Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Sometimes, collapse is a matter of a moment.

Before Yu Fei dismantled the Wallace brothers, the Bucks already had a large lead, but there was still a long time left in the game, so Pistons fans couldn't feel the despair of a looming loss just yet.

After that play, they started to get that feeling.

Especially seeing their home team's offense constipated while the Bucks played smooth and flowing.

Their mindset began shifting from "we might lose" to "we're going to lose."

The Bucks played more and more relaxed, as they had a substantial lead and the players felt no pressure to shoot, so everyone began to play at their true level, and an exceptional few, like Martin, even performed above their norm.

By halftime, it was 38 to 61, with the Pistons trailing by 23 points at home.

"Our defense has failed," Larry Brown said during the halftime interview, "It feels like we aren't playing at home, our defense has been restricted by the referees, that's all I want to say."

George Karl's face radiated with the joy of a grudge being settled.

Although the game wasn't over yet, with the Pistons' offensive capabilities, the idea of closing a 23-point gap was tantamount to daydreaming.

This was determined by the Pistons' team attributes.

They couldn't afford to fall behind big, because they lacked the ability to catch up.

Neither could they let the opponent score too much, because that would mean their defensive system had collapsed.

Tonight, both of these taboos had happened at the same time, leaving the Pistons' comeback solely as a theoretical possibility.

After the brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Karl and Brown had cut ties, now regarding each other as enemies.

Moreover, Karl's dislike for Brown might even surpass that for the charlatan Phil Jackson.

After all, Phil at least had nine championships to his name, although he was a CJB who rode on the coattails of MJ and OK, but he was still much better than his 'senior brother.'

Karl detested Brown's constant preaching about what is the right way to play basketball versus what is heretical, as if the Bucks' success was a failure for the sport and everyone should oppose them.

On the surface, this negated the Bucks' style of basketball, but in reality, it was Karl mocking Brown for achieving success through unorthodox means.

This clash of philosophies was inherently incompatible. Before, Karl would consider the brotherhood and not openly clash, but after the incident at The Palace of Auburn Hills, not even Dean Smith's persuasion would be effective.

Karl didn't believe that Brown had no hand in fanning the flames that night.

"What's the matter? Why can't the orthodox basketball that even Mr. Naismith would smile upon from heaven beat 'carnival basketball'? There must be a problem," Karl mocked during the ABC halftime interview, "If that's orthodox basketball, then my players and I would rather play carnival basketball for life!"

The ABC reporter seemed to anticipate such a reaction from Karl and continued unfazed, "You've had some grudges against Detroit; to what extent has that motivated you guys?"

Karl liked the question.

Because he also thought their outstanding performance tonight was closely related to "that night."

They had reasons they couldn't lose.

"I think that's why we're standing here tonight!" Karl said, "Everything you do eventually has a result. For us, many things that happened that night must have a conclusion. It's important for us."

Upon reaching the locker room, Karl continued to inspire the players.

Yu Fei sat calmly to one side, focusing on the score.

"With such a lead, what's there to watch?" Ratner asked.

Yu Fei joked, "I've noticed that we've scored too many points in the first half. At this rate, it'll be tough to reproduce the score from that night in the fourth quarter."

That night, reproduce...

Ratner's expression changed slightly, "Tell me you're not serious."

Yu Fei said, "The game isn't over yet, is it?"

Ratner felt this was insane. To reproduce the score from that night in a Game 7... What was this? A joke? Wasn't a Game 7 supposed to be a do-or-die situation where winning should be a silent rejoicing?

What, now this too?

And besides, if the game continued this way, garbage time might come soon, so whether they could reach that score depended on whether the Pistons would cooperate.

Obviously, Ratner was overthinking it.

The matter didn't require cooperation from the Pistons; all that was needed was to control the pace of the game.

In the second half, Yu Fei didn't initiate the attack as quickly as in the first and patiently controlled the pace of the game.

The Pistons adopted a switching defense, and no matter who set the screen for Yu Fei, whether the person had shooting abilities or not, they didn't double-team anymore.

This left the Bucks with only one mode of attack: isolation. Stay connected through My Virtual Library Empire

Of course, the Bucks wouldn't fall into a one-sided isolation situation.

Since the Pistons were doing this, they just needed to increase the frequency of traps on the wings, ensuring that both Billups' pick-and-rolls and Hamilton's screens were met with defensive switches, pushing the Pistons into a predicament of endless one-on-ones.

Constant isolation resulted in a plummet in shooting percentages.

The Pistons had a complete defensive system to contain isolation plays, which made the Bucks' previously unsolvable offense inefficient.

The Bucks, averaging 30 points per quarter in the first half, only managed 19 points in the third quarter.

In contrast, the Pistons, in this ugly game, played more comfortably.

They scored 21 points in the quarter.

59 to 80

The Pistons' effort to catch up was "significant," managing to reduce the deficit by a whole 2 points in one quarter.

"Alright, Frye, it's about time you start scoring," Karl, who knew everything, just hadn't pointed it out, said, "Scoring 20 points in seven minutes is still challenging."