Jordan didn’t expect that once the Finals date was postponed, it would lead to a Game Seven.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Larry Bird is the state’s top star, the light of the White people, yet he couldn’t escape the nickname "Hick."
But, Indiana is indisputably a basketball state, known for having the best basketball atmosphere in the nation, with the most loyal and enthusiastic fans.
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.
The pastor quickly fell in love with this unique sport and brought it back to his hometown, Crawfordsville, Indiana.
In less than a year, young people across Indiana began playing basketball, developing an extraordinary enthusiasm for the new sport.
In the endless cornfields of Indiana State, scattered about are barns, each one with a hoop attached to its walls.
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.
Unlike California’s system, where championships are based on school size, enrollment, and level, Indiana high school basketball always has just one champion.
No matter the school size, enrollment scale, or level of skill, everyone comes together for a battle royale-type competition.
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."
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.
This miracle became the most famous story in Indiana basketball history and an essential part of Indiana basketball legend.
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.
In Game Six, back in Indiana, amidst the cheering fanatic hometown crowd, both teams were neck and neck, and the Pacers were extraordinarily tenacious.
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.
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.
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.
Ultimately, they lost to the Pacers 89-92 on the road, tying the series 3-3.
Not being able to win on the road is not good news for the Bulls.
The good news is that Game Seven will be held in Chicago, and the Bulls still have the initiative.
But Game Seven is still Game Seven, under immense pressure, anything can happen.
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.
Honestly, the Pacers are quite confident about this because in the past two regular seasons, they played quite well against the Trail Blazers.
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.
The Trail Blazers and Pacers have always been brotherly teams, learning and exchanging with each other, having a close relationship.
The Trail Blazers even snatched draft rights from the Pacers, and their ability to select Ah Gan was due to the Pacers’ blessing.
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.
On May 31st, at Chicago’s United Center, the Eastern Conference Finals Game Seven.
This is the Bulls’ third Game Seven on their road to the Finals.
In 1990 against the Detroit Pistons, they lost, and in 1993 against the Heat, they also lost.
The previous two times they were defeated, increasing the pressure on the Bulls this time significantly.
Moreover, the situation is very similar to 1993, when the Bulls were also attempting to reach the Finals for the third time.
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.