26-4, SuperSonics rushed to the next away game overnight, Orlando Magic.

It's almost 400 kilometers, but it's not far, it takes off at one o'clock in the morning, arrives at the airport before two o'clock, and when I arrive at the hotel, it's half past three, and when I settle down and go to bed, it's already more than four o'clock in the morning.

I had no dreams all night, woke up at more than ten o'clock, slept only six hours, the quality of sleep was not bad, and I felt that my physical fitness had recovered well.

After washing up, I went out to take a look, and my teammates hadn't gotten up yet.

A wave of six away games, three in a row, this is the fourth, and it seems that fitness issues are plaguing the team.

"Iron Fist, won't you sleep a little longer?" Whithitt, the general manager, came out of the room, yawned, and happened to see Zhou Quan who was going out.

"I slept well." Zhou Quan said with a smile.

Whithitt laughed, "Iron Fist, Dennis and Detreff have at least forty days left before they can return, and there will be some time to adapt after the comeback."

It's a tight rotation right now, and my suggestion is to lose a few away games, especially the away games in the East don't mean much to us, what do you think? ”

A general manager asked for opinions in person, which was respect, and Zhou Quan nodded: "The team can give more opportunities to marginalized people, so that Hawkins and Gilliam can play less time." ”

"What about you?"

Whither nodded, and then said, "You're our key, and we don't want to see you hurt again." ”

"It was an accident, but I didn't have any fitness problems." Zhou Quan said.

"Okay then." Whithitt could only nod his head.

He knew that Zhou Quan didn't want to lose and wanted to compete for MVP.

At this time, Zhou Quan's mobile phone rang, it was O'Neill's phone, saying that he was invited to lunch and would come to the hotel to pick him up later.

At a quarter past eleven, Zhou Quan came to the door of the hotel, and just now O'Neill called, and he had arrived.

When he saw an elongated Ferrari F355 parked at the door, he couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't expect O'Neill to like sports cars too.

O'Neill didn't bother to get out of the car, even if it was lengthened, this kind of sports car, it was a little difficult for him to get on and off, he smiled proudly and said: "Iron Fist, how is my car?" ”

"Great!"

Zhou Quan sat in the co-pilot's seat, fastened the safety belt, and said with a smile: "Shark, the record is good now, the second in the east." ”

"Sooner or later, I'm going to pick on Michael Jordan and dominate the East." O'Neill smirked.

"Why, you were swept last year, and you don't have the confidence to make it to the finals now?" Zhou Quan asked disdainfully.

"Why not? I'm definitely going to kill the bull this year. O'Neill yelled.

"Drive first, and the car will come later." Zhou Quan reminded.

O'Neill looked in the rearview mirror, then geared up and drove out of the hotel.

"Shark, I asked you to renew your contract early, but there is no news from the media, is it that Magic does not renew your contract with you in advance? Or did you not say yes? Zhou Quan asked.

Speaking of the contract, O'Neal's face obviously collapsed, slapped him on the steering wheel, and said angrily: "Damn management, they only gave me a four-year $54 million contract at first, I want a longer contract, that would be more secure." ”

"Be careful not to be the same as Pippen, six or seven years at most is enough, and then the market changes very quickly, and the salary cap will rise very quickly." Zhou Quan reminded with a smile.

O'Neill said: "I just want a seven-year contract. ”

"Didn't talk?"

O'Neill said angrily: "They added 80 million for 5 years, although the annual salary is about the same, but they just refuse to give a seven-year contract, how to talk about it?" ”

"So now?" Zhou Quan asked with a smile.

O'Neal said angrily again: "My contract is not ...... than you and Jordan."

"Are you mistaken, my average annual salary is only more than 13 million, much lower than you, more than 3 million less than you a year, if you jump out of the contract in the fifth year, the average annual salary in the first four years is even lower, only more than 11 million." Zhou Quan said angrily.

O'Neill laughed: "That's the market when you signed, and your contract was the highest in the league at that time. By the way, Iron Fist, you only signed for five years, did you do it on purpose? ”

"Of course, I believe that the salary cap will rise very quickly in the future." Zhou Quan said.

"Where did I just go? Oh yes......"

O'Neill stopped in front of the traffic light and thought for a moment before saying: "Juwan Howard and Alonzo Mourning have signed contracts of 100 million yuan, both of which are 105 million US dollars for 7 years, why can anyone who is not as good as me get a contract of 100 million yuan, I can't?"

So my team's contract requirement for management is $115 million for seven years, which is $10 million higher than the two of them, and if management doesn't give it, I'll leave next season. ”

"Don't come to the west, I'm there, you can't get ahead." Zhou Quan persuaded with "kindness".

"I won't lose to you, you wait, I'm going to the west." O'Neill was angry.

"Whatever you want."

Zhou Quan said indifferently, and suddenly thought of the Lakers who had recruited him, and couldn't help but smile and said: "The Lakers have a center tradition, didn't they recruit you?" ”

"Hey, hey, hey......"

O'Neal couldn't help laughing, and then the light was green, and he said as he drove: "I have contacted my team, but now the Magic roster is good, the record is so good, if they are willing to meet my contract, I still want to stay." ”

Zhou Quan nodded and stopped asking questions about the contract.

On January 5, 96, Amway Center Arena, home of the Magic.

At half past seven, the two sides announced their starting lists.

SuperSonics: Elvin Johnson, Matt Geiger, Almon Gilliam, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan

Magic: O'Neal, Grant, Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson, Anfernee Hardaway

On the CCTV commentary seat, Zhang Reasonable said: "The Magic lineup is quite strong, O'Neal has performed very well since his comeback, averaging 33 points and 12 rebounds per game, it seems that injuries have no effect on him." ”

Xu Jicheng said: "Cobra Grant is also good, his condition is the same as last season, there is no decline, and now he can still get 13.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1.2 blocks."

It's just that the shooting percentage has dropped a lot, last season it was 56.7%, now it's 51.3%, he's 30 years old now, Coach Zhang, it means that he is still starting to decline, right? ”

Zhang said: "First, because O'Neal occupies the position under the basket, 95% of his offense is in the paint area, there are few two points, and at most one or so throws down a game, so Grant's opportunities and space under the basket are reduced."

The second is that he is indeed getting older, and he deliberately reduces his offense under the basket and shoots more from the outside, so his efficiency has declined. ”

Xu Jicheng nodded and said: "Small forward Scott has been promoted to the starting line this season, and his performance has improved by a cut, averaging 17.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Anderson, the quarterback, is also good, averaging 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

Not to mention Hardaway, who averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2 steals per game, playing the performance of Jordan's successor. ”

Zhang Li said: "The second in the East, currently 24-6, the SuperSonics are 26-4, and the difference between wins is two, and the current strength of the Magic should not be underestimated."

What's more, O'Neal can crush the supersonic inside, unless Zhou Quan beats Hardaway on the outside and plays a greater advantage than O'Neal on the inside, otherwise in the absence of major generals, the supersonic really can't do magic. ”

Xu Jicheng said: "From the Magic's record, it can also be seen that Hardaway is really powerful, O'Neal missed 22 games, and he can still lead the team to play such a record alone."

And his style of play is very good-looking, no worse than Jordan, full of imagination and creativity, and the Magic management values him very much. ”

Zhang said with a smile: "O'Neal didn't play a game in the first 22 games, and his record before his comeback was 17-5, with a winning rate of 77.3%.

He also held his back after his comeback, playing a 9-1 record, and now has a winning rate of 86.7%.

Haha, he seems to be showing his presence, and if his record does not improve after his comeback, then his position in the team will be embarrassing. ”

Xu Jicheng said: "Schramf and Rodman had a 17-2 record before they were injured, and the supersonic injuries were more serious than the Magic.

Now the record is 26-4, and Zhou Quan alone led the team to a 9-2 record, and the performance was not bad. ”

Zhang Li said: "So don't underestimate Hardaway, this player is indeed worthy of Jordan's successor, and he can stand up at critical moments."

Tonight, it depends on whether Zhou Quan can restrain Hardaway and blow him up, the supersonic speed of the major general who lacks troops wants to win the magic, and it is quite difficult! ”

Xu Jicheng said: "The veteran McMillan is also injured, no one is available, and it is back-to-back, it is really too difficult to win." ”

At eight o'clock, the game began.

After the jump ball, the Magic attacked.

Zhou Quan is famous, the strongest steal king in history, the average opponent does not dare to hold the ball in front of him at all, and he hit 50+ on the court, and he has a clean sheet against Gary Payton, the league's first-class point guard, it is impossible to say that Anfernee Hardaway has no pressure, he has also suffered at the hands of Zhou Quan before.

But he has his self-confidence, and at 201 centimeters tall, 10 centimeters taller than Zhou Quan, this is his third season, and his weight has increased from 88 kilograms to the current 93 kilograms, which is a little heavier than Zhou Quan.

Playing point guard with the height and tonnage of a small forward, he has a mismatch advantage no matter who the opponent is.

What's more, the height and tonnage of a small forward, but the speed and agility of a guard, is his great talent.

This kind of talent, Zhou Quan also needs to be rewarded through the system to achieve, otherwise the increase in tonnage will definitely affect his athletic quality.

And Hardaway is no longer a rookie, more importantly, O'Neal was injured, he led the team to the second place in the East alone, the record is no worse than the supersonics, and his self-confidence has been played, so now even in the face of Zhou Quan, who is fighting with Jordan for the first person in the active team, he is full of confidence.

In the face of Zhou Quan's defense, he did not choose to give up the ball, but began to attack with the ball.

Today, he wants to play well in Zhou Quan and prove to Magic management that he is the boss of this team.

When holding the ball and advancing, he took the initiative to change direction continuously, showing a strong combination of ball holding and human ball, so that Zhou Quan had to change direction and couldn't find a chance to break the ball.

After reaching outside the three-point line on the right wing, he first rushed down to the right, and when Zhou Quan kept up, he suddenly pulled back and turned right, and just when Zhou Quan followed again, he suddenly turned around and jumped.

The whole technical movement is very coherent, very flexible, extremely imaginative, and coupled with the height of his small forward, even Zhou Quan has no way to block this ball.

Zhou Quan did not block the basketball, but directly blocked Hardaway's sight, and when he stepped and jumped, his left hand was directly covered on the opponent's face, and the huge palm almost completely covered Hardaway's face.

"Not good!"

Hardaway lost his eyesight at the moment of his shot, but he could only force his shot.

Zhou Quan landed, and didn't look back to see if the ball was hit, and rushed directly in front of Hardaway as soon as possible.

"Bang!"

As he rushed past Hardaway, there was a smashing of the basket behind him.

"Ball!"

Matt Geiger's voice sounded, and Zhou Quan turned around, only to see the basketball flying from under the basket.

"Oops, it's big!"

As soon as Zhang Li saw the ball, he immediately shouted.

Zhou Quan sped up and rushed forward, bang, the basketball smashed on the floor two steps ago and bounced forward, he accelerated with all his might, rushed three steps across the halfway line before controlling the ball, and then killed the basket.

Hardaway was two meters slower than Zhou Quan when he returned to defense, although his speed reached the speed of a defender, but it was still a little worse than Zhou Quan, although he tried his best to return to defense, but he couldn't catch up.

"Bang!"

Taking off in the left waist position, Zhou Quan used a crotch to change hands and buckle violently to complete the counterattack.

"Haha, I also played flower work, which shows that Zhou Quan is playing very relaxed now." Zhang Li laughed twice and said.

"The applause from away was not bad." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.

Magic Offense.

Hardaway learned a lesson this time and decided that when he shot in front of Zhou Quan, he must lean back, so that Zhou Quan should not have a chance to seal his eyes.

After a flurry of moves, he hit another three-pointer, this time with a turnaround and step-back jumper.

"Smack!"

But just after he finally turned around and picked up the ball, Zhou Quan slapped up, knocked the ball off very accurately, and then grabbed it in his hand.

"What?"

Hardaway was stunned.

At the top of the arc, Hawkins was fast down, and Zhou Quan followed after passing the ball.

Hawkins caught the ball to the top of the arc, and Nick Anderson chased to his side, and he suddenly came to a sharp stop.

At this time, Zhou Quan came up from behind, he immediately passed the ball, and Zhou Quan caught the ball and killed the top of the arc.

When Anderson saw it, he hurriedly lost Hawkins, caught up with Zhou Quan, and completed the left and right wraps with Anfernee Hardaway.

But as soon as Zhou Quan rushed into the paint area, it was a backhand pass, and the ball flew to Hawkins at the top of the arc.

"Brush!"

Hawkins made an empty three-point shot and hit it.

"Beautiful! As long as you get an open space by Zhou Quan's side, you will get a pass. Xu Jicheng said with a smile.

"Holding the ball to break through to attract the bag, the artist is bold, and he deliberately looked for Jordan and Pippen's bag in the last finals, and broke out tactics, which is Zhou Quan's main style of play, and he tried everything." Zhang Li said with a smile.

5:0, Magic attack.

"Ball."

O'Neal got to the basket and yelled at Hardaway.

(End of chapter)