Shaquille O'Neal powered his way through the paint. Chris Mihm strained with all his might, yet was still backed down. Lamar Odom came over to help, but after O'Neal shoved one more step toward the basket, he forced Odom to overcommit, leaving James Posey open beyond the arc. O'Neal immediately kicked the ball out to Posey, who buried the three.
"So this was what a dominant center looked like? Using his threat at the rim to compress the defense and create open looks for his teammates on the perimeter, while also possessing such quick, sharp passing." On the court, Zhou Ze experienced O'Neal's dominance firsthand.
It wasn't just his size, weight, and strength—he also had skill, awareness, and court vision.
Clearly, after Zhou Ze had stripped him three times in a row, O'Neal had gotten serious.
During his Miami Heat years, he was leaner than he had been during the Lakers F4 era, and some of his footwork and speed had returned. That was thanks to the Miami Heat's brutal, military-drill-like training, as well as his obsession with winning another championship.
After all, O'Neal surely wanted to win his fourth championship ring before Kobe did.
Soon, O'Neal went at Chris Mihm again in the low post. After drawing Zhou Ze's double-team, he smoothly dished the ball to Haslem, leaving Zhou Ze no time to rotate over.
Unfortunately, Haslem bricked the open mid-range jumper.
O'Neal established position under the basket, using his left arm to ward off Chris Mihm beside him. He rose up against Zhou Ze and grabbed the offensive rebound, then spun halfway in place and faked a hook shot. After sending both Zhou Ze and Chris Mihm flying, he exploited the timing gap, exploded up under the rim, and hammered home a vicious two-handed dunk.
With the 147-kilogram