At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup and at the same time the substitutes came on to warm up.
Pistons: Ronny Seikaly, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan, Isiah Thomas
Bulls: Cart White, Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, B.J. Aaronstrong
ABC's live broadcast began. In the commentary box, Bill Walton immediately analyzed: "Since the beginning of the G5 game, the Pistons have used this main lineup. The assassins returned to the starting lineup. They averaged 28 minutes in G5G6 and averaged 11.5 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 games per game. He made steals, shot 45.2% from the field, and had one win and one loss in two games, which shows that his performance did not drag down the team."
Williams said: "He is different now from before. He is only responsible for dribbling the ball through half the court and then waiting for an opening. He rarely attacks with the ball, and he is not required to organize the offense. Unless the iron fist plays without the ball, he has a chance to compete with Joe. Dumars split the ball."
Bill Walton said: "The Bulls withdrew Scott's starting position, and it seems that Phil Jackson still trusts veteran Carter White more.
In fact, Scott Williams performed pretty well and had better defensive rebounds. He is only 25 years old, and Cartwright is already 36 years old. "
Williams smiled and said: "Cartwhite is an All-Star center who was the No. 3 pick in the first round and has rich experience, while Scott is just a fringe player who was not drafted. It is understandable that he believes in Cartwhite more."
Bill Walton added: "Ulrich was seriously injured in the afternoon and was reimbursed. Although he has been removed from the main position, he is still a very good scorer in the substitute lineup. The Pistons' loss is still huge.
There are good and bad things on the Bulls side. Cartwright is back and starting this game, but John Paxson's condition is not very good. According to media sources, he went to the hospital yesterday. Although he is still on the twelve-man roster, it is not sure that he can can not fight. "
Williams pointed at the screen and said: "Paxson is warming up and should still be able to play. The Pistons are playing the Assassins again. BJ should be no problem on the Bulls' side. He won't suffer from height. With the Assassins' current physical condition, BJ There are definitely advantages in terms of confrontation.”
"One is short of a small forward, and the other is short of a point guard. Let's see how they compete. The media is saying that this tiebreaker is likely to be a one-sided game, but I don't think it will be."
Bill Walton said this, but his tone was not firm, which shows that he doesn't have much confidence in the Pistons.
"oops!"
At this moment, John Paxson, who was warming up on the court, made a jump shot from the top of the arc, but the landing was tilted and he fell to the floor.
Once you fall down, you can't get up.
"Oops!"
Phil Jackson's heart froze.
Countless Bulls fans looked at John Paxson on the court with some regrets in their hearts. The game was about to begin, how could he be injured?
"Oh, is John Paxson hurt?" Bill Walton shouted.
"It should be so. The team doctor went up to check." Williams said.
In the home team's locker room, Jordan looked at the TV on the wall and couldn't help cursing: "What did you do, so careless?"
"Fortunately, BJ is not injured." Pippen said.
Jordan glared at Pippen and said angrily: "Paxson is also very important. Without him as a substitute, will BJ play the whole game? If they replace him with a small forward, will they let BJ and Joe Dumars face off?"
Pippen and others looked at each other, and Phil Jackson tried his best to comfort him: "Calm down, injuries are inevitable. It's just that we are unlucky. It's really annoying when something like this happens before the game, but they also hurt Ur." Richie, one important scoring point is missing from the bench, so we are even."
During the visiting team's dressing game, seeing John Paxson injured, Zhou Quan, Assassin and others smiled broadly.
The injury before the game was more sudden than Ulrich's, and the twelve-man roster had been decided.
"Win the tiebreaker and let's advance to the Eastern Conference finals." Zhou Quan stood up, raised his right hand, and shouted to the other four people with high spirits.
"Win the tiebreaker and we'll advance to the Eastern Conference finals." The assassin and the other four put their hands on each other and shouted in unison.
At this time, Paxson was helped off the field and sat on the bench with a frustrated look on his face. He would definitely not be able to play this game.
Zhou Quan and his entourage came to the player tunnel, and the Bulls also arrived. Zhou Quan looked at Jordan and said, "Flyers, the Yintang is dark, you don't look good!"
"What do you mean?" Jordan didn't understand "Yintang".
Zhou Quan laughed and didn't bother to pay attention anymore.
Jordan snorted coldly and said nothing.
At this time, the ABC reporter signaled the cameraman to focus the live camera on Jordan, and then asked loudly: "Michael, do you want to say something?"
"We will dominate the Pistons tonight." Jordan said coldly.
"Oh ho!"
ABC's live broadcast footage appeared on the hanging screen. Upon hearing these words, the nearly 20,000 Bulls fans in the audience cheered excitedly.
"Oh, haha, Michael is going to dominate the Pistons, and I think he can do it."
Far away in Phoenix, Barkley, who had already reached the Western Conference Finals, was preparing to watch the game at home and burst out laughing when he heard these words.
"Charles, if the Suns can reach the Finals, would you rather play against Michael Jordan in the Finals?"
his wife Maureen asked with an odd look on her face.
"..."
Buckley's laughter suddenly disappeared and his mouth dropped open.
"Ha ha!"
In the players tunnel, the ABC reporter shouted to Zhou Quan in excitement: "Iron Fist, what about you?"
Zhou Quan smiled and looked out at the stadium. The densely packed audience made his blood boil. He said without looking back: "Tonight, we will be the gods of the United Center."
"asshole!"
Jordan's eyes flashed with anger.
"Shut up!"
"Damn bad boy!"
"Get out of the United Center!"
Zhou Quan's words immediately angered countless Bulls fans, who began to curse.
At this time, the host began to call out the guests: "First, Isiah Thomas, the Smiling Assassin, he is from Chicago."
"Shh!"
The boos tonight were particularly violent, like waves crashing on the shore, and the invisible pressure was like a tangible thing, trying to crush the Pistons' psychology.
"traitor!"
"He doesn't deserve Chicago."
"Shame on Chicagoans!"
Countless Chicagoans cursed.
The assassin was the first to appear, with his smile still on his face, and fearless in the face of abuse and boos.
"You wimp, you're going to die at the United Center!"
Then there was Seikali, who was a little embarrassed by the boos and curses, and ran very fast with his head down.
"Damn you bug, have you been abandoned by Madonna?"
The third one was Rodman, smiling and walking toward the court as if strolling amid huge boos.
"You are not a good person either, you are a hypocrite."
The fourth one was Joe Dumars. The boos were a little quieter, but the abuses still kept coming.
Buzz buzz...
When Zhou Quan made his final appearance, the already fierce boos suddenly intensified, and the decibels reached a higher level. The ceiling of the entire United Center seemed to be lifted off.
He smiled, waved politely to the home fans who were booing him, and strolled toward the court.
His behavior made many nearby Bulls fans a little stunned. Fool, we are booing you, not welcoming you.
"Haha, Iron Fist seems to be using the United Center as their home court." Bill Walton laughed.
"Did he make a mistake? Look, those Bulls fans are also a little confused." Williams also laughed.
"He and Rodman are both masters of mentality." Bill Walton said with great joy.
At this time, today happens to be the weekend, and countless fans in the country turned on the TV.
At 7:58, the game is about to begin.
"Victory! Victory! Victory..." Under the leadership of Jordan, all the Bulls players gathered together and roared.
"Victory! Victory! Victory..."
The entire United Center was filled with uniform shouts that shook the heavens and the earth.
Bill Walton said excitedly: "The shouts of 20,000 Bulls fans condensed their will into one, and that is victory.
Tonight's United Center, tonight's Chicago, has only one purpose: to win this game, win in the tiebreaker, and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. "
"We are tenacious, tough, iron-blooded, and we are fearless! We..."
The Pistons' voices were suppressed to the point where not a single splash was heard. All the players and the two thousand Pistons fans roared as hard as they could, but were still completely suppressed.
"Come on!"
Zhou Quan felt the adrenaline in his body gushing out like a faucet, and his hair was in a state of extreme excitement. He roared and took the lead on the court.
"here we go."
"yes!"
In the CCTV live broadcast, Zhang Lili and Sun Zhenping's voices were trembling. This was caused by nervousness, and their bodies were all trembling.
"If my brother loses, will he come back?" Zhou Jun said at Zhou Quan's house.
"Snapped!"
Zhou Jianguo slapped his youngest son lightly on the mouth and cursed: "Crow's Mouth, your brother's love for you is in vain."
"whee……"
Seeing his brother's aggrieved look, Zhou Ye laughed so much that his stomach hurt, and he lay in Lin Yufen's arms and twitched.
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
Sekali and Cartwright jumped the ball and the Pistons attacked.
Just when Zhou Quan received the ball, Jordan blocked it.
"Whoosh!"
With a flick of his hand, the ball flew towards the assassin and he ran towards the frontcourt.
"Assassin will start, and Iron Fist will definitely play without the ball and serve as shooting guard." Bill Walton said.
Facing the assassin, BJ immediately began to press and engage in confrontation, intending to use strong confrontation to consume the assassin's body, and it would be best to let him end injured.
"Whoosh!"
But the Assassin also immediately moved the ball to Joe Dumars on the right wing.
Pippen was about to come forward, but Joe Dumars pushed with both hands and the ball flew to the free throw line.
"not good!"
Pippen took a look and was in trouble.
After Zhou Quan passed the ball, he immediately bypassed Jordan and moved quickly toward the top of the key. Jordan quickly followed.
But at this time, Seikali used a screen to block Jordan. Zhou Quan took the opportunity to pass Seikali and Carter White and rushed to the top of the key. At this time, Joe Dumars' ball came.
He caught the ball and rushed to the free throw line in one step without dribbling. He took off after another step, held the ball high with one hand, and slashed hard.
Grant had just reached the basket. Faced with such a fierce flying dunk, he had no intention of blocking it and stepped aside.
"boom!"
The moment he stretched his bow and raised his arms, and the battle ax struck down, a violent explosion of the basket sounded.
"oh!"
Two thousand Pistons fans cheered instantly.
"Shh!"
Nearly 20,000 Bulls fans immediately booed and shouted.
"Pa bang bang..."
Some neutral players and celebrities at the scene also applauded and cheered for this dunk.
Zhang Lili said excitedly: "Zhou Quan kicked off with a flying dunk. He was very excited! This is a good sign."
Sun Zhenping said: "Coach Zhang, do you think Zhou Quan will play without the ball tonight, or with the ball?"
Zhang Lili thought: "Among the five Pistons, Zhou Quan, Isiah Thomas, and Joe Dumars are three guards, or even three point guards. Joe Dumars is a combo guard.
Although there is a height disadvantage, all three of these three people can break out, shoot, and pass, and all have very strong offensive abilities with the ball. Perhaps the Assassins are not so good now. This starting lineup has the organization ability, assist ability, and passing ability. His ability and ability to move the ball are really super strong.
I think he may be able to freely switch between the two styles of play. Zhou Quan is not necessarily fixed in the ball-holding and core style of play. He can switch to without the ball at any time. "
Sun Zhenping said: "That's right."
Bulls offense.
BJ holds the ball, and the assassin retreats and defends.
There are not many requirements for him today. He does not allow BJ to rush up in the backcourt. After entering the frontcourt, he mainly defends Pippen's side, and the downward passing angle allows BJ to pass the ball to Jordan.
At the same time, Joe Dumars is required to defend on the line, which means directly cutting off the connection between Pippen and the ball carrier, that is, standing in the middle of the connection between Pippen and BJ.
The purpose of Chuck Daly's choice was to abolish the Bulls' organizational function and let Jordan attack with the ball alone.
Before Phil Jackson became the head coach of the Bulls, Jordan just held the ball and attacked. No matter how strong his personal ability was, it was useless. Today, Chuck Daly hopes to make Jordan the Jordan he was before.
To put it simply, it is also an extreme use of the Jordan Law that he developed. He locks other players and lets Jordan fight alone.
In the bad boy era, he used another extreme method most, locking Jordan with all his strength and letting others. His idea was that he would rather be beaten to death by others than by Jordan. And now that the bad boy era is over, he's more willing to use it in this extreme way.
Therefore, Zhou Quan's defensive task is the heaviest today. There is a high probability that he will be beaten by Jordan, and the scene may be ugly.
On the left wing, Pippen kept running, but Joe Dumars was faster and blocked his receiving angle in time, leaving him without a good chance to catch the ball.
The Assassin's position was on the left, blocking BJ's angle of passing the ball to the left. BJ saw that Joe Dumars had also blocked Pippen's angle of receiving the ball, so he looked to the right.
On the right wing, Jordan is determined to get the ball, and his mobility is slightly inferior to Zhou Quan. In addition, Zhou Quan's single defense is also top-notch, and the advantage of running to catch the ball is not great.
Zhou Quan did not defend online, but defended online.
He did not use line defense to cut off Jordan's receiving angle because Jordan could take the opportunity to cut inside and go around in front of him.
In view of the fact that the team's defensive strategy today is to let Jordan play, he certainly knows how likely BJ is to pass the ball to Jordan, so he is very focused and ready to go, just like a leopard ready to pounce.
Just when BJ looked at Jordan, his nerves tensed up instantly. When BJ passed the ball, he suddenly exerted force and pounced on him like a leopard.
"Snapped!"
Taking a step forward, he pressed his left elbow against Jordan, and made a precise backhand with his right hand. After stealing the ball, he continued to press forward with his feet.
"Too careless!"
Jordan chased after him.
"oh!"
The United Center echoed with the annoyance of countless Bulls fans.
"The ball has been stolen! Zhou Quan has stolen the ball!" Sun Zhenping shouted passionately.
Zhou Quan ran wildly with the ball, and when he passed the midline, Jordan was already two steps behind, three meters behind. Although his speed was increasing, Zhou Quan's speed had already completely increased, and he pushed forward crazily without losing any distance. close.
Zhou Quan held the ball and made an diagonal pass from the left wing. When he reached the left midfielder, Jordan was three meters away from him, and BJ, who was returning to defense in the middle, was also two meters away. Just as he reached the free throw line, Pippen, who was returning to defense from the right wing, was farther away. He had no chance. He took off with all his might without hesitation.
Without any tricks, he held the ball high in his right hand, like holding an axe, and pulled his body back greatly, relaxing to the extreme, and his whole body was stretched like a bow.
"boom!"
After gliding two meters in the air, he slashed wildly with his right hand. Amidst the explosive sound of the basket, the entire United Center fell silent for an instant.
"Oh ho!"
The next moment, the Pistons players, two thousand Pistons fans, and countless fans in front of the TV suddenly raised their arms and cheered.
"marvelous!"
"Iron Fist, one more."
Some star players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and O'Neal shouted excitedly.
"ah!"
After succeeding, Zhou Quan, full of adrenaline, punched and roared at the media box.
Zhang Lili shouted excitedly: "Beautiful! So beautiful! Zhou Quan once again performed a tomahawk style dunk. He completed a steal and then a one-stop fast-break dunk, scoring four points for the team."
"Let's fight one." Jordan was roaring.
"Zhou Quan's consecutive dunks and steals have taken a certain hit to the Bulls' morale. At this time, Jordan needs to step up and score to boost morale." Bill Walton said.
(End of chapter)
