NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 188 Don’t Underestimate the Enemy
After the game, all the Pistons left the court with gloomy faces and did not shake hands or hug the Bulls players, just like last season.

There is no such thing as grace for the Pistons. They only have hatred for the Bulls, the purest hatred.

The Pistons fans hate the Bulls as much as the players do, and they started to talk nonsense after the game.

Facing insults from opposing fans, Meng Jin did not feel angry but rather enjoyed it. The more hateful and dirty the Pistons fans cursed, the more painful it was for Meng Jin to hit them.

In this time and space, the experiences of the Bulls and the Pistons have changed. In the previous parallel time and space, the Pistons were an insurmountable mountain for the Bulls in the early stages. Jordan was beaten to collapse by the Pistons' bullies and had to gain weight to strengthen his confrontation. He finally defeated the Bad Boys after going through untold hardships.

In this time and space, the Bulls have become the Pistons' nemesis, defeating them in the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive years. In these two seasons, the Pistons have been constantly changing their lineup, but they still can't do anything about the Bulls. People outside have joked that if this continues, the Pistons will probably be broken up by the Bulls.

After the Bulls advanced, fans' attention fell on the Western Conference, where the Trail Blazers currently lead the Jazz 3-2.

The Trail Blazers have a greater chance of advancing, but fans hope the Jazz will meet the Bulls in the finals.

Fans like conflict and drama. The Trail Blazers and the Bulls have no grudges against each other, but in the past two seasons, whenever the Jazz had a game with the Bulls, there was a lot of tension, mainly due to the conflict between Karl Malone and Meng Jin. If Bill Laimbeer is the player in the league who was beaten the worst by Meng Jin, then Karl Malone is the undisputed second in command. He had his teeth knocked out and his head broken by Meng Jin.

During the Western Conference Finals, Karl Malone said in an interview that he wanted to enter the finals to avenge Meng Jin and let them know what real toughness is. This sentence made the fans
Everyone was looking forward to the matchup between the two teams, but things did not go as planned. The Jazz were defeated by the Trail Blazers after a fierce battle of 7 games.

There is a curse this season: any team that clamors for revenge against the Bulls ends up not even seeing the Bulls, including the Celtics, Lakers, and Jazz.

The media predicted that the Bulls had a 90% chance of winning the finals and retaining the championship. The Trail Blazers' 10% chance of winning was due to an internal conflict between Jordan and Meng Jin during the finals, which gave the Trail Blazers an opportunity.

However, the probability of this happening is very small. Meng Jin and Jordan have already been together for a season, and there is no reason for them to fall out in the last few days.

Meng Jin and his teammates watched the last two games between the Blazers and the Jazz. The Bulls players concluded that the Blazers were no match for the Pistons. Grant even said arrogantly, "A team like the Blazers can only make it to the second round in the Eastern Conference. Their level is about the same as the Knicks and 76ers."

"The Knicks have Patrick Ewing, the 76ers have Charles Barkley, they are both tough characters. What does the Trail Blazers have? Clyde Drexler? A player on the third team of the All-NBA team, if he comes to the Bulls he can only be a substitute." Jordan's words were even more arrogant. He looked down on Drexler. Jordan felt that Drexler was a weakened version of himself in all aspects, but the media always liked to compare the two, which made him very unhappy.

During this period, Jordan always regarded himself as a player of the same level as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Drexler had never been in the first team in his career, and had not even started in the All-Star Game. Jordan felt that such a player was far inferior to himself.

With the big battle approaching, the entire Bulls team was very relaxed, and no one took the Trail Blazers seriously. In G1, all the Bulls players underestimated their opponent, and Jordan and Meng Jin even left the team and started to focus on scoring singles.

两人都选择了游离在体系之外的打法，乔丹全场36投16中，罚球10中8，拿到40分4助攻3篮板3抢断，孟进全场31投15中，罚球8中6拿到36分8篮板2盖帽1助攻。

The two combined for 71 points and their firepower was still fierce, but their efficiency was average. The other Bulls players were slow to get into the game, and the team eventually lost to the Trail Blazers 101-111 at home.

The Blazers played a gorgeous offensive match. The Bulls were almost defenseless tonight. All five Blazers starters scored in double digits, three of whom scored 5 points. The best performer was Buck Williams, who scored 3 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists on 9 of 20 shots. After the game, the Bulls fans blamed each other. Jordan's fans said Meng Jin was hurting the team, Meng Jin's fans said Jordan was holding Meng Jin back, and their common fans complained that the role players were trash and could not help at all. The next day, the training atmosphere within the Bulls was very bad, and after the training, there were media reports that they had another conflict.

"Every time the Bulls lose, they are still a team full of problems." As soon as the news broke, former Bulls head coach Collins stood up to stab the Bulls in the back. He is probably the person in the world who least wants the Bulls to win the championship. If the Bulls can still win the championship without him, he will seem redundant.

There are indeed problems within the Bulls, but they are not as serious as the outside world has said. The players just showed varying degrees of frustration in the training games.

Head coach Bach got angry, which was very rare. He smashed the tactical board and ended the training early.

Before leaving, Bach shouted to the shocked players: "If you continue in this state, you will lose the second home game, and then the entire series, and finally become the object of people's ridicule. I know you don't want to do this anymore, so let's destroy it together!"

Coach Bach stormed off the court, then whispered in the corner, "Phil, how did I behave emotionally just now?"

Phil Jackson nodded: "Very good, I was scared by you."

Coach Bach was not really out of control, he just wanted the Bulls players to be more sober and cheer up. Losing G1 was certainly a big blow to the team, but the series has just begun.

So Phil Jackson gave Bach some advice. He told Bach not to preach any big principles. In this situation, nothing he said would be more effective than exploding in silence!
Bach thought it made sense, and so the scene above happened.

It turned out that Phil Jackson, the psychological master, had some talent. In the game the next day, the Bulls seemed like a different team. Not only were they full of fighting spirit, but they also performed tougher on the defensive end.

Meng Jin directly silenced Buck Williams, the best player of the Trail Blazers in the last game.

巴克-威廉姆斯上场比赛12中9，这场比赛7中2，表现天差地别，孟进自己打出了19中12的高效表现，今晚他拿到30分11篮板5助攻4盖帽2抢断。

Cartwright also did a good job of defending the Trail Blazers' core inside player Jerome Kersey, allowing him only 16 points and 7 rebounds in the entire game.

Drexler still played well in this game, scoring 28 points and 6 assists, but Jordan, who was facing him, was even more powerful. Tonight, Jordan scored 50 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

The Bulls got back on track and defeated the Trail Blazers 121-98 at home.

For the Bulls this was not just a victory, the team also regained confidence and cohesion.

(End of this chapter)