This is when the final quarter begins.
boom……
boom……
boom……
In the first four minutes, both sides raised their defensive intensity to the strongest level, and then both teams began their blacksmithing performances.
In four minutes, the Suns made 1 of 5 shots and the Pistons made 1 of 4 shots. Then the Pistons had the ball and called the first timeout of this quarter.
"Iron Fist missed two shots in the last quarter, and his touch has dropped again. It's not going well tonight! Although the Suns' defense worked hard, the effect was not that good. They just couldn't make the shot." Bill Walton shook his head.
"How could the finals go so smoothly? Barkley and the Lightning are working hard, especially Barkley. His defense was average, but now he is defending to the three-point line. It wasn't him who rushed out to cover the defense just now. Iron Fist was far away. You can’t miss a two-pointer,” Williams laughed.
"Defense!"
When the Pistons bench came forward, Chuck Daly stared at Zhou Quan and said: "Zhou, if you don't feel good, just focus on the defensive end. We can't score points and we won't let them score.
Remember, we have an advantage in physical fitness, but their condition will definitely decline. In the end, the winner will be us. "
Zhou Quan nodded repeatedly. There was no other way. The scene was ugly, but there was a chance to win.
Chuck Daly said: "Zhou, Joe, and Dennis, the three of you must use all your defensive attitudes and keep an eye on Kevin Johnson, Dan Malley and Barkley. Whether you can win this game depends on the next eight minutes. Your defense showed up."
The three of them nodded heavily. Taking the match point meant that they could basically win the championship, because in the history of the league, a three-to-one lead in the finals series had never been overturned.
At the end of the timeout, the Suns found that the Pistons' defensive intensity had once again increased to a higher level.
Facing Zhou Quan's pressing defense, Kevin Johnson felt suffocated.
And the same goes for Barkley and Dan Marley.
Slowly, as time passed, and under the strong defensive intensity, their physical disadvantages began to show up.
In the 10th minute of the final quarter, 91:97, the Pistons led by 6 points, and the Suns called their third timeout.
Zhang Lili sighed: "At 13:17, most of the points were scored from free throws. This defensive intensity should be killing the Suns."
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "After the timeout, the Pistons scored 15 points in 6 minutes, which is normal. The Suns only scored 9 points, which was lower. Their touch also dropped. Barkley missed consecutive shots. Now the Pistons The opportunity has come.”
Zhang Lijia smiled and said: "Zhou Quan strengthened his breakthroughs with the ball on the offensive end. The Lightning's physical fitness has been unable to keep up. In 6 minutes, he made 2 of 3 shots and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 8 points and stole the Lightning once. His performance after the timeout was still very strong.”
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "Now it is 43 points. It is the second 40+ points scored in a single game in the playoffs and finals, breaking the record of 42 points."
At this time, the Suns bench was very nervous.
Barkley did not expect to play so well in the first half, but the situation suddenly changed in the second half. Now he is 6 points behind, which made his mentality fluctuate.
He kept panting, and it felt like a fireball was stuck in his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. He thought that if he lost this game and lost the match point, his championship dream would be shattered again.
Thinking of this, he became even more nervous, sweat dripped from his head, and his breathing became heavier.
"Give Charles the ball and let him figure it out."
Westphal had no other choice. At the critical moment, like all NBA head coaches, he chose to believe in his team's signature star.
The timeout ends and the Suns attack.
"boom!"
Barkley lived up to expectations, pulled outside to catch the ball, hit a three-pointer over Rodman's head under pressure, and the basketball hit the basket.
"Ahhhh..."
After he succeeded, he shouted wildly with excitement.
At this time, Zhou Quan's fast break had already begun.
Lightning's physical strength was insufficient and he couldn't keep up. He ran as hard as he could without giving up, but he couldn't catch up.
"brush!"
Seikali made a long pass, Zhou Quan received the ball and hit a layup.
"Charles, defend, don't forget to defend!" Westphal sprayed at Barkley.
Buckley wanted to slap himself, but it was too late.
94:99, Suns attack.
Barkley repeated his old trick and moved from the low post to the left wing three-point line. Ceballos, the small forward on the three-point line, went in to do a pick-and-roll and blocked Rodman, allowing Charles Barkley to get a misplaced shot at Joe. Dumas' chance.
But this time, Zhou Quan did not let the lightning ball pass.
Because Barkley had a misplaced opportunity, the Lightning did not make a fake move and passed the ball directly, hoping to seize the opportunity.
"Snapped!"
But Zhou Quan stepped forward quickly, and his right hand instantly cut into the passing route and completed the steal.
"Oh ho!"
When the steal happened, all the Pistons fans in the audience raised their arms and cheered.
Zhou Quan took advantage of the situation and played a fast break. When Lightning chased him, it was already too late. He also had no physical fitness and couldn't catch up with all his strength. He could only watch Zhou Quan get to the basket.
"brush!"
Zhou Quan hit a layup, widening the point difference to 7 points.
"94:101, 7 points, no time, only 75 seconds left, we are in sight of victory, and the championship is in sight!" Bearded John Lowes roared excitedly.
"Champion! Championship..." A huge shout rang out from the Palace of Auburn Hills.
"boom!"
In the low post on the left wing, Barkley once again took a shot under pressure. Due to lack of physical fitness, his technical movements were deformed under Rodman's top defense, and he failed to hit the ball.
Sekali protected the rebound and was fouled by Tom Chambers.
"penalty!"
Zhang Lianda said: "The Suns want to use foul tactics to get the ball back and chase points. I think it will be difficult unless they foul Rodman."
Then Seikali missed the first free throw, and then the Suns called the third timeout of this quarter to give Barkley and the others some rest time and arrange offensive tactics.
After returning from the timeout, Seikali missed two free throws, Tom Chambers grabbed the backcourt rebound, and the Suns attacked.
"Ouch, missed two free throws at the critical moment?" Zhang Lili said worriedly.
"Whoosh!"
Tom Chambers passed the ball, long ball, to the lightning fast down the half-way line.
Lightning caught the ball and continued to move quickly. Zhou Quan followed behind and did not pass. In fact, now that his physical fitness is better, he has every chance to pass.
Lightning rushed across the free throw line, feeling the pressure behind him was very strong, and the sound of Iron Fist's breathing seemed to be behind his ears. This ball was too critical, and he did not dare to take a shot. After reaching the basket, he turned around and pulled to the left wing.
Dan Marley rushed to the left wing three-point line and the Assassins were one step behind when a lightning pass passed.
Dan Marley caught the ball and shot a three-pointer. The assassin flew from behind to block the shot. The moment he took off, he used too much force and felt pain in his left knee.
"I touched the ball!"
Before he even hit the ground, he shouted loudly: "Backboard!"
Zhou Quan immediately turned around, and the ball flew over his head, hit the basket with a bang, and rebounded.
The next moment, Zhou Quan and the Lightning, as well as Barkley and Rodman, rushed in. The four of them jumped up almost at the same time to compete for rebounds.
"Snapped!"
He was in a better position and caught the ball just in time.
Lightning wanted to commit a foul, but hesitated because he knew that Zhou Quan's free throw shooting percentage was over 90%, and a foul would mean giving away points.
After this hesitation, Zhou Quan dribbled the ball, turned around and ran away, rushing towards the frontcourt with all his strength.
The assassin climbed up from the ground, not daring to use his left leg, but he still clenched his teeth and limped along.
Zhou Quan reached the basket with the ball, but pulled it to the right. The ball flew towards the assassin who had just reached the three-point line on the right wing.
At this time, the assassin was injured, and no one from the Suns was guarding him. Dan Marley rushed to Zhou Quan's side. He received the ball, exhaled, raised one foot slightly, and shot a three-pointer.
"brush!"
The orange-red basketball flew toward the basket, drew a wonderful arc in the air, and then plunged into the basket, splashing a pool of white water.
"Oh ho!"
Twenty thousand Pistons fans stood up at this moment and started shouting crazily.
The bearded John Rowes shouted excitedly: "Assassin! This is the greatest smiling assassin. He can kill our opponents with just one leg..."
At this moment, countless Detroiters remembered the feat of smiling assassin Isiah Thomas dragging an injured leg and scoring 25 points in a single quarter over Magic's head in the G6 game of the 1988 Finals.
At this moment, their eyes filled with tears.
Bill Walton said excitedly: "The score is now 94:104. The Pistons have led by 10 points. The Suns have no chance."
At this point Chuck Daly called a timeout.
"Pa bang bang..."
Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars helped the assassin off the field. The Pistons fans all stood up and gave Isiah Thomas a very warm applause.
"Perhaps, with this injury, the Assassin may really consider retiring." Bill Walton said.
"Winning this crown is the third crown. He can retire." Williams said with envy.
Bill Walton laughed: "For him, the most important thing is to defeat the Bulls and step on Michael Jordan again. This is his best chance to retire."
"Haha..." Williams laughed.
The timeout ended, and Barkley took another shot, but still missed. Rodman protected the rebound. Time was running out, and the Suns gave up.
"Oh ho!"
The moment the whistle sounded, Zhou Quan, Joe Dumars, Rodman, etc., the assassins on the bench, the Pistons fans in the audience, and the entire Detroit cheered heartily.
Zhang Lili said excitedly: "Congratulations to Zhou Quan, congratulations to the Pistons."
Sun Zhenping said excitedly: "Three to one, there is still a home court. I hope the Pistons can win it smoothly and win the championship at home."
On ABC TV, Bill Walton picked up the statistics table and read: "Iron Fist played 48 minutes and made 17 of 33 shots, with a shooting percentage of 51.5%.
He was not good in the first half, and it was all due to his explosion in the third quarter. The final quarter was not bad, making 4 of 7 shots and 4 of 4 free throws. Otherwise, the Pistons would definitely lose today.
In addition, he made 1 of 4 three-pointers, 12 of 14 free throws, 47 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls. "
"It's still a top offensive and defensive performance," Williams said.
Nodding, Bill Walton added: "Barkley also performed well, but he met an Iron Fist who performed better, which was destined to be a tragedy."
Williams also nodded and said: "Barkley played 44 minutes today. In the first three quarters, he made 14 of 24 shots and a shooting percentage of 58.3%. In the last quarter, he made 4 of 10 shots. In total, he made 18 of 34 shots and a shooting percentage of 53%, which is a little higher than Iron Fist. .
In addition, he shot crazy three-pointers today, making 4 of 10 shots, with a shooting percentage of 40%. In addition, he made 5 of 8 free throws, scoring 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls. "
Bill Walton shook his head and sighed: "Fate is so magical. Barkley's performance in the Finals was not bad. He made 49 of 107 shots in four games, a shooting percentage of 45.8%, and averaged 30 points and 13 rebounds per game. But such a performance, But it couldn't bring the Suns a victory."
Williams said: "Tekken performed better in the four finals, making 53 of 95 shots, 55.8% shooting, averaging 37.2 points, 10 assists and 5.25 steals per game. He deserves to win.
To be honest, I was so surprised by his stealing ability. His movements of poking the ball are fast and accurate. I think he has the fastest neurological response in the league. This ability has raised his defensive ability to a higher level. . "
"Haha, as long as he stands on the opposite side, the ball carrier will be panicked. He averages 5 steals per game and even Jordan is afraid." Bill Walton laughed.
"That's it."
Williams nodded and added: "In addition, the Lightning's defense against him was completely unsuccessful, and they actually allowed him to average 37 points per game in the Finals. It is simply incredible."
Bill Walton said with a smile: "Iron Fist has a dislocation advantage when facing Lightning. Strength, confrontation, height, impact, except speed, he can suppress Lightning in almost all aspects. I admire Erwin now, he foresees Iron Fist's future Performance."
At this time, Zhou Quan was being interviewed on the spot after celebrating. He was still very excited, because with a score of three to one, he could almost book the championship, and with his performance, the FMVP was also stable.
"Iron Fist, you didn't perform well in the first half, but you performed completely differently in the second half. How did you adjust?" asked ABC TV.
Zhou Quan laughed and said: "In addition to the coach's tactical adjustments and lineup adjustments, for me personally, it is to calm down and play the game with the most determined and calm mentality. I always believe that my state will come back. It will not It will be gone forever.”
"Now what do you think the Pistons' chances of winning the championship are?" the reporter asked again.
"hundred percent."
Zhou Quan smiled brightly and said: "Nothing can stop us from winning the championship, not even God."
"Do you think Barkley and Lightning have no power anymore?" the reporter asked.
"What I mean is that their strength is no longer enough to prevent us from winning the championship. It is impossible for us to lose three games in a row. The chance of that is zero." Zhou Quan explained.
On the bench a few meters away, the assassin was sitting and being interviewed. Almost all of the people interviewing him were local reporters.
A large ice pack had been tied to his left knee, but he looked very excited and did not take the injury to heart at all.
"Isiah, how is the injury?" a reporter asked.
"Don't worry about it, it's not important." The smiling assassin said excitedly.
"But can you still play in the G5 game?" the reporter asked worriedly.
"There is absolutely no problem. I will fight even if I only have one leg. No one can stop me, not even injuries." The assassin said firmly.
"If you can't play, do you think the Pistons will be overturned by the Suns?" asked the only foreign reporter among the reporters.
This question made all the local reporters glare and embarrassed the reporter.
The assassin immediately said: "It's absolutely impossible. I believe in Iron Fist, I believe in Joe, I believe in Dennis, and Mark and Ronnie. I believe in them, and I will never fall. I will fight until we win the final victory." .”
(End of chapter)
