The Staples Center has never hosted a night with quite so many East Asian faces.
While the vast majority were here for Yao Ming, a few scattered fans held up signs showing support for Link. The bright lights illuminated a raucous, sold-out crowd of 19,000, a churning sea of purple and gold. The spotlights danced across the hardwood floor, creating a spectacular scene beneath the banners of champions hanging from the rafters—a testament to the franchise's storied history.
Courtside, media crews adjusted cameras and lenses, ready to capture the drama as the players emerged.
"WOW!!!!!"
A deafening wave of noise immediately engulfed Link as he ran out of the tunnel with his teammates. Amidst the cheers, he could hear scores of familiar -language shouts of encouragement. Many fans held up signs bearing his name and waved their towels fiercely.
"Link! Go!
"Yao Ming! (Go!)
The two cheers mixed, creating an ear-splitting commotion.
Link's eyes were drawn across the court to the figure in the red Rockets practice gear: Yao Ming. He wasn't just the pride of basketball; he was rapidly becoming one of the most dominant big men in the NBA.
Suddenly, the lights cut out, plunging the arena into darkness. The roar of the crowd intensified, then faded into an expectant silence. A huge spotlight tracked the tunnel entrance.
The PA announcer drew out his voice, his raspy, highly charged tone echoing through the darkness:
"Ladies and gentlemen! Now, please welcome your... Lakers!!!"
A thunderous cheer mixed with an intense drumbeat exploded.
The figures of the Lakers players began to emerge in the beam of light.
...
"KOBE! KOBE! KOBE!"
The entire Staples Center was pure madness; the decibel level felt high enough to blow the roof off. Kobe sprinted out, emotionless, exchanging high-fives with his teammates.
Moments later, the lights came back on, and the starters faced off at center court.
For the Lakers, Kobe's face was stern, his gaze sharp as a hawk. For the Rockets, Yao Ming stood like an immovable pillar, while Tracy McGrady had his trademark sleepy-eyed, yet inwardly lethal, demeanor.
The referee tossed the ball high. Game on!
Yao Ming easily secured the tip-off with his overwhelming height advantage, tipping it to a teammate.
The Rockets' first possession involved a few passes before McGrady fed the ball to Yao on the low block. Chris Mihm, guarding Yao, looked like he was trying to hold up a moving semi-truck; he was struggling just to stand his ground.
Yao didn't need any fancy footwork, just two calm back-downs to seal position. He then used his absolute size advantage for a smooth half-hook shot.
The ball arced gracefully and dropped cleanly through the net.
"Swish!"
Two points!
The Lakers came back and diligently ran the Triangle Offense. After the ball was swung from side to side, Devin George saw an opening for a backdoor cut. His short-range layup, however, was violently rejected off the backboard by a chasing McGrady who flew in from the side!
The Rockets immediately counter-attacked. Rafer Alston pushed the ball upcourt, looped around, and passed to a trailing McGrady. McGrady caught the ball and pulled up without hesitation. The shot, on a flat trajectory, dropped right into the hoop.
Three-pointer!
The release point was so high that even Kobe, as great as he was, couldn't get up in time to contest. He could only watch it go in. McGrady shot Kobe a look of mild challenge as he ran back on defense.
On the next possession, Kobe dribbled at the top of the arc against the tight coverage. He waived off a screen, dribbled through his legs a few times to find his rhythm, then executed a lightning-quick crossover, took one dribble with his left, and pulled up for a jumper!
Though McGrady's long arms were right in his face, Kobe released the shot with a deep lean-back.
"Clank! Swish!"
Pure Kobe! The ball hit the back of the rim and dropped in, clean and forceful!
"Answer Ball!" the TV announcer roared.
Staples Center exploded. Link watched from the bench, completely thrilled. The duel between two of this era's elite scorers was always a collision of titans!
However, the Lakers' excitement was short-lived.
The Rockets' strategy was clear: relentlessly attack the Lakers' soft interior defense by exploiting the absolute strength of Yao Ming.
On their next trip down, Yao demanded the ball even deeper. This time, Lamar Odom tried to rotate for a double-team, but Yao had seen it coming. He faked a strong move, drew the double, and whipped a no-look pass over his head to a cutting Juwan Howard, who slammed it home easily.
Yao's passing and court vision were proving to be just as lethal!
As the Lakers continued to struggle on offense, the Rockets extended their lead. Feeling the pressure, Kobe used a screen to drive hard to the paint. Facing Yao's help defense, he attempted a high-difficulty reverse layup to avoid the block.
But Yao's wingspan and timing were too much. His vertical leap completely blanketed the shooting space.
"Swat!"
A clean, solid block! The ball was swatted away!
McGrady scooped up the loose ball and instantly triggered the fast break. His strides were huge; he seemed to glide past midcourt and launched himself from just inside the free-throw line, his body stretched taut like a bowstring, finishing with a powerful one-handed slam dunk!
With less than four minutes left in the first quarter, the Rockets led the Lakers 22-13.
"BEEP!!"
The Zen Master was forced to call his first timeout of the game!
On the bench, Kobe pursed his lips, his eyes flashing murderously.
Against Yao Ming, the Lakers' frontcourt was completely helpless. Yao could score with solid post moves, hit mid-range jumpers off the pick-and-roll, or, when doubled, find open teammates with acute vision, generating easy baskets.
So far, Yao was 3-for-3 shooting, totaling 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block—a total domination of the paint.
Link watched from the bench. Yao's combination of size and skill was suffocating, creating an unparalleled pressure. He was single-handedly forcing the Lakers to change their entire defensive system. All perimeter players had to constantly collapse inward, which, in turn, opened up shots for McGrady and the rest of the Rockets' shooters.
The Lakers came out of the timeout with a tactical adjustment. Kobe started demanding screens to attack Yao's defensive positioning in the mid-range. The move paid off instantly. Kobe went into personal attack mode, hitting several mid-range jumpers in a row!
But defensively, the Lakers had no answer. The Rockets kept executing, and the lead held steady around 10 points.
In the final possession, Kobe hit a contested three-pointer over McGrady to cut the deficit to 6 points, ending the quarter with the score at 34-28.
Kobe scored 12 points in the first quarter, and McGrady had 7.
Yao Ming finished 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line for a complete stat line of 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block, having his way inside the Lakers' paint.
With his teammates struggling to create anything, Kobe was forced to take over the game late in the first quarter. He took 10 shots in the quarter and had to guard McGrady, leaving him visibly winded as he headed to the bench.
The game was firmly in the Rockets' control.
If the Lakers kept playing like this, they might surrender before the fourth quarter even began!