【1044】 Christmas war
As the most solemn festival in Western society, Christmas is undoubtedly the most important thing for hundreds of millions of European and American families, so various activities derived from Christmas are emerging one after another.
For example, the Christmas shopping season is the craziest discount season in Europe and the United States. Nearly one-quarter of the social retail sales are completed around Christmas, and some areas even have a larger proportion.
For the Americans, Christmas is equivalent to the Chinese Spring Festival. It is a day for family reunion and the most popular time for various activities based on families.
It is different from the games that are usually held at night. This year's Christmas battle between the Lakers and the Cavaliers is scheduled in the afternoon. After the fans enjoy the exciting and intense game, they can go home and reunite for the festival.
Therefore, just after lunch time, a large number of fans wearing Lakers uniforms began to come to the Staples Arena. They happily entered the Staples with their idols KT versions.
In order to create the Christmas atmosphere, the Lakers began to decorate the Staples Arena three days ago, with various Christmas lights, Christmas trees and snowflake decorations to decorate the entire Arena.
Unfortunately, there was no snow in Los Angeles this Christmas, otherwise it would make the festive atmosphere in the entire city more warm. In fact, this is also the characteristic of the Mediterranean climate in Los Angeles, and there is very little snow.
In addition to wearing idol uniforms on the outerwear, fans also wore red Santa Claus hats that looked so cute!
In the NBA league, only the Los Angeles Lakers do not have a mascot, so when fans enter the court, they can only see the wonderful performances of the ** cheerleaders and the clown's dunk performance, and they cannot see the mascot.
Of course, the Los Angeles Lakers' biggest mascot had already sat on the seat behind the bench early on, waiting for the game to begin. As the Lakers' most die-hard fan, Oscar winner Nicholson is the Lakers' mascot in a sense, because he must come every game.
For this reason, he won unanimous respect from the Lakers and permanently left the position behind the bench to him, which is a kind of respect for his strong support for the team over the years.
In this Christmas battle, in order to give back to fans, the Lakers announced that they will prepare a Christmas gift for all fans entering the game. Those package owners will even receive a big gift package!
The 20,000 gifts are worth more than $5 million, which is also the only big deal among all teams in the NBA league. Only a super rich man like Xiao Feng can do it.
Even if the Mavericks boss Cuban, who is famous for his willfulness, can only provide free gifts such as burgers and coffee to fans on site, he will not be so generous.
Most of the gifts prepared for fans come from products under the Jinghu Group, such as the organic food of Jinghu Group organic food in Walmart supermarkets in North America, "Mengyao Coffee". Those hardcore fans who have purchased Lakers tickets for many years have even obtained "Xiaoshi Wine". When fans received these gifts, they naturally felt better, and the team performed well, which made them have a very comfortable Christmas!
…………
When entering the Staples Stadium, James still performed a magnesium powder sprinkling ceremony as usual. The fans at the scene were quite proud of their face, standing up and applauding without booing.
For Lakers fans, the team is in the best era, and James' magnesium powder will not stimulate their nerves. They seem to be looking at it from another level. If it were placed in the previous two years, James' magnesium powder during the most difficult time of the team, it will undoubtedly break the fragile glass heart of Lakers fans.
Life is better, and no opponent's actions will be regarded as provocation. This is the difference in mentality.
The applause from the audience did not make James feel at all relaxed. After all, no one can have the confidence to win against the Lakers with a complete lineup and a strong team.
In the past 35 games, the Lakers have almost defeated 28 other teams in the league in a devastating manner. They averaged 16 points per game and limited their opponent's score to less than 100 points.
The two consecutive important finals were defeated by Xiao Feng and two different teams, which left some shadows in James' heart. Now that he is visiting Staples again, his inner uneasiness is normal.
James's face looked solemn. His younger brothers, Irving, Love and Okafor, no longer had the intention of laughing, and each of them warmed up seriously.
All players who are determined to win the championship know in their hearts that the Lakers are an existence that no one can avoid. How to seize every opportunity to fight with the Lakers and find out the weaknesses and loopholes of the Lakers is the number one issue for every team.
Love and others also know that the huge pressure on the team boss is not only a requirement for competitive performance, but also a huge economic pressure!
After losing to Xiao Feng in a row, James's position as the number one player in active service is already shaky. If he still cannot win the championship this season, James's commercial value may be greatly reduced. In addition, this year is James' contract year, and he also hopes to win a larger maximum salary contract for himself with better personal performance and team performance.
The combination of various factors makes the Cavaliers attach great importance to this Christmas battle, which can be seen from the expressions on everyone's face.
In contrast to the solemn atmosphere of the Cavaliers, the Lakers were quite relaxed when they appeared, and the players were smiling, talking and laughing, which was also the strong confidence and joy brought to them after many consecutive wins.
For the Lakers today, even if they lose in the Christmas game today, they are still the first in the league, still set the best record for the start of the game in history, and still have the longest winning streak. Therefore, the Lakers do not pay much attention to the victory or defeat of the Christmas game, and their mentality is relatively relaxed.
When Xiao Feng and Kobe appeared, the fans of the audience burst into the warmest cheers and applause, which were the treatment that the two leaders deserved.
In fact, over the past period of time, Xiao Feng and Kobe have also enjoyed the most cheers away, and they are becoming the most special existence in the entire league.
…………
Media and fans around the world are paying attention to this game, which can be seen from the camcorders on the scene and the various conspicuous logos on it.
In addition to live broadcasts across the United States, national TV stations and major paid sports channels in major countries including China, Japan, Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and other major paid sports channels have sent reporters to report on the spot.
This will also be Kobe's last Christmas battle. The enthusiasm of media from various countries is even comparable to reporting on the All-Star Weekend, in order to allow more fans to see Kobe's wonderful performance.
Of course. The various records behind this game are also important reasons why it heats up!
At the same time, the enthusiasm of the media also comes from the shining stars sitting in the stands. It is their existence that has given this Christmas battle more highlights and surprises.
After appearing at home game with the Warriors last time, Xiao Feng's family visited Staples again, and all four dolls wore new clothes with Christmas colors. With a small Christmas hat, they murdered many reporters' Philin.
In addition to the senior executives in charge of the work, most of the important members of the Xiao family are easy to understand. It is quite difficult for the media to photograph them.
For example, Xu Mengyao spends most of her time in the ‘Dream Manor’. Except for occasionally taking her children to playgrounds, beaches and other public places, she is protected by bodyguards when she goes out, and the paparazzi can’t photograph her at all.
Yesterday, Forbes magazine released the list of the 2016 Global Rich List. Xu Mengyao, who owns all shares of "Mengyao Coffee Garden" and 50% shares of "Mengyao Coffee", became the 147th place on the list with a net worth of US$10 billion, and is also the richest woman in the world.
With this alone, Xu Mengyao is qualified to be on the cover of all heavyweight media around the world. Unfortunately, she has never accepted an exclusive interview with the media, and the reporters can only submit their jobs through these photos.
Of course, Xiao Feng is the most eye-catching on the Forbes list. Because of the continuous expansion of the "Jinghu Group" industry, his assets, who own more than 70% of the group's shares, reached an astonishing US$42 billion, and entered the top ten on the list!
This is also the highest ranking of Chinese people on the Forbes Rich List. It only took Xiao Feng eight years to go from nothing to the world's top rich man!
Therefore, when Xiao Feng appeared today, the media not only treated him as a basketball superstar in their eyes, but also the mainstream media's cameras were also revolving around him.
Xiao Feng's multiple identities make his every move sought after by more fans, and he is the best headline manufacturer!
…………
After the lively opening ceremony, the only solution to the Christmas game can only be proved by on-field performance, so Pu was caught in a wonderful offensive from the beginning.
The Cavaliers also knew that defense alone could not defend against Xiao Feng and Kobe's backcourt double guns, not to mention that neither Marc Gasol nor Albert were fuel-efficient. Therefore, the Cavaliers played a big game after the opening, making full use of the personal abilities of stars such as James and launched a powerful offensive against the Lakers' penalty area!
The Lakers are naturally happy. After all, the Christmas game is a global live broadcast, and they should use exciting offenses to please fans. As for the so-called "defensive wins the championship", they can be left aside today.
Therefore, today's audience began to feast their eyes, because on the court they could see Xiao Feng's unreasonable three-pointer, Kobe's extremely elegant backward jump shot, Ah Lian's open mid-range shot, and Mark's small hook shot under the basket, and there was also a wonderful cooperation made by Xiao Feng's organization!
For the Cavaliers, James' breakthrough like a tank, Love's second strong attack after winning the frontcourt rebound, Irving's move after running, and Okafor's barrier role under the basket all opened the eyes of the fans.
In a sense, these are two teams close to the All-Star. Although the Lakers are slightly short of this, Kobe and Xiao Feng's super personal abilities make up for this.
When the two teams were free to play, the scene was naturally filled with sparks, and the dazzling attacks were coming and going, which made the audience happy.
When the first quarter ended, the two sides tied at 36. The pace of both sides was very fast, and they took action in almost 15 seconds. The various exciting cooperation was amazing!
After the game continued to start, Xiao Feng, who was the most troublesome to the Cavaliers, remained on the court, which is also an important reason why other teams are extremely difficult to defeat the Lakers, because no one can be found on the bench to limit Xiao Feng at this time.
Facing an MVP with super strength and abnormal physical strength is a nightmare for all NBA teams!
Seeing this, James could only grit his teeth and persevere. He was responsible for guarding Xiao Feng while defending, and minimized Xiao Feng's lethality as much as possible.
In order to prepare for this Christmas game, James deliberately reduced his playing time in the first two games, in order to maintain his full physical strength and follow Xiao Feng closely.
James' strong body and positive defensive attitude did put a lot of pressure on Xiao Feng, making Xiao Feng very uncomfortable to catch the ball.
However, Xiao Feng has long been accustomed to this intensity of defense, because he will encounter it every day after entering the league, which is not surprising.
In this quarter, Xiao Feng used his organizational skills to mobilize his teammates, and gradually widened the score through his teammates' performance, which also made James even more depressed.
At the end of the half, the Lakers led the Cavaliers by 7 points 65:58. This result made the Cavaliers feel frustrated. After all, this is the result of their efforts.
Although Xiao Feng didn't score much, 15 assists helped the team four score in double digits. The Lakers' full-scale state made the Cavaliers unable to resist, and it was reasonable to fall behind in the score.
The second half of the game was exactly the same as the first half. The Lakers were at ease under Xiao Feng's leadership and continued to lead the score until the end of the game!
In this game, Xiao Feng only scored 13 points, but 32 assists set the highest single game in NBA history, breaking the 30 assists record set by Scott Skiers in 1990. Together with the 12 steals he got last time against the Warriors, Xiao Feng now has two personal data records!
In addition to Xiao Feng, the Lakers also have five players in double digits. The players on the entire team have scored records, making the Cavaliers unable to defend.
In contrast, although James and other players performed well, they basically won a double-double, and James even got a triple-double, but he was still unable to withstand the Lakers' powerful offensive.
At the end of the game, the Lakers won the Christmas game as they wished, setting a record of 36 consecutive wins in the NBA and the longest winning streak in the league. Coupled with Xiao Feng's assist record, it can be said that three good things are coming.
The global audience was also satisfied. Except for the hardcore fans of the Cavaliers, everyone was impressed by this exciting game and could spend this Christmas happily.
Among the fireworks in the Staples Arena, the highly anticipated Christmas battle came to an end, and the Lakers' victory made other NBA teams feel even more sad, just like the winter in North America.
Who can stop the Lakers from winning streak? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!