Chapter 705 - 72: Promise_2

However, he has evolved into the Detroit Pistons’ only reliable low-post offensive point, an incredibly important link in the team’s offense.

This has made Melvin Turpin and Joe Dumars the only two "good guys" inside and outside of the Pistons team.

Dumars had a good relationship with Jordan off the court, having met him back in 1984 at the Olympic Training Camp, and they maintained a good private relationship ever since.

At the All-Star Weekend in 1990, Jordan called to invite Dumars and his wife to dinner, and the two couples hit it off, deepening their friendship.

Yet, friendship aside, on the court Joe Dumars was still Detroit Pistons’ sharp weapon for defending Michael Jordan and a key executor of the "Jordan Rules."

In Detroit’s two home games, Jordan was held to only 34 and 20 points respectively, with shooting percentages of only 44% and 31%. Joe Dumars’ defense was indispensable, and the Pistons’ front line also contributed greatly.

After the second game, Jordan blasted his teammates, with old injuries to his legs and buttocks flaring up, he felt that no one stood up to help him.

After the game, he didn’t follow the usual practice of speaking to reporters but left the locker room without a word, leaving everyone puzzled.

Jordan’s teammates, however, were quite conscious; Dave Corzine said: "It’s tough playing with Michael because you always end up being the reason for losing."

Indeed, if you score 50 points and still lose, you could say your teammates were holding you back, but if you only score 20 points...

Conversely, in the Pistons’ locker room, all the reporters gathered around Joe Dumars, asking him how he defended Jordan.

The always modest and honest Joe Dumars looked up at the ceiling and said, "Jordan can’t be defended; I just did my best."

Dumars believes he did his best, while Jordan thinks that Pippen and Grant didn’t take things seriously enough.

Especially during practice when Pippen threw a rubber snake at Jordan, giving him a scare—Jordan is very afraid of snakes.

Every time Pippen saw the look of horror on Jordan’s face, he felt satisfied, finally seeing fear on Michael’s face.

But this time Jordan was very angry, his fury uncontainable, and he harshly criticized Pippen, asking how he could be in the mood for jokes!

Pippen, however, explained to Jordan that he just wanted everyone to relax a bit, as being too tense doesn’t necessarily mean winning the game.

The two had a different understanding of the game; Jordan always pressured everyone to reach his goal, while Pippen hoped to foster harmonious relationships with everyone.

Back in Chicago, the entire Bulls team was under tremendous pressure; after practice, players were even afraid to leave through the front door of the training facility because there were too many reporters waiting for them.

So the players sneaked out the back door to avoid the media’s questioning.

But Phil Jackson told Jordan that he had to exit through the front door, confront the reporters, and not run away.

"You don’t have to say a word to the reporters, you can keep silent, but you must go out the front door."

So after Thursday’s practice, Jordan left through the front door, facing the crowd of reporters without saying a word, and drove off in a hurry.

The reporters were left in the dark, but at least they knew that Jordan wasn’t avoiding them; he just wasn’t happy, and no one is happy when they’re down 0:2.

In Game 3, at the Chicago Stadium, Jordan scored 47 points; it was a dangerous game for the Bulls.

They were down by as much as 14 points at the half, and during halftime, an enraged Jordan told everyone: "If we’re going to lose, we’ll lose playing our way, not like this!"

In the third quarter, Jordan had his moment to shine; he scored 31 points in the second half, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer, leading the team to a comeback victory, escaping the extreme danger of a 0:3 deficit.

After the game, when asked about his criticism of his teammates after the second game, Jordan denied it.

He said, "I said ’us,’ not ’them.’ My criticism is towards everyone, including myself, not just my teammates."

Jordan’s statement, however, did not convince his teammates; certainly, Pippen, Grant, and Cartwright didn’t believe it.

But whether they believed it or not, the Bulls had begun their counterattack.

In Game 4, the Bulls’ suffocating defense limited the Pistons to only 35 points in the first half.

But in the second half, Melvin Tipping almost single-handedly destroyed the Bulls’ interior.

He continually attacked Cartwright and Grant down low, scoring 20 points in the half.

In the critical moments of the fourth quarter, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars made consecutive errors.

The Bulls used fast breaks to pull away, ultimately defeating the Pistons by a margin of 4 points, evening the series.

It was the first time in two years that the Detroit Pistons had lost consecutive playoff games—back in the 1989 Finals against the Lakers, they had played up to Game 7 without consecutive losses, alternating wins until the Pistons triumphed in Game 7.

Now the Bulls needed to complete the next step: win on the Pistons’ home court.

This was something the Bulls had not been able to do in the previous playoff matchups with the Pistons; they couldn’t break Detroit’s home advantage.

If you can’t win on the road, the series victory has nothing to do with you.

In Game 5, the Pistons played with all their energy back in Detroit.

Melvin Tipping continued his hot streak, unstoppable in the low-post offense.