After the switch between offense and defense, the Jazz served in the backcourt, and Ellis held the ball over the half-court pass, and they still dominated Malone.

Ellis passed, Malone received the ball and singled Fortson with his back, and just as Malone turned, McDies immediately came over from one side to help defend.

Malone was shocked, but his reaction was quick, and he immediately passed to Hornacek, who ran to the baseline, and then bypassed Fortson and ran to the other side.

Hornacek just transitioned to basketball, and then passed back to Malone in the blink of an eye.

Fortson desperately chased the defense, Malone made a shooting posture, and immediately threw the ball to the basket after deceiving Fortson's hitter.

Bang~唰~

Malone was lucky, the basketball smashed on the rebound and bounced into the basket, and he had to add a free throw.

Fortson is helpless, although he is known for his defense, Malone is a superstar after all, and it is very difficult to limit him.

Swish~

At the free throw line, Malone dribbled the basketball and hit the free throw steadily.

In the later rounds, McDyess relied on pick-and-roll to form a misalignment and hit an easy jumper in the face of Ellis.

On the other side, the Jazz's offense is also unambiguous, relying on Malone's personal ability to score under the basket twice in a row.

The closer you get to the basket, the easier it is to score, and that's a timeless truth of the game of basketball.

The game had just started, the players were full of energy, and the first few tactical executions were very good, and they always maintained a high hitting rate.

In less than 3 minutes of the opening game, Malone made 2 of 3 shots and 1 of 1 free throws, and he had already scored 5 points, completely shouldering the offensive responsibility of the Jazz.

The Nuggets are not far behind, even if the Jazz focus on defense, but the cooperation of Chi Liang and McDies can always tear apart the Jazz's defense.

The Nuggets' offense, using shooting feints, Chi Liang easily shook Ellis, easily completed the breakthrough, and stepped forward.

Before Ostertag pounced, the sound of his shoes rubbing against the floor sounded, and Ji Liang made a jumper, and the basketball passed Ostertag's fingertips and fell steadily into the basket.

The Jazz executed the offense, and Ellis bypassed Ji Liang with a cover and missed a mid-range jumper. Malone squeezed away from Fortson and grabbed the rebound first, his knees flexed up for a slam dunk.

Fortson hurriedly jumped up, only to find that Malone did not jump, and when he fell, Malone took the initiative to lean up.

Knowing that fouls were inevitable, Fortson was ruthless and slapped Malone on the arm.

Syllable~

With a crisp sound, Ma Long only felt a sharp pain in his right hand, and he couldn't hold the basketball at all, so he flew out of his hand.

Boom~

In mid-air, Malone couldn't hold it anymore and fell the floor.

Shhh

When Malone fell, Jazz fans booed strongly.

On the pitch, the nearest Ostertag stepped forward to get Fortson in trouble.

Seeing that a conflict was about to break out, Malone hurriedly stood up and hugged Ostertag.

Ma Long is naturally not good at stubble, but he knows very well in his heart that he can't let the conflict escalate, not to mention that he is not injured.

Beep~

At the same time, the referee blew the whistle and stopped the clash first.

Boom~

At the free throw line, perhaps there was still some pain in his arm, and Malone missed the first free throw.

Taking a deep breath, Malone dribbled the ball twice, stared at the basket, and threw the ball.

Boom~

Unfortunately, the basketball bounced out of the basket again. Ma Long couldn't help but shake his head and turned back to defend.

At this time, the Nuggets opted for substitutions, and with only four minutes of the first quarter, Fortson was tricked into two fouls, and D'Antoni had to replace Fortson with John Taylor.

D'Antoni was a little worried that Taylor was lighter in strength and weight than Fortson, and would inevitably be less effective defending against Malone than Fortson.

The race continued methodically, just as D'Antoni feared, and even if Taylor tried his best, the difference in strength and weight made it difficult for him to limit Malone.

McDice had no choice but to increase his defensive strength, but Malone is not an ordinary insider, his passing awareness is above the horizontal line, and he can always pass the ball out and assist his teammates to score.

However, the Nuggets can't stop Malone, and the Jazz can't limit Chi Liang and McDyes.

The scores of the two sides began to rise alternately, with Malone leading the Jazz's offense and scoring frequently under the basket. And the Nuggets relied on the strength of Ji Liang, McDyce and Billups to bite the score tightly.

During the official timeout, Van Exeel came on as a substitute. However, Malone still stayed on the court, and after Ji Liang was rested, he and Stockton's blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation, frequently tearing apart the Nuggets' defense and scoring easily.

28:28

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides temporarily played a tie, and the winner was not divided.

On the Jazz side, Malone and Hornacek combined for 21 points, and Stockton dished out four assists.

On the Nuggets' side, Ji Liang had 7 points and 4 assists, McDies had 10 points, and Billups had 6 points, competing with the Jazz.

Malone is relatively balanced in attack and defense, there is nothing he can't do, and he always runs tirelessly.

The most speechless thing is that the average number of steals per game is higher than that of many guards.

In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, the Nuggets' tactics and configuration restrained themselves, and for the Jazz, it was time to fight for the bayonet, and it was also the time to show the value of superstars.

No one will treat superstars as decorations, and the Jazz pinned their hopes on Malone, who also lived up to the trust, turning the Nuggets' interior line upside down and showing strong dominance.

If it weren't for the Nuggets' reliance on Chi Liang, McDyce and Billups, I am afraid they would have fallen into a passive situation long ago.

In order to deal with Ma Long, D'Antoni decided to change his tactical strategy and defend Ma Long in a targeted manner.

In the power forward position, the Nuggets can be called luxurious, with McDyce and Fortson, not to mention, Ji Liang can also play.

D'Antoni decided to let the trio take turns to carry out a wheel war against Malone, even if he is a 'postman', it will be difficult to maintain a high-intensity outburst for a long time.

Malone seems to be tireless, and after playing the first quarter, he still stayed on the court in the second quarter, showing the style of a 'model worker'.

This time, Malone's opponent is McDéce, before he was seriously injured, McDéce was known for his physical strength, and his strength was not bad, which was able to interfere with Malone to a certain extent.

If it is only about offensive ability, McDéce is not inferior, even if it is Malone, it is difficult to limit his low-post ability.

In the first offense of the second quarter, McDéces shook Malone and used his hook hand to easily hit the ball to the basket.

When it was the Jazz's turn to attack, Malone relied on his strength to be stronger, rushed into the basket against McDyes, and pressed the opponent to score a layup.

For this ball, McDies said that he was helpless, before the five-second rule came out, as long as there was enough offensive time, Malone completely learned Barkley's offensive style and pushed it to the basket to score.