May 8th, the second round of G2 match day.

The Pistons tried their best to complete a two-game winning streak on the road, but the reality was disappointing, with the crazy support of the home fans, the Cavaliers played well, while the Pistons were not in the same form as G1, losing the G2 game and the two sides were tied 1-1.

In this game, Zhou Quan's state was also average, playing 26 minutes, shooting 6 of 14, shooting rate of 42.8%, plus 4 free throws, and got 16 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls.

Mark Price has taken a different defensive approach to him than in G1, and it has had some effect, but the main problem is that most of his teammates are in average form, they can't shoot the ball they pass, and he himself is not really limited.

Joe Dumas was not in good shape, 33 minutes, 7 of 18 shots, including two three-pointers, plus free throws, got 18 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers, with a shooting rate of only 38.9%, and the efficiency was not as good as Zhou Quan.

Their form was not good, and the Assassins got more chances, shooting 7-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw range in 35 minutes, putting down 21 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers.

However, he couldn't save the team, and Rodman only played 25 minutes and grabbed only seven rebounds.

In the other game, the Jazz performed better than the Pistons, winning two straight games at home and beating the SuperSonics again.

Jeff Malone scored 33 points, teamed up with the Postman to score 61 points, and John Stockton once again delivered 14 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers, which was the key reason for the Jazz's victory.

In terms of supersound, Gary Payton, who Zhou Quan cares about, is still not performing well, following the last game, he shot 2 of 3 again, and only got 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls.

Payton had 10.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in the first-round series, but faced John Stockton in the second round.

On the 9th, the media called on ESPN TV to improve the Jazz's chances of winning the championship and reduce the chances of the Pistons winning the championship.

The defeat in the G2 battle made the media also start to target Zhou Quan, believing that the Pistons' decision to rush him to the leadership position was wrong.

"Last season, the smiling assassins who came down to the top were able to lead the team to the Eastern Conference finals, and if Iron Fist can't lead the team to the Eastern Conference finals this season, it only proves that he does not have what it takes to become the leader of the Pistons. We don't need to discuss his rookie status, because he has become the leader of the Pistons, and he should take on the responsibility of leadership. The New York Times.

"The Pistons management made a bad decision, let's not talk about whether Tekken is qualified to be the leader of the team, at least the management chose the wrong time, they should announce it in the offseason, not in the middle of the playoffs, which will put extra pressure on the team and Tekken." Los Angeles Daily News.

At eleven o'clock that morning, the Pistons boarded the special plane back to Detroit.

"Chuck, it does seem like we've chosen the wrong time."

Putting on his reading glasses and flipping through the newspaper, McCloskey said to Chuck Daley.

Chuck Daly shrugged his shoulders and said, "What if we make it to the East?" ”

McCloskey lowered his head and glanced at Daley from above his glasses, and said in a mocking tone: "Chuck, yesterday you said that there might be a problem with winning the Knights, and today you are so sure?" ”

Daley laughed and said: "We won one away game, that's the advantage, the next two home games, catch it, we can win them." ”

"It's better to get into the East, but if you can't, it doesn't matter, we care about the future. Look, these media are looking for our stubble. ”

McCloskey nodded, feeling a little tired, and after saying this, he took off his glasses, put the newspaper in his hand aside, and closed his eyes.

"We knocked out the Knicks, and the New York media represents the media mainstream, and of course they're going to find our stubble." Daly said.

"Whew! Whew......"

But then he heard a snoring sound, and when he turned his head, he saw that McCloskey, who was still talking, had fallen asleep.

"Jack is really old." He shook his head.

……

That night, Zhou Quan found a bar and asked a group of teammates to watch the game together.

As a result, the Suns, who returned to their home court, defeated the Trail Blazers, and the two teams were tied 2-1, and the Trail Blazers still took the lead.

Jeff Hornacek scored 30 points on 50 percent shooting and was the primary contributor to the team's victory.

Mighty Ray Marley stepped off the bench and scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out five assists and two steals, and even brightened out more than the Death Gun.

Glider Drexler scored 37 points and shot 50 percent from the field, becoming the air slash king of the game.

In the other game, the Green team hosts the Bulls.

Big Bird still didn't respond, McHale was also aging, and the team's leading scorer, Ledger Lewis, was locked up by Jordan and Pippen, scoring just 13 points on 5-of-21 shooting.

Jordan and Pippen teamed up for 62 points, Jordan scored 36 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Bulls defeated the Celtics three times and won the second-round match point.

Zhou Quan said thoughtfully: "The Bulls' intention to sweep the green team is obvious, and Big Bird should not play in the fourth game." ”

Ulrich said with a smile: "In the first round of the playoffs in '86, Jordan led the Bulls against the Green team, and I was still with the Bulls that year, and he averaged 43.7 points per game, and was finally swept by Big Birdies.

Then the following year, the Bulls were unlucky enough to meet the Green team in the first round, and he averaged nearly 36 points per game before being swept by Big Birdie again.

Twice swept by Big Bird in the first round, with his competitive spirit, to say that he didn't want to sweep Big Birdie, it's impossible, this time he went for the big birdie, but unfortunately Big Bird didn't come back. ”

"Iron Fist, this time it's to break the bones, and you can't be swept by him again." The assassin stared at Zhou Quan and said.

Zhou Quan nodded and said, "Of course, although Jordan is ridiculously strong now, I don't think they have the strength to sweep us."

There is an old saying in China, if you are willing to cut your body, the emperor can also pull off the horse, which means that as long as we dare to fight, there is nothing that cannot be done. ”

Hearing Iron Fist mention Jordan's strength, the smiling assassin couldn't help but bara his teeth.

Even if he hates Jordan deeply and doesn't admit it in his mouth, he has to admit in his heart that the current Michael Jordan is really too strong.

How strong is it, so strong that the dominance explodes, so strong that Jordan can hit 50+ at any time as long as he wants to, so strong that he can blow anyone up, and so strong that he can score as much as he wants to.

He felt like if Michael Jordan had the strength he has in '89 and '90, he and the team would have had more trouble.

However, Pippen's strength had not yet come up at that time, it was far worse than now, Jordan had no helpers, even if he had his current strength, he should still be a winner in the end.

On the 10th, G3 match day.

Knights: Brad Doherty, Llarinance, Mike Saunders, Clegg Elu, Mark Price

Pistons: John Cely, Dennis Rodman, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

A quarter after eight o'clock, the starters.

"We want to win! We want to win! We want to win......"

When the home team played, hundreds of Pistons fans on both sides of the tunnel frantically yelled and shouted at Zhou Quan, and the cheers and applause of the 20,000 fans in the stadium could not suppress their roars.

"Victory! Victory! Victory ......"

This sound spread more and more, and gradually the entire palace of Auburn Hills resounded with the cry of "victory", until it was overwhelming and shaking the heavens and the earth.

Zhou Quan's heart seemed to be pressed on a boulder, and he lost the first game after officially becoming the leader of the team, and if he lost this home game again, it would be extremely unfavorable for him.

He turned around sharply, raised his right fist at his teammates who were following him, and shouted, "Victory!" We will win this battle! ”

"Victory! Winning ......"

Jo Dumas and the others shouted more than once, and the assassins and their substitutes also rushed over, roaring together, roaring with blood and blood, roaring with anger like King Kong, roaring like a sword, and then their voices were transmitted to the audience, spreading more and more.

"Victory! Winning ......"

So, a dozen seconds later, the entire Auburn Hills palace shouted together.

The knights on the side were already sweating profusely, and the huge pressure was pressing on their bodies and minds, making them feel like they couldn't breathe.

Although they also wanted to win, this incredibly huge pressure pressed the fighting spirit in their hearts to the bottom of their hearts, and there was no splash.

After the warm-up, the body is a little hot, under this pressure, the secretion of adrenaline is rapidly reduced, the excitement is disappearing, the concentration is scattered, the sweat glands are contracting, and the body is rapidly cooling.

"Piston, this piston's will to fight is too strong! Compared to last year's lifeless piston, there is an incredible change! ”

Chicago, Zhang Lili sighed very much.

He is a fan of the Bulls, watched the whole East finals last year, and saw the Pistons swept by the Bulls with his own eyes, and there was no suspense in the process, and the invincible smiling assassin was crushed under Jordan to lose any light, and his historical status plummeted.

But now, he sees a very different piston.

And all this changed because of one of his little compatriots.

At this moment, he felt a very strong sense of pride.

"We are tough, tough, iron-willed, and we are fearless! We are resilient ......"

Soon, the palace of Auburn Hills resounded with a huge shout, and 20,000 fans and players continued to shout the Pistons' team training, and the strong momentum was in full swing.

……

At half past eight, the G2 battle between the Cavaliers and the Pistons officially began.

Sailly won the jump ball, Zhou Quan advanced to the front court with the ball, controlled the ball with his right hand, and made a pull gesture with his left hand, he wanted to single Mark Price.

In the last game, his hand was average, but in fact, it was not bad, and his 42.8% shooting rate was one percentage point higher than the 41.8% shooting rate in the first round, but it was not good enough, and it was normal to not break out.

He's training well today, and he's just warmed up, so I'm going to throw a few shots now to try his touch.

As he held the ball, the humming palace of Auburn Hills quickly fell silent.

In the next moment, Zhou Quan held the ball and made a three-in-one breakthrough, but Mark Price was very experienced, and immediately flashed to the right side, chasing and pressing while defending.

This is the defensive strategy adopted by Price in the G2 battle, not blocking Zhou Quan's strong breakthrough head-on, because it can't be blocked at all, and it is easy to be knocked away and completely lose the defensive position.

This kind of defense, the focus is on defending on Zhou Quan's right side, forcing Zhou Quan to control the ball with his left hand through constant harassment, and even forcing him to shoot with his left hand.

This kind of defense is still very threatening, because Zhou Quan is not Larry Bird, and he can control the ball with his left hand, but he lacks the ability to shoot with his left hand.

At the same time, this defense also cracked his most threatening three-in-one breakthrough.

In the face of this kind of defense, his only way to deal with it was to shoot a pull-up jumper, which fortunately rose to level 91, otherwise he would not have shot 42.8% in the last game.

When Mark Price did it again, he immediately accelerated, and when the former accelerated to follow, he suddenly braked.

"Squeak!"

The sneakers made a high-pitched grinding sound, and he pulled a little distance from Mark Price, and then jumped out of his hand.

"Brush!"

"Oh roar!"

The moment the water splashed, the palace of Auburn Hills immediately resounded with cheers.

"Beautiful! Iron Fist pulls up a jumper, and he hits a shot! The on-site narrator, bearded John Loweis, roared happily.

"Tekken's pull-up jumper is getting better and better, and it's a noticeable improvement from the regular season." The glasses male commentator Long Gellans said with a smile.

Turning back, the knights attacked.

The entire Auburn Hills palace quickly reverted to its original bustle, and the loud sound made everyone's ears lose their hearing.

This atmosphere exerted a huge psychological pressure on the away players.

Outside the three-point line on the left wing, Mark Price still borrowed the pick-and-roll, and it was Sanders, the swingman of the guard, who came to block and dismantle.

At 198 centimeters and 95 kilograms, Sanders is 13 kilograms heavier than the other striker swingman, Elu, and although he is slightly slower, he is more suitable for pick-and-rolls.

There are three ways to prevent blocking and dismantling, the first is to change the defense, the second is to bypass, and the third is to directly squeeze the defender who is doing the wall.

If Elu is doing the blocking, Zhou Quan can always squeeze him to catch up with Mark Price, but Sanders's tonnage is 3 kilograms larger than the current Zhou Quan, although Zhou Quan's strength is still greater, but it is a little difficult to squeeze him out.

In the last game, Sanders and Mark Price did the blocking and dismantling, Zhou Quan often did not keep up in time, and changed defenses with Ulrich, Price would form a small and big dislocation advantage against Ulrich, and suffered a lot of losses, which was one of the important reasons for the loss, and did not limit Price's play like G1 during the war.

Now, when Sanders ran over, Zhou Quan immediately reacted defensively, directly defended the former, and fought with his body, so as not to let the opponent have a chance to block and dismantle.

In this way, it is possible to be abrupt, because when it is close, there is no room for retreat, and it is easy to be sudden, but there is no way, he must be so defensive, otherwise he will suffer more if he allows the opponent to block and dismantle.

Sure enough, when he pasted it, Mark Price, who had been prepared, immediately turned right and broke Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan is chasing after him, and at this time, he needs Ulrich's help, as long as his teammates block Mark Price, he can regain his defensive position.

Ulrich's defense is the only hole in the Pistons' starting lineup, the defensive awareness is not good, and with a height of 206 cm to play small forward, his mobility ability is slightly inferior, and he can't keep up with the rhythm of the defense many times.

At this time, just as Mark Price was about to get around him, he grabbed a step and stretched out his hand, and then immediately chased after Sanders again.

It was at this time that Mark Price was blocked, allowing Zhou Quan to catch up in time.

He stuck to the right side of Mark Price, directly on the confrontation, forcing the opponent to switch to the left hand to control the ball, Price was forced by him to the left sideline, unable to get close to the paint area, and did not even have a chance to force a shot.

Seeing this, Sanders had to run over again to answer and reach for the ball.

Mark Price barely managed to pass the ball over, and as soon as Sanders received the ball, Ulrich was in front of him, and he could only force his shot.

was originally a role player, coupled with the huge psychological pressure on the road, although Ulrich's defense was not very good, but the height was there, and Sanders's shot was seriously deformed, and he shot a three-no-stick.

John Sailly received the ball under the basket and passed it to Joe Dumas, the Pistons attacked, and the Auburn Hills Palace quickly quieted down again.

Zhou Quan crossed the halfway line and went to the middle, asked for the ball, and singled Mark Price again.

This is one of his improvements, from the left wing back to the middle, this time he will see how Mark Price defends, will he dare to let go of the front and let him burst in?

Because of the better vision, he mostly attacks on the flanks, Mark Price can put his front and defend his flanks, but dare to put it in the middle?

Sure enough, Mark Price didn't dare to put the front, so he could only block the front.

He advanced to the top of the arc, and the two of them attacked and defended, both of them were engrossed.

Bang bang bang......

The sound of dribbling was endless, and the attention of the twenty-one thousand people in the palace of Auburn Hills was highly focused on the two.

In the next moment, Zhou Quan launched a three-in-one breakthrough.

False flickering, Price's center of gravity moved.

Stride through and break through from the right side, the extremely experienced Price can barely keep up with the rhythm and step back.

Crushing breakthrough, at the moment of acceleration, his left shoulder deliberately hit it.

Price stepped back again, and he immediately exerted his strength again, speeding up with all his might, and the former finally couldn't get back of his guard, and his left shoulder was hanged.

The tonnage difference was too great, and Price was knocked on his side, but just as he was about to fall, his left hand hooked Zhou Quan's left arm, and the latter was pulled and stopped at the top of the arc, and the ball was a little out of control.

This level of confrontation, whether it is Zhou Quan knocking over Price or Price hooking Zhou Quan's arm, is not enough for the referee to blow the whistle in the playoffs, and the game continues.

The next moment, Mark Price fell completely to the ground, and Zhou Quan regained control of the ball, but Sanders pounced in front of him, and the opportunity to shoot in the open space was gone.

"Whoosh!"

With a back pass, his ball flew towards Ulrich, who was open on the left wing.

"Brush!"

Ulrich caught the ball and hit a two-pointer.

0:4, the knights attack.

Mark Price just crossed the halfway line when he was blocked by Zhou Quan.

This is also one of Zhou's improvements, and if he is caught off the beaten line from the three-point line, he still has a chance to chase it back.

Price didn't call the block for the time being, he continued to move with the ball, but he was never able to get rid of Zhou Quan, although he was close to the three-point line, but the offensive time had been consumed, there were only five seconds left, and there was no time to pass in to let the inside line attack, he could only pull to the left wing and called Sanders' block again.

Zhou Quan was still sticking to the defense, Mark Price barely broke through with a turn, and then Ulrich magically made the best defensive choice, and Zhou Quan formed a pinch on the left wing three-point line.

"Smack!"

There was no time, Mark Price wanted to pass the ball to Sanders from the gap, but Zhou Quan's full-level panoramic vision made him see this pass, and under the nerve reaction speed of level 96, the big hand instinctively waved, and under the first-class hitting accuracy, he accurately completed the break.

"Beautiful! Iron Fist steals Mark Price, he's on the fast down! Ulrich ...... in the follow-up," the bearded John Lowes hissed excitedly.

Zhou Quan held the ball to the basket and pulled it to the right, at this time Ulrich rushed into the penalty area from the right elbow area, he threw the ball up casually, and the latter instantly burst up, caught the ball with both hands in the air, and smashed it with one hand.

"Bang!"

"Oh roar!"

As the basket trembled, the entire Auburn Hills palace suddenly boiled.

"Air connection...... Buckle! ”

The excited bearded John Lowes yelled again.

"Twice to defend the opponent's offense, the Pistons' defense is very strong tonight!" ESPN's commentary, Rock Howard exclaimed.

"Buzz ......"

At 0:6, the knights attacked, and the noise of the palace of Auburn Hills rang out again.

(End of chapter)