```
Although an 18-point deficit is significant, the Lakers have faced such a disadvantage before. If they could unite, they could entirely catch up in the third quarter on their home court.
But the problem lay precisely in that unity. Tonight's atmosphere among the Lakers was rife with arguments and despair, and they lost control from the very beginning— all because Jabbar had been completely dominated by Gan Guoyang.
In the locker room, Jabbar kept a stern face. The footage of the first quarter had already been edited by Riley's assistant and was playing in the locker room.
After the Lakers' disastrous defeat to the Celtics in the first game of the finals, Riley had done the same thing. Jabbar, ashamed and then emboldened, had excelled in the subsequent games and won the FMVP.
However, using the same tactic didn't guarantee the same effect, especially now that it was the regular season, and the season had just begun. Jabbar wasn't fully in the zone yet.
