Chapter 869: The Diligent Shark!

This made the media and fans very curious, is O’Neal just having an off night like this, or has he truly changed?

If O’Neal can really play defense like this every night, plus the Lakers’ unstoppable offense in this era…

…

In the first game back after the All-Star weekend, the Lakers once again became the focus of media and fans’ attention.

That night, there was another big game, Jordan got another triple-double after the All-Star game, with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, performing exceptionally well to end the Heat’s winning streak and exact some revenge.

But Boss Qiao could only go and order some custom leather pants again…

With all eyes on them, the Lakers arrived in Denver. After the game with the Timberwolves, the Lakers faced a back-to-back at home and away, playing the Nuggets on the 15th and returning to Los Angeles to face the Cavaliers on the 16th.

After resting for a night, the Lakers and Nuggets game kicked off at 6 PM on the 15th.

This time, the Lakers came out with an unprecedented first-quarter defense this season. Leading by 9 points in the first quarter is nothing rare for the Lakers, but this time they led by 9 points through defense, with a first-quarter score of 25 to 16!

After arriving in Denver yesterday, Del Harris held a team meeting to adjust tactics for O’Neal.

Although the direction of the adjustment left O’Neal helpless, he liked that tactical changes were made for him…

Barkley was placed on the bench, with Kenny Anderson, Doug Christie, George Lynch, O’Neal, and Zhang Hao starting.

The offense was somewhat affected, but the defense was significantly improved!

Mainly, it was O’Neal’s adjustments!

This lineup played the entire quarter, and Del Harris wanted to see the results. While he wasn’t very satisfied with the offense, on defense… Del Harris was a bit annoyed with O’Neal…

Why did the Silver Fox achieve nothing while the players found their way?

What face does this leave him with?

But with O’Neal back to his “leaner” form, playing power forward on defense was really fierce… Of course, Zhang Hao’s rim protection capability also played a part.

In the second quarter, the Lakers’ defense declined because O’Neal rested the entire quarter, and Zhang Hao and Doug Christie didn’t play in the first half of the second quarter either.

During this time, Del Harris tried to adjust on defense to see if he could come up with something else.

But signing so many players on minimum contracts indeed had some problems – age!

Jerome Kersey and Byron Scott, these two old veterans, one inside and one outside, were indeed old. If they were three years younger… they wouldn’t even be on the Lakers.

It’s quite a pity, in the second quarter the Lakers allowed quite a few points, with the Nuggets scoring 26, while the Lakers only got 25.

By halftime, the Lakers were up 50 to 42, with their lead shrunk to 8 points.

But in the third quarter, the frontcourt trio of Zhang Hao, O’Neal, and George Lynch appeared together once more, and for the Nuggets, terror struck!

The Nuggets only scored 18 points in the third quarter, and just 17 in the fourth quarter!

This Lakers trio played together for 9 minutes in the third quarter and 8 minutes in the fourth quarter, making the trio of Lafonso Ellis, Antonio McDyess, and Darrell Ellis weep from defense!

Even though the Lakers only scored 46 points in the second half, they still won the half against the Nuggets by 11 points!

The biggest impact on the Nuggets was their inside scoring. They were a team primarily focused on inside scoring, and when the Remy Martin Duo led the defense of the interior, they didn’t score over 20 in any quarter.

With Zhang Hao’s 27 points, O’Neal’s 23 points, and Doug Christie’s 16 points, the Lakers massacred the Nuggets 96 to 77!

Zhang Hao scored 27 points, Antonio McDyess 8 points, the Lakers won, completing today’s “standout performance” task.

After the game against the Nuggets, the next day, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles and faced the Cavaliers that night.

When playing the Nuggets it was fine, the offense wasn’t too bad overall, but tonight, the Lakers’ offense was really poor.

Back-to-back games plus against a strong defensive team, the Lakers only scored 91 points for the whole game, but with O’Neal playing 39 minutes and getting 16 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 blocks, along with Zhang Hao’s 31 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, they limited the Cavaliers to just 86 points!

91 to 86, despite the influence on offensive feel and stamina, the Lakers pulled off a 5-point victory over the Cavaliers with defense, achieving a 6-game winning streak!

On February 18th, the Lakers welcomed their second opponent of the 4-game home stand, the San Antonio Spurs.

97 to 91, the Lakers defeated the Spurs at home, avenging their previous matchup.

On February 20th, the Lakers hosted the Clippers challenge, winning easily with 108 to 92…

8 consecutive wins! The Lakers charged forward vigorously, improving their record to 43 wins and 10 losses, winning all 5 matches post-All-Star weekend, surpassing the 43-win, 11-loss Jazz, and moving up to the first in the West!

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In the 5 games since returning from the All-Star weekend, the Lakers grabbed all the spotlight.

It’s not that their games were exceptionally exciting, nor that they defeated particularly strong opponents. In fact, apart from the Timberwolves and Clippers, the other three opponents aren’t currently in playoff contention, and even among the Timberwolves and Clippers, their win rates are not very high, lacking in representation.

The main reason is the changes in the Lakers’ defense. If the Lakers really rely on the current adjustments and find a way to elevate their defense to a first-class, if not top-tier, level in the latter half of the season… with the Lakers’ offense, who can stand against them?