It wasn't a big problem. O'Neal twisted his arm in the previous game against the Hawks, which had little impact on him.

The one who sprained his left arm was not his usual hand, but O'Neal looked bulky, but in fact he was a big guy who could draw his bow and hook his hands around the basket. Although it did not worsen, he was still very difficult to drag.

After the Christmas War, there was a relatively relaxed time. To be cautious, the team asked him to take a few rests and wait until the sprain healed.

From the 26th to January 3rd, the 9-day rest period will definitely recover.

Hearing the details, the teammates breathed a sigh of relief. O'Neal was definitely worthy of their record this season. Without serious focus in the game and good control of their diet off the court, O'Neal was basically impossible to get such a record.

As for why they have to rest until January 3, because from December 29 to January 1 there are 4 days and 3 games, which is not conducive to recovery. Also, on January 4, the Lakers will usher in a home game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Although the possibility is not particularly high, the Lakers still regard the 76ers as a potential finals opponent.

The new No. 1 pick of the Sixers is so outstanding. The second game month is about to pass, and some people have regarded Duncan as the second best player in the East.

As for the back-to-back opponents, the Clippers and Kings, and the Eagles, who have strong defensive strength, the Silver Fox doesn't care.

After the team is strong enough and has a large enough record, the idea is different.

After O'Neal's injury was announced, the Silver Fox began to prepare for the next three games: "We will strictly follow the extended three-point line from the start of the Clippers tomorrow..."

I have been adapting for a while. Yesterday at noon, the league passed the application jointly submitted by some teams. Before the implementation of the new top arc area three-point line, it is allowed to stick the new three-point line in the official game, while retaining the old three-point line, so that each team has an opportunity to adapt in the official game.

Boggs, who just joined, played against the Lakers not long ago. He knew that the Lakers immediately started to adjust after the league announced the change of the three-point line. Now, as a Lakers player, he personally felt the adjustment progress of the Lakers getting one step closer to other teams... he still felt incredible.

This is the adjustment speed of the strongest team!

Piakowski was even more surprised - why are the gap between two teams in the same city so big?

The Clippers never mentioned this matter!

Fortunately, he didn't shoot well in the top arc area. He was a functional player, a fixed-point wing catcher. For him, it would have no effect on whether the three-point line in the top arc area was extended or not... Perhaps there would be more shooting opportunities.

...

On the 29th, the Lakers ushered in a challenge from the Clippers at home. At 6:10 pm, the two teams entered the stadium.

Not long ago, the Barry brothers were still teammates, but now they have become opponents.

But, it makes sense that this tree is moving to death and people are moving to life.

Joan Barry, who had no chance to perform in the Bucks, Warriors, Hawks and Lakers, joined the Clippers for 19 minutes the day before yesterday, scored 8 points, 2 assists and 1 steal.

After the greetings before the game, the game began.

Although O'Neal couldn't play, Kenny Anderson, Doug Christie, Rick Fox, Zhang Hao, Ben Wallace's starting lineup is still better than the Clippers.

Ben Wallace played for 18 minutes tonight, scored 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, and the score was purely due to Zhang Hao feeding two cakes. He originally fed three, but once he was fouled by his opponent. He was both free throws and had two free throws. When he was two free throws, he didn't touch the first free throws. O'Neal smiled and slapped his thighs...

Finally someone's free throws were worse than him!

But rebounding efficiency and blocking efficiency are very good, especially blocking and smelling, which is very good.

The effect...it's just that, much better than last year, but it still needs to be improved.

During the game, O'Neal's influence was not seen, and the inside was weaker. Fortunately, the Lakers' overall strength advantage lies.

Another thing affected the Lakers' performance, and the shooting was opened in the top arc area... After the real implementation of this directly, the Lakers' offense was really affected.

But the fundamental reason for the difficulty of fighting is still the wave!

When it is time to wave, it is inevitable to wave, which is reflected in the defensive end. There is always a period of slackness, which leads to the gap being widened and then narrowed by the opponent... Fortunately, it finally stabilized.

In the end, with Kenny Anderson 20 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal, Zhang Hao 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks, Brian Shaw 18 points, Brent Barry 12 points, Jason Williams 5 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block...98 to 91, the Lakers steadily defeated their city rival Clippers.

...

At 7 p.m. on December 30, the Lakers faced the Kings' challenge in the second back-to-back game.

This time, the Lakers got rid of the game. They once led by 11 points in the first half, and started to wave after more than double digits. They were beaten 32-20 in the third quarter. After the Kings played in the third quarter, they overtook the score by 1 point.

The Kings continued to work hard in the last quarter, and Zhang Hao and Kenny Anderson also became serious and sold in large quantities in the last quarter, but the Kings also had Mickey Richmond. When Zhang Hao scored two goals in a row and scored 5 points, Richmond scored two consecutive three-pointers...

In the end, after 2 hours and 23 minutes of the game, the Kings defeated the Lakers 101-95 with 44 points in a single game.

The Lakers ended the 1997 schedule with a loss.

...

After the game with the Kings, Zhang Hao did not attend the press conference and came to the physiotherapy room to make ice compresses. Recently, the Lakers purchased a new ice compress device, which is an ice bucket.

After finishing the ice filling, Zhang Hao met Jason Williams and got into chatting.

"Aix, we actually lost to a team that has less than 10 wins."

"There's no way, who made us slam in the third quarter and was thrown away by Richmond."

"Uh...you weren't angry about losing?"

"I am angry."

“…”

Jason Williams watched Zhang Hao enter angry words on the text message on his mobile phone and put them next to his head, speechless to the extreme...

It's weird to think about it, Jason Williams asked: "Aix, why do you think we always lose to the teams in the bottom line?"

Zhang Hao replied: "I underestimate them too much."

Jason Williams thought about it, and continued to ask, "Should we adjust it? Is there any way you can?"

Zhang Hao did not answer and asked back: "What did you think when the Kings overtook the score in the third quarter?"

Recalling for a moment, Jason Williams responded: "I thought you were there, it doesn't matter if we were overtaken. You will definitely lead us to win the game."

Zhang Hao nodded: "I think so too."

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere is a bit awkward...

Jason Williams doesn't understand. How could Zhang Hao make the atmosphere so awkward?

Fortunately, I have been used to it for more than two years. Jason Williams put away the chat and said something serious: "Aix, why do you, coach, and Kenny don't care about the win or loss of these games? If we don't start to adapt to the new three-point line in advance, I think we can lose two less games... Maybe we have a chance to surpass the Bulls' 70 wins!"

This is a heartfelt question, and Zhang Hao became serious. He knew that many teammates might be confused about this question, but this was the first time someone asked it.

After organizing the language, Zhang Hao said: "I don't know what they think, but I think the coach's choice is right. We didn't know that our record would be so good at first. I thought it would be good to win 55 to 60, and it would be enough to have a home advantage in the first round.

After a few days, what impact will the three-minute distance of the top arc area be officially extended, is still an unknown number. We are just speculating now that this is very important in experiments.

Compared to the 70 wins, in my opinion, it is more important to adapt to the changes in stadium specifications faster, prepare for the playoffs, and create better conditions for defending the title."

A very clear and clear explanation, Jason Williams understood it.

But he didn't understand. He had one nose, two eyes, one mouth, two ears, two eyebrows, and the same head, why are they so smart?

Jason Williams expressed his confusion.

"Maybe he's handsome."

"...Stop it! Don't run away! Pay back the money..."

In the end, Jason Williams finally remembered the purpose of Zhang Hao who was waiting to start physical therapy first but the last to complete physical therapy. He originally wanted to talk about something first and then get into the topic later, but in the end, Zhang Hao escaped!

...

...

On January 1, 1998, the new year arrived as scheduled.

Yesterday was the last match day in 1997, and the teams played 30 to 32 games.

Currently, the Lakers rank first in the league in 26 wins and 4 losses.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pacers ranked first in the Eastern Conference with 24 wins and 7 losses, while the 76ers came from behind, and the Heat, which beat 23 wins and 9 losses, rushed to second in the Eastern Conference, and the Bulls ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference with 20 wins and 10 losses.

As the Knicks declined due to Ewing's injury, no other team in the East competed for the top four.

However, there is not much difference between fifth and thirteenth in the Eastern Conference, and only the Magic, with 8 wins and 23 losses and the Raptors, with 4 wins and 27 losses, are not teams in the playoff competition.

From the Hornets with 17 wins and 15 losses to the Bucks with 13 wins and 19 losses, judging from their performance, the biggest difference in the four wins is not enough to widen the record gap. Perhaps the Bucks can make a series of winning streaks and can rush to fifth all the way.

The competition in the East is very fierce, and it is indeed not easy for the top four in the East to stand out.

When you get to the west, it is much easier to win a high game.

The Jazz are 24 wins and 8 losses, the Supersonics are 23 wins and 8 losses, the Timberwolves are 22 wins and 10 losses, the Suns are 21 wins and 10 losses, the Trail Blazers are 21 wins and 10 losses, the Spurs are 7th, and the Rockets are 16 wins and 16 losses, which is the exclusive.

The six teams outside the top eight in the West, either independent or forced, have started to show off their fancy styles.

The Kings won 10 wins and 22 losses, and only won the 10th victory after defeating the Lakers. The Mavericks won 8 wins and 23 losses, the Warriors won 7 wins and 24 losses, the Clippers won 6 wins and 24 losses, the Grizzlies won 6 wins and 25 losses, and the Nuggets won 3 wins and 29 losses.

With 12 consecutive losses, 7 consecutive losses and 10 consecutive losses, the Nuggets took the lead in the competition with the Raptors, which had 17 consecutive losses at the beginning, becoming the deputy squad leader of the entire league.

At present, it seems to be obvious which level of the league teams belong to, but many media and experts believe that from today on, the league's pattern may change.

At 9 a.m., the league announced on a US live broadcast program on CNTV that the 7.25-meter top arc distance three-point line specification will be officially implemented from today!

Do the media and experts really believe that changing the length of the three-point line can change the alliance pattern, this...

Anyway, no matter how alarmist it is, what they want is that fans of top-level strong teams feel pressure, fans of first-class strong teams see the possibility, and fans of weak teams see hope.
To be continued...