With Jordan’s return, the team immediately gained an anchor for the offense. He received the ball in the low post, and the 76ers decisively double-teamed him. He passed the ball to the wing, where Bell took it, drove, and missed a floater.
Ewing grabbed the rebound and made a putback.
It seemed like it was just Ewing’s achievement, but Bell’s drive also pulled away the 76ers’ interior defense.
Otherwise, at Ewing’s age, he wouldn’t be able to secure the offensive rebound position.
Then, Ewing disrupted McGee’s layup at the basket and controlled the rebound.
Glory counterattacked, and Van Exel wanted to shoot a three-pointer but was stopped by Jordan.
"Don’t shoot threes! Don’t shoot!"
In this situation, if Van Exel randomly shot a three and missed, it would give the opponents a chance to counterattack.
Jordan and Ewing’s retreat speed is definitely not what it was at their peak, and giving the 76ers consecutive fast breaks would be hard to handle.
Calm down, pass to Ewing in the low post, Ewing slowly pivots inside, passes to the middle, Jordan catches and shoots for a mid-range jumper and scores.
The 76ers continued their high-intensity peripheral double-teaming, repeatedly collapsing on the inside, trying to steal the ball and create turnovers for fast breaks.
"This dog Larry just loves using these ambush-style high-intensity defenses," Gan Guoyang complained off the court.
Larry-Brown’s style is somewhat like the "1:0 doctrine" in soccer, with a rigid defense and relying on counterattacks for offense. Once they gain the upper hand, they maintain it throughout.
But since basketball has more scoring than soccer, Brown’s team tends to stand off in the beginning, suddenly strengthen their defense to catch you off guard, gain an advantage through counterattacks, and continue to stand off.
Then they might do it a few more times, accumulate the advantage, and even if they win by just seven or eight points, it’s enough.
At this point, what’s needed most is for someone to step up and break the deadlock, especially outside players, who can break this situation with their own ball handling and offense.
Jordan is undoubtedly the best choice. He may not be as fast anymore, but he’s still the best ball-handling attacker in the league.
Facing the 76ers’ double-teaming, Jordan used early anticipation and a large change of direction to suddenly accelerate past the two, breaking into the basket before the double-team could form.
Facing the center’s rim protection defense, he performed an aerial reverse layup, successfully scoring two points!
This beautiful signature reverse layup, regardless of how many defenders there are, if there’s a gap, he can make the shot.
But after landing, Jordan held his waist, indicating discomfort, and the Glory Team quickly substituted him out, replacing him with Jon Barry.
The team doctor came over to inquire about the situation. Jordan said he was fine, just wrenched his back a bit, and needed to sit down and rest for a bit.
Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "You’re too old for reverse layups; don’t get injured before the playoffs. Better to stick to pull-up jumpers."
"You’re happy if I get hurt!"
"I know you’ll be fine, it’s my turn to play."
Soon, Gan Guoyang took the court, replacing Ewing.
At this time, the 76ers’ outside double-team pressing tactic was exhausted, and the players didn’t have the stamina to maintain it continuously.
Returning to normal one-on-one defense, Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, then unceremoniously pivoted and drove to the basket for a left-handed dunk!
Then, again receiving the ball in the low post, he faked a shoulder shake, stepped, and scored with a right hook shot for two points.
Cuts to the basket were also ineffective against the 76ers, with Ah Gan’s rim protection being very strong.
The only one who could truly solve the problem for them was Allen Iverson.
As Glory gradually started to widen the score gap, Allen Iverson stepped up. After receiving the ball, he made a crossover, like an elf, dashed into the basket, challenging Ah Gan’s rim protection!
The two collided in the air, and before hitting the ground, Allen Iverson still managed to shoot the ball towards the hoop, with the ball spinning around the rim before going in.
The referee blew the whistle, calling a defensive foul on Gan Guoyang, with an additional free throw.
Gan Guoyang had only one thing to say about the referee’s call: "Are you damn blind!"