Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 428: Chapter 364: Basically Giving Up an O’Neal

CCTV Sports Channel.

"What a play," Zhang Weiping exclaimed.

Sabonis controlled the ball in the paint, backing down Yao Ming. He looked to his right, but suddenly whipped his arm back to the left.

Slipping through a gap in the players, Hardaway cut past McDyess and suddenly broke free.

After catching the ball, he had a clear path to the basket, leaping gracefully to finish with a powerful dunk.

"I have to say, Sabonis may have lost his athleticism and can’t jump like he used to, but his passing vision and technique are still top-tier," Su Jun remarked with genuine admiration.

He was a high-flyer in his youth, and now in his old age, his skills and awareness are world-class. Being called the "Roof of the World" is no joke.

"Actually, Sabonis has regained some of his athleticism this season. He can jump again," Su Jun added.

"I remember reporters interviewing him, and he said a big reason he joined the Phoenix Suns was that Chen Yu could treat his injuries."

"Torn ligaments and meniscuses in both knees, a completely ruptured Achilles tendon in his right leg... to be able to play on the court after injuries like that is nothing short of a miracle. And now, to regain some of his athletic ability—I mean, you saw him block one of Yao Ming’s hook shots earlier. It just goes to show how incredible Chen Yu’s medical skills truly are."

Zhang Weiping thought to himself, ’You can’t just call that incredible. It’s terrifying.’

’Chen Yu is the only person in the world who would dare to treat such injuries, let alone claim he can cure them.’

The game was now drawing to a close.

The Phoenix Suns were leading 91-80, a full 11-point advantage.

And with the Lakers’ fast break failing and Kobe missing a tough contested shot over Posey, the gap was likely to widen even further.

The host, Yang Jian, couldn’t help but say, "Honestly, I never expected the Phoenix Suns to be leading the Lakers by this much with O’Neal out."

On the court, they were completely dominating the Lakers.

Their defense was solid, their offense was smooth, and they were leaving the Lakers with no way to fight back.

Everyone knew the Suns were strong, but no one expected them to be *this* strong.

Especially before the game, many in the media had predicted the Lakers would seize the opportunity of O’Neal’s absence to steal two away wins and return to their home court up 3-0, on the verge of match point.

Zhang Weiping paused for a moment before saying, "Actually, I think this version of the Suns looks more like the team that won the championship last year."

"Coach Zhang’s analysis is spot on," Su Jun chimed in with a compliment, then continued the point. "Last season, the Suns had Ewing and Olajuwon in the paint, but both were well past their prime. Their main tasks were defense and ball movement."

"For the Suns last year, Olajuwon was a crucial piece. He could help on defense, set screens, and most importantly, he could facilitate. He created opportunities for the perimeter players to drive and score through the pick-and-roll."

"Last season’s Suns integrated their inside and outside game, creating opportunities through passing and movement. But this season, after trading for O’Neal, they’ve reverted to a more traditional half-court offense because of his immense advantage in the paint."

Zhang Weiping nodded repeatedly.

Expecting O’Neal to frequently step out to the perimeter to set screens for the guards was practically impossible.

This whole season, the Suns’ offense was basically ’inside scores, then outside scores.’ There wasn’t much complex coordination. They won games relying more on their players’ powerful individual abilities.

Su Jun continued, "But now that O’Neal is injured and Sabonis has stepped up, his role is actually quite similar to Olajuwon’s. In fact, his passing is even better. That’s why you see the Suns’ offense immediately becoming more fluid."

"In other words, the Suns have reverted to the offensive style they were best at when they won the championship last year—a system that has already been proven to work."

Last year, they beat a Lakers team that had O’Neal. It goes without saying they can handle a Lakers team with only Kobe left.

While the two were analyzing, the game ended.

to 83.

The Suns crushed the Lakers by a 12-point margin.

The camera on site focused on Yao Ming.

He was breathing heavily, a dazed look on his face.

In the last game, he had exploded for 31 points.

But in this game, he shot 4 for 13 from the field and, including free throws, only scored 12 points.

The difference in performance was night and day.

He couldn’t help but glance at the tall giant not far away.

Arvydas Sabonis!

Throughout the entire game, Yao Ming felt like Sabonis had completely figured him out. He was suppressed in every aspect, and it was an incredibly tough game for him.

The man was just too experienced, too crafty.

All his wonderful fantasies of matching up against his idol were brutally shattered.

’I really got taken to school today.’

"Let’s go."

Olajuwon had walked over at some point and tugged on Yao Ming’s arm.

He could tell Yao Ming’s confidence was a bit shaken, but for a moment, he didn’t know how to console him.

Olajuwon still had deep feelings for the Phoenix Suns.

’Who could they blame for a loss like this? It just came down to a gap in skill.’

Nearby, Kobe didn’t linger. He didn’t embrace or acknowledge his opponents. The moment the game ended, he walked off the court with a grim expression.

Jackson instinctively wanted to step forward and offer a word of comfort, but Kobe just walked past him and disappeared into the players’ tunnel.

Rubbing his temples, Jackson’s expression was grim.

’This stings!’

It wasn’t just because they lost, but because they lost to a Suns team that was missing O’Neal.

He remembered the pre-game press conference, where he had been full of confidence, even putting on a show for the reporters by saying it was a shame O’Neal was injured.

At that moment, he had been on the verge of smirking.

’Thinking about it now, it’s just humiliating!’

’They were playing without O’Neal, for crying out loud!’

"Phil, I think..." Lambis began to say instinctively from beside him.

He felt that this game had exposed a lot of the Lakers’ problems.

Most importantly, they lacked a consistent scorer.

Last year they had O’Neal. When everyone else went cold, they could still hand the ball to O’Neal to solve the problem.

But this year, all they had was Kobe.

Kobe may have won the scoring title, but in the playoffs, when the games really mattered, there was no one to share the pressure, and his offense was still not consistent enough.

Especially in this game, Posey’s defense on him was excellent.

Whenever Kobe was on the court, Posey was on the court. He did nothing else all game but stick to Kobe like glue.

Kobe took 25 shots to score just 23 points. Posey deserved the lion’s share of the credit for that.

Jackson held up a hand, stopping Lambis.

The analysis could wait until they were back at the hotel.

He composed himself, walked over to Skiles, and they shook hands, exchanging a few pleasantries.

"Chen."

He then proactively walked over and called out to Chen Yu.

"What’s up, Phil?" Chen Yu asked with a smile, sharing a brief hug with Jackson.

Jackson gestured with his chin toward Yao Ming, who was being interviewed by reporters in the distance. "It’s like this, Chen. I know you’re getting married this summer. First of all, congratulations. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be there."

"By the way, you are planning to invite me, right?"

Jackson added with a laugh.

"Of course I am." Since the wedding was being held at Dream Manor, there was plenty of space. Chen Yu was planning on inviting just about everyone he could.

Jackson continued, "I know you’ll be very busy then, but I was hoping that after the season ends, you could help out. Give Yao Ming, Kobe, and the others some physical maintenance. Especially Yao. He has to go back to China for the Asian Championship this summer. He’s a key player on the National Team, so the strain on his body will definitely be significant."

After a long season ends, he has to immediately prepare to play a key role in the Asian Championship. By the time that’s over, the new season will have already started. When would he ever have time to rest?

That’s why Jackson thought of finding Chen Yu to do some physical maintenance for him as soon as the season was over.

A lot of players had done the same thing last summer.

He had already discussed it with Old Bass; the team would cover the cost.

The money they would spend was nothing compared to the losses they would incur if Yao Ming got injured.

"Oh, right. There are cup tournaments this year."

Chen Yu hadn’t even thought about it until Jackson mentioned it.

The winner gets a direct spot in next year’s Olympics, so there was no way Yao Ming could miss it.

And it was the same for the United States, who would be participating in the Copa America.

But since he was getting married, Chen Yu didn’t plan on participating in this year’s Copa America.

"Sure, no problem," Chen Yu agreed.

It wasn’t just Yao Ming. Ronaldo had contacted him last month, saying he planned to come to the United States for physical therapy as soon as the Serie A season ended.

He had even invited him to come to Italy to watch a match.

Serie A started late this year, so the final round wouldn’t be until the end of May.

Inter was still leading the league table, but Juventus was close behind. It was still anyone’s guess who would win the championship.

Ronaldo was playing his heart out. He really wanted to bring another league championship trophy to Inter before he left the club.

Jackson thanked him and left with a smile.

Behind him, Brian suddenly muttered sarcastically, "Listen to him, acting like they’re going to be playing until June and won’t have time to rest. Don’t worry, they’ll be on vacation soon enough."

If things go quickly, the entire Lakers team could be on vacation in 10 days at most. They’ll have plenty of time to rest.

"Oh, come on."

Chen Yu rolled his eyes at Brian, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

’Why didn’t you say that when he was still here?’

Still, Chen Yu hadn’t expected to win today’s game so easily either.

Before the game started, Chen Yu truly thought it would be a tough one.

They were missing O’Neal, Yao Ming had played exceptionally well in the last round, and most importantly, there was Kobe. He hadn’t won the scoring title for nothing. His skills were becoming more and more mature, and he already had the ability to decide a game’s outcome by himself.

But who would have thought the Phoenix Suns would maintain their lead for the entire game?

Were the Suns too strong, or were the Lakers too weak?

You couldn’t exactly say the Lakers were weak, though.

They had still managed to wipe the floor with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the third seed in the West.

Most importantly, the Suns were playing without O’Neal!

"Let’s go!"

Chen Yu called out and headed for the locker room.

Sabonis had battled for 36 minutes. At his age and with his injury history, playing for ten or twenty minutes was manageable while maintaining his form. But playing over thirty minutes was a real struggle and took a heavy toll on his body.

Chen Yu needed to hurry and give him some treatment.

The game was over, but the aftershocks lingered.

In the next day’s papers, the Los Angeles media, in particular, was conspicuously silent.

"Let ’em gloat."

"Saying we were guaranteed to lose, that the Suns’ inside game was done for without me, that Yao could already compete with me and had the potential to become the best center in the West."

"So what now? Why are they so quiet now?"

In the hospital room, O’Neal winced while receiving acupuncture, ranting to Chen Yu about the newspaper reports and spitting with excitement.

"Chen, I think with the Lakers’ current strength, I don’t need to rush my comeback. I can take a good long rest, and we’ll still sweep them."

As he finished, O’Neal’s eyes darted around, and he looked at Chen Yu expectantly.

Chen Yu pointed to his own eyes and asked him what he saw.

"Eyes?"

O’Neal answered tentatively.

"Wrong. It’s me rolling my eyes at you."

Chen Yu snorted. ’Why don’t you just declare yourself out for the season, then?’

Just then, Chen Yu’s phone vibrated.

He pulled it out and saw it was a message from Warren.

The content was brief: "Mr. President is expected to arrive in Phoenix the day after tomorrow for his surgery."