Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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But Jackson did not cherish that time, "That was a long time ago, I only focus on the present."

So, what impression did he have of Karl?

"George is very passionate, very energetic, I think that's why the Bucks are so strong."

Jackson's answer was very official, devoid of any personal emotion.

Because Karl really had not left a deep impression on him, which was a stark contrast to the strong feelings Karl harbored, viewing him as an arch-enemy.

"I have never forgotten the defeat in 1996, this is an opportunity God has given me, he wants me to take revenge," said Karl with heartfelt sincerity, "I think this might be my last chance, so I will stop at nothing to pursue victory!"

The Lakers really had forgotten how miserably they had been taught a lesson by the Bucks in the regular season.

Only the veteran Rick Fox felt uneasy.

But his mood was inconsequential to this super team that considered anything less than winning the championship a failure.

The game began.

Everything the Lakers craved did not happen: OK did not blow up the court, Payton and Karl Malone did not shine in their own roles, the role players did not thrive with the tailwind—none of these things.

The most valuable lesson the Bucks learned from defeating the Detroit Pistons was about the application and layout of the Iron Bucket Formation, which they used tonight in a much more mature fashion than the second time they faced the Lakers during the regular season.

Accustomed to the confrontations in the Western Conference, many on the Lakers Team struggled against the Bucks, a team that dared to engage in close combat even with the Detroit Pistons.

In addition to layering the Iron Bucket Formation to compress the space for isolation plays, the Bucks had another defensive key: no double-teaming.

Whether it was Kobe's isolation plays or Shaquille O'Neal's low post offense, there was no double-teaming.

The presence of the Iron Bucket Formation significantly reduced Kobe's space for isolation plays, and although the Bucks didn't have a defensive wing spiderman like Prince with both height and arm span, Sprewell was a player with more experience and skill in man-to-man defense than Prince.

For O'Neal, the Bucks were certain that OK did not coordinate well, so Karl boldly used a rotation to defend O'Neal.

Mutombo, Gadzuric, Pachulia, Ratner, and even Haslem—every big man on the Bucks had a role to play; although they would be blasted in one-on-one defense, O'Neal's teammates could not get the ball to him on time.

When OK could not break through fighting on their own, the Lakers` long-standing integration issues preventing the system from taking shape appeared.

Regardless of whether they won the championship or not, Gary Payton had already stated that he would not stay with the Lakers because he did not play the Triangle Offense well.

Tonight, Payton completely isolated himself from the system, with sporadic isolation plays and jump shots failing to connect.

Karl Malone was hindered by the knee injury that surfaced during the Western Finals and was unable to offer any help beyond shooting from the high post.

What was terrifying was that the only shot he could make, he was also missing tonight.

The Lakers' supporters were expecting a slaughter to come.

Only by tearing apart the Timberwolves in the national broadcast like in the Western Finals could the Lakers prove that the Bucks, supposedly their nemesis, were nothing but a myth.

But the Lakers fans were soon disappointed.

By the end of the first half, the Bucks were leading the Lakers by 9 points, 55 to 46.

At the start of the second half, Yu Fei hit consecutive threes, then targeted O'Neal on a drive, and finally, in a pick-and-roll, he faked out Karl Malone like a swooping swallow, gliding into the paint and dunking over O'Neal's block attempt.

This was the "world after Game 5."

The fifth game against the Pistons established Yu Fei's absolute confidence. He attacked the Lakers' defense fearlessly, and in an outside mismatch with Malone, he faked him out, exacerbating his knee injury.

The Lakers carried off Malone and tried to find a substitute in their bench.

But no one they brought in was a threat to the Bucks.

Because tonight's Malone wasn't a decisive player, having only scored 4 points and essentially serving as Yu Fei's punching bag on defense—whenever Fei couldn't find an opening, he would call for a 1-4 pick and roll for a targeted explosion.

In the fourth quarter, O'Neal, the best performer of the Lakers, was also sent off by Yu Fei's sixth foul draw.

With that, the first game of the Finals entered garbage time.

Yu Fei played 39 minutes, slashing a dominant 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, continuing his strong postseason performance, and leading the Bucks to a 109-92 victory over the Lakers at home.

"Looks like we're not going to be swept 4-0 by the Lakers as those so-called experts predicted, which is really pleasing," Fei mocked the sports writers who had favored the Lakers immediately after the game.

And those people were now focusing their attacks on Kobe.

While it seemed like making excuses, who could blame them when Kobe gave them the opportunity?

Facing an old warrior like Sprewell, Kobe went 11 for 30 to score 27 points for the whole game. In contrast, O'Neal scored a dominant 35 points and 15 rebounds on 13 of 15 shooting.

Who was the mole, who didn't want to win, who was dragging the Lakers down, wasn't it obvious?

Ignoring Malone's mere 4 points, Payton's heavyweight 1 for 5, Fisher's terrible 0 for 9, and Fox's nonexistent 0+0+0 performance, wasn't it all Kobe's fault? Why didn't he pass the ball to O'Neal, why?

Fei returned to the locker room, high-fived every teammate, and said loudly, "Three more games! I'm going to sweep them!"

It sounded so arrogant—sweeping the Lakers? The team hailed as the most talented of the salary cap era, could they really be swept?

"Before the game, everyone said the Lakers would sweep us. Wouldn't it be interesting if we turned it around and swept the Lakers?" Sprewell had a brilliant idea, "I'm going to collect all the pre-game articles favoring the Lakers, make a bound volume out of them after the Finals are over, and sell it in Milwaukee's bookstores!"

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