On the court, the Bulls' momentum was somewhat stagnant. This defensive failure gave them a sense of frustration.
The veins on Jordan's head jumped again and again. This time, he had tried his best to defend, but he still couldn't stop it, which made him very disappointed.
He thought that his judgment and handling just now were wrong. He was right in front and should have taken off anyway. Even if Zhou Quan forced a shot, the hit rate would not be high. If he threw the ball, he and his teammates would be left behind. Opportunity to return to defense.
Contrary to the Bulls, after scoring this goal, the Pistons' morale rose sharply, and all the players on and off the court were very excited.
With this morale, 55:43, the Pistons led the Bulls by 12 points in the first half, and the point difference widened to double digits.
Jordan played 24 minutes in the first half, making 9 of 17 shots on Zhou Quan's head, with a shooting percentage of 52.9%, and 3 of 4 free throws, scoring 21 points.
Zhou Quan and Jordan took over and played the entire first half. They didn't take many shots but were very efficient. They made 4 of 6 shots and 5 of 6 free throws. They scored 13 points, but they gave out 9 assists in the half. and 1 steal, 1 block, and only one turnover in the half.
This result was beyond the expectations of most media.
Zhang Lili analyzed during the halftime break: "The Bulls only sent out 9 assists in the first half, while the Pistons had 16 assists. From an offensive perspective, the Bulls' offense relied more on Jordan's personal ability.
Today, the Pistons did not blindly double-team Jordan. Basically, Zhou Quan defended Jordan alone. He only assisted when he broke through with the ball.
When Coach Chuck Daly was in the Bad Boys, he had two extremes in defending Jordan. One was to attack Jordan with all his strength, and the other was to defend alone and prevent the rest of the Bulls. Today, it is the latter defensive tactic, and the effect is still good. . "
Sun Zhenping said: "Coach Zhang, Jordan's defense is so strong, and sometimes he double-teams Zhou Quan with others. Isn't this very effective?"
Zhang Lili smiled and said: "I have said before that a top point guard like Zhou Quan can do anything with sudden shots and passes. It is very difficult to guard against him. It is better to guard against his offense. Guarding against his passes is simply a challenge. Hard to guard against.
If the Bulls want to defend Zhou Quan's pass, they can only let others mark the Pistons, leaving Jordan to defend alone, using the same method as the Pistons. "
"From now on, Michael, no one will help you defend."
In the home team's locker room, Phil Jackson said to Jordan extremely seriously.
"Understood." Jordan said solemnly.
Phil Jackson then said to others: "Lock your people and cut them off from Zhou Quan. I don't want to see him get 20 assists in one game. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Bulls and others replied.
He also warned: “Today the Pistons made a lot of cuts inside, coupled with the right passing, this is the reason why they led us by as many as 12 points in the first half.
Therefore, we need to strengthen the defense against Ulrich. His inside cutting ability is not weaker than Grant. For Joe Dumars, to prevent him from cutting inside, you can put him outside to beat Paxson in isolation. "
"Offensive end..."
After pondering for a while, he added: "As long as we limit Zhou Quan's passing on the defensive end and let Michael beat him on the offensive end, we will have a chance to come back.
But be careful when passing the ball, because the Pistons have been guarding Michael alone. Their method in the first half was to keep an eye on others. We must try our best to use tactics to create opportunities for Michael to play alone and pass the ball to him in time. "
"John, you rest in the third quarter and prepare to play in the final quarter."
After talking about tactics, he said to Paxson.
"OK."
John Paxson nodded. He can barely play thirty minutes now. This is because he doesn't play much in the regular season. He only plays an average of 17 minutes per game in the regular season.
He played 18 minutes in the first half, and then BJ played some more time. Then, during this time, Joe Dumars took the opportunity to shoot a ball over BJ's head, which was a three-pointer, widening the point difference. to double digits.
Back from midfield, the game continues.
The Bulls have Jordan as the point guard, shooting guard Trent Tucker, small forward Pippen, and interior linebackers Spencer King and Wilperdo.
The Pistons are Zhou Quan, Isiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre, Terry Mills, and Alden Polynis.
Bulls offense.
On the right wing, Jordan used Grant's pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhou Quan, cut outside, and asked for the ball.
At this time, the ball reached Tucker, who was one step to the right at the top of the arc. He wanted to pass the ball, but the assassin waved his hands, preventing him from passing the ball in the first place.
However, facing the assassins, he had a height advantage at 196 centimeters and the ball was still passed.
"Snapped!"
However, in just one second, Zhou Quan quickly bypassed the obstacle to follow Jordan, regained his defensive position, inserted himself into the passing line at a faster speed, and intercepted the ball with a wave of his hand.
"Stealing the ball! Iron Fist counterattacked, the assassin came down from the center, Iron Fist passed the ball..." Williams shouted excitedly in the ABC commentary box.
"brush!"
The Assassin's injury means that he is no faster than Tucker now, but his experience is not comparable to that of a role player like Tucker. He gets to the basket and uses a simple layup to send the opponent flying, and then easily completes the layup. basket.
Bill Walton laughed: "At 57:43, the Pistons were already leading by 14 points. Phil Jackson made a mistake. He played another shooting guard and put BJ on the bench, but the Pistons played an assassin. No matter how bad the assassin's condition is, he can still beat Tucker. Now he calls BJ, which means he is ready to replace him."
Lewis Williams laughed and said: "Michael is too strong and his physical fitness is abnormal, so the Bulls' shooting guard reserves are not good and they have no strength. If they don't play BJ, I think a small forward can solve the problem better. "
Phil Jackson was aware of this problem when the players came on the field, and immediately called BJ up and asked him to prepare to play.
After the Bulls played BJ, they did not have a high disadvantage against the assassins, and the effect was indeed better. In the next game, both sides entered the same rhythm.
On the offensive end, the Bulls let Jordan play alone on Zhou Quan, and on the defensive end, they locked up everyone else and let Zhou Quan play on Jordan alone.
Of course Zhou Quan will not play according to the Bulls' tactics and will do everything possible to pass the ball to his teammates.
But Pippen locked up Mark Aguirre, and even if he encountered a pick-and-roll, he would no longer switch defenses, preferring to let Polynis play Spencer King in singles outside.
And BJ also gave the assassin no good chance. The assassin was no longer as fast as before. He couldn't run fast, especially he couldn't change direction, and his explosive power was far less than before.
These two outsiders have little chance. He can only pass the ball to Polynice and Terry Mills.
It was just that Wilper King and Spencer King tried their best to cut off the connection between him and his two inside teammates. They made two consecutive passing and receiving errors, one went out of bounds, and one pass was intercepted. The Bulls took the opportunity to chase points.
In this case, he was forced to constantly beat Jordan alone, and fell into the Bulls' defensive trap.
After playing half a quarter, he made 3 of 7 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 8 points. However, Jordan made 5 of 9 shots and 2 of 4 free throws on top of him. It's 12 minutes.
67:60, the Pistons only led by 7 points, were caught up by 5 points in the middle of the quarter, and then called a timeout.
"In terms of personal offense, in singles, no matter how strong Tie Fist's defense is, Jordan can still beat him. The Bulls adopted the Pistons' style of play in the first half, but Jordan's personal offensive ability exceeded Tie Fist, and the Pistons were the loser. Now the Pistons have to find ways to change this passive situation." Bill Walton analyzed.
The timeout ended and the Pistons replaced part of their main lineup.
Rodman, Joe Dumars, Polynice, Mark Aguirre, plus Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan continued to play. In this kind of game, there was not even a minute of rest time, and he did not ask for a rest.
Polynis is somewhat similar to Seikali, with mediocre defense but good rebounding ability. In the regular season, he only averaged 15 minutes per game with the Pistons, but he was able to grab 5 rebounds.
However, the offense was not good and could not compare with Seikali. He and Rodman teamed up inside. Chuck Daly's purpose was obvious, to control the rebounds and gain rest time for Seikaly.
The Bulls also played Pippen, and Grant also played again. The center is Wilperdo, who has good defensive ability, and the point guard is Jordan. In addition, Tucker comes up again to face Joe Dumars.
The appearance of Joe Dumars made it impossible for the Bulls to lock down others and force Zhou Quan to play alone. He and Zhou Quan joined forces with the back line to stabilize the Pistons' situation.
With Joe Dumars sharing the offensive pressure, Zhou Quan will focus more on organizing passes and defense.
In the first three quarters, he made 7 of 14 shots and 7 of 8 free throws. He scored 21 points, 3 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls.
In two and a half quarters, Jordan made 14 of 25 shots and 5 of 8 free throws, scoring 33 points. He was very consumed on both ends of the offense and defense. In the second half of the quarter, he deliberately reduced his shots. He only scored 2 points on 1 of 2 shots. He scored 35 points in three quarters. Points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls.
On the other hand, role player Tucker, playing for the second time, performed well against Joe Dumars. He made 2 of 3 three-pointers and scored 6 points.
After the third quarter, 77:70, the Pistons still led by 7 points.
"There is still suspense in the final quarter. Jordan stayed strong in the second half. If the Pistons want to finally win the game, Iron Fist must reduce the opponent's offensive efficiency." Bill Walton said.
"Seven points is not a very big gap for the league's top killer with his powerful scoring explosion."
Nodding, Lewis Williams said.
At the beginning of the final quarter, both sides sent out all their main forces.
Phil Jackson's tactical intention was to lock down others, force Zhou Quan to single out Jordan, use Jordan's strong defensive ability to reduce the Pistons' offensive efficiency, and at the same time, rely on Jordan's personal offensive ability on the offensive end to complete the point pursuit.
Because Zhou Quan's personal offense is indeed not as dominant as Jordan's, the Pistons tried their best to avoid this situation and reduced his ball rights. Joe Dumars shared many offensive and organizational tasks, thus avoiding Jordan. defense.
At the same time, on the defensive end, Chuck Daly suddenly changed his defensive strategy in the first three quarters, switching from Zhou Quan to defend Jordan alone to a double attack.
This change was sudden. Jordan's first three attacks were all double-teamed. One of them was double-teamed by three people, resulting in one of three shots. The Bulls only scored 4 points in the first four minutes.
The Pistons relied on their stronger rebounding ability and strong defense to counterattack one after another, winning four of the five attacks. In the first four minutes of the last quarter, they launched an 8-4 attack wave, 85 :74, once again widening the point difference to double digits.
The Bulls called a timeout, and Phil Jackson asked to strengthen passing and ball distribution. Anyone who is open should take bold shots after receiving the ball.
But after returning, the Pistons once again adjusted their defensive strategy against Jordan and returned to their original one-on-one defense. They would rather let Jordan continue to score on Zhou Quan than let others take advantage of him.
On the offensive end, Zhou Quan, who was almost physically strong, stopped attacking and holding the ball. He just defended Jordan and handed the ball to Joe Dumars.
Under his full defense, Jordan had to make a lot of moves every time he caught the ball. The Bulls' offensive efficiency was affected, and sometimes the ball could not be passed to Jordan.
In this way, relying on the score advantage and the ever-changing defensive strategies and offensive tactics, the Pistons played a conservative battle in the final quarter and persisted until the end, leaving no chance for the Bulls to come back. 108:93, a 15-point victory, and won The G1 battle.
At the end of the game, Zhou Quan, panting, sat directly on the floor.
He played for 48 minutes, facing off against Jordan on both ends of the court. The physical exertion was so great that even though his physical fitness reached level 94, he could no longer hold on.
He glanced at Jordan, who was two steps away. He was still standing, but Jordan attacked more than him and consumed more physical energy. This meant that Jordan's physical ability was stronger than him, or even a little stronger.
This made him vigilant after winning, because this is not a regular season, this is a series, and the further he goes, the more his physical advantage will be reflected.
Jordan stared at Zhou Quan fiercely. Before the game, he did not expect that he would lose the G1 game. This was his home court, which made him very unwilling.
At this time, an ABC reporter came over to Zhou Quan. He climbed up and said to Jordan first: "Flyer, if you lose the G2 game again, don't blame me for sweeping you."
Jordan's head jumped, his eyes were like daggers, and he stabbed Zhou Quan hard. Without saying a word, he turned around and walked towards the players' tunnel.
Zhou Quan smiled and began the on-site interview.
The reporter took out a piece of paper and said: "Iron Fist, you made 9 of 19 shots in this game, a shooting percentage of 47.3%, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, 25 points, 4 rebounds, 14 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. With 3 turnovers and 5 fouls, are you satisfied with your performance?"
"Of course." He smiled and nodded.
The reporter added: "Except for you, Joe Dumars made 10 of 18 shots in this game, with a shooting percentage of 55.5%. He scored 27 points on three-pointers and free throws. 4 of your 14 assists came from His shot.
In addition to the two of you, there are three other people who scored in double figures. Your offense was very average today. The team sent out a total of 34 assists, while the Bulls only had 19.
In terms of the team's field goal percentage, the Pistons are three percentage points higher than the Bulls, and have 9 more rebounds than the Bulls. All the advantages combined allowed you to win the G1 game.
So do you think the Pistons can persevere and eventually defeat the Bulls and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals? "
Zhou Quan said without hesitation: "I believe it will be. Today's game proved that the Bulls are not invincible, and their strength has not reached that level yet.
Especially their inside performance was mediocre today. We had a lot of low-post attacks today, and we played high-quality inside tactics that they couldn't guard against. "
The reporter smiled and said: "According to my statistics, 10 of your 14 assists came from passing to teammates who cut inside. Will you stick to this passing and cutting tactic in the next game?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "I don't know about this. You should have seen that our tactics changed a lot tonight. Coach Daley was very well prepared. He knows this Bulls team very well. We hope he can win in the next game too." Come up with effective tactics.”
At this time, a reporter caught up with Jordan in the player tunnel and interviewed him.
"Michael, in the last quarter you scored 8 points on 4 of 9 shots, 19 of 36 shots from the field, 52.8% shooting, and scored 43 points. However, you lost the game and lost the G1 game at home. What does it mean to the Bulls?" the reporter asked.
Jordan stepped forward quickly and replied impatiently: "It means we have to work harder next, that's clear. But we have experienced similar situations, and we have enough willpower and strength to get the series back." On track.”
"You mean the Pistons just stole a game from the Bulls?" the reporter asked.
"Whatever you think of it."
Jordan was in a very bad mood after losing the game, and he had been targeted by the media this season. He definitely didn't like reporters now, so he replied in a cold tone, and after opening the door to the locker room, there was a bang. , shutting the reporter out.
Soon after, others returned to the locker room. Jordan didn't speak, and everyone else had to keep their voices down when they vented their anger. The atmosphere in the Bulls' locker room was not much better than a coffin, like a dead person.
At this time Phil Jackson came in and began to summarize the game.
He said with a serious expression: "Only three of us scored in double figures today. Except for Michael, Pippen had 18 points, and Grant had 10 points. The others were all restricted by the Pistons. This was the main reason for our loss.
The other is rebounding. The difference of 9 is too much. In the end, we took 7 fewer shots than the Pistons. This is something we need to pay attention to in the future.
In addition, organizationally, we are seriously behind the Pistons. If we cannot change this, the situation in the series will become extremely bad. "
"Phil, just tell me what to do?" Jordan said impatiently.
Phil Jackson said calmly: "Calm down, Michael, and listen to my analysis of the game."
Then he added: "The Pistons have five players scoring in double figures, and two have 20+ points. This is completely opposite to our situation. Their organization and offense are much better than ours. Zhou Quan's organizational ability and his passing make us bigger." Take the pain.”
Speaking of this, in fact, he knew very well that there was another reason for today's loss, which was that the tactics were too passive, always following the opponent, and the final score difference was too large. After Zhou Quan gave up holding the ball and attacking in the final quarter, he was unable to regain it. Contest.
"Phil, what are we going to do next?" Jordan asked, staring at Phil Jackson.
Phil Jackson pretended to be calm and said: "Don't worry, Michael, I already have an idea."
After two consecutive championships, Jordan increasingly trusted the head coach who asked him to give up the ball and play without the ball. Hearing these words, he nodded and asked no more questions.
(End of chapter)
