At this moment, Jordan came over to double-team.
Zhao Dong immediately hit the gas, blowing past Pippen. Before Jordan could get there, he reached the left elbow of the paint, pulled up, and drilled the jumper before Rodman could contest.
"Swish!"
Smooth as hell—money in the bank.
This kind of quick pull-up didn't even require crazy speed. With his top-tier 95 rating in the move, it wasn't about defense—it was all about his touch and rhythm.
"Oh! Zhao Dong just hit a nasty pull-up! Pippen and Jordan couldn't keep up!" Doug Collins hyped on the NBC broadcast.
Marv Albert analyzed, "If Zhao Dong can keep blending his handles, footwork, and pull-up like this, he'll have a real weapon against double-teams—just like what we saw there."
Doug Collins nodded. "His ball-handling is solid, plus his size, strength at the three, and his ridiculous wingspan make it easier for him to get these shots off."
"Getting Jordan's double-team shows just how much offensive firepower Zhao Dong brings," commentator 1 commented on the Knicks' broadcast.
"In the past, he relied more on deep pull-ups, but recently he's been working that mid-range pull-up, and man, his efficiency is through the roof," commentator 1 added.
"Yeah, Jordan's fadeaway is his signature, but Zhao Dong needs his own move," Commentaor 2 said. "His low-post game is already solid, but breaking double-teams consistently? That's how you build a signature shot."
"What I mean is, a signature move makes you unstoppable—double-teamed or not," Commentator 1 clarified.
"Exactly," Commentator 2 laughed.
Zhao Dong was already breaking it down in his head. Jordan's double-team came late that time. If he had gotten there earlier, things would've been tougher.
He could've kicked it to John Starks, but he wanted to sharpen his shot-making against double-teams. He also realized that brute-force drives weren't the move—too slow, too easy to get swarmed.
A minute later, he got the rock again at the left wing. Jordan was on him instantly, and Pippen lunged in for a steal right as he caught it.
This time, no power drive.
He turned his back to Pippen, then spun right, keeping the ball low in his left hand while holding Pippen off with his right.
Pippen recovered fast, and Jordan read it, cutting across to block the lane.
But just a step away from the paint, Zhao Dong planted hard and pulled up.
The sudden stop caught both defenders half a step behind. By the time they got up to contest, the ball was already in the air.
"Swish!"
Pure.
Marv Albert broke it down: "For most slashers, mid-range pull-ups are tough because the defense crowds them, making it hard to stay balanced. But Zhao Dong is hitting at a 60% clip in this range—insane efficiency."
Doug Collins added, "Yeah, most guards settle for longer twos since they can't maintain their touch inside. But Zhao Dong? He's straight-up mastering the in-between game."
The Bulls spaced the floor wide, setting up a drive-friendly offense.
Pippen caught the ball on the left wing, while Jordan cut into the lane. The Knicks collapsed into a tighter formation.
Pippen fed Jordan in the paint.
Immediately, the Knicks packed the paint even more, with point guard Chris Childs dropping in for a double-team.
Jordan kicked it to Ron Harper—Zhao Dong sprinted over, forcing Harper to swing it to Pippen, who fired from deep.
Bang! Pippen drilled it.
"Rookie, you ain't stopping my three," Pippen smirked.
Zhao Dong clapped back instantly, "Yo, Mr. Pippen, how many shots have I hit over you tonight?"
Pippen's smirk froze.
Next possession, the Knicks spaced out again. John Starks shifted to the right wing, making it tougher for Jordan to help on the left.
Zhao Dong got the ball, and Harper immediately doubled.
Harper was the Bulls' defensive specialist, so he was locked in, hands all over the ball.
Zhao Dong sold a hard right step—Harper bit.
But it was a fake. Zhao Dong pulled his foot back and rose up immediately.
Pippen tried to recover, but it was too late. Harper couldn't even get off the ground.
"Swish!"
A deep pull-up—right in their faces.
"Damn! Zhao Dong just shook Pippen with a fake and nailed a three!" Doug Collins exploded on commentary.
"That's three for three tonight—he's straight-up on fire!" Marv hyped.
"Hey, Old Bird, how's that perimeter defense looking?" Zhao Dong taunted as he jogged back.
"Shit," Pippen muttered.
"Pippen, I'm putting up 30 shots tonight and cooking you. You ain't even the Bulls' second option—Rodman's got more juice than you," Zhao Dong kept chirping.
"Damn rookie!" Pippen spat.
He clapped his hands for the ball at the top of the key, but Harper fed Jordan instead.
Zhao Dong smirked. "See? Even your squad don't trust you with it."
"Shut up!" Pippen barked, but he was tight. He was a point forward—he should've gotten the touch first.
Jordan forced up a shot over the double-team and missed.
Rodman snagged the offensive board and kicked it back out.
"Look, I left you wide open. You got all that space, but they still ain't passing to you," Zhao Dong kept needling Pippen.
He wasn't just talking trash—this was strategy. If he got in Pippen's head, forced him into bad shots, or made him stop trusting his own game, it would mess with the Bulls' whole system.
This was the plan: break Pippen mentally, lock him up physically, and take the Bulls apart piece by piece.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Do you want to read Advanced Chapters?
Visit this link:
Påtreon.com/Fanficlord03
Change (å) to (a)