Chapter 852: Unprecedented Lack of Chemistry (8k)_2

Chapter 852: Chapter 265: Unprecedented Lack of Chemistry (8k)_2

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Under O’Neal’s expressive performance, the Lakers defeated the Bullets and improved their record to 36 wins and 10 losses. On the second day, February 3rd, the Lakers played a home back-to-back game against the Kings.

As the All-Star Weekend approached, along with O’Neal’s explosive performance yesterday, and the last two games in December against top teams, the players of the Lakers were increasingly motivated.

Although it was the second game of a back-to-back for the Lakers, the Kings’ offense tonight performed quite well, scoring 109 points, but the Lakers’ offense was even better!

Zhang Hao played for 31 minutes and scored 35 points with 8 rebounds and 2 assists, O’Neal played for 30 minutes and scored 20 points with 8 rebounds, Barkley played for 22 minutes and scored 16 points, Doug Christie scored 14 points, and Kenny Anderson contributed 7 points and 14 assists… The Lakers scored a total of 117 points.

117 to 109, the Lakers steadily defeated the Kings, improving their record to 37 wins and 10 losses.

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After finishing the home back-to-back games, there’s only one game left for the Lakers before the All-Star Weekend.

February 4th, rest day, tomorrow, the Lakers will face the Bulls at home.

Unlike after Christmas before the back-to-back games, this time, with only a day of rest, the Lakers didn’t schedule a full rest but resumed the rhythm from the early season, gathering at 9 AM to prepare for tomorrow’s game against the Bulls.

42 wins and 7 losses… Zhang Hao looked at the Bulls’ record and genuinely felt his scalp tingling.

The Bulls played two more games than the Lakers and lost three fewer games!

This year, the Bulls are just too stable! Every game they lost is worth analyzing.

After the tactical meeting and preparation training, the Lakers players gathered in the locker room, with O’Neal operating a mouse in his hand like a lighter, refreshing the NBA official website. The TV was also playing midday news from the American Cable TV Station.

O’Neal’s personality made him very popular within the team, and the teammates were waiting to see the results of this year’s All-Star substitutes. On the 1st, the coaches of each team had already gradually completed the league’s official telephone voting.

By noon, at 12 PM, when the midday sports news of the American Cable TV Station switched to the news conference with live footage from the NBA Headquarters, the NBA official website had already updated.

This, Zhang Hao was still quite unaccustomed to, as online information came earlier than live broadcasts…

The network penetration rate wasn’t that high in those years.

O’Neal quickly clicked on the webpage, glanced at it, and jumped up excitedly!

“Hahahaha… I made it to the All-Star in just 31 games!”

O’Neal laughed excitedly, although he wasn’t selected as an All-Star starter, getting in as a substitute after playing just 31 games was equally impressive.

The teammates were all egging O’Neal to treat, and O’Neal excitedly agreed.

O’Neal was very excited, while Zhang Hao felt this was expected.

With David Robinson injured, among the centers in the West, the best performer was O’Neal, and the most popular was Olajuwon. Although O’Neal missed 16 games, apart from O’Neal, only Divac with an average of 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists barely matched the All-Star qualifications.

O’Neal’s average performance of 24.2 points and 13.1 rebounds surpassed Divac significantly. Even with fewer games played than Divac, he still overshadowed Divac.

However, at this time, Zhang Hao noticed Kenny Anderson’s dejected expression.

Zhang Hao had just looked for O’Neal’s name and didn’t notice other names, so he reviewed the All-Star substitute list again.

In the West, O’Neal, Kemp, Malone, Stockton, Richmond, Garnett, Schramm, and others were selected as All-Star substitutes.

In the East, Mutombo, Moning, Vin Baker, Chris Webber, Anfernee Hardaway, Tim Hardaway, Glenn Rice, and others were selected as All-Star substitutes.

Kenny Anderson wasn’t included!

This wasn’t really surprising, Kenny Anderson, in the first 10 games of the season, absolutely performed at an All-Star level, with an average of 23.9 points and 9.4 assists. But as the season progressed and the gameplay kept changing, Kenny Anderson’s stats til now average at 16.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists, making it quite hard to be selected for the All-Star.

O’Neal there was excitedly chatting with Brian Shaw and others about the All-Star Weekend, while Kenny Anderson quietly left the locker room.

Zhang Hao watched this scene, stroked his chin where a soft beard was growing, and thought…

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The All-Star Weekend is coming, the long middle stage of the season is finally coming to an end!

In the early season, fans are very excited because there haven’t been games for a long time, but the season is too long, players have periods of physical and mental fatigue, and fans also experience aesthetic fatigue. Additionally, the NFL playoffs have drawn away quite a bit of attention.

Now, the All-Star Weekend, a hugely anticipated event for fans, combined with the end of the NFL season, has refocused North American sports fans’ attention back onto the NBA since the end of January.

On February 4th, the All-Star substitute lineup was announced, causing joy for some and disappointment for others, with fans either celebrating or complaining.

Every year, there are 24 All-Star players, but the number of players with All-Star caliber is definitely more than that. There will always be someone’s idea of an All-Star player left out, perhaps repeatedly.

On February 5th, the NBA officially announced the All-Star Rookie Challenge lineup.

For the Eastern Team, Iverson from the 76ers, Anthony Walker from the Celtics, Camby from the Raptors, Ray Allen from the Bucks, Eric Dampier from the Pacers, John Wallace from the Knicks, Vitaly Potapenko from the Cavaliers, Corey Kitels from the Brooklyn Nets, Tony Delk from the Hornets were selected.