NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 147 No harm to the family

On May 5, the second game between the Bulls and the Knicks started at the Chicago Stadium.

Ewing didn't play well in G1, and he was eager to prove himself in G2.

But Ewing is not the only one who wants to prove himself. Cartwright also wants to use the Eastern Conference semifinals to prove that he is no weaker than Ewing.

Last season, Cartwright was a substitute for Ewing in the Knicks, and he felt frustrated throughout the season.

So as soon as the game started, the two of them started to fight. Ewing's two consecutive strong attacks were blocked by Cartwright's ape arms. In this game, Cartwright basically gave up attacking and put all his energy on the defense.

Throughout the game, Cartwright only scored 5 points, but he defended Ewing to only 16 points, making 16 of 5 shots.

Ewing wanted to hit someone after the entire game. Cartwright was too familiar with him. The two had been teammates for three years and trained together almost every day. Whenever there was a competition within the team, the two would always face off.

The so-called knowing each other inside out is just like this. Cartwright has advantages in defending Ewing that other inside players do not have. Of course, Ewing also knows Cartwright, and Cartwright is also very clear about this. He can't get any advantage from Ewing.

Since you can't get any advantage, then don't ask for it. This is Cartwright's idea, and he did so tonight. Cartwright only defended and did not attack. On the Knicks side, Patrick Ewing was the main output firepower, but on the Bulls side, Cartwright could only be regarded as the team's fourth scorer.

The second matchup between the two sides ended with the Bulls winning. As soon as Ewing entered the locker room, he glared at me and started complaining: "Bill (Cartwright) knows me too well. That guy knows all my habits, and he only did one thing tonight, which was to defend me!"

Oakley next to him couldn't stand it anymore. When he was with the Bulls last season, if the team lost, neither Meng Jin nor Jordan would blame the problem on the opponent.

Oakley yelled, "Patrick, if you want me to take out that guy, just tell me, and I'll take him out in the next game."

Ewing immediately yelled back: "Don't bother me, I will deal with him in my own way!"

Head coach Patino quickly came out to smooth things over, saying: "Boys, forget about the first two losses. Next time we will be back at home, let's do something big!"

After Patino finished speaking, he found that few people were listening to him. As a head coach, he had high tactical qualities, but lacked prestige within the team. Simply put, he could not control these players.

"Meng, first of all, congratulations on winning the second game of the series. The next game will be held in New York. What are your plans?"

"I'll probably go see my friend Donald, then accompany Madonna to a prenatal checkup, play a round of golf if I have time, and if not, I'll just sleep in my room."

After hearing this, the reporter quickly said, "No, no, no, I'm asking about the game plan."

Meng Jin glanced at him and said, "Game plan? There is no plan. Just keep winning."

It's not that Meng Jin looks down on the Knicks. After the first two games, he felt that it was a little easier than playing against the 76ers. At least the core of the 76ers, Barkley, could create a lot of difficulties for the Bulls. On the Knicks side, Ewing had little presence in these two games. Although the Knicks ranked second in the playoffs, it had nothing to do with their strength, but had to do with the playoff ranking rules of that period. There were two divisions in the East during this period, the Central Division and the Atlantic Division. The first in each division had to be in the top two, but the home and away advantages were ranked according to actual records, so the Bulls had home advantage against the Knicks.

After the plane landed in New York, the first thing Meng Jin did was to look for Madonna. After all, she was the mother of his child. Madonna didn't look well. The pregnancy caused her some physiological reactions, but that was not the most important thing. Madonna was in trouble recently.

Last month, Madonna wrote a single titled "Like-a-Prayer" for Pepsi. The MV of this single is quite avant-garde and bold, with many scenes of burning crosses and kissing saints. As soon as this MV came out, all the Catholic churches went wild, and the huge public pressure forced Pepsi and Madonna to terminate the contract.

Fortunately, Pepsi only cancelled Madonna's spokesperson status and did not ask her to pay any money, and allowed her to retain her sky-high endorsement fee.

"This is fucking unpleasant!"

Madonna cursed and turned around three times. Because of her pregnancy, her most common stress relief methods such as smoking and drinking were no longer available, which made Madonna very depressed.

"At least you still have 500 million in endorsement fees." Meng Jin said with a smile.

"I don't care about the 500 million. I just think the people in this country are too hypocritical. Democracy and freedom are all bullshit. I am just expressing my thoughts. Is this not okay?"

"There is no absolute democracy and freedom in any civilized corner of the world. If we want democracy and freedom, there is only one way. Let's run away to the mountains and forests and become savages."

Madonna laughed and said, "Sometimes I really want to be a savage."

Meng Jin said: "You can be a wild man tonight. I will let you go wild."

Madonna touched her belly and said: "This is crazy, but I love it."

Meng Jin was stunned. He was just joking and didn't expect Madonna to be serious.

Meng Jin pointed at Madonna's bulging belly and said, "Will there be any problem?"

Madonna replied: "I have asked my personal doctor, I can have sex three months after pregnancy, provided it is not too intense."

Meng Jin: "This is difficult for you."

Madonna: "I will try to restrain myself." The next day, the NBA officially announced the best team of the season.

Meng Jin was selected into the All-NBA First Team without any suspense. The other four players were Earvin Johnson, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone.

Meng Jin moved Barkley from the first team to the second team, and Barkley moved Wilkins from the second team to the third team.

Wilkins secretly vowed that he would kill Meng Jin in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the situation of the Hawks is not optimistic now. They are already 0-2 behind the Pistons. The Pistons played very easily in these two games. In the early and middle of the season, some people said that the Hawks' lineup was in the running-in period, but now there is no such saying.

That night, the third game between the Bulls and the Knicks started as scheduled at Madison Square Garden.

Before the game, Patino repeatedly emphasized that the players should be tougher and tougher. He had tried various tactics in the first two games. If they wanted to beat the Bulls, it would not be enough to just focus on the tactics. They had to make up for the gap in strength with attitude.

When the Bulls players came out, Madison Square Garden erupted in huge boos. The Knicks fans tried to use this method to interfere with the mentality of the Bulls players.

Meng Jin's mentality was indeed disturbed and his anger was aroused all of a sudden because Meng Jin heard New York fans in the crowd cursing Madonna and his unborn child.

The two teams fought fiercely during the jump ball phase. Cartwright reacted faster and jumped first, while Ewing had better explosiveness and came from behind to hook the ball back. Jordan reacted quickly and rushed forward immediately, trying to fight for the ball. Under the double-team of Oakley and Mark Jackson, Jordan failed to control the ball and touched the ball out of the sideline.

There were cheers from the crowd and the referee awarded the ball to the Knicks.

The spirit and spirit of the Knicks players were obviously different. First, they were back at home, and second, they were already trailing 0-2 in the total score and the team had nowhere to retreat.

Mark Jackson and Gerald Wilkins passed the ball to each other. Wilkins got the ball, called for a screen, and made a layup at the edge of the restricted area.

Gerald Wilkins' finishing touch was much worse than his brother's. The ball was short and bounced out of the frame.

John Newman grabbed the rebound in the crowd and then passed the ball forward to Ewing.

The gorilla jumped up and dunked with both hands to get two points!

As soon as the cheers from the fans at the scene sounded, the Bulls' counterattack began.

Jordan made a long diagonal pass to Meng Jin, who received the ball in the right corner. At this time, not all Knicks players had retreated. Facing the loose defense, Meng Jin did not make any extra moves. After getting the ball, he immediately broke through along the baseline!
Charles Oakley wanted to move sideways to block Meng Jin, but he was a beat too slow. Looking at Meng Jin's back, Oakley knew that the round was over.

Meng Jin took a step and jumped into the penalty area. Ewing turned to the bottom corner to face Meng Jin. The adrenaline generated by the dunk in the last round was still there, but at the moment of jumping, Ewing suddenly woke up. He felt the difference between jumping and taking off.

Meng Jin's spiral machine took off into the air, and he slammed the ball into the basket with both hands regardless of Ewing!

Ewing staggered to the ground and almost fell. The majestic image he had established in the hearts of home fans in the last round was instantly destroyed by Meng Jin's dunk.

The Knicks slowed down, and Mark Jackson could see that Ewing was a little dazed when the ball was dunked just now.

After half court, the Knicks played a simple tactical combination, with Newman going around and Ewing positioning himself in the paint.

Meng Jin retreated half a meter. If Newman dared to pass the ball, he would be able to double-team Ewing and make him suffer.

Although the Knicks have some good players, the core is undoubtedly Ewing. As long as Ewing breaks down, winning will be a natural thing.

Newman was very decisive. He fired directly from outside the three-point line and the basketball went into the net.

Knicks head coach Patino emphasized before the game that the Bulls are very mobile, and the Knicks must shoot decisively when they have an opportunity. If they always think about giving the ball to the inside and letting Ewing deal with it, the offense will easily stagnate.

Meng Jin immediately fought back. Facing Oakley's defense, he chose to go to the baseline again after three threats.

Oakley took a step back and the Knicks' defense quickly retreated. It was too difficult to deal with Meng Jin alone, and if they wanted to limit him, they had to rely on multiple people to surround and suppress him.

Meng Jin suddenly collected the ball and stopped sharply from mid-range!

Oakley's brain reacted, but his body couldn't keep up. He didn't even make a symbolic gesture of stretching his hand because it was meaningless.

"Shh!"

A solid hit!

Meng Jin has made great progress in his mid-range shooting this season, which Pitino is well aware of. However, there is no other way. To defend Meng Jin, the defense line must be tightened. It is better to let him make a mid-range shot than to let him rush in and dunk.

(End of this chapter)