Chapter 655: Chapter 203: Stunning Passing
At 3 PM Eastern Time, the defending champions, the Bulls and the Rockets, played the first game of the regular season this season, marking the beginning of the new season.
The Rockets introduced Divac, enhancing their depth in the paint, but at the start of the new season, Olajuwon’s decline was evident.
Throughout the game, Olajuwon scored only 19 points and 8 rebounds with 8 out of 18 attempts, while Drexler’s decline was even more pronounced, scoring only 10 points with 4 assists on 11 attempts with 3 successful, plus 4 out of 4 free throws.
However, Divac, thought to "enhance depth," delivered an All-Star performance, scoring 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists with 9 out of 16 attempts and 4 out of 5 free throws, helping the Rockets hold on for a while.
But by the third quarter, the Rockets were overwhelmed by the Bulls, whose two top 50 superstars performed poorly against two of the three top 50 superstars on the opposite side, who performed excellently.
The Bulls continued their strong third-quarter performance, securing victory in the third quarter.
On the other side, as the defending champions, the Bulls, held their championship ring award night into the fourth quarter, losing suspense, the Lakers players prepared to take the court in the Madison Square Garden visitor’s player tunnel.
Zhang Hao stood at the player tunnel entrance, looking at the court of the basketball sanctuary...
Playing here for the second time, he was still excited.
For a professional basketball player, this place is always special, wanting to play here once every year.
Playing here is the utmost glory... as long as you’re not a Knicks player.
When the Knicks have a good record, fans still support them enthusiastically, like over the years, they made it to the finals, have many stars, and signed contracts worth over a hundred million US Dollars this summer. The new season coming up is manageable, with total salaries of 30 million US Dollars, but next season, their total salary will exceed that of the Bulls, who have a player earning an annual salary of 30.14 million US Dollars. Even if they do nothing in the next offseason, next season’s salary will reach 57 million US Dollars, forming a beautiful team crafted with massive spending.
Chris Childs, Alan Houston, Larry Johnson, Charles Oakley, Ewing, absolutely powerful!
However, when facing certain special players, unless the Knicks have just won the championship, they inevitably turn against them.
Initially, this situation emerged in the 1950s when New York basketball news featured the most famous headline — "Mikan VS Knicks."
Some things only happen zero or countless times, and after the first occurrence, New York basketball fans unleash themselves; whenever stars perform explosively in New York, hitting them hard, local fans always defect... except for Reggie Miller.
Now, here it is, the Lakers players are about to take the court, the hot cheerleaders’ performance has drawn fans’ attention away. Facing the Lakers, who boast three top 50 superstars, the fans begin to boo crazily even before the Lakers players enter.
Yet amidst the overwhelming boos, shouts of "X," "Golden Gate" ring out loudly and clearly.
As Zhang Hao hears the boos plus his English name or nickname being shouted, he finds it quite interesting when Er Pang approaches him: "Aix, are you the first or the last?"
The first? The last?
Looking at the Knicks’ staff nearby, Zhang Hao realizes it’s the entry order.
Originally, wanting to let O’Neal enjoy his game, Zhang Hao decided not to fight for the first or last entry, letting O’Neal and Barkley compete for that.
But now that O’Neal is injured... Zhang Hao responds: "The first."
Barkley nods, fills out the entry order, and hands it to the Knicks staff.
This should have been decided at the start, some games may not have entry ceremonies, but the opener undoubtedly has one. The staff confirms with the other three Lakers starters aside from Zhang Hao and Barkley and quickly leaves with the entry order to hand it to the on-site DJ. George Lynch and Doug Christie are fine, yet a new point guard stares wide-eyed at the two prominent figures at the player tunnel entrance...
Soon, at 5:10 PM, the cheerleaders finish performing, everyone leaves the court, the debris from the opening jersey giveaway is cleaned up, the floor is mopped dry, and the lights dim. Spotlights focus on the visitor’s player tunnel entrance.
Magician and Jerome Kersey lead the run from the player tunnel, standing on both sides.
A top 50 superstar plays substitute, aside from the Bulls’ Robert Parish, only the Lakers have such a treatment, and this top 50 superstar is among the top five historically!
Wearing a suit, O’Neal also arrives at the player tunnel, the spotlight not missing him, a moment to showcase his "master charisma."
Seeing these two, the fans unleash fierce boos!
The boos just begin to fade, the DJ’s deep voice resounds: "Welcoming, Aix of the Los Angeles Lakers..."
A simple introduction phrase, the DJ aims for the fans to boo, and indeed, the just-diminishing boos immediately rise again, but simultaneously accompanied by cheers and screams, even briefly overshadowing the boos!
"X... X... X..."
Amid the fans’ cheering, the star who last year explosively scored 60 points here, breaking the rookie single-game scoring record, creating NBA’s first 60+ triple-double, makes loyal New York fans decisively turn!
Comments