In the first quarter, almost every play was suppressed by Gan Guoyang, causing O’Neal to play more and more constrained and uneasy.
Midway through, Jason Kidd stopped feeding the ball to O’Neal and instead accelerated the pace, using speed as much as possible to push counterattacks.
Jerry Buss was determined to create a new Showtime offense, believing that since Magic Johnson could coexist with Jabbar, Jason Kidd should naturally cooperate with O’Neal.
In fact, Kidd and O’Neal have indeed sparked unique chemistry in certain games.
Despite O’Neal’s large physique, he is truly the fastest and most agile among players of his size.
When the game gets exciting, O’Neal can join fast breaks, and no one can stop this tank from driving into the basket to catch and dunk.
When defenders see O’Neal charging, their first reaction is always to get out of the way; no one wants to obstruct him unwisely.
Even Gan Guoyang, seeing a 330-pound meat mountain accelerating toward him, has to think twice and perhaps let that ball go.
But such scenes have a precondition: the game is going well, the low post is open, O’Neal is playing excitedly.
This is when the game can see several such thrilling scenes, boosting the team’s morale to the peak.
But once the team falls into a disadvantage, O’Neal can’t open up in the low post and suffers repeated setbacks under the basket; he won’t be interested in frantically running back and forth with Kidd.
O’Neal can’t keep running back and forth like Jabbar all game long; he must slow down to play many set plays to find his rhythm.
In the first quarter, without O’Neal opening up, the Lakers tied with the Trail Blazers 24:23, only trailing by one point.
Because Kidd made timely adjustments, using Steve Smith and Byron Scott to consistently hit the Trail Blazers’ perimeter.
Facing Van Exel’s defense, Kidd seemed unbothered, orchestrating, counterattacking, attacking with his back, unaffected.
In many ways, Kidd is truly like Magic Johnson, with a tall build, balanced speed, strength, and explosive power, but not particularly explosive.
Superb fast-break pushing ability, with excellent ball-handling penetration to attack the basket in set plays, and early distant shooting critiques.
Kidd’s free throw percentage this season is only 67%; combined with O’Neal’s, it’s barely above 100%.
No wonder Beelman is crazy, and West is depressed with both top players missing free throws.
However, Kidd’s court judgment and vision are impeccable, organizing the Lakers’ offense well in O’Neal’s containment.
By speeding up, he helped the Lakers avoid the double inside obstruction of Ah Gan and PJ Brown from the Trail Blazers. With these two there, set plays inward are very difficult.
Once the pace picked up, it was easier to attack from the perimeter, revealing the Trail Blazers’ weak external defense.
Anyway, Van Exel was thoroughly outplayed by Kidd in the first quarter, which was considered as Kidd avenging his elder brother Payton — Van Exel would be arrogant whenever facing Payton.
Kidd was born in San Francisco and grew up in Oakland, and Payton was his predecessor, just like Ah Gan was Payton’s predecessor.
Years later, Payton reflected: "In 1982, Sonny left Oakland for Gonzaga; I started high school, dominating the San Francisco Area. By 1986, I left Oakland for Oregon; then Jason appeared, becoming the new star in Oakland. By then, Ah Gan was already an NBA Champion, and every summer, I’d return to coach Kidd, teaching him many useful things. Just like Ah Gan educated me in Oregon."
From this perspective, Kidd should call Gan Guoyang his grandmaster.
Larry Bird decided to assign the task of defending Kidd to Kobe and Riddle, not letting Van Exel mess up anymore.
Gan Guoyang reminded Kobe and Riddle, "Defend his penetration and passing, let him shoot; his shooting threat isn’t as great as his penetration and passing."
On the other side of the Lakers bench, Kidd complained to Beelman, "We must open up the inside; otherwise, we can’t hold on later."
The criticism was directed at O’Neal, who scored zero points in the first quarter, with five attempts either missing or intercepted, even free throws weren’t made.
For O’Neal, who often opens up the game early, the first quarter’s performance was simply a disaster.
In defense, he was completely led by the nose by Gan Guoyang’s varied skills and experienced means, being manipulated around.
Beelman squatted in front of O’Neal, looking into his confused eyes, making O’Neal look at him.
"Look at me; I’m giving you a mission you must complete tonight. Listen carefully."
"Shaq, look at me!"
O’Neal finally looked at Beelman, wondering what the coach was up to.
Is he going to give me some motivational speech now? Damn it, I don’t buy that stuff.
"Shaq, I’m giving you a mission: to beat up Ah Gan on the court."
"What?"
O’Neal shuddered, confusion vanished from his eyes.
"I want you to have a fight with Ah Gan. Do you hear me?"
"I don’t understand, Coach. I didn’t hear you clearly."
"I want you to hit him! In tonight’s game, you have to do it!"
"But..."
"No buts, no matter what method you use – boxing, wrestling, sumo – anything will do, just have a fight with Ah Gan. I don’t have any other demands."
No other demands, but this one is already a killer, isn’t it?
The break is short, and both teams are about to take the field.
O’Neal shook his head slightly, unable to believe Beelman had given him such a task.
I was just playing poorly, and now you want me dead?
The second quarter is about to start; O’Neal is sitting and resting on the bench, Gan Guoyang is also resting.
"Sonny has been consciously suppressing you since your first year in the NBA, starting from your first game with him. It’s his habit to plant psychological shadows in every rookie, so they can’t perform their true abilities. And the best way to break such shadows is to have a fight with him. Believe me, this is much simpler than using basketball."
O’Neal sat on the bench, wrapped a towel around his head like an Indian, his mind racing.
"What if the psychological shadow becomes bigger after the fight? You know how good Ah Gan is at fighting; are you trying to harm me, Bobby?"
"Trust me, Shaq, this is the most effective way, trust me. Courageously punch, knock him down hard; that’s what you need to do. After the next timeout, I’ll get you on the court, and you need to accomplish this task quickly without overthinking. Clear?"
Beelman was unprecedentedly stern, and O’Neal could only nod, his heart starting to pound.
Beat up Ah Gan? O’Neal never imagined he’d have to do something like this.
Images of those who fell under Ah Gan’s fights flashed through his mind... Lan Bi’er, Rodman, Gilmore, Thomas, Melvin Tipping, Charles Oakley...
All notorious tough guys, yet all lay defeated at Ah Gan’s feet; could he become one of them?
"Shaq, are you scared?" Beelman suddenly asked.
"Who says I’m scared? Who said that? I... I dare; you watch, Coach, I’m not afraid of him at all!"
Four minutes into the second quarter, Beelman called a short timeout to substitute, sending O’Neal back onto the court.
O’Neal took a deep breath, seemingly more tense before the game in the locker room, his eyes reflecting a resolute determination to face death.
"Coach, I..."
"Don’t say anything, I’ve been praying for you. Fight well, kid."
O’Neal swallowed; he hadn’t heard a word of Beelman’s subsequent tactical layout.
He followed his teammates onto the court, facing Ah Gan in the Three Second Zone, steeling himself completely.