So I am the god of basketball?

The last few attacks in the first quarter gave Phil Jackson some inspiration. With the Bulls' defensive capital, it is possible to reduce the frequency of Meng Lang catching the ball without the ball. Whether it is the quality of single defense on the outside or the pace when switching defenses, the Bulls The team can be said to have the most flexible guard and forward group in the league...

Also, with two "Best Defensive Player Award" winners in Jordan and Rodman, plus a perennial first-team defensive player in Scottie Pippen, this lineup may make Larry Brown salivate.

It is not very difficult to limit the frequency of a player who mainly runs without the ball to catch the ball!

And as long as Meng Lang catches the ball, his threat without the ball will not be so exaggerated!

Ok……

Even though Meng Lang has more ways to hold the ball this season, and the time he holds the ball and the number of attacks have increased in games, the impression given to the outside world is still his extremely exaggerated handling of catching the ball after running without the ball. Ball ability and his shooting ability!

However, it's no wonder, after all, he won the first Finals MVP by relying on his shooting ability, and won the second Finals MVP by relying on his ability to handle the ball after receiving the ball.

It’s weird not to be afraid!

As soon as the second quarter started, Phil Jackson's arrangement had a very obvious effect.

Hardaway's chance of finding Meng Lang in the first place is greatly reduced, and in this team, once Meng Lang is unable to handle the ball as a "setter", the entire ball operation will become difficult!

Two reluctant attempts allowed the Bulls to seize the opportunity and widen the point difference to more than 5 points.

Hardaway can only give the ball to Shaquille O'Neal and let him create a stronger sense of presence in the interior first, otherwise Rodman is too unscrupulous in defending from the outside.

Shaquille O'Neal has actually been holding back his energy until now. Now he has become the core of the offense. He is also working hard to kill under the basket.

When Longley defended other inside players, he was still able to withstand the opponent's impact, but against Shaquille O'Neal, he seemed a little weak. Shaq scored easily in two consecutive rounds. After completing the second attack, "Shark" looked so excited that he seemed to be rapping immediately.

Rodman had to help defend and squat in the penalty area under the basket. In this way, Meng Lang seized the opportunity and made an air cut followed by a screen. When he got the ball, facing Pippen who had recovered, he He pretended to press forward and then quickly raised his hand. The two movements tricked Pippen into jumping twice. Then, without moving his pivot foot, he "stepped up and down" and put the ball into the basket.

This is his improvement near the basket during this period. He has more skills at the basket, not just playing cricket or dunking.

It was also because his technical skills became richer that Pippen was deceived into jumping again and again.

After weighing the pros and cons, Phil Jackson ultimately chose not to double-team Shaquille O'Neal.

The "Shark's" attack at the basket is certainly full of aggression, but even if he scores, it will only be 2 points.

The Bulls are not afraid of just a 2-point and 2-point offense...

Because they have Jordan!

This can be seen from the fact that Shaquille O'Neal scored consecutive goals, but the 5-point difference never decreased.

Another one is that Longley's real "big center" tonnage, Shaquille O'Neal has been playing so hard, and the result is serious physical exhaustion. The second quarter of the game has just begun, causing O'Neal to consume a lot of physical energy, which is completely up to him. within the acceptance range.

one more……

Compared with O'Neal's continuous scoring, Phil Jackson has to admit that he is more afraid of Meng Lang's continuous scoring!

This guy once scored 60 points on top of Jordan's head, which impressed him so much!

Therefore, in his eyes, Meng Lang's threat was greater than that of O'Neal.

In this way, the Bulls' defense returned to its original state next. Phil Jackson asked Longley to "match up" with O'Neal, focusing on Meng Lang's point, preventing him from easily catching the ball while running in the open space.

Thanks to their strong perimeter defense, the Bulls' lead continued.

The second quarter quickly came to the last 5 minutes. Jordan felt very good shooting tonight. He scored 2 more points from beyond the three-point line. He has now scored 25 points. Such offensive firepower is not possible with Shaq O'Neal in the paint. You can catch up if you keep killing them.

A little trivia: Although Shaquille O'Neal has a career-high 61 points, he has only scored 50 points in 3 games in his career. Counting 49-point nights, there are only 6 games... He is a perennial player who can score 30 points every year. A player who contributed 30 plus points on a game day and night, but only plus points. His explosive scoring power is limited by his playing style and his physical fitness, and the upper limit is completely visible.

Why is the "Triangle Tactics" suitable for Shaquille O'Neal?

In addition to being truly invincible one-on-one, more importantly, it can help him save energy, play in the most comfortable circle, and achieve the best efficiency!

But such a guy, facing Jordan with full firepower, most of the time can only watch him widen the point difference.

Chuck Daly chose to call a timeout. Looking at the 7-point difference, he knew very well that if the momentum was not regained now, the game would be difficult to play.

"Dream, you have to increase the frequency of your initiative to catch the ball!"

Shaquille O'Neal was a little angry after listening to Daly's words, but he was also helpless. He scored 10 points in a single quarter during this period, but the team was still widened by more points, which meant that the Magic A more aggressive attack is needed.

And this is something he cannot do!

Even if he was angry, he could only stay on the court and start moving in coordination with Meng Lang.

After the game restarted, Meng Lang caught the ball hand-in-hand with Hardaway and successfully replaced Harper in front of Meng Lang.

Facing Harper, Meng Lang dribbled the ball on the spot and jumped up. Harper was still immersed in the state of defending Hardaway before, and opened the distance to deal with Meng Lang. It was this distance that allowed Meng Lang to complete the shot calmly.

"Shh!"

Three point shot!

Meng Lang also scored more than 10 points in this game.

Phil Jackson's expression became a little more nervous.

This is the feeling that Meng Lang brings to the head coaches in the league today. When he starts to score, no matter how much of a lead it is, it will make people uneasy.

What's more, the Bulls' lead was not much. After Meng Lang made a three-pointer, it was suddenly reduced to 4 points!

Fortunately, in the next round, Jordan caught the ball from a high position on the right side. Facing Meng Lang's palm, which was closer to his face than ever before, his shot missed. He himself knew that this shot did not feel good, so he As soon as he landed, he rushed towards the basket. With great luck, the ball hit the basket, bounced back, and hit his head.

Jordan responded with a throw near the basket.

6 points difference!

We have……

Jordan!

Watching the goal, there was an inaudible exhalation.

Phil Jackson felt nervous because of Meng Lang's three-point goal, and they also clenched their hands unconsciously.

Meng Lang gave "Zen Master" a bad memory, and he also gave them a bad memory. As soon as they saw him score, their hearts pounded!

However, Jordan's "self-shooting and self-grabbing" goal dispelled their inner uneasiness.

Tonight Michael was even more present than usual.

With Jordan standing like this at the United Arena, they just need to enjoy this Christmas with peace of mind...

Ah!

Just relax and enjoy it!

but……

Meng Lang quickly responded with another three-pointer from the right side of the three-point line, narrowing the point difference to 3 points.

With his momentum of scoring three consecutive goals, the point difference will be overtaken in at most two rounds.

To be on the safe side, Phil Jackson chose to call a timeout.

"Do you want to change your defensive method?" His eyes looked at Jordan.

Jordan knew that he and Pippen were required to switch defenses. Harper was used to guarding Hardaway and was obviously not used to guarding Meng Lang. Jordan nodded, knowing that he couldn't refuse. Meng Lang's sudden momentum was a key point in the game. As long as his momentum could be suppressed, there shouldn't be much problem for the Bulls to end the first half with a lead. Chuck Daly could probably guess the lineup changes the Bulls would make. Before going on the court, he silently patted Meng Lang on the shoulder:

It's all on you!

rash……

It's really a bit stressful.

Especially when he once again completed the "hand-to-hand" pass with Hardaway from the outside. After getting the ball, he looked at the Bulls No. 23 who was defending in front of him. He grinned: "I told you a long time ago that it's your turn." Be on guard against me, you can’t escape!”

Jordan said nothing, and started to get entangled with Meng Lang.

Meng Lang quickly returned the ball to Hardaway on the wing.

Facing Pippen, Hardaway used his hip bone to throw Pippen behind him, and easily finished the layup.

The score difference returned to 3 points again.

Jordan continued to take the ball, plus three consecutive attacks before calling timeout. This was Jordan's fourth consecutive attack with the ball.

Meng Lang stepped forward very decisively and provided enough physical confrontation. This time, the interference was in place. Unfortunately, Rodman under the basket grabbed the rebound, giving the team a chance to attack again. With just one or two breaths of adjustment, after Jordan caught the ball again, he raised the knife and finished the goal.

Meng Lang glanced at Shaq from the corner of his eye.

I have to admit that if it’s not his era, it’s not his era.

Even if he has a stronger configuration and the "triangle tactics" are arranged for him, Shaquille O'Neal, who has not yet reached his peak, really cannot achieve that kind of dominance.

This situation is multi-faceted, not only in personal offense, but also in the competition for some key rebounds.

If it were Shaquille O'Neal in 00, Meng Lang believed that he could protect this rebound. Even though Shaquille O'Neal obviously had better athletic talent at this time, some rebounds require sufficient experience to win. , you can't do it just by relying on your athletic talent.

The point difference is still 5 points.

Jordan continued to switch defenses with Pippen.

This time, after Meng Lang received the ball "hand-to-hand", Anderson on the other side arranged continuous pick-and-rolls for him.

Jordan showed the defensive toughness and ability of being the "Best Defensive Player", and surprisingly surpassed Anderson in advance.

And Meng Lang...

He was very confident that he could squeeze through Anderson's pick-and-roll, so he followed Jordan's offensive choices of squeezing through Anderson in advance.

A fake move around the screen caused Jordan's center of gravity to shift. He moved to the other side, stepped sideways and reached the top of the arc, pulled up and shot in front of the three-point line.

The three-point line has been shortened, which was actually a long two-pointer last season, and Meng Lang's two-point shooting ability has already reached 93 points, and the ball fell steadily into the basket.

Three more points!

The third consecutive three-pointer!

The Magic's bench exploded!

Meng Lang's explosive scoring from beyond the three-point line directly impressed his teammates.

Of course, the Bulls fans at the scene were also silenced.

They believed in Jordan, and Jordan also gave them the ability to believe.

During this period, Jordan continued to score.

But the point difference still narrowed to only 2 points!

It's not that Jordan isn't strong enough, but that Meng Lang is even more aggressive outside the three-point line!

It is true that a 2-pointer cannot be a 3-pointer...

What's worse is that Jordan seems to be a little more impatient in his heart. There are only 29.5 seconds left in the second quarter. He is eager for the ball and wants to force a 3-pointer. In the end, he is stuck in 23.5 seconds and completes it. Take a shot and the ball bounces out of the frame.

This time, the "Cobra" managed to protect the rebound.

The last attack of the first quarter belongs to the Bulls, and the last attack of the second quarter belongs to the Magic!

Hardaway took the ball to the frontcourt, and now he was facing Jordan. However, this time he did not play "hand-to-hand" with Meng Lang. He moved to the right three-point line and waited for Meng Lang to move over and catch the ball.

After Meng Lang got the ball, everyone on the Magic team opened up the space for him to play singles with Pippen.

"Second Master Pi" kept adjusting his breathing, guessing Meng Lang's next move and final attack method.

He still looked very calm. The pace was not unsteady.

But when Meng Lang reached the three-point line with the ball, he didn't dare to step back anymore. Meng Lang made three consecutive three-pointers, which made Pippen dare not let him shoot three-pointers at will, but Meng Lang was always there. Paying attention to his movements, he saw his steps stagnant and immediately exerted force on his feet. The two people quickly closed the distance, then lowered their center of gravity and passed directly beside him, trying to overtake by force, but they had to admit that he did not have Hardaway. So the top explosive power does not have such a terrible "first step".

Although Pippen allowed him to close the distance, due to his lack of explosive power in subsequent movements, Pippen's entire body was still entangled.

But Meng Lang didn't panic at all. He quickly turned back, then quickly turned forward, jumped up and shot. The whole movement was very smooth, so smooth that when Pippen was still thinking about "what does he mean by turning back?", he had already jumped up.

Meng Lang didn't make a similar shot in this game, let alone this game. Even so far in the entire season, his back-up style has been very rare. So he suddenly made such a move, and Pippen couldn't stop it. Watching him take the shot, the ball also drew a perfect arc and fell into the basket.

The moment the ball was scored, the score was tied, and at the same time, the Bulls were left with less than 2 seconds.

Jordan, who was serving the ball from the backcourt, took a dribble and shot directly from the backcourt. The ball flew straight to the basket, which shocked the crowd and screamed. Unfortunately, it was still a little short, and the ball was about to hit the basket. , the arc fell rapidly, and finally flew to the auditorium.

"Nice!"

"Well done!"

"This turnaround jump shot is so cool. Dream, when did you learn this trick?"

All members of the Magic team passed through the visiting team's tunnel and high-fived Meng Lang excitedly. Meng Lang's coordinated action at the last moment, singled out Pi Er, also inspired the entire Magic team.

The half-time data on both sides was frozen at this moment...

魔术队：沙克-奥尼尔13分5篮板2助攻；哈达威8分5助攻3篮板；格兰特7分5篮板；孟浪19分3篮板4助攻2抢断；

公牛队：乔丹31分5篮板3助攻2抢断；皮蓬6分2篮板2抢断2助攻；罗德曼3分10篮板；(本章完)