For this game, the Lakers started Kwame Brown, who had just been acquired in a trade, at center—tasked with guarding Shaquille O'Neal.
The opening whistle blew, and the referee tossed the ball straight up.
Kwame jumped with everything he had, but Shaq was simply too big. With a casual leap, he swatted the ball over to Dwyane Wade.
First possession: Miami Heat.
Wade brought the ball across half court, ran a few sets, then fed it into Shaq.
The Big Diesel had deep position. He caught the ball, took one massive power dribble, and sent Kwame stumbling backward.
BANG!
A signature two-handed dunk.
The Lakers' rim shook violently.
Shaq threw his arms into the air, grinning ear to ear as he faced the crowd, savoring the stunned silence of the road fans.
On the next possession, Kobe Bryant answered immediately.
He cleared out one side, sealed his man on the low block, and demanded the ball.
Catch. One dribble. A hard shoulder fake that created just a sliver of space.
Then a turnaround fadeaway.
Wade closed hard, fingertips brushing past the ball—
Nothing but net.
An absurdly difficult shot.
Pure offensive skill, elite core strength.
The Staples Center erupted.
Right from the opening tip, it was razor-sharp offense on both ends—the game instantly boiling over.
The Heat clearly came prepared, relentlessly attacking the Lakers' soft interior defense.
The Wade–Shaq pick-and-roll was devastating, tearing holes in the Lakers' coverage again and again.
Another screen-and-roll. Shaq dove hard, caught Wade's pass, bulldozed Kwame aside, and—despite Lamar Odom's help defense—hammered it home.
"And one!"
The whistle blew as the ball dropped through the net.
Shaq headed to the free-throw line amid deafening boos, launching the ball with his trademark awkward motion.
And—rarely enough—he made it.
Afterward, Shaq turned toward the Lakers fans behind the basket and put a finger to his lips.
Silence.
Momentum fully swung to Miami.
Three minutes into the first quarter: 11–2.
The Heat went on a quick run, forcing the Lakers to call timeout.
On the sideline, Phil Jackson quickly sketched defensive rotations on the whiteboard.
"Double earlier—be decisive! Don't let Shaq catch it that deep! Kwame, absorb the first hit, everyone else collapse immediately!"
Out of the timeout, the Lakers committed to earlier, more aggressive double-teams on Shaq.
But that adjustment freed up Wade.
Against single coverage, Wade's lightning-quick first step made him nearly unstoppable.
The lead threatened to balloon.
Midway through the first quarter, Kobe finally took over.
First, a pull-up three.
Then, a one-on-one steal on Wade, finishing the fast break with a layup.
Then, curling off a screen, one hard step—straight up in Shaq's face.
Three straight buckets.
Seven points in a flash.
As he ran back on defense, Kobe locked eyes with Shaq—calm, cold, and deadly.
From there, the rest of the first quarter became a pure superstar duel.
Kobe poured in 16 points in the opening frame, repeatedly answering Miami's offense with impossible fadeaways.
Shaq, meanwhile, ruled the paint: 5-for-6 shooting, 3-for-7 at the line, totaling 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
When the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, the score read 28–30.
The Lakers trailed by just two at home—Kobe had nearly dragged the Staples Center's energy back by himself.
---
During the break, the Lakers bench was tense.
Kobe sat with a towel over his head, chest heaving. The combination of heavy offensive usage and guarding Wade had taken a toll.
Kwame Brown sat with his head down, clearly shaken.
Fear had followed Kwame throughout his career.
Drafted first overall by the so-called basketball god, Michael Jordan, he'd been subjected to brutal standards—any mistake meant getting yanked from the game.
Under that pressure, his confidence had long since cracked.
Against Shaq, he looked like a lamb headed for slaughter.
Phil Jackson glanced at the dejected Kwame but said nothing. Instead, he tapped the tactics board hard with his marker, snapping everyone's attention back.
"Second quarter, we change the tempo. Sasha, Link—you're in. Space the floor. Move the ball faster."
Link took a deep breath, stripped off his warm-ups, and checked in.
The second quarter opened with Miami's bench unit led by Jason "White Chocolate" Williams.
Link matched up with the veteran James Posey.
This Heat team was steamrolling the Eastern Conference, and historically, this was the year they'd go on to win the championship.
Pat Riley's teams were always known for discipline.
Even the second unit applied intense defensive pressure.
On the first possession, Link followed the play call, cutting along the baseline to the corner.
The pass came—but Posey was on him instantly, body tight, completely smothering his shooting space.
Link tried a shot fake, but Posey didn't bite, his balance rock-solid.
With no option, Link kicked the ball back out. Empty possession.
Miami's defensive rotations were lightning-fast, giving the Lakers no easy looks.
Link kept running—cutting, screening, relocating—but it felt like being caught in an invisible net.
Every potential opening was snuffed out by a Heat defender rotating over in time.
The Lakers were forced to rely on a few tough Odom mismatch isolations just to stay afloat.
Then things got worse.
After a dead ball, Wade checked back in.
Fully rested after the first quarter, Flash showed his fangs.
A Lakers possession ended empty. Miami secured the rebound, and Wade exploded forward like a predator.
Link sprinted back on defense.
After completing his Intermediate Athleticism Training, his speed wasn't bad.
But Wade's burst was on another level entirely.
Two dribbles.
That was all it took.
Link could only watch as Wade blew past him like a bolt of lightning.
That first step was brutally fast—almost hopeless to defend.
Link gave everything he had, but Wade left him far behind.
With no one protecting the rim, Wade cruised in for an easy layup.
32–38.
"Oh my God, Dwyane Wade is way too fast—Link looks as slow as my grandma!" an ESPN commentator groaned, hands over his face.
A wave of helpless sighs rolled through the Staples Center.
That single play laid bare the talent gap between the two sides.
Link smacked his lips, already imagining the reaction from viewers at home.
He'd known Wade was fast.
But experiencing it firsthand still left him feeling powerless.
That kind of man-and-ball-as-one speed—even Russell Westbrook didn't quite measure up.
Over the next few minutes, the Lakers struggled on both ends.
They couldn't crack Miami's defense.
On the other end, Wade kept hunting mismatches.
As the situation deteriorated, Phil Jackson was forced to bring Kobe back earlier than planned.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Lakers trailed 46–58, down 12 points.