After the game, Sun Zhenping said with a smile: "The Pistons played very well tonight, from the main force to the bench, the scoring was too average, the whole team of 10 people rotated, and seven of them scored double-doubles, very rarely, the total number of assists of the whole team was 32, 10 more than the Bulls."

All five players in the main lineup scored in double figures, even Rodman scored 12 points, and the Assassins and Polynes scored in double figures off the bench. ”

Zhang Li continued: "Although seven people scored double-doubles, none of them scored 20+, most of them were in the early stages, and the scores were too average.

This should actually attract the attention of the team, because not everyone feels so good in every game, once a few of these people feel bad, the scoring ability will be seriously weakened, so the offense must be focused, and someone must be able to stand up at critical moments.

In addition, the assassin played 22 minutes, 11 points and 6 assists, and when Zhou Quan was not in charge of the ball, he and Joe Dumas took turns to control the ball, and the performance was very good.

Compared to the Pistons, the Bulls only had four players score in double figures, Jordan with 34 points, Pippen with 21 points, Grant with 11 points, and John Paxson with 12 points. ”

Sun Zhenping said regretfully: "It's a pity that Zhou Quan is one point short of 20+10." ”

Zhang Li laughed and said, "It's already good, which shows that Zhou Quan doesn't care about the data at all." ”

If Zhou Quan heard this, he was afraid that he would laugh, he didn't care about the data, he just cared about the data on the basis of winning, otherwise how could he complete the task of the system?

On the ABC commentary bench, Bill Wharton said: "Today the Pistons did a little better tactically than the G2 game, both offense and defense were good, leading by a large score in the first quarter, playing very beautifully, laying the foundation for the win." ”

"The two teams are about the same strength, that's my opinion, so whoever wins or loses is likely, and ESPN gives the Pistons a 1% chance, which is completely incorrect," Williams said.

In addition, in the second half of the first quarter today, as well as in the final quarter, Iron Fist's ability to break through with the ball was very impressive. ”

Bill Wharton nodded and said, "Yes, Jordan can't prevent it, so the person in this league who can prevent the Iron Fist from breaking through with the ball almost doesn't exist."

So Iron Fist's offensive efficiency today was also very high, even higher than Michael Jordan, and he did a perfect job today in terms of shot and pass selection. ”

Williams nodded: "The choice of the shot is a key factor in the improvement of offensive efficiency. But the Bulls lost today, not only did Jordan not play efficiently enough, but others also didn't step up and provide him with enough help. ”

Bill Wharton smiled: "Michael Jordan was not efficient enough on offense and defense today, and there were too many turnovers, especially in the middle two quarters, Iron Fist did almost nothing else, turned into a defensive maniac, and made four steals in the whole game.

This is also a record, as Jordan has not had the history of being tackled by the same opponent four times in a single game, and Iron Fist is the first. ”

At this time, Zhou Quan was giving a post-match interview to ABC TV.

"Iron Fist, how was it like to steal Jordan four times tonight?" The journalist asked.

It happened that Pippen was passing by, and he was a little unconvinced, only mentioning Jordan, and I was also robbed by him twice, why didn't you mention it?

But as soon as this thought came out, he felt that something was wrong, stupid, this is not an honor, and hurriedly walked over.

Hearing the reporter's question, Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Today's seven steals are my new record for single-game steals, and I am really happy."

Four steals for Jordan, which felt okay, showed that I was in pretty good defensive form tonight and I'm happy to be able to do that.

But Jordan also made two steals from me, and it was because of his defense that I had four turnovers, which is something I need to be wary of. ”

"Now that the Pistons are leading the Bulls 2-1, what do you think are the chances of the Pistons advancing to the Eastern Conference finals?" The reporter asked again.

Zhou Quan smiled: "We carefully evaluate the future, but we must have confidence in the future and believe that we can succeed so that we can do our best." ”

The reporter nodded, smiled and asked again: "What do you think Michael Jordan did tonight?" ”

Zhou Quan pondered for a while and said, "It's just about tonight's performance, it's average, so he lost." ”

After saying that, he and the reporter both laughed, and then ended the interview.

After saying goodbye to the fans and sending his girlfriend away first, when Zhou Quan returned to the locker room, he learned that the Suns had lost on the road.

"Rick, how is the Lightning?" He asked.

"26 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 0 fouls, shooting 52.9% from the field, 8 of 10 free throws." Assistant teacher Musk said.

"It's efficient, and it's lethal. It's just an assist, not a single foul, and the defense doesn't invest much. Zhou Quan said.

Musk laughed: "The Lightning are all focused on the offensive end, and the Suns played really lethal tonight, getting 32 free throws on the road, compared to 19 for the home team.

But Barkley shot just 42.9 percent from the field, 9-of-21, and he made seven steals last time and didn't have one today.

The Suns also only had four steals as a team and didn't put pressure on the Spurs on the defensive end. Conversely, the Spurs had 10 steals and took 11 more shots as a team than the Suns.

However, the key reason for the Suns' loss was three-point shooting, which shot 0 of 10. With 11 fewer shots, the shooting percentage was 7 percentage points lower and only 40 percent, so they lost. ”

"0 of 10 three-pointers?"

Zhou Quan said he was surprised, is this a collective loss?

However, he feels that the Suns are particularly fond of three-point shooting, and the same is true in the first-round series, if you shoot well from three-point shots, you have a better chance of winning, and if you can't shoot three-pointers, you will probably lose.

So for a team like that, the best way to defend is to defend against their three-pointers, and as long as they defend against three-pointers, they win half the game.

At this time, Musk said: "Do you know what Spurs rely on to win?" ”

"Three points?" The Assassin asked.

Shaking his head, Musk smiled: "The Spurs' three-point shooting is also sparse tonight, 6 shots and 0 shots, they won, relying on the play of power forward Antoine Kyle and All-Star starting guard swingman Dale Ellis, both of whom scored 20+ points and played with high efficiency, the former has a shooting rate of more than 70%, and the latter also has a 56.3% shooting rate."

In addition, the Spurs, like us tonight, were very evenly scored, with seven of us scoring 10+ and six of them scoring in double figures. ”

"David Robinson's performance is not good?" Musk didn't mention Spurs leader David Robinson, and Zhou Quan asked sensitively.

Musk shrugged his shoulders and said: "4-of-16 shooting, 25% shooting, 5-of-7 free throws, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls, the Admiral's performance tonight was quite bad." ”

“25%？”

Zhou Quan couldn't imagine what David Robinson's mood would be when a super center hit such data.

What is David Robinson's mood, if it weren't for his teammates playing well, the team would have won, otherwise let the Suns get the match point, he would have the mood to hit the wall.

At this time, the atmosphere in the Spurs locker room is okay, after all, it is a game back, 1-2 down, 0-3 down, a hundred times better.

On the other side, the Bulls' locker room, lost, the atmosphere was cold and dead, Jordan didn't open his mouth, and the others didn't speak.

Phil Jackson pushed the door in, glanced at Jordan, and said, "Michael, you'd better be more cautious about Iron Fist's stealing ability next, don't let him affect your psychology." ”

Jordan's brow jumped, but he snorted coldly.

In his heart, he knew that Phil Jackson was not wrong, and he had to be more careful about that guy's stealing ability.

It was Zhou Quan's continuous steals that affected his psychology to a certain extent, which also affected his state.

This made him realize that his psychological quality was not as good as he thought, and his psychology was still flawed.

An hour later, the post-match press conference between the two teams began.

"Michael, you were average on both ends of the floor tonight, the offense was inefficient, the defense was broken into a sieve by an iron fist, was it something else that distracted you?" A reporter from the New York Times asked.

Hearing this, Jordan's temples jumped suddenly, eager to rush down and kill the damn reporter.

He knew what this reporter was insinuating, staring at his hobby of gambling twice, Ewing was right, reporters are all bastards, don't they know that gambling can relax their spirits?

But he still had to suppress the anger in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Reporter, all my energy is focused on this series, and your guess does not exist. ”

"Do you think you've been defended by Iron Fist tonight?" The reporter asked again.

Jordan said coldly: "It's just a matter of feel." I've always shot in a bag, and feel is the only thing that affects me. ”

He really thinks so, not with a hard mouth, or deliberately not admitting it.

"Then do you admit that you can't prevent Iron Fist's ball-holding breakthrough?" The reporter asked.

Jordan clenched his fists, this is different from the question above, he doesn't think that his shooting efficiency tonight is due to Zhou Quan's defense, but he does think that he didn't prevent Zhou Quan's breakthrough tonight, which makes him very uncomfortable with a strong competitive spirit.

The host hurriedly signaled the staff to collect the microphone and cancel the reporter's right to ask questions.

Seeing that Jordan was silent and his face was like black iron, the reporter laughed happily and handed the microphone to the staff.

"Coach Phil Jackson, what do you think are the chances of the Bulls advancing to the Eastern Conference finals?" The next reporter asked.

Phil Jackson lifted his glasses and said unhurriedly, "We are still confident in the future, and I don't think tonight's defeat will affect the final outcome of the series." ”

"Do you think the Bulls have a 51% chance of winning three in a row as ESPN predicted?" The reporter asked again.

Phil Jackson laughed: "Success and failure are both 50% probable, and ESPN's prediction is only one percentage point higher." ”

This answer made many reporters laugh, and the reporter who asked, "So ESPN only gives the Pistons a 1% chance of winning the championship, do you think it's normal?" ”

Phil Jackson was stunned, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I remember that ESPN only gave the Pistons a 1% chance last year, and you should ask them this question." ”

"Phil, the Pistons have seven players scoring 10+ points tonight, what do you think is wrong with the Bulls' defense?" A reporter asked.

Phil Jackson's look became serious, and he said, "That's what I'm concerned about, their offense is very scattered, which is different from what the Pistons used to playing.

Previously, the Pistons were a ball-handling style of play, with Iron Fist dominating the ball, but tonight he only controlled the ball in the first and final quarters, and Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumas controlled the ball in the middle two quarters, and the three of them combined for 21 assists, which was terrifying.

We did have some issues defensively, all three of them were in really good form and allowed everyone to score, which led to a lot of dispersion in our defence and affected the speed with which we switched positions. ”

"How are you going to solve this problem?" The reporter asked.

Phil Jackson hesitated for a moment and said, "I have some considerations, but I can't say what I think here." ”

"Michael, can the Bulls win a fight?" The next reporter asked.

Jordan said firmly: "I believe the result will be as you wish." ”

On the other end, a reporter asked: "Iron Fist, how did you do it by stealing Jordan four times tonight?" ”

Zhou Quan smiled: "It's very simple, focus all your attention, and you will have the opportunity to do everything you want to do." ”

"Do you think you stopped Jordan tonight?" The reporter asked.

Zhou Quan said cautiously: "From the perspective of four steals and his shooting percentage alone, I can indeed say that to a certain extent, it has limited his play and reduced his efficiency. Of course, I also know that he belongs to the kind of people who can't really be prevented. ”

"Is it too modest?" The reporter asked with a smile.

Zhou Quan shook his head and said: "It's not modesty, I need to face this problem from the most practical point of view, because my mentality will affect my attitude towards him in the game."

We all know that he's the player who takes the most shots and hits the most in the pack, and I can't underestimate him or underestimate him, because I would be making a big mistake to do that.

That's how I treat him in the game, no matter how I played against him in the last game, in the next game, I will start afresh and face him with the most careful attitude. ”

……

The next day, the 15th, the media was lively.

"The Bulls trailed 1-2 in the series, and there were media rumors that it was likely that Jordan was distracted by gambling before the game." New york times.

"According to reliable sources, on the night of the 13th, Jordan played cards with his teammates in the hotel until late at night." Detroit Worker Daily.

"If the Bulls series fails, Michael Jordan is to blame." Detroit Sports News.

"With four steals and seven turnovers in a single game, Michael Jordan was clearly not focused enough, what did he do the night before?" Phoenix Sun.

"According to reliable sources, a woman entered Jordan's room on the night of the 13th and left at two o'clock in the morning." Los Angeles Daily News.

In a restaurant in the hotel, there was a stabbing sound, and Jordan tore a large handful of newspapers in half and threw them on the ground with a bang.

"Damn the media, it's all lies." He roared in anger.

General manager Jerry Kraus shook his head slightly, everything else is a lie, but gambling is really not, on the way to Detroit, Jordan also pulled his teammates on the plane to gamble money, and it was the same in the hotel.

Phil Jackson said at this time: "Okay, don't care what the media says, we can't control them, my opinion is that everyone can control their own behavior, so that the media can't catch your mistakes."

Please note that we're going to the conference room after breakfast, we need to figure out the tactics for tomorrow night, and I don't want anyone to be late.

I'm sure you all know the key to the G4 game, we can't lose match point tomorrow night, absolutely not, there's only one result tomorrow night, we'll get it back, and then we will go back and get the match point at home. ”

Half an hour later, Jordan and the others came to a business conference room in the hotel for a tactical meeting.

After a while, Phil Jackson stood up and said, "The first thing we're going to pay attention to tomorrow is defense.

Last night, we allowed Iron Fist to get seven assists in the first quarter, and he only had the ball in two quarters, with a total of 11 assists and seven assists in the first quarter, so you can imagine that our defense had almost no obstacles to his passing.

I can say that we lost in the first quarter and we were able to hold on for the rest of the period, with no equals. ”

Jordan's face is a little bad, he is the first line of defense, and the first responsibility is him.

Phil Jackson glanced at Jordan and said, "Iron Fist played differently in the first half of the first quarter and the second half last night, the second half was mainly a break, but no matter which style of play, he can pass good balls, I have to say, just in terms of passing ability, he even surpassed Magic." ”

Jordan snorted, the magician was his friend, he didn't agree with the statement, but he couldn't refute it.

Phil Jackson continued: "Whether he was passing the ball to an open space on the outside or splitting the ball after a breakaway, there was only one reason why we had him get seven assists in the first quarter, and the defense, we kept them getting open spots, and they were close to the basket, and then we couldn't cut the connection between Zhou Quan and his teammates.

Remember how we won the G2 battle? Disrupting their inside cuts and reducing their offense under the basket was the key to winning the game. But last night, we didn't do it, they played a lot of baskets, so we lost. ”

"Phil, you just say what to do." Jordan said in a deep voice.

Phil Jackson shook his head and said, "I've got to let you know where we're losing." ”

"Now we know." Jordan said coldly.

(End of chapter)