"Hey, Meng, why do you look so excited today?" October 30, 2001 (U.S. time), the NBA2001-2002 season will kick off today, and the Pacers' first game of the season is at home against the Washington Wizards, and today's game is also Jordan's first game after his second comeback. Therefore, when Larry Bird finished arranging the tactics of this game, after all the Pacers walked out of the locker room, looking at the away team's locker room in the distance, Meng Xu's breathing was a little short, and Reggie Miller on the side obviously saw Meng Xu's abnormality.

"Well, yes, it's a bit exciting." Nodding at Reggie Miller, Meng Xu, who was smiling, still couldn't hide his excited look. Can you not get excited? Meng Xu's dream has always been to compete with Jordan on the same stage, originally with Jordan's retirement, Meng Xu basically broke this idea, but he didn't expect Jordan to choose to make a comeback this season, so Meng Xu now has the opportunity to realize his dream, which makes Meng Xu how can he not be excited.

"Nerves, I don't know what's good about that bastard." Looking at Meng Xu's expression, Reggie Miller guessed a rough idea, Jordan is the idol of countless teenagers, and countless people worship Jordan as a god, but Reggie Miller can't look down on him, in Reggie Miller's eyes, Jordan, who was once annoyed and ashamed by his own defense, and even used his fists to deal with himself, is undoubtedly a hypocrite and a sanctimonious scumbag.

"Uh, then, Reggie, in this game, are you going to deal with this bastard, or am I going to deal with him?" Seeing that Reggie Miller was a little unhappy, Meng Xu calmed down a little. In order to allow Meng Xu to join the Pacers, Reggie Miller gave up his leadership and core position in the Pacers, took the initiative to retreat behind Meng Xu, and began to assist Meng Xu, and Meng Xu and Reggie Miller have a good personal relationship, so Meng Xu still has great respect for Reggie Miller.

"Of course I'll deal with this bastard." Looking at the away team's locker room, which had been pushed open, Reggie Miller's face immediately sank.

Because it is the first game after Jordan's comeback, the Pacers and Wizards' game today has even exceeded the opening game between the defending champion Lakers and the 76ers, and countless celebrities and dignitaries from all walks of life in the United States have rushed to Indiana to watch today's game, so tickets for today's game are also in short supply, and the average ticket price last season was less than $60 for the Pacers. Larry Bird was also unceremonious in today's game, adding a 0 directly to the end of all tiers of tickets, and the average ticket price reached a staggering $610, and even so, the game was still hard to find.

When the visiting Wizards were the first to walk out of the players' tunnel, and Jordan, who was the finale of the Wizards, waved to the audience with a smile on his face, the boos that rang out from the Bankers Living Arena were mixed with countless cheers. Those boos are naturally from the Pacers' die-hard fans, for the first person in the history of the league, the Pacers fans don't have much affection, the peak Pacers led by Reggie Miller have fallen at the feet of the Bulls and Knicks almost every year, so when Jordan appeared on the Pacers' home court again, these fans were very happy to send him their own boos. And those cheers came from the fans who came from thousands of miles to watch Jordan, and in order to prevent them from entering the Bankers Life Arena, the management of the Pacers directly increased the ticket price for today by 10 times, but looking at the situation in front of them, and the cheers that can almost be matched with boos, it is clear that such a dollar cannot stop their enthusiasm.

After the Wizards, when the Pacers players walked out of the player tunnel, the boos on the scene stopped abruptly, replaced by waves of cheers, with the return of Larry Bird and the addition of Meng Xu, Pacers fans once again saw the hope of winning the championship. And today they are also very much looking forward to Meng Xu being able to lead the Pacers, defeat Jordan, defeat the Wizards, and then climb to the top of the NBA step by step.

"Michael, I've finally waited for this day." When the starters of the two teams began to warm up, Meng Xu and Jordan walked to the vicinity of the center circle at the same time very tacitly, looking at each other. Looking at the idol and opponent in front of him who had appeared in his dreams countless times, Meng Xu tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart and said with a smile.

"Reggie was really lucky. But, Meng boy, the victory in this game must be mine. Looking at Meng Xu, who was still a little immature and even had some baby fat on his face, Jordan said confidently that since watching the matchup between the Spurs and the Lakers in Staples last season, Jordan is very much looking forward to the battle with Meng Xu and Kobe.

"Michael, that's what I'm going to tell you, too." Perhaps infected by Jordan's self-confidence, Meng Xu put away his smile and returned to his former calm, while clenching his fists.

"Erwin, how far do you think Michael can recover from this comeback?" Looking at Jordan, who was already a little fat, Michaels turned his face to ask his partner.

"It's hard to say, after all, Michael is 38 years old, and it's hard for him to be like when he was younger." Magic has no bottom on what Jordan can recover into, after all, Jordan's age is there, and Jordan has not received systematic training for several years, although the outside media has been boasting that after Jordan's comeback, he will continue to dominate the league, but Magic Johnson is skeptical about it, because judging from last year's playoffs, O'Neal, Duncan, Meng Xu and Kobe, at least 4 of them, from Jordan at his peak, the gap is quite small, Especially since O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are still on the same team, so it will be too difficult for Jordan to regain his scepter from them.

Although Michaels also very much hopes that Jordan can regain control of the league as he boasts to the outside world, Michaels also knows that this is impossible, but as a Jordan fan, Michaels still has a trace of illusion about it, but after hearing Magic Johnson's words, Michaels also nodded with some disappointment.

"Perhaps, today's game is also a kind of inheritance, and Michael's comeback is also to complete his historical duty." Watching the main lineups of both teams re-enter the court after the warm-up, Magic Johnson said this in a very small voice. In Magic Johnson's view, the Lakers he led lost to Jordan's Bulls in the Finals, which meant the end of his and Larry Bird's reign, and his handover of the scepter to Jordan, and today's game, in Magic Johnson's view, is so similar to that year.

"The starting lineup of the Pacers in this game is as follows: center Jermaine O'Neal, power forward James Posey, small forward Meng Xu, scoring guard Reggie Miller, and playmaking guard Jamal Tinsley." Looking at the starting lineup of the Pacers, Michaels was slightly stunned, Jermaine O'Neal played as a big forward both in the Trail Blazers and in the Pacers last season, and now Jermaine O'Neal is still a little thin, and playing center is undoubtedly a great loss. And James Posey has always played small forward and scoring guard in the Nuggets, so the interior composed of these two people will suffer very much when facing most teams, while Meng Xu has returned to the position of small forward after playing as a playmaker for almost a season.

Compared to the Pacers' somewhat unusual lineup, the Wizards' lineup is much more normal, and the Wizards' starting lineup is Kristen Leitner at center and Jahidi White at power forward. Small forward Richard Hamilton, scoring guard Michael Jordan, playmaking guard Conteny Alexander. ”

"The inside of both teams is very winning, so the key to this game is the duel between the two sides on the outside, whether it is Jordan and Hamilton on the Wizards' side, or Meng Xu and Reggie Miller on the Pacers' side, the outside strength of both sides is currently the league's first-class." After introducing the starting lineups of both sides, the game basically began. However, looking at the starting lists of both sides, the duel between Meng Xu and Jordan that everyone is looking forward to, this game may be difficult to stage. With Reggie Miller and James Posey here, Meng Xu basically doesn't have to defend Jordan in person, and the same is true for the Wizards, Hamilton's defense is also medium among small forwards, so in this game, Meng Xu and Jordan rarely have a chance to match.

When Jermaine O'Neal beat Kristen Leitner to jump successfully, the game also officially began, Jamal Tinsley dribbled through the half court, and immediately handed the basketball to Meng Xu, who was already waiting at the top of the arc, and then the other players of the Pacers all pulled away, waiting for Meng Xu's singles. Larry Bird's strategy for the Pacers is very simple, which is to give the ball to Meng Xu, and Meng Xu chooses whether to break or play alone, and then everyone else runs around Meng Xu. With Meng Xu's singles ability, as long as the opponent does not contain Meng Xu, then no matter who defends, it is a good offensive opportunity for Meng Xu, and Meng Xu's own characteristics of the breakthrough system are also destined to Meng Xu's ability to create opportunities for his teammates is absolutely first-class, and the other players of the Pacers only need to run out of the opportunity and then wait for Meng Xu to pass the ball over. Because of this, most of the Pacers' trades and signings this season are pitchers with 3-point ability.