Tonight's starting lineup: Big Ben, Chris, Harvey, Rod, and you, Jinx!
After warm-ups, Lin Yu announced tonight's starters in the locker room.
Legs was devastated. His starting shooting guard spot had been snatched by the newly arrived Jalen Rose. He was sure it was because he'd mentioned being 33 years old, and Lin Yu had deemed him too old with no developmental value...
After a moment of gloom, Legs recalled Penny's dominant performance in the last game. His spirits lifted—if he was outplayed, who could he blame? Bench or not, as long as he got more playing time than before, he could accept it.
Cheney was the one truly hurt. He'd been a solid starting shooting guard, but after Lin Yu arrived, he now seemed to have lost even his spot as backup guard.
"Congratulations, Host. Jalen Rose's Affinity Progress has been activated. Current Affinity: 30. Detailed information can be viewed in the Player Attributes Panel."
"Congratulations, Host. Chris Webber's Affinity Progress has been activated. Current Affinity: 10. Detailed information can be viewed on the player's attribute panel."
Two consecutive notification sounds made Lin Yu beam with delight. With both players' affinity progress activated, they could now earn him Gold when they took the court.
Jalen Rose unlocking affinity didn't surprise Lin Yu. He'd just joined the Bullets and started in his very first game. If Rose hadn't developed any goodwill toward Lin Yu, it could only mean one thing: the guy had a heart of stone and didn't know how to repay kindness.
As for Webber, his affinity had finally unlocked. Once the ball started rolling, the rest would be smooth sailing.
Moments later, the game officially began.
The Lakers' starting lineup: Center Shaquille O'Neal, Power Forward Eldon Campbell, Small Forward Jerome Korsi, Shooting Guard Eddie Jones, Point Guard "Madman" Nick Van Exel.
Right from the opening tip, the Big Shark, Shaquille O'Neal, wreaked havoc in the paint. He dunked twice over Ben Wallace's head. Though his third attempt didn't go in, he drew a defensive foul on Big Ben. O'Neal made one of two free throws, racking up 5 points in under three minutes.
Lin Yu immediately called a timeout. If he let Shaq continue his rampage, it wouldn't just be a matter of the Bullets losing tonight—they'd be utterly crushed by the Lakers.
"Ben, on the next defensive possession, don't jump. Your only job is to hold Shaq in place. Don't even think about trying to block him."
Lin Yu barked at Ben Wallace before turning his attention to Chris Webber.
"Chris, you're the power forward, the big man inside!"
"Remember your position. On defense, you need to help Ben Wallace shoulder the load."
"You can't expect Ben to lock down Shaq all by himself. Everyone knows that's impossible."
"I need you to do two things: first, cut off Shaq's passing lanes whenever possible. Second, once Shaq catches the ball and Ben holds him down, you step up immediately to help defend."
This was Lin Yu's time-travel perk—witnessing the Pistons' grassroots Five Tigers defeat the Lakers' F4 in the Finals. Lin Yu knew exactly how to counter Shaq while holding Big Ben.
Big Ben's defense was formidable, but against a monster center like Shaq, he couldn't guard him one-on-one. If Big Ben could truly lock him down, Shaq wouldn't be hailed as the most dominant center in NBA history.
The Pistons' twin Wallace interior duo—Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace—relied on Ben's sheer physicality to hold down Shaq's position in the paint, while Rasheed roamed the perimeter. This strategy proved remarkably effective.
Webb, meanwhile, was essentially an upgraded version of Rasheed Wallace, with defensive help capabilities that surpassed even his counterpart.
"What about Campbell?" Webber couldn't help asking.
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized how foolish the question sounded.
Campbell was the Lakers' starting power forward, serving purely as a defensive anchor with minimal offensive threat.
If the Lakers opted to feed the ball to Campbell instead of Shaq, it would be a boon for the Bullets.
The brief timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court.
Seeing the Bullets forced to call a timeout less than three minutes into the game, Shaq started to get a bit cocky.
"Kid, welcome to the real NBA."
"Those centers you faced before? They were all guys whose reputations were bigger than their skills. I could destroy them with one hand."
Shaquille O'Neal's words carried a flippant tone. He was only a few years older than Ben Wallace, yet calling him "kid" was dripping with contempt.
Ben Wallace retorted, but he was no match for Shaq in a verbal sparring match. "Our coach has figured out how to contain you. You won't be scoring so easily anymore."
Shaq found this amusing. "Contain me? There's no one on this planet who can contain me!"
"And if there is, it certainly won't be your head coach—the one who looks even smaller than Kobe."
When the Lakers got the ball back, Van Gundy held it up top. Shaq was on fire tonight, so naturally, he looked for Shaq's spot to pass.
Seeing Shaq pin Big Ben behind him and reach for the ball, Van Gundy fired a long pass.
"Swish!"
A figure burst forward, long arms snatching the ball away. Who else but Webber?
Following Lin Yu's instructions, Webber had been tracking Van Gundy's passes, seizing the moment to make the steal.
Of course, the steal wasn't credited to him. The ball bounced away and was grabbed by Harvey, who earned the steal.
"Good! Keep playing like this!"
Lin Yu watched intently from the sidelines. As long as they could cut off Shaq's passes, his dominance in the paint meant nothing without the ball.
Harvey teamed up with Flycar for a lightning-fast counterattack. Flycar delivered an assist to Harvey for a thunderous alley-oop dunk.
It was the Lakers' turn to attack again, and Shaq continued to call for the ball. That last play had left him frustrated, and he wanted to get even with Ben Wallace.
Madman Van Gundy was, after all, an All-Star-caliber point guard. His "Madman" nickname referred to his hot shooting touch—he'd go on occasional scoring runs—not to any mental instability.
He wouldn't fall into the same trap twice. This time, he dribbled steadily to the paint, almost handing the ball directly to Shaq.
Shaq immediately spun to post up, fully confident he could overpower Big Ben, who stood just over two meters tall.
On the first contact of the post-up, even though Shaq lacked Big Ben's raw strength, his superior bulk still forced Big Ben back half a step.
Big Ben didn't give Shaq a chance to adjust, immediately closing in again.
If the NBA didn't enforce the five-second back-to-back violation or the three-second lane violation, Shaq could have kept grinding his way to a dunk position—Ben Wallace simply couldn't stop him.
Unfortunately, the rules were in place. Shaq couldn't indefinitely muscle his way through the post. After three consecutive collisions, Ben Wallace re-established contact each time.
Shaq simply spun around and released a floater with one hand facing the basket.
The moment the ball left his fingertips, Shaq was certain the shot was good—two points already in the bag. He'd even started planning how he'd taunt Ben after the play.
"Thwack!"
With a thunderous crack, Shaq's shot was swatted hard out of bounds by the arriving Webber.
Ben shrugged. "I told you—we've found a way to contain you."
Webber, who had just humiliated Shaq twice in a row, had witnessed Ben battling Shaq in the paint moments earlier. Suddenly, he felt a pang of sympathy for Ben.
If it were him, how many back-to-the-basket moves could he withstand from Shaq? Not even one! A single shove from Shaq could probably send him flying out of bounds!
Now that Big Ben was taking the brunt up front, allowing him to enjoy the fruits of blocking Shaq's shots, Webber found himself warming up to Big Ben more and more.
"Damn it! You damn dwarf! I'm gonna crush you tonight!"
Shaq's rage boiled over as he glared at Big Ben.
Big Ben's earlier frustrated expression instantly turned cold. Height had always been his deepest insecurity, and Shaq's words felt like salt rubbed into the wound.
"Shaq, you're a superstar. I suggest you keep your dignity."
"If you don't, I think Ben will find a way to make you."
"You didn't throw such a fit when you were getting bullied by that old ghost in New York."
"Big Ben can take care of Little Mason. Guess how long it'd take to take care of you? I doubt your nose is any tougher than Mason's."
"The thing is, Big Ben getting suspended won't cost him a thing. I, Chris Webber, will cover every single penny of the loss!"
Webber was ecstatic. He'd never dared speak to Shaq like this before, but today he was finally walking tall, his aura commanding respect.
Shaq instantly flared up. Seeing Big Ben itching for a fight and Webber ready to cover the costs, he had no doubt he'd come out on the losing end if things got physical.
Ben Wallace's imposing physique was intimidating enough, but his face looked even more troublesome—not menacing, but rather like a dim-witted fool. Everyone knew bullies feared the clueless; a fool fighting wouldn't think twice about the consequences.
"Hmph!"
Shaq snorted coldly, fell silent, and began preparing to receive an inbound pass from his teammates.
This time, the pass didn't go to Shaq but instead found Madman Fan. He raised his hand for a mid-range jumper but missed.
Big Ben still held O'Neal tight in the paint, allowing Webber to grab the rebound.
On the Bullets' possession, the Fast Break assisted Jalen Rose for a mid-range jumper.
The five-point deficit O'Neal had opened up at the start was easily erased by the Bullets after the timeout.
For the next period, Webber strictly adhered to Lin Yu's tactical instructions, first cutting off O'Neal's pass. If he couldn't cut it, he'd wait for Ben Wallace and O'Neal to engage before looking for an opportunity to block the shot.
O'Neal was in agony; he'd never encountered such a frustrating matchup since entering the league.
Other teams knew to cut off O'Neal's pass, but they didn't have a power forward like Webber, who possessed supreme mobility, defensive awareness, and exceptional wingspan.
The tactic of one player blocking another while they were distracted wasn't new to teams, but they couldn't find a defensive shield like Ben Wallace, capable of withstanding O'Neal's drives to the basket.
In the following period, with O'Neal's offense limited, the Bullets unexpectedly gained the upper hand.