American West Arena, 18:22, the Bulls were 4 points behind. After serving, Phil Jackson called the second timeout of this quarter.
A pale-faced Mark West sat on the bench. He felt that he had just suffered a car accident and his chest was about to be broken.
But in fact, he was not the only one who felt like a car accident, but Pippen.
"Hoo ho... cough cough... ho ho..."
Pippen's tonnage was smaller and his ability to fight was worse. He urgently needed more oxygen, but he didn't dare to take a deep breath at all for fear of triggering a more severe cough. He could only take short breaths like an asthmatic.
At this time, he thought of Rainman Camp, who had several ribs broken by Old K, and a chill arose in his heart.
The team doctor came over to check and took off his jersey. There was an obvious bruise on his right chest, which was the mark after the impact.
"Be careful, ahem, Michael, ahem, that lunatic is even crazier than in the regular season. He, ahem, he just, ahem, wanted to hit me to death!"
Pippen reminded Jordan that the sentence was interrupted several times.
Jordan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He looked to Phil Jackson, hoping that this most trusted head coach would come up with a way to deal with it.
"Alas, we don't have human shields." Phil Jackson sighed.
"Monsters like O'Neal and Old K appear in the alliance. We must collect human shields."
"Are there any meat-shield centers among this year's rookies? Bring me the information on all the rookies immediately."
"It is said that Old K is still gaining weight. This damn guy, does he want to kill all his opponents? Let our centers also gain weight. We have to build one or two human shields."
"The price of meat will definitely be exaggerated in the future!"
At this time, all the NBA management and head coaches watching the finals had the same idea, especially the strong teams aspiring to the championship.
It is conceivable that in the upcoming offseason, there will be a round of competition for meat shields, and the price of meat will be pushed up significantly.
The timeout ends and the Bulls attack.
Phil Jackson replaced Pippen to let him regain his blood. Mark West, who had just come on, was also replaced and replaced by substitute center Spencer King who was 211 centimeters and 105 kilograms.
He has only one requirement for the inside line, which is to cut.
There is no more double-teaming strategy. Pippen was knocked down in the double-teaming. What's the use of adding another one?
That's it for the time being. He is not good at adjusting tactics on the spot and needs more time to adjust tactics.
Next, Wang Tiejun strengthened his personal offense at the request of Westphal, and while consuming a lot of physical energy, he scored a lot of points, but was also sent to the free throw line several times.
After the first quarter, 26:34, the Suns were very efficient, winning by 8 points in a single quarter.
But the Bulls' efficiency was not bad either. Jordan made 4 of 7 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points.
Before Pippen left the game, he made 3 of 6 shots and scored 6 points.
The two took 60% of the team's total shots.
Wang Tiejun played the entire first quarter and attacked the basket with all his strength. He made 6 of 7 shots and 3 of 6 free throws, causing 4 fouls in the Bulls' interior. He scored 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 turnover in a single quarter. The number of offenses with the ball.
As many as 12 times, the most in the team.
He took as many shots as he did in the previous game, so after this quarter, his physical fitness has also dropped a lot. In the second quarter, he will definitely have to sit on the bench. Even if he goes up, he will only be able to fish.
.
But his achievements are also huge, and they are not only reflected in the statistics, because several Bulls insiders, from the main players to the substitutes, including small forward Pippen, were all ravaged by him. On the Bulls bench,
The remnants of the defeated generals were sitting around, and their combat strength was severely weakened.
During the break, during the ABC live broadcast, Bill Walton analyzed: "The Bulls' perimeter performance was excellent on both offense and defense, with an overall shooting rate of 51%. They also caused the Suns 5 turnovers, and their own mistakes were only
2 times.
Pippen did not break through. Jordan broke through 4 times and succeeded 3 times, but the damage was not high because there was no deadly defense and obviously did not want to foul.
Grant's cutbacks also ended twice. Neither he nor Jordan's breakthroughs allowed Old K to defend successfully.
From an offensive point of view, the Bulls' offensive tactics were successful. The reason for falling behind was K's offense. The Bulls couldn't defend it, it was so efficient!"
John Hanks said: "Not counting Old K's offense, the Suns' overall shooting percentage is 41.5%, which is actually very low. But counting Old K, it is 53%. His offense alone increased it by 11.
percentage points.
In addition, in terms of rebounds, the Suns had 13 in a single quarter, including 5 offensive rebounds, while the Bulls only had 8, including 1 offensive rebound.
The Suns had only one steal in the first quarter, while the Bulls had three, but combined with turnovers and rebounds, the Bulls' shots were one behind the Suns, so rebounding was also one of the important reasons why the Bulls fell behind."
Bill Walton said with a smile: "Now that the Bulls are lagging behind, the most important thing is that they cannot limit Old K's offense, but Old K's playing style is limited by his body energy, and the consumption in the first quarter is too great, so the Bulls should be better in the next
Launch a fierce attack during the time, and take advantage of the time when K is on the bench to launch a counterattack."
John Hanks laughed and said: "Old K's physical fitness is actually not bad, it's just that his fighting style is too fierce and his confrontation is too strong. His physical ability is not his shortcoming.
His real shortcoming is that if he wants to become a true super center, he must strengthen his defense. If he cannot make up for this shortcoming, his ceiling can only be that of a first-class center."
John Hanks said at this time: "I noticed a problem. When the Suns had the advantage, they let Old K play a full quarter, and all of them were strong attacks. This is problematic, head coach West
Fall should manage K’s physical fitness through lineup adjustments.”
Nodding, Bill Walton said: "Obviously, Westphal wanted to take advantage of Old K's strength. He was just a rookie. When Old K was playing well, he held on to it.
.”
At this time, in the CCTV live broadcast booth, Zhang Lili was also analyzing the match situation of the two teams. The focus of the analysis was of course around Wang Tiejun.
The CCTV Sports Department attaches great importance to the real-time broadcast of the finals. If the response is good and the ratings are considerable, they may even consider purchasing the rights to broadcast the regular season next year.
Therefore, one focus of this live broadcast is to promote Wang Tiejun, who is a breakthrough point in expanding the influence of domestic basketball.
According to Zhang Lili's current explanation, it is inseparable from Wang Tiejun.
In the second quarter, Wang Tiejun sat on the bench and Oliver Miller came on.
As the player with the largest tonnage in the league, Oliver Miller attracted the attention of many professionals as soon as he appeared on the scene.
The first thing to pay attention to is Bulls general manager Jerry Krause and Phil Jackson. The Bulls want to find a human shield. Isn't this a ready-made one? It is also the best human shield in the league.
For the Suns, Barkley is still on the court. He wants to win the championship and be the core and superstar of the team. Now is the time for him to work hard. Even if his leg is broken, he still wants to stay on the court.
The third position is Ceballos, the defender is Dan Marley, and the backup defender Frank Johnson.
On the Bulls side, Jordan and Pippen were both on the court.
After one quarter, Jordan scored 13 points in a single quarter, grabbed 4 rebounds in a single quarter, sent out two steals, and forced Dan Marley to make 3 turnovers in a single quarter.
Pippen also scored 6 points in the first half and 12 points in the half. He also forced Ceballos to make two turnovers and gave away two steals.
The two teamed up to lead the Bulls to score 34 points in a single quarter, which was also the Suns' score in the first quarter, surpassing the score in one fell swoop.
Under the Bulls' powerful offense and perimeter defense, the Suns failed to withstand the Bulls and only scored 20 points in a single quarter.
Barkley was pretty good, scoring 6 points in the first quarter and another 8 points in the second quarter. However, under Jordan's defense, Dan Mulley made 1 of 6 shots in the second quarter and only scored two points.
At halftime, 60:54, the Suns lost by 6 points.
Westphal looked back at Wang Tiejun from time to time in the second quarter and wanted to replace him, but he resisted.
He knew that if he replaced Old K now, he would be trying to catch all the water. He shouldn't let Old K play the full game in the first quarter, and the water would flow slowly as before.
Bill Walton shook his head and said: "Westphal should not let Old K play one quarter and rest at all, let alone let Old K attack the basket and have to play a dozen two-point hooks. This is like
Just like overeating, problems can easily arise.”
John Hanks said: "In terms of lineup, both sides have advantages and disadvantages. On paper, the strength should be 50-50.
What determines winning or losing? One is the commanding ability of the head coach, and the other is the execution ability of the players on the field. Judging from the first half of the game, Phil Jackson completely defeated Westphal."
The two teams returned to the locker room, and the coaching staff summarized the first half of the game.
In the visiting team's locker room, Jordan looked very relaxed. Judging from the situation in the first half, the Bulls had caught the Suns' weakness, because the opponent's head coach used Old K in the first quarter, causing Old K to be unable to play in the second quarter.
As long as we seize these opportunities, we can definitely defeat the Suns.
The atmosphere in the home team's locker room was more solemn.
No matter how inexperienced Westphal was, he knew something was wrong. He should have let K. stay on the court in the second quarter. Even if he didn't play, he would still be a deterrent. Oliver Miller couldn't support the Suns' No. 5 position.
"Old K, in the next game, you should still play according to the previous offensive rhythm. You can attack the basket or a hook shot of nearly two points. Do you understand?" he warned.
"Okay, I understand." Lao Wang nodded.
After the halftime break, the third quarter began, with both sides basically being the main force, with the Bulls attacking.
Pippen feinted with the ball on the left wing, and Grant ran back on the weak side to get rid of Barkley, cut inside to the basket, and received a pass from the former for a layup.
"Crack!"
Wang Tiejun returned to defense in time this time, put the ball on the backboard, and directly sent a nail block.
Amid the cheers of the audience, the Suns attacked and advanced to the frontcourt, waiting for Wang Tiejun to take his position. The pace was deliberately slow.
But Jordan would not let the Suns get their way, and pressed hard, forcing Kevin Johnson to choose to throw the ball and pass it to Dan Marley, who withdrew from the three-point line on the right wing to connect.
After receiving the ball, Lei Gongdan broke through with the ball and was double-teamed by Jordan and BJ Armstrong. He chose to pass back to Kevin Johnson.
"Crack!"
At this time, Pippen on the left wing quickly defended the top of the arc and directly intercepted the pass.
The Bulls quickly counterattacked, and Jordan scored another goal during the fast break.
62:54, the Suns, which led by 8 points in the first quarter, fell behind by 8 points at the beginning of the third quarter.
"The Bulls' perimeter defense is really strong! Jordan and Pippen teamed up to put too much pressure on the Suns' perimeter defense."
At the CCTV live broadcast, Zhang Lili exclaimed in admiration.
At the beginning of the second half, Westphal started to sweat heavily on his head. It was obvious that he was very nervous.
"Stay steady, pay attention to the reception, be careful of their double teams, don't make mistakes, give the ball in!" he shouted loudly towards the court.
When the Suns attacked, Wang Tiejun carried Cartwright into the basket. The latter wanted to go around, but his movement speed was not as fast as him, and he got stuck under the basket.
Kevin Johnson took advantage of Dan Malley's pick-and-roll and dropped Jordan. When he pulled to the right wing, he saw an opportunity under the basket and immediately passed it in.
"Crack!"
Wang Tiejun grabbed the ball with one hand, didn't move his left foot, stepped back with his right foot, and made a fierce backhand hit. When Cartwright fell down in response, he immediately turned right to face the basket.
At this time, Grant's help from the right wing arrived, but he had already faced the basket, handed the ball to his left hand, and when he rose up, he smashed the ball toward the basket.
"Bang!"
With the strong sound of the basket exploding, the whole audience burst into joy.
"Uh! Ahem..."
Cartwright, who was on the floor, had a look of pain on his face, breathing with his mouth wide open, coughing violently from time to time, obviously being knocked out of breath.
"Bill, are you okay?"
Cobra Grant felt like a rabbit was dead and a fox was sad. He was knocked down three times in the first quarter, and his chest is still hurting now.
"I have no strength and my body is weak..."
Cartwright shook his head, but he did not mean that it was okay, but that he could not fight. He reluctantly explained and made a substitution gesture to Grant.
"What's going on?" Jordan and others gathered around.
The referee also came over, took a look, and immediately signaled to the Bulls bench to deal with it as soon as possible and not to delay the game time.
The team doctor ran up to check and determined that Cartwright had respiratory impairment due to the severe impact on his lungs and could no longer fight.
Phil Jackson calmly replaced Mark West and the game resumed.
Bulls offense.
Jordan broke through on the right wing with the ball, and Barkley made a cover and was broken through again.
Looking at Jordan coming in, Wang Tiejun did not enter the basket, but went up to the front of the basket. This way he could avoid being dunked, and when Jordan went for a layup, he could block the shot from the wing.
However, he still seriously underestimated Jordan's bounce speed. When Jordan jumped up, he took off again, already a beat too slow.
"Whoa!"
The ball falls into the basket.
"Mr. Wooden Stake, this is the most suitable nickname for you. I hope you like it." After getting it, Jordan spat coldly trash talk.
"Wait to collect the corpses of your inside teammates." Lao Wang immediately replied.
Jordan's face twitched, and his surge of momentum was instantly suppressed by this trash talk.
He knows that what Old K said is not a joke. His old teammate Cartwright has been injured. Pippen, Grant, Mark West, Spencer King, these people all suffered tonight, and this damn thing
Old K only played one quarter.
In the next few rounds, Wang Tiejun did not attack. He was recovering his health and returned to his most accustomed rhythm of hitting a ball and resting for two minutes.
In the third minute, he dropped low on the left wing to get the ball.
"Bang!"
The first iron mountain hit Mark West to loosen his grip.
"Bang!"
With the second iron mountain blow, Mark West was directly knocked away with a groan of pain.
He turned around and headed towards the basket with the ball. After the ball hit the floor, he flew up and hit the basket with one arm.
"Bang!"
As he smashed the ball in, he let go, took a step forward, knocked down Grant on the right side of the basket, and then returned to defense without changing his expression.
"Yeah yeah yeah..."
The cheers at American West Arena were deafening.
"What a fucking bastard!"
An attack knocked down two more teammates. How many teammates can persist if the fight continues like this? This is a whole series. Jordan's face turned black with anger, and he began to worry in his heart.
