When the Bulls attacked, Jordan once again attracted double-teams and sent the ball out to the outside. Pippen caught the ball and made a jump shot in the middle. The ball bounced out of the frame and the rebound was grabbed by Kemp.
SuperSonics fans watching the live broadcast were very excited. The home team had a steady upper hand, and the Bulls seemed to be nothing special. The Bulls' offense is indeed not strong, and if the overall defensive efficiency is not high, it will be difficult to win.
Not only did Harper, Rodman, and Longley have average offensive abilities, but Pippen's performance in the playoffs was also unreliable.
There is a little trivia: in the parallel world, Pippen scored more than 30 points in only 3 playoff games during his 6-championship journey, and the highest was only 32 points.
In 24 series, Pippen has never averaged 25 points per game, not even against weak teams. In these 6 seasons, he has played 116 playoff games, with 60 games under 20 points, more than half, single digits.
There were 8 games to count.
In the 1996 Finals, even without Yang Jian causing the butterfly effect, Pippen averaged only 15.7 points per game against the Sonics and shot 34.3% from the field. In the 1998 Finals, Pippen averaged 15.7 points per game and shot 41% from the field.
At this point, Pippen actually had the nerve to say that he was the best small forward in history, as good as Jordan. If Jordan had scored single digits in 8 games, he would have been outcast.
Yang Jian continued to play pick-and-roll, and after receiving the ball, he attracted Rodman's help and Jordan's pursuit. He passed the ball to Kemp in the gap, and the latter caught the ball on the right and made a jumper.
Kemp took an open shot this time. Rodman had no time to chase but the ball missed. Longley grabbed the backcourt rebound.
The Bulls attacked, Jordan singled Payton on the left, relied on the opponent to force a breakthrough in the middle, and threw the ball to avoid Kemp's cover and block the ball and scored .11 to 6.
During the SuperSonics offense, Yang Jian ran to the left to catch the ball and was caught by Jordan. He protected the ball with his back and passed it to Payton who was cutting in the middle. The latter forced a layup and was blocked by Pippen who was assisting in the defense.
.
Harper picked up the ball and brought it to the frontcourt. Seeing that Yang Jian and Payton were guarding Jordan, he chose to make a pull-up jumper from the high post.
Harper's unattended shot missed the basket. Kemp grabbed the backcourt rebound and passed it to Yang Jian. Yang Jian immediately sprinted forward and passed by the three-point line in a change of direction.
Harper couldn't keep up and tried to pull someone but failed to get a foul. Yang Jian made an emergency stop inside the left three-point line and made another mid-range shot. 13 to 6.
After scoring the goal, Yang Jian clenched his fists and roared in celebration, and the home fans applauded.
Zhang Lili said: "Yang Jian personally scored 9 points and 2 assists, and he hit 100 shots in the mid-range shot. His mid-range shot is the most accurate in the league, and he scored whenever he had the chance."
Sun Zhengping laughed and said: "He defended Harper too easily, and Harper couldn't even make a shot. The Bulls' offense depends on Jordan and Pippen, and no one else can."
The Bulls played the triangle offense again. This time, Jordan lobbed the ball to Pippen from the outside. Pippen hit Schrempf with his back, turned around and threw in the middle twice, and hit the ball in the face of interference. 13 to 8.
When the SuperSonics attacked, Yang Jian received the ball on the right side and played a pick-and-roll with Kemp. After attracting the defense, he passed the ball to Kemp. Kemp made another mid-range shot, but despite Rodman's slight interference, he still failed to score.
Schrempf was not a vegetarian either. He grabbed the offensive rebound and made a second attack, causing Pippen's thug to foul.
Schrempf made two solid free throws, 15-8.
When the Bulls attacked, Jordan took the ball and forced a breakthrough. He couldn't get rid of Payton, and jumped to the left baseline and passed the ball to Langley in the middle. Langley took the ball and reached the basket in one step, beating Kemp and jumping up.
The right hand easily picked up the basket and scored. 15 to 10.
Against the Sonics, Longley has a physical advantage on the offensive end. No one is taller or bigger than him.
In the SuperSonics offense, Yang Jian played a pick-and-roll and attracted two double-teams. He passed the ball to Kemp who was passing down the left side. Kemp went deep into the basket and hit a rebound shot under the interference of Longley. He missed it even close to him.
Mings grabbed an offensive rebound in the middle to make up the score but was called for a pushing foul.
Cummings did push Rodman, and the referee clearly understood it.
Coach George Karl watched from the sidelines and shook his head. Kemp was in terrible shape today, making only 1 of 4 simple shots.
Kemp has a mentality problem and is a little nervous entering the finals, even though he already has a championship ring.
The Bulls took this opportunity to make a substitution, and Steve Kerr replaced Harper. Harper was a bit of a trap, making 0 of 2 shots and no assists. Kerr at least had the ability to catch and shoot.
The Sonics also changed someone. Cummings took a rest and sent veteran Sam Perkins.
Cole dribbled the ball and passed it to Jordan after half court, and Jordan passed it to Pippen on the outside. Pippen organized in the middle and passed it to Cole who was running. Yang Jian changed his defensive method and followed closely, but Cole did not get the ball.
The chance to take a shot was passed to Longley in the corner of the penalty area on the right.
Longley held the ball with his back to observe, and passed the ball to Pippen when he was cutting in the middle. The range of this cooperation was too small. Although Pippen got rid of Schrempf, he did not catch the ball, and the ball bounced into Kemp's hand.
Here, he picked up a steal for nothing.
Kemp immediately passed the ball to Yang Jian. Yang simply started a fast break, rushed to the frontcourt and passed Cole in an instant. Cole didn't dare to foul, and there was no one in front of Yang Jian. A pull foul would result in two free throws.
Throw.
Yang Jian took off with all his strength from the middle and scored with a one-handed smash, scoring his 11th point. 17 to 10.
Jordan quickly returned to defense but still couldn't catch up. Yang Jian dunked on Jordan and couldn't block the shot from behind.
When the Bulls attacked, Perkins allowed Rodman to double-team Jordan. Jordan distributed the ball. Rodman made a mid-range shot from a 45-degree open position on the left, but the rebound missed. Kemp grabbed the rebound.
As long as Rodman shoots from outside the penalty area, his opponents will be very happy, and his mid-range shooting percentage is almost never higher.
In the SuperSonics position battle, Yang Jian ran around in a circle without the ball, relying on Kemp's screen from the right to move up the line to receive the pass. Jordan pursued the defense in time, and Yang Jian took a step to the middle and passed the ball to Kemp.
general.
Kemp took the ball with his back to Rodman in the middle, turned to the right, and hit a jumper from a 45-degree angle, 19 to 10.
Jackson Jackson requested a timeout. The point difference was about to widen to double digits. The Bulls must strengthen their defense.
Zhang Lijia said: "Kemp only needs to use his physical advantage. Rodman can't block him if the Bulls don't double-team him. This goal is not counted as an assist from Yang Jian, but the ball was passed very well and the play was reasonable."
Sun Zhengping said: "Before Payton scored, the Sonics easily overwhelmed the Bulls."
Jackson Jackson replaced Longley and replaced him with Toni Kukoc. George Karl also changed. Schrempf took a rest and sent on point guard Eric Snow, forming a three-back combination on the court.
George Karl is becoming more and more bold in his use of players. Few teams will field three guards, and they all like to use big men.
Snow can catch and shoot as well as organize passes this season. He is more useful on the offensive end than Bo Outero when he plays. Yang Jian has taken up the small forward position and mainly defends Pippen. He can handle the defense of the small forward.
Easy to pass.
This was a deliberate attempt to lure Pippen into attacking. He would look like a misplaced opportunity when he hit Yang Jian. If he didn't dare to hit, he would disappoint his teammates. If Pippen took a lot of shots, Jordan would take fewer shots. In terms of efficiency, it would be no harm to the Sonics.
George Karl didn't have many tactics on the defensive end. He just believed in Yang Jian's personal ability. During the team practice, Yang Jian and Schrempf defended very well in one-on-one situations. They were good at finding confrontations closely, leaving Schrempf to just
Able to take shots away from the basket.
When the Bulls attacked, Cole dribbled the ball past Snow and passed the ball to Kukoc in the middle.
Kukoc couldn't break through Kemp with the ball, so he passed it back to Cole. Then Kukoc provided Jordan with a ball-free screen in the middle. Jordan cut inside, and Payton bypassed the screen from the inside and caught up without missing a beat.
Bit.
It is easier for players to go around the screen to chase Jordan than to chase Yang Jian, because they can go around from the inside and wait for Jordan to catch the ball and attack. It is not possible to defend Yang Jian. Yang Jian dares to throw the ball from the outside one or two meters away from the basket.
Kukoc caught the ball and faced Kemp without shooting, and passed it to the left side to Pippen.
As soon as Pippen got the ball, Yang Jian immediately confronted him and used his elbow to push against Pippen's back. Pippen leaned against Yang Jian twice without squeezing away. After feinting, he turned around and shot a jumper in the middle. Under the interference of Yang Jian's eye-sealing,
deviation.
When Yang Jian defends seriously, it is by no means a loophole, but a strong defensive point. He was able to defend in the first round. The Bulls do not have complicated tactics, and strong personal defensive ability is the key to dealing with triangle offensive players.