field coach

Chapter 382 Magic vs Bull

Is Jordan getting old?
Jordan, who was born in 63, will soon be 34 years old. If you look at it by the standards of a typical professional player, he has entered the end of his career.

However, he is still able to contribute 30 points per game for the Bulls, and his shooting percentage is still getting higher and higher.

If a scoring champion is old, should other players in the league retire?

In addition, this season, the Bulls still firmly occupy the top four positions in the East. As long as they can gain home court advantage in the playoffs, they don't care too much about the outcome of the regular season, unless they face an old enemy like the Magic.

After all, they also have a record of 70 wins, and the team's chemical reaction is also very good. It is still a dynasty team a few years ago.

This Christmas battle undoubtedly broke the NBA's ratings record once again, surpassing the fourth game of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Magic and the Bulls last year.

At seven o'clock in the evening, at the Chicago United Center Arena, two dynasty-level teams stood on the stage of the Christmas game.

Magic starting lineup: Duncan, Garnett, Clay, Kobe, Davis.

Bulls starting lineup: Gugliota, Kemp, Pippen, Jordan, Armstrong.

In order to target Jordan, D'Antoni deliberately replaced Davis to start and let Iverson lead the second team.

With the whistle of the referee, Garnett jumped high and passed the ball to his teammates above Gugliotta's head, and the game officially began.

Davis took the ball and met Jordan's defense.

Jordan's defensive efficiency has declined this season, and his increasing age does not allow him to attack and defend again. However, in this game, people seem to feel that the omnipotent god during the four consecutive championships is back.

DeWeese was interfered by Jordan for the first time and went out of the basket. Gugliota received the offensive rebound.

Davis rubbed his hands and retreated to the backcourt. When he was warming up before the game, he found that his hand feeling was not very good today. Although Jordan's interference factor was involved in the failure to make a shot this time, there was also a part of his own hand feeling factor.

He decided to focus on defense and organization first, and wait for his hands to warm up before attacking.

After Jordan waited for his teammates to finish running, he got the ball in the low post, and Davis was behind him.

DeWeese clung to Jordan tightly, and Jordan held up the ball to test it, and then began to make moves.

A set of standard back kicks, Jordan turned and fell back.

DeWeese stretched out his long arms and tried to interfere, but Jordan still threw the ball steadily.

Leaning back and hitting, Jordan slowly ran to the backcourt.

He has made countless such goals in his career, and even against DiWeese, it was no different for him.

The Bulls took the lead and scored the first point of the game.

Looking back, Davis rushed into the inside with the help of a cover, broke through and gave the ball to Clay, who was cashing in. Clay opened his hand and shot. Pippen had already interfered in place, but Clay's three-pointer still fell steadily into the basket.

But after the two teams played an attack each, the game suddenly came to a standstill.

Because the two teams coincidentally strengthened their defense.

Jordan's breakthrough was blocked by Duncan, Kobe's emergency stop jump shot was a three-point shot, Davis broke through and was intercepted by Jordan, and Jordan missed a layup under the interference of Davis. . . .

The baskets on both sides coincidentally rejected all kinds of attacks from the two teams.

But the high-intensity confrontation they played still aroused bursts of cheers from the fans on the sidelines.

These two most popular teams in the NBA are still attracting the attention of countless people even if they are better than defense.

It wasn't until Davis, who couldn't stand it anymore, rushed inside and completed a five-best-level dunk over Kemp's head, that the two teams' 3-minute scoring drought was broken.

If you don't score, you're done. Once you score, it's such a wonderful goal. The Magic fans who came from afar on the sidelines shouted "MVP" excitedly.

But how can the Bulls fans sitting at home let the away fans focus on the front.

Bulls fans also chanted "MVP" as Jordan dribbled, much louder than the outnumbered Magic fans.

In their eyes, only Jordan is the real MVP.

Jordan lived up to expectations and also used a breakthrough to score an incredible goal between Duncan and Garnett.

He took off early, attracted the defense of Duncan and Garnett, and then almost waited for the two to land in the air before throwing the ball.

The ball hits the board and goes into the frame.

The shouts of the Bulls fans became even louder, and Jordan also waved his hands excitedly towards the stands.

The scoring valve was opened, and the progress of the game became normal. The two teams came and went, Kobe made a breakthrough kickback, Pippen made a mid-range jumper, Duncan hit the board at 45 degrees, Kemp misplaced the score, and all eighteen martial arts were used. At the end of the first quarter, 22-23, the Magic fell behind rarely.

In the second quarter, the Bulls replaced Kukoc and Harper, and the Magic also replaced Ray Allen and Iverson.

Thanks to a better bench strength, the Magic finally established some advantages in the second quarter.

Now there are not many teams in the league that can compete with the Magic for the main lineup, and there are no teams that can compete with the Magic for the bench lineup.

Not even the Bulls.

From the perspective of future generations, DeWeese, even the Celtics, who won eight consecutive championships, did not have the extravagant move of putting two Hall of Famers on the bench.

But the Magic did.

Jordan rested for a few minutes in the second quarter, and in those few minutes, the Magic opened up the gap.

Although the Bulls stabilized the situation after Jordan played, the point difference has not been tied
This was done without Davis in the second quarter.

At the end of halftime, the Magic entered the intermission with a five-point lead.

DeWeese didn't feel good in the first half, and with the dunk on Kemp's ball, he only scored 7 points on 2 of 6 shots, but he also got 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and his performance was not very bad.

He was lying on the physiotherapy chair in the locker room with his eyes closed, and the physiotherapist was giving him a relaxing massage.

"Michael, do you want to play in the third quarter? Why don't you play more shots to improve your hand feeling." D'Antoni walked to Davis and said softly.

Davis opened his eyes and thought about it for a while, then nodded.

D'Antoni had a plan in mind to play in the third quarter.

"In the third quarter, we will play a new tactic, Core Michael." He walked to the center of the locker room and said loudly.

The team members were attracted by him and raised their heads to look at him.

"Tim, Kevin, Kobe, Michael, Allen, five of you."

The players whose names were called nodded, and the players whose names were not called turned around to do what they should do.

(End of this chapter)