Chapter 153: The Bulls' Flaws in the Lineup

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Knicks attacked.

In the low post, Luke Langley is defending Ewing, and Rodman is pulled to the right wing by Oakley.

Zhao Dong asked for the ball after the left wing crossed the center line, and immediately made a gesture of pulling away.

He looked at Pippen who was forcing him up, and said disdainfully: "Old bird, you played well today, how many points did you score?"

Pippen gritted his teeth angrily, staring at Zhao Dong with red eyes, wishing he could pounce on him and bite him twice.

Not only was he unorganized today, but he also played very poorly on offense. Zhao Dong made 2 of 8 shots and 2 of 2 free throws. He only scored 6 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 6 turnovers.

What made him even more embarrassed was the defensive end. His performance seemed to be worse. In the third quarter, Zhao Dong almost hit a triple-double, and he even sent 4 fouls.

"Listen, you're a piece of shit, and if it wasn't for Jordan, you'd be nothing."

Zhao Dong crushed Pippen to advance to the three-point line, while continuing to stimulate Pippen with trash talk.

"Damn rookie!"

At this moment, an angry Pippen suddenly stepped sideways and took a risky steal.

But as Zhao Dong turned around to protect the ball, the two immediately had physical contact. The contest between the tonnage of 115 kilograms and the tonnage of 95 kilograms instantly determined the winner. Pippen who was moving was immediately squeezed away. The tackle failed and completely lost the defensive position.

Zhao Dong took advantage of the situation and turned around and jumped at Pippen, killing towards the left elbow.

This time, unlike the previous three quarters, Luke Langley did not make up from the low post. He watched Ewing to prevent Zhao Dong from passing the ball to Ewing, while keeping guard on the basket.

On the other side, Rodman returned to the basket from the right wing.

It was Jordan who made up the defense, and rushed over from Zhao Dong's right side.

At the same time, Ron Harper also jumped down from the top of the arc and double-teamed.

With Pippen catching up, the Bulls double-teamed Zhao Dong in the left elbow area.

At this moment, Zhao Dong, who had just entered the left elbow area, suddenly slowed down.

"Pull up jump shot or pass?"

this moment,

This thought flashed through countless people's minds, including defender Jordan and the others.

This is the difficulty of defending Zhao Dong, or even double-teaming Zhao Dong, because whether it is an emergency stop jumper or passing, he is good at it, but you can only choose one to defend.

At this moment, Jordan made a prediction that Zhao Dong would make a jump shot.

Ron Harper chose another, and Zhao Dong would pass the ball.

And behind Pippen, he made the same prediction as Jordan.

But no matter what prediction they made, they all followed Zhao Dong and came to a sudden deceleration.

"not good!"

But at the next moment, when they were just slowing down, they saw Zhao Dong starting to accelerate, and they knew they had been fooled. Zhao Dong neither stopped for a jumper nor passed the ball, but continued to break through.

This was beyond their expectation, because Zhao Dong didn't go straight in for the whole three quarters tonight, but just disposed of the ball at the edge of the paint area.

They were fooled, so they became marionettes in Zhao Dong's hands, slowing down as Zhao Dong slowed down, and now speeding up as Zhao Dong speeded up.

It's just that when they started again, Zhao Dong had already taken a step forward, and with a bang, he dribbled past Jordan and entered the paint area.

In this way, the three-person double-teaming of Jordan, Pippen, and Ron Harper was broken by Zhao Dong's rhythm of fast and slow speed.

Luke Langley strode forward desperately, but he was just a role player as the starter. He was 218 cm tall and weighed 120 kg, which made his speed three grades behind Zhao Dong.

When he rushed to the basket in two steps, Zhao Dong was already flying in the sky.

"boom!"

"yeah!"

With the sound of the violent explosion of the basket, and with Luke Langley overturned under the basket, Madison Square Garden fell into a boil.

"Flying Dragon dunked Luke Langley with a brutal tomahawk-style flat-basket dunk. This is Feilong's first dunk tonight. Is he going to explode on the offensive end?"

The roar of the live commentator rolled over Madison Square Garden.

"It's too strong. Zhao Dong killed the Bulls' four lines of defense by himself. Only Rodman, the worm, didn't come back. But I believe that even if he comes back, with his ability to block shots, he can't stop Zhao Dong from attacking the basket."

Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.

"Terrible impact, Luke Langley was knocked out of the bottom line, he flew at least two meters." Bill Walton yelled.

Matt shouted: "Flying Dragon has been organizing and passing the ball in the first three quarters. He only took 15 shots in total, and he didn't attack the basket. Judging from this dunk, his physical condition is very good. This is what the Bulls should pay attention to." Condition.

Because Jordan consumes too much physical energy, if the flying dragon maintains such an offensive intensity in this quarter, then Jordan's offensive firepower may not be able to keep up. "

Back on the defensive end, Zhao Dong still locks up Pippen.

His perimeter defense is the same as Pippen's close-to-body stalking, but he has the advantages of strength and tonnage, and has better mobility. Pippen can't run him, circle him, squeeze If you don't drive him, even an elbow is useless, he can grit his teeth and carry it.

For this kind of defense, in the NBA era when the defense was extremely weakened in later generations, Zhao Dong was sent off long ago.

At this time, Luke Langley ran into the frontcourt, first came to pick and roll for Pippen, and created opportunities for Pippen.

Zhao Dong immediately turned around, bypassed Luke Langley, and threw himself at Pippen from the inside.

At this time, Harper just passed the ball at the top of the arc. Zhao Dong rushed forward and made physical contact with Pippen. Then Pippen was squeezed by him, and the ball was broken by him.

"Dragon steals Pippen in the third quarter, and the Bulls failed to pass the ball to Pippen again. The Flying Dragon is going down quickly..." The roar of the on-site commentator sounded quickly.

"Squeak..."

When Zhao Dong was holding the ball and going down quickly, Pippen desperately chased up and tried to steal from the former's right side.

Zhao Dong immediately changed hands to control the ball. As soon as Pippen saw it, he immediately grabbed the former's jersey, trying to slow down for Zhao Dong.

Zhao Dong slowed down for a moment, but immediately accelerated again forcefully. The powerful impact directly staggered Pippen, almost hitting his head on the floor.

After getting rid of Pippen, Zhao Dong entered the sea like a dragon and entered the frontcourt.

Harper came back down the middle, but Charlie Ward stopped at the top of the arc and held him there.

At the same time, Jordan returned to the defense from the left wing, ignoring Alan Houston who stopped on the three-point line, and ran towards the basket.

But when he saw Zhao Dong's terrifying impact visible to the naked eye, no different from a galloping horse, it directly gave him a deadly sense of oppression and threat, his heart trembled, and he quickly slowed down.

Zhao Dong entered the paint from the right elbow and flew to the empty Bulls basket.

"boom!"

With the ball in his right hand, under a brutal flat-basket dunk, the Bulls rim wailed instantly.

"yeah!"

Shocking cheers erupted from the scene.

"Oh, one-armed giant slam dunk, the flying dragon is destroying the bull, he is destroying the bull..." The incomparably passionate roar of the on-site commentator resounded in all directions.

"Jordan, why are you blocking me?"

Zhao Dong, who jumped off the floor, yelled at Jordan.

And when the two passed by each other, he gave Jordan's right shoulder with a cross elbow, causing Jordan to tilt to the side.

In his previous life, he had seen the video of Jordan elbowing Barkley like this. Facing the provocation of the arrogant and powerful Jordan, Barkley was elbowed, so he had to keep his head down to avoid it.

Today, he wants to see how Jordan counters him.

"damn it!"

Jordan's eyes were about to bleed, and no one except the Bad Boys had ever dared to provoke him like this.

He used to chase Reggie Miller all over the court, but faced with Zhao Dong's provocation and wanted to win the game, he could only choose to grit his teeth and endure it.

Of course, the most important thing is that he can't beat Zhao Dong, and the Bulls can't beat the Knicks.

"Victory! Victory! Victory..."

His teeth were clenched, and his fists were also clenched. His desire and obsession with victory made him turn humiliation into motivation.

Looking back, he didn't let Harper pass the ball to Pippen anymore, he just asked for the ball, and completely took over the possession and offense.

"Even if you hit five, I will kill you!"

Looking at the Knicks' basket, the firmness in Jordan's eyes is visible to the naked eye.

At this time, Alan Houston and Charlie Ward double-teamed, but Jordan still chose to shoot and was very persistent.

"Turn around and shoot a fallback jumper?" The commentator's roar sounded at the scene.

Looking at the basketball flying towards the basket in the air, Jordan, who landed, turned his head and walked away without taking another look.

This ball will definitely hit, he has strong to paranoid confidence.

But he didn't make any moves to celebrate in advance, because he wanted to leave this opportunity to Zhao Dong, and the others didn't deserve it.

"Shua!"

The basketball passed by the basket, splashing a pure white water.

"oh!"

The fans in the audience burst into exclamation and admiration when they saw Jordan turn around after shooting, and then saw the hollow ball.

"yeah!"

More than a thousand away fans cheered excitedly.

"The terrible Michael Jordan appeared! This is the most terrible Jordan! Is he about to start showing his most terrible offensive firepower?"

Bill Walton roared excitedly.

"79:84, the Bulls trailed by 5 points, but the Bulls' momentum was not weak. Jordan still shot very steadily after his physical fitness weakened."

Zhang Lili shouted.

"We attacked and scored this goal."

Seeing that Jordan suppressed the momentum of the Knicks with this ball, Zhao Dong immediately roared and led the team to attack.

Entering the frontcourt, Pippen entangled Zhao Dong's body.

This type of defense works well for players of similar strength, height, and mobility.

Even if the power tonnage and height are very different, but the mobility is not as good as Pippen's, this kind of defense is also useful.

But it's a pity that this kind of defense is useless against Zhao Dong, who is superior in tonnage, height, movement, strength and other aspects. With the force of his right hand, he pushed away Pippen who was wrapped around his body, and then quickly got rid of it and got it. Vacancy to catch the ball.

After receiving the ball, Zhao Dong immediately accelerated his breakthrough, entered the flank, and went straight to the paint area, forcing the Bulls to shrink their defense immediately.

The Bulls once again double-teamed the left elbow, on the way of Zhao Dong's breakthrough.

But this time Zhao Dong immediately chose to pass the ball to Alan Houston, who was dropped by Jordan.

His pass is very decisive, the passing speed is very fast, Jordan has no chance to return to the defense, and Houston makes an open mid-range shot.

"No hit!"

The ball was flying in the sky, Zhao Dong and Rodman made predictions almost at the same time, and then moved towards the landing point.

But Zhao Dong moved faster, got stuck first, and grabbed the offensive rebound over Rodman's head.

The moment he landed, he turned around, rushed to Rodman, and rushed to the basket.

Jordan and Luke Langley immediately ran towards the basket, blocking Zhao Dong.

At this time, Zhao Dong passed the ball again after attracting double-teams, and gave it to Ewing who was emptied. The latter took the ball and shot a jumper two meters close to the basket.

"Shua!"

Splashes appeared and two points were hit.

79:86, the Knicks lead by 7 points, and the Bulls attack.

Outside the three-point line on the right wing, Jordan held the ball and made a gesture of pulling away.

"Boy, your defense has never existed before. I passed you as easily as a stake." Alan Houston, he spat trash talk.

"Dragon passing Pippen is as easy as passing a stake." Alan Houston replied.

Jordan choked, what the hell kind of trash talk is this?

"squeak!"

In the next moment, amidst the friction of the sneakers, he moved his right foot and took a tentative step.

"breakthrough?"

Alan Houston immediately took a step back.

He can't judge which side Jordan is going to rush, and he can only use this method to keep up with Jordan after he breaks through.

But his judgment was wrong, Jordan did not break through at all, but withdrew his tentative right foot and jumped up outside the three-point line.

"Shua!"

At the critical moment, Jordan began to be superb. With average three-point shooting ability, he hit the ball accurately, scored 5 points in a row in the final quarter, and scored 50+ in Madison Square Garden again.

82:86, the Bulls trailed by 4 points.

"boom!"

Zhao Dong broke through on the left wing with the ball. After changing direction continuously, he not only got rid of the Bulls' double-team, but also dunked Rodman who returned to the defense.

"Beep!"

The referee indicated that Rodman's thugs fouled and Zhao Dongjia made a free throw.

Zhang Lili smiled and said, "Rodman only made 3 fouls, not many fouls. This is because the ball is always in Zhao Dong's hands, and he has no chance to foul."

Sun Zhenping said: "Today he grabbed 8 rebounds, this performance is not bad."

Zhang Lili said: "The state is still not enough. With Rodman like this, it is impossible for the Bulls to win this Knicks. This year's Knicks are really too strong!"

In the TNT live broadcast, Bill Walton said with a smile: "Jordan's breakthrough after the breakthrough is a gorgeous performance. And the dragon's breakthrough after the breakthrough is a violent performance. But their breakthrough ability is super-class level."

"Especially the Flying Dragon, who is so big, his breakthrough ability is not inferior to Jordan's. It's scary. I even think that after breaking into the paint zone, he is more threatening than Jordan." Matt said earnestly.

"That's right, because he was originally from the fourth position. His low-post skills are very good, and he should be more threatening in the paint area than Jordan." Bill Walton laughed.

The game continued, Jordan has been trying his best to attack, under the desire for victory, he played a super state, with two minutes left in the game, he had already scored 60 points, and he was close to Elgin Baylor's playoff single The second highest score in a game is only one point away, and he is only three points away from his own highest score in a single playoff game.

At this time, his physical energy was almost exhausted. During the timeout, he stood on his knees first, and the sweat dripped down his chin on the floor, and soon accumulated a puddle.

But his efforts did not bring back the score.

100:108, the Knicks lead by 8 points, the ball is in the hands of the Bulls.

In the final quarter, Zhao Dong strengthened his breakthrough to the basket and also increased his offense. They were all strong attacks after the breakthrough. He rarely made jump shots. He made 4 of 6 shots and 4 of 5 free throws. He scored 12 points in 10 minutes.

While scoring, he also dished out three assists and scored a triple-double.

With his outstanding performance, he led the team to maintain an advantage over the Bulls from beginning to end.

Zhao Dong stopped beside Jordan, looked down at him, and asked coldly, "Do you regret it now?"

Jordan gasped twice, raised his head, stood up straight, stared at Zhao Dong and said: "The game is not over yet, you are a little too proud.

Also, boy, let me tell you, I've never regretted anything in my life. When I say you're not good enough for a bull, you're not good enough. "

"Hehe, stubborn mouth."

Zhao Dong laughed twice, and before leaving, he left a sentence: "Your Majesty, you will never have a championship in this life. I won't even give you the chance to make key shots. I want to beat you without any suspense." .If your teammates are not strong enough and I want to sweep you away, what can you do?"

"Garge..."

Jordan stared at Zhao Dong's back, gritted his teeth.

"Jordan should be irritated by the dragon's trash talk. I really want to know what they are talking about." Bill Wharton asked curiously in the TNT live broadcast.

"We should have a lip-reader," Matt laughed.

"Good idea." Bill Wharton laughed.

"Ai Weier, how is my performance today, is it not worse than that guy?" Passing in front of Lindsay, Zhao Dong stopped and asked.

"My friends are the best. Also, Dragon, congratulations on your fifth triple-double." Lindsay smiled softly.

"Thank you!" Zhao Dong laughed.

On the Bulls bench, the atmosphere was stuffy.

Phil Jackson actually didn't have a good idea. His triangle tactics had failed because Zhao Dong locked Pippen.

His triangle play didn't create isolation opportunities for Jordan, and that's where it failed.

Although Jordan scored 60+, it was not the effect of the triangle tactics, but Jordan's personal ability.

There is a saying in the league that the Bulls least need triangle tactics is Michael Jordan, and tonight's game is a clear proof.

"Inside, if the Bulls fail, the first is that the inside offense is weak and cannot share the pressure on the outside. At the same time, the striker Pippen is locked up, the organization is weak, and the triangle tactics have completely failed. This is the key to the loss tonight." Bill Walton analyzed. .

Matt went on to say: "The Bulls have a very strong lineup. Last season they had a historical record of 72 wins. Jordan even called this team the strongest team in history. But today, we saw its weaknesses and the serious shortage of the lineup. "

Bill Walton said: "The Bulls need a good offensive and defensive interior, and at the same time need a better offensive and defensive striker.

It's a pity that it is possible to strengthen the inside line, but it is hard to find a front line comparable to Feilong's front line in this world. "

"Let's talk about this round of Eastern Conference finals first. I don't know how the Bulls can beat the Knicks now, unless Pippen explodes, not to mention blowing up the dragons, at least they have to blow up each other." Matt said.

Bill Wharton shook his head with a smile and said, "You're wrong. Pippen can't interact with the dragons. His offensive ability with the ball is not good, and he doesn't have the foundation to interact with the dragons. But if he can get rid of the dragons and take on the task of organizing , The Bulls' offense will be much better, without all the pressure on Jordan alone.

To be honest, Jordan has taken on most of the Knicks' defensive pressure today, and he can still play such an efficient performance. He deserves to be number one in the league. But I actually don't think he can explode with such high efficiency every game. As long as his efficiency drops, the Bulls will definitely collapse. "