Thus, O'Neal was definitely absent from the Lakers' new season opener... When he would return was still unknown.
While O'Neal was indulging in his offseason revelry, Kobe was at home, relentlessly honing his back-to-the-basket jump shot... it was a thing of beauty, his skills reaching new heights!
For this new season opener, Kobe came with a mindset of revenge. But without O'Neal by his side, truthfully, Kobe's aspirations were likely to fall short...
On the Spurs' side, Popovich fielded a new starting lineup for the new season.
Yao Ming officially replaced David Robinson as the Spurs' starting center!
Prince, a new addition this year, replaced Ginobili as the Spurs' starting small forward!
This was He Xi Meng's suggestion.
Ginobili could no longer stay in the starting lineup; any longer and the "demon blade's" demonic nature would be completely ground away, turning him into a steady, excellent wing player...
Bringing Prince, with his stronger 3&D attributes, into the starting lineup would increase defensive strength on the perimeter, while further concentrating offensive possessions among Duncan, He Xi Meng, and Yao Ming!
Clear division of labor, with each person attending to their duties on offense and defense!
And the Spurs' bench lineup would consist of David Robinson, Boozer, Barnes, Ginobili, and Parker!
The third lineup also had Bartel in reserve, who could step in for David Robinson at any time...
Before Boozer could mature, Ginobili and Parker could serve as the scoring leaders off the bench!
Especially for Ginobili, Sixth Man of the Year was the demon blade's best destiny!
In this season opener, Kobe wanted to have a showdown with He Xi Meng. As a result, he tragically discovered that his teammates simply couldn't withstand the Spurs' firepower! As soon as he stepped off the court to rest, the score gap widened rapidly!
And He Xi Meng ignored Kobe's provocation, not matching up with him. Instead, he resolutely assigned Bowen to a one-on-one defensive assignment on Kobe, with Primoz assisting!
He Xi Meng himself was busy passing the ball to Duncan and Yao Ming!
By the end of the third quarter, the Spurs were already leading the Lakers by 14 points!
And Kobe, under the combined defense of Bowen and Primoz, was 9 for 29 from the field, essentially shooting nothing but air.
He Xi Meng, Duncan, Yao Ming, and Ginobili all scored over twenty points. 107:92, the Spurs easily defeated the Lakers, securing their first win of the new season!
After defeating their biggest rival from last season, the Lakers, the Spurs were unstoppable, going on to defeat the Warriors, Raptors, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, and Timberwolves, starting the season with a 23-game winning streak, lasting from late October to late December.
It wasn't until they encountered the Kings that the Spurs' undefeated streak was finally broken.
Looking back at this 23-game winning streak, what made the Spurs most feared by other teams in the league was that Popovich consistently kept the playing time of the Spurs' two strongest players, Duncan and He Xi Meng, below 40 minutes.
Yet, both of them simultaneously achieved...
Just as other teams in the league felt their powerlessness when facing the Spurs this season!
Even Popovich hadn't anticipated that the two rookies He Xi Meng helped the team select this year would be so effective!
Prince fit perfectly into the Spurs' starting lineup, making their already strong defensive system even more flawless!
And Boozer demonstrated powerful offensive ability off the bench! Although his defensive capabilities were average, he was more than sufficient during rotation minutes.
The trio of Boozer, Ginobili, and Parker was enough to make Eastern Conference non-playoff teams despair!
Popovich had initially thought that the Spurs would require a period of adjustment this season due to lineup changes before officially embarking on their path to defend their title!
He never imagined that from the very first game of the new season, the Spurs would be sprinting on the path to defense, leaving their competitors far behind!
Even with Popovich's myriad reasons for resting players, the Spurs still achieved an incredibly high win rate of 70-12, falling just 2 wins shy of the league's best record established by Jordan's Bulls dynasty.
In the subsequent selection of regular season awards, the Spurs swept all the major accolades.
He Xi Meng took home the most prestigious regular season MVP award!
Duncan secured the Defensive Player of the Year award, an honor the league had long neglected to give him.
Ginobili won the Sixth Man of the Year award!
...
In individual statistics, He Xi Meng continued his monopoly as the assist king!
Tracy McGrady became the new scoring champion!
Allen Iverson defended his steals title!
Ben Wallace was the rebounding champion!
Duncan, almost inadvertently, won the block title...
In the selection of All-NBA teams, He Xi Meng and Duncan were selected to the All-NBA First Team, while Yao Ming made the All-NBA Third Team.
In the selection of the All-Defensive teams, Duncan was selected to the First Team, and Bowen to the Second Team.
...