However, for the Mavericks or Kobe, the good news is that O'Neal can't play tonight, which is still their biggest advantage tonight.

Moreover, as a coach who is good at defense, Johnson also made another defensive adjustment between the court.

The Mavericks' defensive strategy has changed from Kobe's single defense on the field to Bale's main defense, and then cut off the connection between Sun Hao and his teammates.

In other words, Johnson means Sun Hao, you can continue to score 50 points, but don’t think about 10+ assists.

Moreover, Kobe maintained his offensive form in the last game. After liberating the defensive end, he once again scored with Sun Hao.

The result was that although Sun Hao still had full firepower on the offensive end and scored 47 points, the Lakers still lost to the Mavericks 89-100 away.

It is worth mentioning that except for Sun Hao, only Finley scored more than 15 points in the Lakers.

The Lakers' role players exposed their shortcomings of insufficient independent offensive ability under this intensity game.

It was this game that made fans realize one thing: basketball games always belong to five people.

Even as strong as Jordan, he was always "educated" by the Pistons before meeting his Pippen.

And to be honest, the Mavericks, which have Nowitzki and Kobe, are not weaker than the bad boys legion.

It is already a miracle that Sun Hao was able to win the game without O'Neal in the last game.

Miracles are so named because they are extremely rare. If they are everywhere like cabbage, who would think it is a miracle?

And what more can you ask for a player who scored 100 points in two games back to back in the playoffs?

The good news is that O'Neal is back.

After getting enough rest, O'Neal's injury improved significantly and he had met the game requirements.

In the offseason training class between three and four games, O'Neal was like a rookie who participated in the NBA game on the first day, and he was extremely dedicated.

A person with his personality faced Kobe and sat down for two games off the court, which really made him feel a little suffocated.

Even during the full-game competition training, he dunked hard with both hands through Divac.

Divac's face was full of question marks: The conflict between you OK, the final result is that I have to be blocked by both of you?

However, when Phil Jackson saw this ball, he didn't pay attention to Divac's feelings, and his inner excitement was revealed on his face.

In O'Neal's state, the Lakers' probability of winning the next game is at least 80%.

After playing against the Spurs, he didn't want to return to Los Angeles with a 2-2 score.

"Shake, I'll pass more to you."

After the training, Sun Hao said to the anxious O'Neal.

After two consecutive crazy output games, he can finally relax a little.

It feels good to get a high score, but it feels tired after getting a good score.

This is the same as that thing.

"No, if you take more actions from the outside, I will restrain you from the inside."

However, O'Neal's reaction surprised Sun Hao very much.

The meaning of this sentence can actually be understood as: I will help you!

This doesn't seem like something O'Neal could say at all!

Just like when the two talked about MVP, O'Neal would only say, "I think it's okay to give the MVP to you", rather than "You should be the one who gets the MVP"!

The meaning of the two sentences is completely different!

"Don't look that way, I'm 34 years old. Do you really think I can still score 40 points every night and grab 20 rebounds?"

O'Neal's subsequent words surprised Sun Hao even more.

The two have been working together for a season now, and O'Neal has never said anything about his age.

It seems that this injury has changed his view of the game.

However, O'Neal's subsequent words made Sun Hao understand what his transformation was.

"Do you know? Since I was swept by Hakeem in the finals that year, I have told myself that I can't lose anymore. In order to do that, I have to become strong enough to carry the team on one's shoulders.

In Los Angeles, whether it is Kobe or a young boy, or after he has played, I have been doing that. I told myself that when that kid feels bad, I will grab every rebound because I can't lose.

So even if you come to Los Angeles, I do my best every night when playing. I know everyone is waiting to see my jokes. What a stupid decision it is for a management to choose to leave a 34-year-old veteran.

But in the past two games, I discovered something. God is fair to me. He first made me meet an extremely selfish guy, and then made me meet an extremely selfless guy. And this selfless guy is so powerful that I can let go."

After hearing this, Sun Hao's face turned red uncontrollably.

Although it is not as direct as Malone, O'Neal said so embarrassed.

But there is no problem with this. When any player, when he was 34 years old, he would be willing to play support when he saw his teammates scored 100 points in two playoff games.

Although O'Neal is arrogant, he is not Kobe's arrogant heart.

What's more, Sun Hao and Kobe gave him a different feeling, and it can even be said to be two extremes.

Kobe was not yet strong enough to compete with him for power, while Sun Hao was already very strong, but he was passing the ball to him.

Not to mention that he is O'Neal, even a normal person can't stand this kind of good.

So, under general terms, it is really normal for O'Neal to say such words.

"Shake, you can still dominate the game, you're not old yet."

Sun Hao said.

O'Neal's dominance at this age is actually still there, and his biggest problem is the hidden dangers of injury.

"Of course, how could Shaq get old, but that doesn't affect what I just said."

O'Neal, it seems that he was determined to do that.

Sun Hao nodded, O'Neal said so, and it would be inappropriate if he said anything else.

"Then let's get not one, not two, not three, but 4,5, and 6 championships!"

Sun Hao continued to say what O'Neal said to him.

After hearing this, O'Neal laughed loudly, then reached out to look at Sun Hao and slapped him.

The two of them have officially reached an agreement!

That night, the fourth game of the Wizards and Pistons series started at Auburn Hills Palace.

The Wizards took the lead 2-1 and got the initiative in the series. If they can win another away game, then it is highly likely that they will advance.

But the Pistons obviously won't let them do it.

After a slump, Anthony recovered and scored 29 points, and told the whole world that he was still the same sweet melon with his actions.

Moreover, the Pistons have done something similar to the Mavericks, completely breaking the connection between other role players and Yao and Mai.

As a result, although Yao and McGrady scored 55 points together, the Wizards still lost 87-94.

Well, when Sun Hao saw this score proportion, he felt familiar.

In those years, the Houston team coached by Van Gundy always lost with a lot of points, and even the role players scored less than 20 points in total.

Van Gundy's tactical system is too dependent on the core.

It turns out that he is indeed lacking in this regard, and even Hamilton is almost used by him as an ordinary role player.

The Wizards and the Pistons are going to usher in the battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Jordan won't be happy with this result, but fans are happy with it. You should know that they have never seen a tiebreak battle since the start of the playoffs.

It would be great if you could have one in the division finals or two for them to watch.

The next night, the fourth game of the Lakers and Mavericks series kicked off at the National Route Center Arena.

It is worth mentioning that today the training of both teams is completely closed and not open to the public.

So before the game, no one knew what both teams prepared for tonight's game.

This actually makes fans look forward to it.

O'Neal's return and mysterious preparations all filled the expectation of the game.

That night, the National Route Center stadium was full and fans were looking forward to it.

The Eastern Conference has already tied 2-2, so they naturally look forward to the Mavericks being able to win another game at home and have a battle of Tianwang Mountain.

However, the Mavericks won tonight is not as simple as the last one, because O'Neal, who came back from the Lakers.

After the pre-match opening ceremony, the starting lineups on both sides were released one after another.

The starting lineups on both sides have basically not changed compared to the previous game. The only change is that O'Neal replaced Divac and returned to the starting lineup.

Because the Mavericks used Danpier to start in the first game, the starting lineups of both sides were the first time since the series.

The game begins soon, and the starting players on both sides appear one after another.

At this moment, there was a small detail on the court. O'Neal smiled and looked at Kobe a few times when he was on the court.

That expression seemed to be saying: Brother is back!
To be continued...