The Decisive Factor in Game 1

"Calm down, Scottie. Play the way Coach told us to." Jordan helped the furious Pippen to his feet.

"Boss! He sold it! I didn't even use that much force!" Pippen gritted his teeth. He had clearly pulled back before making contact with Bowen! Yet Bowen had fallen with an exaggerated motion, hooked Pippen's ankle, and tripped him to the floor!

Too underhanded!

Dirty!

Bowen's feet were downright filthy!

"I know. I saw it all." Jordan had witnessed everything.

No matter what, the key to winning this game was not whether Pippen could break through Bowen's defense. In the Zen Master's tactical drills, the Bulls' primary target in this game was—O'Neal!

That was right!

The Bulls' offense in this game would revolve around exploiting O'Neal.

The Lakers' series against the Jazz had already proven that using pick-and-rolls to dismantle O'Neal would definitely give them the lead on the court.

Although Kobe had forcibly turned fate around, averaging 40+10+10 and sweeping the Jazz, many of the Jazz's tactics were still worth learning from in the Zen Master's eyes.

After all, the Bulls had—the God of Basketball, Michael Jordan!

Other teams feared playing clutch basketball against the Lakers! The Bulls never had!

Next possession!

The Lakers still had Kobe steadily orchestrating the offense, feeding the ball to O'Neal.

Double-team!

A faster double-team!

O'Neal, however, tossed the ball out to the perimeter as if he were throwing a sandbag!

Eddie Jones!

The Lakers' third option!

His defender, Ron Harper, had already rotated over in front of Bowen. If O'Neal passed to Bowen, it would be a steal!

But Shaquille O'Neal's court vision was also elite among big men! This 2.16-meter giant had played point guard in high school!

Three-pointer up!

Nothing but net!

5:0!

The Lakers executed their IN-OUT tactic flawlessly!

After two possessions,