He Defeated the Pistons with 43 Points in a Single Game. Are We Really Heading to the Eastern Conference Finals?

Guys there is already content on patreon, if anyone wants to become a chunin jonnin, hogake or God Shinobi.

patreon.com/Chuga320 (Have than 50 additional chapters)

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Wang Chong made 5 of 8 shots in the first quarter, including 2 of 3 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 16 points in a single quarter. He forced the Pistons to use a double-team tactic, which weakened them. The Pistons' defensive capabilities against other Bulls players declined, allowing the Bulls to take a 5-point lead by the end of the first quarter.

Of course, the main issue is that the Pistons had no effective strategy to counter the Bulls on the offensive end.

It's often said that defense wins championships, but that doesn't mean offense isn't important. It's simple: in basketball, as in most sports, the outcome is determined by which side scores more points.

No matter how strong your defense is, or even if you manage to keep the opponent scoreless, if you end up with zero points yourself, you still won't win the game.

This is also why last season, when the Spurs and Pistons, two of the best defensive teams, faced off in the Finals, the Spurs emerged victorious and claimed the championship.

The Spurs, as a defensively strong team, had the trio of Duncan, Ginóbili, and Parker, who performed well on the court.

In contrast, the Pistons relied heavily on Billups and Hamilton on offense, with Rasheed Wallace being their third option, averaging 10.9 points per game in the Finals. Naturally, they lost the Finals.

The biggest change for the Pistons compared to last year's Finals was the coaching change.

There were no signs of this during the regular season, and the Pistons entered the playoffs with the league's best record.

However, when faced with more specific tactics in the playoffs, Flip Saunders' ability to adapt was clearly not on par with Larry Brown's. After all, both coaches knew the Pistons well.

As a result, in the 2005-06 season, the Pistons advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after narrowly defeating the Cavaliers in the second round but fell to the Heat, led by Wade and O'Neal, losing 4:2.

Although Wang Chong may not yet be as dominant as Wade and O'Neal, the Bulls' defense is far superior to that of the Heat.

During this regular season, the Bulls averaged 94 points per game, which, while higher than the Spurs' 88 points per game and the Pistons' 90 points, still placed them in the top ten defensively. They were undoubtedly a strong defensive team with great offensive capabilities. For the average Pistons, this was certainly a problem.

The game between the two teams continued.

Pistons fans hoped their team would regain momentum in the second quarter and launch an aggressive attack to overcome the 5-point deficit.

But things didn't go as planned.

In the second quarter, the Pistons struggled offensively. Billups made 1 of 4 shots, Rasheed Wallace made 1 of 4, Prince went 0 of 3, and Ben Wallace managed only one basket. Hamilton, who made 3 of 4 shots, supported the team. In total, the Pistons scored just 17 points in the second quarter, which was worse than their first quarter.

However, the Bulls weren't much better offensively in the second quarter either.

To conserve energy, Wang Chong's shot attempts were significantly reduced. He focused more on using his offensive presence to attract defensive attention and create opportunities for his teammates.

But the Bulls had the same problem as the Pistons at this stage.

Except for Wang Chong, the Bulls lacked a strong second offensive option. Ellis, who had performed well in the first round, was easily handled by Billups, who used his experience and strength to stifle Ellis' speed.

As for Raja Bell and Luol Deng, neither of them were players who could create shots on their own. Bell's main scoring method was shooting from beyond the arc or cutting into the paint to score without the ball.

But with Ben Wallace anchoring the paint for the Pistons, Deng was rendered ineffective on offense.

Both teams played sloppily in the second quarter, with the Bulls outscoring the Pistons by just 1 point, 17:18. By halftime, the Bulls held a slim 44:38 lead—just 6 points ahead, a small gap.

In the second half, the Pistons gradually found their offensive rhythm, with Hamilton hitting multiple three-pointers. They slowly closed the scoring gap, and soon enough, the two teams were tied.

However, despite the Pistons tying the game, their fans weren't too excited because they knew Wang Chong, the Bulls' real threat, hadn't fully unleashed his potential yet.

After scoring 16 points in the first quarter and 6 in the second, Wang Chong had already racked up 22 points by halftime. He hadn't yet exerted his full power in the second half and was on track to potentially score over 40 points by the game's end.

Who could stop him?

They were right.

After the Pistons tied the game, the Bulls immediately called a timeout to regroup. When play resumed, Wang Chong took charge, using a pick-and-roll to drive into the paint, drawing a foul from Rasheed Wallace. He sank both free throws.

Sitting on the bench, Pistons coach Saunders frowned, his heart sinking.

His worst fear had come true.

In the following possessions, the Bulls' offense was almost entirely dominated by Wang Chong. Even when the Pistons double-teamed him to force the ball out of his hands, it no longer worked.

Wang Chong's ability to break double-teams wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. That's why he earned four scoring titles and became one of the most dangerous scorers of the new century.

Against the double-teams of Prince and Rasheed, Wang Chong resorted to his signature pull-up jumper, relentlessly battling the defense.

In the second half of the third quarter, Wang Chong's efficiency dropped slightly, but he still managed to maintain a shooting percentage above 45%. In a game between two defensively strong teams like the Pistons and Bulls, a 45% shooting percentage was considered highly efficient for an outside scorer.

At the end of the third quarter, the Bulls had restored their 5-point lead, with Wang Chong scoring 8 more points, bringing his total to 30 after three quarters.

Allowing a player to score 30 points in three quarters clearly indicated that the Pistons' defensive strategies against Wang Chong had failed.

But the third quarter was just a warm-up for Wang Chong. The fourth quarter was when he truly unleashed his full strength.

Throughout the final quarter, Wang Chong made 5 of 11 shots, 1 of 3 from three-point range, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring another 13 points. The Pistons could only watch helplessly as Wang Chong scored at will.

In the now-quiet Palace of Auburn Hills, Wang Chong finished the game with 43 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.

The Bulls unexpectedly secured their first victory in the second round of the playoffs, winning 86:82 on the Pistons' home court, a place notorious for being one of the toughest venues in the league.

Both teams' scores were relatively low due to the intense defensive battle.

Four Pistons players scored in double digits, with Hamilton and Billups each surpassing 20 points. However, Billups shot just 38% from the field and added 5 assists, not performing at his best.

Rasheed Wallace and Prince scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Despite the Bulls' victory, their situation wasn't as ideal as it seemed.

Monta Ellis was contained by Billups throughout the game, making only 4 of 13 shots and scoring 13 points, mostly from free throws.

Raja Bell and Luol Deng, two players who couldn't create their own shots, were smothered by the Pistons' oppressive defense, failing to reach double digits.

On the other hand, Tyson Chandler capitalized on opportunities inside, making 6 of 7 shots and 3 of 4 free throws, recording a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Although Ben Wallace is the league's top interior defender, he couldn't focus entirely on Chandler, as he had to deal with Wang Chong. This allowed Chandler to slip through the cracks and score with ease.

Besides Wang Chong, the Bulls had only Ellis and Chandler contributing offensively. Without Wang Chong's 43 points, the Bulls wouldn't have won this game. In other words, the victory was almost entirely due to Wang Chong.

Of course, that might sound a bit arrogant. The other key Bulls players still contributed significantly on the defensive end. Even though they struggled offensively, their relentless effort on defense kept the Pistons' offense in check. Without that, even if Wang Chong had scored more than 50 points, the Bulls wouldn't have been able to secure the win.

That's why, during the post-game press conference, Wang Chong remained particularly humble, despite being the center of attention for reporters.

"This victory wasn't solely because of me. Even though I scored more points, my teammates' efforts on the defensive end were more important. The victory belongs to everyone on the team. I'll continue to live up to my teammates' expectations and help the team win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals!"

Reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

This was one of the two promises Wang Chong made before the start of the new season.

The first promise was to lead the team to more than 50 wins during the regular season. He not only accomplished this but also exceeded it, taking the Bulls to the fourth-best record in the league.

The second promise was to lead the team to the Eastern Conference

 Finals.

Although defeating the Pistons in a single game didn't guarantee reaching the Finals, the Bulls had already taken a big step in that direction.

Winning the second round of the playoffs and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals might not be an extravagant goal for some teams, but for this young Bulls team, it was.

Would Wang Chong be able to lead this young team to the Eastern Conference Finals? Would he live up to the two promises he made before the start of the season?

No one could know for sure yet, but after this game, Wang Chong's teammates seemed even more confident in him.

In the end, he led them to a victory that no one expected.

End of this chapter

Note: Hi if you really like NBA novels, you can support me either in this pg with stones, reviews etc, or in patreon since the niche of sports and specially NBA is very small is Webnovel since people prefer to read Naruto, Pokemon, comics etc.