As a Kobe hater, he was actually teammates with Kobe!

The Lakers' starting lineup: Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Zhou Ze and Andrew Byram.

The Phil Jackson put Old Fish in the second lineup tonight. In fact, Old Fish has served as a substitute for the team in many games in this year's playoffs. The main purpose is to increase the firepower of the substitutes.

In addition, the stronger Andrew Byram served as the starting center and was responsible for carrying O'Neal.

Before the game.

Shaquille O'Neal, wearing the No. 32 Suns jersey, and Kobe, wearing the No. 24 jersey, actually had a conversation and laughed with each other. The grudges of the past seemed to have blown away with the wind.

This heartwarming "laughing and forgetting grudges" made the Lakers home fans applaud involuntarily.

Many fans even shouted "Shaq", "Shaq"...

"Wow, it seems like O'Neal and Kobe have made a reconciliation of the century tonight!"

"Yeah, but the former OK combination will have to face off in this year's Western Conference Finals."

"Coach Zhang, do you feel that O'Neal has lost a lot of weight? I guess he should be less than 150kg now."

"Well, judging from the camera footage, O'Neal does look quite capable right now."

The commentator of Tianchao Sports TV couldn't help but feel emotional when he saw the OK combination smiling and hugging each other.

...

...

After the game started, O'Neal, who was laughing before the game, seemed to have pressed a magic switch and became focused and serious.

This is completely different from Dwight Howard, who is always laughing and joking before the game and sunny and heartless during the game.

O'Neal, who was born in 1972 and is 36 years old this year, ultimately lost to Father Time in the jump ball, and the Little Shark won the jump ball.

Zhou Ze immediately ran to the Suns' basket.

"Stop him!"

"Stop him!"

"Don't let him catch the ball!"

Mike D'Antoni on the sidelines suddenly shouted.

Rajon Rondo's pass was very bold, but the Suns had focused on practicing defending Zhou Ze's receiving the ball before the game.

Nash held up one hand while defending Rajon Rondo.

This limited the passing area to a certain extent. At the same time, Dio quickly moved towards the passing route to delay time and wait for O'Neal to return to defend the basket.

Rondo made a high, spinning pass, trying to get over Dio's defensive area and pass it to Zhou Ze behind him, but Rajon Rondo still underestimated Dio's jumping height.

Although Diaw eats a lot of French bread every day, he is the record holder for the highest touch in the history of the Suns team. The pass was intercepted and went out of bounds.

Although the Lakers still had the ball, the Suns successfully dragged them into a positional battle.

Zhou Ze went to receive the ball outside the three-point line, but the person defending him at this time was not Shaquille O'Neal, but Boris Diao Ge.

The Suns' defensive strategy was clever, knowing that O'Neal couldn't defend against him. After all, once O'Neal left the paint, he would be like an oversized wooden stake for Zhou Ze, allowing him to easily break through.

But on the defensive end, Dio was used to guard Zhou Ze, O'Neal was used to guard the Little Shark, and Stoudemire was used to guard Lamar Odom.

Apart from Dio, the other two have it relatively easy.

However...

Zhou Ze is different now than he was in last year's playoffs. He has more offensive weapons. After several unsuccessful attempts at breakthroughs, Zhou Ze first passed the ball to Kobe. Then, he ran directly to the high post on the right wing to ask for the ball.

Why is it at a high position?

Because the low post was too crowded. After all, O'Neal's huge body was there. Not to mention himself, even James, who had stronger outside breakthrough ability, would feel extremely uncomfortable.

Dio's attempt to get around him failed, and the invincible Kobe passed the ball three feet in front of him to Zhou Ze. At this moment, O'Neal pretended to move forward, but he never completely left Byram. After all, if he rushed forward, Zhou Ze would throw a high pass, and Byram would be able to complete a dunk.

O'Neal's move was just to scare Zhou Ze and make him hesitate on the offensive end. At the same time, Dio, who failed to half-circle forward, could also provide backup defense.

But Zhou Ze, who was fully confident in his jump shot, chose a mid-range shot at the first moment. With a "swish", he made 2 points.

"Wow, brother, this shot is very graceful..." Dio not only praised with a smile, but also showed a surprised expression.

This emotional value made Zhou Ze feel comfortable.

"Thanks!" Zhou Ze responded with a smile.

At this moment, Boris Dio couldn't help but feel excited.

"It seems to be working. Andrei Kirilenko's suggestion is indeed feasible. This guy seems to really buy into it." Dio thought to himself.

...

...

The Suns attacked, O'Neal set a screen for Nash, "bang!" Rondo performed the puppy steps, well, that is, "paper drawing" named by Zhou Ze, but O'Neal's screen wall was too tight, and the timing of the screen was good, and he did not squeeze through the screen. Andrew Byram did not keep up in time, "swish!" Nash made a mid-range shot, 2 to 2.

"What? Why didn't you go up and delay it just now?" Zhou Ze frowned and said in a scolding tone.

Although O'Neal, who wanted to win a championship, had lost weight, he was still 36 years old and was already one of the slowest players in the league in terms of speed. Byram could have set a screen and then chased O'Neal, buying time for Rondo to catch up with Nash.

But Byram was obviously lazy in this defensive round.

Although Bayram had many complaints in his heart after being scolded, he did not dare to openly retort Zhou Ze and could only swallow his anger.

"Ding!" Zhou Ze faced Dio in the high post, but missed the jump shot with his back turned.

"Tomato!" Zhou Ze couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

"Man, what a pity it was so close to going in. It was definitely a matter of luck." Dio continued to adopt a dog-licking defense.

Zhou Ze was slightly startled and nodded subconsciously.

"It works!"

"It works!"

"hey-hey...."

"It seems that all my time spent waking up at four in the morning to study Child Psychology for the past three days has paid off."

Dio couldn't help but feel excited.

Honestly...

The saying that the only martial art that cannot be broken is flattery is indeed true.

After being coaxed by Dio, Zhou Ze's offensive aggressiveness decreased a lot, and he did not attack the basket too much.

Zhou Ze scored a goal at the beginning of the game, and ended the next three attacks with jump shots.

As for the Suns, Nash and O'Neal's pick-and-roll combination was successful repeatedly. On the other hand, Amar'e Stoudemire, the Suns' first point guard, was like a tool, responsible for opening up space for O'Neal.