei Guo many times and always lived in Wei Guo's shadow. Oberto played power forward and center, which is also a unique aspect of Popovich's personnel management.

The Spurs have many international players, like Parker and Ginobili. Their greatness cannot be denied, but they wouldn't have had such brilliant careers if they hadn't played under Popovich.

Oberto is also...

He and Ginobili are from the same hometown. He was an undrafted player and was recruited into the league by the Spurs in 2005. He didn't have any outstanding qualities, but he was able to secure a starting position this season.

......

This game was played at the Lakers' home court.

There wasn't much pre-game small talk... Oberto and Gasol jumped for the ball. There wasn't much of a rule for this jump ball. If Duncan jumped for the ball, Gentry would let Weiguo jump for it. This was a little trick Popovich used. Otherwise, if Duncan jumped for the ball, the Lakers' center would jump for the ball.

"Beep!!!"

The whistle blew, and the game began.

Oberto passed the racket to Parker, who dribbled to the frontcourt and lobbed the ball to Duncan. Duncan then isolated against Gasol, turned around, and made a fadeaway jump shot off the backboard!

"Snap!!!"

The basketball fell into the hoop.

The bank shot was Duncan's signature move. Apart from Wei Guo, no one in the entire league had a more consistent bank shot than Duncan. At any time... Gasol was no match for Duncan and was at a disadvantage when matched up against him.

Paul went one-on-one with Parker... He used a crossover to get past Parker and took a mid-range shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

Paul made that shot very decisively!

Playing for the Lakers, Paul felt stifled. He was the team's playmaker and preferred to direct his teammates' movements, throwing the ball towards the basket to assist them in dunks—this is called "feeding"... With Wei Guo's athletic talent, he was perfectly suited for catching these easy baskets, but unfortunately, holding a single-game scoring record meant he didn't need to feed the ball to anyone.

and...

Paul was only considered the third or fourth number one player on the Lakers, and even Odom didn't respect him.

On several occasions during team training sessions, Paul was directing Wei Guo's positioning when he was verbally attacked by Bynum and Odom before the training session was even over. If Gentry hadn't stepped in to smooth things over, the team might have experienced internal strife.

Cummings reminded Paul more than once to be more astute.

You need to be clear about your position. You have Wei Guo and Kobe by your side, so don't think of yourself as the team leader.

......

After the first quarter, the Lakers were down by one point.

This is the norm...

Duncan and Wei Guo have faced off for many years, with Duncan losing more often than winning. However, most of their games were decided in the final minutes. The Spurs always saw a glimmer of hope for winning, only to have it crushed by Wei Guo. Therefore, the Spurs are the most helpless team in the entire league when it comes to Wei Guo, the most helpless head coach is Popovich, and the most helpless star player is Duncan.

Popovich was also thinking that Wei Guo was not invincible. If he could have another center who could handle the ball, shoot, had outstanding athleticism, and was over 2.2 meters tall, and pair him with Duncan, he could also defeat Wei Guo.

But where can we find such a player?

The tallest player in the league is Yao Ming, but Yao Ming is not yet the ideal player. He has a fighting chance with Duncan and Wei Guo, but it is not certain that he can defeat Wei Guo.

"Manu, avoid the attack of the Wei Kingdom."

Popovich pulled Ginobili over and said, "When Weiguo is inside, shoot threes; when Weiguo is outside, attack the basket."

"I see..."

Ginobili nodded.

Ginobili was a starter for the Spurs before, but in recent years Popovich has put him on the bench, and it has been surprisingly effective.

I remember in a post-game interview, Wei Guo said that the Spurs with Manu as a substitute had almost no weaknesses... Popovich didn't take it to heart, but after a few years of exploration, he realized that what Wei Guo said made a lot of sense. Many fans would say that this was sacrificing Ginobili, a player who was almost a superstar, and only scoring a dozen points per game.

actually...

Ginobili has one major disadvantage.

It's about physical endurance. When he was a starter, he averaged 30 minutes or so per game, but after less than half a season, all sorts of injuries came one after another: ankles, thighs, hands, ribs, back... In short, no major injuries, but constant minor ones. Controlling Ginobili's playing time is also a way to protect him.

Ginobili has a nickname, "20-Minute Jordan," which is a testament to his ability.

......

In the second quarter, Wei Guo did not rush to play.

Gentry was also controlling Kobe and Weiguo's playing time to avoid injuries... although Weiguo never missed a game due to injury throughout his entire career.

The time I was injured by Takeru Kimura...

He only went back to the locker room for a quick look before returning to the field before the game was over.

As for minor ailments like ankle sprains, Wei Guo has experienced them before, but he always recovers in just a few minutes. With such strong recovery ability, it's no wonder he's reached such a high level in the league.

On-field lineup:

Spurs: Ginobili, Barry, Horry, Vaughn, Bonner

Lakers: Farmar, Turiaf, Walton, Ariza, Bynum

All of them are substitutes, not a single starter. This is the source of confidence for the Lakers and Spurs – sufficient bench depth. And indeed, the Lakers are undefeated and ranked first in the West. Although the Spurs have lost eleven games, their 27-11 record still puts them second in the West. Who knows... the two teams might meet in the Western Conference Finals.

Lakers on offense.

Turiaf cut to the basket to receive a pass from Farmar, but missed the layup. When he landed, he accidentally stepped on Horry's right foot.

fine...

Turiaf was only slightly bumped and was not injured.

The sharp-eyed Cummings saw this and exclaimed, "Damn it... why can't this guy change his attack?"

This isn't the first time. When he was with the Suns, Horry almost injured Nash, and the two teams even had a minor altercation. It's only because Turiaf is young and strong that he's like this. If it were an older player, a sprained ankle would be a minor issue, but a torn ligament would be a much bigger loss.

"There's a stepping motion..."

Kobe also said, "Rebounding is one thing, but Horry's right foot shouldn't be in that position."

Ultimately, it was just a minor incident. Turiaf wasn't injured, and the referee overlooked Hori's action. You can't blame the referee; their focus is different from the sidelines. They concentrate on the player's physical movements to judge whether there's a foul, and rarely observe the defender's feet. This isn't football.

The small actions only angered the Lakers.

Especially...

Ginobili scored 11 points in five minutes with a combination of inside and outside shots, and the Spurs actually widened the gap!

......

The four players from the Weiguo team returned to the court, except for Gasol.

Gasol needs to adjust...

Duncan scored 9 points against Gasol in the first quarter and also blocked two shots, leaving Gasol stunned.

Lakers on offense!

Kobe Bryant drove past Finley to the basket, and while being double-teamed by Duncan and Oberto, he passed the ball to the three-point line. Wei Guo received the ball and launched a three-pointer!

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

37:43!!

The Lakers are down by 6 points.

"The two are getting along better and better," Gentry said.

When Kobe drove to the basket, Duncan and Oberto provided timely help defense, giving Kobe no chance to shoot. Kobe then made a last-second pass... as if he already knew Wei Guo would be there.

"This is no coincidence..."

Popovich's face darkened. "The OK duo back then never had such perfect teamwork. It's really disheartening."

1+1\\u003d2

That's enough...

When Wei Guo joined the Lakers, everyone was worried about whether Kobe could be compatible with him. There are many examples of 1+1<2 in this league. Fans never expect the combination of Wei Guo and Kobe to be 1+1>2. Only if they can equal 2 would they be the most invincible combination in the league. After all, they are the number one and number two in the league.

Throughout the history of the league, there has never been such a group forming together.

The Spurs are on offense.

Duncan set a screen for Parker at the top of the key, getting past Kobe... Wei Guo looked at Parker with a half-smile, and Parker didn't dare to shoot, so he passed the ball back to Duncan on the outside.

Why didn't he vote?!

Duncan, still full of doubt, took a step with the ball and said, "I'll shoot myself then!"

Duncan was able to shoot... but when he received the pass from Parker, he was standing on the three-point line, which was beyond his shooting range. He could only dribble one step inside the three-point line and shoot over Kobe.

"grass!!!"

Kobe yelled and jumped to block Duncan's shot.

"Oh ho ho~~~"

The Lakers' bench erupted in cheers: "Duncan got blocked! Awesome!"

How difficult is it to block Duncan?

Duncan was blocked fewer times in a season than Nash blocked opponents. Only a player like Wei Guo could make Duncan hesitate when shooting. Kobe, however, delivered a huge block to Duncan and said something that Duncan couldn't understand.

Paul steals the ball and launches a fast break!

Neither Wei Guo nor Kobe chased after them. Instead, the two bumped chests in celebration in front of Duncan, thankfully without Duncan showing any embarrassment.

"Bang!!!"

Paul scores with a fast break dunk!

Adding flowers to brocade...

39:43!!

The Lakers are down by 4 points.

Popovich didn't call a timeout, but the score was only 5 points behind. Calling a timeout at this point wouldn't have been very prudent. He and Gentry had faced off for five seasons, and it was a contest of who could be more composed.

......

With 1 minute and 7 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Wei Guo provided support in the low post, screened Bowen for Kobe, and then passed the ball hand-off to Kobe for a layup.

The Lakers tied the score...

Popovich shouted, "Stay calm, don't make mistakes, there's still one minute left."

The Spurs inbound the ball from the baseline!

Parker took seven seconds to dribble the ball across midcourt, trying to complete the attack in more than 20 seconds. This gave the Lakers only one offensive opportunity in the first half, which helped prevent them from taking the lead.

Wei Guo instructed Paul, "When they press, I'll cover for them!"

Paul was happy to accept this request, and he didn't blame himself for failing to steal the ball and being beaten by Parker, as it was Wei Ge's instruction.

Just start...

Parker dribbled back a step, Paul pressed him with another step, and continued to attack... Parker took another step back, Paul pressed him with another step, and continued to attack... It looked like Parker was about to be forced to the midcourt line by Paul. If he took two more steps back, it would be a backcourt play. Backcourt play is a basketball term that means that frontcourt players are not allowed to let the ball into the backcourt.

Once a player returns to the field, a substitution must be made.

Parker's forehead was beaded with sweat...

I underestimated this guard who has only been in the league for a few years. He is very strong, not afraid of contact at all, and has a lot of dirty tricks!

Cummings was overjoyed!

During one team practice, he was forced into a mistake by Paul, and afterwards he criticized Paul, asking why he was taking the practice so seriously!

Ginobili saw that Parker was in trouble and ran over to receive the ball, but Parker didn't even have space to pass. He had no choice but to jump and throw the ball towards Ginobili... This was the moment Wei Guo had been waiting for. Before Ginobili could receive the ball, a purple and gold figure appeared.