[{"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-705":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},1444272,1896,"Chapter 705 - 72: Promise_2","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-705",705,"\u003Cp>However, he has evolved into the Detroit Pistons’ only reliable low-post offensive point, an incredibly important link in the team’s offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This has made Melvin Turpin and Joe Dumars the only two \"good guys\" inside and outside of the Pistons team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Conversely, in the Pistons’ locker room, all the reporters gathered around Joe Dumars, asking him how he defended Jordan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The always modest and honest Joe Dumars looked up at the ceiling and said, \"Jordan can’t be defended; I just did my best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumars believes he did his best, while Jordan thinks that Pippen and Grant didn’t take things seriously enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially during practice when Pippen threw a rubber snake at Jordan, giving him a scare—Jordan is very afraid of snakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time Pippen saw the look of horror on Jordan’s face, he felt satisfied, finally seeing fear on Michael’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the players sneaked out the back door to avoid the media’s questioning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Phil Jackson told Jordan that he had to exit through the front door, confront the reporters, and not run away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don’t have to say a word to the reporters, you can keep silent, but you must go out the front door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Game 3, at the Chicago Stadium, Jordan scored 47 points; it was a dangerous game for the Bulls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the game, when asked about his criticism of his teammates after the second game, Jordan denied it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said, \"I said ’us,’ not ’them.’ My criticism is towards everyone, including myself, not just my teammates.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan’s statement, however, did not convince his teammates; certainly, Pippen, Grant, and Cartwright didn’t believe it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whether they believed it or not, the Bulls had begun their counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Game 4, the Bulls’ suffocating defense limited the Pistons to only 35 points in the first half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the second half, Melvin Tipping almost single-handedly destroyed the Bulls’ interior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continually attacked Cartwright and Grant down low, scoring 20 points in the half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the critical moments of the fourth quarter, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars made consecutive errors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls used fast breaks to pull away, ultimately defeating the Pistons by a margin of 4 points, evening the series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the Bulls needed to complete the next step: win on the Pistons’ home court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you can’t win on the road, the series victory has nothing to do with you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Game 5, the Pistons played with all their energy back in Detroit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Melvin Tipping continued his hot streak, unstoppable in the low-post offense.\u003C\u002Fp>",941,"2026-06-06T01:41:37.192Z",1,"novelbin.me","a052f99230e87279448282c4ffcf1800dcc9612484b1e5669511053562f12590","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-706","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-704",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]