At 9 minutes and 20 seconds, Barkley shot Kemp and scored the Trail Blazers' 100th point.

86 to 100

Leading by 14 points with less than 10 minutes left in the game, it can be said that the Trail Blazers have the absolute initiative.

In Laimbeer's words: "The Trail Blazers are only 10 minutes away from winning the second championship in team history."

Even fans know that leading by 14 points at this time does not mean that the game is foolproof.

The Knicks want to stifle the Trail Blazers with the highest intensity of play, which is a bit naive.

Because the Trail Blazers are not what they used to be. They are a team as brutal and resilient as the Knicks.

It has only been five years since 1988, and a lot of things can have changed in these five years.

Jordan is no longer surprised by the intensity of the Knicks' game. He has fully adapted to such a game and has become the most critical point in Riley's football strategy.

Barkley escaped the quagmire of Chicago and got a chance to achieve greatness and make history.

Last year, they missed the championship, and now, the opportunity came to him again.

Jerome Causey, Xavier McDaniel, Anthony Mason, the Trail Blazers have both superstars and strong role players.

"Keep them safe!"

So Rodman's pick-and-roll was squeezed past.

Kemp got the ball but was double-teamed and almost made a mistake.

Rainman struggled to throw the ball to Wilson, who stood outside the three-point line at the top of the arc facing Jordan.

"You can only rely on yourself in the end!" Jordan said solemnly.

Wilson knew very well that the tactics could not be used now and there was not much time to attack, so he could only fight one on one.

This has nothing to do with selfishness, but the optimal solution after reviewing the situation.

Superstars like Wilson often stand at extremely high places, like gods, but Louis was close enough to him that he could see many characteristics of ordinary people in Wilson.

At first, he was a willful kid who thought he was invincible, and then he met Bird; then he became an optimized version of Bird, because Bird is the best, so becoming a player like Bird is his goal.

But he couldn't learn from Bird's shortcomings, so the world saw a saint who couldn't find any flaws on the court or off the court. If even a very personal hobby like being obsessed with LF can be considered a flaw, you should know Wilson

No matter how good his personal moral character is, in the end, this self that does not belong to Wilson was destroyed by Ewing because of the great results he achieved both personally and for the team.

He goes from one extreme to another, and then hits a wall again.

This is the path Wilson has traveled over the past seven years.

He understands everything, so he won't be distracted by Jordan's words.

Wilson broke through to Jordan's right hand, and almost everyone, including Louis, thought he was going to challenge him.

And Jordan also showed his best defense in this round.

He successfully locked Wilson's path and took the initiative to intercept Wilson's ball.

Even if Wilson did not break through Jordan's defense, just such a movement would have an impact on the Blazers' defense. It was this impact that allowed Rodman to find the opportunity to slip into the basket. He did not think Wilson would pass the ball.

He just wanted to get a seat in advance.

At this moment, Wilson's ball was thrown in front of Jordan. Rodman unexpectedly took the ball and made a layup based on instinct.

88 to 100

"Benj is back." Zhao Yuanzheng said.

This is the best news.

When the Trail Blazers dribbled the ball past halftime, the game time entered the final 9 minutes.

Wilson led his teammates to provide the best defense for the audience. They distributed the defensive pressure from outside the three-point line to inside the three-point line.

To accomplish this almost impossible thing, you first need to have multiple wings with strong defensive capabilities and excellent athletic ability.

The Knicks met this requirement, and Wilson took the lead again, blocking Jordan's offense.

The Blazers' buzzer-beating shot was forced under extremely uncomfortable circumstances, and it didn't even touch the basket.

"This is what I said, the Trail Blazers still need 10 minutes of good ball to win this game, but they played badly in the past two minutes."

However, when the offensive end is hindered, the Trail Blazers can also use defense to respond to the Knicks.

Apart from Barkley, the Trail Blazers have no obvious defensive holes on the field.

In order to make up for the problems caused by Barkley, the other four teammates on the Trail Blazers court need to make more efforts.

Jordan never complained about this, and his defense shut down Wilson, shutting down the Knicks' ball for seven seconds.

Wilson passed the ball to Miller running out from the wing.

But Miller had no chance to make a shot, and Jerome Cosey's defense followed him closely.

Moreover, facing the same strong defensive pressure, Miller did not have Wilson's excellent ball-handling ability. His pass made a mistake and was destroyed by the Trail Blazers.

With only a few seconds left on the Knicks' offense, Rodman chased the ball out of bounds like a desperado and passed it back to Miller inbounds.

Miller made a three-pointer at the buzzer, which was blocked by Cosey.

"OH"

There was a sound of regret in MSG.

The famous Spike Lee couldn't accept this kind of blameless irony: "Reggie, you are such a fucking waste, can you do something useful!"

Miller was furious: "Shut your fucking mouth!"

For Miller, the trend of this game is not good for him. Although Louis has pointed out that shooting three-pointers is the Knicks' hope for a comeback, the Knicks and Trail Blazers have chosen to go to the extreme on the defensive end.

From 8 minutes and 58 seconds to 6 minutes and 44 seconds, neither side scored any points.

Even though he is as strong as Jordan, he is still struggling under unbearable defensive intensity.

"It doesn't matter, we have plenty of time to play with them slowly!"

Pat Riley took the initiative to request a timeout and asked the players to calm down.

"With less than seven minutes to go, we're up 12 points, we're in better shape, we have the best players and the best team, and the Knicks are so distraught that they haven't lost in too long, and that mentality

Will erode them, remember, no matter what, the advantage is mine!"

After Riley said that there were no specific tactics, only psychological comfort, he made adjustments to the personnel.

Perhaps because he was afraid of the Knicks' strength on the defensive end, or perhaps because he was more confident in the team's offense, Riley did not choose to fight the Knicks on the defensive end to the end.

In Riley's opinion, this is a very wise choice.

The Knicks have many defensive players in their prime. If they really have to fight hard on defense, they will not be the Knicks' opponents in the end. The Trail Blazers' advantage lies in the offensive end. Only by giving full play to their advantages can they achieve the final victory.

This is a domino that Riley personally toppled.

The effect caused by this card will be something he himself can't even imagine.

The Trail Blazers replaced Mason, Kesey, and Xavier McDaniel with Thomas, Sabonis, and Clifford Robinson.

As for the Knicks, Louis doesn't know what Riley will plan.

There are a little more than six and a half minutes left in the game. It can be said that the lineup adjusted during this timeout is the decisive lineup.

What would Riley do?

If Riley chooses to keep the lineup unchanged, or even add weight on the defensive end, it is likely to stifle the Knicks' strategic intention to reverse the situation through three-pointers.

Louis remained stern and silent, which made the people around him uneasy.

"Old road?" Zhao Yuanzheng called him softly.

But Louis has fallen into his own mind. If Riley wants to build his own era, he won't go all the way on defense.

He must hope to use his coaching philosophy to win.

So, what will he do in these last six and a half minutes?

"Louis?" Tomjanovich pushed him.

Louis' thoughts finally returned to the venue. He exhaled softly and said, "What do you think?"

"If we want to liberate Reggie's offensive firepower, we need to replace General (Stockton)." Tomjanovich said soberly, "Otherwise, with the Blazers' defensive intensity, it will be difficult to catch the players on the field.

When it comes to the best time to pass the ball, Reggie not only needs to face high-intensity defense, but also has to shoot through uncomfortable passes, which will greatly reduce his shooting percentage."

Louis looked at Zhao Yuanzheng, Thibodeau and others.

Zhao Yuanzheng said: "I agree with Rudy."

"Judging from the content of the game in the past few minutes, I also agree with Rudy." Louis paused, "But, I believe in Coach Riley more than the game itself."

He definitely, definitely, definitely doesn’t want to become Little’s second best.

He just wants to be the one and only Pat Riley.

This is Riley's ambition, this is the Knicks' opportunity, and it is the essence of this intense and suffocating game.

Louis walked in front of the players, replaced Stevens, put Rodman back to the three position, Kemp played the four position, and then replaced Ewing who had received sufficient rest time.
To be continued...