Despite Kobe's 33 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists today, He Ximeng also contributed 27 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds! However, the other Lakers teammates were too ineffective.
Acting captain Eddie Jones shot 1-of-11 from the field, missed all four of his three-point attempts, and made 1-of-2 free throws for a mere 3 points, showing severe underperformance.
Horry missed all six of his shots for zero points, and Fox shot 2-of-9 for 4 points.
Campbell was the best-performing player besides the twin stars, and the only Lakers player to score in double digits, but he only managed 15 points.
On the other hand, the Bulls had Jordan with 36 points, Luc Longley with 23 points, Kukoc with 12 points, Kerr with 12 points, and Harper with 10 points...
Even without Pippen, the "god's left hand," the Bulls, under the leadership of "the god," could unleash playoff-level tough performances at any moment, disintegrating their opponents.
As head coach Harris stated in the post-game press conference: "The opponent brought their playoff form today, while we are still in the preseason... Besides Ximeng and Kobe, I don't see any other players who are ready for the playoffs... I think we still have a lot of work to do, for example, adjusting our mentality. When the opponent gets serious, we cannot continue to be flippant..."
This was Kobe's first time attending a press conference with the head coach this season, and unexpectedly, it was after a loss.
"I'm very disappointed that we lost the game! I really wanted to help the team win... I tried my best, but I failed. This feeling is terrible. I hope that the next time I sit here, we will be in a winning state..."
Compared to Kobe's seriousness and low spirits, He Ximeng, on the other side of Harris, was much more relaxed.
"As Mr. Harris said, the Bulls played with playoff-level defensive intensity in this game, which caught us off guard! We should take this as a warning, learn from it, and always be prepared to face such difficulties... Last season, we successfully made it to the playoffs, and this season, the doors to the playoffs will definitely not stop our progress! We must pull ourselves together and work hard in every game to prove that we can achieve new breakthroughs in the playoffs..."
In the subsequent news reports, fans widely commented that He Ximeng's speech sounded more like a head coach's than Harris's.
97:103, the Lakers lost to the Bulls, and their undefeated streak of 14 consecutive wins was broken by "His Airness"!
After the winning streak was broken, the Lakers' morale dipped for a while.
In the following period, the Lakers experienced both wins and losses.
They defeated the Grizzlies, Warriors, and Hornets, among others, and lost to the Celtics, Trail Blazers, and Jazz, among others. Finally, with a record of 23 wins and 4 losses, they headed into this year's Christmas Day game!
This year's Christmas Day opponent for the Lakers was the Philadelphia 76ers!
Honestly, the records of the two teams were not comparable at this point.
The Lakers, with their 23-4 record, ranked first in the Western Conference, while the Philadelphia 76ers had a record of 7-20, ranking second to last in the Eastern Conference, just slightly better than the last-place Raptors.
Even with Shaq out injured, the current Philadelphia 76ers would likely not be able to defeat the Lakers.
However, Christmas Day games were either matchups between powerhouses or games between teams that generated the most buzz!
This matchup between the Lakers and the 76ers belonged to the latter category!
All three rookie guards from the 1996 draft class, Iverson, He Ximeng, and Kobe, had now established their places in the league!
Iverson had become the "Son of Philadelphia," while He Ximeng and Kobe had become the "Laker Twin Stars"!
Although Iverson was called the "Son of Philadelphia," he was actually from Virginia, not Philadelphia!
Kobe, despite being a Lakers rising star, was a true Philadelphian!
Even though Iverson had conquered the Philadelphia fans with his skills, people had not forgotten the fact that Kobe was from Philadelphia!
After all, Kobe had once been on the radar of the Philadelphia management... If it hadn't been for Iverson, would Philadelphia have considered Kobe?
Of course, now it seemed that these were all historical footnotes, unrealistic assumptions, and mere topics of fan conversation...
As for He Ximeng, he never wanted to compare himself with Iverson, because the two were completely different types of guards!
He Ximeng had always been a point guard who primarily focused on playmaking with offense as a secondary role!
And Iverson was actually more suited to playing shooting guard!
This season, head coach Larry Brown was also experimenting with new ways to use Iverson. However, due to the overall weakness of the Philadelphia 76ers, Iverson had been in a state of "empty stat padding"...
Despite the "empty stats," Iverson's flashy style of play had won over a large number of fans!
Even on the Lakers' home court, there were Philadelphia fans wearing Iverson's number 3 jersey!
Before the game officially began, Iverson, as the final player for the 76ers, made his entrance last, receiving applause and cheers from some of the fans!
To receive applause and cheers on the road, even from a small group of fans, indicated that Iverson's popularity was already quite high!
On the Lakers' side, Eddie Jones was still the final player to enter, but the applause and cheers he received did not seem to be much less than those for He Ximeng and Kobe, who came out first and second...
The starting lineup for the 76ers in this game was center Ratliff, power forward Coleman, small forward Mark Davis, shooting guard Jim Jackson, and point guard Iverson!
The Lakers' starting lineup was center Campbell, power forward Horry, small forward Fox, shooting guard Eddie Jones, and point guard He Ximeng!
The game began with a jump ball between Campbell and Ratliff. Ratliff won the tip, giving the 76ers the first possession opportunity.
Iverson brought the ball past half-court, didn't look at his teammates at all, and directly went one-on-one against He Ximeng with a fake and a drive. After breaking through, he pulled up for a mid-range jump shot!
As a result, although He Ximeng was beaten by Iverson, he still fought his way back, making a determined effort to contest Iverson's shot, causing Iverson's first attempt to bounce off the rim.
Ratliff secured the offensive rebound, turned and threw up a hook shot, but was blocked by Horry, who had rotated over to help!
He Ximeng, in the chaos, grabbed the rebound and immediately initiated a fast break!
Iverson gave chase relentlessly, wary of He Ximeng's chase-down three-pointer!
However, He Ximeng observed his teammates' follow-up progress while pushing the ball.
Eddie Jones was pursuing very actively. He Ximeng stopped abruptly, feigning a shot for himself, but in reality, he made a bounce pass to Eddie Jones in the middle!
Eddie Jones caught the ball and drove to the basket, making a layup and scoring the first points of the game!