On May 24, 1998, the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz again in Salt Lake City, so that the Lakers successfully eliminated the Jazz with a total score of 4-0 and entered the Finals for two consecutive years.

The Lakers' sweep of the Jazz to advance to the Finals surprised many people, in last season, the two teams also played seven games, the Lakers successfully turned the tables after falling behind 3-2, but this year, the Lakers did not give the Jazz any chance, they almost left the Jazz helpless.

In the four games of this round of the Western Conference Finals, Liu Han, the core player of the Lakers, averaged 25.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game.

The Lakers' excellent performance and Liu Han's supernatural play made the Los Angeles media excited, and they almost felt that the future Lakers dynasty was about to be established. In these media that pay attention to big data, there are also many people who can't find another amazing data for Liu Han, that is, his three-point shooting data after entering the playoffs, after advancing to the finals, Liu Han now has 52 three-pointers in the playoffs, and there are still four short of tying Reggie Miller's playoff three-point record, and now the Lakers have advanced to the finals again, which means that Liu Han will have at least four games to play, according to his scoring pattern, it is likely that this record can be surpassed in the next game.

Just as the Lakers returned to Los Angeles to celebrate their second consecutive Finals appearance, the Bulls faced a stubborn confrontation from the Pacers in the East.

On May 25, the Eastern Conference Finals kicked off in Game 2 in Indianapolis, where the Bulls were overturned by the Pacers in the final quarter after leading by eight points at the end of the first three quarters.

In the first two quarters of the game, the Bulls played smoothly, in response to the Pacers' tactics of shrinking the defense in the last game, the Bulls deliberately arranged for Turkish shooter Tony Kukoc to start this game, Kukoc lived up to expectations and helped the Bulls establish a six-point lead in the first two quarters of the game.

In the first two quarters of the game, the Pacers only relied on the height advantage of center Rick Schmitz to chase the score on the inside, and the Pacers outside were not in good shape today.

Entering the second half, the Pacers' perimeter players began to rise, and point guard Travis Best also performed well off the bench.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Bulls led the Pacers by eight points, but the Bulls suddenly fell into a slump in the fourth quarter, and various missed shots allowed the Pacers, who had recovered from their form, to seize the opportunity to play an offensive climax in one fell swoop, and finally defeated the Bulls 96-94 to win this crucial game.

In this game, although Jordan still scored a game-high 28 points, the shooting rate of 12 of 27 shots could not be compared with Liu Han, who had already advanced to the finals.

The Pacers came to a 2-2 tie that most people expected, and in the eyes of many, this round of the Eastern Conference Finals should be less suspenseful than the Western Conference Finals, but the Pacers taught everyone a lesson with their tenacity.

The Lakers ended the game early and could rest with ease, but George Krent did not let the players go to rest wantonly, but still arranged a day of practice.

The Bulls, who returned to Chicago for a day off, host the Pacers on May 27.

Back at home, the Bulls finally played a championship-level performance in this important game, not only limiting the Pacers' offense well on the defensive end, but also playing fluent coordination on offense. The stats speak volumes about what this game is about.

The Bulls had eight blocks, 46 rebounds and 27 assists. On the other hand, the Pacers, except for the starting power forward Davis who cut 5 blocks, no one in the Pacers has a block, the Pacers only have 35 rebounds, lose to the Bulls 11 rebounds, and only have a pitiful 13 assists, more than half behind the Bulls.

Jordan cut down on solo play and began to focus more on catch-and-shoot shots, and as a result, he shot 60% from the field and scored a game-high 29 points.

The Bulls tied the overall score at 3-2 after returning home, and the Pacers were on the verge of elimination.

After a day of rest, the Eastern Conference Finals moved to Indiana again, and the Pacers had a game they had to win.

The Pacers, who are back at home again, played a big game defensively, putting 120 percent into the defense.

The game was very tangled from the beginning, the scores of both teams were alternately leading, and the Bulls' Jordan was still the initiator of the whole team's offense, and he repeatedly attacked the Pacers' defense and caused fouls, not at all like a 35-year-old old player.

On the other hand, the Pacers, their core player Reggie Miller fell into a slump in this game, repeatedly missed shots from beyond the three-point line, and was repeatedly broken by Jordan in defense. The Pacers only relied on the strong attack of two tall players on the interior to keep the Bulls from throwing the score away, which seems incredible in the past performance of the Pacers, considering that they have always been a team with Reggie Miller at the core.

The two teams played until the end of the game, and Jordan made a late shot for the Bulls to tie the score at 89, leaving the Pacers with just 0.7 seconds to play.

Just when the Bulls thought the game would go into overtime, Reggie Miller, who shot zero from six three-pointers in the game, stepped up, pushed away Jordan's defense, and took only 0.7 seconds to catch the ball to kill the Bulls, dragging the Eastern Conference Finals into a tiebreaker.

In this game, Reggie Miller only scored 8 points, only 2 of 13 shots in the game, and 1 of 7 three-point shots, with a shooting rate of less than 20%, but Reggie Miller redeemed himself with the last and most critical three-point shot.

The Pacers' pull to the Eastern Conference Finals to the tiebreaker was unexpected, and in recent years, only last year's Lakers and this year's Pacers have caused such problems for the Bulls, who used to dominate the league.

Facing the tie-break, the Bulls who returned to Chicago did not miss this last chance.

The last game against the Bulls in the final minute had drained the Pacers of their physical and mental strength, and the Pacers showed their inexperienced side in the face of a high-pressure tie-break.

In the game, Jordan first attracted the firepower of the Pacers' defense with his own strong attack, and then he began to score on his teammates, and Tony Kukoc, who started again, became the surprise of the Bulls, scoring 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Of course, the core of the Bulls is Michael Jordan, who played 42 minutes in the game and scored a quasi-triple-double of 29 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

On the Pacers' side, although Reggie Miller scored 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting, his teammates have lost yesterday's fearlessness today, and they are shackled by the fear of winning and losing, except for Reggie Miller, no one has scored 20.

In the end, the Bulls relied on their experience and Jordan's play to defeat the Pacers 91-83 to reach the Finals for the third year in a row and the Lakers for the second year in a row. (To be continued.) )