At this time, Zhou Quan advanced to two steps outside the three-point line, and suddenly exerted force, accelerated his stride to pass people, and wanted to break through the opponent.

Under the horizontal movement of John Starks, the two of them instantly hung shoulder together, he snorted, and was almost brought to the ground on his side, while Zhou Quan suddenly passed and hit the flank.

"Beautiful!" Zhang Lili shouted.

Seeing Zhou Quan killed, Doug Rivers, who defended Joe Dumas on the right flank, could only make up for the defense and establish a second line of defense.

But Zhou Quan quickly passed the ball to Jo Dumas, then ran around Jo Dumas and Rivers towards the right elbow area.

Jo Dumas received the ball, without a pause, and passed back to Zhou Quan, who cut in, and Zhou Quan received the ball and hit the right elbow area in one step.

Polinice and Charles Smith were in the high post, and Smith immediately stepped up to establish a third line of defense.

Seeing that Smith made up for the defense in time, Oakley in the low post on the right wing did not come up, and Ewing in the low post on the left wing was the same.

Zhou Quan's passing threat is too high, and they don't dare to casually throw their respective people to make up for the defense, otherwise Sekari and Rodman cut the basket, and with Zhou Quan's passing ability, it will be a fatal blow.

The next moment, Zhou Quan exerted his strength again under his feet, accelerated his stride past people, easily and then suddenly moved the relatively slow Smith, and flew up in one step into the paint area.

This time, Ewing and Oakley were caught off guard, and they didn't expect Zhou Quan to break through Smith so easily, and the defense was half a beat slower.

But they all did their best to get back and close the door before the basket.

"Bang!"

Tomahawk-style slam dunk, one blow broke Ewing and Oakley's half-beat slower closed-door defense, and Zhou Quan blew up the Knicks' basket twice.

"Thank you for your cooperation, you cooperate just right, you definitely deserve the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor."

After completing the violent buckle, Zhou Quan also threw down a trash word, which made Oakley grit his teeth in anger, and Ewing also made a King Kong face.

The Knicks attacked, Zhou Quan defended and retreated in the backcourt, and the strong defensive momentum shocked Doug Rivers who advanced with the ball, making him feel that the basketball in his hand was a hot potato, and he wanted to pass it out early.

"Rivers, the ball in your hand is mine, you'd better give it back to me." Zhou Quan also spewed trash talk.

"What?"

Rivers was stunned.

"Chance!"

In an instant, Zhou Quan made the fastest steal reaction, stepped up and stabbed the ball, snapped, and the moment he stabbed the ball, he rushed over, stretched out his big hand, and under the precise blow, pulled the ball up through a quick blast, and successfully completed the steal.

"Oh shit, Rivers' ball is broken again! Is he sleepwalking? One of the on-site commentators yelled angrily.

John Starks chased the defense from the left flank with all his might, but his speed was not fast, which was his talent flaw, otherwise he would not have lost the selection and did not catch up.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan blew up the Knicks' basket three times.

"Oh roar!"

Hundreds of Pistons fans cheered, and a large number of stars and stars sitting in the front row applauded.

Spike Lee, the Knicks' number one die-hard fan, saw Zhou Quan dunk three shots in a row, opening with two steals, and jumped to his feet in anger.

"This is the main point guard that Coach Pat Riley traded for Mark Jackson from the Clippers?" Another on-site narrator said in a mocking tone.

At 6:2, the Knicks attacked and called a timeout after serving.

Pat Riley's expression was extremely stern, even the great villain Oakley kept his head down in front of him, and did not dare to do anything to blow up the thorns.

He stared at Doug Rivers and rebuked harshly, "Doug Rivers, where is your focus on the game?" With less than two steals in two minutes, do you want to get ten steals in the first half of your head? ”

Doug Rivers kept his mouth shut, he felt like he was going to be substituted.

Sure enough, the next moment, Pat Riley said to Blackman, "Rolando, you go." ”

"Yes, Coach." Blackman nodded calmly.

The Knicks don't have an absolute workhorse on the defensive line, even John Starks only started 51 games, Doug Rivers only started 45 games, and Blackman is also an important rotation guard, starting 33 games.

He is an 81-year veteran, a four-time All-Star backup guard, averaging 20+ per game for three seasons at his peak, averaging 18.5 points per game so far in his career, playing in the No. 2 position, with a shoe height of 198 cm and 86 kilograms.

The main reason why Pat Riley replaced him was to use his experience to push the ball through half-court, and he advised: "Rolando, Iron Fist is extremely good at tackling, you can't be careless, we can't lose the ball anymore." ”

"I understand." Blackman nodded.

Riley is still very worried, he estimates that Blackman can't get the Iron Fist, the strength of the Iron Fist in the No. 1 position is too strong, and he can even compete with Jordan, such a powerful top offensive and defensive point guard, he has no one in his hands who can compete with him.

If the No. 1 position is suppressed to death by Iron Fist and Joe Dumas, how will the Knicks fight? No matter how strong the inside line is, it also needs the outside line to control the ball.

The timeout ends and the game resumes.

Zhou Quan couldn't help but smile when he saw Blackman playing.

In such an important series as the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks are the team with the first regular season record in the East, and the Pistons' old rival, he knows the Knicks' lineup well, and of course he knows Blackman very well.

He didn't understand why Pat Riley sent such a veteran up, could experience really make up for the degraded athleticism?

The Knicks serve on the left touchline in the front court.

On the left wing, Blackman continued to run back, but Zhou Quan was much faster than him, not a little faster, he couldn't get rid of Zhou Quan at all, and he couldn't get the chance to catch the ball.

Charles Smith, who eventually served, passed the ball to John Starks who retreated to near the halfway line, but Joe Dumas immediately chased him to his side and blocked him at the halfway point.

Against the Knicks, who have the strongest defense in the league, Chuck Daley's tactical strategy is simple.

On the defensive end, use the Pistons' stronger guard line to lock up the Knicks' outside line and disrupt the opponent's offense.

On the offensive end, play more fast offense and play more defensive counterattacks, so that the opponent's strong defensive system is simply too late to establish.

So far, all well executed.

This time, seeing that Joe Dumas controlled John Starks in the middle line, Zhou Quan did not hesitate and immediately pounced.

"Here."

Blackman is indeed experienced, after all, he is a four-time All-Star guard, and as soon as Zhou Quan left, he yelled for the ball and ran to the halfway line.

It's a pity that Joe Dumas's defense is so powerful, and when Zhou Quan is in the middle of the attack, the position he is in also cuts off the passing route, forcing John Starks to be unable to pass the ball over, and then Zhou Quan pounces to the side, he can only pass the ball to Oakley who retreats to the middle line on the right wing.

Oakley received the ball, but he had little ability to hold the ball, and after Sekari defended in front, he could only stop in place, holding the ball high with both hands, ready to transfer the ball again.

Pat Riley shouted angrily, "Go and answer." ”

John Starks hurriedly ran over, and Oakley hurriedly threw the hot potato, but as soon as John Starks received the ball, Jo Dumas and Zhou Quan, who had caught up, wrapped him in dumplings.

"Smack!"

Zhou Quan reached out and hit the ball accurately from John Starks' hand, and the three of them immediately scrambled together, and finally Joe Dumas grabbed the ball, and the two worked together to complete a steal.

In the next moment, he immediately turned and went down quickly, one step past the halfway line, Joe Dumas passed, he received the ball and strode to the basket.

In the counterattack launched from the middle line, except for John Starks, who lost the ball, the rest of the Knicks have given up on the defense.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan took off after killing the free throw line, made a 360-degree turn, and then received a one-handed strong dunk, smashing the Knicks' basket for the fourth time.

"Bang Bang Bang ......"

This time, Madison Square Garden was greeted with applause.

Zhou Quan took a look, this time it was not only the Pistons fans and those Chinese fans, but also many Knicks fans who were actually applauding him.

Pat Riley didn't expect his team to make such a start, opening with three steals, allowing the opponent to hit back in a row, and he stopped roaring, because it didn't make sense, but made the player's spirit more nervous.

On the TNT commentary bench, Robert Giddah said: "Ringer, I realize a problem now, if the Knicks can't solve the outside problem, that is, if they can't solve the defense of Joe Dumas and Iron Fist, and they won't even have a chance to pass the ball to the inside, then this series, they will probably face a tougher situation than the Bulls." ”

Ringer Wilson nodded in agreement: "The regular season is two wins and two losses, and this record can no longer be used as evidence to evaluate the strength of the two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals series."

When Iron Fist and Joe Dumas burst out with strong defensive energy in full force, the Pistons can be local, and I'm talking about the perimeter, forming enough power to kill the Knicks on the perimeter.

And if the Knicks can't cope, they may indeed be worse than the Bulls, after all, the Bulls hit a tie-break, and the Knicks probably won't even have a chance to tie seven. ”

Robert Gidda said: "The Knicks' defense is strong in the whole, but they only have one defensive second team, while the Pistons have two defensive teams and one second team, in fact, if it weren't for the iron fist, Joe Dumas would have been selected for the defensive team again, so the Pistons should be considered three defensive teams, and the Pistons do have the strength to form strong defensive pressure on the Knicks locally." ”

"I think the Knicks should be looking for a break and keep an eye on Secali and Polines, two positions that are the Pistons' defensive weaknesses, and that's why the Pistons' overall defense is not as good as the Knicks," Ringer Wilson said. ”

But speaking of this, he smiled bitterly again: "But now the Pistons have locked the outside of the Knicks, so that the Knicks have no chance to stare at their weaknesses." ”

"It's still a tactical issue, it's not that the Pistons are necessarily stronger than the Knicks, Pat Riley should find a solution, he still needs to watch, it takes time, and the players need to adapt to the process." Robert Giddah said.

The game continued on the court, and the Pistons still formed strong defensive pressure on the Knicks on the outside, trying to disrupt the opponent's offense on the outside, not allowing the ball to go inside, and then trying to find opportunities to play fast break.

The Knicks had a lot of turnovers, with five turnovers in the first half of the quarter, including two bad passes and three steals, and by the sixth minute, the Pistons had a double-digit lead on the road at 19-8 before Pat Riley called a second timeout.

Zhou Quan made 5 of 6 shots, 4 of which were fast attacks after defensive counterattacks, all of which were completed, 1 of 2 shots in the positional battle, 10 points in the first quarter, and 3 steals.

The Pistons shot 9-of-14 from the field and shot 64 percent from the field.

The Knicks made just nine shots and hit four of them, a 44.4 percent shooting percentage.

Ewing was 2-of-4 shooting, John Starks was 1-of-3 and Smith was 1-of-2.

Zhang Reasonable said excitedly: "On the outside, regardless of the offensive and defensive ends, the Pistons have an absolute advantage, the advantage is too big, it has made the Knicks' offense unable to play, the whole team made 14 shots, 7 shots in the positional battle, 7 shots and 6 successful fast breaks, the fast break ratio is too big, so big that the Knicks' defense has no chance to play." ”

Sun Zhenping said excitedly: "Coach Zhang, I think the Knicks are far inferior to the Bulls, aren't they the most defensive team in the league?" ”

Zhang reasonablely analyzed: "Their defense is strong on the whole, Ewing, Oakley, John Starks, Rivers, Mason, these people's defense is good, coupled with the strong defensive system and defensive awareness established in two seasons, it has played the strongest defensive quality in the league."

But individually, they are not as good as the Pistons, and the Pistons' defense cannot improve this season because the weaknesses are too obvious, and Secali is a defensive black hole, as is the No. 3 position, which seriously drags down the overall defense of the Pistons.

In fact, this season's Pistons' defense is similar to that of the Bulls, both strong on the outside and weak on the inside.

But just as soon as the Pistons put a lot of effort into the outside defense, they stared at the Knicks' outside play, forming an almost overwhelming advantage in the local area, seriously destroying the Knicks' passing, and finally destroying their offense, so they could take a big lead. ”

In front of the Knicks' bench, Pat Riley's expression was so serious that even Jeff Van Gundy, an assistant coach, was a little afraid to speak.

"From now on, we step up the pick-and-roll, Oakley and Smith both pull out to cover the perimeter, we step up the ball and move the ball around to avoid the Iron Fist and Joe Dumas ......"

He replaced veteran Blackman, who in the last few minutes, was mediocre under the Iron Fist defense, making two pass errors.

He sent the last point guard, Greg Anthony, who is 183 cm tall and 80 kilograms, and although he is not much faster than Tekken, he is agile enough and his ball control skills are okay.

Anthony was the first round of the 12th show in 91, Iron Fist was the first round of the 17th show in 91, the two were the same year show, and now he regrets it very much, you must know that Zhou Quan came to the Knicks for trial at that time, but he actually took a fancy to Anthony and ignored the average performance of Iron Fist at that time.

He advised: "Greg, don't go to the middle, just push on the flanks, use your speed and agility, or a teammate's pick-and-roll, get rid of the iron fist, try not to play against him, be flexible, and get to Patrick or John when you get to the frontcourt." ”

"Yes, Coach."

Anthony said nervously and excitedly.

Against Iron Fist, this is a person who can take out Jordan, he is very nervous, but if he has a good performance in front of Iron Fist, it will undoubtedly make him very excited and expectant.

Pat Riley said: "Also, when you call a pick-and-roll, you have to call Oakley, don't block and pick with Smith, Rodman can defend from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, understand?" You're going to have to keep an eye on Sekari and fight. ”

"Yes."

Greg Anthony said nervously.

Pat Riley then told John Starks, "John, you're on the other wing, and you're at a distance from Gregor, so that Jo Dumas and Iron Fist can't form a flank, understand?" ”

"Understood." John Starks said in a deep voice.

The timeout ends and the players come on.

"Hey, Greg."

"Hey, Iron Fist."

As a show of the same year, Zhou Quan and Greg Anthony knew each other, met in the official training camp, and also met during the tryouts of several teams such as the Knicks, and greeted them after they came on the court.

Greg Anthony actually played well, starting point guard 35 games this season, with good assist ability, averaging 5.5 assists per game in 24 minutes, but this achievement is nothing in front of Zhou Quan, so he said with great emotion: "Iron Fist, I didn't expect that in just two years, you will become a superstar, and you are the best rookie in 91." ”

"Thank you! You're not bad, let's work together. Zhou Quan smiled.

"Tick!"

The referee blows the whistle and the game begins.

Although it was the same year show, Zhou Quan was not polite, and followed Anthony very closely and did not give the opponent a chance to catch the ball.

However, Anthony took advantage of Oakley's pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhou Quan and receive the ball, and then easily bypassed Secali and drove the ball to the paint.

Rodman quickly made up from the basket to the left waist position, and established a second line of defense in time, Anthony wanted to pass the ball to Ewing, but Ewing cut inside to the basket at this time, and was surrounded by Polinis, he couldn't pass, so he had to force a stop-and-go jump shot.

"Bang!"

Missed, Rodman turned and grabbed the rebound from the backcourt.

At this time, Zhou Quan had already turned around and was about to get down, how could Oakley be able to catch up with him?

"Whoosh!"

Rodman passed, Zhou received the ball over the halfway line, and quickly hit the Knicks' basket.

"It's a fast break again, this is the Pistons' 8th fast break in the first quarter, and 7 of the 8 fast breaks have been successful." Zhang Cheng shouted excitedly.

"Bang!"

He was only halfway through his words, and Zhou Quan completed another violent deduction.

"Oh roar!"

The cheers at Madison Square Garden are getting louder and louder, and there are more and more Knicks fans who are backing the water.

Pat Riley yelled at the court, "Greg Anthony, pass, do you hear me?" I let you go up to pass, not to make you attack, do you think you're Iron Fist or Michael Jordan? ”

Greg Anthony shivered with fright and kept nodding his head.

On the TNT commentary bench, Robert Giddah shook his head and said: "Compared with the Bulls and the Knicks, the outside line is much weaker, Iron Fist and Joe Dumas can't play such defense and counterattacks in the face of Jordan and Pippen, and now it seems that the Knicks are likely to be unable to solve the problem of the outside line." ”

Ringer Wilson asked with some concern, "Robert, do you think there will be a one-sided situation?" ”

"Possibly."

Robert Giddah nodded heavily.

The two are not biased towards the Knicks, because of the problem of ratings, and the one-sided game will reduce the sense of viewing and anticipation, resulting in a big drop in ratings.

Robert Giddah opened his mouth, but closed it again.

Bystander Qing, in fact, he has a way to solve the current Knicks' dilemma, the solution is very simple, that is, the outside line opposite the Iron Fist only plays without the ball, does not hold the ball, and then the three outside lines are all pulled apart, not giving the Pistons a chance to hit on the outside.

Although Joe Dumas's defense is also strong, in terms of defensive initiative and aggression, it is far inferior to Iron Fist.

A minute later, Pat Riley called a timeout again.

(End of chapter)