The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 92 Old Comrade, You're welcome to take revenge in any way you like.
Pippen's first jump shot was a pull-up jumper after a drive to the basket.

He intended to pass the ball to Jordan across the box, a standard tactic with Jordan, where his drive would draw the defense and create opportunities for Jordan.

But Tang Bei just stepped up from under the basket, whether intentionally or unintentionally, cutting off his passing lane with Jordan, so he had no choice but to shoot himself.

"Bang!"

Unfortunately, his touch was mediocre, and he missed one shot due to interference from Glen Rice.

Tang Bei grabbed the rebound, passed it out, and immediately ran towards the frontcourt.

Although tearing off the rim took some of his energy, he rested for nearly ten minutes and his stamina is still very high.

He was in excellent spirits today because he wanted to dominate the Bulls' interior defense, which greatly motivated him.

The task is only two-fifths complete so far, and the Bulls still have three interior players waiting for his one-sided slaughter.

Once he reached the low left wing, he started to push deep into the box, and Perdo couldn't hold on at all, quickly squeezing in.

In the CCTV live broadcast room, Xu Jicheng quickly said, "Tang Bei's low-post offensive ability is too frightening. The Bulls should stick to their defensive tactics."

"Hanging basket".

As Tang Bei moved deeper into the post, he wasn't afraid that the Bulls would see through the Heat's offensive tactics, and he shouted loudly without any hesitation.

With that in mind, Bimbo Coles, who had the ball, hadn't even advanced to the top of the arc before he lobbed the ball directly toward the basket.

The Bulls, who were playing a collapsing defense, quickly retreated to the basket, including Jordan. Only point guard BJ Armstrong did not retreat.

"Four sandwiched in one".

In the CCTV live broadcast studio, Sun Zhenping shouted in a trembling voice.

Under the basket, Tang Bei used his left elbow to block Perdo and his right elbow to block Stasekin, who had just returned to defend the basket, preventing them from getting close.

The two men used all their strength, but they couldn't overpower Tang Bei's arm and couldn't get close enough to him. They could only grab his jersey with one hand and use the other to interfere with Tang Bei's ability to catch the ball.

The next moment, as Pippen and Jordan rushed in front of him, Tang Bei jumped with all his might.

The terrifying explosive force instantly broke free from the two men's grip on his jersey, and he grabbed the falling basketball with both hands.

"boom!"

The moment he grabbed the basketball, his body began to fall, and he slammed his hands behind his head, causing the sound of the ball hitting the rim to ring out.

Xu Jicheng excitedly said, "A back dunk amidst multiple double teams, Tang Bei has made 4 of 4 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points in half a quarter."

"You're in amazing form today!" Sun Zhenping said happily.

Xu Jicheng said, "The Bulls have been using a collapsed defense against Tang Bei, but whether it's a double team, a triple team, or even a quad team just now, it's all useless."

Sun Zhenping said excitedly, "Yes, as long as Tang Bei receives the ball under the basket, it means one thing: a point."

Xu Jicheng said excitedly, "Tang Bei's dominance under the basket is really something. I feel that no one in the NBA can surpass him."

13:6, Bulls attack.

Pippen's offense was ineffective, and Tang Bei had just cut off the passing lanes on both the strong and weak sides, causing Jordan to be unable to receive the ball. With the team falling behind, he was getting a little anxious.

This time, after arriving in the frontcourt, he moved to the right elbow area, backing down Edwards to call for the ball.

BJ passed the ball from the top of the key, then ran to the right sideline, drawing away Bibombocles, and Jordan began a one-on-one attack on the wing.

With BJ's pass, the Heat's defensive formation immediately shifted to the right wing, and Tang Bei moved from the left side of the basket to the right front side, where Jordan was just three meters away.

After receiving the ball, Jordan did not hesitate for a moment, but immediately turned to the left after a post-up move.

"Left turn jump shot?"

A thought flashed through Tang Bei's mind, and he took a quick step forward.

"No! It's a left turn and a breakthrough!"

But in the next instant, he realized that Jordan hadn't gathered the ball and it couldn't possibly be a turnaround jump shot.

Sure enough, Jordan turned left, dribbled past Edwards, and then drove into the paint from the right side of the court.

As Jordan took a step past the right side of the paint and drove into the restricted area, Tang Bei retracted his step and returned to the basket.

At this moment, Jordan held the ball in his hand, raised it high with his right hand, took another step forward, and leaped into the air, crashing into Tang Bei.

Tang Bei instantly ascended into the air, raising his arms high to form an enormous defensive barrier in the sky.

But the next moment, just as he was about to collide with Tang Bei, Jordan instantly caught the ball and pulled it into his arms. After dodging Tang Bei's block, he spun in the air and spun around Tang Bei's body for half a circle, going from the front right side of the basket to the front left side.

He actually did a 360-degree turn in mid-air, flying a straight distance of two meters in a semi-circular arc like a helicopter, before facing the basket again and flicking the basketball towards the hoop with his large hand.

"Holy crap! How did he do that?"

When Tang Bei landed and looked back, the basketball was flying through the hoop. Jordan was at least two meters away from him and was also dumbfounded.

This offensive play made Jordan realize for the first time that there is a big difference between the top-level athleticism of a tall player and that of a short player.

At least, the kind of mid-air change of direction that Jordan played, with his terrifying hang time, is an athletic quality that he could never possess.

"WOW!"

The Bulls fans, who had been holding back their frustration for half a quarter, were instantly ignited, and a huge roar echoed throughout the Chicago arena.

"Kid, this is just the beginning."

Jordan chewed his gum slowly and said to Tang Bei with a blank expression.

"You're incredibly capable."

Tang Bei said in Tianjing dialect, sounding annoyed.

You're insulting me.

Jordan didn't understand and said angrily.

"No." Tang Bei shook his head.

"It must be," Jordan insisted.

"If you keep nagging, I'll beat you up."

Tang Bei glared at Jordan, which silenced Jordan.

"You savage country bumpkin!"

After leaving Tang Bei's side, Jordan cursed.

In the ESPN studio, Michael Breen excitedly exclaimed, "Beautiful! Michael is starting to put his power into it. After asking for the ball, he did a 360-degree spin in the air and then scored with a layup. It was a very exciting change of direction in the air. He outmaneuvered Tang, and Tang became the backdrop."

Tom Tolbert nodded and said, "That was a beautiful layup, worthy of being one of the top ten plays of the day. It was an extremely difficult layup. Michael's layups are always so gorgeous and elegant."

Forty seconds later, Michael Jordan once again drove into the paint, attempting to repeat his previous move and outmaneuver Tang Bei with a layup.

Tang Bei knew he would have a hard time defending Jordan's layup, and he didn't want to use Oakley's fighting style of defense, so he adopted a more proactive and aggressive defensive strategy.

In his view, defense is similar to fighting, and the best defense is to use offense as defense.

Last time I fought Larry Johnson, he was on the defensive at the beginning and was somewhat passive. Later, he stopped defending and quickly knocked Larry Johnson down with a few rounds of heavy punches. That's called offense as defense.

As Jordan cut inside from the right wing along the baseline, he seized the opportunity and, just as Jordan was gathering the ball but hadn't yet taken off, suddenly stepped forward to press him.

He used a short, powerful forward slide to make his move.

The sliding step is like wading through mud, with the soles of the feet sliding along the ground. It is not only fast, but also allows for jumping to block or taking the next step in the shortest possible time because of the close proximity to the ground.

At the same time, as soon as the front foot is in place, the back foot quickly follows, and the rhythm of the sliding step is very fast, even faster than ordinary basketball footwork.

He used the forward slide because he wanted to use its shortness and power to establish a legal defensive position before Jordan could.

If he can't establish a defensive position first, Jordan will be called for a blocking foul if he bumps into him. He has no doubt about the ability of the best player in the league to draw fouls.

His aggressive pressing was extremely fierce and intimidating. To put it nicely, it was like a tiger pouncing on its prey; to put it bluntly, it was like a vicious dog fighting for food.

Jordan had already gathered the ball and was about to take off when Tang Beiji's fierce pressure disrupted his rhythm. But with the arrow already on the bowstring, he had no choice but to continue jumping.

However, he couldn't use enough power from his feet when he jumped, which resulted in insufficient jump height and hang time.

He barely managed to fly half a circle around Tang Bei before crashing down, hastily completing a poorly executed layup. "Clang!"

The basketball went wide, but Tang Bei turned and jumped to grab the rebound.

On CCTV, Xu Jicheng happily said, "Tang Bei defended that ball beautifully, taking the initiative, and Jordan's technique was clearly distorted."

Sun Zhenping laughed and said, "He took a step forward and caught Jordan off guard."

“Yes, yes.” Xu Jicheng nodded.

The match then continued.

For the Heat, Tang Bei's low-post offense was incredibly brutal. Once he received the ball under the basket, it meant the end of the attack, and his efficiency was frighteningly high.

Faced with his fierce low-post offense, the Bulls' three remaining interior players were helpless, and Phil Jackson could only shrug his shoulders in frustration.

The Bulls could only resort to fouling tactics and cutting off passing lanes to prevent Tang Bei from scoring in the low post.

Soon, the three substitute centers accumulated numerous fouls.

Tang Bei's free throw percentage reached 60%, which wasn't a huge disadvantage. The Bulls' fouling strategy ended up in an awkward situation of hurting themselves more than they gained.

If the fouling tactic continues, the team will run out of players to fill in the paint before the game is even over.

Fortunately, the perimeter combination of Jordan, Pippen, and BJ Armstrong provided extremely strong perimeter defense, which limited Tang Bei's offense to some extent.

Even so, it only slightly suppressed Tang Bei's attack.

Often, when Tang Bei gets into the paint, the way the outside players pass him the ball is simply to throw it directly towards the basket.

Even Pippen and Jordan couldn't stop this kind of passing.

For the Bulls, Michael Jordan continued to rely primarily on mid-range shots, supplemented by drives to the basket, providing endless firepower and single-handedly carrying the Bulls' offense.

Tang Bei's help defense was still lacking; they didn't do enough to help defend Jordan and only barely managed to hold the paint. Jordan's drives to the basket decreased, while he increased his mid-range shots.

Even though Jordan played very well offensively, his offensive efficiency was only 50% after reducing his drives to the basket, which was far inferior to Tang Bei's.

Another point is that the loss of two key inside players is a very serious blow to the Bulls. They have no way to deal with Tang Bei on the defensive end, letting him do whatever he wants, and they are even more powerless on the offensive end.

The most troublesome thing is that Tang Bei controlled the paint on both ends of the court, and the Bulls lost control of the rebounds, forcing Jordan and Pippen, the two outside players, to keep rushing in to grab rebounds.

Even so, it couldn't reverse the Bulls' disadvantage on the boards, as they took significantly fewer shots than the Heat.

As the game progressed, the Heat gradually widened the score gap, and by halftime, the lead was 55-38, a 17-point advantage.

唐北半场22分钟，只休息了两分钟，12投11中，10罚6中，半场轰下28分11篮板1助攻2封盖1失误2犯规的数据。

乔丹打了24分钟，没有休息，18投9中，其中三分球3投1中，4罚4中，轰下23分4篮板3助攻1抢断1盖帽1失误1犯规的数据。

The atmosphere in Chicago's arena was very somber because the Heat were far inferior to the Bulls. The 20,000 Bulls fans had expected to see a Bulls-Heat sweep, but the opposite turned out to be true.

In the ESPN studio, Michael Breen analyzed: "The Bulls only had 16 rebounds in the first half, including only 4 offensive rebounds."

The Heat grabbed 22 rebounds, including 8 offensive rebounds. That's a huge 6-rebound difference by halftime—the gap is enormous.

Tom Tolbert continued, "The Bulls took 31 shots, while the Heat took 36. Plus, Tang's offensive efficiency was too high. That's the most important reason why the Bulls were down by 17 points at halftime."

Michael Brin said, "The fundamental reason is that Tang launched a series of attacks on the Bulls' interior defense right from the start of the game, causing terrible damage."

"A tank, the Bulls need a tank-type center," Tom Tolbert said.

Michael Brin nodded and said, "Both the Bulls and the Heat are in the East. If the Heat really make it to the playoffs, they might meet."

As we just mentioned, Tang's offensive power will be at its peak in the series, and the Bulls will be no exception. Therefore, they must add enough tanks to withstand Tang's damage.

“Otherwise, even someone as strong as the Bull would be in great danger,” Tom Tolbert said.

In the home team's locker room, Jordan stared at the television, taking in the words of the two commentators.

This season is crucial for him; he hopes to win a three-peat and realize his dynasty dream.

In NBA history, there have only been two instances of three-peats: the Lakers' three-peats and the Celtics' eight-peats, both occurring in the 1950s and 60s.

In those ancient times, the NBA league was not large, with only eight to ten teams, so the competition was limited and the prestige was not high.

The NBA is now in the modern era of basketball, and no team has ever achieved a three-peat dynasty. He hopes to make history.

He abruptly turned to General Manager Jerry Krause and said in an extremely serious tone, "They're right, we need a defensive center."

Jerry Klaus nodded silently, somewhat displeased.

He has a strong desire for power and doesn't like players interfering with management.

But he admitted that Jordan was right, the Bulls really should find one or two physical defenders.

It's best to find one outside; if you find one there, you can use it immediately.

But if they really can't find one, then they'll have to have backup centers like Perdo and Stasekhin gain weight and build their own physical defense.

At this point, Phil Jackson said, "Tang played 22 minutes in the first half, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, which greatly exhausted him."

Although we were down by 17 points, it wasn't fatal, because he wouldn't have that much energy in the second half.

Jordan nodded; he thought so too.

Phil Jackson continued, "In the third quarter, we tried to keep the score close. If we could narrow the gap to single digits, the final quarter would be much easier."

This will further deplete Tang's energy. If he reduces his shot attempts in the third quarter, we can intensify our offense and narrow the gap.

The second half began shortly afterward.

In the third quarter, Tang Bei only played for 8 minutes and reduced his offensive output, scoring 5 points through free throws and field goals, but he grabbed 6 rebounds.

Without his offensive presence in the low post, the Bulls focused their defensive efforts on shutting down the Heat's perimeter players, causing their outside shooting percentage to plummet.

Tang Bei reduced his offensive output, while Jordan, following Phil Jackson's instructions, intensified his offense, scoring 15 points in a single quarter and leading the Bulls to narrow the gap to 9 points, winning back 8 points.

"Michael played 11 minutes in the third quarter and scored 38 points. The Bulls still have a chance to turn things around, and the outcome is still uncertain," Michael Breen said in the ESPN studio.

Tom Tolbert said, "Don scored 33 points in three quarters, but grabbed 17 rebounds, tying his personal single-game rebounding record."

At this point, he rationally analyzed: "Michael is likely to score 50+ points tonight, but Tang saved his energy in the third quarter and will definitely launch a fierce attack in the final quarter."

Once Tang gets going, the Bulls' interior defense can't stop him, so if Michael only scores 50+ points, they might not be able to come back from a 9-point deficit.

"Only 50+ were cut?"

Hearing this, not only did Michael Brin feel a toothache, but the fans watching on TV also felt a toothache.

After a two-minute break, the final quarter resumes.

As Tom Tolbert said, Tang Bei, who had been conserving energy in the third quarter, launched a full-scale attack from the very beginning.

However, on the defensive end, he reduced his involvement and stopped providing help defense in areas outside the penalty area.

The Heat focused most of their perimeter defense on double-teaming Jordan. Although the Heat's perimeter defense was average, it still affected Jordan, reducing his offensive efficiency and causing him to commit a turnover.

Pippen was not double-teamed and took over the offense after Jordan's attack stalled, but his individual offensive ability was limited. After being blocked twice by Tang Bei in the paint, he also fizzled out.

In the fifth minute of the final quarter, Tang Bei made his third kill of the game.

During a powerful dunk after pulling away, he knocked Will Perdo away, causing the latter to be injured and forced to leave the game.

With three of their five big men gone, they couldn't fight any longer, and the score remained consistently behind, causing the Bulls' morale to plummet.

At this point, the Bulls conceded defeat, and Phil Jackson substituted all of his starters, as did the Heat.

Jordan boasted before the game that he would teach Tang Bei a lesson by scoring, but he lost the game, and at home no less. He broke his promise and felt extremely frustrated.

But after the match, he didn't turn around and leave. Instead, he walked up to Tang Bei with great manners, shook hands, and said, "Kid, we've made an enemy of each other."

"Old comrade, you are welcome to take revenge in any way you wish," Tang Bei said with a touch of courtesy, shaking hands with her.

"Crack, click, click..."

A group of reporters came over to interview them and started taking pictures of the two of them.

(End of this chapter)