NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 57 I Am Legend (2)

The thrilling victory in the first game of the finals created a new legend for Jordan.The second battle still belongs to him.The Bulls took control of the situation as soon as they came up, leading 6-0 at the start, and then hit a 13-2 climax before the end of the first quarter.In the second quarter, the situation was even more unfavorable for the Jazz. They only scored 11 points in a single quarter, tying the lowest record in the NBA Finals.In this campaign, Malone made only 20 of 6 shots, Stockton made only 12 of 4 shots, while Jordan made 20 of 11 shots and 21 of 15 free throws. He scored 38 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and sent 9 assists. An assist is a triple-double.The Bulls won 97-85 with a total score of 2-0. Sloan said after the game: "We were intimidated from the beginning of the game. If you let yourself be intimidated by your opponent, it will destroy your will to win."

How embarrassing the Jazz was in Chicago, how heroic they are when they return to Salt Lake City.Their home court, the Delta Center, is known for its loudness. The Jazz have won 21 consecutive victories here. Now that it is the finals, the noise in the arena is even more terrifying than usual.In the third game, with the support of the home fans, the Jazz rebounded strongly. Malone scored 15 points and 6 rebounds in the first quarter. Substitute center Greg Foster contributed 11 points in the second quarter. Leading by 16 points.The Bulls launched a fierce counterattack in the second half. Pippen made 5 of 4 shots from beyond the three-point line in the fourth quarter and scored 7 three-pointers in the game, tying the finals record, but this was still not enough for the Bulls to turn defeat into victory.The Jazz pulled one back 104-93, and Malone scored 37 points.

The fourth game was a game of pressure, defense, and low scoring. The two sides combined only scored 151 points, setting the second-lowest scoring record in the history of the NBA Finals.Jordan scored 12 points in the final quarter, giving the Bulls a 5-point advantage at the end of the game. However, in less than two and a half minutes, the Jazz played a 12-2 climax under Stockton's instigation.Stockton first made a three-pointer to stabilize the situation, then stole Jordan, and sent Malone a long pass across the court for assists.The last long pass can be called a stroke of genius, and it is still talked about. Malone said: "It is definitely a perfect pass." Stockton contributed 17 points, 12 assists and 4 steals, including 6 points and 5 times. The assist came in the fourth quarter.The Jazz won another game 78-73 to tie the total at 2-2.

The fifth game, the battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Ten classic battles of Jordan's career

Game 1997 of the [-] NBA Finals
Time: March 1997, 6

Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Score: Bulls 90:88 Jazz
At 6.2 seconds, the Bulls had a 3-point advantage, and the Jazz called a timeout.Jordan understood that after another round of defense, he could lie down and rest.

Pippen came up and hugged Jordan, and Jordan fell into Pippen's arms, and Pippen helped him back to the bench.

After the timeout, Jordan walked back to the court and wrapped around Stockton with the last of his strength.He couldn't stand the game being dragged into overtime. He didn't have the energy to last another 5 minutes. He just wanted to lie down and do nothing.

The fifth game of the 1997 Finals, later known as "The Flu Game", is the masterpiece of Jordan's great basketball career.But on this day, Jordan was weak, not because of a cold, but because of food poisoning.

During the Finals, the Bulls stayed at a hotel in Park City, Utah, less than an hour's drive from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.According to Jordan's personal trainer Grover, Jordan was hungry the night before, and the hotel's room service had ended at nine o'clock, and they couldn't find another place to eat.Grover told Jordan, "Hey, the only thing I can find is a pizzeria." Jordan said, "Okay, just order a pizza."

There weren't many hotels in Park City in those days, so everyone there actually knew where the Bulls stayed.Grover finished ordering, waited for a while, and the pizza arrived, and there were five people delivering it—five people came to deliver a pizza!Grover took the pizza into the room and told Jordan they said, "I don't feel right." But Jordan was really hungry and didn't take it seriously.In the whole house, he was the only one who ate the pizza, and no one else ate it.

At two or three in the morning, Grover received a call and was called over.Jordan was lying on the bed, curled up in a ball, with several people watching him, and then the team doctor came."It's food poisoning," Grover said at the time.

Jordan was tired and weak, but he couldn't sleep at all, and he didn't feel better after daylight.Jordan didn't participate in the Bulls' shooting practice in the morning, and he was still lying in bed for a whole day.He didn't get out of bed until the team bus departed from the hotel to Delta Center before the afternoon game, and he got on the bus.

"In all the seasons I've played with Michael, I've never seen him sick like this," Pippen said. "I don't think he can even wear a jersey."

Phil Jackson found that Jordan's eyes were cloudy, looking at Jordan's appearance, he had to prepare for the worst. "We thought maybe we'd have to win without him," Jackson said, "and someone might have to fill the void."

But in the end, Jordan put on his red No. 23 jersey and red and black Air Jordan shoes, and walked onto the court with his teammates. "Michael didn't have to fill any gaps," Jackson said. "He filled all the holes."

During the warm-up before the game, Jordan only made a few random shots and went back to the bench to rest.After the game started, there was no smile or anger on his face, and his eyes lost their former brilliance.He just seemed to show up, and for Chicagoans, just showing up is a good thing.

At this time, the understanding and support of teammates are the most important, especially the support from Pippen.Pippen kept saying to Jordan: "We will take care of the defense. Don't wear yourself out. Save your energy and go to the other end of the court to score. We know you can last this game, and I will take care of it. You (defense)."

The course of the game is not good for the Bulls.They fell behind at the start, scoring only 16 points in the first quarter, and the difference between the two sides reached double digits.At the beginning of the second quarter, the Jazz once extended their advantage to 16 points.Jordan only scored 5 points in the first quarter, and had to explode in the second quarter. He made 8 of 4 shots and 9 free throws in a single quarter, scoring 17 points alone.

Looking at the data alone, it is hard to believe that he is sick, but some details reveal that he is weak and weak.More than three minutes before the end of the first half, Jordan reached out to block Stockton's pass and ran forward. Pippen ran ahead and Jordan sent the ball.Pippen missed a layup, but Jordan caught up with the rebound and scored with both hands.When landing, Jordan paused, as if to ease the impact of the past few seconds of high-intensity exercise, then turned around and slowly ran back to the backcourt.

A sickness is a sickness after all. Although the Bulls evened out the double-digit disadvantage before halftime, and even overtook it once, it was difficult for Jordan to maintain a strong impact from beginning to end. In the third quarter, he only scored 2 points.However, in the fourth quarter that decided the outcome, the magical "flying man" came back, and this time he scored 15 points in a single quarter.

46.5 seconds before the end of the game, Jordan got two free throw opportunities. He made the first free throw and tied the score at 85.In the second free throw, the ball hit the front basket and bounced out. A bunch of people in the penalty area were fighting, but Jordan picked it up in the chaos.It was a priceless offensive rebound.

The Bulls reorganized the offense, with Pippen holding the ball on the edge of the penalty area and posting up Hornacek.Hornacek is 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 meters), more than ten centimeters shorter than Pippen. Russell, who was in charge of man-marking Jordan, had to help defend, but this assist defense hit Pippen's arms.Pippen saw the timing and passed the ball beyond the three-point line. Stockton defended the past, but it didn't help.Jordan received the ball, took off, shot, scored, and in 25.0 seconds, the Bulls led 88 to 85.

Then, the Jazz made a suicide mistake.After Stockton assisted center Greg Ostertag to score two points, with 15.2 seconds left in the clock, Malone forgot to foul Pippen, allowing the Bulls to hit the ball on three passes and two downs. At the basket, Longley dunked, and the point difference returned to 3 points.

In the last 6.2 seconds, Hornacek missed a three-pointer, and Stockton made two free throws after being fouled. 90 to 88, the Bulls narrowly won.

Jordan played a full 44 minutes with illness, second only to Pippen among all the players on the two teams.He scored a total of 38 points, made 27 of 13 shots, grabbed 7 rebounds, sent 5 assists, and completed 3 steals.Just looking at the data, you can't believe that this is a patient who can't even stand upright.

Everyone marveled at Jordan's will and spirit."He's dehydrated, sometimes he feels like he's going to pass out," Pippen said. Show. Nothing else to say." Oh no, there's one more thing to say. "He's the greatest, he's the MVP in my eyes," Pippen added.

The exhausted Jordan only accepted a brief interview after the game and did not participate in the press conference. "We really wanted (the win)," he said. "I was really tired, very weak. I told Phil at halftime to use me in bursts." , meaning to allow him to concentrate and burst out limited energy in a short period of time. "Once I'm on the court and I'm sweating, I don't want to sit down," Jordan said. "I know I'm going to play in bursts, burst out, take another two minutes, and do what I'm supposed to do."

Later, Jordan mentioned this great heroic game in his autobiography, revealing some details that are difficult for others to know, as follows:
In Game 1997 of the [-] Finals in Utah, I don't know if I would have played if I had known in advance what pain I was going through.If the result is guaranteed to be the same, then I may try again, but if the result is not guaranteed, I will never go through it again.

I almost lost my life over a basketball game.

I survived that game entirely by determination and perseverance.I didn't eat, I had no energy, I didn't sleep, I had nothing.I can't even remember much about that game.I've never felt so terribly physically like I did during that game.

(End of this chapter)