Auburn Hills Palace, Ewing was once again dunked, which hit the Knicks' morale, and then, the Pistons' offense played better and better, better than the Knicks' offense.

However, the rebounding ball is still weak, Rodman's playing time is very fragmented, his body can't hold on, as long as the Pistons lead, the Knicks often rely on more shots, and can come back, until the 11th minute of the final quarter, the two teams are tied at 78:78.

With only 56 seconds left, the Pistons attacked, called a timeout, and bought time for Zhou Quan to rest.

As soon as he returned to the substitute, Zhou Quan wanted to lie down, but he was too sudden, and he was so tired that the team doctor began to massage his calves, afraid that he would cramp.

"The Pistons had 27 rebounds, the Knicks had 45, 18 fewer steals, and two fewer steals in the final quarter, and the gap was getting bigger and bigger. If the Pistons lose at home tonight, rebounding is the only reason. ”

In the TNT commentary seat, Robert Giddah shook his head.

Ringer Wilson smiled: "No way, the Pistons' luck was a little worse today, and the Knicks picked up a lot of rebounds."

And Rodman had an injury, he only played 26 minutes today, six rebounds, and in the last minute, maybe he won't be played. ”

Robert Giddah said: "The Pistons' rebounding is heavily dependent on Rodman's play, but the team's rebounding ability is mediocre.

John Seley averaged only 5.7 rebounds in 35 minutes per game, and he was the team's second-second rebounder, which is too few for a leading center, at least eight to pass.

Do you know how many rebounds Iron Fist averages for a point guard? 5.1, he often bursts in, has good rebounding opportunities, and is the third rebounding on the team.

Now Rodman has a problem, and no one can step up and grab the rebound.

If the Pistons want to regain their championship status, my advice is to rebuild the interior lineup with at least one interior player with a good mid-range shot who can open up space for interior breakouts, and then a bench bench with a bench interior player who is good at grabbing rebounds. ”

Ringer Wilson smiled: "John Seley can only play as a substitute, he has always been a substitute, and he can play the main force because of Ranbill's sudden retirement and no one is available to let him go up." ”

"Dennis, are you okay?"

On the Pistons bench, Chuck Daley was asking about Rodman.

Rodman only played 6 minutes in the final quarter and was substituted three minutes ago just to be able to top up at the last minute, and he still believes in the rebounding ability of the big bugs.

Rodman patted his left knee and his lower back, shook his head and said, "Coach, I really want to go up, but these two places hurt so badly that I don't want to get up now." ”

Daley shook his head in disappointment, today Iron Fist became the team's rebounding champion, which can only be described as a tragedy, he had to be replaced by Bedford.

On the Knicks' side, Pat Riley set up foul play.

"Be ruthless when you foul him, so he can't get it in."

He stared at Oakley fiercely and said, "At the critical moment, Iron Fist doesn't dare to fight, if he is punished, the Pistons will lose, understand?" ”

"Understood!"

Oakley and the others shouted in a deep voice.

Pat Riley finally whispered: "If he dares to make a move, don't be weak and go to war." However, Patrick, Charles, your main players, don't do it, you'd rather be beaten than fight back, and let the substitutes on the field play with him. ”

Oakley and the others were helpless for a while, doesn't this make us soft eggs? But they could only nod in the face of Riley's sternness.

Chicago, Zhang Li held a piece of paper, which calculated Zhou Quan's data: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls.

"Tsk, if there were fewer mistakes, tonight's performance would be really amazing. The first playoff game was like this, and the future is limitless! ”

He couldn't help but sigh.

Auburn Hills Palace, Pistons attack.

There is no other tactic, that is, Zhou Quan and the outside line play blocking and dismantling tactics, then break through with the ball, come out to cover inside, and finally go in to shoot by themselves, or divide the ball out of the burst tactics.

On the left wing, Zhou Quan took advantage of John Sely's cover to break through Oakley and enter the paint area.

"Bang!"

But at this moment, the abrupt Oakley suddenly fouled from behind, hooked his shoulders directly, pulled him to the ground, and fell a solid knot on his back.

"Tick!"

The referee made gestures, fouled defensively, and made two free throws.

"Boy, from now on, you don't want to go in again."

Oakley stuck to Zhou Quan, leaned his head in the latter's ear, and stimulated him with trash talk, he hoped that the rookie would take the initiative, and then he pretended to be soft and took a few beats, so that the referee would punish the rookie.

But Zhou Quan ignored Oakley's provocation, he knew very well which was more important, the playoffs were not a good time to fight, Oakley dared to provoke him, and he would learn a lesson in the regular season.

But as soon as he turned, his left elbow stabbed Oakley hard in the left rib.

"Shhh

Oakley gasped in pain.

"He elbowed me, he just elbowed me......" he quickly shouted.

"No, I didn't, he wanted to get me down." Zhou Quan hurriedly pleaded.

All three referees, including the referee, shook their heads and said they didn't see it.

"Shet!"

Oakley burst into a foul mouth.

Zhou Quan was a little disappointed, Oakley didn't do it?

He stood at the free-throw line and smiled at Oakley, "Scoundrel, the jury would rather believe the testimony of gentlemen than the quibbles of thugs." ”

"Bastard!"

Oakley's face turned pale with anger.

Zhou Quan took the ball thrown by the referee and began to dribble.

His free throws have their own rhythm, dribbling three times, exhaling, and then shooting.

"Brush!"

"Brush!"

Hit two free throws in a row, 78:80, and exceeded the score.

Looking at Zhou Quan, Pat Riley shook his head in disappointment.

At the most critical moment, this rookie's psychological quality is really too stable, this is a guy who is born to adapt to big scenes.

With 46 seconds left on the clock, the Knicks attacked.

Zhou Quan tried all his physical strength to lock up Mark Jackson at the last minute, but the truth of the league was still right, and the Knicks cracked his defense against Mark Jackson with a single pick-and-roll.

Mark Jackson got a little space with the pick-and-roll, but he didn't break through with the ball, but immediately passed the ball to Ewing in the low post on the left wing, and the next moment, Zhou Quan bypassed the pick-and-roll and pounced in front of him again.

"Bang!"

Receiving the ball, Ewing begins to hit John Hanley with his back.

But at this time, Zhou Quan did not hesitate to lose Mark Jackson, rushed to the low post, and implemented the bag clamp.

Joe Dumas had moved from the right flank to the top of the arc, and as Zhou was down in the middle, he quickly pounced on Mark Jackson to make up the guard.

And his man, Knicks backup quarterback John Starks, was empty.

This time, the Pistons' package tactics bet on Ewing not seeing the vacancy on the weak side at this moment, and betting on Ewing's assist ability.

The bet was right, Ewing saw Zhou Quan pounce on his side, he had limited vision, and he didn't have enough time to observe the vacancy on the weak side, and now he either threw it hard or passed it to Mark Jackson.

At critical moments, the superstar only believes in himself, and he chooses to come by himself.

And Mark Jackson's current position is on the three-point line, he is a man without three-pointers, and Joe Dumas is almost in place again, and there is no big vacancy.

Suddenly turned around, his legs jumped back, and while getting rid of John Sely, he also got rid of Zhou Quan's bag.

The next moment, the ground rises again, and the middle shot is shot.

Zhou Quan tried his best to change direction and jump to block and stretch his arms as much as he could, but he was still a cut short of the boss, and Ewing's bunny jump ability to get rid of the defense made his bag fail.

As soon as he hit the ground, he immediately turned around and rushed to the paint area.

It's not that he doesn't think it's going to hit, it's that he doesn't give up any chance to grab a rebound, especially when it's super difficult to rebound today.

"Bang!"

The next moment, he heard the most beautiful voice.

"It's short!"

The bearded John Lowes drank excitedly.

"Iron Fist? Iron Fist got the rebound. ”

In the next moment, the glasses man dragon Gelance shouted.

Zhou Quan rushed to the left waist position in one step, and luckily, the basketball rebounded above him, and he quickly grabbed it, turned around and rushed to the front court.

Moving two steps sideways, Mark Jackson immediately blocked.

"Bang!"

The reaction was extremely fast, Zhou Quan pushed casually, and the ball passed between Mark Jackson's legs.

Joe Dumas in front of him took the rebound ball and quickly smashed it forward, and John Starks desperately chased from the flank to the middle, getting closer and closer.

Zhou Quan couldn't run anymore, but he was still trying to get down quickly.

John Starks played as a substitute and was more physically fit than Joe Dumas, and by the time he got to the paint, he was already behind him.

At this time, Joe Dumas rushed to the bottom and made a sharp stop to make a layup.

In the Knicks, John Starks, Oakley, and Anthony Mason belong to the three most ferocious plays, and at this time, they jumped up directly in the back and flew to block.

"Bang!"

The two collided in the air and fell to the ground.

"Tick!"

The referee's whistle blows.

"Damn New Yorkers!"

"He did it on purpose!"

Suddenly, the invective of the palace in Auburn Hills came one after another.

Next, Joe Dumas made a free throw.

It's a pity that I fell just now and was affected, and I missed two free throws at the critical moment, and the score was still 78:80.

Oakley grabbed the rebound, Nick attacked, and with 18 seconds left on the clock, Pat Riley called a timeout.

"Patrick, last attack, here."

With a difference of two points, he has only one option, believing in his superstar Patrick Ewing, which is a must, even if he is a championship coach, in the most critical moments, he will only trust his superstar and no one else.

"Hmm."

Ewing nodded sullenly.

'Don't give them time, after a draw, defend with all your might, and we'll settle them in extra time.' Pat Riley admonished.

"I put John on the weak side, and if you don't have a chance, remember that you still have your team-mate behind you, who is waiting for your ball."

But at the end, he grabbed Ewing and whispered a word in his ear.

"Dennis, hold on for a few more seconds, I need your help."

On the Pistons' side, Chuck Daly pulled Rodman off the bench and asked him to help defend Ewing, who concluded that the last shot had to and could only be Ewing.

"I see, Coach."

Rodman also gritted his teeth and played like this tonight, the team had a chance to win, and he didn't want to lose.

The timeout ended, and the Knicks attacked.

Zhou Quan mustered up his courage and struggled to block in front of Mark Jackson, trying to lock down the passing route in the opposite direction.

Believing in superstars, it's an NBA tradition, he knows that, and Chuck Daley just said that the last shot, nine times out of ten, Ewing, so he wants to lock up Mark Jackson and Ewing's passing routes.

"Squeak Squeak......"

At the last moment, all that remained of the Palace of Auburn Hills was the sound of sneakers rubbing one after another, as well as the heavy and nervous breathing of countless fans.

With seven seconds, six seconds left, Mark Jackson got rid of Zhou Quan through a pick-and-roll and passed the ball down.

While Ewing received the ball, there was a block on the weak side, and John Starks borrowed the wall to get rid of Joe Dumas and cut to the basket.

"Bang!"

Ewing dribbled back, but John Sely was dead, Rodman pounced from behind, and Zhou Quan also pounced on the top, and he faced a three-man package, so he could only choose to execute Pat Riley's tactic and pass the ball to Starks, who cut in from behind.

At this moment, he didn't even have time to look behind it, and could only blindly believe in John Starks' inche.

The next moment, the rabbit jumped, turned and took a step back in the air, and after opening up the distance between John Sailly and Rodman, before he could land, he threw the ball over John Sailley's head.

"It's coming!"

At the moment of passing, he saw that Starks had cut into the right waist position, and his eyes lit up.

"Back cut!"

With a full-level panoramic vision, Zhou Quan, who rushed down from above, saw Starks' cut, and he saw it even earlier than Ewing, from the time Starks started to cut in.

When Ewing jumped with a rabbit, he immediately decided to give up the bag on Ewing and rushed straight in to make up for the basket.

Starks cut to the right midfield, saw Ewing's jump pass, his eyes lit up, and he accelerated and rushed in.

"I'm going to finish the last dunk."

The next moment, he received a pass, jumped up, held the ball in both hands, and smashed it into the empty basket.

On the other side, Zhou Quan rushed in from John Sely's side, and he also flew up with all his might.

"Bang!"

The two collided in front of the basket in an instant.

John Starks was only 82 kilograms, and he couldn't hit Zhou Quan, he was knocked over directly from the air, and after landing, he fell to the ground and choked enough.

Zhou Quan was better, staggered two steps to the ground, and didn't fall.

"Tick!"

The referee's whistle sounded.

"Boom!"

Blocking the opponent's violent dunk with his body, which is the toughest defense, the palace of Auburn Hills immediately resounded with violent cheers.

At this time, the referee ran up, pointed to Zhou Quan, made a defensive foul gesture, and gave the Knicks two free throws.

"Bastard!"

John Starton was furious, and his last dunk was actually broken by the iron fist.

Falling dizzy, he walked to the free-throw line, and then, in Pat Riley's anticipation, missed both free throws.

"Mine."

Rodman made a big move in the end, grabbed the backcourt rebound, and was fouled.

Next, he hit one of two free throws to widen the gap to three points.

With 1.5 seconds left, Starks received the ball and hit a long-range shot.

At 78:81, the game ended, and the Pistons struggled to get a home victory.

"Boom!"

At the end of the game, the Palace of Auburn Hills was in a carnival, with fans and players cheering and cheering to their heart's content.

Although it was only the first game of the series, everyone was extremely happy to win against such a strong opponent as the Knicks in such a difficult situation.

At the end of the game, Zhou Quan did not cheer with his teammates, but just lay down, his calves had already begun to cramp.

"Iron Fist, we still won."

Rodman sat next to him, clutching his aching knees, but with a smile on his face.

"Dennis, you're okay with your knees, right?"

Zhou Quan glanced at Rodman and asked with a gasp.

Rodman cracked his mouth and smiled, and said: "Old injury, you are all fighting, I can't help but fight." ”

On the TNT commentary seat, Robert Giddah held the statistical table and exclaimed:

"This game was really unexpected, no one would have thought that the Pistons' rebounds would have such a big problem, and at 29:46, the Pistons actually grabbed 17 fewer rebounds.

But what is even more unexpected is that in this case, the Pistons actually won and the Knicks actually lost. ”

Ringer Wilson smiled: "I can only say that except for rebounding, the Pistons have done everything else.

Especially defensively, the Pistons only allowed Ewing to score 21 points, shooting only 38% from the field, and prevented Ewing from 5 turnovers.

In addition, the Iron Fist defense allowed Mark Jackson to shoot 5 of 13, shooting only 38.5%, plus free throws, and only scored 12 points. More crucially, Mark Jackson only dished out four assists in this game.

Mark Jackson didn't organize the team's offense well, and his performance was much lower than Iron Fist's, which was a big reason why the Knicks lost. ”

Robert Giddah laughed: "Joe Dumas shot 7-of-15 today, shooting 46.7 percent, and the efficiency was not bad, and he scored 16 points on 2-of-6 three-point shooting."

But alas, he didn't break through, he didn't kill, so he didn't make a single free throw, and what was even more disappointing was that because he was floating outside, plus he didn't have a lot of luck, he didn't have a rebound. ”

Ringer Wilson said: "The Assassins were even worse on 1-of-9 shooting, perhaps because of injuries, like Rodman today.

Rodman averaged 18.7 rebounds per game in the regular season, but today he only played 27 minutes and grabbed only 7 rebounds, and the Pistons' rebounding king is Iron Fist, and as a point guard, he actually grabbed 8 rebounds. ”

Robert Giddah exclaimed: "So the Pistons were able to win today, not because they did everything except rebounding, but because the play of the iron fist was actually the only reason." ”

Then he read: "Iron Fist played 40 minutes, 8-of-16 shooting, 10-of-12 free throws, 26 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls.

With a shooting rate of 50%, a free throw shooting rate of 83.3%, and 12 free throws, he was rewarded for constantly holding the ball and breaking through the whole process, and the lethality was very powerful.

Except for a bit of mistakes, in other aspects, his performance can be called superstar. Without him, the Pistons would have had no chance of winning tonight.

If you don't understand the value of this statistic, I can make a comparison, which is Ewing's 21 points and 38% shooting percentage.

One of them is a super center, close to the basket, and the other is a rookie point guard, but the latter is more efficient for only one reason, Iron Fist breaks through too many times, and his shot is closer to the basket than Ewing. ”

(End of chapter)