The Lakers came storming back on offense, going straight to their bread-and-butter—feed the beast down low.
Once again, the script was familiar. Kobe Bryant handled the rock on the perimeter, drawing the Blazers' attention. David Robinson flared out to the elbow after setting a screen, while O'Neal bulldozed his way into deep post position.
But this time, Kobe kept the ball.
Using Fox's screen, he split the double-team from Zhao Dong and Eddie Jones, slipping past them with a deadly crossover. Robinson set another pick, freeing Kobe again—this time around O'Neal. He sliced through the paint, taking on three defenders.
Shawn Marion dropped from the middle to help. Kobe changed direction mid-air, shifting under the rim. He swerved past Marion, then blew by Grant with a filthy behind-the-back step and finished with a reverse slam.
BOOM!
The Moda Center went quiet for a heartbeat.
Then Barkley's voice erupted on the TNT broadcast.
"Whew! One-on-five! That's vintage Kobe—blowing up the whole damn defense by himself. That's a superstar right there!"
Kenny Smith nodded, impressed.
"Perfect use of screens, ball control, and sheer willpower. The Lakers look sharp tonight."
Over on CCTV, Su Qun grinned.
"That was Kobe's answer to Zhao Dong's earlier highlight."
Zhang Heli chuckled.
"Still a little behind. Zhao didn't use a single screen. His isolation break is the best in the world."
"But Kobe beat five men," Su Qun quipped.
Zhang Heli laughed.
"Touché."
Now it was Portland's turn.
Zhao Dong brought the ball up, calm and poised. Just past halfcourt, Kobe pressured him, and Harper stepped in from the right wing to double.
Zhao didn't hesitate. With a sharp jab and a quick pull, he exploded left, using his speed to slip through the trap.
The Lakers were set in a 3-2 zone. Fox rotated up from the low left block to cover, abandoning O'Neal. Kobe gave chase from behind, looking to trap again.
Meanwhile, Eddie Jones ran a cross on the right wing, keeping Harper occupied and creating a gap in the Lakers' defense.
Zhao Dong stopped at the left elbow. Open shot.
Eighty-percent field goal from this range. But he didn't take it.
He pushed off, blew past Fox, and went straight for the rim—again.
O'Neal saw him coming and gritted his teeth.
"He's coming again? Is this guy nuts?"
He hesitated. He couldn't risk another flagrant. If he got tossed this early, the Lakers were done.
Zhao Dong soared and thundered the ball through the net with a one-handed slam.
"YEAHHHHHHHH!"
The Blazers' bench exploded. Fans roared.
The arena MC shouted,
"Zhao Dong! Back-to-back throwdowns! The big man is not backing down from anybody—not even the Big Diesel!"
Zhao turned to O'Neal and smirked.
"What happened, big guy? Where's the fire? That dunk felt too easy. You took the soul out of it."
O'Neal growled,
"You bastard!"
The Lakers came back up court. This time, it was David Robinson's turn.
Coach Phil Jackson wanted to rotate shots between his three stars to conserve energy.
O'Neal tried to bang in the post against O'Neal jr., frustrated but forced into this new physical role.
"Zhao said if I don't get physical, I'll ride the bench all year. Man, I hate this."
Robinson faked inside, stepped back, and caught the pass from Kobe at the low right post.
He went up for a fadeaway jumper.
SLAP!
The ball flew upward—a clean block from Marion, who swooped in on help defense like a hawk.
The crowd lost it again.
Zhao Dong grabbed the loose ball and took off like a freight train. Fast break.
Phil Jackson didn't dare leave Robinson alone under the rim—not against Zhao. The Spurs legend might not survive the collision.
So O'Neal stayed back to defend again.
But he was a ghost.
Zhao launched again and punished the rim with another violent slam. No resistance.
4–6. Trail Blazers take the lead.
On the next possession, Kobe tried to shake Zhao Dong with an off-ball run. He got free for a second and called for the pass.
But Zhao Dong recovered like a shadow.
He reached out, read the pass from Harper—and picked it clean.
Kobe lunged to steal it back, but Zhao shrugged him off with his broad shoulders, powering through.
He turned on the jets.
BANG!
As Zhao Dong stormed into the paint with terrifying velocity, the Rose Garden erupted. In midair, he twisted into a stunning 540-degree back-to-back dunk that detonated the arena like a powder keg.
"YEAH, YEAH, YEAH—!!"
The home arena's play-by-play announcer lost all composure, his voice cracking from the sheer electricity of the moment.
"The God of Basketball has arrived! The Rose Garden is glowing like a battlefield under a divine spotlight!"
4:8. Lakers' possession.
On the sideline, Phil Jackson was already losing his calm. He pointed to his temple and bellowed from the bench.
"Lock in! Focus! No more mistakes!"
Charles Barkley chuckled on the TNT broadcast.
"Man, Coach Jackson's got that Broadway flair. Look at those gestures—somebody hand that man an Oscar."
Kenny Smith burst out laughing.
"You know he's serious when his fingers start doing tai chi by his eyebrows."
Back on the court, Kobe Bryant slowed the tempo. Instead of demanding the ball, he played off-ball, dragging Zhao Dong out to the right-wing three-point line. Harper lobbed the ball down low to the post, where O'Neal had just bullied O'Neal jr. out of position and caught it strong.
Even with the double-team collapsing, Shaq powered up through contact, slammed it home, and drew the foul.
"The Shark's finally baring his teeth," Barkley nodded.
"Let's just pray he makes more than 50% from the line," Smith deadpanned.
"If not," Barkley laughed, "Blazers can just bring back the Hack-a-Shaq from Nelson's playbook. Doesn't matter if it's the first or fourth quarter—cut the feed at the source!"
Clang!
O'Neal missed the free throw.
Grant secured the rebound, quickly dishing it off to Zhao Dong, who brought the ball up the left wing like a charging bull. He coasted to the three-point line, scanning the floor.
"Now this is interesting," Zhang Heli said on CCTV's broadcast. "Do the Lakers double Zhao Dong here?"
The Lakers couldn't. Eddie Jones was holding the right wing; Harper had to stay home. Kobe was isolated on the left wing with Zhao Dong. Meanwhile, the rest of the defense was spaced and vulnerable. O'Neal was deep in the left short corner, Grant in the right, and Marion held the top of the arc.
There was no help coming.
Dribbling casually, Zhao Dong let the ball bounce high off the hardwood. He grinned and began to trash talk.
"Kobe, you been chasing skirts again lately?"
Kobe's face twisted.
"What—? No—"
He barely got the words out when Zhao Dong bolted past him like lightning, slamming down the accelerator and burning him in a single step.
The Lakers' defense immediately collapsed toward the left wing. Three defenders zeroed in on Zhao Dong as he approached the lane.
Fox rotated from the high post, Robinson tried to cut him off, and Kobe chased from behind. O'Neal, pulled slightly out of position by the earlier motion, began shifting back under the basket—too slowly.
Just then, Eddie Jones slashed in from the right wing like a silent assassin.
Harper blinked—late.
Zhao Dong took two hard dribbles toward the paint and drew the defense like a magnet. Then, just before going airborne, he flicked a bounce pass behind Fox's feet.
It was beautiful. The ball skidded perfectly into Jones' hands mid-cut.
BOOM!
Jones took off and dunked over O'Neal with both hands.
"Whistle!"
The ref blew the foul.
"YEEEEAAAAH!"
The Rose Garden turned volcanic.
Jones came down roaring, staring down the giant he'd just posterized. O'Neal's eyes blazed red as he clenched his fists.
"Gotcha, big fella!" Jones barked, grinning.
"Damn it!" Shaq snarled, barely holding back from swinging.
That's when Zhao Dong stepped up, grinning at the wounded giant.
"Chill, Shark. That was just an appetizer. You want more?"
O'Neal turned and walked silently to the paint, breathing heavily, fists slowly loosening.
The score was now 6:11, and Eddie Jones stepped to the line.
From the TNT booth, Barkley was howling.
"That was insane! Zhao Dong broke the whole defense down, and Eddie cut through that weak side like a hot knife. Shaq just got dunked on by a guard!"
"Two fouls on Shaq now," Smith added. "Phil Jackson's got a real headache coming."
On CCTV, Zhang Heli raised an eyebrow.
"O'Neal's been dunked on before, but only by elite bigs—Coleman and Zhao Dong. This is the first time a guard has put him on a poster."
"And a former teammate at that," Su Qun added with a chuckle. "That's gotta sting."
Phil Jackson had no choice. He sent Horace "Cobra" Grant to the scorer's table and pulled Shaq to preserve him for later. Jackson's expression was that of a man trying not to flip over a chessboard mid-match.
Swish!
Jones nailed the free throw.
6:12, Blazers.
From there, Portland turned up the heat. Larry Bird, sharp as ever, ordered full-speed outside drives to the rim, pressing hard on L.A.'s depleted interior.
David Robinson took body blow after body blow. Grant, too, struggled to stay vertical. By the 7-minute mark of the first quarter, the fouls were stacking.
Both bigs were bleeding fouls, and the Blazers had pushed the score to 12:20, an 8-point lead.
Phil Jackson had already burned two timeouts trying to reset his defense.
O'Neal returned to the floor, instantly stabilizing the Lakers' offense in the paint. But on the defensive end, he was once again targeted by the Trail Blazers—mercilessly.
Unable to risk a third foul, Shaq had to dial down his physicality. He couldn't extend his arms recklessly, nor could he afford to stake out deep defensive positions under the rim. The result? A glaring vulnerability in the Lakers' interior defense.
And the Blazers? They smelled blood in the water.
Not only did they pressure him from the outside, but inside as well—Grant and even O'Neal's own matchup began isolating him in the low post. One possession after another.
Forced to retreat further, Shaq essentially abandoned defense altogether, turning from a liability into a defensive black hole. All his energy shifted to the offensive end, but even there, he wasn't free.
Despite the imbalance, the Lakers still held firepower. With David Robinson's support, O'Neal went all-in on offense. The result? A relentless shootout between the two sides.
By the 10th minute of the first quarter, the score stood at 27–19 in favor of Portland. The Lakers hadn't gained ground, but hadn't lost it either—the gap remained at 8.
Then, Robinson checked out for a breather, replaced by Grant. Without the Admiral beside him, Shaq's edge in the post diminished. The Blazers double-teamed him without hesitation, and without ball movement or help, his offense stagnated. The Trail Blazers capitalized immediately, pushing the lead even wider.
Shaq was visibly frustrated. Defensively neutered, targeted by every Trail Blazer on the floor, and on offense, harassed into submission—he looked like a caged beast with no outlet.
As the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, the scoreboard read: 33–21, Trail Blazers. A solid 12-point lead.
---
In the CCTV commentary booth, Zhang Heli folded his arms, frowning in thought.
"O'Neal picking up two early fouls—that's the root of the Lakers' collapse in this quarter. It's not just a factor. It's the factor."
Su Qun nodded thoughtfully.
"But Coach Zhang, he still played nearly 9 minutes in that quarter. That's not far off from his playoff average of 42.3 minutes."
"That's true," Zhang Heli replied. "But it's not about how long he played. It's about how he played. He didn't defend at all. That turned the Blazers' offense into a runway—clean, fast, and direct. As long as he's on the floor with foul trouble, Portland's game plan is simple: attack O'Neal every single time."
---
Over on TNT, Charles Barkley leaned back in his chair, shaking his head as highlights played.
"Second quarter? The Lakers' OK combo—O'Neal and Kobe—have to stay aggressive. The Admiral, David Robinson, probably rests for now, so expect some rotation there. But O'Neal? You ride that big man."
Kenny Smith nodded.
"As for the Trail Blazers, Zhao Dong's staying in. No way Larry Bird pulls him now. The rest of the unit will be subs, but let's be real—Portland's bench could start for half the league."
"Dale Davis and Danny Fortson inside, Mike Miller and Steve Smith on the wings... It's a second unit that looks suspiciously like a first."
The horn blew. Second quarter underway.
---
Second Quarter
The Lakers rolled out a modified lineup: Kobe and Shaq remained, joined by Derek Fisher at the one, Robert Horry at the four, and fringe forward Mark Tedson sliding into the three.
For Portland, Coach Bird deployed Fortson and Dale Davis down low. Shawn Marion held his usual spot at the three. Rookie sharpshooter Mike Miller manned the two, while Zhao Dong stayed at point.
Zhang Heli gave his instant take:
"The Blazers lose some interior punch with the second unit, but they gain perimeter spacing. Marion and Miller can both shoot threes. The question is—will Zhao Dong feed them?"
---
The game resumed. Trail Blazers ball.
Zhao Dong flew up the court like a heat-seeking missile. Derek Fisher tried to stick with him, but Zhao's first step left him a half-step behind. By the time they hit the arc, he was toast.
Kobe picked up Zhao Dong at the top of the key—but Zhao didn't slow down. A lightning-quick crossover and a burst of speed sent Kobe stumbling sideways. Zhao roared past him and exploded toward the rim, eyes locked on O'Neal.
Shaq stood his ground beneath the basket, fists clenched.
"This damn guy…"
But the big man hesitated.
He couldn't afford a third foul.
BOOM!
Zhao Dong detonated at the rim, throwing down a two-handed slam with no resistance.
"That's not gonna work," Smith said on commentary. "You can't let Zhao get downhill like that without a body in front of him."
---
Back the other way, the Lakers tried to run through Shaq again.
Fortson bodied him relentlessly, using every ounce of grit to push and press him off the block. Shaq finally wriggled free, but it cost him precious seconds and energy. Marion rotated down for the double-team just as Shaq turned.
Too far from the hoop for a dunk, he had to settle for a rushed hook.
Clang! Off the rim.
Marion grabbed the board and kicked it out to Zhao Dong.
Fast break. Kobe tried to recover, but Zhao Dong beat him to the cup again—this time finishing with a one-handed hammer.
---
Next possession, O'Neal tried again.
Same result.
Fortson leaned into him, forcing him away from the basket. Marion cheated over, leaving Mark Tedson momentarily open on the left elbow.
Shaq saw the double, kicked it to Tedson.
Catch. Quick rise. Marion closed out fast.
Miss. Front iron.
Fortson boxed out and snagged the board again.
Zhao Dong sprinted out. Kobe chased, but too little, too late. He reached out—
Whistle.
Foul.
Zhao Dong to the line.
"Back-to-back failed possessions for L.A.," Barkley said, chuckling. "Not a shocker. The Lakers' bench just can't hang with Portland's second unit."
"Portland's got two starting-caliber lineups," Smith added. "It's not fair. It's like they activated cheat mode."
Zhao Dong calmly sank both free throws. The lead grew again.
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