Rodman's first contribution after coming onto the court was not on defense, but on offense. Rodman's power screen directly sent Kobe seeing stars. His Airness then switched onto Horry, drove into the paint, and scored another 2 points with a floater.
Turning around, He Ximeng once again made an off-ball cut beyond the three-point line, feigning another three-point attempt, drawing the attention of several Bulls players. As a result, He Ximeng changed tactics at the last moment, suddenly passing the ball to O'Neal in the paint!
To be honest, O'Neal was already preparing to rebound. Fortunately, He Ximeng's pass was quite accurate; otherwise, if O'Neal had hesitated even slightly, there would have been a risk of a turnover.
After O'Neal caught the ball, he found no one around him except for Longley!
With such a good opportunity, how could O'Neal let it slip away? He dribbled with his back to the basket, pushing and shoving his way, pushing Longley to the low post. O'Neal then made a powerful turn, faked a move on Longley, and then exploded upwards with a powerful two-handed dunk!
He Ximeng used three-point shots as his opening weapon, leading the Lakers on a path to catch up, posing a huge threat to the Bulls, and then turned to assist O'Neal in scoring inside…
To put it plainly, this was a coordinated attack from the outside in! As opponents, the Bulls feared this kind of coordination the most.
And so, the Lakers chipped away, point by point, and with 18 seconds left in the game, O'Neal assisted He Ximeng for another three-pointer from the left corner, successfully helping the Lakers tie the score!
86:86, with only 18 seconds left!
If the Lakers could defend this final possession, they would drag the Bulls into overtime.
This was somewhat of a repeat of Game 1 of the Finals. The Lakers fell behind, then fought back, playing with increasing ferocity… Once they entered overtime, the home-team Lakers would have a high chance of defeating the somewhat aging Bulls and ultimately winning this year's championship…
Of course, all of this hinged on the Lakers successfully defending this final possession.
Harris deliberately had Eddie Jones switch onto Jordan. Compared to Kobe, Eddie Jones's defense was more solid.
However, He Ximeng had a bad premonition. This scene felt eerily familiar… Historically, in Game 6 of the 1997-1998 NBA Finals, the Jazz, leading by three points at 86:83, were defeated by His Airness's two consecutive turnaround jumpers, scoring 4 points and making a comeback…
The Lakers' current situation was identical to the Jazz's then, perhaps even worse.
At least the Jazz were still leading the Bulls by one point. If His Airness missed the last shot, the Jazz would win.
The Lakers, on the other hand, were tied with the Bulls. Even if His Airness missed the last shot, there was still a chance for overtime. Therefore, in terms of mentality and pressure, His Airness should have had less pressure now. And His Airness was the one who was most adept at creating miracles…
After the timeout, His Airness successfully received the ball under the double screen of Pippen and Kukoc and controlled the ball near midcourt to run down the clock.
Logically, for a game-winning shot, the final possession would be controlled to around 10 seconds. However, His Airness surprisingly called for Harper's screen with about 12 seconds left…
What the hell was this supposed to mean! Shouldn't His Airness have called for Kukoc's screen to gain a mismatch advantage?
Calling for Harper meant he was preparing to isolate He Ximeng?
He Ximeng felt like ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through his mind simultaneously… Of all people, His Airness had to choose him as a backdrop?
In order to isolate He Ximeng and have Harper take Eddie Jones away, His Airness didn't hesitate to waste two seconds. Then, facing a solemn He Ximeng, he smiled mischievously and finally began his move!
He Ximeng had no choice but to switch with Eddie Jones, facing the final attack of the God himself!
His Airness's first move was a fake to the right, followed by a left-handed side-step drive! He Ximeng's initial prediction was correct, and he successfully kept pace with His Airness. His Airness then executed a behind-the-back dribble and a sudden stop, appearing to be ready to pull up from three-point range. However, He Ximeng didn't fall for it; he didn't jump, because he knew that this was not His Airness's preferred shooting spot…
As expected, seeing that He Ximeng wasn't falling for it, His Airness decisively switched to his right hand, drove two steps towards the free-throw line, suddenly stopped, and at the same time, "gently" pushed He Ximeng's backside with his left hand, propelling the trailing He Ximeng forward. He pulled the ball back with his right hand, jumped, and shot in one fluid motion…
He Ximeng had been anticipating this move from His Airness. During the chase, he hadn't actually lost position. However, despite all his precautions, He Ximeng didn't expect the strength of His Airness's "gentle push" with his left hand to disrupt his balance so much that he stumbled as he turned to defend, nearly falling to the ground…
Frankly speaking, this play had the suspicion of an offensive foul!
But the referee didn't call it, because the buzzer sounded the moment His Airness released the shot.
At such a critical juncture, referees dared not influence the outcome of the game with their whistles. Especially when it came to Jordan's games… After all, Jordan's status in the league at that time was unmatched. He was already god-like… How could a god make such a trivial mistake?
The moment He Ximeng stumbled as he turned, he knew the game was over. History had been replicated almost one-to-one; His Airness's shot of the century was being performed again in this timeline. Only this time, the background team had changed from the Jazz to the Lakers, and the background player from Russell to He Ximeng…
The only difference was that after His Airness shot, Russell held onto a glimmer of hope, turning his head to watch the ball, thinking there might be a chance he would miss.
However, He Ximeng, after seeing His Airness make that shooting motion, knew the game was over.
The ball was still flying over He Ximeng's head, but He Ximeng had already closed his eyes and shook his head in resignation… From beginning to end, He Ximeng didn't look back, because the desperate cries of the Lakers fans, and the excited fist-pumping celebration of His Airness directly in front of him, had already told him everything…
These subtle actions of He Ximeng didn't have any impact at the time. However, they were captured in detail by the cameras. Many years later, when meticulous fans were researching His Airness, they accidentally discovered these small details about He Ximeng, which gradually became an "unsolved mystery": Why did He Ximeng show a look of despair before His Airness even shot? How could he have predicted that His Airness's shot would go in?
Could it be that he truly possessed the ability to see the future?
Of course, these were all post-game speculations. For the He Ximeng of that moment, this year's NBA Finals were over. The Lakers had failed to rewrite history. Or rather, He Ximeng had failed to rewrite history. The championship still belonged to the Bulls.
88:86, Jordan's buzzer-beating dagger defeated the Lakers, and the Bulls won Game 7 of the Finals, successfully completing their second three-peat!