So I am the god of basketball?

Jordan's steal was the beginning of the "competition" between him and Meng Lang in this game.

After two rounds, Meng Lang double-teamed him with Eddie Jones, and successfully stole Jordan during the double-team.

This steal is very difficult and dangerous, almost half a palm's gap.

But also because of the thrill, Jordan felt that he could save the ball, and threw his whole body out, doing a "forward roll". In this context, Meng Lang completed a "two-handed dunk".

The atmosphere at the scene that had just been suppressed was directly ignited at this moment.

Again, although Meng Lang's steal was not that crisp, the "wrong entry and exit" actually caused Jordan to suffer an even greater embarrassment. The fans at the scene didn't care whether the ball was a thrilling grab or not. The gap that was almost a stone's throw away could not be observed unless it was a close-up slow-motion camera. Anyway, what the Lakers fans at the scene saw was Meng Lang's steal. Jordan was so anxious that he did a "forward roll".

However, Jordan was not someone to be trifled with. In the next round, while advancing with the ball, he passed two people and pulled the lever for a layup, which to a certain extent responded to his recent embarrassment.

Because one of the people who was passed over was Meng Lang.

How perverted!

Meng Lang had always heard about Jordan's "flu state", but had never seen it with his own eyes.

Seeing his trembling figure at this moment, but still able to score various goals, Meng Lang had to express his approval for him in his heart.

As a fan before time travel, Meng Lang just watched his highlights and his journey along the way, and believed that his title of "goat" was well deserved. At this moment, looking at the "flu" state, he can still bring huge pressure to the Lakers, and I have personally experienced the battle with him. Meng Lang must admit:
Jordan is indeed worthy of the name "second in history"!
Meng Lang is looking forward to defeating such a guy and becoming the "goat" of the NBA.

This is a worthy opponent.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers led by 29 points, 27-2.

As the two sides got to know each other better, Jordan took all possible situations into consideration when formulating tactics before the game and made a package of adjustments to help Phil Jackson strengthen his on-the-spot reaction ability. The team also became more and more anxious as they played.

Pippen continued his form in the last game, but unfortunately, he failed to bring a better state to this game as Phil Jackson hoped; Rodman, after adapting to Barkley's rudeness, As Jordan hoped, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to preventing him from getting rebounds. As for who the rebound belongs to in the end, let's see which teammate is more powerful!
The team that controlled the rebounds better in the second quarter was the Lakers...

After Barkley saw Rodman's thoughts, he also gave up the idea of ​​grabbing rebounds.

But even without him, the Lakers still have future "rebounding king" Ben Wallace.

Although now he can't compare with Barkley and Rodman.

But apart from the two of them, among the rest, his rebounding ability is definitely one of the best.

However, the Lakers controlled the rebounds, and the Bulls had more "x factors". Kukoc and Steve Kerr stepped forward one after another and helped the team hit key three-pointers.

Even though it was just two three-pointers, for the Bulls, who did not lack defensive strength. The problem they urgently need to solve, especially tonight, is who can give Jordan more help on the offensive end.

Compared with the "firepower" of the Bulls, Jones had a rest tonight. The "battle-damaged version" of Jordan not only defeated him on the offensive end, but also defended him very well on the defensive end.

Moreover, as the Bulls' defensive switching tactics become more and more frequent, they will also use such tactics not only when facing Meng Lang, but also when facing other people.

He is resting, let alone Kobe. He was originally an unstable "nerve knife". He stabilized for a while in the past two days, but became unstable again in the past two days. In the second quarter, he took 3 shots and 3 shots. 0 hits.

When the game reaches this level, Kobe is no longer able to contribute at this stage.

Of course, unless his hand style is particularly smooth, that's another matter.

So even if the Lakers grabbed more rebounds, the Bulls were the one leading at halftime.

"This incredible guy!" Bill Walton looked at the statistics on both sides after halftime.

The Bulls led by 57 points 54 to 3.

And the incredible guy in his mouth was none other than Michael Jordan, who was revealed to have "food poisoning" before the game.

He scored a total of 19 points in the first half, in addition to 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He looked no different from his usual self.

No, if this data is really converted to the whole game, his performance is even more terrifying than usual.

What else can Bill Walton say besides sighing?
The people in Los Angeles at the scene looked at Michael Jordan walking towards the visiting team's locker room, with deep shock in their eyes. To be honest, in their hearts, they originally scorned Michael Jordan's popularity over Johnson.

Because 4 cannot be greater than 5!

Although Jordan won the "three consecutive championships", the number of times he entered the finals and the number of championships he won is still a little behind Johnson.

This gap makes them unable to accept Jordan>Johnson.

Just looking at Jordan tonight, those Los Angeles people who disagree with Jordan's higher status in history can only be shocked at this moment. They have a protective heart. But frankly speaking, they couldn't imagine that Johnson could perform more exaggeratedly in such a state. Even if he didn't compare with Jordan, compared with himself, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to play like Jordan... as if he wasn't sick.

Biggest respect goes to Michael Jordan!

This league will be shaken by his return, and it's not without reason.

At this moment, they also understood why Johnson knelt down and begged Jordan to come back.

If there was no such man in this league, how many legendary stories would be lost?
In the home team's locker room, looking at the 3-point deficit, Chuck Daly's expression was not solemn, and certainly not relaxed. His thoughts were similar to those of most people at the moment:
As expected of Jordan!

But the sigh only lasted a moment.

He knows very well that what he should do most now is to think about how to win the Bulls.

There is a way, and it is obvious:
Consume Jordan!
He played really well, but his staggering figure after every breakthrough showed that he was desperately holding on.

As long as you target him and keep putting pressure on him, even if he is Michael Jordan, you can definitely crush him.

There is no one in this world that cannot be crushed!

It's just that this method is somewhat inhumane to deal with a person suffering from "food poisoning". But this is a cruel arena. It's basic common sense to target their disadvantages in order to win.

"Dream, and Charles...it's up to you!"

As for the best person to consume Jordan. Of course it's Barkley and Meng Lang!
Others hold the ball to hit Jordan. If you have a say, maybe it will make Jordan more and more excited!

Therefore, although this is not a humane tactic, because the opponent is Jordan, Chuck Daly is not a casual attrition tactic. To be honest, luckily there are Meng Lang and Barkley on the team. Otherwise, it remains to be seen whether this attrition tactic can be used.

The second half of the game officially started, and Jordan's expression significantly relaxed after resting for 20 minutes.

But Phil Jackson's expression was very serious, as if he expected what would happen.

About five minutes into the second half, his performance became more and more serious, and he even cursed secretly: "Damn it!"

These shameless guys!
Yes, he expected that the Lakers would definitely make a fuss about Jordan's condition and his physical condition in the second half.

In fact, if the opponent is another team, Phil Jackson will not be too nervous even if he knows that the opponent will target Jordan's physical fitness.

But the Lakers have two "great gods" Charles Barkley and Meng Lang who must go all out even if Jordan is not sick!

Don't think that when Jordan was defending Meng Lang just now, being able to steal him meant that Jordan could restrict Meng Lang.

Let's not talk about this situation, it happened once in total. Even if Jordan can still steal like this, how many rounds can his physical fitness support him? The Lakers used Barkley and Meng Lang to take turns to consume Jordan.

Phil Jackson believes in Jordan very much. He is also very surprised and surprised by Jordan's performance so far tonight. If the full score is 100 points, he will give Jordan's performance so far 1 points.

But looking at the Lakers' targeted consumption, he had to feel pessimistic about the future of Jordan and the Bulls.

His hunch was not wrong, and his judgment was also correct. Barkley and Meng Lang started to play against Jordan for a few rounds, and the effect was not very good. However, as they continued to get opportunities to play against Jordan in singles, Jordan clearly reached the point of physical fitness. critical point. He lost four or five consecutive defensive rounds. Watching Barkley and Meng Lang score in front of him, he had no choice but to gasp for air.

This is Jordan at his wits end.

This is a "tired" Jordan that no one has ever seen.

In these rounds, even Chicago fans have a very clear understanding:

Jordan... is old!

If he had been given a few years younger, food poisoning would never have made him like this.

People always like to excuse the aging strong and blame all declines on age.

All this is understandable.

But they also ignored that at this moment Jordan was facing one of the best singles players in the league.

Even when he was young, could he ensure that he would always restrict them?
What the Bulls really need now is for someone to step up and help Jordan!
Phil Jackson was the first to react. He immediately called a timeout. This was to give Jordan, whose physical fitness reached the critical point, some time to breathe. At the same time, he gave instructions to the rest of the Bulls:

Whether it’s 1 minute, 2 minutes or 3 minutes...

Everyone gritted their teeth and supported me until Jordan got through this most difficult moment.

In the next few rounds, no matter how hard Barkley and Meng Lang find Jordan, they can play at this point. The Bulls always use others to switch defenses. Pippen did not make more contributions on the offensive end, but in these rounds of defense, Pippen did a very good job.

But just when Phil Jackson thought that the 7-point gap would be stalemate for a while, Chuck Daly suddenly changed his tactics. If he couldn't catch Jordan, he wouldn't catch him, and instead used the opportunity to catch Jordan. Jordan's strategic attraction pulled the Bulls' defense and found other open spots to take action.

The Lakers can score two very easy points from time to time.

Although the increase was not very fast, the point difference still exceeded 2 digits.

The Bulls exposed their problems at this time. Once Jordan stops scoring, there will be no one else on the Bulls who can score continuously.

Including the "x factor" that stood out in the first half, it can no longer stand up now.

Of course, the reason why "x factor" is "x factor" is because of this uncertainty.

Bill Walton said: "The Bulls should realize that what they need now is to score more than defending their opponents. If they just defend the Lakers for a few rounds, then it is no different from slow death, because the Lakers Can guard them all their rounds.”

On Chicago's live broadcast channel, the commentator said helplessly: "Is there no one who can completely help Michael?"

Pippen and Rodman worked hard enough, but their efforts alone could not prevent the Bulls from opening up the score.

It was also at this time that one of the commentators suddenly said: "Michael covered up too many problems in this team. Once such a moment occurs, we discover that the Bulls are the defending champions just because we have Michael Jordan. Fortunately, We have Michael Jordan!"

The city's love for Jordan has taken on another dimension.

"Shh!"

Just after the Bulls didn't score for three minutes, Jordan, who had "disappeared" for a long time, suddenly shot from outside the three-point line, and the ball fell steadily into the basket.

It wasn't over yet. About two rounds later, Jordan took another shot from outside the three-point line. His somewhat staggering steps did not prevent Jordan from hitting another three-pointer.

Two consecutive three-pointers, plus a round they defended against the Lakers, brought the point difference back to within 10 points.

Jordan, who made two three-pointers, was unfamiliar.

"Didn't you say that Michael doesn't have a three-pointer?" The ESPN commentator looked surprised.

Bill Walton answered his questions: "In 92, on the same stage, Michael hit 6 consecutive three-pointers in the first half and scored 35 points in the half... It is worth mentioning that these two This record is still the NBA Finals half-time record... There is another thing... Michael was on fire from beyond the three-point line because the Trail Blazers mocked him for not having a three-pointer..."

You can say Jordan doesn't have a three-pointer, but you can't ridicule Jordan's three-pointer ability.

This sounds a bit contradictory. But if you doubt this sentence, Drexler will tell you using the nightmarish 92 Finals in his memory:

There's nothing wrong with that.

The commentator in Chicago saw that it was Jordan who stood up and said emotionally: "Michael prayed to the gods, and the one who answered him was his 92 self!" (End of Chapter)