On November 26, 1999, the Clippers traveled to Salt Lake City for their first meeting with the Utah Jazz this season. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Clippers after the game with the Heat, in the next few games, narrowly defeated the Knicks away, beat the Kings at home, lost to the Rockets at home, and defeated the Grizzlies away, the Clippers achieved a 9-2 record, and it can be seen from their record that the Clippers still have no way to deal with a strong team inside.

The Utah Jazz's Sloan coach admired Tiger HSD, which is a well-known thing, but in the end Tiger HSD chose to stay with the Clippers, which was the first meeting between the two teams this season, and after arriving in Salt Lake City, Tiger wanted to talk to Sloan, but the time was too tight, and the Clippers had a back-to-back home game to play the next day. Before the game, Tiger and Sloan spoke on the phone, agreeing that the next time the Jazz play in Los Angeles, the two would arrange a time to meet.

The Jazz are led by Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Hornacek, Stockton is 37 years old, Karl Malone is 36 years old, Hornacek is 36 years old, and during last year's playoffs, Sloan once asked Tiger a question: 'What is the Jazz missing?' ’。 Tiger thought for a long time and reluctantly told Sloan that what the Jazz lacked was 'time'. This time is not the time to wait, but the Jazz three elders have no time, their years have grown old, which is the most cruel thing about competitive sports.

The Clippers' starters in this game: center Xiao Ao, big forward Wang Zhizhi, small forward Jackson, scoring guard Tiger, point guard Birubs, Wang Zhizhi appeared in the Clippers' starting list for the first time. In the face of the powerful Jazz, the Clippers have no advantage and can only hope that the players will play on the spot.

After the start of the game, both teams started to attack without probing, and both teams played blocking and dismantling tactics and knew each other well. What is the best tactic for breaking blocks? Everyone has a different answer, but in the face of Jazz's many years of blocking and dismantling cooperation, the Clippers' blocking and dismantling seems very immature, after a few rounds, the Clippers' offense is the most stable, but Wang Zhizhi, who entered the starting lineup for the first time, Karl Malone is 36 years old, there are some problems in moving, Xiao Ao is trying to contain the other party under the basket, Wang Zhizhi has been floating on the outside jumper, Karl Malone can't keep up, despite this, the Jazz team has always maintained the lead.

The real turning point of the game appeared in the third quarter, the Jazz team attacked, Wang Zhizhi has been working hard to defend Karl Malone, although he knows that it is difficult for him to limit Karl Malone, now he is in strength and experience, against Karl Malone is a complete defeat, but he cherishes the opportunity to start for the first time, he carries the expectations of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, becoming the first person to enter the NBA, the pressure has been very high, today is even more attention, many Chinese people, are watching his performance on the other side of the ocean, he wants to try hard, Show his efforts and progress to the countrymen.

Hornacek shot, missed, Wang Zhizhi and Karl Malone jumped up at the same time to compete for rebounds, after Karl Malone got the rebound, he habitually set up his elbow to protect the basketball, but just bumped into Wang Zhizhi next to him, Wang Zhizhi fell directly to the floor, the referee immediately blew off the game, the Clippers team doctor reacted quickly, rushed into the court, the Clippers players quit, Xiao Ao and Jackson immediately surrounded Karl Malone, Tiger ran and the Jazz players separated the two sides together, at this time Wang Zhizhi was already unconscious, His face was covered in blood, and the team doctor did some simple treatment, and then carried Wang Zhizhi out of the field on a stretcher and sent him to the hospital. Xiao Ao and Jackson and Karl Malone scolded each other in the air, the referee gave both sides a warning, Tiger quickly communicated with the referee, the Clippers are short of people now, if Xiao Ao and Jackson are kicked out of the game, the next game will face a ban.

Karl Malone's elbow is one of the top ten murder weapons in the NBA, and many people have fallen on it, including the great basketball god - Michael Jordan. In the end, the referee only awarded Malone an ordinary foul, this is the home energy arena in Salt Lake City, Jazz fans are notoriously fierce in the NBA, this arena, that is, David Stern, can only turn a blind eye, and the referee really dare not make a decision to drive Karl Malone from the game. This penalty made the Clippers players very dissatisfied, and then the experts, who have been emphasizing that the Clippers players are too young and easy to be affected by emotions, was completely exposed, Coach Fitch watched the players on the court being affected by emotions, playing more and more impatiently, and the action became bigger and bigger, sighed helplessly, waved his hand to change to the substitute lineup, and took the initiative to surrender.

After Tiger got off the court, he sat on the stool alone, staring at the court in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking, everyone thought he was worried about Wang Zhizhi, so they didn't care about him. Bruce Bowen was sitting next to Tiger, watching the game carefully, when he suddenly heard Tiger ask him: "Bruce, is it really right for you to say that in order to win, you will do whatever it takes?" ”

Bowen didn't even think about replying: "I don't know if it's right, that's not something I need to think about, what I'm most concerned about is whether I can play the ball, whether I can get a guaranteed contract from the team, whether I can stay in the team." Victory! It's what everybody wants, it's a drug, it's addictive, but for a player like me, it's all illusory, and all I need to do is make a good coaching arrangement. ”

"So what if, I mean if, one day, the coach arranges for you to be on the field and use lethal tactics against the opposing player? For example, if you are asked to break the other person's leg, will you do it? Tiger thought that his deepest impression of Bruce Bowen was that he abolished Carter the Flyer, so that the Flyer could never fly again, so he asked Bowen this question.

This time Bowen didn't give an answer right away, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I think I'll go, as long as that's what the coach wants me to do, as long as it can bring victory to the team." ”

"Bruce!" Tiger heard Bowen's words with mixed feelings. "Bruce, since you came to the Clippers, we have had a great time with each other, and through these time together, I have learned that you are actually a low-key good person, you don't have much ambition, you just want to pursue a stable and stable life. I know you have a deep sense of belonging to the Clippers, you really like your teammates, I am grateful to Andy for giving you your first long-term contract, and I am grateful to Coach Fitch for appreciating you, but Bruce, you don't owe the Clippers anything, your hard work and strength are worthy of what you have now. Bruce I beg you, no matter when in the future, don't use lethal injuries on other players, God may be unfair, he didn't give people the same basketball talent, but I believe that every player has put in a lot of effort and love for basketball, people's bodies are fragile, maybe a injury, will make them leave the court they love, we as basketball players, time is limited, let's cherish him together, okay? ”

When Tiger said the end, his voice was a little choked, which surprised Bowen, he looked at Tiger in surprise, and finally saw a lot of things in Tiger's moist eyes that he didn't understand, and in such a gaze, he finally nodded and reached an agreement with Tiger.