Nuggets offense.
Mutombo operates under the basket and in the low post on the left wing, while power forward Rafonso Ellis operates on the other side.
Lauf held the ball, still using Stich's screen, and then pulled to the right wing, changing positions and facing veteran McMillan.
Stich is at the top of the arc, and Zhou Quan defends in the high position.
Lauf made two tentative breakthroughs without success. He was blocked by the experienced McMillan and passed the ball to Stich at the top of the arc.
Reggie Williams was in very good condition today and became the first choice for the Nuggets' offense. Stich did not have the confidence to play in isolation. He immediately passed the ball after receiving the ball, and the target was Reggie Williams.
"Snapped!"
The moment he released the ball, Zhou Quan quickly grabbed the ball, completed the steal, then rushed forward and started to play fast.
"boom!"
Two steps later, with his powerful explosive power, he rushed up completely. No one could catch up with him. He hit the basket with a flying dunk.
"pretty!"
Zhang Lili shouted excitedly and said: "The Nuggets used the pick-and-roll screen to allow Lauf to get rid of Zhou Quan. This allowed the Nuggets to avoid the defense of Zhou Quan, the SuperSonics' strongest defender, and significantly weakened the SuperSonics in disguise. Sonic defensive energy.
But as long as McMillan limits Lauf's offense, Lauf can only move the ball, so that Zhou Quan's defense can be used. "
Sun Zhenping nodded and said: "So one person cannot lead a team if he is strong, and others cannot be too strong."
"Of course."
Zhang Liji nodded and said: "No matter how strong Zhou Quan's defense is, if the ball is not in the hands of his opponent, his defense will not have such a big effect. After all, he does not always have the opportunity to participate in assisting defense."
Looking back, Zhou Quan started to press in the backcourt. Lauf ran around and finally caught the ball, and he caught up with him again.
Stich quickly ran over to pick and roll, but this time Zhou Quan did not change defense, but quickly caught up with Lauf.
Stich quickly ran up to distance himself from McMillan, and at the same time asked Lauf for the ball.
Lauf saw McMillan one step behind Stich and quickly passed the ball.
Because Zhou Quan is between him and Stich, his pass is advanced to avoid being intercepted.
But he underestimated Zhou Quan's stealing ability and Zhou Quan's determination to steal the ball.
Zhou Quan reacted instantly, took a quick step forward, then jumped into the air and made a flying dive to steal the ball.
"Snapped!"
Just in time, he caught the ball with both hands and dropped it to the floor.
"Oh, is this the football goalkeeper's diving action to save the ball?" Sun Zhenping exclaimed.
"Whoosh!"
Zhou Quan turned half sideways on the floor, threw a one-handed left hand, and passed the ball to McMillan before Lauf and Stich could pounce on him.
After receiving the ball, McMillan immediately turned around and went down quickly for a layup and scored a goal.
Zhang Lili said excitedly: "Zhou Quan sent out consecutive steals, and the SuperSonics made consecutive defensive counterattacks. Now it is 14 draws, and the SuperSonics have equalized the score. Look at how important defense is. Two successful defenses have evened the point difference. "
This is also the first draw tonight and the last.
Since then, Zhou Quan has played a crazy defensive performance, delivering 9 steals and 2 blocks in a single game. McMillan delivered two steals in 24 minutes, and Gill also delivered a steal. The back line combined for 12 steals. With strong defense, Destroyed the Nuggets' perimeter offense.
On his own offensive end, Zhou Quan was no longer polite, using pick-and-roll changes and constantly beating Lauf in isolation. In 48 minutes, he made 18 of 27 shots, with a shooting rate of 66.7%, and 3 of 6 three-pointers. He made 10 of 10 free throws and scored 49 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 9 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls. This powerful performance directly caused Lauf to collapse.
101:91. In the end, the Sonics won the away game by 10 points and completed the sweep of the Nuggets.
After the game, Zhang Lili said excitedly: "Congratulations to Zhou Quan and the SuperSonics for sweeping the promotion."
Sun Zhen said happily: "Tonight Zhou Quan broke his own playoff single-game scoring record, which turned out to be 47 points.
Also, Zhou Quan scored 22 points in a single quarter in the third quarter, which also broke his own record of 19 points in a single quarter in the playoffs. "
Zhang Lili said very regretfully: "There is only one point difference. There is a gap between 49 points and 50 points. If you cross this gap, it means 50+ in a single game, which has a completely different meaning!"
"Yes, what a pity!" Sun Zhenping also said regretfully.
Zhou Quan came to Mutombo and expressed his respect for the rookie of the same year, "Dikembe, you blocked 7 times in a single game and blocked me twice. You are strong enough!"
"Iron Fist, I still can't beat you." Mutombo said helplessly.
The two shook hands, and Zhou Quan smiled and said: "I feel good today, and I performed well under your pressure."
Mutombo's performance today was really strong, with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. Under such strong suppression, he was able to rush in and play, causing Mutombo to foul three times. Others did not dare to follow behind. It was flushed.
If he hadn't been in hot form on the defensive end and had a very explosive touch, he really wouldn't have been able to win this game.
His offensive and defensive performance was so strong, but he only won by ten points in the end, which shows how strong the Nuggets were tonight.
After sweeping the Nuggets, he also received some prejudgment rewards. He is now at level 91, and nothing else has changed.
Back in the locker room, the atmosphere was quite lively. Rodman was doing mischief, imitating Madonna and singing her dance song "Fashion" while twisting to the rhythm, making the others laugh.
Zhou Quan no longer stopped his teammates from celebrating, but also joined in to give Rodman a clap.
"Nate, you did a good job today."
He said to McMillan in the shower.
McMillan said excitedly: "Iron Fist, I'm not old yet, I can help you. I'm looking forward to the harvest this year, really."
"That would be best, I'm also looking forward to your performance." Zhou Quan smiled.
Kendall Gill was a little frustrated. His performance tonight was average and he made a lot of mistakes. He only played 18 minutes and had three turnovers.
After coming out of the bathroom, Zhou Quan noticed Jill's expression and said to him: "Kendall, it doesn't matter how well you perform in one game. There are times when I don't perform well, haven't you noticed?"
"Thank you, boss, my condition will return." Gil said gratefully.
In the other three games, the Jazz defeated the Spurs at home and gained match point in the first round.
The Hawks lost on the road, trailing 1-2, and the Nets got the match point.
The Knicks lost on the road, leading 2-1 and holding a match point.
On the 3rd, the SuperSonics returned to Seattle.
That night, the Bulls lost on the road and were pulled back by the Pistons.
The Magic, fourth in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, lost on the road, and the Pacers, fifth in the Eastern Conference, defeated them and completed a first-round sweep.
In the West, the Suns completed a sweep of the Warriors on the road. The score was 140:133. There was no overtime and they played a super explosive offense.
Mosaic, who was also playing away from home, was pulled back by the Trail Blazers. They still led 2-1 and had a match point in their hands.
No fight on the 4th, the first round continues on the 5th.
That night, the Jazz defeated the Spurs at home and advanced with a score of three to one.
There are striking similarities between the East and West. The Spurs, who were fourth in the regular season, were eliminated by the fifth-ranked Jazz.
In addition, the Hawks defeated the Nets away from home and tied with 2-2.
At the same time, the Bulls defeated the Pistons in an away game and advanced to the first round 3-1.
On the night of the 6th, the first round continued.
The Knicks defeated the Cavaliers in an away game, eliminating their opponents 3-1 and advancing to the first round.
At the same time, Mosaic defeated the Trail Blazers and also eliminated their opponents three to one, completing the first round promotion.
On the night of the 7th, the Hawks returned home and defeated the Nets, struggling to advance to the first round.
In this way, all the first round matches in the East and West are completed.
At this time, the Sonics, who were the first to complete the first round, had rested for 5 days.
The second round starts on the 8th, with a best-of-seven game format and a 22111 home and away system.
In the East, the Bulls face the Pacers and the Hawks face the Knicks.
Western Conference, Mosaic vs. Suns, SuperSonics vs. Jazz.
The front team has the home court advantage. The first group in the East and West starts on the 8th, and the latter group starts on the 10th.
The Hawks had just finished the first round and could only play at No. 10. Stern also made special adjustments to stagger the games between the Bulls and SuperSonics.
But some people were angry. Dream Olajuwon said angrily in an interview with the media: "There is a problem with the league's schedule. Last year's Charles Finals was like this. It was biased in favor of the Pistons, and it is the same this time. "
"Hakim, what exactly do you mean?" the reporter asked.
Dameng was very dissatisfied and said: "The SuperSonics ended the first round first, and their second round actually started on the 10th, and they were given two days to rest.
And what about us? We only finished the first round on the 6th, and actually started the second round on the 8th. Have they considered the rationality? We should start playing on the 10th, not the Iron Fist team. "
"Who makes your game ratings lower than ours?"
When Zhou Quan saw the words about Da Meng through the media, he couldn't help but laugh.
After the first round ended, major media updated the winning probability data.
TNT TV data is that in the East, the Bulls 24%, the Knicks 16%, the Hawks 10%, the Pacers 1%, and the four teams combined 51%; in the West, the SuperSonics 15%, Mosaic 15%, and the Suns 15% , Jazz 4%, adding up to 49%.
ESPN's data is that in the East, the Bulls 36%, the Knicks 12%, the Hawks 6%, the Pacers 1%, and the four teams combined 55%; in the West, the SuperSonics 17%, the Mosaics 13%, and the Suns 10%. Jazz 5%, adding up to 45%.
Zhou Quan saw ESPN's data and was a little confused. Does ESPN expect his team to reach the finals? But it is also obvious that this TV station is not optimistic about him winning the championship, with only a 17% chance of winning.
However, the 17% chance of winning is already the second highest among the eight teams. This means that ESPN's favorite finals opponents are the Bulls and SuperSonics.
And ESPN is still optimistic about Jordan as always, with a 36% chance of winning the championship. The other three teams in the Eastern Conference only have a combined 19% chance. The second-place SuperSonics and third-place Knicks only have a combined 29% chance.
…
The next day, on the 8th, at 8:30, Zhou Quan came to the headquarters.
The Supersonics have been recovering from training for three days, and they started increasing the volume yesterday so that their bodies can get excited and enter the state as soon as possible to avoid losing their state due to too long a rest period.
"Iron Fist, the MVP will be announced at nine o'clock, are you nervous?" Rodman shouted as soon as he saw him.
Zhou Quan touched his heart and said with a smile, "I'm really nervous."
"Boss, you have the best statistics and the best record, so it must be yours."
"Yes, I think so too."
Teammates shouted.
Zhou Quan smiled and nodded. He hoped that was the case, but this was the United States, and American reporters and basketball commentators voted. He had a natural disadvantage.
It was nearly nine o'clock in Olajuwon's home in Houston. He couldn't sit still at all. He stood in front of the TV and felt his heart pounding.
He wants this year's MVP so much. It feels like this is the closest year to the MVP.
But the competitors were too strong. Whether it was Jordan or Iron Fist, their personal data were not inferior to him, but in terms of record, he was even worse, which made him feel uneasy.
In Chicago, Jordan was sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in his hand, looking very relaxed.
He already has three MVPs. This kind of hard honor, which is rare for other superstars, is not very important to him.
But he also wants this MVP very much. Why? The first is competitiveness, and the second is that if he takes it, Zhou Quan will have no chance to take it.
So although he looks relaxed now, his eyes are very solemn.
At nine o'clock, ABC TV station began to announce the MVP winner of the NBA league this season.
The camera is focused on David Stern, and the scene is the office of the president of the league headquarters.
David Stern did not sit down, but stood in front of the desk, holding a white envelope, opened it with a smile, and then said: "NBA league's 93/94 regular season MVP, from UCLA University and SuperSonics main point guard Zhou Quan.”
"ah!"
At the Sonics headquarters, when Zhou Quan heard the word UCLA, he shouted excitedly and raised his fists vigorously.
"Shet!"
When he heard UCLA, Olajuwon swore directly, rushed forward and kicked the TV over.
"A championship, only a championship can make up for my losses." He said sternly, his face a little ferocious due to excitement.
When Jordan heard about UCLA, the coffee cup in his hand shook and almost spilled.
He knew that he had a strong enemy. Iron Fist's status in the league was about to rise again. The guy who was 9 years younger than him was stalking to catch up with him, which gave him a very anxious sense of urgency.
This sense of urgency made him feel that he must win this year's championship. Two championships are too few and it is not safe. Sooner or later, he will be caught up by that kid. The only way is to win more championships so that that kid can never win again. Only by having the opportunity to win the championship can that kid not have the chance to catch up with him.
Zhou Quan received a lot of calls, from his agent, from his father at home, from domestic Liu Yumin, from Zhang Lili and others, from many sponsors, from friends, from Assassin and Joe Dumars, and from Big Mouth. Roberts and Christina Yeri both also called in with congratulations.
"The youngest MVP winner in NBA history is born!"
Since the announcement of the roster, TV stations of all sizes across the United States have reported on it. This news even overshadowed the second-round series that was about to start in the evening, and the attention was very high.
As the NBA begins to go global, coupled with the influence of the Dream Team in the Olympics, and even Zhou Quan himself has some cross-border influence, this news has spread to the world, and the attention has become even higher.
(End of chapter)
