On the court, the momentum of the Bulls was somewhat blocked, and this defensive defeat made them feel a sense of frustration.

The green tendons on Jordan's head jumped and jumped, and this time the defense had been done to the extreme, but still did not come down, which made him very disappointed.

He thinks that his judgment and disposal just now are wrong, he is in front of him, he should jump no matter what, even if Zhou Quan forcibly shoots, the shooting rate will not be very high, and if he throws a pass, it will also leave him and his teammates a chance to return to defense.

Contrary to the Bulls, after scoring this goal, the morale of the Pistons skyrocketed, and the players on and off the court were all very excited.

Under this morale, at 55:43, the Pistons led the Bulls by 12 points in the first half, and the margin widened to double digits.

Jordan played the full 24 minutes in the first half, shooting 9-of-17 from Zhou's head, shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, scoring 21 points.

Zhou Quan and Jordan carried it and also played the whole first half, not many shots, but the efficiency was very high, shooting 4 of 6, 5 of 6 free throws, and scored 13 points, but they sent 9 assists and 1 steal and 1 block in the half, and only one turnover in the half.

This result was unexpected by most of the media.

Zhang Li analyzed at halftime: "The Bulls only handed out 9 assists in the first half, and the Pistons had 16 assists.

Today, the Pistons did not blindly wrap Jordan, basically Zhou Quan defended Jordan alone, and only assisted in defending when he broke through with the ball.

When Coach Chuck Daley was in the Bad Boy Army, there were two extremes of Jordan's defense, one was to flank Jordan with all his might, and the other was to defend himself alone and kill the rest of the Bulls. ”

Sun Zhenping said: "Director Zhang, Jordan's defense is so strong, and sometimes he and others wrap Zhou Quan, this effect is not very good?" ”

Zhang Li said with a smile: "As I said before, a top point guard like Zhou Quan, who can do everything in sudden throwing, is very difficult to defend, it is better to defend against his offense, and it is simply impossible to prevent his passing."

If the Bulls want to defend Zhou Quan's pass, they can only let others stare at the rest of the Pistons, so Jordan will defend it alone and take the same approach as the Pistons. ”

"From now on, Michael, there's no one to help you defend anymore."

In the home team's locker room, Phil Jackson said to Jordan with unusual seriousness.

"Understood." Jordan said in a deep voice.

Phil Jackson said to the others: "Lock up your people, cut off their ties with Zhou Quan, I don't want to see him get 20 assists in a game, understand?" ”

"Understood." The bulls replied.

He added: "The Pistons had a lot of inside cuts today, and with Zhou Quan's passing, that's why they led us by as many as 12 points in the first half.

So to strengthen the defense against Ulrich, his ability to cut inside is not weaker than Grant's. For Joe Dumas, to guard against his inside cut, you can put him outside to single Paxson. ”

"Offensive ......"

After a deep sigh, he added: "As long as we limit Zhou Quan's passing on the defensive end, and Michael blows him up on the offensive end, we have a chance to pull it back."

But be careful with the passing, because the Pistons have been defending Michael alone, and their approach in the first half was to shoot others, and we have to use our tactics to create opportunities for Michael to play the game and pass the ball to him in time. ”

"John, you rest in the third quarter and get ready to play in the final quarter."

After talking about the tactical aspects, he said to Paxson again.

"Okay."

John Paxson nodded, he can barely play 30 minutes in a fight now, which is the reason why he didn't play much in the regular season, which averaged only 17 minutes per game.

He played 18 minutes in the first half, then BJ played a little bit later, and then Joe Dumas seized the opportunity to shoot a shot over BJ's head, or a three-pointer, to stretch the margin to double digits.

The midfield came back and the game continued.

The Bulls are Jordan as the point guard, Trent Tucker is the point guard, Pippen is small forward, and Spencer King and Wilpeldo are on the inside.

The Pistons are Zhou Quan, Isaiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre, Trimmers, Alden Polynice.

Bulls attack.

On the right wing, Jordan took advantage of Grant's pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhou Quan, cut out, and asked for the ball.

At this time, the ball reached Tucker, who was one step to the right at the top of the arc, and he tried to pass the ball, but the assassin waved his hands so that he did not pass the ball in the first place.

However, against the Assassins, at 196 cm, he had a height advantage, and the ball still passed.

"Smack!"

It's just that, in just one second, Zhou Quan quickly bypassed the obstacle to keep up with Jordan, regained the defensive position, instantly inserted between the passing lines at a faster speed, and broke the ball with a wave of his big hand.

"The ball is broken! Iron Fist countered with the momentum, and the assassin quickly stepped down the middle, and the Iron Fist passed the ball ......" On the ABC commentary bench, Williams shouted excitedly.

"Brush!"

The Assassin's injuries have made him no faster than Tucker right now, but his experience is not comparable to that of a role player like Tucker, who uses a simple layup to get to the basket, dangle the opponent, and then complete the layup with ease.

Bill Wharton laughed: "At 57:43, the Pistons have a 14-point lead. Phil Jackson made a mistake, he went on another quarterback and put BJ on the bench, but the Pistons were on the Assassins, and no matter how bad the Assassins were, they could still play Tucker. Now he's calling BJ, and he's ready for a substitution. ”

Lewis Williams smiled: "Michael is too strong, and his physical fitness is also perverted, so the Bulls' quarterback reserves are not good, and they don't have much strength. ”

Phil Jackson was aware of the problem from the moment the player came on the court and immediately called BJ up and told him to get ready to play.

After the Bulls got on BJ, there was no high disadvantage against the assassins, and the effect was indeed better, and in the next game, the two sides entered the same rhythm.

The Bulls singled Zhou Quan by Jordan on the offensive end, and locked up others on the defensive end, so Zhou Quan singled Jordan.

Of course, Zhou Quan will not play according to the tactics of the Bulls, and will do everything possible to pass the ball for his teammates.

But Pippen locked up Mark Aguirre, and even when he hit the pick-and-roll, he didn't switch defenses, preferring to let Polinice single Spencerkin on the outside.

And BJ also gave the assassin no good chance, the assassin is not as good as before, he can't run fast, especially he can't do the change of direction, and the explosiveness is far less than before.

The two outside players didn't have much of a chance, and he could only pass the ball to Polinis and Trimmers.

It's just that Wilpelgin and Spencerkin tried their best to cut off the connection between him and his two interior teammates, and there were two passing and receiving errors in a row, one out of bounds, and one pass was broken, and the Bulls took the opportunity to chase the points.

In this case, he could only continue to single Jordan, and fell into the defensive trap of the Bulls.

In the middle of the quarter, he shot 3-of-7, 0-of-2 three-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throws to score 8 points, but Jordan scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 2-of-4 free throws on his head.

At 67:60, the Pistons led by only seven points, were caught up by five points in the first quarter, and then called a timeout.

"In terms of individual offense, in the case of singles, no matter how strong the defense of the iron fist is, Jordan can suppress him. The Bulls adopted the style of play of the Pistons in the first half, but Jordan's individual offensive ability was beyond the iron fist, and the Pistons were the losing side, and now the Pistons have to find a way to change this passive situation. Bill Wharton analyzed.

At the end of the timeout, the Pistons replaced some of their main lineup.

Rodman, Joe Dumas, Polinis, Mark Aguirre, plus Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan continued to play, this kind of game, there was no one-minute break, and he did not ask for a break.

Polinis, somewhat similar to Secali, has average defense, but has good rebounding ability, and only averaged 15 minutes per game in the regular season with the Pistons, but he was able to grab five rebounds.

However, the offense is not good, not as good as Sekali, and with him and Rhodes Man on the inside, Chuck Daley's purpose is obvious, to control the rebound and buy time for Sekari.

The Bulls also got Pippen, Grant also got back on the court, the center was Wilpeldo, the point guard was Jordan, and Tucker went up again, against Joe Dumas.

Joe Dumas's play made the Bulls want to lock up others and force Zhou Quan to play alone, and he and Zhou Quan teamed up with the guard line to stabilize the situation of the Pistons.

With Joe Dumas sharing the attacking pressure, Zhou Quan focused more on organising the ball and defending.

In the first three quarters, he made 7 of 14 shots and 7 of 8 free throws, scoring 21 points, 3 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls.

In two and a half quarters, Jordan has made 14 of 25 shots, 5 of 8 free throws, and scored 33 points, with a lot of consumption at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and deliberately reduced his shots in the second half of the quarter, scoring only 2 points on 1 of 2 shots, and 35 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in the third quarter.

However, role player Tucker, who played for the second time, had a good performance against Joe Dumas, shooting two of three three-pointers and scoring six points.

After the third quarter, 77:70, the Pistons still led by 7 points.

"There is still suspense in the final quarter, Jordan stayed in the second half, and if the Pistons want to win the game in the end, Iron Fist must reduce the opponent's offensive efficiency." Bill Wharton said.

"Seven points, for the league's number one killer, his kind of powerful scoring explosion, is not a very big gap."

Nodding, Lewis Williams said.

At the beginning of the final quarter, both sides sent all their main forces.

Phil Jackson's tactical intent is still to lock up others, force Zhou Quan to play Jordan alone, use Jordan's strong defensive ability to reduce the offensive efficiency of the Pistons, and at the same time in turn rely on Jordan's personal offensive ability to complete the scoring on the offensive end.

Because Zhou Quan's individual offense is indeed not as dominant as Jordan's, the Pistons tried to avoid this situation, reducing his ball possession, and Joe Dumas shared a lot of offensive and organizational tasks, so that he could also avoid Jordan's defense.

At the same time, on the defensive end, Chuck Daley suddenly changed the defensive strategy in the first three quarters, from Zhou Quan to Jordan alone, to a pinch.

The change was sudden, Jordan's first three offenses were all packed, and one of them was a three-man pack, resulting in one of three shots, and the Bulls scored only four points in the first four minutes.

The Pistons relied on more powerful rebounding ability and strong defense to play counterattacks one after another, playing four of the five offenses, and in the first four minutes of the final quarter, they launched a wave of 8-4 attacks, 85:74, and once again widened the difference to double digits.

The Bulls called a timeout, and Phil Jackson asked for more passing and ball sharing, and those who were open were bold after receiving the ball.

But after coming back, the Pistons once again adjusted their defensive strategy against Jordan and changed back to their original single defense, preferring to let Jordan continue to score on Zhou Quan's head than let others live.

On the offensive end, Zhou Quan, who was already about the same physical strength, did not attack or hold the ball, but defended Jordan and handed over the ball to Joe Dumas.

With his all-out defense, Jordan had to make a lot of runs every time he received the ball, and the Bulls' offensive efficiency suffered, and sometimes it couldn't pass into Jordan's hands.

In this way, relying on the score advantage, as well as the changing defensive strategies and offensive tactics, the Pistons played a conservative battle in the final quarter, persevered to the end, and did not leave a chance for the Bulls to turn the tables, 108:93, won by 15 points, and won the G1 game.

At the end of the game, Zhou Quan, who was panting like a cow, sat directly on the floor.

played 48 minutes, and Jordan was in the opposite position at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends throughout the whole process, and the physical consumption was so great that he couldn't hold on to his physical fitness when he reached level 94.

He glanced at Jordan, who was two steps away, and he could still stand, and Jordan had more offense and more physical consumption than him, which meant that Jordan's physical strength was stronger than him, or even more than a little stronger.

This made him more vigilant after winning, because this is not a regular season, this is a series, and the further you go, the more the physical advantage will be reflected.

Jordan stared at Zhou Quan fiercely, he didn't expect before the game that he would lose the G1 battle, this was his home field, which made him very unwilling.

At this time, the ABC reporter walked over to Zhou Quan, he got up, and said to Jordan first: "Flyer, if you lose the G2 battle again, don't blame me for sweeping you." ”

Jordan's head jumped, his eyes were like knives, he stabbed Zhou Quan hard, and without saying a word, he turned around and walked to the player's tunnel.

Zhou Quan smiled and began to accept live interviews.

The reporter took out a piece of paper and said: "Iron Fist, you shot 9 of 19 in this game, with a shooting rate of 47.3%, 0 of 2 three-point shots, 7 of 8 free throws, 25 points, 4 rebounds, 14 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls. ”

"Of course." He smiled and nodded.

The reporter added: "In addition to you, Joe Dumas shot 10 of 18 in this game, with a shooting rate of 55.5%, and he scored 27 points on three-pointers and free throws. Four of your 14 assists have come from his shots.

In addition to the two of you, there were three players in double figures, and you played very evenly on offense today, with a total of 34 assists compared to 19 for the Bulls.

In terms of shooting percentage for the whole team, the Pistons had three percentage points more shooting percentage points than the Bulls, and nine more rebounds than the Bulls, all of which combined to give you a G1 victory.

So do you think the Pistons can hold on and eventually beat the Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals? ”

Zhou Quan said without hesitation: "I believe it will, today's game proves that the Bulls are not invincible, and their strength has not yet reached that level."

Especially their interior performance was average today, we had a lot of low-post baskets today, we played a high-quality inside game, and they couldn't defend it. ”

The reporter laughed: "According to my statistics, 10 of your 14 assists came from passing the ball to a teammate who cut in, so will you stick to this kind of passing tactics in the next game?" ”

Zhou Quan smiled: "I don't know about this, you should have seen it, we have a lot of tactical changes tonight, Coach Daley is very well prepared, he knows this Bulls team too well, we hope that he can also come up with effective tactics in the next game." ”

At this time, in the player's tunnel, a reporter caught up with Jordan and interviewed him.

"Michael, you scored 8 points on 4-of-9 shooting in the final quarter, 19-of-36 shooting, shooting 52.8% from the field, and scored 43 points, but what does it mean for the Bulls to lose the game, to lose the G1 game at home?" The journalist asked.

Jordan quickened his pace and replied impatiently, "It means we have to work harder next, that's clear." But we've been through something like that, and we've had the willpower and the strength to get the series back on track. ”

"You mean, the Pistons just stole a game from the Bulls?" The journalist asked.

"Whatever you want to understand."

Jordan lost the game, his mood was already very bad, and he has been targeted by the media this season, he has absolutely no good impression of reporters now, so he replied in a cold tone, pushed open the door of the locker room, slammed, and shut the reporter out.

Soon after, the others returned to the locker room, Jordan didn't speak, everyone else had to be quiet, and the atmosphere in the Bulls' locker room was not much better than a coffin, like a dead man.

That's when Phil Jackson came in and started to sum up the game.

He said with a serious look: "Today we only had three people score double-doubles, except for Michael, Pippen 18 points, Grant 10 points, everyone else was limited by the Pistons, which is the main reason for our loss."

The other is rebounding, which was nine too many and ended up taking seven fewer shots than the Pistons, which is something we will pay attention to later.

Also, in terms of organization, we're seriously behind the Pistons, and if we can't change that, the series is going to be extremely bad. ”

"Phil, what do you say?" Jordan said impatiently.

Phil Jackson said calmly: "Calm down, Michael, listen to me analyze the game." ”

Then he added: "The Pistons have five players in double figures, two of whom are 20+, which is the exact opposite of our situation, their playmaking offense is much better than ours, and Zhou Quan's playmaking ability and his passing make us suffer. ”

Speaking of this, in fact, he knows very well in his heart that there is another reason for losing today, that is, the tactics are too passive, always running with the opponent, and the final score difference is too large, and after Zhou Quan gave up holding the ball and attacking in the last quarter, he was unable to pull back the game.

"Phil, how are we going to play in the end?" Jordan asked, staring at Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson pretended to be calm and said, "Don't worry, Michael, I already have an idea." ”

After two consecutive championships, Jordan trusted the coach who made him give up the ball and play without the ball, and when he heard this, he also nodded and didn't ask more.

(End of chapter)