"Beep!"
Seeing that something was wrong, Pat Riley called a timeout and took Shaquille O'Neal out before he could lose his temper.
"That little bastard, that damn rookie—I'll show him what I've got later." Back on the bench, Shaquille O'Neal couldn't help grumbling and cursing.
His teammates forced smiles beside him.
At the same time, Phil Jackson made a decision that surprised the fans, subbing out Zhou Ze, who had just hit a three-pointer.
"What's going on?"
"Phil Jackson's substitution doesn't make sense!"
"Yeah, Zhou's just found his touch from three. Why take him out now?"
Zhou Ze also expressed his displeasure to Phil Jackson.
"Zhou, don't rush. Save your energy—you're the key to our victory tonight," Phil Jackson reassured him.
Kobe remained on the court and quickly scored on a driving layup.
But White Chocolate, who had been in great form in the first quarter, repeatedly used screens to drive to the basket in the remaining time. First, he connected with Alonzo Mourning, who had come in for O'Neal, for an alley-oop dunk. Then, he drew a defensive foul from Andrew Bynum.
At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers trailed the Miami Heat 26-31, down by 5.
Once the second quarter began, both teams' starters returned to the floor.
Wade hit two shots in a row, and just as the Miami Heat looked ready to push the lead to 10, Zhou Ze ignored Kobe calling for the ball and buried a three over White Chocolate.
"Rookie, you've really got the nerve to shoot!" White Chocolate couldn't block Zhou Ze, but he had disrupted his shooting rhythm and even used a hand-in-the-face defense. Even so, Zhou Ze still made it.
"Bro, you really had the nerve to pass back then too..." Zhou Ze said with a smile.
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