The stadium staff were just too cautious. They not only brought over the basketball hoops and set up the timers, but also checked everything many times before letting the players return to the court.

Better safe than sorry.

The staff also did not want a similar incident to happen a second time in the same game.

........

Wei Guo and O'Neal played the entire first quarter, and in the first few minutes of the second quarter, both teams brought in their substitutes.

After Mutombo became a substitute, his playing time was reduced.

Can...

The 76ers have significantly improved their bench depth.

Samaki's two consecutive shots under the basket were blocked by Mutombo, which frustrated Samaki.

The 76ers took this opportunity to widen the score gap.

37:29!!

When O'Neal and Kobe returned to the court, the 76ers were already leading by 8 points.

In fact...

O'Neal and Kobe only rested for two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. After entering the playoffs, Kobe and O'Neal's playing time was consistently over forty minutes.

"Allen, it's time for you to go on the field too."

Brown patted Iverson on the shoulder.

"I also..."

Wei Guo stood up, shook off the towel on his head, ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it, and said, "It's time to go on stage."

Brown hesitated for a moment, "You can rest for a few more minutes."

"I can't sit still..."

Wei Guo rejected Brown.

......

Brown is thinking about a problem: if the team can keep Wei Guo in the offseason, then they should seek a trade to exchange Mutombo for two small forwards or guards with defensive capabilities.

at present...

In terms of trades, the 76ers' best assets are Iverson and Mutombo. Iverson is considered 'untouchable' and the team will not trade him unless absolutely necessary. Besides Iverson, the 76ers' biggest asset is Mutombo, who happens to play the same position as Wei Guo.

That's all for later; we'll talk about it after this season ends.

........

There were nine minutes and twenty-three seconds left in the second quarter.

Wei Guo replaced Coleman.

Mutombo remains on the court to help defend O'Neal and minimize O'Neal's threat as much as possible.

Fisher passed the ball to O'Neal.

Wei Guo pointed at Fox and shouted to Mutombo, "You guard him, I'll handle this one."

Mutombo, "..."

O'Neal and Wei Guo engaged in a physical battle under the basket. O'Neal gripped the basketball with both hands, pushed Wei Guo aside with his body, and slammed it home with a one-handed dunk.

"Bang!!!"

After scoring, O'Neal seemingly unintentionally bumped into Wei Guo.

"Um?!"

Wei Guo raised an eyebrow. Was this a provocation?

37:31!!

The Lakers are down by 6 points.

In this league, Wei Guo and O'Neal are the strongest offense and the strongest defense under the basket, respectively.

Shaquille O'Neal changed many of the league's rules...

Some fans have said that no one can completely stop him in a 1-on-1 situation under the basket, and this applies to Wei Guo as well.

The 76ers are on offense.

Iverson dribbles the ball beyond the three-point line and goes one-on-one against Kobe!

With a series of crossovers, Iverson got past Kobe and reached the free-throw line, where he tossed the ball into the air.

O'Neal noticed that it was an alley-oop play, and he immediately moved toward Wei Guo, trying to stop Wei Guo from dunking.

But how can this be stopped...?

"Bang!!!"

Wei Guo dunked the ball into the basket with one arm over O'Neal in mid-air.

Despite having only one arm, Wei Guo used all his strength. This was how O'Neal used to bully his opponents, and now this scene was playing out on him.

The Lakers attacked again.

Wei Guo stayed close to O'Neal, who moved to the right. Kobe broke through and flicked the ball into O'Neal's hands.

"Smack!"

O'Neal received the ball, took a step and jumped, intending to dunk with one hand.

Wei Guo seized the opportunity...

He jumped in front of O'Neal, his big hand covering the basketball, and then collided with O'Neal in mid-air, sending the basketball flying into the air.

The referee carefully reviewed the defense; it was very clean!

The basketball flew out of bounds but was saved by Mutombo. Iverson took the ball and attacked, passing it to Wei Guo on the perimeter from near the mid-range.

Wei Guo paused beyond the three-point line!

"Shoot!"

Brown loudly reminded Weiguo.

Wei Guo did not hesitate. If it were O'Neal, he would not have shot from beyond the three-point line. But O'Neal is not Wei Guo, and Wei Guo is not O'Neal. How could Wei Guo not take a three-pointer when he had an open shot?

"bang~~~"

The basketball bounced off the front edge of the rim.

"wrong!!!"

Wei Guo immediately sensed something was wrong. He had a great feeling before he shot, so how could the ball have hit the front edge of the rim?

Mutombo grabbed the offensive rebound and threw the ball to Wei Guo outside the three-point line. Wei Guo caught the basketball, tucked it between his waist and waist, and signaled to the referee to stop the game.

"The 76ers are requesting a timeout."

"Um???"

Brown looked at Wei Guo with a puzzled expression, wondering why he would call a timeout at a time like this.

That was also an open three-point opportunity...

Wei Guo could have easily taken action. Could it be that Wei Guo is unwell?

Wei Guo pointed to the basketball hoop and reminded the staff, "There's something wrong with this basketball hoop."

Is there something wrong with the basketball hoop?

The staff's hearts clenched immediately.

What they're worried about...

It happened just over three minutes into the second quarter.

At this moment, all the players looked at the basket, and Iverson nodded and said, "The basket seems a little crooked."

This deviation is really hard to notice without careful observation, but Wei Guo was very certain that there was something wrong with the basket after just one shot, which shows his confidence in his three-point shot.

........

The staff quickly brought over a ladder to calibrate the basket.

As expected...

The rim was tilted downwards by about 7 millimeters from the horizontal line. Although it was only 7 millimeters, it had a significant impact on professional players.

And this is the finals!

Basketball hoop: (?﹏?)

The game was forced to pause for another 10 minutes, which may be the longest game in the league, and the reason was actually the damage to the basketball hoop.

......

The players sat on the bench, waiting for the staff to calibrate the basketball hoops.

Cummings laughed and said, "Brother Wei, that one-handed dunk you just made it into the top ten plays of the Finals."

"When has Shaquille O'Neal ever been a background character?"

Mutombo clicked his tongue, "It's always O'Neal who bullies us big men. He got bullied by Wei Ge several times today."

Mutombo still remembers.

O'Neal once dunked under the basket and knocked him flying; that play was even made the top ten plays of the month.

"Shaquille O'Neal wasn't the one who was bullied the most."

Brown muttered, "It's the hoop and the basketball hoop."

"It's probably because the basketball hoop we just replaced isn't very good quality..."

Wei Guo said modestly, "I didn't use too much force. Normally, if the rim is bent a little, it will bounce back."

At this time...

The stadium's big screen was replaying Wei Guo's one-handed dunk.

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

The stadium echoed with gasps of amazement from the audience.