June 9, 2003 is destined to be a day that will be remembered in history, and the crowd at the ATT Center will have the privilege of witnessing a legendary matchup live.

The matchup between the best power forward of all time and the best scoring guard of all time.

And so it came, in the fourth game of the finals, in the fourth quarter.

The essence of this matchup is exactly what Hu Qingniu said in an interview on the sidelines at the beginning of the third quarter.

"You're appreciating everything the word 'great' can say."

What the media and fans don't know for the time being is that this is the second time in Michael Jordan's career that he has met a figure who can really be called an opponent in the top five divisions of all time.

The last time was in 1991, Jordan's first Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers led by "Magic" Elvin Johnson.

But at that time, the Magic was already in his thirties, exhausted, and announced that he was retiring from the season due to AIDS.

This means that Duncan, the 27-year-old head of the Spurs, is a real top-five opponent in history that Jordan has never met before.

No one would deny Jordan's greatness because it would seem stupid, but Duncan is undoubtedly a winning general at this moment. The decisive battle between the Wizards and the Spurs is still unpredictable!

Duncan was the first to attack, and he threw in a mid-range shot from Ewing who came on again only to limit him; Jordan, in turn, hit a shot in the face of Ginobili's back to drift.

Duncan picked up Parker's breakaway pass, hit the board at 45 degrees on the left side, and forced another one on Ewing's head in the next round. Jordan shook off Manu and Jackson one after another, an easy left-handed pick-and-roll, followed by Hill's high post response, and after cutting, Jordan received the ball and carried Duncan to score a 2+1.

Duncan faced Ewing's entanglement, turned his back and hit a negative angle shot after hitting a rebound, and Jordan received a penny pass and made a rare three-point shot from beyond the three-point line.

After Duncan succeeded in single-handing Ewing and Kwame with consecutive steps, Jordan once again completed the incredible court magic, receiving the ball in the backcourt and forcibly overtaking Manu and Parker, facing Duncan, who assisted in the defense, and slipped the bottom line to complete the shocking dunk.

The two of them were already obsessed and completely forgot that it was a game. The finals, the fourth quarter, the winning game, all left behind. Duncan overturned the river like a dragon on the inside, and Jordan sprinted all over the court and jumped like a rainbow.

Maybe the fans, the media, and even the other players on the pitch were stunned, but at least two people didn't stay.

Popovich and Hu Qingniu, they called a timeout in no particular order.

It's not because they don't have confidence in their ace players, but they know that if they want to win the other party, it is not enough to rely on the strength of one person, and other players also have to contribute.

When Hu Qingniu said that, "It's time, go home with a score of 3:1", the Wizards' expressions became more excited, this is the finals, this is the tiebreaker, go home with a big score of 3:1, nothing will be more happy than this.

After the pause, Hu Qingniu's use of personnel was more conservative, with the interior combination of Kwame Brown and Patrick Ewing, and the strongest penny, Hill and Jordan on the outside. At this time, Hu Qingniu did not allow the team to have a little accident, so he sent what he thought was the most stable lineup.

Popovich probably thought of going together, Parker, Manu, Jackson, Maricross and Duncan, and this is also the most reassuring lineup he can put out.

The tip of the needle is against Maimang, and at this moment, both teams have come up with the strongest remaining lineups, and if they don't succeed, they will become benevolent!

Coincidentally, as soon as Jordan and Duncan came on the court, they found two eyes looking directly at them on the other side.

It soon became clear to them that Hu Qingniu and Bobo had each assigned two players to attack the opponent's trump card. So Jordan found Hill and Penny as passing targets, while Duncan could rely on Parker and Manu.

The team basketball illusion didn't last long, and with only three minutes left on the timer, Jordan broke the balance first, forcing a shot against Manu and Jackson's double strike, and the ball drew a rainbow-like arc and perfectly hollowed into the frame.

Not to be outdone, Duncan helped Parker relieve the blame for the missed shot by clicking on a frontcourt rebound, and then turned left and right, and threw a key diagonal shot into the basket.

After a brief interlude, the focus on the court returned to Duncan vs Jordan.

The score between the Spurs and the Wizards also came to 95-98, and with only a minute and a half left, the balance of victory seemed to have tipped in favor of the Wizards.

Hu Qingniu has secretly shouted in his heart, hold on! Hold on!

But that's not the end of the thrilling race!

The more the team wants to stabilize, the more stable it is at this moment. The Wizards' overall tempo slowed down, trying to drag through every 24 seconds, but the team's aggressive offense disappeared. By the time the Wizards slowly passed the ball out of everyone's hands three or four times, the players who shot again had already lost the sense of offense, and the slow pace of reluctance to attack affected the Wizards, who ran out of 24 seconds, but also hit two irons in a row at the critical moment.

Instead, it was the Spurs who gave up everything to seize the hard-won opportunity.

The team's troika, the fastest French horse, swooped out to Ewing's close defense, showing off his stunt, spinning the top and putting the ball into the basket in a thrilling way.

97:98, that's not all.

Immediately afterwards, another Argentine purebred demon horse stepped forward to kill, and did not evade in the face of Jordan's defense, faked a real attack, a simple but effective feint......

- Serpentine Breakthrough!

The demon knife that twisted through the crowd in various postures, and made the most anti-human mechanics action after a series of anti-human mechanics movements......

- Hands and feet to the basket!

Hu Qingniu had imitated this action hundreds of times, but he fell on the concrete floor in great pain. If Hu Qingniu were to choose a player he wanted to be, he would undoubtedly be like a player like Manu rather than one of those superstars.

In the 20th minute, Jordan couldn't describe Manu's coquettishness and amazement on the field, perhaps the left-handed magician, Jordan in the second half, and Luffy who ate rubber fruits, such a combination can describe such a talented player as Manu Ginobili.

99:98。

The demon knife is out of the sheath! This is already the last edge of the Spurs!

But time!

God gave the Wizards 8 seconds anyway!

Eight seconds is a tiny fraction of a 48-minute game, but now it will decide a Grand Finals, perhaps a few dozen championship rings.

And the owner of this 8 seconds of time, without a doubt, gave Jordan.