"Iron Fist, what makes you so hot today?" In the live interview after the game, the ABC reporter asked.

"Pressure." Zhou Quan replied briefly.

"Pressure?"

The journalist was shocked.

"Yes, turn pressure into motivation." Zhou Quan added.

"What pressure do you mean?" The reporter asked.

'The taunts from the media, the taunts from the opponents, the taunts from the home fans, for me, it's pressure, but it's also motivation. He said.

"Do you agree with Detroit's Iron Fist Age?" The reporter asked again.

"Of course not, I haven't achieved anything yet." He categorically denied it.

"In June of '91, after Michael Jordan won his first championship, he once said to the media, this is not an accident, this is the beginning of an era, if you win the championship this time, will you say something like this?" The reporter asked again.

Zhou Quan thought for a moment and smiled: "Did he do it?" ”

"Not at the moment. But the era has only just begun, and I think he still has a chance. The reporter said with a smile.

Zhou Quan nodded and said, "With Jordan's strength, he does have a chance to create an era that belongs to him." ”

"What about you?" The reporter asked.

Zhou Quan smiled and said, "This question of yours, ask me again after I win the championship." With that, he ended the interview.

The reporter shook his head with some regret and helplessness, and if he could, he would even like to answer his question with a gun and an iron fist.

An hour later, the press conference took place.

"Iron Fist, we've got three home games next, are you sure we're going to win this series at home?" The first to ask a question was a reporter from the Detroit Worker's Daily newspaper, who asked expectantly.

Zhou Quan is now a little annoyed with these Detroit media, what kind of iron fist era, my special face is not that big, Jordan is not qualified to call the era twice, do I have that qualification? I don't have four, five, six, or seven crowns in my hand, and I don't have the face to call the times.

I couldn't help but complain in my heart, but he still responded with a smile: "I very much hope to win the championship at home, and I am very confident in it." ”

What does your faith come from? Your hubris, or your so-called Iron Fist Age? A Phoenix Suns reporter couldn't help but ask out loud.

"Sir, please follow the order of the press conference." The host immediately warned.

The reporter shrugged his shoulders indifferently and just looked at Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan said with a smile: "My confidence comes from both my confidence in the team and the poor performance of the Phoenix Suns. Remember, it is you who give us faith. ”

"Haha......"

The Pistons' side burst out laughing, as did many neutral media reporters.

The Suns reporter turned black, and the white man became black.

"Coach Daley, you didn't call a timeout today, why?"

The next question was asked by a reporter from the New York Times, and his question was quite gossipy.

Chuck Daly smiled and said, "Because I think they were all doing well tonight, I called a timeout, and I felt it was an insult to them." ”

"Oh!"

"Haha......"

"Damn it!"

There were exclamations from reporters, laughter from the Detroit media, and invective from the Phoenix media.

On the other end, the Suns' press conference.

"Sir Charles, Bill Wharton said you could be swept away, do you think there's a good chance of that?" The New York Times asked in a mocking tone.

Barkley's gloomy expression suddenly became agitated and angry, and he angrily rebuked: "Bill Wharton is a big mouth, he only touts his alumni iron fist, and as a professional commentator, he is not competent."

How could we possibly be swept away? It's absolutely impossible, I'm not going to let it happen, absolutely not! ”

"But now it's 0-2, and then it's the Pistons' three home games." The reporter said.

"So what? We're going to win it back at home, we're going to come home with match points, yes, we've got a chance to do it. Barkley said with some indifference in excitement.

"You said you won three games in a row at Auburn Hills Palace? Did I hear me right? The reporter's eyes lit up and he immediately asked.

Barkley said angrily, "You heard me right, don't we have that strength?" We have, as long as we get in shape, we can turn defeat into victory. ”

……

The Pistons have lost two straight on the road, and the first thing that has changed is ESPN's championship prediction probability.

Just fifteen minutes after the game, ESPN's stats were adjusted, from 51% for the Suns to 40% and for the Pistons from 49% to 60.

ESPN's attitude is also the attitude of other media in the United States, and the media that were originally optimistic about the Suns have changed their ways.

In the two Finals, Barkley shot 23-of-54, shooting 42.6 percent from the field, averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds per game. Tekken shot 30-of-46 from the field, shooting 65.2 percent from the field, averaging 40.5 points, 9.5 assists and 6 steals per game. The performance of the two core teams will determine whether they win or lose, and will also determine the ownership of the championship. Los Angeles Daily News.

"Iron Fist played a series of top-notch offensive and defensive performances in the Finals, and he said before the game that he would make Barkley not win a championship in his life, although it was very arrogant and irrational, but his performance made Barkley's mockery of him before the game turn into a mockery of Fliggy himself, which is ironic." San Francisco Business Daily.

"Bill Walton said the Suns could be swept and if that were the case, it would be a tragedy for Barkley." Philadelphia Daily News.

"Barkley has vowed to win three straight on the road and then complete the comeback against the Pistons, and if he can do it, then his first career championship will be very golden, then he will be a hero of Phoenix, then his place in the NBA league history will be greatly enhanced." New york times.

"The winner is not to blame, and no matter what Tekken said before the fight, as a winner, he has a point." Miami Daily News.

In the restaurant of the hotel, Zhou Quan saw the content of the Miami Daily report, and felt that he had seen the attitude of the American media towards him in the future, once he could not do what he said, once he lost, these media would definitely mock him wildly.

At this time, his thoughts are strikingly similar to Jordan's, that is, only by constantly winning, only championships, can the media shut up.

At four or five o'clock in the afternoon, the Suns and Pistons arrived in Detroit one after another.

The Pistons, who won two straight on the road, increased their chances of winning the title and received a very warm welcome from the fans, with long motorcades blocking all roads from the airport to the city.

"Hey, Sir Charles, would you like to come down to our celebrations?"

"Phoenix Suns, thank you, you gave us confidence."

"Barkley, thank you for the league vetoing the deal, you must not come to Detroit."

The Suns' bus was also blocked and forced to participate in the celebration of the Pistons fans, and the Pistons fans constantly irritated them with words, which made Barkley deserve it very badly.

"We've got to kill them tomorrow night, or I'll lose twenty pounds." Angered by the fans, Barkley swore an oath.

Lightning nodded, he was stuck in the road, he was also a little irritable, the key people were celebrating two consecutive wins, as losers, did they celebrate two consecutive defeats?

On the 21st, the day of the G3 match of the finals.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, after training, Zhou Quan invited Zhang Cheng and the five of them to dinner in a restaurant in the palace of Auburn Hills.

"Iron Fist, I'm a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, can I be interviewed?"

When it was almost seven o'clock, when I came out of the restaurant, a reporter who was waiting outside immediately came up and asked.

"Two questions, I've got to go back to the locker room."

"Thank you! So Iron Fist, what do you think are the chances of sweeping the Suns? ”

"I've seen the media coverage, and Bill just said it's possible, so of course I'd like to be able to sweep my opponent, and who wouldn't? But hope, just hope, I didn't really think about the sweep, we just went through the game and won it game by game until we beat the opponent. If we can sweep, it's our luck, if not, it's nothing, we don't feel sorry. ”

"Will you choose to leave Detroit at the end of the season?"

"I'm sorry, that's not something I need to think about right now."

After the interview, Zhou Quan and Zhang Li separated and went back to the locker room.

Back in the locker room, after seven o'clock, the game started at half past eight, but there was no hurry, sit down and chat first, and eliminate food.

The staff came over and started putting bandages on his feet, which would have strengthened the protection of the feet, especially the ankle joints.

Chuck Daly said: "Gentlemen, although we have completed two consecutive wins on the road, we can't be careless, the strength of the Suns is there, their squad thickness is going to surpass ours, we have to be mentally prepared for everything. ”

Zhou Quan thought so, carelessly lost Jingzhou, not to mention that the strength of the Sun team is so strong.

But three hours later, at 91:105, the Pistons still lost the G3 game, and the score was 1-2 with the Suns.

Zhou Quan, who was in full shape in the G2 game, played abnormally, shooting 6 of 16, shooting only 37.5%, 0 of 2 three-point shots, plus 9 of 11 free throws, scoring 21 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls, and only played 40 minutes.

Not only him, but also the performance of his teammates was average, and only three of the team scored double-doubles.

The Suns' bench lineup exploded, and all seven players on the team went in double figures, relying on a strong lineup to defeat the Pistons.

Barkley was also in average form, shooting 42.1% from the field on 8-of-19 shooting, 1-of-4 from three-point range and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line, finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Losing a home court and not getting a match point was very disappointing for the Pistons, but Zhou Quan was mentally prepared, plus Joe Dumars, Rodman, and the Assassins were all veterans of the finals, so the team did not have psychological problems.

The Suns won their first road on the road, and importantly, they were very excited that they didn't let the Pistons get a game point.

After the game, Barkley was on hand for a live interview.

"Charles, how much more do you expect from a championship now?" The journalist asked.

"There's never been such a strong anticipation and for the first time I felt like the championship was there and I had it within reach." He said excitedly.

"Are you confident of winning the G4 battle?" The reporter asked again.

He laughed and said, "We have a lot of confidence to win this game, we will launch the most fierce attack against the G4 game, we can't wait." ”

"Can you still keep up with your fitness?" The reporter asked again.

"Of course, we have enough fitness to play another series, yes, haha!"

……

The G4 game is the 24th, with one more day off than the previous three, which is good news for both sides, especially the Suns.

"Our counteroffensive has begun! The Phoenix Suns will be the ones who have the last laugh, and our light will shine on this league. Phoenix Sun.

Winning an away game is very motivating for the Suns, the team's morale has risen significantly, and the media in Phoenix has also climaxed.

On the 24th, the day of the G4 match.

At 8 p.m., the two sides announced their starting lineups.

Suns: Mark West, Charles Barkley, Richard, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

Pistons: Secali, Dennis Rodman, Mark Aguirre, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

On the ABC commentary bench, Lewis Williams said with a smile: "The Pistons lost their first home court, and this second home court must strive to win, and winning it is a match point, which means that the championship is basically in hand."

And for the Suns, this is also a game that cannot be lost, losing is the same as getting the Pistons to get the match point, and if they lose, they will lose the whole season, and if they lose, it means that Barkley will lose his championship dream. ”

Bill Wharton said: "G2 is hot in the Iron Fist game, G3 is not good, the shooting is a little poor, but he added a breakthrough and caused a lot of damage to the Suns, I don't know how he will play this time."

In addition, Charles Barkley's performance, to be honest, he was similar to Iron Fist's performance in the last game, not much stronger. ”

Williams said: "G4 has more rest and hopefully both sides have a good performance. ”

At 8:15, he started the game.

"Shh

The Suns came out and received the most violent boos from the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"Overall Champion! Overall Winner ......"

When it came time to play at home, the Pistons fans shouted out what they were looking forward to.

Jump ball, Suns offense.

"Brush!"

On the left wing, Barkley received the ball a step away from the paint, arched twice before flipping over for a jumper and hitting a mid-range shot over Rodman's head.

"Defend and defend!"

After he succeeded, he shouted loudly and immediately ran to the backfield.

"Charles is very positive!." Bill Wharton laughed.

"You can't lose this one, he has to work hard." Williams Road.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan quickly advanced to the top of the arc and made a jump shot, but he missed.

Halfway through the first quarter, at 15:11, the Pistons trailed by four points at home.

Zhou Quan missed three shots in the opening game, which was the main reason for the team's backwardness.

"The feel is still not good, I hope Zhou Quan can adjust it as soon as possible." On the CCTV commentary seat, Zhang Lili said with some regret.

At halftime, Zhou Quan only made 4 of 12 shots, 4 of the next 9 shots, dunked once, and missed an empty basket, including 0 of 2 three-point shots.

However, at home, he made more free throws, reduced outside shots, and increased ball-holding breakthroughs, making 6 of 8 free throws in the half, and scoring 14 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in the half.

At halftime, 45:55, the Suns had a 10-point lead.

"After the G3 fight, Iron Fist still doesn't feel good today, look at his performance in the second half." Bill Wharton shook his head.

"The shooting is not good, the organization and defense are good." Williams said.

Bill Wharton said: "Barkley was in great shape today, shooting 9-of-14 from the field and shooting 64.3 percent, Rodman didn't guard him, shooting 2-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, scoring 23 points in the half and grabbing eight rebounds, which is going to explode today." ”

Williams said: "Everyone has a blow, it's an iron fist on the court, this time it's Barkley's turn, haha!" ”

(End of chapter)