Bill Walton nodded. "The Chicago Bulls might win one game after returning home. Maybe. The atmosphere at the United Center is insane, and Jordan always comes up with something incredible at home. But if you're saying the Bulls can win four games in this series? Impossible. They no longer have that ability."
Marv Albert picked up the thread. "It's not that the Chicago Bulls aren't good enough—it's that the Knicks are too strong. Li Fei scored 92 points, grabbed 31 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, and had 11 blocks in two games. He shot 76 percent. Seventy-six percent! An outside player—no, he isn't an outside player. He's a 7-foot-4 player who can do everything—shooting 76 percent in the Eastern Conference Finals? That's not something a human being can do."
Harlan fell silent for a moment, then spoke the words everyone knew but no one wanted to say first.
"Gentlemen, I think we have to face a fact—the matchup between Jordan and Li Fei is completely over this season. Not because this series is over, but because the gap between the two teams is simply too wide. They lost by 51 points over two games. The Chicago Bulls have no room to adjust, no chance of winning. Jordan is still Jordan, but he's 37 years old. He can stop Li Fei on one possession, and he can score on another, but he can't keep up with Li Fei's pace for an entire game."
Walton added, "Over the past five years, Jordan and Li Fei have met five times in the playoffs. In the 1996 Finals, Phoenix Suns versus Chicago Bulls—Li Fei won. In the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals, Knicks versus Chicago Bulls—Li Fei won. In the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, Knicks versus Chicago Bulls—Li Fei won. Last year's Eastern Conference Finals,