NBA: I am the card dealer

12 month 14 number.

The game will be held as scheduled at the Barclays Center.

This game is a focus battle and will naturally be broadcast live nationwide. TNT has obtained the broadcasting rights for this game.

Before the game.

O'Neal said to the camera sincerely: "Xue is definitely the most legendary superstar in NBA history. It is incredible that he can lead the Nets to the second place in the Eastern Conference with this lineup."

Barkley agreed: "It's not surprising at all. What's surprising about him is that he showed top level in his first year in the league. At that time, people were unwilling to believe that such a fat and chubby guy would dominate the league in the future. To be honest, I didn't believe it either."

Ernie Johnson: "Looking back, that year was really magical. James left the Heat, and everyone thought the Heat would fall, but they ended up having the best record in history, even more ferocious than the Big Three era."

O'Neal: "The idea of ​​challenging James in the Christmas game was even more shocking. At that time, I thought this guy was too crazy! He was simply too crazy. Facts have proved that he really has the capital to be crazy. He won three championships in three years, which is an achievement that Charles will never achieve."

Barkley rolled his eyes and said, "You don't need to tell me that. The whole world knows it."

O'Neal: "So what kind of sparks do you think will come out of this game?"

Barkley: "James has changed a lot this season. He has become very calm and has taken on more responsibilities. I think he has matured a lot compared to before. However, competitive sports are definitely not about how an athlete matures or how to carry the team on his shoulders. It's about who wins and who loses. For now, Xue Liancheng is undoubtedly the most dominant player in the NBA. As the object of conquest, James has no other choice but to keep proving himself. There is no other way out, and there is no spark to speak of."

The subtext of this statement is that James can no longer be discussed together with Xue Liancheng. Only when players of the same level compete against each other can there be the spark of equal strength.

James has been losing from the beginning to the end, and has been losing until he has lost everything. What spark is there left?

O'Neal was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say for a moment: "..."

Ernie Johnson quickly took over the conversation: "In terms of paper strength, what changes do you think the Nets have made?"

Barkley: "After the trade, the Nets' overall lineup has been visibly improved. Vonleh and James Johnson are Xue Liancheng's old partners and the heroes of last season's championship. They did not shine in the Lakers, but after coming to the Nets, they quickly found their position and played a positive role. Anunoby's current performance has verified my guess. He does have the potential to be an All-Star. After so many games, he has finally grown up and no longer makes those low-level mistakes. Sabonis has become another offensive starting point for the Nets. His current tactical position is not low. As long as he controls the number of fouls, I believe he can grow into the mainstay of the Nets' inside line. And Carroll's operation of trading Covington alone is really a stroke of genius at the moment."

"In this way, their entire front line becomes very strong. Anunoby, Covington, Vonleh, James Johnson, their height makes up for the vacancy at the fourth position, and at the same time they are not at a disadvantage in terms of speed. This reinforcement idea is very clear, and it enriches their personnel reserves all of a sudden."

O'Neal also chimed in at this time: "Indeed, the back line has Xue, Powell, Crabbe, Joe Harris, and Hart. The forward line has Anunoby, Covington, Vonleh, James Johnson, and the inside strength is also good. Sabonis Jr., Lopez Jr., David West, Jarrett Allen are enough to guard the restricted area on both offense and defense. And they only sent out Lonjo Jefferson, Carroll and Dinwiddie to get such a high-quality rotation lineup. Sean Marks is simply a genius."

Ernie Johnson: "I still don't understand why the Lakers gave away Vonleh and James Johnson for nothing."

O'Neal: "Because Kupchak has lost his mind."

The main bargaining chip that the Lakers have obtained, Lonjoe Jefferson, has also been left on the bench to collect dust.

Dinwiddie's performance fluctuates too much and he is not capable of taking on the starting position.

This is the end.

The Lakers tried their best but got nothing.

Especially seeing Vonleh and James Johnson regain the form they had last season, it's such a huge irony!

It seems like everyone is laughing at the Lakers for being a big fool.

As a Lakers legend, O'Neal was really disappointed. He failed to keep Xue Liancheng, and the original championship team was in a mess. They were actually heading towards the lottery zone, which was really unforgivable.

Barkley smiled and said, "The Lakers have no choice! With their current record, do you dare to imagine that they were the defending champions last season? I dare not imagine it at all. The pressure Kupchak faces can be imagined. And the performance of Vonleh and James Johnson is almost a dive compared to last season. Their value in the market is not great. In addition, the Lakers are in urgent need of a point guard, so this deal was formed."

Then the three talked about the Knicks.

The arrival of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darren Collison did not fill the vacancy left by Oladipo. The reason why the Knicks are still so strong is mainly because James has performed really well this season.

This was actually expected.

After all, Oladipo is an All-Star! Can one of the strongest shooting guards in the East be filled casually?

Lopez's role in the new season has not been highlighted. His stats are still 16+8. It looks like that, but his role is not that big, similar to Bosh in the Heat period.

soon.

Players from both sides enter the field.

Ernie Johnson began to introduce the starting lineups of both teams: "Let's take a look at the Knicks' starting lineup, Collison, Crowder, James, Jeff Green, Lopez. This is the lineup they use regularly this season, and there are not many changes."

"Next, let's take a look at the Nets' starting lineup. Xue Liancheng, Joe Harris, Anunoby, Covington, Sabonis Jr., and Vonleh are still absent. However, their starting lineup is actually not bad, and their three-point attack power is very strong."

The game started with the referee's whistle.

The two sides did not rush into indiscriminate bombing, but instead fought positional warfare in a methodical manner and were both in the testing stage.

of course.

The main reason is that both sides know each other very well and retreat very quickly, so you can't charge at all, and naturally you fall into a positional battle.

However, both teams have top-notch ball-handling core players, and their offensive efficiency is still very good.

Halfway through the first quarter.

Neither side was able to do anything to the other, and the score difference was rising alternately. Tyronn Lue made a prompt decision to change the lineup, bringing Korver up and taking Lopez off.

Obviously.

This is an attempt to play fast in order to wear down Sabonis Jr.

Atkinson was a beat slow to react, and James pushed him into a fast break and scored two goals in a row.

At this time, he finally reacted and took Sabonis off and replaced him with James Johnson.

The effect came up immediately.

Barkley commented: "Xue Liancheng is the initiator of the small ball fast break era. The Knicks are competing with the Nets for three-pointers and fast breaks, which is obviously not a wise choice."

really.

As the pace became faster and faster, the game became more and more chaotic, and the end result was that the Nets were able to seize opportunities and score points repeatedly in the chaos.

Xue Liancheng's vision and passing played a huge role here.

James' vision is also very broad, but it is obviously not at the level of Xue Liancheng.

However, James has also made up for it in other aspects. His impact is at a historical level and is naturally not comparable to that of ordinary players.

Once you charge, it's hard to defend yourself.

Another advantage of the Nets was highlighted at this time, that is, their very terrifying front line. Although Vonleh was injured and did not play, Anunoby, Covington, and James Johnson took turns to consume their energy, which was enough to give James a hard time.

O'Neal: "After replacing three tall forwards, why do I feel like the Nets are targeting James with this move?"

Barkley smiled bitterly: "The Celtics' front line is also terrifying, Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Hayward, they don't look weaker than the Nets."

O'Neal: "They are indeed not bad, but two of them are rookies, and Hayward is strong on offense but weak on defense, so they may not be able to stop James's impact. On the contrary, the Nets' Vonleh, Covington, James Johnson, and even Anunoby are all outstanding in defensive ability. Any superstar will feel uncomfortable if they are consumed in turn."

Barkley: "In the playoffs, the war of attrition is everywhere, and Xue Liancheng will be surrounded by all kinds of people. Even you and I back then grew up wildly under the iron elbows of others. If you can still perform well in the process of being consumed, this is what we often call superstar quality."

O'Neal smiled: "It's just me, not you and me."

Barkley was speechless: "..."

The lifelong championshiplessness not only became an eternal pain in his heart, but also often served as a thorn in his side.

Very miserable...

End of first quarter.

The Nets had a slight advantage and led by 29 points with 24:5.

Xue Liancheng made 6 of 3 shots and got 9 points, 4 assists and 1 rebound. It’s not that good, but definitely not bad.

At least that's the public's standard for Xue Liancheng, the number one player in the alliance.

James was also very strong, making 7 of 4 shots and 4 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and his impact was very fierce.

But the performance of others was slightly worse, and the total score was only 14 points.

其中大洛佩斯4中1，三分2中0，只得到了3分1篮板，根本就没有半分顶级内线的风采。

Barkley said: "Lopez has lost his All-Star style this season. I feel that his influence on the court is shrinking, and the help he gives to James is not as great as the data makes it look."

O'Neal questioned: "What James needs is a teammate who can open up space. Lopez's attack range is constantly expanding outwards, and he often exists as a three-point spot shooter. In this case, what influence can he have?"

After a pause, he continued, "I think as an inside player, he should go to the restricted area. That's where he lives. Tyronn Lue has put the cart before the horse in order to accommodate James."

In the second quarter, Tyronn Lue seemed to have heard O'Neal's complaints and directly let Lopez lead Hardaway Jr., Tyler Johnson and Ilyavaso to charge on the court.

result.

But it was not as good as O'Neal imagined.

Lopez's offensive ability is indeed good and his touch is indeed very soft, but his ability to handle the ball and his absolute ability to attack are not that outstanding.

This prevented him from becoming the core leader.

It's easy for ball handlers like Tyler Johnson and Tim Hardaway to steal the show, and even Ilyavaso's three-pointer is more intimidating than Lopez.

In addition, I don't know what happened to Sabonis Jr., after he came on, he made shots from inside and outside, all kinds of strong shots, and all kinds of hook shots, which made Lopez Sr. very excited.

With 9 minutes and 20 seconds left in the second quarter, Tyronn Lue couldn't stand it anymore and directly activated the small lineup, suppressing Lopez again.

The Nets retained Sabonis Jr.

The explosive Sabonis is still very scary. He can pass the ball, score points, and grab offensive rebounds frequently, which blows up the Knicks' small lineup.

As a last resort.

Tyronn Lue could only send Rooney up, hoping he could match up with Sabonis Jr.

The result was unexpected, but the effect was surprisingly good.

But at this time, more than half of the second quarter had passed and the Nets were leading the Knicks by a full 59 points at 50:9.

Obviously the reaction was a bit late.

O'Neal complained: "This is a matchup between the two strongest teams in the East, but I didn't feel that thrilling feeling."

Barkley: "That's true. James tried his best, but Xue Liancheng didn't seem to have done his best, and the team fell behind by 9 points. Facing Xue Liancheng's team, once you fall behind, it's almost impossible to catch up. That's why you feel this way."

Ernie Johnson: "The media is saying the Knicks are better and the Nets are worse, but I feel like... it's the other way around."

Hear the words.

O'Neal and Barkley were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and smiled bitterly in silence.

Think about it.

That seems to be the case.

On the Nets side, apart from the top superstar Xue Liancheng, the second highest scorer is the young and inexperienced Anunoby, which gives people the illusion that the Nets' strength is not that good.

After all, you, a rookie, are already the second scoring point, how good can your lineup be?

But if you put out the Nets' entire lineup, it would be pretty good.

On the other hand, although the Knicks have two All-Stars, James and Lopez, Lopez is no longer an All-Star this season, although he averages 16+8 per game.

But the problem is, if you add up 30 points in one game and 2 points in another, your average is 16 points per game, but your influence on the court is really hard to describe.

and so.

If the All-Star level Lopez is downgraded, the Knicks' lineup will be just so-so.