On June 14, 1998, the fourth game day of the NBA Finals Finals was here.

When the strength gap between the two sides is too big, so big that the sweep can be completed very steadily, the attention of this series may not be low, but the ratings are usually not much higher, even in the finals.

For example, in the 1995 finals, every game was very fierce, but after the Rockets led the Magic 3-0, the G4 ratings plummeted. It was not that no one paid attention to it, but that the score was up. Many people only wanted to see the results from newspapers or TV news.

This time it is not much the same. Although the Lakers' advantage this time is far greater than the Rockets' advantage in 1995, everyone knows that the Lakers will win, but the topic, media coverage and publicity efforts, and even booking and paid ratings have all set new highs in this year's finals.

There is a little gap between the ratings of the Eastern Conference Finals tiebreak, but the ratings of the Eastern Conference Finals tiebreak are too high. In NBA history, the number of paid ratings in three playoffs in a single game exceeded 30 million. One was the ratings of the Finals last season, and the other was the G6 in the 1993 Finals, which all exceeded 25%, which is quite special.

This kind of thing needs to be compared directly. For a final that is likely to sweep the championship, the number of paid G4 bookings has exceeded 20 million, and the final viewing situation is expected to exceed 25 million, which has never happened in NBA history.

Even if we compare the G5 of the finals with 4-1 score, the ratings of this game tonight are still ranked first.

Even if the fans who don’t like the Lakers have been criticizing the Lakers a few days ago, they don’t want to miss this game as long as they have time.

Because the Lakers may surpass the 76ers who won the championship with 12 wins and 1 losses in 1983, becoming the first team in NBA history to win the championship with all the playoffs!

For fans with high enthusiasm for basketball, even if they are not the team they support, even if they are hostile teams, they don’t want to miss it.

Some people are looking forward to O'Neal making money with Zhang Hao MVP!

It can be seen from G2 that O'Neal almost got a double 20 and almost got a triple double block in the finals. Although he didn't get both, his performance of 3, 20 points, 19 rebounds and 8 blocks was very exciting. By G3, O'Neal had already started to grab the right to take action.

Will this eventually evolve into an internal conflict between G4's head and horse, causing the Lakers to lose G4? Will they win the championship with all their wins?

...

The Lakers have many interviews today and have to accept interviews. Most people regard today as the last game day of the season, and the Lakers are the same. It is unreasonable not to accept interviews.

Fortunately, I had a day off the day before yesterday and did a lot of preparations yesterday, but it would not have any effect on too many chores today.

At 4:30 pm, Zhang Hao started to warm up, and his teammates came one after another.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, Zhang Hao called his teammates together, including O'Neal, and ordered the small adjustments he wanted, but most of the teammates had no objection.

After Zhang Hao made a small adjustment before the game, O'Neal called Zhang Hao aside: "You asked me to attack the whole game? Isn't this good? It's unfair to you. Let's come one by one?"

"This is what you can say? Could it be that I am dreaming now?"

"What do you mean!"

"Ahem, don't do this, no, it can't be like this. Don't underestimate the Pacers. If we give us a chance, they will really be able to beat us, you forgot the situation in the first game?"

"But……"

"The first thing we have to do is win the game and win the game! Since you are ready for your main attack, you have to make the best adjustments around this point. OK, you go and prepare to enter the game, and it's decided."

Hearing this, O'Neal didn't hesitate. The opportunity was right in front of him. It would be stupid if FMVP didn't fight!

Seeing O'Neal adjusting his mindset and walking to the player's channel, Zhang Hao thought about it and the system prompted him.

"Host Jason Kidd 1995-1996 version of the star experience card, ability evaluation 85...consumes lifespan 30 days...special usage method..."

Next, let April Clark play after entering the court.

"A single game is 50 points, I have the advantage of the highest score in a single game, and I score higher in G1 and G2. Even if Big Fat scores higher tonight, it doesn't matter. 2 to 2. Data, Big Fat has a large size accurate triple-double, I'll just have a real triple-double, won't it..."

...

The Great Western Forum Arena was filled with joy, and Lakers fans were so excited that they were almost suffocating.

Their brilliant history of the Lakers will hit another new high this year!

From many aspects, this season can be regarded as the strongest season in team history!

At 7:30 pm, amid the irritating cheers of fans at the scene, O'Neal easily won the jump ball from Rick Schmitz's head, and the Lakers attacked first!

The Lakers are still the starting combination of Kenny Anderson, Derek Fisher, Doug Christie, Zhang Hao and O'Neal.

The Pacers' starting lineup has not changed, with Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Dell Davis, and Rick Schmitz starting combination.

After O'Neal won the jump ball, Zhang Hao took advantage of O'Neal's threat of cutting in the middle and rushed straight to the basket. He flew on the left side of the three-second zone and made a throw shot!

Normally, Zhang Hao would be more willing to jump shots in this ball, but after using Kidka, his shooting was greatly affected, so he would be the best to play steadily at the basket.

In the first few rounds of the game, Zhang Hao was attacking the Lakers' offense, and O'Neal had to take the ball, but they were all rushing to grab it.

This gave the Pacers players the feeling that Zhang Hao also began to compete for the right to play tonight, and their defense began to adjust spontaneously.

In terms of the Pacers' performance, as they said during the Tactical Conference and Zhang Hao's minor adjustments before the game, they did not give up!

Reggie Miller doesn't want to see the Lakers win all the championships. Even if he can only win one game, he wants to bite the Lakers and prevent the Lakers from continuing to be great.

At the beginning, Zhang Hao made 2 of 4 shots, plus 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 5 points and only played at the basket. His efficiency was not particularly high.

The Lakers were two points behind 5-7 at the beginning.

However, after Zhang Hao felt the substantial changes in the opponent's defense, his playing style began to adjust. The defensive end actively contracted the board and launched a counterattack!

O'Neal, Kenny Anderson, Fisher always takes the first shot after the opponent shoots, and handes the defensive rebound to Zhang Hao!

The Pacers' rebounding is not very good, which is one of the biggest advantage of the Lakers. The Pacers averaged only 36 rebounds per game in the first three games, and the Lakers averaged 52 rebounds per game. Even if the Pacers' perimeter shooting, the team did better in two important aspects. The Lakers also relied on the huge advantage of rebounding to stabilize the Pacers.

The Pacers were ready to limit Zhang Hao. The Lakers suddenly adjusted toward the direction of positional combat and defensive counterattack. It was very sudden. It was not until Zhang Hao started to make a bad shot. Two of the 4 shots were not particularly good, but it was not bad either. 5-7, the Lakers were two points behind, and it was not a big difference... At this time, the Lakers suddenly adjusted and the Pacers could not react.

With 5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the half quarter, Zhang Hao helped the Lakers take the lead by 16-14!

Currently, for the Lakers, Zhang Hao has 5 points, O'Neal has 4 points, Kenny Anderson has 3 points, Fisher has 2 points, Doug Christie has 2 points, and the scoring distribution is average in the cemetery!

The Pacers thought that Zhang Hao was going to attack fiercely, but Zhang Hao began to launch a counterattack!

Seeing that O'Neal played so aggressively, he thought O'Neal was going to take advantage of the main attack, but the Lakers played the team!

Taking the initiative, the Lakers began to make constant adjustments on the court. The Pacers, which were already at a disadvantage, could only deal with each other and follow the Lakers' rhythm.

In the second half of the first quarter, O'Neal was replaced after two minutes of play. Zhang Hao and Kenny Anderson led the team to instigate the team's attack. After the first quarter, the two teams played 29-28, and the Lakers led by 1 point and entered the midfield break.

As expected before the game, the Pacers did not give up!

In the second quarter, O'Neal played again, Fisher, Brian Shaw, Brent Barry, and Zhang Hao played together.

Seeing the Lakers' lineup, Dell Davis made an independent adjustment on the defensive end before starting the second quarter - defending the Lakers' team attack!

Fisher, Brian Shaw, and Brent Barry have good shooting, Fisher and Brent Barry have strong athletic ability, and Dell Davis thinks that the Lakers will use Zhang Hao and O'Neal as restraints and play role players' offenses, and there is no problem.

One thing affects the judgment of the Pacers coaching staff and players - the double towers of the head horse are competing for FMVP.

The Pacers are thinking and analyzing based on this matter.

What is the most direct way to compete for FMVP? Get high scores!

The Lakers' role players scored more in the first quarter. In the Pacers' view, Zhang Hao and O'Neal didn't want each other to get high scores, but in order to win the game, they chose to make the ball for the role.

As for this, the Pacers coaching staff and players are very optimistic about Zhang Hao and O'Neal's ball quotient. They know very well that neither of them will play randomly because of the fight for the right to fight. They think that the two will use this to use their Pacers' defense at this time.

But even so, the Pacers players think that the opportunity has come! Although there is no clear internal strife between the two towers of the Rentou Horse and the two towers that some media and some fans have maliciously speculated, it is already a good opportunity. The role players are much better at defending than the two superstars of the Rentou Horse and the two towers.

Then, the Lakers started O'Neal's main attack mode in the second quarter, focusing on defense!

O'Neal scored 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in a single quarter, leading the Lakers to the Pacers 28-21 in a single quarter. After halftime, O'Neal scored 19 points in the half, the Lakers led the Pacers 57-49 to 8 points into the break.

In this quarter, Zhang Hao's restraint played a huge role. Even though Zhang Hao only made two shots in the second quarter and scored 2 points with only free throws, he created a good shooting opportunity for O'Neal and the wingers. He also played a very important role in 4 assists in a single quarter.

Everyone's attention was focused on O'Neal's 19 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first half, but not many people noticed that Zhang Hao, who only scored 7 points, had 9 rebounds and 9 assists...

In the third quarter, the Pacers were still unwilling to give up and played a 22-23 single quarter score with the Lakers. The defense was very good and the rhythm was pressed. The Lakers had only one counterattack in this quarter, and Zhang Hao scored as an arrow. The Pacers did a good job in their offense. They scored 22 points under the rhythm and high confrontation, but the score was still 71-80 after the third quarter. The Pacers were even more behind.

At this time, the Pacers really understood that the Lakers were not really affected by the FMVP competition, but instead took advantage of their Pacers' mentality that they wanted to take advantage of this!

In the middle of the fourth quarter, as O'Neal singled Dell Davis, turned around and hooked to hit under the pinch of Antonio Davis, O'Neal's personal score increased to 41 points, and the Lakers also expanded the lead to 20 points with 98-78! And it also caused Antonio Davis to foul the thug!

At 6 minutes and 55 seconds, the Lakers scored the game into garbage time!

The Lakers' impact, even Reggie Miller, has lost its momentum now.

The gap is too big!

The Pacers didn't make it in the playoffs last year to the first place in the Eastern Conference this year and reached the finals. Obviously, Larry Bird, as strong as Larry Bird, did not make enough lineups to deal with the Lakers in the finals.

As O'Nealga missed the free throw and Larry Bird called the timeout, the Pacers players returned to the bench, very frustrated, but felt helpless.

Larry Bird said to the players: "I know you're in a bad mood, but we're already very good this year, right? We've played to the finals, this is the greatest year in our team's history. You're great, very good, and we'll come back next year! After the game is over, you're going to congratulate the other side on winning the championship. They're really good and have performed well."

It is obvious that Larry Bird is going to surrender, but what he said gives Pacers players aspiration for the future.

Yes! They have reached the finals! They never expected to go this far before the season started.

Larry Bird's last words dissipated the Pacers' players' sense of frustration a lot.

Indeed, the man on the opposite side is super strong!

They lost without any wickedness. Since Zhang Hao scored 50 points in the first game and O'Neal scored 28 points, the two towers of the head and horse have been playing almost invincible! For example, tonight, O'Neal scored 41 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks!

Larry Bird replaced Fred Hoyberg, Jaylen Rose, Derek McKay, Austin Crohill, Mark West, and these people are all evil guys!

As long as O'Neal comes on again, they will dare to fight.

At least, the opponent's second player can no longer win 50+ in the same finals.

However, with the 20-point lead, the Lakers, Silver Foxes and O'Neal knew it. Then they sent a big fat man who made 15 of 26 shots and 11 of 17 free throws tonight, which may get into trouble.

The Silver Fox sent Fisher, Doug Christie, Rick Fox, Ben Wallace, and Sean Lux to the lineup.

Before the game ended, O'Neal and Rick Fox took their teammates to dance on the sidelines, and the fans on the scene also got excited after the Pacers replaced the main players.
To be continued...