"That first-year Timberwolves is really at stake."

"If it weren't for that kid, the Timberwolves would have been beaten by us a long time ago!"

The first quarter of the game between the Timberwolves and Bulls ended, and the players from both sides left the court one after another and returned to their respective rest areas.

Ron Harper took the towel from his teammates when he returned to the lounge area, wiped the sweat from his face, looked at the lounge area on the other side of the court, and complained.

Their Bulls played quite smoothly in the first quarter, and Ron Harper thinks this is the best form that the Bulls can break out in today. Jordan felt hot, and the other players were also quite active. Now that Pippen is out of play, their Bulls are already on fire.

But even so, they still couldn't get a favor from the Timberwolves, which Ron Harper didn't expect.

"It's not surprising that people who can't prevent themselves from having such a result will have this."

When Rodman heard this, he glanced at Cookch and said sarcastically. He is still qualified to say this! In the first quarter of the game, Garnett, who was opposite him, only scored 4 points, and at the same time, in the competition for rebounds, there was no difference between the number of rebounds between Rodman and Garnett, Garnett had four rebounds, and he Rodman also had four rebounds.

And under Rodman's defense, Garnett has not grabbed the Timberwolves' offensive rebounds in his hands, and in Rodman's opinion, he has fulfilled the tasks that he needs to undertake in this role.

Of course, Kukchi heard Rodman's sarcasm, but to this, he only bowed his head and did not refute anything.

Rodman is a notoriously bad guy, and Cookch doesn't want to quarrel with the other party, and of course, more importantly, as Rodman said, he didn't do what he should have done, and Cookch really couldn't get tough in the face of Rodman's sarcasm.

"Well, it's useless to say that."

"It's good to keep our rhythm going."

"That kid has been blown up by me, he feels good in the first quarter, and in the second quarter? What about the third verse? ”

"I'm going to suppress him, I really can't, wait for me and Tony to switch guards, I definitely won't let that first-year kid continue to be arrogant."

Jordan clapped his hands lightly, not allowing the altercation between Rodman and Cookcic to escalate further. At the same time, he also noticed that Kukchi's face was not good-looking, so he comforted him.

In the Bulls, Jordan's status is positive and special, after he came forward to play the round, Rodman still gave Jordan a face, did not say anything, just glanced at Cook with a cold eye, and there was a slight contempt in his eyes.

Rodman looks down on Cooke, the player who hugs Jordan's thigh, or rather, the entire Bulls, the player who can make Rodman open his eyes, Jordan is the only one.

Even Pippen, one of the Iron Triangles, Rodman is not in his eyes, just a "child laborer", how can he compare with him Rodman?

"Michael, do you need a break?"

"Or do you want to continue playing in the second quarter?"

"Judging by the Timberwolves' past style, that young man should be out of the game for half a quarter."

"Would you like to take a break too?"

Seeing that the team members were quiet, the Zen master took a quick look at the rest of the rest time, and asked Jordan with a smile.

In the entire Bulls, the Zen master only has a gentle face when talking to players such as Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman, and when talking to other players, he has a serious look of "I have the final say".

"I don't ......" Jordan subconsciously wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he immediately changed his words: "Let's rest for a while." ”

"I trust my teammates."

Jordan's physical strength is quite abundant, but at this time, he also accepted the kindness of the Zen master and planned to rest for a while.

Seeing that Jordan agreed to rest, the Zen master also showed some smiles on his face, and then while turning his head to look at the rest area to greet Cole, his eyes were also in the area of the Timberwolves rest area in the distance, and he quickly glanced at the martial arts who were already sitting on the bench at this time.

Although Jordan didn't say it, the Zen master knew that Jordan also cared about the Timberwolves' first-year student, and in Jordan's heart, he had already recognized that Cookch couldn't hold down the young man, and he was ready to go to it in person.

Jordan didn't care about the Timberwolves' first-year year as he said he did.

In the Timberwolves rest area, Coach Philip did not change his established tactical system because the scores of the two teams were close.

Takeshi was substituted and Chris Kyle was promoted to the No. 1 position. At the same time, the Timberwolves' "big center" Cherokee Parkes was also replaced, and Ben Wallace was given valuable bench playing time.

On the Bulls' side, Kerr was naturally sent to the No. 2 position after he came on the court, although Kerr's ball-handling ability and Jordan are very different, but if it is just used for a transition, there will be no problem.

In Jordan's absence, Luke Longley on the inside will be the first finisher of the Bulls' offense, and at the same time, Tony Cooke will also get a certain number of shots. With the addition of Kerr, the three of them will divide the number of shots that were vacant when Jordan was not there.

After a short break, with the sharp sound of the buzzer, the players of the Timberwolves and Bulls also entered the court one after another.

As the Bulls sent the ball out in the backcourt, the second quarter of the game between the two teams officially began.

On the Bulls' side, it was still Ron Harper who held the ball, and in the second quarter, he mainly faced Chris Kyle, and on Marbury's side, it was Steve Kerr (191cm/81kg, 25th pick in 2 rounds in 88) who came off the bench on the Bulls' side.

Kerr's NBA career is actually quite lucky, and fans will be able to hear this name in the future, and to be honest, they really need to thank Jordan well.

If it weren't for him in the Bulls, if he wasn't by Jordan's side, a player like Kerr would have been hard to remember. Even if he got two championship rings in the Spurs after leaving the Bulls, in fact, his popularity is largely due to his "fame".

At the top of the arc, Ron Harper, who was holding the ball, saw that the Timberwolves' interior players had adjusted, and the Timberwolves player opposite Luke Longley was a black player he didn't have much impression of. The figure is not very strong, not the kind of "thick" type of player, and at the same time, Wallace's height, compared to Luke Longley, who is 218cm, has no advantage at all.

Such a set of matchups makes Ron Harper feel that this is an offensive opportunity for their Bulls.

The basketball quickly hoisted out of Ron Harper's hands and toward the inside, and soon it fell into the hands of Luke Longley, who was carrying the basket for the ball. In the face of Ben Wallace, who is not as tall as himself, Luke Longley also played smartly, using the standard high-and-high strategy.

After receiving the ball in the back basket, after quickly blowing up the ball, he quickly raised the ball and turned to the frame, and at the same time as he turned around, Luke Longley's body also hit Ben Wallace's body directly, and then Luke Longley took his left foot as the axis foot, and his right foot quickly stepped towards the left front, and his body hit Ben Wallace's body again, after a simple physical confrontation, Luke Longley took the ball with his left hand, and quickly blocked Wallace's raised arm with his right hand, and sent the ball to the basket casually.

The man is a good man, and Luke Longley didn't have any obvious warning when he shot, just tiptoeing on his feet, and the ball was sent out, and the shot was very fast.

The side of the basketball wiped the board, and then it fell into the net with a crisp sound.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bulls took the lead, and the score of the two teams also came to 33 draws.

"Kevin, pay attention to the defense, you can go to the bag when necessary!"

Michael Jordan was not on the court, but Garnett's style of play did not change immediately for a while, and when Luke Longley was playing Wallace alone, Garnett did not go up to help defend at the first time.

The reason why Phillip communicated that Wallace would defend Luke Longley and put Garnett by his side was to use Garnett's bounce and mobility to make up for the defense in time.

Luke Longley's height is difficult for the Timberwolves to reach, even if Garnett is a defensive shot, if he sticks to Luke Longley, he will inevitably be hit by others and hit the height difference.

But from the sidelines, Garnett was able to bridge the gap with bounce.

And the Bulls' Rodman offensive ability is better than nothing, so he doesn't need to be seen as a threat.

Because of this, Philip will immediately warn when he sees the Timberwolves' side losing defense.

In the middle of the court, Garnett understood what Coach Philip meant, and nodded to Coach Philip on the sidelines as he ran towards the front court.

Between offense and defense, the Timberwolves quickly launched a counterattack.

Chris, who had just come on the court, was quite active, using his "young legs and feet" to change direction and shake continuously, and finally found a trace of space in Ron Harper's defense, and forced a breakthrough, although he was caught up by the opponent after rushing a few steps, but Chris did not stop for a moment, and forced a shot directly in the high position.

With a strong shot against the defense, the basketball also flew out of Chris's hands quickly, but unexpectedly, the shot in front of Chris really let him shoot.

With a crisp sound from the basketball into the net, the margin was stretched to two points.

In the next few rounds, the Bulls frequently used the tall man Luke Longley as a pivot to attack, not only him, but also Ron Harper, Tony Cookch and Steve Cole.

Under Garnett's interference, Luke Longley on the inside didn't shoot too much, while the Bulls' outside player, Tony Cooke, frequently hit the interior and occasionally scored, while Steve Kerr got a few open three-point opportunities and hit a few times.

On the whole, the Bulls' offense still played its own tactical rhythm, and although the offensive efficiency could not be compared with Jordan in the state of "God descended to earth", it was quite good.

On the Timberwolves side, after Chris Kyle came up, he scored a strong shot, and he also floated up a little, and then he tried a few times, but Lady Luck would not always favor him, and after hitting a few shots in a row, Chris also learned to be obedient and began to make balls for other teammates.

Marbury's defense against Cole is quite free, using his personal ability to shoot on the outside several times, although Cole's defense is useless in front of Marbury, but the biggest enemy that Marbury has to face is actually himself.

Marbury's outside shooting percentage isn't great, but his ability to drive has caused some problems for the Bulls. In order to stop Marbury, Kerr also did not hesitate to use "tough means" to defend.

So not long after the second quarter was played, Kerr was saddled with two fouls.

And the Timberwolves, led by Marbury, were also fully revitalized on the offensive end, and for a while, the two teams played back and forth, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner.

Off the court, Wu Daoan quietly watched his teammates who were inseparable from the Bulls, and cheered for the outstanding performance of his teammates from time to time.

While Philip was paying attention to the situation on the field, he was also secretly observing the expression and state of Martial Dao, and seeing that Martial Dao's mood was calm, he thought about letting Martial Dao rest for a while.

However, about 5 minutes into the second quarter, the Bulls, who trailed the Timberwolves by 3 points at 44:47, took the lead in making adjustments, Kerr was taken, Jordan returned to the court, and Tony Cookic, who played a little more than a quarter, was also replaced by Scott Burrell (201cm/99kg, 20th pick in the first round in 1993).

Philip didn't mean to make a substitution, but he quickly adjusted the player's defense by taking advantage of the opponent's timeout.

Philip guessed that Jordan would be back on the court, so he made the bold decision to let Garnett go to the outside to keep an eye on Jordan.

As the timeout ended, the players from both teams returned to the field.

As Philip expected, Jordan returned to the court.

But to the surprise of the Zen master, the Timberwolves still pressed the martial arts on the bench.

Glancing at the timberwolves' rest area with some confusion, the Zen master thought that the timberwolves were engaged in some conspiracy.

After Jordan came on the court, the first offense was completed with the signature rush and stop-back to complete the shot under Garnett's defense, although the basketball came out, but Jordan also quickly found his form.

The offense and defense alternated, Tom missed the shot on the Timberwolves' side, and the ball returned to the hands of the Bulls.

And this time, in the face of Garnett's defense, Jordan received the ball in the middle distance with a basket, the ball was hit, and a beautiful back-to-back jumper shot was quickly rolled over, and the basketball fell steadily into the Nets.

In the next few minutes of the second quarter, Jordan has maintained an excellent competitive state, frequently hitting shots under Garnett's defense, compared to when playing against Wudao, the audience can obviously feel that Jordan's play under Garnett's defense has become the familiar look they are familiar with.

Relaxed, freehand, every shot, can even be put into a shooting textbook.

Compared with the various distorted shooting postures under the martial arts defense, the current Jordan is the Jordan that fans are most familiar with.

And Jordan's completely different state in the two quarters of the game also reflects the gap between Wudao and Garnett's single defense ability from the side.

(End of chapter)