Turning around, the Jazz continued to focus on Malone's passes. Horry seized the opportunity, snatched the ball from Malone, and immediately found Hexi Meng!
Hexi Meng caught the ball and picked up speed, initiating a fast break.
Without O'Neal, the Lakers would struggle if they foolishly engaged in a half-court battle with the Jazz.
Fortunately, Hasley was not a conventional coach. Without O'Neal, he decisively agreed to Hexi Meng's suggestion to "appropriately" increase the team's offensive and defensive tempo.
With the head coach's approval, Hexi Meng immediately pushed this "appropriate speed-up" to its limit.
After consecutively getting past the Jazz's Howard Eisley and Russell, Hexi Meng had a clear path to penetrate the paint and attack the basket. Among the Jazz players retreating, only Hornacek had fallen back inside the paint.
The two big men, Malone and Ostertag, had just crossed half-court and were unlikely to interfere in time.
On his own team, Eddie Jones was approaching the three-point line, ready to receive a pass and shoot. Fox was running towards the left low post, drawing space while also being a threat to shoot or crash the boards...
Between attacking himself and passing to Eddie Jones or Fox, Hexi Meng chose to pass to Eddie Jones!
At least on paper, with O'Neal out, Eddie Jones was the Lakers' acting leader.
An acting leader is still a leader, right?
After receiving the ball, Eddie Jones felt a surge of confidence and, without hesitation, took a three-point shot!
Hexi Meng and Fox didn't stop their momentum; they surged forward on either side to contest for rebounds. Even if Eddie Jones missed this shot, the Lakers had a high probability of securing the offensive rebound!
However, Eddie Jones didn't give his teammates a chance to rebound. The ball swished cleanly through the net, and Eddie Jones put the Lakers on the board with 3 points.
The Lakers fans in the arena erupted in cheers, transferring the enthusiasm they had intended for O'Neal to Eddie Jones.
The broadcast director immediately cut to O'Neal, wanting to see his reaction. To his surprise, O'Neal showed no reaction, just staring blankly at the court with unfocused eyes... He was likely lost in thought, definitely not about basketball. Whatever he was thinking about, only O'Neal knew...
Jazz possession. They continued to look for Malone.
But this time, facing a double-team from the Lakers, Malone didn't force a shot. Instead, he passed to Hornacek. Hornacek still didn't shoot and continued to pass to Ostertag in the post!
Ostertag caught the ball, turned, and attempted a hook shot over Campbell, but the ball rolled off the rim!
Malone clung to Horry, preventing him from jumping. In terms of pure strength, Horry was no match for Malone, but Horry was never a brainless muscle man. Unable to secure the rebound, Horry, taking advantage of Malone's unsteady ball-handling, snatched the ball out of the paint.
Eddie Jones secured the loose ball, getting an easy rebound. While everyone else was still dazed, Hexi Meng stood out from the crowd and sprinted straight to the Jazz's half-court.
Seeing this, Eddie Jones immediately threw a long pass to the streaking Hexi Meng!
Hexi Meng received the pass without slowing down, denying Howard Eisley a chance to contest. Catching Eddie Jones' pass, Hexi Meng took three steps and finished with a graceful, soaring one-handed dunk!
"Dunking? A layup would have been better! Don't think you can be reckless just because you weren't injured last season... When traveling the Jianghu, stability is key, safety first..."
After the dunk, Hexi Meng immediately had a twinge of regret, but he had to admit that the Lakers' fast break, from regaining possession, passing, to the dunk, took less than 5 seconds. The offense flowed like mercury, prompting another roar from the Lakers fans...
Even the dazed O'Neal couldn't help but show a look of surprise at Hexi Meng's one-handed dunk, then opened his mouth wide and cheered along with the fans! If the stands were bigger, O'Neal might have chosen to stand up and dance a little...
Kobe, on the bench, looked regretful! If he had been on the court, Hexi Meng definitely wouldn't have had the chance to dunk...
The Lakers scoring twice on consecutive fast breaks also caused the Jazz's coach, Sloan, to frown. Coach Sloan had a hunch about the Lakers' main strategy for this game: without O'Neal, they would undoubtedly increase the tempo and focus on outside shooting.
But the game had just begun, and it wasn't time to adjust yet. Coach Sloan decided to wait and see.
The Lakers continued to tighten their defense, focusing on containing Malone near the paint. After Malone's repeated unsuccessful attempts to drive, Hornacek decided to try a three-pointer from the outside. Fox fouled preemptively, preventing Hornacek from getting free throws.
The Jazz would inbound the ball, and there wasn't much time to organize an offensive play. Howard Eisley drove one-on-one against Hexi Meng and hit a mid-range pull-up jumper! Before the ball even neared the rim, Howard Eisley was already retreating, wary of another Lakers fast break.
Howard Eisley hadn't managed to stop Hexi Meng's penetration on the previous two possessions. Seeing Coach Sloan rise from the bench with an unhappy expression, Howard Eisley knew that missing the shot wasn't the main problem. If Hexi Meng scored another fast break, the situation could become serious...
Therefore, even though this shot also bounced off the rim, the Jazz defense retreated very quickly. They immediately abandoned the offensive rebound and chose to fall back.
By the time Campbell secured the rebound and passed it to Hexi Meng, half of the Jazz team had already retreated past half-court.
Since a fast break wasn't an option, they would patiently bring the ball up. Hexi Meng called for Horry's high pick-and-roll, drove, and then passed back to Horry. This time, the Jazz's defensive rotation was very quick. Horry didn't force a shot without an open look and instead passed it to Eddie Jones!
Eddie Jones immediately faked out Russell, then drove low, and finished with a mid-range pull-up jumper for two points!
In the opening stages, the Lakers' offense was very fluid. However, Fox seemed to struggle to integrate into the Lakers' offensive system. On defense, eager to make a contribution, Fox committed two fouls in less than three minutes, fouling himself out of the game.
Before Coach Harris could call his name, Kobe had already taken off his jacket, ready to enter the game...