Bonzi Wells glared at Scottie Pippen, as if saying, "You damn coward, how am I supposed to shoot in 1 second? Do you take me for a shooter?"
Muscle Man Wells, despite his excellent physique, being strong and agile, was not good at Three-Point Shots, especially not this kind of catch-and-shoot'shooter's job'. Wells was naturally displeased with Pippen's shirking of responsibility.
Pippen glared back at Bonzi Wells, seemingly saying, "Your Passing quality was too poor; how was I supposed to attack?"
The Portland Trail Blazers' inside core, Rasheed Wallace, glared at Pippen, as if saying, "How could you ask for the ball in that position? Isn't that just waiting for the rookie Link to double-team you? I finally managed to get a deep low post position, but you had to interfere, so I could only clear out for you. Now look... a wasted offensive possession."
The Washington Wizards attacked, continuously challenging Pippen. Link, who had been finishing with jump shots, finally deceived Pippen this time, feigning a back-to-the-basket move, then suddenly half-turning to face the basket and driving. Although Pippen reacted, his footwork couldn't keep up. After getting past the defense, he drove into the restricted area. Rasheed Wallace turned to face him. Link pressed one more step towards the basket, and after Rasheed Wallace left Haywood, he made a high-Speed, waist-level cross-court Passing to Haywood's hands, who quickly jumped up for a layup.
12 to 4, the Washington Wizards took an 8-point lead.
The Portland Trail Blazers attacked. The Little Flying Squirrel, Damon Stoudamire, used Rasheed Wallace's screen to pop out, blew past Hamilton, who failed to squeeze through the screen in time, and drove straight in. Link chased him at full Speed from behind, but was still a bit too slow. Damon Stoudamire scored with a leaning layup, 12 to 6!
Damon Stoudamire was indeed fast, but at only 178cm tall, he was easily bothered by interference.
Soon, the Little Flying Squirrel was disrupted by Randolph's collapsing defense in the paint, missing his shot.
"Dude, pass the ball out!" Pippen said, clearly dissatisfied.
Stoudemire didn't retort; instead, he nodded.
However, the Passing out wasn't effective either. Dale Davis's shot wind-up after receiving the ball was relatively long. The Washington Wizards rotated on defense. Seeing the shooting opportunity pass, Dale Davis passed the ball to the supporting Pippen. Pippen, who received the ball at the free-throw line, backed down the future The King of Cats, Gerald Wallace, struggling. After all, The King of Cats's physical prowess was stronger than Pippen's current state. What made Pippen even more exasperated was that Link came to double-team again.
This time, Pippen did seize the opportunity and passed the ball out, but Hamilton's active defensive rotation prevented the shorter Damon Stoudamire from getting a good opportunity. The ball was passed again, this time to Bonzi, who was in a semi-open position. "Swish!" Bonzi, whose brain seemed to be made entirely of muscle, actually made the Three-Point Shot this time.
11 to 12!
The Portland Trail Blazers once again narrowed the lead to within 1 point. After the basket, Bonzi, with a beaming smile, high-fived the Little Flying Squirrel in celebration, seemingly deliberately ignoring Pippen.
In the first 8 minutes of the first quarter, Pippen had only 1 shot made, no points, zero assists, and only 2 turnovers and 1 rebound.
Pippen was very unhappy in his heart. Although this basket wasn't his assist, without his quick Passing, how could Bonzi have scored?
Dare to ignore me?
Ignore me, the team leader?
…
…
The second quarter of the game began, with the starting lineups from both teams, who had played less than 9 minutes in the first quarter, returning to the court to battle.
The Washington Wizards' strategy remained the same: anyone could go for a solo play, except for Pippen.
Whenever Pippen possessed the ball to attack, they would double-team him resolutely.
After 4 minutes of the second quarter passed, Pippen still had no points or assists.
On the other hand, Rasheed Wallace, using his straight-arm jump shot, made 3 out of 4 attempts, leaving Haywood completely helpless, throwing his hands up.
At 5 minutes and 1 second in the second quarter, Pippen used a screen to get a small open look. After receiving the ball, he ignored Bonzi's successful curl cut and directly shot a Three-Point Shot, which missed.
"FUCK!"
"I was open just now!"
Bonzi roared.
Pippen's face was dark, not wanting to explain, but at this moment, the Washington Wizards' fast break counterattack came like a storm. Haywood transformed into the "Sea King," blocking Rasheed Wallace, allowing Link to grab the rebound.
After Link secured the ball, he held it in his large hand, then swung it forcefully to The King of Cats, who was running down the court, and the latter slammed it in for a dunk.
The moment the dunk was made, the Portland Trail Blazers' home crowd let out dissatisfied sighs of "Eh... eh..."
"Get back on defense!"
"Scottie, you clearly could have gotten back on defense!"
Rasheed Wallace roared at Pippen.
Pippen, with only 2 shot attempts and Link scoring 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists right in front of him, could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and furiously charged at Rasheed Wallace.
Seeing this, Link secretly thought, "Hehe, I've succeeded!"