O'Neal didn't stop; he was holding back his energy.
and...
O'Neal didn't expect that Wei Guo would stand still under the basket. Looking at the entire league, there has never been a player who dared to actively draw offensive fouls from O'Neal after he started charging.
That is, a second or two... not enough time to think.
"Bang!!!"
O'Neal knocked Wei Guo to the ground.
After knocking Wei Guo down, O'Neal also staggered a few steps due to inertia, losing his balance and about to fall on Wei Guo.
"Holy crap..."
When Wei Guo saw O'Neal lunging at him, he rolled away on the ground to avoid it.
*Smack!!!*
O'Neal also fell to the ground.
The damage from being bumped by O'Neal was already off the charts; if he were to be pinned down by O'Neal as well... Wei Guo might actually pass out.
"Beep!!!"
The referee blew his whistle and called an offensive foul on O'Neal.
After O'Neal and Weiguo were pulled up by their teammates, O'Neal scolded, "Weiguo, why didn't you move aside?!"
"I don't think there's anything wrong with this defense."
Wei Guo rubbed his chest and complained, "But you really should lose weight, damn it..."
O'Neal, "???"
Wei Guo's last word didn't sound like English, and he didn't understand it.
........
Possession changes, Rockets attack.
Francis orchestrated the offense, passing the ball to Mobley, who then faced Horry one-on-one and took a fadeaway jumper.
"bang~~~"
The basketball bounced off the rim, and O'Neal grabbed the defensive rebound.
The Lakers quickly ran up the court... Just as O'Neal was about to pass the ball to Fisher, two large, menacing hands suddenly appeared and snatched the ball from O'Neal's hands.
After a successful steal, Wei Guo jumped from the spot and slammed a two-handed dunk over O'Neal!
"Bang!!!"
The basketball hoop shook violently for a moment.
Shaquille O'Neal is angry again...
He had always thought Wei Guo was an upright and honest man, never expecting him to do such a despicable thing.
65:63!!
The Lakers' timeout failed to narrow the gap.
The Zen Master had long seen the problem; relying on O'Neal to take on Wei Guo was a dead end. He kept reminding the players to let Kobe have the ball as much as possible.
The player guarding O'Neal was replaced by Mobley when guarding Kobe.
Mobley's defense completely freed up Kobe. In the latter part of the third quarter, Kobe scored 17 points with a combination of drives and shots, leading the team to narrow the gap to just 7 points.
........
"We must admit one thing."
The Zen Master patted O'Neal's broad shoulder and comforted him, "Wei Guo is the best player in the league now. No one can get the better of him when he's matched up against Wei Guo."
These were the words the Zen Master used to comfort O'Neal... but O'Neal didn't feel comfortable listening to them.
If it were Gentry, he might add, "The National Guard chose to match up against you because they considered you an evenly matched opponent, and it's a recognition of your abilities... You successfully held off the National Guard's defense, so you are our greatest contributor."
Gentry won't come to comfort O'Neal.
When he realized that Mobley couldn't guard Kobe, he felt a pang of regret, thinking how wonderful it would be if the team had another player of similar caliber to Wei Guo.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a 100% copy of Wei Guo. Another player could be 1.98 meters tall, but like Wei Guo, he would be good at both offense and defense. In a daze... Gentry felt that such a player might actually appear.
Gentry got this idea after seeing the combination of O'Neal and Kobe.
but...
If a player like that were to appear on the same team as Wei Guo, the other players might as well switch to playing rugby.
"The fourth quarter is crucial!"
Gentry had the players sit on the bench to rest, and he stood up and said, "The fourth quarter will determine the winner, and stamina is crucial... so Francis and Yao Ming should rest for a while before coming back on. Wei, you hold on for now."
Three quarters have passed in the game.
Wei Guo played the most minutes, a total of 36 minutes across three quarters. Kobe Bryant followed, having played for less than a minute and also 35 minutes.
........
The fourth quarter begins.
"Rockets, you will win!"
"Rockets, you will win!"
"Rockets, you will win!"
The home fans continued to cheer for their team.
79:72!!
The Rockets lead by 7 points.
The Lakers scored only 22 points in the third quarter, 17 of which came from Kobe. Kobe has scored 33 points in this game, making him the highest scorer so far.
The Rockets are on offense, and Wei Guo has the ball across half-court.
"Double-team Weiguo beyond the three-point line!"
The Zen master shouted, "Don't let him shoot a three-pointer!"
With only Wei Guo as a starting player on the court, the Rockets' strategy before Francis and the others entered the game was simply to have Wei Guo play one-on-one, Wei Guo play one-on-one, and Wei Guo play one-on-one.
Facing a double-team defense from Kobe and Horry.
Wei Guo dribbled behind his back for a while, found space to shoot, and pulled up for a three-pointer.
*Smack!!!*
Horry tried to block Wei Guo's shot but hit Wei Guo's arm instead.
"Beep!!!"
The referee blew his whistle and called a defensive foul on Horry.
Horry's face darkened... He regretted his impulsiveness. It was unnecessary to foul Wei Guo. He couldn't stop Wei Guo from scoring and only incurred a foul for nothing. In the second half of the regular season, when Wei Guo took a three-pointer, the opponents would not easily foul him even if they couldn't stop him from shooting.
"You need to control your fouls!"
Wei Guo gently reminded Horry, "You've only been on the court for less than 20 minutes, and you've already accumulated four fouls."
"It's none of your business!"
Horry snorted, and he even wiggled his big butt, really wanting to shove Wei Guo onto the technical table.
"Whoosh!!!"
"Whoosh!!!"
"Whoosh!!!"
Wei Guo made all three free throws, and then shrugged at Horry, "See... it really doesn't work against me."
Having such an opponent can really drive you crazy.
People used to say how terrifying it would be if Shaquille O'Neal's free throw percentage exceeded 90%. Well, that's exactly what's happening now. This season, his free throw percentage is 100%, and his three-point percentage is over 50%.
Lakers on offense.
Kobe backs down Weiguo and hits a turnaround jumper!
82:74!!
The Lakers are down by 8 points.
Kobe Bryant single-handedly defended the Lakers' home turf, scoring a goal and boosting the team's morale.
The Lakers' bench players were all cheering, except for O'Neal... O'Neal must have been incredibly frustrated during this game.
O'Neal couldn't beat Wei Guo one-on-one. When defending, Wei Guo would always pull out to the outside to shoot, and O'Neal had a lot of energy that he couldn't unleash on Wei Guo.
Seeing that O'Neal was not in a good mood, the Zen Master said, "You should take a good rest. We'll need you in the crucial moments of the game."
........
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, both teams substituted their key players back into the game.
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