The Playoffs Heat Up, the Spurs Are No Longer Low-Key!

Jordan easily put up 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, while The Mailman Malone contributed 26 points and 14 rebounds. For the Heat, Mourning had 20 points and 11 rebounds, but two fists could not fend off four hands.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, at Houston's Compaq Center, the matchup between the Lakers and the Houston Rockets was an entirely different spectacle.

From the very first second, the game had entered a white-hot battle.

Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, two top-pick centers, engaged in an epic physical war inside the paint.

O'Neal's strength was unmatched as he repeatedly tried to destroy the rim with thunderous dunks; Olajuwon, meanwhile, used his dreamlike footwork to toy with the young "Big Shark" again and again.

On the perimeter, the matchup between Kobe Bryant and Scottie Pippen was just as fiercely contested.

Kobe challenged Pippen's defense with his unstoppable isolation game, while Pippen used textbook defense and his wealth of experience to teach the young Kobe a proper lesson.

Charles Barkley played like a man possessed, constantly attacking the Lakers' interior and fighting for every rebound.

The two teams traded blows, with the score rising in turns as neither side could shake the other off.

In the final moments of regulation, the teams were tied at 102, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, the experience of the Rockets' three veterans proved decisive.

Olajuwon hit two consecutive mid-range jumpers in the clutch, while Pippen delivered a fatal steal and assist.

In the end, the Rockets narrowly defeated the Lakers 115:110 at home, winning this grueling opening game.

Olajuwon posted 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks; Barkley had 28 points and 16 rebounds; Pippen recorded a near triple-double of 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists.

For the Lakers, O'Neal's 41 points and