At the same time, the Lakers suddenly increased their defensive intensity, successfully defending against the 76ers' two counterattacks.
Back and forth, the Lakers, relying on Heximon's 3-of-3 shooting spree, established a double-digit lead, finally laying the foundation for victory in this Christmas Day game!
"See? Victory is that simple?"
Off the court, O'Neal laughed and shouted to the camera with considerable arrogance. It was as if the one who just hit three three-pointers was himself, not Heximon...
At the same time, all the Lakers fans were very supportive, shouting Heximon's name in unison! Among them, of course, were Kayla and Scarlett.
"Wow! Your man is shooting super accurately..." While cheering, Scarlett suddenly leaned close to Kayla's ear and whispered meaningfully.
Kayla looked embarrassed, not knowing how to answer Scarlett's profound question.
In the end, 107:100, the Lakers narrowly won the Christmas Day game at home without much incident.
Three Lakers players scored over 20 points. Heximon had a game-high 22 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Kobe had 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Eddie Jones had 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Iverson scored a game-high 31 points and 11 assists, but also had 4 turnovers.
After the game, Iverson took the initiative to congratulate Heximon and Kobe on their victory.
To be honest, the struggling Iverson was quite envious of Heximon and Kobe, who, backed by the Lakers' current team, reached the Western Conference Finals last season and have been leading the Western Conference this season...
However, envy is like a siege. Iverson envied Kobe for always winning, and Kobe envied Iverson for having unlimited shooting rights as soon as he entered the league.
They envied each other, and if they were to switch places, perhaps both would be reluctant to give up what they had fought for.
People are like this: those outside want to get in, and those inside want to get out.
Relatively speaking, Heximon, having lived two lives, saw things most clearly!
Both Iverson and Kobe would become outstanding basketball players of this league and era.
But they each had their own paths and destinies. There was no need to envy each other; doing one's best was the best destiny. In the grand scheme of things, everything had its own laws. Of course, Heximon transcended the laws of this world, invisibly becoming an uncertain factor in the league.
Everyone's destiny might deviate from its original course because of Heximon...
This Christmas, Kayla did not spend it with her parents. First, accompanied by Scarlett, she went to the Great Western Forum Arena to watch the Lakers' Christmas Day game, and then returned to their small villa in Santa Monica Bay with Heximon. They opened a bottle of 1983 red wine and discussed life on the outdoor bed...
They had originally planned to sleep on the terrace that night, watching the stars and listening to the waves...
The winter in Los Angeles maintains a temperature between 10-20 degrees Celsius. Even at night, the lowest temperature is generally above 10 degrees. Lying on the soft bed with a down comforter is quite comfortable!
The only less-than-ideal thing was that near the villa area was a lush forest with high vegetation coverage, and the occasional small insects caused them some annoyance.
Finally, after discussing life, they both agreed that starlight and waves weren't as romantic as they seemed, and when people are tired, it's far better to have a good, solid sleep...
So, Heximon, mustering the last of his energy, carried Kayla from the terrace back to the room!
Well... it certainly felt more secure inside the room...
After tucking Kayla in, Heximon lost consciousness the next second. When he woke up, it was broad daylight.
After the Christmas Day game, the Lakers had two days of rest. Then they embarked on a journey of four consecutive away games.
Flying to other states for away games at the turn of the new year was truly not a happy thing.
The Lakers' morale was somewhat low, and most players were not in the mood to compete, only wanting to finish the games quickly and return to Los Angeles to reunite with their families.
The Lakers lost several games during this period, and their record was once overtaken by the Jazz, slipping to second place in the Western Conference.
It wasn't until O'Neal returned from injury that the Lakers' record improved again. Before the All-Star break, the Lakers' record returned to first place in the Western Conference, and Coach Harris ushered in his first All-Star head coaching journey of his career!
This year's All-Star game voting saw a large influx of Chinese fans, who, through various channels and methods, voted for their favorite Chinese player, Heximon! As a result, Heximon's All-Star votes soared, surpassing Garnett's 530,000 votes, Payton's 550,000 votes, and Malone's 610,000 votes, directly becoming the Western Conference's leading vote-getter. He even reached 990,000 votes, narrowly trailing the All-Star leading vote-getter, Jordan, who received 1.02 million votes!
Heximon's selection as a Western Conference All-Star starter was met with some fan skepticism. They argued that Heximon's stats of 17 points, 8.6 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal per game were not enough to qualify for an All-Star starting spot.
Looking at his per-game stats, there were 19 guards in the league averaging over 17 points. Besides Jordan, Richmond, Iverson, Finley, Reggie Miller, Drexler, Payton, and Hardaway all averaged more points than Heximon's 17 points!
Even his contemporaries Ray Allen, Marbury, and Kobe had higher scoring averages than Heximon.
This season, Ray Allen averaged 19.5 points, Marbury averaged 17.7 points, and Kobe averaged 17.4 points.
Based on average points, Heximon's ranking in the league was 20th, which was indeed not high.
However, Heximon was a point guard, and a lower scoring average was understandable.
In terms of average assists, Heximon was ranked fourth in the league, behind Strickland's 10.5 assists per game, Kidd's 9.1 assists per game, and Mark Jackson's 8.7 assists per game!
He was ahead of Stockton and Marbury's 8.5 assists per game!
Yet, Strickland and Mark Jackson didn't even make it as All-Star reserves, and Kidd barely made it as a Western Conference reserve...
Heximon, a second-year rookie, directly entering the All-Star starting lineup with the league's 4th highest assists and 20th highest scoring was not without reason for skepticism.
But regardless of the skepticism, Chinese fans were just that dominant! When they made their move, they directly propelled Heximon to the top vote-getter in the West, and almost unseated Jordan from the league's top vote-getter spot...