That night, the East Finals kicked off, the home of the Pacers.

Between the two teams, there were two wins and two losses in four regular season games, and there was a draw, all of which were won at home and lost on the road.

In this G1 game, the game was quite anxious, 86:88, but in the end, the Pacers won the game by virtue of the home advantage.

On the 23rd, the West Duel began.

The game started at half past eight, and Zhou Quan came to the central gymnasium at half past six and went to the away team's locker room first.

"Hello, Mr. West, Mr. Jackson."

Turning into the corridor, Zhou Quan saw Jerry West and Phil Jackson standing at the door of the locker room more than ten meters away, and he raised his hand to greet him.

"Hey, Iron Fist, hello."

"Hello, Iron Fist."

When the two saw Zhou Quan, they also hurriedly greeted.

"I'm here to visit the shark, he's in there, right?" Zhou Quan said.

"Yes, I'll call him for you." West smiled and turned to push the door open, shouting inside, "Shark, Iron Fist is coming." ”

"Iron Fist, what are you doing at this time?"

O'Neal immediately screamed inside, footsteps rang out, and then appeared in the doorway, followed by Kobe.

"Come and see you first, lest you don't want to see me after you lose." Zhou Quan teased.

"Iron Fist King, it's not necessarily that we lose." Kobe Bryant said first.

"Kobe Bryant, this is the playoffs, not the regular season." Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"What about the playoffs?" Kobe Bryant was unconvinced.

"Hey, Iron Fist."

"Hello, John."

At this time, another person came out of the locker room, but it was former Pistons teammate John Sely, who came out to say hello to Zhou Quan.

After he left, several people chatted outside the door.

"I didn't expect that as soon as Iron Fist came back, he relied on a garbage lineup to play the first record in the league and entered the Western Finals." Jerry West exclaimed.

Phil Jackson said: "Even with a garbage lineup, Iron Fist alone can raise the team's ceiling by a large margin. What's more, they're not a garbage lineup.

Ben Wallace has played a first-class defensive center performance, and he can definitely get a long-term contract with an annual salary of four or five million next season, and several other base salaries can be exchanged for a suitable contract. ”

"We're not going to lose." O'Neill said.

John Sely said: "Iron Fist hasn't lost four Western Conference finals. ”

This is to improve the morale of the opponent and destroy his own prestige, Kobe Bryant glanced at John Sailly dissatisfied, and then said excitedly: "We are very strong, we are going to break the myth that the Iron Fist King West is undefeated." ”

John Sely sighed: "I think when Iron Fist first arrived at the Pistons, he killed several of us by himself, and I knew that he would do a big scene." ”

"Spider, does fighting have anything to do with playing ball?" O'Neill quipped.

John Seley said disdainfully: "Of course it matters, we will not suffer a lot from fighting in that era, there is no deterrent, and anyone will dare to attack you." Do you see that after entering the alliance from Iron Fist, who dares to make a secret move against him? ”

O'Neill thought for a moment and said, "Yes, the postman did it and broke two ribs. Larry Johnson also had an argument with him and was beaten up.

Big Dream and the guy named something sneaked up on Iron Fist on the field, and then they were beaten badly, and that guy's intestines were kicked and broken by Iron Fist, and I heard that he burst a belly of. ”

"Gross!"

Kobe Bryant was about to throw up.

John Sailly glanced at Kobe, and he was worried about Kobe.

Kobe Bryant is strong now, but that's for others, and in front of the Iron Fist King, he doesn't have any advantage.

The Iron Fist King is faster than Kobe, with more strength, stronger confrontation, better technology, and more experience, once Kobe Bryant is blown up by the Iron Fist King at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, there will be no OK combination, O'Neal is heavily wrapped in the low post, and the Lakers' bench lineup is not as good as the SuperSonics, how to play?

The Lakers can win the SuperSonics in the regular season, that is, the Iron Fist King did not go all out at all, but in the series, can the Iron Fist King not go all out?

……

It was almost eight o'clock, and in the home locker room, Paul Westfa felt a little hot, wiped the sweat from his head, and then clapped his hands and shouted: "Guys, now announce the starting lineup for tonight." ”

After everyone's eyes looked over, he continued: "Number one, Iron Fist King. No. 2, Brent Barry. The number three, Bruce Bowen ......"

"What?"

Everyone was stunned.

"Me?"

Bowen thought he had misheard.

"Bruce, you have to focus on the defensive end, you're playing against Glen Rice, the Lakers' third leading scorer, and sometimes he's playing better than Kobe Bryant, and now the team needs your defense, as well as open three-pointers," Westafar said. ”

"Yes."

Bowen excitedly stood up and replied loudly.

“……”

Corey Magetti was very disappointed, he started 68 games in the regular season, and he also started small forward in the first and second rounds, but he didn't expect to choose the starting position in the West now.

Westphaal continued: "The number four ......"

At this time, Campbell's nerves were tense, and the No. 3 position was replaced, and the No. 4 position could also be replaced, and Rodman might replace him.

"Campbell." At this moment, Westfaal's voice rang out.

"Me?"

Campbell was stunned and immediately rejoiced.

Westphal nodded, and continued, "Number five, Ben Wallace. ”

"Yes."

Ben Wallace was also a little worried, afraid that his position would also be replaced, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Westfaal and McMillan's assistant coaches have repeatedly discussed the starting lineup to communicate with Zhou Quan, and he believes that after Ben Wallace and Bowen are in the starting lineup, it is not suitable for Rodman to also start, because then the offensive ability of the starting lineup is too poor.

Zhou Quan also agrees with this, if only he and Barry Jr. can attack, then the Lakers' defensive force only needs to face the two of them to hit the supersonic.

Westphall has offered to have Ben Wallace and Rodman partner inside, and the small forward is still Corey Maggetty, but McMillan thinks Margety may not be able to guard Glen Rice, and Rodman and Ben Wallace are on the court at the same time, and the height under the basket is too low.

"Tekken, this starting lineup, Big Ben and Bowen are not attacking, you need to strengthen your shots to ensure that the main lineup scores." Westphaal said.

"I know." Zhou Quan nodded.

McMillan said: "Iron Fist King, you lock Kobe, Bowen tries to limit Glen Les, Ron Harper has no offensive ability now, Barry Jr. should be able to deal with it, the three of you can limit the Lakers' outside line, once you control the outside line, O'Neal will be dominant in the low post, and he won't be able to make waves." ”

Westphaal said: "Eldon, AC Green is 37 years old and is about to retire, your task is to help defend O'Neal, to help Big Ben prevent O'Neal, understand?" ”

"Understood." Campbell nodded.

Westphal added: "Elden, your tonnage is now 127 kilograms......"

Speaking of this, he turned to Brad Miller and said: "Brad, your tonnage has also reached 118 kilograms, you two and Ben Wallace will take turns against O'Neal, no matter who is against the big shark, you have to fight to the death, try to consume his physical energy, understand?" ”

"Understood." The three of them replied at the same time.

All three of them have gained weight this season at the behest of the team, doing a lot of strength training in preparation for the playoffs against O'Neal.

Nodding to the three meat shields, Westphall finally said to Ben Wallace: "Ben, you are the main force, your defensive task is the heaviest, you must go all out to defend O'Neal, whether he has the ball in his hand or not, every second will consume his physical energy, and he must not be allowed to get close to the basket easily."

As long as he can't get close to the basket, he's not a threat, his hook isn't useful to kill us, and his height on the outside doesn't give you any advantage. ”

"Yes."

Ben Wallace shouted.

It was eight o'clock, and the next substitutes came on, and the two sides also announced their starting lineups.

Lakers: O'Neal, A.C. Green, Glen Rice, Kobe, Ron Harper

SuperSonics: Ben Wallace, Campbell, Bowen, Brent Barry, Zhou Quan

……

The central gymnasium was overcrowded.

Isaiah Thomas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Drexler, Schramf, Olaju, David Robinson, Ewing, and a whole bunch of other players were present.

The series was broadcast live across the United States by ESPN and narrated by Bill Wharton and Bill Lanbill.

Bill Wharton read the starting list, and then said: "Brother Bill, what do you think is the purpose of the SuperSonics to start Bowen?"

"The purpose? Dude Beal, let a draft loser with only a little defense start, why do you say? Do you expect him to attack with the ball? Bill Lanbill said.

Bill Wharton said: "The offensive ability of the main team of the SuperSonics regular season is already inferior to the main team of the Lakers, and now further reducing the offensive force, then it seems that Iron Fist will definitely increase his offensive firepower today." ”

"That's not necessarily, Cory Maggeti is averaging 10 points per game, he can play his offensive ability on the bench lineup, and the bench score is also a score." Ranbier said.

In the visiting team's locker room, the Lakers got the superSonics' starting list, and after Phil Jackson saw it, he immediately made a bargain in his heart.

He knows a certain amount about Bruce Bowen, an undrafted player, and all supersonic players know about it.

Good at kraft candy style defense, there are a lot of small movements, very desperate, only open three-point positions on the offensive end, and there are few shots, which can be ignored.

"Chris ......"

He immediately asked the assistant coach to sort out Glen Les' matchup records against Bowen and Cory Maggetty, and the last five seasons between the two teams have been around for the last five seasons.

By this time the substitutes had already come out and there were only five starters left in the dressing room, all looking at him.

He read the supersonic starting list, and Kobe Bryant said in surprise: "Changed small forward? Bowen I know, a little defensive, but also average, a lot of small movements. ”

"I played against him in the first two seasons and he was a nuisance defensively, always in your ears like a fly," Glen Les said. ”

Phil Jackson said: "As far as I can remember, Bowen defended better than Cory Maggeti, and Glen Les has played well against Cory Maggeti this season, and the SuperSonics started Bowen with the aim of improving the perimeter defense.

They want to lock our perimeter and reduce our perimeter offense, but they also want to cut off the connection between the perimeter and Shaq, so that our greatest strengths cannot be brought into play. ”

"So how are we going to fight?" O'Neill asked.

At this time, Assistant Chris had already sorted out the information, Phil Jackson took it and looked at it, and said: "Glen Les against Corey Magetti, Glenn 30 minutes, rookie 22 minutes, only three games, 25:4.5 points, Glenn has an absolute advantage." ”

"It's not hard for me to beat a rookie." Glen Les shrugged his shoulders and said with a disdainful expression.

Phil Jackson continued: "Glen Les vs. Bowen, Glenn 40 minutes, Bowen 19 minutes, a total of six games, 18 points: 4.2 points.

Of course, this comparison is not very accurate, because Bowen does not have a lot of playing time, and there is some staggering time with Glenn's time, at most 15 minutes of matchup time.

But it's probably fair to say that Glen Les didn't play as well against Bowen as he did against Margeti, that's for sure.

If you add to Glenn's and Bowen's stats and extend Bowen's playing time to the same 40 minutes as Glenn, Glenn's points per game average will definitely drop by a cut. ”

Glen Rice didn't look good, but he couldn't refute Phil Jackson's last sentence, and the stats were there, and he was really limited by a defense that didn't play well, otherwise he wouldn't have any impression of a draft pick who didn't have much of an opportunity to play.

"It's coming, Fill, how are we going to play?"

O'Neill asked the question again, a little anxious.

Raising his wrist, Phil looked at the time for a moment, then sped up and said, "Don't worry, as long as Kobe Bryant pulls the Iron Fist King and we attack from the other wing, it is impossible for Bowen to stop us from passing the ball to Shaq."

We have a big shark in the low post, give him the ball, and then run tactically, pull the opponent's defense, and try not to let the opponent have a chance to trap Shaq. If they force a pack, Shaq must pass the ball to a teammate who has an open space in time. ”

"It's time."

At this time, the staff pushed open the door of the locker room from the outside and shouted.

Phil Jackson stood by the door and high-fived O'Neal and continued to say loudly: "Use more pick-and-roll cover, get rid of the defense of Iron Fist King and Bowen, Barry Jr.'s defense is relatively the worst, and the outside can play Barry Jr. more ......"

The players were out, and he continued after him.

"Hey, shark, aren't you guys done with your tactics yet?"

More than twenty seconds later, Zhou Quan's voice sounded, interrupting Phil Jackson's words.

"Alright, that's it for now, we'll talk about it later."

Phil Jackson saw that he was almost in the players' tunnel, so he quickly nodded to Zhou Quan and walked out of the players' tunnel.

"Iron Fist, can this kid help you?" O'Neill glanced at Bruce Bowen, who looked down on his eyebrows.

Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Swept king, don't be swept by us this time, three consecutive sweeps are not good." ”

"your triple sweep!"

O'Neill blew up directly and roared in a loud voice: "I'm not talking nonsense with you, I'm out." ”

"Haha......" Zhou Quan and the others squatted on the ground laughing in the back.

……

(End of chapter)