On the evening of May 4, the Mavericks narrowly defeated the Lakers 107-100 at home, and eliminated the defending champion in the first round in the tiebreak.

The Lakers led by 6 points into the final quarter. Michael Finley, one of the Mavericks' tridents, performed poorly, but unfortunately the Lakers failed to maintain the advantage until the end.

Nowitzki played for 46 minutes, but he didn't lose his chain at the critical moment. He scored 31 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks, and his shooting percentage was as high as 57.1%.

Nash beat Fisher, scoring 21 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, and shooting percentage was 50%.

The most important figure of the Mavericks is the substitute guard "madman" Van Exel, who scored 12 points in the final quarter and gave his old club a fatal blow. He made 10 of 15 shots in the game, 3 of 5 three-pointers, 3 of 4 free throws, and scored 26 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Lakers power forward Robert Horry was beaten by Nowitzki throughout the series, and other forwards performed poorly.

In order to strengthen the offense in this game, Phil Jackson reused Medvedenko, who came on as a substitute for 17 minutes, made 5 of 6 shots, made 3 of 4 free throws, scored 13 points and 4 rebounds. The super-level performance is a highlight.

Kobe played the whole game, making 15 of 31 shots, 5 of 11 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, scoring 36 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. He has already performed well outside the three-point line, which is useless.

O'Neal played for 40 minutes, but he didn't shoot many goals with a clear inside advantage. He made 8 of 14 shots, 4 of 7 free throws, scoring 20 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks.

The Lakers team only scored in double digits, and their teammates did not support the OK combination. Devin George performed the worst, making 0 of 7 shots in 25 minutes, and only scored 2 points and 1 rebound on free throws. Now the management feels that it is a loss to sign a middle-class contract with him.

Horry won't be renewed after the season ends. He made 3 of 10 shots and 0 of 6 three-pointers, and 4 of them were shots from open positions, which disappointed his performance.

Because of the butterfly effect caused by Guo Xu, Horry was not called the "key gentleman" in the first two seasons. The Lakers did not have a key ball to make him shoot. This year he was timid at a critical moment, which will definitely affect the evaluations he received in the future.

The No. 1 position is the Lakers' fatal weakness. Fisher's style of play is very reasonable, his shooting percentage is not low, and the combination cannot leave the court at all. The Mavericks will bloom more points in the game and press the Lakers to the ground to rub.

The two Mavericks' defenders played against veterans Brian Shaw and Pago more easily. The former is old and has no speed and is easily overwhelmed. The guest-star point guard is only the role of O'Neal to give O'Neal a lob, and the latter is a substitute with inexperienced substitute, and the Lakers are not allowed to play.

Lakers boss Jerry Buss felt his face swollen. Although Guo Xu was so kind that he had never targeted anyone and thanked the Lakers again and again, he knew very well that he had done something stupid that he would regret for his whole life.

Kobe averaged 30+ games in the regular season, and scored luxurious data of 32 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.3 steals in the first round of the playoffs, but the Lakers gave up their dominant position, and the fact that their strength was weak could not be concealed.

Guo Xu has become one of the best players in the league. As long as the Lakers renew his contract, they are conservatively estimated to have a super star point guard for at least 10 years. Guo Xu is only 30 years old 10 years later.

Paul Gasol, who was able to exchange for Kobe back then, also led the team to the playoffs, being one of the Grizzlies' double towers and an all-around power forward.

With them here, the Lakers sent Kobe and O'Neal away, and it was also a powerful Western Conference. The difference between Old Buss made the team miss the opportunity to establish a super dynasty.

At the post-match press conference, everyone's faces looked ugly.

"Zen Master" Jackson did not blame the players, expressed satisfaction with their performance, and believed that the loss was because the Mavericks performed better, and the offense was so strong that it was unpredictable that the Mavericks had the strength to compete for the championship.

This is a fact. In Guo Xu's previous life, the Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals in 2003 and were eliminated by the Spurs 2-4. The reason for their loss was that Nowitzki was injured and missed the last three games, and the lineup was not complete. Even if the core was missing, the Mavericks still beat the Spurs in the sixth game by 12 points, and the score difference between the two games they lost was not big.

As long as Nowitzki is healthy, the winners and losses of both sides are unpredictable. The Mavericks defeat the Spurs will be the champion, and the Nets will join in the fun.

The Suns became the second place in the regular season and triggered the butterfly effect. If the Lakers ranked fifth, they should have advanced easily against the Timberwolves. Before forming a super lineup, the Timberwolves could not pass the first round.

When a Lakers player was interviewed, O'Neal angrily criticized Kobe for being too independent at the press conference. "He only trusts his teammates in the first two quarters. As long as his teammates perform poorly, he will not pass the ball again. Our ball rights are very concentrated throughout the season. This is something that has never happened in the first two seasons. How can we win the championship with just two people scoring?"

The reporter asked: "Do you mean it is Kobe's responsibility to be eliminated?"

"He averaged nearly 10 more shots than me, and his shooting percentage was only 45%. Do you think he was not responsible?"

In the series, Kobe averaged 26.4 shots per game, O'Neal averaged 40 minutes per game, 27 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.8 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 55.8%, and only made 18.2 shots and 11 free throws per game.

There is no doubt that O'Neal's efficiency is much higher than Kobe, but Kobe can show off his back-to-back singles with a 45% shooting rate again and again, allowing people with high shooting rate to grab the frontcourt rebounds. Who would believe that they have no conflict?

In addition to the OK combination, only Fisher scored double-digit points, averaging 11.7 points, 3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Although his shooting percentage is very high and his three-pointers exceeds 50%, his role is limited. He passes the ball over halftime, and Kobe is the real playmaker of the Lakers.

Kobe often organizes for a while and then shoots...

The reporter asked O'Neal: "Who are you optimistic about which team of the Suns and the Mavericks wins in the next round of the series?"

"Of course it's the Suns, because the Suns have Jason organized an offense. Even if there are a group of rookies in the team, as long as Jason is there, the team can become very united, playing like the Lakers did in the first two seasons. I don't think the Mavericks are amazing. If the Lakers played as they did in the previous two years, we would definitely win, but it doesn't make sense to say these things now."

Kobe was also very unhappy and confronted O'Neal. "Shakel should do better on the defensive end. Mavericks center Lafrenz always pulls out to cover, catches and shoots, they do this every game. Nowitzki also shoots outside, but Shakel has been huddling near the penalty area to defend, and is not active in defending the pick-and-roll. I think this is the main reason for losing."

The two of them broke up at the press conference. The open and secret battles seriously damaged the interests of the team, and the Lakers Dynasty collapsed in just one season.

Guo Xu watched the game at home and also watched the press conference.

He thinks O'Neal is right, because in the Lakers' defensive system, the "Zen Master" allows O'Neal not to save and defend against pick-and-roll, which was the case in the first two seasons. O'Pang is active near the penalty area, and his opponent can only shoot from mid to long distance and cannot hit the basket. The outside relies on rotation to interfere with the shooting, and try to reduce the opponent's shooting percentage.

The difference is that in the past two years, the Lakers could defeat their opponents with better offenses. After Guo Xu left, the Lakers' offense became worse.

Kobe's current style of playing cannot be said to be wrong, so coach Jackson did not criticize anyone.

The combination of inside and outside is the king. Kobe is the only one left on the outside of the Lakers. O'Neal was frequently double-teamed at the low post. When he was split, who wouldn't Kobe shoot?
Chapter completed!