The rest is just noise

Chris Jackson has the Blazers on edge.

The pain of Game 5 has not gone away.

It was an accident. If it weren't for CJ's divine weapon, there's no telling who would win and who would lose.

Louis, who had already decided to shorten the rotation, also asked CJ to play. Needless to say, his intentions.

Porter went off injured and was replaced by Blue Edwards.

But Edwards was facing Wilson, and the person guarding CJ was Jordan.

The Blazers' defense against CJ has only one purpose.

Don't give him any comfortable shooting opportunities other than pull-up jumpers against the defense.

This defensive stranglehold around CJ started after Porter came off the court.

Louis saw that no matter how many screens CJ called, there were always Trail Blazers defenders following him. In order to restrict him, the Trail Blazers maximized the athletic ability of the wings.

This is a defense change at the level of the small ball era. Only a small ball lineup can have such a fast defense change speed.

At the same time, Jordan and Barkley each worked hard for the team.

Barkley mainly attacked with the ball, and Jordan assisted with mid-range jump shots. This was the secret of their last win.

Only when both internal and external lines blossom, can we say that the Knicks' defense has been blown away.

In the second quarter, the Blazers' "Fat Boy" and "Mickey" played an unparalleled performance just like they did in the previous six games.

Buckley was one against three, and even if there was a flank attack, he could still force his way in.

That kind of ball makes no sense at all. When Louis saw Ewing's defensive position, he knew that he had tried his best. It was Barkley who was too domineering when attacking.

Barkley would not avoid the opponent's defenders at all. No matter how many there were in front of him, he would just forcefully attack them with the ball.

If he doesn't score, he just grabs rebounds, as if he doesn't know that his height is not conducive to rebounding.

The weird thing is, Barkley always grabs offensive rebounds.

Barkley's rebound prediction is generally not as good as Rodman's, but he knows his offense well. He knows which goals can be scored and which goals cannot be scored. So every time he feels that he will not score after shooting, he will fight for it.

Prepare for offensive rebounds.

This is a technical feature, but what really makes his offensive logic of relying on hard hitting and failing to grab rebounds and then hit again reasonable is that his body can forcefully jump up and grab rebounds when crowded with several people.

explosive force.

Isn't this O'Neal who is 20 centimeters shorter?

When the Trail Blazers chased the score to 26-30, Louis called a timeout and asked Ewing to take a rest. Even if he insisted on playing, his physical strength could not keep up.

Louis called out veteran McHale from the end of the bench.

"Kevin, I need your offense!" Louis said, "Also, we also need your experience to set up defensive traps!"

Due to aging, injuries, and a long-term vegetarian diet, McHale is no longer the top low-post attacker in history, but his offensive comprehensiveness and defensive footwork can still be relied on when he has physical strength.

After the timeout, the Knicks only scored 6 points in the past half of the game. The Trail Blazers relied on double C inside and outside and various illogical and domineering attacks to chase the score to 4 points.

After this period, Riley replaced Barkley to rest, and he was replaced by Anthony Mason. In other words, the Blazers will temporarily place the offensive burden on Jordan alone.

Jordan's offense is absolutely credible, but as an outside ball-handling core, his current technical characteristics are not as difficult for Louis to target as long as Barkley has the touch.

"Benj!"

Louis gestured to Wilson.

The meaning of his gesture is that "law", "trap" and "pocket formation" are launched against Jordan together.

This is Michael Jordan's honor. Even better than the tragic figure, Sampson, Bird and even his teammate Barkley were not valued so much by Louis.

How could Louis not value Jordan?

This guy averaged 40 points per game against five of their All-Defensive team members in the Finals. If you don't face him when you face someone like this, aren't you asking for trouble?

Whether as a contemporary or a time traveler from the future, Louis will always limit Jordan to the maximum extent with awe.

Use whatever means you have, and use one standard for everything: extreme.

Based on Louis' understanding of Jordan in his previous life, the tragedy of Malone, Miller, Barkley, Drexler and others all taught Louis a truth: If you don't let your boss know what extremes are, your boss will treat you badly.

Extreme life.

Jordan stood on the outside and was defended by Wilson alone.

But Wilson did not defend him closely, but let him go half a meter away, intending to take the initiative to let him take a three-pointer.

This is after the Knicks' coaching staff reviewed the past six games and found that Jordan's outside touch was not stable, often ups and downs, and almost never accurate for the entire game.

Like Game 6, his three-pointer in the first half and the second half was like a roller coaster ride.

Today, he didn't even attempt a three-pointer.

Riley's football program had a profound impact on Jordan, the biggest impact being that he lost the three-point shot he had been practicing for several seasons.

While the hand feeling faded away, Jordan had no time to regain his muscle memory due to the heavy season competition tasks.

In the game against the Knicks, his three-pointers were like gold. What he had was what he had, and what he didn't was was nothing. Even he couldn't control it.

Jordan wasn't afraid to take three-pointers, but the position Wilson gave him wasn't big enough.

This space is only enough to shoot a three-pointer, but with Wilson's physical condition, he can react in time to affect his shot.

After weighing the situation, Jordan chose to break out.

The gap of more than half a meter gave Wilson room to follow up slowly. He stuck to Jordan and forced him to go to the right wing.

Pat Riley's assistant coach Dik Harter takes a serious look at the Knicks' defense.

When Jordan stepped into the Knicks' trap, the power of "laws" broke the Flyer's wings on the spot. He was double-teamed by the toughest, and even as brave as he was, he was unable to keep the ball completely.

Dropped balls, turnovers, the Knicks' rotating offense.

"Pat, this is a set," Hart said.

Riley looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"The space Benjamin gave Michael was not enough to complete a stable shot. His intention was to let Michael break through from the right. Dennis Rodman's assist defense occupied Michael's breakthrough line, and Sean Kemp's

The double attack was like an alarm clock ringing on time, appearing next to Michael in an instant. I have been in the professional basketball circle for more than 40 years, but I have never seen this kind of defense."

Dick Hart's words sent a chill down Riley's spine.

They originally imitated the Knicks in building their team, learning as they watched, and even did not forget to learn from the Knicks in the finals. However, in the end, they still did not learn thoroughly.

This defense shocked Hart, but fascinated Riley.

The Blazers' defense is still stuck in the most primitive aggressive single defense and help defense pressure coupled with brutal melee combat. Not only the Blazers, but also all teams that want to imitate the Knicks do this.

Even the Knicks did this in 1988.

However, only a few years later, the Knicks have upgraded from the original recklessness to the "clever recklessness". The Knicks under Louis are the first team in the history of professional basketball to abandon the opponent in the initial stage of the matchup. Bait, let the prey bite the hook, then force it to a certain position through defense, and then "pull the lead" to make the trap appear.

In record-breaking ratings, tens of millions of people witnessed the defensive revolution in professional basketball.

Countless basketball coaches who watched this game will seriously think about defense.

This was the Knicks' most iconic defense in the Finals. In the decades that followed, the defensive philosophy developed by Louis would influence generations of coaches.

At that time, after Jordan made a mistake, he realized that he could no longer follow the Knicks' defense and attack.

He needs to know how to brake.

Once again, he came to the three-point line. This time, Wilson let him go one meter away: "You don't dare to shoot again, do you?"

Wilson's provocation undoubtedly touched Jordan's nerves, and the Flyers became furious.

Although Wilson gave him enough room to shoot, driven by anger, his already unstable outside shooting became more unstable.

"boom!"

Jordan hit a three-pointer!

Rodman grabbed the defensive rebound and threw it to Wilson.

The moment Wilson got the ball, he already saw CJ on the fast break. In the blink of an eye, the ball flew out of his hand.

Outside the three-point line in the frontcourt, CJ adjusted his pace and played for most of the quarter. This turned out to be his first shot opportunity.

After receiving the ball, CJ took a step forward and made a move to collect the ball and shoot, which would hit Blue Edwards who was chasing him from behind.

"What a fake!" Louie yelled.

However, CJ is greedier than he thought. He will not be satisfied with just pushing his opponent away and then shooting a three-pointer. He wants to kill.

CJ cleverly bumped into Edwards' body, causing his jump to deflect.

No matter how lenient the referee's penalty scale is, he will have zero tolerance for this kind of unmistakable cylinder violation foul.

When the whistle sounded, Chris Jackson rose crookedly into the air and shot a three-pointer straight up like a cowboy drawing a gun and shooting.

The basketball hollow falls into the bag!

"OMG!" Bob Costas yelled, "CJ managed to hit four points in this anxious game! How could he be so good! Look! The whole MSG is going crazy for him!"