"Bang!"
The basketball bounced off the board. Zhou Quan jumped up from two meters in front of the basket, caught the ball and smashed it with a bang, exploding the mosaic basket.
"Oh ho!"
Two thousand visiting fans cheered wildly.
"Oh, beautiful, throw yourself in and buckle, haha..." Xu Jicheng laughed.
"After the game restarted, Zhou Quan made consecutive dunks. The SuperSonics' morale was already at the peak. They showed their home momentum in the away game. The current score is 19:8, and the SuperSonics are already 11 points ahead." Zhang Liangli said excitedly said.
"If this fight continues, Mosaic will lose!" Pippen said in the bar of the Orlando Hotel.
They had stopped playing cards. Seeing Iron Fist bringing Super Sonic Violence Dream and Mosaic, they had no intention of playing.
Jordan said disdainfully: "Deng Meng is so useless. Such a strong lineup was beaten like this."
Pippen asked curiously: "Michael, we tied Mosaic one to one in the regular season. If they reach the finals, are you sure?"
Jordan was startled and immediately said: "Idiot, of course I'm sure, they can't even beat the SuperSonics, let alone us."
Hearing this, Pippen and others breathed a sigh of relief.
"Michael, do you think they can get it back?" Pippen asked.
"Don't you see that Mosaic's morale has begun to collapse?" Jordan said angrily.
The game continued. Dameng shook Rodman in the low post on the left wing, then turned around and hit a mid-range hook from the left waist, hitting a goal.
Looking back, Zhou Quan broke through with the ball, attracted Chilkat's defensive double-team, and passed the ball to Gilliam who got an open shot on the left wing, but Gilliam missed the open ball.
Dameng grabbed the rebound and Mosaic attacked.
"Guys, let's fight one."
After scoring one goal and then defending against the next, the situation stabilized after a pause. Dameng saw hope and shouted loudly and enthusiastically as he ran forward.
"Play it safe."
Tomjanovich also shouted.
Kenny Smith was holding the ball at the top of the arc and saw Dameng go around the basket and block Rodman behind him. He quickly moved a step to the right and then hit the ground and passed the ball.
Zhou Quan took a step to the left and fished for the ball, but he didn't touch the ball and immediately turned around and pounced.
Dameng caught the ball, saw Zhou Quan pounce down, and immediately passed it back to Kenny Smith who was open at the top of the key.
At this time, Kendall Gill on the right wing was rushing to the top of the arc. Kenny Smith caught the ball and made a jump shot. The former took off from the wing to block the shot.
"boom!"
The basketball hit the basket and rose up. Da Meng's figure rose up from the basket. With his absolute height advantage, he actually grabbed the offensive rebound over the heads of Zhou Quan and Rodman.
But just as he landed, Zhou Quan jumped again and slapped him, hitting the basketball he held above his head.
"Snapped!"
With a loud blow, the basketball was pulled out and jumped into the sky.
"mine."
This time Rodman didn't miss the opportunity and jumped to catch the ball.
After Zhou Quan caught the ball, he immediately held the ball and ran down quickly. Da Meng, who was gritting his teeth, struggled to catch up behind him. He didn't even take a step, but just followed one step behind.
"Beautiful! Zhou Quan's hands are fast and accurate, and he hit the target with one hit!" Zhang Lili smiled excitedly.
At this time, Zhou Quan had already reached a position one step to the right at the top of the arc with the ball. He suddenly slowed down and stopped outside the three-point line while bending his knees.
Da Meng, who was one step behind, also instinctively slowed down, but he was too big to slow down like Zhou Quan. He braked with his feet, and his upper body couldn't stop at all. He continued to rush forward and plunged directly onto the floor.
"oh!"
Compaq Center echoed with huge exclamations from the home team's fans.
At this time, Zhou Quan calmly took off from the three-point line and shot a three-pointer.
"brush!"
The water splashed and he hit a three-pointer.
"Damn it! Hiss!"
Dameng was sitting on the floor. When he saw the goal, he punched the floor in anger and gasped in pain.
"Haha, an open three-pointer went in. Dameng can't do this kind of emergency stop. If he can do it like a defender, it would be unreasonable." Zhang Lili laughed.
"21:10, SuperSonics lead by 11 points."
Xu Jicheng reported the score and added: "Now the head coach of the Mosaic team has called a timeout again. Let's see how they adjust."
"Strengthen the outside attack and be decisive in your shots. It doesn't matter if you miss the shot. We must use the outside attack to contain Tie Fist and not let him go to the basket and double-team Hakeem unscrupulously."
In front of Mosaic's bench, Tomjanovich once again emphasized the perimeter offensive tactics he developed before the game.
After the timeout, Mosaic attacked.
Kenny Smith advanced to the top of the arc, and with one step left, he suddenly made a jump shot.
Zhou Quan reacted very quickly. When he saw Kenny Smith combining the ball, he knew that the opponent wanted to take action and immediately took half a step forward.
At this time, Kenny Smith took off to join the ball, and Zhou Quan also jumped up. A pair of big hands blocked the space in front of him, forcing Kenny Smith to raise his shooting angle and force the shot.
"Three no-touches!"
Zhang Lili shouted loudly as soon as he saw the path of the ball.
Sure enough, the basketball fell half a meter away from the basket. Rodman jumped in time to catch the ball. At this time, Zhou Quan was already about to drop, and he immediately threw it out.
"boom!"
Zhou Quan received the ball and quickly advanced against Kenny Smith who was back on defense. He rushed into the paint area and burst into the air, ending the fast break with a dunk.
"23:10, the score difference is 13 points."
Bill Walton shook his head and said: "Mosaic's offense has a big problem. I think the outside line should cooperate with the inside line to restrain each other."
Williams said: "Kenny Smith's three-pointer was a bit impatient. Although his three-pointer was good, what was in front of him was an iron fist."
Bill Walton analyzed: "The purpose of Mosaic should be to strengthen the outside attack and prevent the Iron Fist from helping to defend the Dream.
In the few attacks just now, Iron Fist went out to double-team Dameng, destroying Dameng's offense at the basket. This idea is still right, but if the outside shooting feeling is not good, it will be really troublesome, and the score will increase to 20 points. , the game is lost. "
Williams nodded and said: "If the SuperSonics win, they will get a spot in the Western Conference Finals. With Iron Fist's usual stable performance, Mosaic will have almost no chance of a 1-3 comeback."
Mosaic continued to implement Tomjanovich's tactics, but the effect was not good. The morale was originally hit by Zhou Quan's smashing of the rebound. Later, they continued to fail in attacks, morale was low, and they missed two consecutive goals.
The SuperSonics seized this opportunity and counterattacked one after another, scoring 4 points in a row, widening the point difference to 17 points, forcing Mosaic to call the third timeout of the first quarter.
Tomjanovich had to change his outside offensive tactics and let Dameng take over the offense.
Mosaic's outside shots couldn't go in, so the inside took over the offense, which immediately produced a result. George Karl decisively ordered to strengthen the double-teaming of the low post and the basket.
Dameng was in the low post on the left wing. Rodman came around and Robert Horry used his backhand. Zhou Quan in the high post immediately pounced without any hesitation.
Dameng caught the ball with his backhand, and Rodman had already moved inside, blocking the slip route. Zhou Quan took over Rodman's position and covered him from above.
He chose to distribute the ball and pass it to Kenny Smith at the top of the arc, but at the moment of passing the ball, it suddenly stopped.
"Fake action?"
By this time Zhou Quan had jumped up, knowing that he had been fooled.
However, he has delayed time for his teammates on the outside, hoping that they can complete the defense in time.
The next moment, Dameng passed the ball again and the ball flew to the top of the arc.
"Snapped!"
At the critical moment, Kendall Gill, who quickly covered the top of the arc from the right wing, made the right prediction. This is what he is best at, and when he swept past Kenny Smith, he took away the basketball.
"Beautiful! Kendall Gill has made another great contribution." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.
"Without Zhou Quan's interception action, Dameng would have passed the ball first, and Kendall Gill would not have had the chance to steal the ball and be unable to catch up." Xu Jicheng said.
"Well, only by working together can we achieve the strongest defense." Zhang Li said with a smile.
When Kendall Gill reached the three-point line on the right wing, Kenny Smith caught up with him and stopped at the three-point line. At this time, Zhou Quan rushed in from the top of the arc, and the glider had returned to the basket from the left wing.
"ball!"
Kendall Gill shouted and threw the ball in front of Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan rushed through the top of the arc, caught the ball at the free throw line, strode into the paint, and began to hit the glider under the basket head-on, flying towards the opponent.
"boom!"
The next moment, the basket shook violently, and the 201 cm, 95 kg glider was knocked over directly under the basket.
"oh!"
Two thousand fans of the away team, the SuperSonics bench, and the players on the court cheered instantly.
"victory!"
Zhou Quan raised his fist at his teammates, and his shouts seemed to be full of murderous intent.
"victory!"
The SuperSonics players roared in unison, their morale was through the roof, and their fierce momentum soared into the sky.
The mosaic players next to them, except Dameng who glared at Zhou Quan and others, all had gloomy faces and no morale.
"Clyde, please, please don't get hurt!"
At this time, Dameng found that his old friend Drexler did not get up, but was lying on his back on the floor, with his left hand on his waist, a look of pain on his face, and he hurriedly ran over.
"Trouble, Hakeem, trouble now! Trouble! My waist hurts badly..." Drexler kept saying frustratedly.
"29:10, Mosaic has not scored for several minutes, and their offense has completely failed." Williams said excitedly in the ABC commentary box.
Bill Walton praised: "SuperSonics once again played top defense, and their defensive system of quick double attack and quick rotation to cover defense is really good.
It is precisely with such top-notch defense that they have locked down Mosaic's offense and led their opponents by a large score. "
"This game is difficult for Mosaic! Morale has collapsed." Williams shook his head.
At this time, Bill Walton saw that Drexler hadn't gotten up yet, and said with confusion and surprise: "God, the glider won't be injured, right?"
"It's possible that the impact of Iron Fist was too great, and Glider was already injured and old," Williams said.
The Glider was then replaced. Mosaic's original main shooting guard, Mad Maxwell, had been retired. Now there was no one to replace, so he had to use the backup point guard Sam Cassel to play a dual point guard tactic.
More than an hour later, the game ended at 125:81. Facing the super strong team Mosaic, the SuperSonics once again scored a crazy victory, winning by 44 points and winning the Western Conference Finals with a big score of three to one.
Zhou Quan played 40 minutes and made 14 of 19 shots, with a shooting percentage of 73.7%. Among the 14 goals, he had 8 dunks, 3 of 6 three-pointers, and only missed two of 13 two-pointers. He made 6 of 6 free throws and scored 37 points, 6 rebounds, 15 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
Schrempf made 10 of 15 shots, with a shooting percentage of 66.7%, 3 of 5 three-pointers, 3 of 4 free throws, and scored 26 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.
Kendall Gill made 7 of 15 shots, shooting 46.7% from the field, and scored 16 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.
Gilliam scored 14 points, shooting 51% from the field, Rodman scored 8 points, and the five main players scored 101 points together.
Without the glider, Dameng took crazy shots, scoring 35 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls. However, under the crazy attack of the SuperSonics, the shooting rate was only 33.3%.
Glider Drexler was injured and came off the field, scoring only 3 points.
Kenny Smith was locked up by Zhou Quan and made only 2 of 11 shots. He scored 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls.
Robert Horry scored 14 points and Chilkat had 4 points. The five main players scored 61 points together, which was 40 points less than the five main players of the SuperSonics.
During the game, Bill Walton said with emotion: "In the G1 game, Mosaic was massacred by the SuperSonics in the away game. When they returned to their home court, they were massacred again. They were so unlucky."
Williams smiled and said: "In this game, the SuperSonics sent 16 steals, Mosaic had 6. Blocked shots were 5 and 6 times, Mosaic had one more. In terms of turnovers, SuperSonics only made 8, while Mosaic had as many as 16. 23 times. In terms of hit rate, the SuperSonics hit 54.5%, while Mosaic only hit 39.5%.
In terms of rebounds, the SuperSonics had 44 and Mosaic had 38. Mosaic, which had a high advantage, had 6 fewer rebounds. This was because Rodman grabbed 19 rebounds alone. "
Bill Walton shook his head and said: "Mosaic lost unjustly. But in fact, their lineup is not bad. Not only is it not bad, it is also very strong. To be honest, I can't figure out why they were massacred twice at home and away.
They had a better start in this game, leading 3:8, but after being overtaken, they never came back and lost to the end. "
Williams analyzed: “In the G1 game, Tekken was in extraordinary offensive and defensive form, and this time it was the same, with 7 steals and 3 blocks, a shooting percentage of more than 70%, and the same extraordinary form. This was the main reason why Mosaic lost.
In fact, in the G3 battle, Dameng also performed in extraordinary form. Tekken did not perform extraordinary in that game, so Mosaic won.
In this game, defense is still the biggest key. SuperSonics' perimeter defense is really strong, which seriously affects Mosaic's offense.
Especially Tekken's defense. In these four series, they made a total of 29 steals and 9 blocks, averaging 7.25 steals and 2.25 blocks per game. This is a god-level defensive performance.
In addition, the iron fist smashing the backboard was also a big turning point. The morale of the Mosaic team was severely hit and never recovered.
Therefore, whoever wins or loses depends on the performance of their core. A series like the Western Conference Finals is very psychologically stressful. It is a stage for superstars to perform, and superstars like Glider can only be overshadowed. "
On the sidelines, Zhou Quan was interviewed by ABC TV station after the game.
The reporter asked: "Tekken, after the G1 game, once again played a super offensive and defensive performance in this game. Now that we have the points in the Western Conference Finals, do you think Mosaic still has a chance to come back?
As a reminder, in the history of the NBA league, there have been four comebacks when trailing 1-3. "
"Absolutely not possible. We will not be careless about the next game. Before we actually advance, we will play the game with all our strength as always and will not give Mosaic any chance of comeback." Zhou Quan said immediately.
"So what are your expectations for the finals?" the reporter asked.
Zhou Quan said: "Of course it is the championship. We lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls last season. I am looking forward to defeating them in the finals this time."
"Do you think the Bulls can sweep the Magic?" the reporter asked.
Zhou Quan laughed and said: "You know, I have a good relationship with Shark. I don't want to hurt him, but in fact if he doesn't work hard, he will probably be swept by the Bulls."
"No way."
In front of the TV, O'Neal swallowed a large piece of hamburger in his mouth, took another sip of iced Coke, and then made a vow.
An hour later, the post-match press conference was held.
"Hakeem, now we're down three to one, are you going to give up?" a reporter from the Houston Chronicle asked.
"Of course not, I will never give up. We still have a chance. The league also has a history of comebacks after falling behind one to three several times. We will never give up." Dameng said firmly.
"Dameng, compared to the lineup, Mosaic's lineup is by no means worse than the Sonics. Why do you think there is a serious lag between one to three?" the next reporter asked.
Dameng sighed secretly and said: "It's just luck. Iron Fist is lucky. We actually had two super explosive performances in four games. It's not that we are weaker than them.
I believe we will come back. We will win the next away game and then return to home with a victory. We still have a chance. "
(End of chapter)
