So I am the god of basketball?

Reggie Miller's fighting spirit remains high, which affects the entire Pacers team.

However, when it comes to the determination to enter the finals, the Bulls are stronger than ever. And when it comes to the "decisive game" to enter the next round, Michael Jordan's main skill is to "make a quick move" and his moves are called "steady, accurate and ruthless".

The game was very tense at the beginning, but as the game continued, in the second half, Jordan began to exert his strength. He used one unstoppable mid-range shot after another to help the team widen the gap to 10 points.

Olajuwon, who entered the league at the same time as Jordan, saw how powerful his classmates were, and he also wanted to step up and save the team.

It’s a pity that as people age, their muscles and bones are not their main strength, and inside players do age a little faster than outside players.

Historically, there are indeed more outside players who can maintain their form after the age of 35.

The reason is very simple. Because of their height and weight, inside players need to consume more physical energy. As they get older and their physical fitness declines, their playing time will naturally decrease.

With less playing time, it is natural that the form cannot be maintained.

The same is true for Olajuwon now. He can play well in 20 minutes, and people can vaguely see the shadow of his peak period, but as time goes on, what can be seen from him is what time has taken away from him.

Even in the last 6 minutes and 34 seconds of the game, he failed to hold the ball after grabbing the rebound. McGrady stole the ball from the side, jumped up quickly, and completed the "second attack", completely locking the score difference to more than 10 points.

He cursed fiercely, "Fxxk!"

His face was full of dejection.

At this moment, he knew very well that the Pacers had lost their last breath because of him.

Sure enough, over the next 6 minutes, no matter how hard the Pacers tried, they were still trailing by double digits.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Pacers 98-88 at home with a score of 4 to 1 and made it to the finals.

When the final whistle sounded, all the fans in the stadium could no longer contain their excitement and gave unified cheers and shouts.

Jordan smiled for the first time after the game. He looked at McGrady next to him and rubbed his head with a smile.

McGrady felt Jordan's friendliness and smiled shyly.

He knew that he had finally satisfied Jordan.

There is a reason why Jordan is so satisfied with McGrady:
He stood up at the critical moment of this game, but the person with the best statistics in the whole game was McGrady, who scored 33 points, including a steal from Olajuwon for more than 6 minutes in the fourth quarter to complete the "second attack" that sealed the victory.

He expects McGrady to maintain this form into the finals.

The commentator on the scene was also full of emotion when watching Jordan's close-up shot: "After two years, Michael Jordan returned to the finals stage again. This is the sixth time he has entered the finals in his career. In the previous five finals, he won four of them. Everyone thought he would never return to this stage, but he is back!"

The next day, Michael Jordan holding up the Eastern Conference championship trophy made headlines in many media.

As for the Chicago media, they finally have the chance to avenge Pippen's sarcastic "attack" last season.

There were endless articles mocking Pippen, the most deadly of which was: "Now, Michael Jordan has made it to the finals with his new Pippen. Scottie, when will you prove that you can make it to the finals without Jordan?"

There is also another sharp article that says: "Tracy proved that he is not Scottie, because often in such a crucial game, Scottie will only be the one who drags Michael down, but Tracy is different, he became the best performer in this game!"

Pippen, who was very impressive in last season's playoffs, suddenly lost his momentum after reading these articles.

This season, the Trail Blazers fell in the first round of the playoffs, and their best result was making it to the Western Conference Finals... The health of one of the team's core players, "the Roof of the World", is worrying. Coupled with the salary issues exposed by the initial purchases when the team was first established, it will gradually become a hidden danger. Let alone reaching the finals, it would be a success for the Trail Blazers to be able to maintain their current lineup two years later!
That was also the case, he had no way to refute it.

He could only pretend that he hadn't seen the news and comfort himself:
At least, I can still earn 1200 million next season!
For Pippen now, proving himself is not a particularly important thing. Making money is his top priority.

Recently, he has always had a feeling that as he gradually becomes unable to cope with the situation, his wife has begun to feel alienated from him. If he doesn't make more money, he is afraid that they will get divorced soon... God knows what kind of accusation this woman will put on him after the divorce.

The Chicago Bulls then set off for Los Angeles to prepare for the first game of this year's finals.

The moment they made it to the finals, many media outlets were saying, "This will undoubtedly be a highly anticipated finals!"

After Pippen was traded, as the Philadelphia 76ers formed a combination of "double No. picks" plus Mutombo, everyone felt that the era of Jordan and Meng Lang's confrontation was over.

The next era belongs to the showdown between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers.

just……

There could be a sequel to the “Kill the Lakers” saga.

This time it's still a TV series.

Because this time the Philadelphia 76ers really beat the Lakers.

Now it's the Lakers' turn to fight back.

But no one expected that the strong Duncan would be out for the season, and Jordan and the Bulls actually seized this opportunity and made it to the finals.

Jordan and Meng Lang meet again.

A reporter asked Meng Lang about his confidence in the finals.

In fact, Meng Lang was 100% sure.

This season's Lakers are a bit like the Lakers in 09.

They lost the finals last year, and the only goal for the new season was to avenge the Celtics. But Kevin Garnett was injured in the playoffs and was out for the season. The only team that could compete with them was gone, and they easily defeated the Magic in the finals...

Well, only kind of.

Because the original gimmick of the league in 09 was "23VS24", and Kevin Garnett was injured at the time, everyone thought that this script was about to come true, but who could have thought that the Magic team would become the "dark horse". The referee's whistle was almost smoking, but they still eliminated the Cavaliers and became the team in the Eastern Conference that entered the finals.

In terms of paper strength, the 09 Magic team ranked third in the Eastern Conference.

Now the Lakers are facing a different Bulls team, they are one of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, the opponent is strong, and the Lakers are stronger than in 09.

That year, the Lakers and Rockets played to the seventh game in the second round. If Yao Ming had not been injured, no one would know which team would win in the end.

But the current Lakers team is different. They have not lost a single game in the three series so far.

Such terrifying strength swept the West, and can also sweep the East without Tim Duncan.

So when facing the media, he said directly: "I said that this is the first season of the 21st century. I also said that no team wants to face us this season. I will keep my word!"

It is a coincidence that this is Jordan's sixth trip to the finals in his career, and this is also Meng Lang's sixth trip to the finals in his career. Moreover, both of them won 6 championships and lost the remaining 6 game.

For this reason, the ESPN reporter said: "If Dream took the lead from Michael after the last finals, then this finals will put a perfect end to the struggle between the two of them!"

If Jordan wins, then at least he will retain the last bit of dignity, and he and Meng Lang will be a pair of equally powerful "rivals".

And if Meng Lang wins, Jordan will become his stepping stone to enter the top 5 in history.

At least with five championships in hand, his status is no lower than that of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Of course, Michael Jordan, who won three consecutive championships, is still one of the top five players in history...but this time he can't be the undisputed "goat"!
Meng Lang's answer was so confident that when the reporter asked Michael Jordan the same question, he thought for a long time and gave this answer: "All the efforts since losing the 97 Finals are for this round of Finals. I will bet everything I have!"

Meng Lang is only 26 years old, but he has no way out.

This is also what Michael Jordan believes to be his only advantage in this round of the finals.

Kobe has also been looking forward to this round of finals for a long time.

Although he had defeated Jordan in the finals.

But last time he was just a small role and won the championship easily.

This time is different. He is the absolute main force of the team, and he wants to defeat Jordan head-on.

Meng Lang looked at him, eager to fight, and poured cold water on him: "You should think about how to defeat Tracy first! This is what you should really care about!"

Kobe:…

He wanted to refute, but he had no words to say.

Finally, as everyone was looking forward to it, the finals of the "cross-era" season 99~00 officially kicked off.

Michael Jordan and Meng Lang, two of the most representative players of the 90s, started this "Battle of the Century".

Staples Center is star-studded tonight, with big names gathered together, waiting to watch the finals between Meng Lang and Jordan that will bring an end to the two men's careers.

The big screen at the scene showed the starting lineups of both sides:
"Bulls: Armstrong at No. 1, McGrady at No. 2, Jordan at No. 3, Rodman at No. 4, Antonio Davis at No. 5;"

"For the Lakers: Meng Lang at No. 1, Kobe at No. 2, Russell at No. 3, Ben Wallace at No. 4, Divac at No. 5;"

To be honest, just looking at the Bulls' lineup, it is hard to imagine how they managed to break out of the Eastern Conference.

Armstrong at the number one position is a defensive loophole, and Rodman at the number four position is no longer the "Worm" he once was.

Davis was also unable to fill in for Rodman's declining form.

But they still made it to the finals, thanks to Jordan and McGrady.

Yes, just like the Mavericks in 2024, who made it to the finals with Doncic and Irving...

They are facing the Lakers, a team of elite players.

During the jump ball, Antonio used his advantage and successfully jumped to the ball.

McGrady got the ball and faced Meng Lang.

The Lakers adjusted their defense, letting Kobe go against the too short Armstrong, while Meng Lang went against the explosive McGrady.

In the two encounters this season, McGrady's performance was somewhat sluggish when facing Meng Lang.

The reason is that facing Meng Lang, he was unable to show the advantages of his static talent.

Without the first step, McGrady's playing style becomes a bit monotonous.

And he is also a guard who likes to shoot.

However, this was his playing style during the regular season. In the finals, facing Meng Lang's switching defense, he seemed to have expected it and called for a pick-and-roll in the interior. No matter how fast Meng Lang was, he could not keep up with McGrady's first step and rushed to the basket. McGrady "looked back at the moon" and the ball fell into the hands of Jordan on the outside.

Jordan dribbled the ball to face Russell, took a step inside, and shot a jump shot against Russell.

The ball fell steadily into the basket.

Russell shook his head slightly.

Jordan's speed is not fast, but his movements are smooth. If he misses the beat for even a moment, the whole game will be out of beat.

After serving from the backcourt, Meng Lang carried the ball to the frontcourt, observed the Bulls' defense, found Russell who was confronting Armstrong, and asked him to try to shoot first.

The ball hit the rim, but Ben Wallace secured the rebound.

Meng Lang cut to the basket, completed a hook shot and the ball bounced into the basket.

The Lakers scored 2 points.

Amid the cheers from the crowd, the Bulls fought back. McGrady faced Meng Lang and called for a pick-and-roll with exceptional determination.

The ball was in Jordan's hands again and passed back to the inside. This time it was McGrady who returned the favor with a dunk under the basket.

It's 4-2.

Meng Lang played a hand-to-hand pass with Russell on the outside, and McGrady switched defense in advance and blocked him from the other side. However, Meng Lang was waiting for his prediction, and he went around again. Russell passed the ball to him in the process, and Armstrong could only replace McGrady to hit Meng Lang's knee.

"Shh!"

The Lakers took the lead.

Phil Jackson kept turning his hands, reminding the Bulls to switch defense faster.

Don't let Armstrong participate in Meng Lang's "hand-to-hand" tactics defense.

This time, Jordan chose to receive the ball directly. Facing Russell, he started with the "triple threat posture", forcing Russell to advance and retreat, and not dare to take action at all. Then he just pulled up and hit the "top three-pointer"!
In the past two seasons, Jordan accepted the further decline of his physical fitness. He originally did not practice three-pointers because after he developed the three-pointer, he did not want to break through the basket. Now that God has taken away some of his ability in this area, he naturally has to develop the three-pointer.

A 40.3% three-point shooting rate is not top-notch, but it is definitely a threatening weapon! (End of this chapter)