Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

Encountering the Jazz, the Bulls were full of fighting spirit.

Bulls coach Phil Jackson, who had been holding back his energy for a long time, gave the order before the game to take the Jazz sacrificial knife. He did not relax at all because of the incomplete Jazz lineup. On the contrary, the main players came together... Jordan, Pippen, and Grant. Needless to say, in the iron triangle, Bill Cartwright and B.J. Armstrong are placed at the center and point guard positions.

As for the Jazz, Jerry Sloan's head is going to explode.

The starting lineup is center Li Shengli, power forward Felton Spencer, small forward Tyrone Corbin, shooting guard Gil Bond, and point guard Sean Green.

Felton was pulled to the No. 4 position. He is 2.13 meters tall. He and Li Shengli temporarily formed a twin tower, allowing Li Shengli to lead him to control the penalty area.

Tyrone Corbin is the only Jazz veteran besides Li Shengli who can play, but this time he will face Pippen, and it is obvious that his offensive and defensive performance will be limited.

As for the remaining two outside players, Gil Bond and Sean Green, even though the Jazz are not strong on the outside, they rarely had the opportunity to show their faces in previous games, which shows how unwelcome they are. Pay attention to.

Full of holes!

This lineup is simply riddled with holes!

Just compare it with the Hornets where Li Shengli played last season.

Back then, the Hornets had Li Shengli and Larry Johnson on the inside, and they couldn't deal with them if they couldn't deal with them. However, Larry Johnson's offensive ability can indeed make him a first-line power forward. The two people inside are definitely not weak; and on the outside, the Hornets have Borg. Si, Gill, and Curry on the bench, their firepower is above average, at least much better than the current Jazz.

Judging from recent seasons, the competition in the East is weaker than that in the West. The Hornets, who are not weak, can barely make it to the playoffs. But the Jazz, who are now weaker than the Hornets, are really unbelievable when they meet the Bulls... They will win.

…

The first quarter of the game started.

As expected, the Bulls tore up the Jazz's defensive formation when they came up.

The defensive hero Crotty is not there, nor is the crotch-picking Stockton. Jordan, as the most important part of the triangle offense, does not even need to enter the inside, but only shoots from the outside.

To be honest, Jordan's touch is not hot, but his shooting percentage is astonishing, especially when the Bulls handed over a large number of shots to Jordan, and the Jazz successfully lost defense on the outside.

On the other hand, Jazz...

Li Shengli and Felton formed a temporary twin tower. Bulls insiders Cartwright and Grant almost cried. Even without Malone, Li Shengli made life very difficult for the two brothers. Fortunately, the Bulls did not need them to attack, and more often They are all in the pick-and-roll to coordinate with teammates.

The Jazz have Li Shengli to play inside, and the Bulls have the triangle led by Jordan to play on the outside.

Although the Jazz can't stop Jordan from the outside, the Bulls can't stop Li Shengli from the inside either. Another advantage of being strong inside is the control of rebounds. Therefore, the Jazz lineup, which was patchwork together, unexpectedly failed in the first quarter. Leading the Bulls by 3 points.

In this regard, Bulls coach Phil Jackson is not anxious at all.

Because the first quarter is just a bottom-out, it is too easy to deal with the Jazz who are fighting in a single-core battle. All they have to do is lock up Li Shengli at any cost. On the contrary, it will be much more difficult for the Jazz to break the game, because Jerry Sloan has really I can't think of a candidate who can even remotely guard Jordan.

…

Fight again in the second quarter.

Li Shengli's face turned dark. Regardless of offense and defense, Grant and Cartwright were all surrounding him. He couldn't hit the basket offensively, and he was prone to fouls when he hit hard, so he could only rely on turning over and mid-range shots. Fortunately, during the offseason, he His offensive development made his mid-range shooting ability impressive, and the decline in offensive efficiency was limited, but... his rebounding was really not able to dominate the whole court, and Felton on the other side was completely inadequate.

As for the Bulls, Jordan still maintained high efficiency, but Pippen also joined in the fun. He felt great and did not enter the paint. Under the defensive pull of the triangle offense, both Jordan and Jordan chose to float and shoot, dragging Bond and Tyrone to tears.

The Bulls throughout the second quarter were a shooting team!

Felton was unable to defend the penalty area on his own, and Li Shengli was unable to rush to the outside to participate in defense. In one quarter, the Bulls not only completed the lead, but also led by 12 points, which meant that They built a 15-point lead in the second quarter.

The second half of the game.

Jordan and Pippen had no pressure at all. Although they rotated inside, no matter who was on the court, they would only focus on Li Shengli under Jackson's arrangement. Felton would defend if he could, and if he couldn't, he would let go. Locking Li Shengli was the most important thing. of.

This is the embarrassment of a single-core team. When the core is blocked desperately, disadvantages will appear. Unlike ordinary single-core teams, the Jazz's role players are really crappy. Phil Jackson naturally saw this. One point, so he changed his tactics and used all possible means to suppress Li Shengli, improve defense and strong confrontation. Even if it was a foul, he was not afraid and let Li Shengli shoot free throws.

The Jazz were completely suppressed, the Bulls were in full bloom on the outside, and at the end of the third quarter, the lead expanded to 25 points.

…

It's not that they don't want to fight, it's just that the Jazz can't fight.

Jerry Sloan was so angry that he wanted to hit someone, and Li Shengli's face was frighteningly dark. Both young and old felt a deep sense of powerlessness. Even Li Shengli, who had been suppressed the whole game, withstood the pressure and scored 26 points and 15 rebounds in three quarters. , 5 assists, and 1 block didn't help.

The data of 26+15+5+1 is definitely not bad, but it is really incomparable with Jordan, who was like a fish in water, because Jordan scored an astonishing 47 points in three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, even if the overall situation was decided, Phil Jackson did not intend to let go of Li Shengli, and the Bulls' suppression of Li Shengli had reached a crazy level. There was only one principle in everything, even if it meant letting everyone go. Hold down Li Shengli!

Block someone with all your strength?

This was originally Jordan's treatment during the game, but Jordan never expected... This time, Li Shengli replaced him and became the blocked person.

The fourth quarter started with 3 minutes of play.

Jerry Sloan gritted his teeth, substituted Li Shengli, and gave up the game. There were constant interruptions and disturbances. Under the high-pressure defense, no one could relieve Li Shengli. And if Li Shengli was defeated at this point, If something goes wrong, the Jazz will be finished.

In the end, Li Shengli had no choice but to end the game, and with his end, the Bulls' butcher's knife fell completely. They played like a grown-up man rushing into the kindergarten, while the Jazz were playing with a substitute lineup.

Amid wailing in the center of the triangle, the Jazz's undefeated streak was shattered. The score was 111:77, trailing by a full 34 points and losing the eleventh regular season game.

Li Shengli led the team to a defeat in the first game. His final personal statistics were 31 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block.

His teammates had no offensive power, and the five assists were only produced when the Bulls defense was fully on him. As for one block... Jordan and Pippen were both outside. The Bulls basically didn't take any shots inside, and Li Shengli had nothing to do.

On the Bulls side, Jordan scored an astonishing 62 points, and even Pippen scored 20 points. The two teamed up to score 82 points, which accounted for a shocking proportion of the team's score.

After the game, Jordan was in low spirits, and 62 points could not excite him. Pippen, on the other hand, seemed to let out a bad breath, patted his butt, said a few words of ridicule, and left, leaving Li Shengli depressed.