Chapter 58 Boo

Alright, let's talk about this duel between Su Feng and Jordan.

Su Feng knew he couldn't guard Jordan on his own, which is why he needed Big Ben to cooperate with him in the low post.

Tonight, as long as Jordan got the ball in the high post, Su Feng would use his defense to force Jordan into difficult shots.

And once Jordan went into the low post, the 76ers would use a pseudo-zone defense, guarding the restricted area while immediately double-teaming Jordan.

Unlike Bird's approach to dealing with Jordan back in the day, Su Feng was adopting a style of play focused on draining the "Old Rogue's" stamina bar.

As the saying goes, the goose leaves feathers, and the beast leaves its skin.

In his previous life, because Jordan adopted a paddling style of play in the last few regular season games, and because Jordan hadn't suffered as much wear and tear during the regular season as he had in this life, Jordan's stamina was in pretty good shape.

However, this season, because of the sudden emergence of the 76ers, Jordan's stamina was clearly an issue.

That's why Su Feng was making Jordan's stamina the focus of his game.

On the court, after using his shoulder to shrug off Su Feng, Jordan suddenly accelerated, while Su Feng stuck to his side, preventing him from comfortably getting off a jump shot.

Looking at Big Ben, who might come to help defend him inside the three-point line, Jordan suddenly slowed down, then unexpectedly launched a rogue fadeaway jumper.

You could tell just how good Jordan's back was from that sudden stop-and-turn fadeaway jumper.

Swish!

2-2.

After Jordan made that shot, the entire arena was chanting "MVP, MVP."

Don't ask why; it's because these "Bulls fans" were furious.

On the court, the 76ers quickly inbounded the ball, and Su Feng, seeing that Jordan had indeed taken the challenge, smiled and began his frantic running.

What's the most grueling thing on a basketball court?

In Su Feng's opinion, it had to be sprints back and forth.

And the kind where you were sprinting at full speed.

After taking a deep breath, Jordan had no choice but to grit his teeth and go for it.

Perhaps, that's what it means to be a man.

"Look at how the 76ers are playing tonight, with Su Feng running Jordan all over the place.

That's what I often talk about, drawing the defense. When you play basketball, you can't just stand still. If you just stand still, your teammates won't be able to handle the ball," Zhang指导commented on Great Celestial Dynasty Television.

"Only Jordan can guard Su Feng this closely. If it were anyone else, they'd probably get caught off guard and lose Su Feng," Su Junyang chimed in.

"As a shooter, Su Feng is showing us textbook-level movement tonight, and Jordan is showing us textbook-level defense," Sun Zhengping, who wasn't sure how to interject, added awkwardly.

Zhang指导, Su Junyang: "..."

Although Sun指导's commentary wasn't wrong in terms of meaning... it just felt like you were being brainwashed by his voice when he said it in that broadcast tone.

On the court, the 76ers came on the attack, and Iverson took it himself.

Guess whether Iverson would go left or right?

Harper: He's definitely going right!

Well, if you guessed that Iverson would go right, then why did you still get beat?

Harper: I didn't want to!

Iverson's penetration into the Bulls' heartland instantly attracted a swarm of Bulls players. After entering the playoffs, the Bulls' rotation defense speed on the court was noticeably a level faster than during the regular season.

But as one of the future four great shooting guards, so what if there were help defenders in front of him?

Never say no to the four great shooting guards!

In Iverson's eyes, he had a great open shot opportunity.

Swish!

4-2.

If the 76ers wanted to seize a glimmer of hope tonight, Iverson had to step up and make these tough shots.

In return, the Bulls attacked, and the sounds of "Beat him," "Kill him" rang out again in the arena.

The Bulls, in a 1-2-2 formation, wanted to create an opportunity for Jordan through the triangle offense. However, Jordan felt his teammates were being too slow. After calling for the ball, Jordan took a Tiyunzong step and launched a picturesque pull-up jumper.

Jordan shot the ball decisively, and the basketball clanked off the rim just as decisively.

Rodman failed to grab the offensive rebound. After Big Ben secured the defensive rebound, the 76ers immediately launched a fast break.

On the court, the Bulls players quickly retreated. However, just as the Bulls players adopted a strategy of prioritizing protecting the basket and not letting Iverson penetrate directly, Iverson chose to pass the ball to Harris...

And the latter, after receiving the ball, decisively fired away.

Pippen, who was the first to retreat to the basket, was shocked because, in this era, transition three-pointers like this were generally the privilege of only a few shooters.

This Harris... isn't he just a role player?

Well... he is indeed a role player.

But he's a role player who can shoot.

Harris had a 37% three-point shooting percentage this season. If the 76ers wanted to beat the Bulls tonight, they had to use three-pointers to break the Bulls' pseudo-zone defense.

Harris caught the Bulls off guard with this shot. The basketball bounced off the rim once before falling into the net.

7-2!

Unlike playing against the Hawks, the 76ers clearly had an advantage in the paint when playing against this Bulls team.

The only player on this Bulls team who could play inside was Rodman, but one fist couldn't fight four hands. The aging Rodman had to grab rebounds in a difficult situation most of the night.

Therefore, the 76ers could be decisive in shooting. After all, they had never lost to the Bulls in rebounding during the regular season.

The Bulls players, who had been taken over by the 76ers on their home court, all felt an unprecedented pressure at this moment.

The Bulls attacked, and Pippen actively called for the ball to isolate Harris. Harris didn't let Pippen receive the ball in the low post. So, after getting the ball in the high post, Pippen showed off the style of a "former-Eastern Conference first small forward" with a dribble and pull-up jumper.

Swish!

7-4.

On the court, except for Rodman, who was responsible for grabbing offensive rebounds and was a little slow to retreat, the other four Bulls players all retreated into position as quickly as possible.

The most grueling thing about this 76ers team was precisely this: their iron-blooded run-and-gun style kept you moving constantly.

On the Bulls' bench, "Zen Master" called up Kukoc, preparing to go small.

Two minutes later, taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the "Balkan Magician" came off the bench, and the Bulls switched to having Rodman play center.

And after Kukoc came on the court, the Bulls' rotation defense speed increased again.

The thing was...

Iverson was too comfortable inside.

Every "183" had a center's dream. Using his agile movements, Iverson could always go in and out of the Bulls' defense tonight.

And unlike some sports where friction generates heat, in basketball games, friction is more likely to generate fouls.

Iverson, who frequently went to the free-throw line, took Su Feng's advice. In his previous life, Iverson's career free-throw percentage was only 78%, because he often suffered fouls where people went for him.

Su Feng suggested that he slow down more when shooting free throws, letting his muscles completely relax before shooting.

"The 76ers are really showing a murderous aura throughout the team tonight," Zhang指导 said on Great Celestial Dynasty Television.

"Just like Su Feng said before the game, they came here to win," Su Junyang added.

Character determines destiny.

Big Ben, Iverson, and Su Feng were all the kind of guys who, if you want to fight, I'll fight you.

The Bulls couldn't scare them with their reputation alone. Plus, Su Feng's words at the start of the game ignited the whole team. Although they lacked experience, the 76ers managed to fight the Bulls to a back-and-forth battle.

Jordan, who was being made to do shuttle run training with Su Feng, really wanted to kick Su Feng to death. Only half a quarter had been played in this first game, and Jordan felt more tired than he usually did after playing a whole quarter.

Fortunately, Pippen was in excellent form tonight.

Being able to withstand pressure and deliver output was exactly the kind of person Pippen was.

Don't look at Su Feng always using people's second master as a unit of measurement, but you had to know that in Su Feng's various deductions, the one who ultimately saved this Bulls team was always Pippen.

Unless they could solve Pippen, it wouldn't matter if Su Feng turned Jordan into Kobe.

In the first quarter, after playing for seven minutes, the 76ers also made adjustments.

Stackhouse came on, replacing the role player Harris.

As soon as this Jordan's junior brother came on the court, he walked up to Pippen, as Su Feng had instructed him before the game...

…

ps: 20,000 words of updates delivered! Begging for monthly tickets! Because I was a little sleepy in the morning, I wanted to go to sleep for a while before getting up to write, but I couldn't fall asleep no matter how I tossed and turned... I've been working continuously for 20 hours, begging for monthly tickets! A Qiao is really going to sleep this time, I'll get up around 6 pm to continue working!