Around one o'clock in the afternoon, the Charlotte Hornets arrived in Detroit and held a press conference at the hotel at the request of the media.

"Larry, are you confident of advancing to the first round?" A reporter from the New York Times asked.

"Of course, I have the strongest confidence to beat the Pistons, and I'm a little bit impatient to start the first-round series, and we're ready to do the best." Larry Johnson said excitedly.

"So are you planning a rematch with Tekken this offseason?" The reporter asked again.

"Oh, I thought about it, but we'll have to wait until the playoffs are over." Larry Johnson calmly responded.

"Alonzo, I heard that you had a conflict with Larry Johnson in the team?"

The next reporter was a reporter from the Detroit Daily News, who asked a question that the Hornets hated.

Mo Ning denied with a cold face: "Of course not, our locker room is very harmonious, there is a lot of love and peace there. ”

At this time, David Falke made a phone call to Jerry Kraus, the general manager of the Bulls, and told him a piece of news.

Klaus was stunned and hurriedly asked, "David, are you sure this is true?" ”

David Falke said with certainty and some smugness: "Of course, my news came from a mid-level manager in the league. And I received it a long time ago, and I have been pressing it until now. ”

"Did you talk to Michael?" Klaus asked again.

"No, I'm not going to tell him." David Falke said.

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked thoughtfully.

"I'm sure you know the value of this news." David Falke said slyly.

The two didn't talk much and quickly ended the call.

Klaus has actually made a decision to take advantage of the news, but not now, but before the start of the second-round series.

David Falke just told him that in the middle of the offseason, the Pistons had made a deal with the Numbers, and Barkley swapped Zhou Quan, which was ultimately rejected by David Stern.

The news has not been exposed, but if it does, it will definitely have an impact on the Pistons, blow their morale, cause a rift between Iron Fist and management, and even leave.

On April 29, 1993, the first round of the series began.

That night, there will be four games played, namely Pistons vs. Hornets, Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Trail Blazers vs. Spurs, and Mosaics vs. Clippers, with the front team having home-court advantage.

The first-round series of this season is still a best-of-five system, a 221 home-and-away system.

In the afternoon, the palace of Auburn Hills, which is 80 kilometers from the city, welcomed countless private cars, and all the places around Auburn Hills were full.

Fans gathered in the square outside, anticipating the arrival of the Hornets and then striking them mentally and psychologically.

Unfortunately, the Hornets' management was clever enough to arrange for the team to train here at the University of Detroit.

It wasn't until half past six, after dinner, that the Hornets bus showed up at the Auburn Hills palace and was booed and abused by countless Pistons fans.

The game started at eight o'clock, and before seven o'clock, the entire Auburn Hills palace was full, and the atmosphere was very hot.

The first-round series between the Pistons and the Hornets was broadcast nationwide on TNT and featured Robert Gilda and Ringer Wilson, the commentators who commented on the Pistons-Bulls showdown last year.

At half past seven, TNT's live broadcast began, and at this time, the two teams also announced their starting lineups.

Hornets: Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, John Newman, Kendall Gill, Boggs

Pistons: Ronnie Secali, Rodman, Ulrich, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

"Ringer, who do you think has a better chance of qualifying?" On the commentary bench, Robert Giddah asked.

Ringer Wilson smiled: "Look at the on-the-spot performance, it's all possible, the ranking doesn't determine anything, with the Hornets' internal strength, the probability of the Black Six is also very high." ”

"Black Six?"

Robert Giddah smiled and said, "The Hornets do have an advantage on the inside, but the Pistons also have a big advantage on the outside.

At the No. 2 position, Kendall Gill averaged 16.9 points per game in the regular season, shot 44.9% from the field, and his defense was not bad, but he could hold on to Joe Dumas.

But the number one, Boggs, is the youngest in history, 160 centimeters tall, and I don't know how he can defend Iron Fist.

On the offensive side, Boggs only averaged 10 points, 8.8 assists and 2 steals per game in the regular season, shooting 45.3% from the field.

I'm sure that in this series, the Pistons will definitely have their eyes on Boggs, whether it is Joe Dumas or Iron Fist, they will be staring at him. ”

Ringer Wilson said: "There is no doubt that the most powerful threat to the Pistons right now is the Iron Fist, the offense, the passing, if you can't defend it, it will be very troublesome, so I think the Hornets should use the change defense, and would rather let Joe Dumas blow up Boggs than let the Iron Fist do whatever it wants on Boggs' head." ”

Robert Giddah nodded: "It's true that Iron Fist is about the same height as Joe Dumas anyway, and Iron Fist has not announced his latest height, but I don't think he is shorter than Jo Dumas, and the shoe height should reach 190 cm." ”

"Even if it's 190 centimeters, Kendall Gill is 196 centimeters tall, his defense is good, and his tonnage is 88 kilograms, so I think he can make Iron Fist very uncomfortable," Ringer Wilson said. ”

At this time, the two teams meet in the players' tunnel.

"Hey, Auntie."

Before he got closer, Zhou Quan greeted with a smile.

Larry Johnson hated his nickname more and more, and snorted coldly when he heard this: "Iron Fist, is it interesting to have a rematch?" ”

"You?"

Zhou Quan came to the front of him, with obvious contempt in his eyes, and shook his head: "You first prove that you have a professional level, I don't want to be criticized by professionals, saying that I can only fight amateur fighters."

Actually, I think they're right, I don't want to paint a record on you, that makes me feel unfulfilled, it's a waste of my life. ”

"Haha......"

Rodman immediately burst into laughter.

Larry Johnson glared at Rodman angrily, and said to Zhou Quan dissatisfied: "Iron Fist, what do you mean?" ”

"I just look down on you."

Rodman exclaimed with a grin.

"Big worm, do you want to fight?"

Larry Johnson glared at Rodman.

"Boy, this is the Auburn Hills Palace, as long as you dare to make trouble, I guarantee that your grandmother can walk out from here, but you can't." Rodman shouted.

"Haha......"

Zhou Quan couldn't help but laugh, and so did Jo Dumas, Secali, and Ulrich.

"We're out."

At this time, Mo Ning couldn't stand it anymore, walked to the middle of Zhou Quan and Larry Johnson, cut off the sight of the two, glanced at Zhou Quan coldly, and then walked outside.

Zhou Quan glanced at Mo Ning thoughtfully, this rookie is very strong, and he is not afraid of him at all, is he very capable of fighting?

Next, the wasps were greeted with earth-shattering boos.

Behind the Pistons' bench, Christina Yerry, dressed in casual attire, immediately covered her ears when boos rang out.

When it was the home team's turn, the boos immediately turned to cheers.

Zhou Quan finale, as he walked out of the passage, the rumbling cheers suddenly skyrocketed, sweeping through the palace of Auburn Hills.

Over the course of two seasons, he has become the absolute heart of the team, the most influential signature player, and Detroit's most recognizable sports star.

Of course, in order to really build a huge influence in the city, it also needs to be supported by constant hard honors, and an all-star AMVP is far from enough, and cross-border influence is also far from enough.

So at present, his influence here is only a water flower, and the moon in the mirror cannot completely replace the influence of the assassins in this city.

Zhou Quan greeted his teammates and greeted people on the sidelines.

The palace in Auburn Hills doesn't appeal to Hollywood stars, but there are plenty of local tycoons and politicians, many of whom have played golf with Mr. Zhou.

Golf is still a great help to Zhou Quan, basketball allows him to meet these upper-class people, but he can't get involved in that circle, he doesn't have that qualification, but the sport of golf can let him get in touch with the upper-class circle.

A higher social status and greater influence can make him more stable in the United States, a discriminatory country, with a lot less trouble, and a higher level of commercial sponsorship.

He then went to the bench and greeted all the fans with Christina, who was sitting in the back, to the TNT camera.

This kind of behavior undoubtedly makes many Americans very unhappy with him, and everyone is jealous, because he has another white beauty star, and he is also a French beauty.

As we all know, Americans have a British complex, but the British have a French complex, so Americans also have a French complex.

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

Before going on the court, all the players put their hands on each other around Zhou Quan and chanted the Pistons' team training together, and then the entire Auburn Hills Palace resounded with a neat and huge shout.

At eight o'clock, the game officially began.

Jump ball, this is the weak point of the Hornets, there is no height inside, Sekari touches the ball first, and the Pistons attack.

"Oh, sure enough, I'm not wrong, the Hornets switched defenses, Kendall Gill switched to Iron Fists, and Boggs switched to Joe Dumas."

On the TNT commentary bench, Ringer Wilson shouted excitedly.

Robert Giddah also immediately shouted: "The iron fist passed, the pistons all pulled away, and Joe Dumas singled Boggs, the height difference between the two sides was 30 centimeters, plus the arm span, at least sixty centimeters." ”

"Brush!"

Joe Dumas didn't dribble again after receiving the ball, but instead held high to avoid being tackled by Boggs and hit a three-pointer on the right wing.

"Beautiful!"

In the on-site commentary seat, the bearded John Rowes yelled: "Joe Dumas, our Detroit Pistons team's scoring champion, hit a three-pointer in the opening game, and his hand is hot!" ”

At this time, the Hornets served, and Boggs found that something was wrong, and he was replaced by Zhou Quan in front of him, not Joe Dumas.

"Oh, the iron fist on the defensive end is back, and he defends Boggs himself?" Ringer Wilson said in surprise.

Robert Giddah laughed: "Although Joe Dumas has a very good defense, having been selected for three defensive first teams and one second team, now Iron Fist's defense may really be stronger than him, at least younger than him." The four regular season games against the Bulls this season were also defended by an iron fist against Jordan.

Iron Fist is likely to be selected for the best defensive team this season, anyway, the second team can't run away, and the defender who has a better defense than him is counted in the whole league, that is, Michael Jordan. ”

Zhou Quan did not press in the backcourt, and after retreating to the backcourt, he did not press closely, and it was very easy to be forced to deal with Boggs, the shortest point guard in the history of the league.

And Boggs is too short, the height of the dribble is very low, his assist-to-turnover ratio is very high, the turnover is very few, almost no one can break his ball, and the risk of close pressing is too high.

He broke through because Boggs had a weakness, which was not the three-point approach.

Or rather, it's still the height of the shot, if you shoot in front of a defender from the outside, it's easy to be blocked, so Boggs rarely shoots three-pointers, and his offense is a pull-up jump shot after a breakaway, or a layup.

When Boggs attacks with the ball, the center of gravity is usually very low, which forces the defender to lower the center of gravity as well, and then he can find an opportunity to shoot a cold arrow, and if the opponent does not lower the center of gravity, he will go straight in.

Zhou Quan put Borgg two meters, plus the arm span, which is the distance of one step.

At this point, Boggs dribbled and lowered his center of gravity.

Zhou Quan leaned over slightly, but he didn't lower his center of gravity too much.

He's not afraid of Boggs breaking into the paint area at all, because he's also good at drilling through people's seams.

Seeing this, Boggs immediately broke through with the ball, brushed, and bypassed Zhou Quan like a mouse, bypassing the left elbow area from the top of the arc and hitting the paint area.

Zhou Quan did not relax, and chased directly into the forbidden area, one big and one small, just like a squirrel chasing a mouse, he was very sensitive in the crowd.

Boggs is really sensitive, while Zhou Quan relies on the ability to have a full-level panoramic vision.

Boggs turned left and right, thinking he had gotten rid of Zhou, and then after flashing Rodman directly in front of the basket, he burst to the front right side of the basket and threw a small throw.

But at this moment, Zhou Quan suddenly appeared from behind Rodman, and his body was together, and he grabbed the ball directly with one hand.

"What?"

Boggs was taken aback.

"Oh, one-handed hat-grabbing, pretty!" The bearded John Lowes roared excitedly.

"Bang Bang Bang ......"

The palace of Auburn Hills also resounded with warm applause.

Coming to the front, it was still Boggs who defended Joe Dumas.

This time, Joe Dumas was not ready to throw three points, after all, the three-point shot is not a conventional weapon, the mid-range shot is, he came to the right elbow area, and only then asked Zhou Quan for the ball.

Zhou Quan immediately moved along the three-point line to the right wing after the pass, taking Kendall Gill away and avoiding Jodumas from being trapped.

The Hornets defense, when Secali pulled to the left wing, was followed by Larry Johnson, with Mourning sitting under the basket, so when Joe Dumas received the ball, Mourning came out of the basket and moved quickly to the right elbow area.

Jo Dumas received the ball and turned around, holding it high, ready to shoot at Boggs's head, and saw Mourning pounce, and his heart couldn't help but be stunned.

But at this moment, Zhou Quan quickly emerged from his side, staggered past Mo Ning, and reached out to him for the ball at the same time.

It turned out that Zhou Quan saw that Mo Ning was defending, so he immediately changed direction and cut under the basket.

Seeing this, Jo Dumas hurriedly passed the ball with both hands, and the ball was thrown over Mourning's head to the basket.

"Bang!"

In the next moment, Zhou Quan, who rushed into the paint area, rose up, caught the ball in the air, and smashed it with both hands, blasting the Wasps' basket.

Mo Ning, who turned back to defense, was more than a beat slower, and it was completely too late, watching Zhou Quan smash his basket.

"Oh roar!"

The audience suddenly boiled.

'The Iron Fist's cut was so timely, he took advantage of the gap that Mourning came out of the basket, and Joe Dumas's pass was also crucial and worked very well together.

On the TNT commentary seat, Robert Giddah laughed.

Ringer Wilson said: "This time the Pistons' offensive tactics fully mobilized the Hornets' interior defense through passing, and then hit the empty basket with an iron fist, and the key to the problem is still Boggs. ”

Robert Giddah said: "Don't underestimate Boggs' defense, he can stand firm in the league and be a starter, the defense is passable, he is very good at using his strengths to defend small and big, if Joe Dumas is careless, he will probably suffer." ”

Ringer Wilson said: "Judging from these two attacks, Joe Dumas was not careless, did not dribble after receiving the ball, but held it high and did not give Boggs a chance to break the ball closely.

Boggs is small and big, that is, close to the movement, he can jump into the arms of the center to grab the ball, but if he plays high, there is nothing he can do. ”

Robert Giddah nodded: "How to say it, Boggs's steal statistics are really good, more than Joe Dumas, but his defensive weaknesses are indeed quite obvious, this is a hard injury, and the defense of Joe Dumas is obviously a little out of reach." ”

The game continued, and the Pistons didn't keep an eye on Boggs' offense, and after Joe Dumas hit a few balls, Secali played a block and cut with Ulrich on the wing, and the effect was also good.

Zhou Quan organized in the center, controlled the offensive tempo, and adjusted the offensive tactics and offensive direction in a timely manner according to the defensive tactics of the Hornets.

However, the Hornets are not easy to match, and the offense is very strong, averaging first in the East in scoring per game in the regular season, with a whopping 110.1 points, second in the league, second only to the Suns' 113 points.

Boggs then changed course, rarely shooting himself, threading the needle for his teammates, plus Larry Johnson and Mourning's interior offense, still playing well.

Larry Johnson and Mourning overturned in the low post and both shot more than 50 percent from the field.

But the Pistons still had the height advantage, while Secali and Rodman grabbed more rebounds.

Rodman, in particular, played 42 minutes and grabbed 17 rebounds, and the two combined to grab 26 rebounds.

As for Mourning and Larry Johnson, the two only grabbed a total of 19 rebounds, a difference of 7.

In addition, the Pistons' rebounding ability from the outside is also stronger than that of the Hornets, and the team grabbed a total of 44 rebounds, while the Hornets only had 34, a full 10 less.

In addition, Sekari singled Larry Johnson on the wing, shooting 55 percent, two percentage points higher than Larry Johnson, and scored 24 points.

Joe Dumas singled Boggs, shooting as high as 61 percent and scoring 28 points.

Zhou Quan played 43 minutes, under the defense of Kendall Gill, 8 of 17 shots, 47% of the shooting rate, 2 of 5 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, and 22 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls.

The advantage of rebounding, the advantage of high dislocation, the three scored 20+, plus Zhou Quan's assist, and finally the Pistons won the G1 game at home with a score of 105:115.

(End of chapter)