Outside the home team's locker room, Zhou Quan made a suggestion to Chuck Daly, bringing the Assassins on to the field and reverting to a back three.
Isiah Thomas only played 5 minutes in the first half and the team was always lagging behind. Chuck Daly did not dare to replace Zhou Quan. After hearing this suggestion, he stared at Zhou Quan and asked: "Zhou, the current assassin, can I can’t deal with that Lightning guy.”
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "I know that. On the offensive end, I will guard against Lightning. The Assassin will guard Dan Marley, and Joe will go to the third position. Dan Marley's athletic talent is average. Defending him depends on experience. The Assassin may be able to do it."
"Let me think."
Chuck Daly frowned and considered the suggestion.
Zhou Quan wants the Assassin to play the No. 1 position, so naturally he hopes to play without the ball. If he changes his style of play, there may be a turnaround, or at worst, he can catch the Suns off guard.
"Try it."
Zhou Quan's performance without the ball is indeed good. After Chuck Daly thought about it carefully, he temporarily agreed to this suggestion.
At 9:35 pm, at the beginning of the second half, both sides basically sent in their starting lineups. The Suns replaced substitute power forward Tom Chambers, and the Pistons replaced the Assassins.
Barkley and Kevin Johnson were also startled when they saw the Assassins coming on and the Pistons playing a three-back tactic.
"I'll take care of him."
Lightning said to Barkley with confidence.
Although he also suffered a serious injury, his recovery is much better than that of the assassin. The assassin is no longer at the top level, not even first-rate. Now he is at most a second-rate level, and he can barely maintain his peak condition. No matter how bad he is, he is still first-rate. Point guard level.
"Is Tekken playing without the ball?"
Paul Westphal certainly knows that Zhou Quan can play without the ball, and he plays very well. His off-ball movements in the penalty area give even Jordan a headache.
"Kevin, be careful about his off-ball movement. It's up to you to guard against him. Only your speed can keep up with him. Leave the assassin to Lei Gong." He quickly said to Lightning.
"I?"
Kevin Johnson was stunned and could only nod.
He and Zhou Quan played less games. When they faced off, Zhou Quan always held the ball, so he had no experience with Zhou Quan's off-ball play.
Pistons offense.
Sekali, who had been pulling out to play, did not come out, but was in the penalty area.
As a result, the four major insiders on both sides are crowded in the paint area, which is a bit crowded.
At this time, Zhou Quan entered the penalty area from the left wing, and Lightning followed closely, but two seconds later, he was stuck inside, and Zhou Quan ran out from the right end of the free throw line.
The Assassin passed the ball, and Dan Marley used the big one to defend the small one, but he seemed a little inflexible and failed to prevent the pass.
Zhou Quan caught the ball in the right elbow area and made a jump shot. When he took off, Lightning jumped out, still one step away from him. By the time Lightning took off to block the shot, his ball had already been released.
"brush!"
The water splashed and he hit a two-pointer.
"Moving without the ball in the penalty area is Tekken's signature technique, haha!" Bill Walton laughed.
Lewis Williams laughed: "So we must let the assassin go up. Only his passing and cooperation can seize this open opportunity."
Bill Walton nodded and said: "If the pass is half a beat slower, Lightning will catch up with Iron Fist and the opening will disappear. Therefore, Iron Fist's off-ball play requires the cooperation of a passing master.
Although the assassin's athleticism is no longer good, his experience is still there, his passing ability is still there, and he is more than qualified to pass the ball for Tekken. "
The Suns attack.
Zhou Quan half-bent his body, guarding and retreating from the backcourt to prevent lightning from rushing up.
After Lightning pushed across the center line, he pulled the ball high between his ribs, his shoulders swayed, and he pressed his right hand behind the basketball. In the next moment, he accelerated to break through from the right side.
"Chance!"
Just when Lightning shook his shoulders and lofted the ball, Zhou Quan's nerves tensed up and he reacted instantly to steal the ball.
He is proficient in various breakthrough techniques, and is very familiar with one-handed feint breakthroughs. This lightning breakthrough action can also be used to turn around and pass others.
He quickly stepped forward with his left foot, leaned over and stabbed the ball with his left hand.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Lightning reacted, turned around and changed hands to control the ball.
But almost at the same time, he retracted his left foot and quickly moved his right foot one step back to the right.
Just when Lightning completed his turn, Zhou Quan saw the ball with his full panoramic vision, crossed his right hand across Lightning's body, and instantly hit the ball as it was heading to the floor.
"Snapped!"
The basketball rolled toward the center line.
"Grab... break!"
The roar of the on-site commentator, the bearded John Lowes, immediately sounded like an alarm.
"What?"
Lightning was startled and hurriedly turned around to look for the ball.
At this time, Zhou Quan, who had a better vision, had already rushed through the lightning to catch up with the ball, quickly blasted the ball, pulled the ball up from the floor, and then smashed it past the center line.
"Shet!"
By the time Lightning started to return to defense, it was already two steps behind and could no longer catch up.
"boom!"
Zhou Quan rushed to the free throw line, threw the ball toward the backboard, then jumped up, caught the ball in the air with both hands, and smashed it.
"Oh ho!"
Twenty thousand people raised their arms and shouted, and the roar was overwhelming.
"yeah!"
The bearded John Rowes stood up excitedly, grabbed the microphone on the table and shouted loudly: "Steal + self-throw and self-pin, now it's time for the Iron Fist performance, our counterattack begins!"
"The Suns should be careful, they are only ahead by 6 points. If Iron Fist recovers, this point will be nothing at all." Bill Walton reminded.
"Are the Pistons going to counterattack?" Williams said excitedly.
"We'll give you one more." Lightning roared loudly.
"One more," Buckley shouted.
The Lightning advanced to the frontcourt, and Zhou Quan strengthened his defense to prevent him from having a chance to break in. Since he had just been intercepted, he passed the ball to Barkley.
Barkley caught the ball on the left wing, but this time he did not hit him from behind. Instead, he used Richard's pick-and-roll to get rid of Rodman and hit the penalty area with the ball.
Sekali took a step up and tried to block Barkley, but Barkley was very flexible, changed his direction, and drove into the penalty area along the baseline.
Rodman, who was catching up, followed closely, but he had completely lost his position. Seikali was burst, and the Pistons' basket was empty.
Zhou Quan rushed down from the high post to help defend, and Barkley just appeared from under Seikali. Without seeing him, he hit a dunk towards the basket. He jumped up and slapped him, and his precise striking ability exploded.
"Snapped!"
The ball was fanned into the sky.
"Oh ho!"
The Palace of Auburn Hills once again erupted with huge shouts and cheers.
"Big hat, iron fist big hat flying pig in the air, he does what he says, he said he wanted to block Barkley, haha!" Bearded John Rowes shouted excitedly.
"..."
The must-win dunk was slapped by Zhou Quan, and Barkley was a little confused.
"Snapped!"
The ball did not go out of bounds. Seikali caught the ball and handed it to Zhou Quan, and the Pistons attacked.
"Stay calm, let's fight."
Zhou Quan handed the ball to the assassin who came to respond and shouted loudly at the same time.
"Fight one! Fight one..." The whole audience began to shout, and the loud sound gradually rose.
Zhou Quan still turned around on the left wing first, then turned around and entered the penalty area, but when Lightning followed, he turned around and came out again.
The person following the defense is always passive, and the lightning is a beat slower.
Just when Zhou Quan entered the penalty area, the assassin was ready. When Zhou Quan turned back to the left wing, he immediately turned to the right and made a pass to the right wing, but his ball was quietly behind him. Zhou Quan flew towards the left wing.
"Back pass!"
Zhang Lili shouted loudly.
"Snapped!"
Zhou Quan came out of the paint two steps to catch the ball and face the basket. At this time, Lightning rushed over. He immediately dribbled forward and broke through. Lightning stopped suddenly, but the next moment, he pulled back again.
"Fake surprise and real surrender!"
Lightning was stunned, but he had already stopped there and couldn't go up.
Zhou Quan took off calmly, flicked his wrist, moved his fingers forcefully forward, and the basketball flew towards the basket.
"brush!"
"Oh oh oh……"
When the refreshing sound of washing baskets sounded, the whole place was instantly excited.
"call!"
Zhou Quan also breathed a sigh of relief. His touch finally came back a little, and he could dunk in and hit open shots.
"Tie Fist made 3 of 3 shots in the second half. His touch returned and his condition returned. Oh, the Suns called a timeout." Zhang Lili said excitedly.
"Now it's 7 out of 15, and the hit rate is over 40%." Sun Zhenping said happily.
"51:55, the Suns only lead by 4 points." Bill Walton reminded.
Westphal had no special arrangement. He just wanted to interrupt the Pistons' rhythm and give himself a chance to regain stability.
Regarding Zhou Quan's movement without the ball in the penalty area, he only explained a little, allowing Dan Marley to strengthen the blockade of the assassins and lock the angle of his passing to the wings.
Danmarley had a headache because he had his back to the penalty area and had no idea which way Zhou Quan would run to. How to block it?
However, Westphal still had an idea. He asked Barkley and Tom Chambers to cooperate and try to prevent Zhou Quan from moving at will in the penalty area. At the same time, he tried to prevent Zhou Quan from passing through the right wing. In other words, he tried to force Zhou Quan to Return to the original side so Danmarley can focus on locking in the passing angle on that wing.
In addition, he asked Dan Marly to take bold action, using the big one to fight the small ones, while keeping an eye on the assassins.
At this time the timeout ends and the game restarts.
"brush!"
Dan Marley made a fake shot and hit a three-pointer over the assassin's head.
"Oh, Lei Gong hit the ball so resolutely and accurately!" Bill Walton praised.
"He has to be decisive when it comes to fighting the big against the small," Williams said.
51:58, the Suns lead by 7 points, the Pistons attack.
Westphal's method was still effective. This time after Zhou Quan entered the penalty area, he hit the wall and got stuck in it.
The assassin at the top of the key had no choice but to pass the ball to Joe Dumas on the right wing. Joe Dumas singled out Richard and made a fake shot. He made a sudden jump shot but failed to hit it.
A bunch of people in the penalty area were grabbing rebounds, and the ball was picked up by someone unknown. Then Rodman, who has the strongest second takeoff ability, grabbed this precious offensive rebound.
After Zhou Quan caught the ball, he pulled it to the left wing, and Lightning followed. He turned around, arched his back against Lightning, and then immediately turned around and shot a step-back jumper.
Lightning stepped up to block the shot without touching the ball, only reaching his wrist.
"Get in!"
This was a shot against the defender. Zhou Quan was not sure. He stared at the ball flying towards the basket and forgot to put down his right hand.
"boom!"
The basketball hit the basket, and Zhou Quan's heart jumped, but in the next moment, the basket fell down and fell into the basket.
"Oh ho!"
The whole audience burst into cheers.
After making 4 out of 4 shots, Zhou Quan also pumped his fists in excitement and shouted angrily.
"Give the ball to Zhou Quan. His touch is starting to explode, so it's only reasonable to give it to him." Zhang Lili shouted.
"boom!"
This time Dan Marley still shot a three-pointer, bullying the assassin who was shorter than him, but missed this time.
"It's still mine."
Rodman grabbed the rebound and threw it to Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan launched a fast break and carried the lightning to the basket for a layup, but he hit the basket and jumped out.
But fortunately, he grabbed another rebound. When he saw Dan Marley rushing in, he immediately used a fake layup action, while shaking Dan Marley and Kevin Johnson away, and then got up again for a layup and hit a goal.
"Beautiful! Zhou Quan made 5 of 6 shots in the second half, 55:58, and the Pistons were only 3 points behind." Sun Zhenping said excitedly.
"The feeling of this hand is really hard to say, it just came as expected! At the critical moment, Zhou Quan finally stood up." Zhang Lili said with a smile.
"brush!"
Twelve seconds later, Barkley ran to the left wing three-point line to catch the ball and hit a three-pointer.
Next, the two sides entered into a fierce attack and defense.
After the third quarter, the two teams were tied at 80:80.
"The Pistons scored 35 points in a single quarter and tied the score. They played really well." Bill Walton said.
"35:25, the Suns lost ten points in one quarter, so we have to work harder in the final quarter." Williams smiled.
Bill Walton said: "In the third quarter, Iron Fist took 14 crazy shots. He made 4 of 8 shots in the next period. His hand was not as good as before, but he made 9 of 15 shots, with a shooting rate of 60%. He made 2 of 2 free throws and 1 of 2 three-pointers. With 21 points in a single quarter, it was thanks to his explosion that the Pistons tied the score.
With 21 points in a single quarter of the finals, Iron Fist had almost played the pinnacle game of the Assassins that year. However, the Pistons ultimately lost that game in the finals. The Assassins even failed to win that game with 25 points in a single quarter. I hope this time Won't. "
Williams said: "Tekken played the full three quarters and made 13 of 26 shots. His shooting percentage has increased to 50%. He made 1 of 4 three-pointers and 8 of 10 free throws. He had 35 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 turnovers. Foul data.
Barkley was still in good shape in the third quarter, making 5 of 10 shots, but not as good as the first half. He made a total of 14 of 24 shots and a shooting percentage of 58.3%, which was 6 percentage points lower than the first half.
In addition, he made 3 of 7 three-pointers and 4 of 6 free throws. Now he has the same 35 points as Tekken. He also has 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. "
Bill Walton said: "Barkley performed better than Tekken on the offensive end tonight, but Tekken performed better on the defensive end and assists. In the third quarter, he sent three steals and a block, so the two teams were tied. ”
Williams said: "Dan Malley was a misplaced singles assassin in the third quarter, making 3 of 6 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, and 8 points in a single quarter. He and Barkley almost took all the Suns' shots in this quarter. It's a pity that Iron Fist performed better in this section.
In addition, let's not forget Rodman's rebounds. He has grabbed 17 rebounds, 7 in the third quarter. The Pistons took 3 more shots than the Suns in this quarter. His His role is very crucial and the Pistons cannot do without him. "
(End of chapter)
