The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 139 Go ahead and brag!

"NO."

Before the free throws, the Heat wanted to substitute Tang Bei, but Tang Bei refused.

What's the point of going down there? If you dare to praise him like that, won't you be praised again when he comes back up?
Rather than being blown around in bits and pieces, let this bald guy get six blown around in one go.

Kevin Longley did not insist on Tang Bei leaving the field when he saw that Tang Bei was determined not to leave.

Next, the Bulls had one free throw and one inbound pass. After Jordan made the free throw, the Bulls inbounded the ball from the center sideline.

Michael Jordan received the ball on the right wing, faked a shot and drove to the right elbow area, then pulled up for a jump shot.

Tang Bei's stamina was already low, and his ability to help and assist in defense was insufficient, so he could only watch Michael Jordan take the shot.

"brush!"

Water splashes, two points hit.

0:5, Heat on offense.

Tang Bei once again called for the ball in the low post on the left wing.

However, he didn't try to position himself too deep, fearing that the ball wouldn't be passed down in time, thus wasting his already limited energy.

Bimbo Coles moved to the left wing and set a screen with Glen Rice before finding an opportunity to pass the ball.

Tang Bei received the ball and, without any hesitation, first made a light post-up, knocking Cartwright back a small step, and then followed up with an extremely fierce post-up.

"Oh!"

Under the terrifying force of the explosion, veteran Cartwright grunted and flew backward.

…… "

Crawford puffed out his cheeks, but he just couldn't blow it out.

Just one minute into the game, Tang Bei committed three fouls, and even Nike couldn't contain David Stern's anger; he didn't dare to do that.

"boom!"

Tang Bei's hands were hanging over the rim, and the Bulls' home arena was deathly silent.

At his feet was Bill Bitwright, and next to him was Bulls starting power forward Scott Williams, who stood like a lackey, not daring to stop Tang Bei's attack on the basket.

"Ha! Haha... Is my laughter now a sign of respect or disrespect? Are you going to brag or not?"

After landing, Tang Bei walked up to Crawford, laughed loudly, and then started to provoke him.

"Click..."

After the line was crossed, the sound of camera shutters clicking was as dense as a downpour.

Crawford's face turned from white to green and then to black, his eyes burning with rage that seemed to pierce through Tang Bei, but he dared not call Tang Bei's second technical foul in just over a minute of the game.

In Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, SuperSonics' most popular player, Shawn Kemp, fouled out but still played 39 minutes, until the final moments of the fourth quarter when he was called out.

The other two players with six fouls were substitutes, which is why they were called off so early; the starters wouldn't be called off so early.

Today, he dared to call Tang Bei out just one minute into the game. Not to mention Nike, even Nike and the referee committee combined couldn't quell David Stern's anger.

But he didn't dare to call Tang Bei's second technical foul so quickly, yet he dared to call other Heat players' fouls.

2:5, Bulls attack.

Pippen went one-on-one against Glen Rice, and soon after Rice pulled on Pippen, the whistle blew.

"Pulling someone is a foul," Sun Zhenping said coldly.

Xu Jicheng said sarcastically, "In the Western Conference Finals Game 7, seven out of ten offensive possessions ended with free throws. It seems that today's Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 will be the same."

"Ugh!"

Han Qiao sighed.

Pippen made the first free throw, but missed the second. Tang Bei grabbed the rebound, making it 2-6, and the Heat went on offense.

He moved to the low post on the left wing and once again called for position and the ball.

Cartwright, panting heavily, held the line at the back, carrying the team through the entire Eastern Conference Finals. His body was already exhausted, but he was still pushing himself to the limit for the sake of a three-peat.

"Oh!"

Tang Bei showed no mercy, and under his fierce attack, Cartwright was once again sent flying.

"..."

The Chicago stadium has fallen silent.

"Di!"

Referee Joey Crawford had reached his limit with Tang Bei, so there was no need to hold back any longer. He puffed out his cheeks and blew his whistle.

With a whistle at the gate, I have the world at my command.

There wasn't a single extra penny in his account. Even if it's investigated after the game, there's nothing they can do about it. At most, he'll be suspended, which is nothing.

This time, Tang Bei was no longer angry.

At his feet, Cartwright could not get up, clutching his right knee and crying out in pain.

He glanced at Cartwright, then smiled at Crawford, who was making an offensive foul gesture at him, and said, "See me laughing? What are you going to do? Blow me out?"

Faced with Tang Bei's open provocation, Bald Crawford's eyes were murderous, and he almost bit his whistle to pieces.

"Still too scared to call my second technical foul? You're not very bold either!" Tang Bei's sarcasm was at its peak.

"Two minutes in, third foul, two of which were offensive fouls, they've got no shame!" Zhang Heli shouted angrily in English from behind the baseline.

His words caused a stir in the media section, and discussions immediately arose.

Back in New York, David Stern also looked grim.

Cartwright was helped off the court, and after an examination by the team doctor, it was initially determined that he had a torn meniscus. The veteran is now ready to announce his retirement.

Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and General Manager Jerry Krause all looked extremely grim.

With both of their key inside players injured, and only three backup centers left, even if they make it to the Finals, can they beat the Suns? Barkley is no pushover.

The game continued, and the Bulls brought in backup center Stacey King to guard Tang Bei.

Bill Russell said, "Right now, Coach Phil Jackson only has three backup big men left: Stacey King, Scott Williams, and Will Perdo. Even if they're all tied together, they're not enough for Don to handle with one hand. Should he engage in physical contact, or avoid it?"

Bill Walton said, "A confrontation is probably impossible. If one or two more players get injured, even if the Bulls make it to the Finals, it won't be a question of whether they can beat the Suns, but whether they will be swept by the Suns."

Bill Russell said, "But how can we win a Game 7 without competition? Are we really going to punish Tang...?"

He dared not say anything more, after all, his livelihood was the most important thing, and offending the capitalists would also cause him trouble.

Gary Payton gloated, "Without contact, Tang can score 100 points under the basket, haha! That referee can't help the Bulls either."

The studio suddenly fell silent. Gary Payton noticed the strange looks the two men were giving him and, thinking about his Game 7, also fell silent, though his face turned extremely grim.

"Snapped!"

The Bulls were on offense. Jordan broke into the paint and was about to attempt a layup when Tang Bei slammed him to the ground with an elbow.

Jordan was very strong, but he was still hit hard by that elbow and fell again, lying on the floor unable to get up immediately.

"Damn it, why are you taking your anger out on me?" He was genuinely angered by Tang Bei, and he couldn't bear the blame for this.

"Shut up!"

Tang Bei pointed at Jordan with his big hand, his face contorted with rage, which immediately scared Jordan into shutting his mouth.

Referee Crawford stood there dumbfounded, unsure whether to call Tang Bei's blatant defensive foul.

If they call another foul, it will be their fourth, and it's only been three minutes into the game.

Tang Bei yelled at Crawford, "Shut up! Go ahead and brag! I just fouled him! Are you blind? I'm going to foul him again..."

Faced with Tang Bei's almost insane and powerful aura, Joey Crawford's body trembled as if he had a seizure.

Jordan, still lying on the floor, could only curse Tang Bei, "Are you fucking crazy? Do you want to cripple me?"
The atmosphere in the Chicago stadium was eerily quiet; normally, the boos would have been deafening by now.

Tang Bei then went to an NBC camera, and the dispatcher immediately switched the camera to that camera and put it on the overhead screen.

"Perhaps many years from now, people will only remember that Jordan won three consecutive championships this year, and will not remember this dirty game."

“But I’m telling you, this is just wishful thinking on your part. I will show you with facts that you have done something wrong.”

"Clap clap clap..."

On the sidelines, Garbo was the first to stand up and applaud, shouting in a high-pitched voice: "Wet Tiger, quit the NBA, let's open a kendo dojo together, let's open a hundred in Japan first, I'll cover all the costs, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty."

Upon hearing this, the Japanese reporters present couldn't help but grimace, recalling the situation where the four islands of Japan were overshadowed by Tang-style Kendo.

"Clap clap clap..."

Eric Fleischer also stood up and applauded, followed by hundreds of Heat fans.

Some Hollywood stars thought for a moment, then stood up and joined in the applause.

“This has blown up! How are we going to clean this up?” Bill Russell sighed.

Bill Walton nodded and said, "Don isn't some nobody like Eddie Johnson or Nate McMillan of the Supersonics; he's a very strong guy."

He was the second-highest vote-getter among Eastern Conference All-Star starters this year, and one of the four super centers with unparalleled low-post dominance. He was also the third star to receive a signature shoe contract, and a superstar who put up 40+20 in the Eastern Conference Finals, his stats in the Eastern Conference Finals are comparable to those of a modern-day Wilt Chamberlain.

Even Shawn Kemp played 39 minutes yesterday. If Tang fouls out in the first quarter, well, I really can't imagine what will happen.

Bill Russell glanced at Bill Walton, admiring his partner's courage.

“From today onwards, Tang is my idol, but unfortunately I don’t have his courage,” Gary Payton said excitedly.

"Ringling..."

The official phone at the record desk rang, and an official immediately grabbed the receiver.

“I am David Stern.”

A gentle, middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Mr. President?" the official said, trembling.

"Immediately suspend the referee's authority to officiate, do you understand?" David Stern's voice changed from gentle to stern.

"clear."

The official said hurriedly.

This is against the rules, and the president cannot bypass the referee committee to temporarily change the head referee, but at this moment he dared not object.

"what?"

Crawford was summoned by the officials and was stunned to hear that his disciplinary authority had been suspended.

The subsequent announcement of a change in referee shocked countless people.

Soon, a reserve referee replaced Crawford as the referee for the Game 7.

"Damn it, where were you all this time?" Tang Bei cursed.

The game has only just begun, and he already has three fouls. Jordan will definitely continue to attack the paint and draw fouls from him.

But not defending is not an option either. If they don't defend, Jordan will attack the basket even more aggressively. They can't afford to lower their defensive intensity, and fouls are inevitable. Will the referee just ignore his fouls?

He really gave Crawford a piece of his mind, openly humiliating and provoking him. So I bet the referees are in cahoots. Even if this referee isn't involved in any biased calls, he won't be friendly to him. If he commits a foul, it will definitely be called.

However, it won't be as obvious as it was before.

However, he will not give up the game, especially not the Bulls, no, he cannot let Michael Jordan go.

Jordan, who was tidying his shoelaces, suddenly shivered. He looked up and saw Tang Bei staring at him with a predatory gaze.

"This guy definitely has bad intentions towards me."

The thought immediately surfaced in his mind, and he shuddered again.

The game continued, and the new referee awarded possession to the Bulls, who resumed their attack with eight seconds remaining.

Pippen isolated Glen Rice on the left wing, knocked his opponent aside, and then turned and jumped for a shot.

Just then, Tang Bei rushed out from inside the restricted area, and as the basketball was swatted away, he also collided with Pippen.

The two crashed to the floor together. Pippen, who was at the bottom, rolled his eyes back and felt his back muscles twitch as if he had been electrocuted.

"Shit! Scottie..." Jordan was startled and quickly ran over.

The new referee didn't blow the whistle, which was a good block. Although he wanted to call Tang Bei's fourth foul, he didn't dare to make such an obvious biased call now.

“Michael, he must be doing this on purpose. He’s going to kill us next,” Pippen said in a terrified voice after catching his breath.

"nonsense!"

Tang Bei, who was just two meters away, immediately retorted upon hearing this.

Pippen was startled when he heard Tang Bei's voice, and he scrambled to his feet and ran away.

The ball was swatted out of bounds, and the Bulls still had possession, but there were only 0.3 seconds left. Jordan caught the ball and made a jump shot, but it missed. Tang Bei grabbed the rebound, and the Heat went on offense, making the score 2-6.

Tang Bei entered the basket, and Stacey King did not defend him. At only 104 kilograms, his defense was useless, so he adopted a fronting strategy to defend.

BJ Armstrong tried his best to cut off Bimbo Coles' passing angles to the basket, but Coles opted for the most direct lob pass to the rim, which he couldn't stop.

Scott Williams immediately double-teamed the basket, along with Jordan.

Pippen didn't participate in the double team; he had just been attacked and didn't dare to go in.

Tang Bei caught the ball in the crowd and then jumped a second time.

"boom!"

With a powerful dunk, Stacey King and Scott Williams were both knocked down under the basket, while Jordan was lucky enough to escape being hit from behind.

Xu Jicheng said, "To be fair, Tang Bei still has shortcomings. He is not very good at passing the ball when double-teamed."

Just now, Jordan went in to double-team, and Steve Smith was completely open. If the ball is passed to him, the Bulls' rotation defense might not be able to cover it.

Sun Zhenping nodded and said, "When teammates have an opportunity, they should pass the ball. This will save their energy and also activate their teammates' offense."

On the field, Tang Bei glanced at the new referee.

That should have been a two-plus-one play, as both defenders fouled him, but the referee ignored it.

However, it's much better than before. Home-court advantage is unavoidable; the Eastern Conference Finals also saw home-court advantage in the Heat's three home games.

So they can only accept their bad luck, since the Heat don't have home-court advantage.

4:6, Bulls attack.

"Bang!"

Jordan had just taken a hard hit; Tang Bei's arm was thicker than his thigh, and his touch seemed to be affected, causing him to miss his pull-up jump shot.

Tang Bei grabbed the rebound, and the Heat launched an attack.

Taking shots under double teams is exhausting. Even if the Bulls' interior players don't want to engage in strong physical contact with him, it's unavoidable under the basket. However, he still chooses to exert himself and get into position under the basket.

With only three big men left in the Bulls, his idea was to draw enough fouls from them as quickly as possible. Jordan drew fouls from him, and he drew fouls from the Bulls' big men in return, using their own methods against them.

"Cut off the passing angle under the basket!"

When he saw Tang Bei enter the paint, Phil Jackson roared.

Bimbo Coles dribbled the ball and moved around, finally shaking off Armstrong with the three seconds left.

Just as he was about to lob the ball, Pippen suddenly appeared from behind him, poked the ball away, and then Armstrong stole it.

"The ball won't go in," Bill Russell said.

“The point guard position is a bit weak,” Bill Walton said.

Gary Payton shook his head and said, "The Heat are only one me away from the Finals."

"Ha ha……

The Bulls launched a counterattack, with Jordan and Pippen advancing together. Tang Bei quickly retreated from the middle to defend, but was a few meters behind the two.

"squeak!"

Seeing Tang Bei rush into the penalty area, Jordan, who had the ball, braked and stopped at the left elbow area.

Tang Bei also braked suddenly, turning around and positioning himself a step away from Jordan.

"Charge in."

Phil Jackson pointed to the basket and shouted sternly.

It was too late. Jordan had already stopped and started his jump shot when Tang Bei rushed up and elbowed him, startling Jordan so much that he leaned back in mid-air and took a fadeaway jump shot.

"Bang!"

However, his movements were too unorthodox, and the ball missed. Tang Bei turned around and grabbed the rebound.

“Phil Jackson is getting impatient,” Bill Walton said.

“The tactics are correct. If we call it again, Tang will have his fourth foul and will definitely be substituted,” Gary Payton said.

Bill Russell said, "The Bulls' interior defense is too weak and can't be broken at all. This is a rare opportunity, and taking Tang out is the best way."

“Michael?” Phil Jackson shouted.

Jordan nodded to the head coach. He was worried that Tang Bei might cause trouble, but there was no other way. In order to make it to the finals, they had to go in and draw fouls. This was the most effective offensive tactic against Tang.

Tang Bei has already committed three fouls. This is the best opportunity. If we don't take him down and let him attack under the basket, it won't matter how many points he scores outside.

Of course, there is another way, which is to completely shut down the Heat's outside shooting and let Tang Bei score alone.

He regretted it a little; he shouldn't have leaned back when Tang Bei swung his elbow, perhaps he could have drawn a foul.

But that's not necessarily true; the referee might not dare to call Tang Bei's fourth foul so quickly.

"I will use both methods together to win this Game 7."

"Even if the team is crippled, I can't let him make it to the finals."

“Charles, you fool, you got off easy this time.”

(End of this chapter)