"We'll give you one more."
Looking at the celebrating Pistons, morale was improving at a visible speed. Jordan, who looked extremely serious, said to his teammates in a deep voice.
Twelve seconds later, he drove to the basket and was about to dunk when Rodman caught up from behind and pulled him out of the air.
"Without John Salley, the Pistons can only use fouls to interrupt Michael's attack on the basket." Ringo Wilson laughed.
After Jordan made two free throws, the Pistons attacked.
Zhou Quan still used the pick-and-roll to get rid of Jordan, and Jordan still double-teamed John Paxson. In this way, Joe Dumars once again found an open space outside the three-point line and received Zhou Quan's pass.
"brush!"
This time, he lived up to Zhou Chuan's trust and repaid his teammates with a hollow three-pointer.
15:18, Bulls attack.
Jordan caught the ball when he passed the midline. The Pistons were chasing points. He had to press it again before the Pistons' morale increased.
On the right three-point line, he faked a shot in front of Zhou Quan and broke through from the outside with the ball.
Zhou Quan's single defense is as high as level 95. Without greatly improving his prediction ability, he has almost reached his current limit of single defense. He was not shaken by Jordan in face-to-face situations, and retreated extremely quickly. After Jordan took a step into the three-point line, he stuck to the left side in time.
However, Jordan immediately stopped and forced a fadeaway jumper.
Zhou Quan reacted super quickly and kept up with the rhythm, but faced the ultimate fadeaway jumper, he was still powerless. The height difference was at least one foot. He took off with all his strength, and his body was almost on Jordan, but his hands still only reached the opponent's. elbow.
"brush!"
The water splashed and hit two points from far away.
"Haha, no matter how you defend, no matter how strong your defense is, you just can't defend!" Ringo Wilson roared excitedly.
Robert Guida shook his head and said: "Joe Dumars has been selected to the defensive first team consecutively, but Michael Jordan can beat him almost every time.
In this world, it is true that no one can guard Jordan in a single defense, no matter how strong his defense is. "
Looking back, Zhou Quan still used the pick-and-roll to get rid of Jordan.
But this time, Jordan delayed his ball-holding breakthrough by half a beat through his preemptive delaying action, and was then delayed by Paxson for another half beat. The result was that Jordan was once again blocked in front, and his breakthrough after the pick-and-roll failed.
At this time, Paxson cut off the passing line between him and Joe Dumars, and he could only force a mid-range shot over Michael Jordan's head.
"Snapped!"
Jordan reacted very quickly, had more experience, and accurately predicted, and he directly gave him a big shot.
Paxson grabbed the ball and passed it to Jordan who was following. Joe Dumars caught up to the front. Jordan actually made a move of passing the ball and passed Joe Dumas.
"boom!"
As soon as the action of passing the ball came out, the entire United Center was boiling.
Zhou Quan took the opportunity to overtake Joe Dumars, followed Jordan, and blocked his right side.
But Jordan dribbled the ball with his left hand and forced his way into the paint with his right elbow against Zhou Quan. Then he jumped up and picked the basket with one hand with his left hand. While scoring the ball, he also caused Zhou Quan's thug to foul.
Ringo Wilson said excitedly: "Beautiful! Michael blocked Iron Fist, and then hit Iron Fist to score a two plus one. Now the Pistons' morale has been frustrated again, and the Bulls' momentum is even higher."
"Boy, you really almost guarded me." Jordan's trash talk came again.
He doesn't have the strength to challenge Iron Fist off the court, but on the court, he can rely on his own strength, including trash talk, to humiliate the opponent to his heart's content, attack the opponent's psychology, and undermine the opponent's morale.
Zhou Quan smiled. If you are not strong enough, you should be prepared to be beaten, but you still have to respond to trash talk. He elbowed Jordan who was standing beside him and knocked him away. He spat back: "Old boy, two versus two. You can be proud of yourself after winning the Eastern Conference Finals."
"I not only want to win the Eastern Conference Finals, but I also want to beat you."
Jordan snorted coldly, dropped a word, turned and walked to the free throw line.
"You also said you would sweep us away, but I haven't received your thanks to this day. Have you forgotten that I helped you save half a million dollars?" Zhou Quan shouted from behind.
"asshole!"
Michael Jordan was so angry that he wanted to jump. He failed to complete the sweep and was forced into a two-on-one deficit. It was a shame for him.
"Ha ha……"
Seeing Jordan close his mouth, several people on the Pistons side laughed.
"Michael Jordan scored 5 points in a row, 15:23, 8 points behind."
At Zhang Lili's home, he said thoughtfully: "Jordan is in very good condition today, while Joe Dumars is in average condition, so it's difficult to chase points!"
His wife said: "Isn't Zhou Quan capable of chasing points? I think he played well in the past. He played well with Jordan and scored 6 points in a row."
"Him? His personal offensive ability and finishing ability have not yet reached the top level of a final decision. Facing Jordan's defense, he cannot guarantee overall high efficiency. He can only occasionally hit a few good goals and lacks durability.
Sometimes offense also depends on luck. When luck comes, no matter how you play, your opponent may make mistakes for no reason. "
Zhang Lili shook his head and said: "Phil Jackson just called a timeout, that was a turning point, and then the Bulls started double-teaming Zhou Quan, and they were double-teamed from the outside.
This is an obvious target. The Bulls have never double-teamed him on the outside. The Bulls want to strangle his offense, his organization and passing. They would rather let Joe Dumars play than strangle him.
This must be because Phil Jackson decided that Joe Dumars would not be in good condition today, so he dared to defend like this. Otherwise, Zhou Quan would not dare to pass the ball so well.
With the Bulls' perimeter defense, it is destined that Zhou Quan's personal offense will be difficult to break out today, and even his organizational functions will be limited. Next, the score should slowly open up. "
Zhang Lili is indeed very experienced, and he predicted the course of the next game.
Zhou Quan had to use pick-and-rolls to get rid of Jordan, which gave the Bulls the opportunity to easily double-team him on the outside. He was repeatedly double-teamed and his personal offense was hindered. Occasionally he could play one or two, but it couldn't solve the big problem.
Even if he wants to hit the basket with the ball, he won't have many opportunities. Jordan's confrontation ability is not weaker than him at all, and he has more experience than him.
He couldn't play, so he could only distribute the ball. The target of the first point was of course to play a pick-and-roll with him and get the open Joe Dumars.
As for the others, Ulrich was marked by Pippen on the weak side and had no chance to run. His offensive ability with the ball was also poor, so he could only take advantage of the situation. If he was marked, he would not even have a chance to take advantage of the situation.
Rodman's height under the basket is too low, his offensive skills are not good, and he has no chance.
As for Bedford's fringe player, even when facing the average blue-collar center Carter White, he was still at a disadvantage.
In this way, the Pistons' offensive pressure was piled on Joe Dumars. Although he relied on the Bulls' double-teaming opportunities to get open shots many times, they were all small openings. In addition, the touch of outside shooting today was really not good, and he shot again later. After conceding two goals, he could only get the ball and rush inwards.
However, although Cartwright and Grant's defense was not as good as John Salley and Rodman, it was not too bad. They dared to attack. They repeatedly attacked the basket, but the success rate was not high. Grant took two big shots, but it was a good fight. Got a few free throws.
After the first quarter, at 22:34, the Pistons were already 12 points behind.
Falling behind, the Pistons did not dare to replace their main players. Both Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars played the entire first quarter.
Zhou Quan scored 6 points in the front and 4 points in the back. He made 3 of 7 shots in a single quarter, 1 of 3-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws. He scored 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, and 1 foul.
Joe Dumars made only 3 of 10 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws. He scored 10 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.
The two basically took over the scoring in the first quarter, with Ulrich scoring the remaining two points.
In the second quarter, Chuck Daly held down Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars, allowing them to recover their physical fitness first, and sent in Assassin and Mark Aguirre.
However, in order to defeat the Pistons as soon as possible, Jordan came on the court at the beginning of the second quarter, which dealt a continuous and huge blow to the Pistons.
With crazy attacks, he defeated the assassin and Mark Aguirre alone.
Within four minutes, he stole the assassin once, successfully defended Mark Aguirre once, and made two defensive counterattacks. He made 4 of 5 shots and 1 of 1 free throw. He scored 9 points. At the same time, he only allowed the Pistons to score 5 points. The difference widened to 16 points, and it took four minutes to defeat the Pistons.
Daly could only be replaced in the main lineup, but the Bulls also replaced Pippen, and Jordan did not leave the game. The main lineups of both sides were on the same page.
"Bang!"
After Pippen scored a goal, only half a minute into the second quarter, Joe Dumars once again hit the basket with the ball and collided with Grant. When he fell to the ground, his waist was twisted and he was unable to continue fighting and had to leave the game.
He was in so much pain that he couldn't stand up. The team doctor came to check and found out that he had strained his lumbar muscle. He would not be able to play this game, and he would definitely not be able to play again. He would need at least a month of recovery time.
"Pa bang bang..."
When he was helped down, two thousand Pistons fans stood up and applauded him.
"Qiao, thank you, you always deserve my respect." Zhou Quan said to Joe Dumas.
Joe Dumas, who was holding his waist with one hand, nodded regretfully, waved to the fans, and said to Zhou Quan: "Iron Fist, my Eastern Conference Finals should be over. It's up to you. Don't let me down."
Zhou Quan's eyes twitched and he nodded and said: "I will not give up. Giving up means accepting failure. Even if I lose, I will never accept failure."
In the TNT commentary box, Robert Guida said: "Joe Dumars played very hard today. If he couldn't make a shot from outside, he would hit the basket, but his efficiency was average. He had fallen several times before. This injury was actually expected. thing."
"The Pistons can surrender."
Ringo Wilson smiled and said in a very positive tone.
At 27:45, the score difference reached 18 points, and the Pistons attacked.
Chuck Daly called a timeout and sent in the assassin. He said to the assassin and Zhou Quan: "Listen carefully, from now on, Isiah will control the ball."
Zhou Quan and the assassin were startled at the same time, but neither said anything. They only looked at Chuck Daly to see what he would say.
Chuck Daly said again: "Zhou, you play without the ball, pass through the penalty area, use your ability to get through people's cracks to get rid of Jordan, and then pull to the other wing or the top of the key. Isiah, Zhou ran out of space After that, you have to pass the ball.”
After explaining the tactics, he stopped talking and left time for the two of them to discuss how to fight.
"Iron Fist, I'll wait for you to run out of position at the top of the arc."
"OK, after you pass the ball, you must immediately leave the defender and go to a place where I can see you. If I don't have a chance, I will pass it back to you immediately."
The timeout ends, the game restarts, and the Pistons attack.
Ringo Wilson said in a skeptical tone: "The Assassin is on the field. Now he is at least 30 to 40% of his peak strength. Can he still play? Michael still defends against Tekken. Tekken plays without the ball. He has never played without the ball in the Pistons. Ball, okay?”
"The Assassins have the ball, and now BJ is guarding him. Will he attack?" Robert Guida said in a questioning tone.
But then he answered a question from his partner and said: "Iron Fist's ability off the ball should be good. When he chased Jordan, Jordan couldn't easily get rid of him, especially in the penalty area."
At this time, the assassin advanced to the frontcourt, close to the top of the key.
At this time, Zhou Quan entered the penalty area from the left wing, and Rodman and substitute center Brad Sellers covered him.
In addition to his two teammates in the penalty area, there are also Bulls backup center Wilperdo and substitute power forward Stacey King. Now that he and Jordan enter, the entire penalty area is about to burst.
But this narrow and crowded area was his paradise. With continuous left and right turns, he got to the left wing, but Jordan was left inside.
The Assassin passed the ball and when Zhou Quan received the ball at the mid-point position, Jordan had just emerged from the paint area and was two meters away from him.
Although it was only one step to reach him, it was already too late.
"brush!"
The water splashed and hit two points.
Such attacks continued in the following time. Zhou Quan made 3 of 4 shots in three minutes and scored 6 points.
On the Bulls side, Jordan did not attack for the time being. Pippen took full action and scored 2 points on 1 of 3 shots.
In this way, with more than three minutes left in the second quarter, at 33:47, the Pistons recovered 4 points, but were still 14 points behind.
The Bulls called timeout.
Robert Guida smiled proudly and said: "Linger, am I right? Iron Fist's off-the-ball ability is very strong. In four attacks, he always got rid of Jordan through the penalty area, and Jordan only caught up with him once."
Ringer Wilson nodded and said: "His ability to move in the penalty area is really admirable and surprising. In fact, based on his body shape, he does not have this ability. His shoulders are too wide and the space is small and he is easily blocked."
Robert Guida laughed: "This is his talent. His ability to move in the penalty area is no worse than a short point guard like Little Flying Squirrel, which is surprising.
And Jordan is just not good at defending such a small point guard. When switching defenses, it is really difficult for him to keep up with the opponent.
To deal with Jordan, you only need to arrange a small point guard, and then switch positions through the pick-and-roll, and let the small man beat Jordan. "
Ringo Wilson couldn't help but complain: "It's true, Michael really can't guard against such a mouse-like point guard.
But Robert, don't forget that Michael can also use pick-and-roll changes to defeat the little mouse on the offensive end. "
"Ha ha……"
Robert Guida burst into laughter and stopped taking the topic.
"Michael, go deal with the assassin." Phil Jackson said to Jordan on the Bulls bench.
Jordan gritted his teeth. He was unwilling to give in. He was a super master at playing without the ball, but he couldn't deal with the Iron Fist kid's off-ball style.
Phil Jackson said: "Use your defense to lock his pass. Even if BJ can't keep up with the ball and runs out of space, he won't get the ball."
"OK."
Jordan nodded in agreement.
Zhou Quan was a little surprised to see BJ following him.
He glanced at the assassin over there. Can this veteran handle Jordan's defense?
The game continued, and in the following time, Jordan defended with all his strength and handed over the offense to Pippen and others. He successfully locked down the assassin by himself.
In terms of passing, he only locked the passing angles of the Assassins and Zhou Quan, and he didn't care about other directions.
At the same time, he also locked down the assassin's personal offense.
As a result, the Assassin was unable to pass the ball to Zhou Quan, and at the same time, he could not produce personal offense. The Pistons were once again in trouble in the last minute of the second quarter, being defended and only scored two points in more than three minutes.
After the second quarter, at 35:53, the Pistons were 18 points behind.
"Bata!"
When the assassin who showed no performance came off the field, his face was livid, depressed and angry, and he smashed the water glass handed to him by his teammates on the floor.
"Shh!"
Bulls fans immediately booed loudly, further damaging the psychology of the Assassins and Pistons.
"Oh, the assassin has lost his composure," Robert Guida exclaimed.
"After they were swept last year, he led the team away without grace. He didn't even shake hands with Michael." Ringo Wilson said with a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Robert Guida explained: “Indeed, as an opponent, it is a kind of court etiquette to congratulate the winner.
But the assassin's personality is too weird. He believes that shaking hands with his opponent after losing is a kind of surrender. This may be a difference in life philosophy. "
Joe Dumars was injured and the team fell behind by a big score. The Pistons returned to the locker room with their morale almost shattered.
Even Rodman, who had always been the most active, became dull at this time and didn't say a word.
Among all the players, John Salley and Joe Dumars were in the most relaxed mood, because they were injured and could no longer play. Their playoffs were over and there was no pressure on them. The injury was a relief for them.
Zhou Quan didn't want to say anything anymore. In this case, no amount of empty words was useless. Only practical actions could boost morale.
Joe Dumars can't play, neither can the Assassins, and no one else can count on him. He can only do it by himself, and if he can't play a morale-boosting offense in the second half, then the game will end in the third quarter. .
With his current offensive capabilities, facing the Bulls' outside attack would be extremely difficult and almost impossible.
(End of chapter)
