After losing the game, Zhou Quan and other Sonics players left the scene as soon as possible, leaving the Bulls to continue celebrating and Jordan to be interviewed on the spot.
"Michael, do you think it's thrilling to win the G1 game with a decisive victory?" a reporter from TNT asked.
"It is to use a decisive method to make the opponent die suddenly at the most critical moment." Jordan said with a cold tone in his eyes and an extremely cruel tone.
The reporter swallowed and then asked: "You passed the last ball. Was it a tactical arrangement? If you were asked to shoot, would you have made the ball?"
"Yes, tactical arrangements. As for me to shoot, I am also confident." Jordan said confidently.
On the sidelines, some stars were also being interviewed.
"Charles, where do you think the Bulls won today?"
"Of course it's a sure win, do you even need to ask?"
"So where do the Sonics lose?"
"Of course we lost because we didn't have enough strength."
"Glove, do you think the Sonics have a chance to win the G2 game?"
"Are you kidding me? This isn't talk show time."
"Reggie, how would you rate the performance of Flying Tigers and Iron Fist tonight?"
"almost."
"What do you think was the main reason the Bulls won?"
"The defensive tactics are more proactive. They restricted Tekken's shots and passes by double-teaming and cutting off Tekken's passing angles, which achieved their goal to a certain extent. Tekken should call more pick-and-rolls tonight. This is what I think of him. suggestion."
"Bill, do you think the key reason why the Sonics lost was that the Iron Fist's performance in the final quarter was not as good as the Flyers?"
"Tekken's performance tonight was definitely not inferior to Michael's. The Bulls defeated the SuperSonics. Who can say this is not luck?"
An hour later, a press conference was held.
"Iron Fist, what does losing the G1 game mean to the Sonics? Have you ever thought about the possibility of losing to Jordan again in the Finals series?" a reporter from the New York Times asked.
Zhou Quan responded calmly: "It means losing one game first, that's all. As for the series, do you think winning or losing one game can determine the entire series?"
In my opinion, losing this game, we should look at the loss from another angle, a good angle.
I think this is a wake-up call for us. We must play harder to win against the strongest opponent. I believe we will be more energetic in the next game. "
"Iron Fist, Jordan has a 100% winning rate in the three finals. He has never lost in the finals, but your winning rate in the two finals is only 50%. Are you really confident in this series instead of being arrogant?" That one? the reporter asked again.
"Your words cannot affect my confidence."
Indeed, he lost to Jordan in the finals last year, so Zhou Quan replied briefly.
"Iron Fist, how do you think today's performance compares with Jordan's? Will you take responsibility for the loss?" a reporter from the Washington Post asked.
"My performance tonight was indeed not as good as his, and I am the boss of the team. Losing is of course my responsibility. I never evade the responsibility of losing."
Zhou Quan was completely disdainful of evading responsibility and responded positively.
His answer obviously stunned the reporter, and he paused for a few seconds before continuing to ask: "Does that mean that the SuperSonics are likely to continue to lose in G2?"
Zhou Quan couldn't help but smile and said: "Sir, I have to say that your question is illogical. If you lose the last game, you may continue to lose the next game, then there is no need to play the series at all, only the first game That can determine victory or defeat.”
After attending the press conference, Zhou Quan returned to the hotel. He didn't think about losing at all. He went to bed and started practicing the sleeping elixir.
To be honest, he was addicted to this skill and especially enjoyed the feeling of being 100 times more energetic after waking up.
It is a pity that the current state of Sleeping Pill Technique is not stable. The state that makes him feel a hundred times more energetic does not happen often. It is rare to have a dreamless night.
On June 3, the media began to praise Jordan's final pass, Toni Kukoc, who made the game-winner, but did not mention it much, and all the honors went to the flying man.
On the 4th, the G2 battle begins.
"We will win!"
At around six o'clock in the evening, when Jordan entered the arena with his bag on his back, he spoke with confidence when being interviewed by the media.
"Michael, will you take the last shot tonight?" the reporter asked.
"Who else but me?" Jordan said after shrugging.
"Isn't it Toni Kukoc?" another reporter asked.
"It was just an accident, the last ball had to be mine."
Jordan is not that stupid, only surprise can surprise his opponents.
…
At eight o'clock, the starting lineup was announced.
Bulls: Wilperdo, Toni Kukoc, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, B.J. Armstrong
SuperSonics: Almon Gilliam, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Zhou Quan
At half past eight, the game started. The Bulls won the jump ball and took the lead.
Jordan entered the frontcourt and entered the three-point line from the right wing. At this time, Toni Kukoc deliberately blocked Zhou Quan, and Jordan took the opportunity to run to the right elbow area.
Zhou Quan's mental concentration was 100% concentrated. Before Toni Kukoc blocked him, he immediately changed direction and went around, only half a step behind, and caught up with Jordan.
Then he accelerated hard, and with even faster absolute speed, when Jordan ran into the paint, he caught up with Jordan and stuck to Jordan's left side. The ball was now on the left wing, and he cut off Jordan's receiving angle.
Jordan rushed to the basket and couldn't get away from Zhou Quan, so he immediately circled around Wilperdo under the basket. He deliberately stopped behind Perdo, blocked Zhou Quan, and then rushed forward again. catch the ball.
At this time, Zhou Quan stopped behind Perdo, Jordan got the open space, and Pippen, who was holding the ball on the left wing, immediately passed the ball.
It's just that Schrempf's defense was also good. He stretched out his hand to block, but Pippen gave way and passed the ball for the second time. This time he passed it in.
But the target of his pass was not Jordan, but Wilperdo under the basket.
The reason is that after Jordan used Perdo to get rid of Zhou Quan, Rodman immediately switched to defend Jordan under the basket. Jordan's open space was gone, and Perdo got the open space.
"Snapped!"
But just as Perdo was about to catch the ball, Zhou Quan emerged from behind him, jumped in, and intercepted the ball.
"Oh, the ball was stolen! Zhou Quan stole the ball!" Zhang Lili suddenly shouted excitedly in the CCTV commentary box.
"The Bulls are quick to defend, let's see how Zhou Quan fights." Xu Jicheng said nervously.
Zhang Liyi nodded and said: "Look at how the Bulls defended Zhou Quan. I think they defended very well in the last game. They prevented Zhou Quan's shooting rate from reaching 50%. If his shooting rate reached 50%, the Bulls would not be able to win G1. war."
At this time, Zhou Quan advanced to the top of the front arc, suddenly accelerated and stepped past the passer. Jordan quickly turned around and retreated, but at this moment, he stepped back to the three-point line.
"not good!"
When Jordan was about to return to defense, it was already too late, and he saw Zhou Quan pull up at the top of the arc.
As the basketball flew towards the basket, the two thousand Sonics fans present, countless Seattleites, and countless Chinese could not help but widen their eyes.
"brush!"
The next moment, the refreshing sound of washing the basket sounded.
"Oh ho!"
As the water rose, countless cheers also sounded at the scene, in Seattle, and on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
"Fake shot, Zhou Quan hit a hollow three-pointer." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.
"We'll give you one more." Jordan shouted through gritted teeth.
This time, he was still in a pick-and-roll with Toni Kukoc on the right wing, but after the split, he suddenly ran outside and Toni Kukoc ran inside.
Zhou Quan and Gilliam were on the passive defensive side, and they were both half a beat late. Jordan ran out of a small space to catch the ball. BJ, who was holding the ball at the top of the key, immediately passed the ball. He caught the ball at his right elbow and then directly He stood up sideways, without even half a second of delay or making any adjustments.
The moment Jordan took off, Zhou Quan, who was a step too late, jumped up two steps away and leaped over.
Jordan, who jumped into the air, saw Zhou Quan's actions, instinctively leaned back and took action calmly.
At this moment, Zhou Quan flew past Jordan, waved his hand, and with a precise strike, directly snatched away the basketball Jordan had just shot.
"Shet!"
At this moment, Jordan's eyes were splitting as he was caught by Zhou Quan.
"Oh ho!"
On the SuperSonics bench, two thousand visiting team fans instantly burst into loud cheers.
"Oh oh oh……"
In the TNT commentary box, the Magic Birds exclaimed at the same time.
"Block! No, block! Zhou Quan blocks Jordan, hahaha..." Zhang Lili yelled and screamed in excitement.
"Wow, hahaha..." Xu Jicheng laughed excitedly.
After Zhou Quan landed, he quickly descended. When Jordan staggered after landing and turned around to pursue the defense, he was almost reaching the midline.
"boom!"
"Oh ho!"
He took a step into the paint from the left elbow area, took off directly, rotated 360 degrees in the air, and then followed up with a powerful tomahawk chop. The violent explosion of the basket made the cheers of the visiting team even higher.
"oh!"
Zhou Quan himself pumped his fists and roared excitedly.
He had a sleepless night last night, and he was very energetic today. He felt a strong need to vent, and he was feeling uncomfortable.
5:0, Bulls attack.
BJ took the ball to the frontcourt. Stimulated by Zhou Quan's performance, Kendall Gill also became excited and used the action of poking the ball to press BJ from time to time.
Pippen moved outside the three-point line to ask for the ball. After receiving the ball, Schrempf blocked him one step outside the three-point line. At this time, BJ bypassed Kendall Gill and quickly cut inside. Pippen immediately passed the ball. After BJ caught the ball, he drove into the paint from the left elbow.
Rodman under the basket had to step up to cover the defense. BJ took off, attracting Rodman to take off and block the shot, but then he threw a pass to Wilperdo who entered the basket.
"Snapped!"
At this time, Zhou Quan had already given up on Jordan and rushed into the paint from the right wing. After receiving the ball, Perdo stepped forward and made a one-handed layup. As soon as the ball left his hand, he was slapped by him.
Kendall came in after BJ and happened to pick up the ball.
"Oh, God, it's another shot. Iron Fist blocks another shot. What does he want to do tonight? Want to have a triple-double of blocks?" Magic Johnson said dumbfounded.
"Hey, he made 2 of 2 shots in the beginning, had 1 steal and 2 blocks, and worked very hard in individual defense, pursuit, and assist defense. Iron Fist will definitely have a blast tonight!" Larry Bird shouted excitedly with a smile on his face.
Zhou Quan took the ball to the left wing and broke down along the left sideline. After attracting a double-team from Pippen, he passed the ball through the gap between Jordan and Pippen. Schrempf received the ball at the three-point line and stepped back half way. He took a step, took an open shot, and hit a three-pointer.
"here you go!"
Zhou Quan praised loudly.
"Snapped!"
Schrempf excitedly high-fived Zhou Quan in celebration.
"It's 8:0 now, the Bulls are attacking, oh, a timeout was called." Xu Jicheng said.
"If the Bulls don't call a timeout, the Sonics won't be able to hold on to their momentum, haha!" Zhang Li said with an overjoyed smile.
"You have to rely on defense. Zhou Quan's defensive state tonight is obviously better than the night before yesterday." Xu Jicheng said happily.
"As a point guard, he made two big shots in the opening game. In terms of his blocking ability and stealing ability, Zhou Quan should be the best point guard in the history of basketball in the world." Zhang Lili said with a smile.
In front of the Bulls bench, Phil Jackson was emphasizing the need to be careful about Zhou Quan's defense. In just one start, Zhou Quan broke off two blocks, and both blocks got the ball. The Bulls lost three ball rights at the start. If it goes on, Jordan can only win if he scores 100 points.
"Phil, let me hold the ball and play for a while to open up the situation first."
Jordan thought about the last quarter of the G1 game. He held the ball in a single against Zhou Quan and did not suffer any loss. Although he was intercepted by Zhou Quan once, he also counterattacked once and blocked Zhou Quan once. He took advantage of the defense, which gave him confidence.
Phil Jackson actually didn't have much to do, so he agreed, and only warned: "It's best to call Tony's pick-and-roll to help you get rid of him."
"OK."
Jordan nodded.
The pick-and-roll between him and Toni Kukoc is one of the Bulls' basic offensive tactics, and it plays a large part in the triangle offensive system.
Kukoc can shoot three-pointers. Although his cutting ability is not as good as Grant's, he is still good. The pick-and-roll tactics are very powerful, not weaker than the pick-and-roll tactics of him and Grant.
The timeout ends and the game begins. The Bulls serve from the left sideline of the frontcourt.
Jordan ran from the low post to the top of the arc to catch the ball. Wilperdo made a screen to block Zhou Quan, but it only delayed Zhou Quan by half a shot. By the time Jordan received the ball, Zhou Quan had already defended him in front.
Jordan didn't hesitate at all. He was so confident in himself that even if Zhou Quan was in front of him, he still jumped up and took action without hesitation.
Zhou Quan tried his best to jump and block the shot, almost covering Jordan's body, but still did not touch the ball. It only reached a little below Jordan's wrist, a gap of nearly ten centimeters.
"Failure jumper!" Larry Bird shouted.
"Oh ho!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the basketball flew down the basket, and a huge cheer erupted from the United Center.
"Oh, Iron Fist did not lose his position. He was able to hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc against his defense. Michael's condition tonight is no different." Magic Johnson praised.
8:3, SuperSonics offense.
Zhou Quan crossed the frontcourt and pulled to the left wing.
"He went to the left wing again. Did Iron Fist take the initiative to double-team Jordan and Pippen?" Larry Bird said in surprise.
"How confident does Iron Fist have in his ability to break through with the ball that he dares to do this?" Magic Johnson was equally surprised.
After wasting a few seconds on the outside, Zhou Quan started to break through with the ball. He first took a step to the right, then suddenly stopped and changed direction, shook Jordan back, and then moved to the left, along the left sideline.
Schrempf took a step toward the top of the arc along the three-point line, widening the distance from Zhou Quan. He had just thrown an open three-pointer in, and Pippen did not dare to double-team Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan crossed the three-point line, and when he was approaching the left corner, he began to change direction. He pressed his right elbow against Jordan, dribbled with his left hand, and thrust inward against the bottom corner.
Seeing Jordan lose his position, Toni Kukoc in the left midfielder immediately took a step down and stood on the left line of the paint area, blocking Zhou Quan's path.
Zhou Quan rushed to Perdo's side. The moment he pulled up the basketball, he flicked his backhand and the ball flew from behind to Gilliam, who was two meters away from his left waist. At the same time, he jumped up and made a jump shot. action.
The action of his jump shot immediately shook Jordan and Toni Kukoc in front of him into the sky, and Gilliam was completely open when he received the ball.
"Where's the ball?"
The two people who took off to block the shot were stunned when they saw that Zhou Quan did not have the ball in his hands.
"Vote!"
Zhang Lili shouted loudly, but before he finished speaking, Gilliam had already taken action.
"brush!"
The water splashed and hit two points.
"Boy, don't you have the guts to take action on my head?" Jordan looked back at Gilliam and spat trash talk at Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan chuckled and said: "Old guy, I heard that you only like to talk trash when you are lagging behind, is that true?"
Jordan snorted, "I also like to talk trash after I succeed."
(End of chapter)
