Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 749
Jordan's first game back to the Bulls was against the Pacers on March 3. This game still attracted the expectations of countless audiences.

Today's Pacers are no longer the Pacers of the past, especially this season, not only the team's core Reggie Miller became the NBA All-Star starter for the first time, but also led the team to the top half of the Eastern Conference. At the end of the game, there is no big problem in the top four in the Eastern Conference.

However, Jordan's performance tonight was not ideal. Due to being away from the basketball court for too long and lack of systematic basketball training, Jordan's hand feeling was not ideal. He only hit 28 goals in 7 shots and scored 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. .

Although Pippen scored a game-high 31 points, the Bulls still lost to the Pacers 96:103. Although Jordan's first comeback was not satisfactory, it did not affect the hopes of Chicago fans at all. It was ignited, not only the rest of the regular season, but even the playoffs were sold out in one day.

Unlike the Bulls who were not used to it due to the long absence, the Warriors played more and more smoothly.

On the same day that the Bulls played against the Pacers, the Warriors ushered in a challenge from the Pistons at home.

Today's Pistons are no longer the bad boy army they once were.

In the summer of 92, when the Dream Team was killing all sides in the Olympic Games, the head coach of the Pistons, Chuck Daly, quietly dismissed get out of class.

The team has not been able to make further progress for a long time, and even is getting farther and farther away from the championship. All this has made the team management lose confidence in Daly. It can be said that Daly can persist for so long, which is a miracle in itself.

The core of the team, Isaiah Thomas, has suffered from injuries in recent years, such as hyperextended knees, rib fractures, arch sprains, calf injuries and left hand cuts, etc., almost all of which happened to him. Especially in the last home game against the Magic last year, he tore his Achilles tendon.

In this way, in the summer of last year, Thomas announced his retirement and ended his career. The representative of a generation of bad boys in the league bid farewell to the arena.

Although Thomas is gone, but this season the Detroit people ushered in their new favorite, Grant Hill.

Compared with the bad boy's leading brother Thomas, Hill is completely from one extreme to the other extreme, polite, humble and friendly, making him look more like a presidential candidate than a basketball player.

In addition to being good-tempered and educated, Hill's ability is absolutely worthy of his status as a talent show, and even his status as "Jordan's successor".

That's right, since Jordan retired in 93, even though Li Weisi still supported the NBA, the ratings of the entire NBA have still dropped significantly, and people are looking forward to another Michael Jordan.

It is precisely under this kind of thinking that the league has promoted Hardaway and Grant Hill as "Jordan's heirs", and in this year's All-Star, it even beat Li Weisi and selected Hill as the All-Star ticket king.

This is the first time in the past ten years that someone has broken the monopoly of Joe and Li on the All-Star votes, and he is a rookie.

Of course, such a high popularity is also based on strength. This season, Hill can contribute 19.9 points, 5 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game. He is not only the scoring leader of the Pistons, but also the core of the team.

Head coach Don Cheney took him as the core, together with teammates Alan Houston, Terry Mills and Joe Dumars in the twilight, created a team with a point forward + shooter group model, Although the current record of the team is mediocre, it also brings hope to the team.

However, the potential shown by the Pistons is only potential after all, not strength. Facing the wolf-like warriors, their resistance posture is really limited.

In fact, the performance of the Pistons tonight was quite good, especially the two young men, Hill and Alan Houston. They seemed to have found the state they had when they faced the Dream Team. Leading the Warriors by 34 points with 20:14.

Especially Hill, Kukoc's performance on the defensive end was completely disastrous. Hill took the fastest first step in the league and directly used an early change of direction to pass Kukoc N times!
This situation was not terminated until the second quarter, when Nelson used Rodman to defend Kukoc.

Facing Hill, Rodman didn't care what kind of bullshit Jordan's successor he was, or whether he was a rookie All-Star. , he is not far behind.

So, even if they are not afraid of Rodman, how can they be afraid of Hill?

I saw that Hill wanted to come to Rodman like he did when he passed Kukoc in the first quarter, but Rodman had already predicted Hill's advance route and blocked Hill one step ahead of time.

That's where Rodman's defensive experience comes into play.

Although Rodman is almost 34 years old now, and his body has begun to decline, his defensive experience is still a valuable asset for the Warriors, and he can still be competent to defend the opponent's leading soldiers.

Due to the obstruction of the offense, Hill wanted to continue to change direction and break through Rodman from the other side, but Rodman is a chicken thief!As early as when he blocked Hill's attack, he increased the confrontation with Hill and went for it at the same time.

Sure enough, at the next moment, Rodman successfully broke the ball in Hill's hand, and the Warriors launched a counterattack. basket succeeded.

This time Rodman's successful defense against Hill could not help interrupting the good state of the Pistons, and it also became the clarion call for the Warriors to blow back.

Sure enough, in the next game, the Warriors continued to use the Pistons' mistakes or missed shots to counterattack, and once narrowed the point difference to only 2 points.

In the end, a mid-range shot from veteran Dumars helped the Pistons stabilize the situation. However, until halftime, the Warriors still chased the score to 56:60, only 4 points behind.

Entering the second half, as soon as the game started, the Warriors achieved a go-ahead, but at this time the Pistons also showed their hard work.

This is the case with young teams. Not only will the state fluctuate greatly between games, but also in a game, the state will also fluctuate greatly in each quarter.

Therefore, in the third quarter, the Pistons still maintained their lead over the Warriors by virtue of outside shots.

However, that's all. In the fourth quarter, Li Weisi showed his ability as the king of the last quarter, hitting two consecutive three-pointers and a layup, and the Warriors successfully sealed the victory.

In this way, the Warriors defeated the young Pistons 119:115 at home without any risk, led the team to two consecutive victories, and continued to lead the record list.

(End of this chapter)