I'm really strong in basketball

Chapter 53 Christmas Battle
Looking at the angry Lakers, Liu He mourned silently in his heart.

A moment of silence for the Rockets.

A super team whose strength is the highest in the entire history of the NBA, at this moment, united as one, how terrible it would be!
You're out of luck, Team Rocket.

As for Brother Yao, I'm sorry.

At noon, all members of the Rockets arrived in Los Angeles.

Liu He drove a big pickup truck to pick up the airport, and took Yao Ming to a high-end restaurant that he was usually reluctant to go to.

Yao Ming was still teasing: "Oh, little Liuhe, this is developed."

Liu He replied with a smile: "I think you guys will lose today, you must be in a bad mood, then eat something good, so that you can feel better."

Yao Ming thought that Liu He was provoking, so he said seriously: "Your Lakers are great, but our Rockets are not easy to handle."

Liu He didn't speak, just said in his heart.

Brother Yao, I just want to comfort you, lest you collapse tonight.

Really, this is compensation, not provocation.

……

Half an hour before the Christmas game, Barkley, Smith, and Cole had already appeared in the studio.

In addition to the three of them, there was a donkey in the studio, Buckley's pet.

Fans are very concerned about this "punishment" that has been circulated for a long time, so it is still early before the game, but the ratings of the program are constantly rising, reaching an astonishing amount.

The director in the background looked at the data and laughed from ear to ear.

When Cole and Smith kissed the ass of the donkey at the same time, the ratings exploded.

Barkley laughed like crazy.

From then on, he was no longer the only man who kissed the ass of a donkey.

Alone Better Together!

It is better to suffer alone than to suffer alone!
At this moment, at the door of the Lakers locker room, Liu He is receiving Nike staff.

After all the design and processing during this period, Liu He's first pair of sneakers can finally be put on the feet.

This pair of shoes is called "Devil Generation"-Christmas.

There are four colors in total, the purple and gold of the Lakers, and the most suitable white and black, which are Liu He's favorite boat shoes.

The staff sent over four color-matched sneakers for Liu He to choose.

Liu He tried it on and found it quite handsome, so he chose purple for his left foot and gold for his right foot, forming a pair of mandarin duck shoes.

The eyes of Nike's staff lit up.

This... so cool!
It's just a simple match, and it immediately gives birth to a different feeling.

After choosing the shoes, the equipment manager of the Lakers made emergency treatment on the sneakers, otherwise Nike's new sneakers would be a little hard on the feet, which would affect the athletes' performance.

Every team in the NBA cooperates with an equipment manager to deal with these things.

Immediately, the Christmas war is about to begin.

Tonight, a large number of celebrities including singers, movie stars, and directors came to the Staples Center.

The famous names of the Lakers include: "Magic" Johnson, "Skyhook" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the current Grizzlies general manager "logo man" Jerry West, and the Clippers general manager "Baylor" Elgin Baylor...all showed up.

Then, the family of Lakers owner Jerry Buss and general manager Kupchak also showed up.

Finally, and the biggest one, David Stern, the helm of the league, also appeared with a group of league executives.

Tonight, the Staples Center is truly star-studded.

The Christmas game has always been a big program in the NBA.

Immediately, the two sides started the field.

Rockets:
Number five: "Little Giant of the East" Yao Ming.

Number four: Kevin Cato.

Number three: "Old Dog" Jim Jackson.

Number two: "Old Cat" Cardinal Mobley.

Slot One: "Privilege" Steve Francis.

Lakers here:
Fifth position: "Shaq" Shaquille O'Neal.

Number four: "The Postman" Karl Malone.

Position three: Liu He, the "three-point devil".

Number two: "Peter Pan" Kobe Bryant.

Number one: Gary "The Glove" Payton.

The moment Liu He appeared on the stage, Yuanyang Shoes became the focus of the audience, and he was the most handsome boy in the audience.

Liu He is very satisfied.

Sure enough, handsome people can't hide their charm no matter where they are.

Of course, more satisfied with Nike.

It was indeed a correct choice to take advantage of the opportunity of the Christmas war to make Liu He's new shoes appear in front of the public for the first time.

TNT in the United States and CCTV in China gave a close-up of the sneakers on Liu He's feet.

No way, this kind of mandarin duck color scheme is really rare and eye-catching.

Next, I look forward to Liu He's wonderful performance.

The better he plays, the better the Devil Generation will sell.

Game start.

In the jump ball stage, O'Neal fired at full power, jumped up, and turned the basketball back to his home half.

O'Neal's state surprised Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.Sharks can be very scary if they hunt with all their might.I don't know why, O'Neill is so serious tonight.

But fortunately, Coach Van Gundy is prepared.

Payton held the ball, stabilized his rhythm, and then began to advance slowly.

In the frontcourt, Payton wanted to lob the ball to O'Neal, but found that the Rockets used a tactic around the front to prevent O'Neal from receiving the ball.

Payton didn't stick to the ball either, and quickly distributed the ball to Kobe.

Kobe beat Mobley, drove into the penalty area, rose from the ground, and bombed the basket.

However, the Rockets' twin towers, Yao Ming and Cato guarded the basket tightly with two heads and four arms.

Under the threat of the twin towers, Kobe could only twist his body, take a difficult shot, and finally missed it.

Yao Ming immediately protected the rebound and found Francis immediately.

Francis immediately launched a fast break, one dragon rushed to the frontcourt, rose from the ground, and performed his signature Z-shaped folding dunk.

boom!
0: 2.

Francis stunned the audience with a dunk.

Lakers offense.

Liu He specifically found O'Neal: "Shaq, the Rockets don't want you to catch the ball. We can't let their trick succeed. You will come out and cooperate with me in pick-and-roll later, and I will create opportunities for you."

O'Neill nodded without thinking too much.

In the frontcourt, Liu He took the initiative to ask for the ball.

As soon as Liu He got the ball, O'Neal raised it, set a pick-and-roll for Liu He, and firmly blocked Jackson.

Liu He seized the opportunity, accelerated immediately, got rid of Jackson, and rushed in with the ball.

Yao Ming, who came out with O'Neal, had no choice but to switch to Liu He.

Liu He and Yao Ming faced each other head-on.

At this moment, the CCTV commentator shouted excitedly. This is exactly what they expected and what the Chinese fans expected.

However, Yao Ming is too slow to prevent the pick-and-roll.

As soon as Liu He accelerated, he walked around Yao Ming.

Cato under the basket was forced to defend Liu He.

At this moment, O'Neal knocked away the "little" Jackson and rushed all the way to the basket.

Liu He threw a pass directly in front of the basket.

O'Neal jumped up directly, caught the ball in the air, and took advantage of the opportunity for an alley-oop dunk.

boom!
2: 2.

"Brilliant dunk!"

Liu He hurriedly struck while the iron was hot.

O'Neal also knows how to reciprocate: "Your passing is also in place."

When Kobe saw this scene, he immediately turned his head away, pretending not to see it.

But I feel very uncomfortable.

It's as if my ex-wife and my current wife got together and dumped me.

Fuck, what a messy relationship this is.

Next to the Lakers' bench, Phil looked at Old Winter in surprise: "Just now, O'Neal did... a pick-and-roll for a rookie?"

Old Winter was also surprised.

The last time O'Neal set a pick-and-roll for a teammate...was the last time.

As we all know, O'Neal feels that pick-and-rolls are done by coolie blue-collar centers, and a super center like him naturally disdains to do it.

So from Anfernee Hardaway, to Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, to Kobe...

None of these All-Star guards have enjoyed O'Neal's pick-and-roll.

But tonight...a little rookie made O'Neal willingly come out and set him a pick-and-roll.

Phil shook his head, thinking that some time ago, Kobe made trouble and desperately fought for the ball.As a result, Liu He's words at the press conference made Kobe take the initiative to pass the ball.

Incredible!

Phil sighed: "That rookie has magic power."

Not far away, Magic Johnson heard the word "magic power" and thought he was discussing himself, so he leaned over.

Phil explained and told Johnson what Liu He had done.

Johnson's eyes widened as he looked at No. 25 on the court.

The Lakers have a big career, so what is a super rookie?
Magic Johnson exploded in his rookie year, even won the championship, won the MVP of the finals...so ordinary super rookies are not worth mentioning in his eyes.

But tonight, through Phil's words, the No.1 Lakers team history remembered the name "Liu He".

on the field.

The Rockets attack.

Francis held the ball at the top of the arc and cleared Payton in one step.

Boss Fu's physical fitness is really amazing!

But Liu He made up the defense in time and blocked Francis.

Payton took the opportunity to catch up and cooperated with Liu He to attack Francis.

Fearless in the face of danger, Francis dribbled the ball under his crotch to exit the encirclement, pulled to the three-point line, and formed a one-on-one with Liu He, and then passed Liu He with a feint similar to worshiping Buddha.

But this time, Malone blocked him again.

In an instant, Kobe and Liu He on both sides were well defended, attacking from three sides, and surrounded Francis.

If it was an ordinary player, it would have been gone long ago.

But Francis dodged in the air, twisted his waist and abdomen to the limit, and passed the ball through the gap.

The ball was given too hard, and the receiver Mobley was not very comfortable, so he adjusted and shot again.

In an instant, Kobe had rushed back.

Mobley missed a shot under Kobe's defense.

Bang!

O'Neal then protected the rebound.

Lakers offense.

Coach Jeff Van Gundy gritted his teeth. He is a defensive coach and is not very good at offense, but defense is his job.

So he can see it.

In the round just now, the Lakers' defense was really terrible, and it would not be too much to say that they were impregnable.

This is the scariest defense he has seen in recent years, bar none!

If this fight continues, the Rockets will kneel tonight!

The Lakers attacked, and Liu He continued to find O'Neal to play the pick-and-roll.

Jim Jackson tried to get around O'Neal.But O'Neal's size is too large.When he bypassed O'Neal, Liu He had already entered the paint.

Once again, a one-on-one match between Liu He and Yao Ming was formed.

Liu He passed Yao Ming with a fake move and went straight to the basket.

On the other side, O'Neal pushed Jackson away and also ran towards the basket.

Kevin Cato at the basket looked at the two enemy teams and didn't know what to do.

Liu He made a direct layup to attract Cato's attention, and then passed the ball to O'Neal.

O'Neal received the ball, jumped high, and violently bombed the basket.

boom!
The poor basketball hoop was swaying under O'Neal's attack, and it felt like it was going to be unbearable and break in the next second.

4: 2.

Excited, O'Neill found Liu He and gave him a high five.

O'Neal also discovered that it was too easy to score in the pick-and-roll with Liu He.

Of course, O'Neal is also suitable for pick-and-rolls. His wide, thick and tall body stands there, and the quality of pick-and-rolls is the first in the league.

And after the pick-and-roll, who can stop O'Neal's footsteps?
The Rockets attack.

Francis attacks with the ball.

Compared with the Lakers' pick-and-roll tactics, the Rockets' offensive tactics are simpler.

Francis singles with the ball.

Francis didn't want to fight, Mobley did.

Both guards don't want to play anymore, so Yao Ming will eat leftovers.

Jeff Van Gundy's offensive tactics have always been like this. You can't say that there is nothing, only that there is nothing.

And this also affected Yao Ming's growth.

But facing a super defensive lineup like the Lakers, going it alone won't work.

Francis racked his brains, showing off his amazing ball control skills and physical gifts, and fought his way into the penalty area.

However, a mountain named O'Neal blocked the end of his road, and then a bunch of villains from the Lakers swarmed up and surrounded Francis.

Francis forced his shot, but was slapped away by Kobe, who had been waiting for an opportunity.

Payton took the ball and quickly launched a fast break.Liu He was passed in the frontcourt, and Liu He was assigned to Kobe.

Kobe rushed to the basket, tricked the Rockets players with a jump fake, and then slammed the basketball on the backboard.

boom!
The basketball bounced off the backboard and just fell into the arms of O'Neal who ran to the frontcourt.

O'Neal took off and put the basket.

Swish!
6: 2.

On the Lakers bench, Magic Johnson asked curiously: "Phil, why do I feel like everyone is feeding Shaq? Do you have any special arrangements today?"

It's really not my arrangement.

Phil said in his heart, but didn't say it out loud.

If I say this, it doesn't mean that Phil is too incompetent, and he doesn't even know what his own players do.

So Phil didn't move like a mountain, just smiled slightly, as if everything was under control.

Magician Johnson saw that it was indeed the case. Phil had already made arrangements, but it seemed difficult to reveal them, so let's read on.

Is it a big gift for Christmas?

It's interesting, so watch the game carefully.

The Rockets attack.

Francis continued to attack the inside, but tonight's Lakers closed the door to him.

Francis tries to play hard.

It's a pity that O'Neill was even tougher, and with a slap, Francis even dribbled the ball and pressed him to the floor.

The Staples Center exclaimed, O'Neal is so fierce today!

The Lakers fast break.

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

Coach Jeff Van Gundy was yelling from the sidelines.

The Rockets speeded up their defense and successfully stopped the Lakers' fast break.

(End of this chapter)