21 Straight Points!

"No way!" When O'Neal's attack was once again forcibly disrupted by Duncan's fan-sized hands, Shaq was momentarily stunned!

So far this season, this was the first interior pairing in the league capable of stopping O'Neal head-on! David Robinson only needed to withstand Shaq's initial burst of power, and then Duncan could rotate over with astonishing lateral quickness.

This defense left O'Neal, who had been cruising along all season, somewhat bewildered. Even in the previous round against the two Hall of Fame superstars Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, even against the Bulls' relentless double-teams and help defense, even against the Bad Boys 2.0 version of the Magic, O'Neal had never found scoring this difficult.

At the end of the first quarter, Spurs 23:19 Lakers!

For one of the rare times this season, the Lakers had been held below 20 points in a single quarter. Not only was O'Neal confused—even the fans sitting in the Great Western Forum were bewildered.

Where was the invincible Shaq? Why was he only 2-for-5 in one quarter?

At first, O'Neal had played at a normal rhythm, but the more times Duncan disrupted him, the more he wanted to get even. He had completely failed to notice that his teammates were wide open.

He had completely gotten carried away! He was being overwhelmed two-on-one, yet he kept going back for more.

"Watch your teammates in the corners! If there's space on the perimeter, you have to pass the ball." Harris waved his tactical board.

Kobe shook his head. Relying on an in-out system centered on O'Neal, they could not win even if Bowen was left open! The Spurs' twin towers had extremely high scoring efficiency!

The Spurs' total score might not have been high, but that was because they had dragged every possession down to 24 seconds!