[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1601":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1445118,1896,"Chapter 1601 - 42: Reunion Once More","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1601",1601,"\u003Cp>Jordan didn’t expect that once the Finals date was postponed, it would lead to a Game Seven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Bulls and Pacers tied 2-2, back at the Chicago home court for Game Five, the Bulls didn’t give the Pacers a chance to seize the match point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pippen, who made a fatal mistake in Game Four, redeemed himself at the United Center, scoring 20 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and making 7 assists for the entire game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls won a major victory over the Pacers at home, giving them a chance to finish the series in Indiana and enter the Finals for the sixth time, meeting the Trail Blazers for the third time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as soon as they arrived in the fervent Indiana, the Bulls seemed to forget how to play, unlike the Chicago Bulls known for winning on the road in the past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indiana’s basketball atmosphere is extremely passionate. Although it has never produced an NBA champion and isn’t a major market, it’s often mocked as a backward agricultural state, a big rural area, cornfield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Larry Bird is the state’s top star, the light of the White people, yet he couldn’t escape the nickname \"Hick.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But, Indiana is indisputably a basketball state, known for having the best basketball atmosphere in the nation, with the most loyal and enthusiastic fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a distant 1891, when basketball was just invented, a young pastor named Nicholas McKay first witnessed Professor Naismith demonstrating the sport at a YMCA visit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pastor quickly fell in love with this unique sport and brought it back to his hometown, Crawfordsville, Indiana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In less than a year, young people across Indiana began playing basketball, developing an extraordinary enthusiasm for the new sport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the endless cornfields of Indiana State, scattered about are barns, each one with a hoop attached to its walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By 1911, 20 years after the invention of basketball and when the Qing Dynasty was about to fall, Indiana’s high school basketball championship was born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike California’s system, where championships are based on school size, enrollment, and level, Indiana high school basketball always has just one champion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter the school size, enrollment scale, or level of skill, everyone comes together for a battle royale-type competition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every year, Indiana high schools compete for this championship through eliminations, triggering statewide basketball frenzy, comparable to NCAA’s March Madness, known as \"Hoosier Hysteria.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1954, the small Milan High School, with only 161 students, fought from the regular season, entered eliminations, and after nine rounds of single-elimination bloodbaths, emerged from 752 schools. In the final game, they scored a buzzer-beater against the four-time champions, winning the title.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This miracle became the most famous story in Indiana basketball history and an essential part of Indiana basketball legend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Reggie Miller, this lanky man from California, has become the representative figure of Indiana basketball, delivering a buzzer-beater against the Bulls in Game Four.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Game Six, back in Indiana, amidst the cheering fanatic hometown crowd, both teams were neck and neck, and the Pacers were extraordinarily tenacious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With just over a minute left in the game, the Bulls still held a one-point lead, and at such times, a one-point lead can psychologically provide significant help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the main referee Hugh Hollins called a defensive violation on Pippen, sending Miller to the free-throw line, where he hit his first shot to tie the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a considerable blow for the Bulls. Subsequently, Jordan fell during a breakthrough layup, and Jackson and the Bulls players believed it was a tripping foul, but the referee made no call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ultimately, they lost to the Pacers 89-92 on the road, tying the series 3-3.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not being able to win on the road is not good news for the Bulls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The good news is that Game Seven will be held in Chicago, and the Bulls still have the initiative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Game Seven is still Game Seven, under immense pressure, anything can happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls face the risk of elimination, while the Pacers have the chance to make history by entering the Finals and challenging the Trail Blazers’ dominance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, the Pacers are quite confident about this because in the past two regular seasons, they played quite well against the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the players to the coaching staff, many of the Pacers worked with Ah Gan at the Trail Blazers, so there’s mutual understanding between the two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers and Pacers have always been brotherly teams, learning and exchanging with each other, having a close relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers even snatched draft rights from the Pacers, and their ability to select Ah Gan was due to the Pacers’ blessing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Gan Guoyang knows that historically the Bulls defeated the Pacers to reach the Finals, but now he’s uncertain, as much has changed likewise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On May 31st, at Chicago’s United Center, the Eastern Conference Finals Game Seven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the Bulls’ third Game Seven on their road to the Finals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1990 against the Detroit Pistons, they lost, and in 1993 against the Heat, they also lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previous two times they were defeated, increasing the pressure on the Bulls this time significantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the situation is very similar to 1993, when the Bulls were also attempting to reach the Finals for the third time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Likewise, the entire team was exhausted, burdened by injuries and public opinion, enduring great suffering, entirely relying on willpower to support them come playoff time.\u003C\u002Fp>",904,"2026-06-06T01:42:05.612Z",1,"novelbin.me","28d10739c3271c1abfa1f6c42dffb190336058f8092c40433dff08dd0ba5b9c4","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1602","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1700",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]