The game continued, with two minutes left in the first quarter, and at 23:18, the Pistons led by five points on the road, and the Cavaliers called a timeout.

Mark Price uses pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhou Quan's defense to a certain extent, but it doesn't play a big role.

His main blocking position is Ulrich's side, and he doesn't want to face Joe Dumas, hoping to play small and big, and use the blocking and pick-and-roll to play against Ulrich.

But when Zhou Quan was blocking and dismantling, he always rushed to the confrontation, either directly destroying the blocking and dismantling tactics, or slowing down Mark Price's movement, so as to catch up in time.

Mark Price couldn't really solve Zhou's defense, and he was the engine of the Cavaliers and the team's No. 2 scoring point, and when he was limited by Zhou, the Cavaliers' offense couldn't go smoothly, resulting in the score falling behind.

On the defensive end, he was even more vulnerable and had no way to defend Zhou Quan.

The Cavaliers also arranged for other outside players with greater tonnage to switch to Zhou Quan, but Zhou Quan also used the block to find Mark Price and stared at him.

On the ESPN commentary bench, Rock Howard said: "Mark Price scored 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first 10 minutes, and handed out 1 assist.

Iron Fist also played 10 minutes, shooting 3 of 5 and getting 6 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 steal. Iron Fist against Mark Price, both offensive and defensive, plus the organization, has a clear advantage. ”

Larry Winston nodded: "After Price hit the first three-pointer, he missed the next three shots, he couldn't open this point, and the organization was also poor, if the Cavaliers don't want to change the disadvantage of the No. 1 position, I'm afraid the Pistons' advantage will slowly accumulate, and finally there is no suspense to form a strong enough advantage." ”

Howard laughed: "That's why I said the lineup is restrained, and the Pistons will beat the Cavaliers." ”

Winston laughed a few times when he heard this, and said, "Locke, you have a certain point, but it is better to say that the Iron Fist can suppress Mark Price than that the Pistons restrain the Knights." ”

Howard thought for a moment and nodded with a smile.

Winston continued, "The Cavaliers had a superior record against the Pistons in the regular season, but with the rapid growth of Iron Fist, his abilities have improved a lot and he now has the ability to suppress Mark Price.

It's actually quite surprising that a rookie can overwhelm an All-Star point guard in the playoffs, and all I can say is that Mr. McCloskey's eye for rookie picks is very clever. ”

Howard laughed: "Now I think the Pistons have a chance to renew the glory of the Bad Boys and win the championship again with the playmaker at the core. ”

"Locke, you said you won the championship?"

Hearing this, Winston looked very surprised, then shook his head and said: "No, now this Pistons team is far from the strength to win the championship, their interior lack of offensive ability, especially no independent offensive ability, mainly rely on outside offense, I'm afraid it will be difficult to win the championship, they have natural flaws in the lineup." ”

But Howard said, "Larry, have you forgotten about the bulls?" ”

Winston was stunned, but shook his head again and said: "The Bulls are bulls, the interior line of the Bulls and the interior lineup of the Pistons are flawed, the center is not good, and it is even inferior to the Pistons." However, the Bulls have Michael Jordan, and it's no problem to say he's the first man on the active roster, right? ”

"Nope."

Howard shook his head and said, "No one on active duty is stronger than him. ”

"Michael shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first round of the first series, and in the first round of the playoffs, no one on any of the playoff teams, including super center Ewing, was more efficient than him, and he could make up for the lack of strength on the inside," Winston said. But is it okay to have an outside line for a piston? ”

Howard thought for a moment and shook his head.

Winston laughed, "The Assassin's injuries are too bad to be good, and even in the bench, his contribution is not as great as we expected."

Joe Dumas is good, but he has a stronger defense, and he can't do what Jordan can do and can't make up for the lack of interior.

Iron Fist, that's even worse, his offensive efficiency is ten grades behind Michael, and he hasn't reached the passing level, and he can't make up for the lack of the inside line.

That's why I said the Pistons are not the Bulls, and the Bulls can win championships with a strong outside lineup, but this Pistons can't.

Michael Jordan has the ability to fly the Bulls, but the Pistons have no one as strong as him. ”

"So Larry, how many seasons do you think the Pistons will need before they have a chance to win a championship?" Howard asked.

Winston thought about it seriously and said, "The Bulls' roster is at least going to last a few years, so I don't think the Pistons have a chance to win the championship in three to five years." ”

Howard said with a strange face: "Michael Jordan and Iron Fist are real mortal enemies, the kind that cannot be resolved, according to what you say, isn't Iron Fist going to be suppressed by Michael Jordan for many years?" ”

Winston laughed, and then said: "Last time All-Star, some media revealed that Jordan said in public that he was going to bankrupt Iron Fist's sneaker brand company, which shows that they are indeed mortal enemies that cannot be resolved." ”

Howard laughed: "It seems that if the Pistons want to win the championship with a point guard-centric lineup again, they have to trade, at least a center who is stronger than John Seley's offense to come in."

But in fact, Sailly's defense is very good, and his interior combination with Rodman is one of the strongest defensive combinations in the league, but he doesn't have the ability to attack independently. ”

Winston smiled: "The Pistons are not weak in this lineup, they are the strongest defensive team in the league, otherwise they would not be able to play third in the East."

Last season, it was also this lineup, which reached the Eastern Conference finals, and this season it was only Iron Fist replaced Ranbir, and Iron Fist's performance was no weaker than last season's assassins, and the lineup actually did not change.

But who made them bump into Jordan and the Bulls, who were in their prime? If I had to predict, I think the Pistons would have a hard time getting out of the East in five years. ”

Howard nodded and said: "The current Michael Jordan is indeed too strong, with a shooting rate of 60.9% in the first round of the series, an average of 40+ per game, 56 points in a single game, and 51 points in the second round of G1, the performance is too terrifying, full of sharpness, and no one can stop it!"

The Pistons were originally Jordan's mortal enemies, and now the relationship between Iron Fist and Jordan is even worse, and Iron Fist is indeed unlucky to bump into such a Jordan. ”

"The story between Tekken and Jordan is probably no less than the story between Assassin and Jordan." Winston teased.

"Haha......"

When the two of them said this, they couldn't help laughing.

The game continued, and the Cavaliers were never able to solve the problem of the No. 1 position.

Mark Price has average athletic talent, in the case of smaller tonnage and shorter height, he has no athletic advantage in the face of Zhou Quan, but he is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of confrontation, which is a hard injury, and when Zhou Quan stares at him to play, he can't avoid this hard injury.

As Larry Winston said, the Pistons slowly built up an advantage and eventually defeated the Cavaliers, 103-94, to win the second round of G1 on the road.

At the end of the game, Howard said: "Mark Price, as the second scoring point of the Cavaliers, shot 4 of 12 in this game, shot 33.3%, 2 of 2 free throws, only got 10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal, but had 5 turnovers, his play was the most important reason for the Cavaliers' loss." ”

Winston nodded: "As a counterpoint player, Iron Fist shot 9 of 18 in 41 minutes, the shooting rate exceeded the previous performance, and he was also the one who shot the most from the Pistons, plus 4 of 4 free throws, and got 22 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls." His performance, it should be said, surpassed Mark Price in all aspects. ”

"Iron Fist made 18 shots today, five of which hit three from the bottom of the basket, one was a near-two-point shot and missed, five of five were two of two and six from afar, and one three-pointer was missed," Howard analyzed.

The offense under the basket accounted for 27.7%, the last two points were 5.6%, the middle two points were 27.8%, the long two points were 33.3%, and the three-point shot was 5.6%.

Larry, who shot a lot less from the last two points today, increased a lot of mid-range shooting, and improved his shooting percentage. ”

"Almost all players, including Michael Jordan, have the lowest percentage of nearly two-point shooting, or just above three-point shooting," Winston said.

Iron Fist would be the right decision if he really wanted to improve his offensive efficiency, reduce his nearly two-point shooting and increase his mid-range two-point and long-range two-pointers.

Especially since he is still a point guard, scoring in the paint area is not a rational and efficient way for him, no matter how strong his ability to drill into the seams, he has to face a small fight with a big, and one-to-many situation. ”

Howard laughed: "But he just has fewer shots in the paint area, and he has a lot of shots in the paint area." And half of his assists were obtained by passing the ball in the penalty area.

Then I analyze, if his offensive skills mature in the future, it is likely to increase the shot of nearly two points again. ”

Zhou Quan became the best in the show and was interviewed live by ESPN TV.

"Iron Fist, against All-Star point guard Mark Price, you played at an All-Star level, stifled the opponent's performance into a role player, how did you do that?" The journalist asked.

Zhou Quan wiped his sweat and gasped and said: "Use my advantages to constantly attack the opponent's weaknesses, this is my way to win." ”

……

At this time, Jordan was on the phone with Phil Jackson in Chicago.

"Michael, look at this momentum, the iron fist has eaten Mark Price, he has improved a lot in the second half of the season, the Cavaliers may not be able to stop the Pistons, we must be mentally prepared to face them again in the East finals." Phil Jackson said.

Jordan was silent for a moment and said, "That's better, I hope to sweep that damn team and that damn guy again in the Eastern Conference finals." Listen, Phil, I've even got that check for half a million dollars ready. ”

Phil Jackson was helplessly silent for a moment, he knew who Michael Jordan was talking about, and now this Piston, Michael's most hated and hated thing was no longer the smiling assassin, but the Chinese.

He pondered for a moment and said: "Michael, the possibility of sweeping the Pistons is still quite low, we have no one in the No. 1 position to deal with Iron Fist, he is not last year's smiling assassin, he has a big mismatch advantage in the No. 1 position."

It doesn't matter on the offensive end, Pippen and you can take over the ball, but on the defensive end, neither Paxson nor BJ can guard him. ”

"I'll deal with him." Jordan said coldly.

Phil Jackson said: "Switching defenses is one way to go, but no matter what, they're going to be staring at our No. 1 position, whether it's him, or Joe Dumars, against Paxson or BJ, there's a misalignment advantage.

Have you forgotten the last regular season game, when it was a tie in the final quarter, and you broke out at the end of the quarter to win the game.

So Michael, you don't underestimate them, if it weren't for the injury impact, they would have been even better than the Pistons last season.

Although there is one less Ranbier in the main interior line, and there is one less fierce Vinier Johnson in the bench lineup, there is one more iron fist in the main outside lineup, and there is also one more assassin in the bench lineup, which is even stronger than last season in terms of lineup.

What's more, they have regained their vigor and have a new leader and core full of fighting spirit, which is the most important thing. ”

Jordan knows that what Phil Jackson said is right, this piston is indeed stronger than last year's piston, but he is not the Jordan of the past, and now he has reached the pinnacle of the realm, with explosive self-confidence, no matter how strong this piston is, he will crush them.

"Phil, I'll kill them, I'll do it." With a deep snort, he ended the call.

……

"Rick, Jazz and Hypersonics, who won?" In the away dressing room, Joe Dumas asked.

Musk said: "I just received the news that the Jazz who are playing at home have won. 100:108, won by 8 points. The Jazz have three players scoring 20+, in addition to Karl Malone, there is also Jeff Malone, and the bench guard Tyrone Corbyn. ”

"Rick, what about John Stockton?" Zhou Quan was most concerned about the performance of the other team's point guards, so he asked.

Musk looked at a piece of paper in his hand, and then said: "7 of 12 shots, 58.3% shooting, plus two free throws, got 16 points, 15 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls, no rebounds and blocks." ”

"15 assists and 3 steals?"

Zhou Quan sighed twice and said: "Sure enough, it is worthy of being a 5-time assist king and a 2-time steal king, this performance, I'm afraid supersonic can't do Jazz." ”

He asked again, "Rick, what about Gary Payton's performance?" ”

Musk laughed: "He played 29 minutes, made 2 of 3 shots, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, no steals and blocks, and no free throws."

In front of John Stockton, he is still a little too tender, the supersonic can't beat the Jazz, he suffers a lot in this position, just like you play Mark Price, the number one position is suppressed, so the supersonic loses. ”

Zhou Quan shook his head modestly and said, "I don't have such a big advantage in beating Mark Price. ”

"Chuck, let's talk."

“OK。”

While the players were showering, McCloskey called Chuck Daley outside to find a secluded spot, and the two struck up a conversation.

He said: "Chuck, judging from the G1 battle between Iron Fist and Mark Price, we have a good chance of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals, what do you think? ”

Daley thought for a moment and said, "As long as Iron Fist's defense can limit Price, we do have a better chance of eliminating the Cavaliers."

However, we can't be careless, the interior combination of Larynance and Doherty is very strong, and with the defense of Sellly and Rodman, they can't really limit them, only slightly reduce their efficiency.

And Larry Nance is pretty good defensively, and his presence has suppressed our offense in the low post and under the basket.

We still have to continue to fight for the advantage in the number one position, which is the basis for winning.

My biggest headache right now is Rodman's injury, last night we had six fewer rebounds than the Cavaliers, he only had two points and nine rebounds, including four offensive rebounds, and he actually only grabbed seven effective rebounds, and if it wasn't for the iron fist that really suppressed Mark Price, we could have lost. ”

McCloskey nodded and said, "Chuck, if we can make it to the Eastern Conference finals this time, we will face the Bulls again."

Now this Bulls team is too strong, Jordan's performance in the playoffs is terrible, I have only one request for you, to avoid being swept. ”

Chuck Daley felt a lot of pressure from this sentence and nodded, "I'll do my best." ”

Nodding, McCloskey stopped discussing the playoffs and changed the subject, saying, "Chuck, I've decided to retire." ”

"What?"

Chuck Daley was shocked.

He was brought to Detroit by McCloskey, and over the years, the two have maintained a very good relationship, complemented each other well, and together they built a bad boy army, won two consecutive championships, and it can be said that they both reached the peak of their careers in the Pistons.

Although I knew that McCloskey had plans to retire, I was still a little reluctant and sad when I really decided to come down.

"Old man, hold on for a little longer, Iron Fist's progress is fast, and if we trade a good center to come in, there's a chance." He couldn't help but persuade.

McCloskey shook his head firmly and said, "I'm old, I don't have enough energy, and it's hard to cope with the current team.

The team is in the midst of a rebuild, trades, drafts, signings, all these things need long-term planning, my energy is gone, and I need younger people to step up. ”

"Then general manager, are you going to prepare?"

"Just let Weaver try, I've suggested it to my boss, and he agreed."

"Troy Weaver?"

Chuck Daley nodded, this is also the old man of the Pistons, and his ability is not bad, and he is indeed qualified to take over the position of general manager.

McCloskey looked at Daley and said, "Chuck, you are younger than me, you can work for a few more years, and you can retire after you have cultivated the Iron Fist." ”

Daley couldn't help but smile bitterly, you ran away by yourself and pinned me here, but I'm also 62 years old, only 4 years younger than you, and I'm also at the age of retirement.

McCloskey took his eyes off Daly's face and said thoughtfully, "Tekken has improved a lot, and he's really a surprise." ”

Speaking of this, his gaze moved back to Daley and said, "Chuck, he was already the leader of the Pistons, but now nominally, the leader is Joe Dumas, which is not appropriate. ”

Chuck Daley was stunned: "Jack, what do you mean?" ”

(End of chapter)