Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense took on an entirely new form with the OK Duo and Glen Rice.
It no longer relied as heavily on Jordan's individual brilliance and Pippen's playmaking as it had during the Chicago Bulls era.
With the Lakers, it had become simpler, more brutal, and even more unsolvable.
O'Neal was a cheat code in the paint. Orlando Magic tried everything—fronting him, double-teaming him, even intentional fouls—but nothing could stop The Shark from wreaking havoc in the restricted area.
At times, he used his massive body to bulldoze through defenders for thunderous dunks; at others, he flashed his severely underrated little hook shot around the basket.
And whenever opponents focused their entire defense on O'Neal, Kobe and Rice on the perimeter were handed an endless supply of opportunities.
Kobe's drives were razor-sharp. Every crossover and every pull-up jumper carried the ruthless determination to put his defender on the floor.
Glen Rice, meanwhile, was like a ghost. He constantly used off-ball movement to curl into open space, then caught the ball, fired, and scored.
His shooting was as precise as a machine, and every shot he took left Orlando Magic's defense in despair.
By the middle of the third quarter, the Lakers already held a 40-point lead.
Yet Phil Jackson remained seated calmly on the sidelines, his face utterly expressionless, as though everything happening on the court had nothing to do with him.
But everyone knew that this was the man who had tamed a herd of wildly gifted stallions into a championship team of iron discipline and elite tactical execution.
In the end, when the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard at Staples Center froze at 128:76.
In their season opener, the Lakers had crushed their opponents by 52 points!
O'Neal played only three quarters and still casually put