With six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Celtics led 82-79, a three-point advantage.
All 20,000 Chicago fans in the stadium stood up to watch the game, and everyone was waving their towels wildly.
However, in the next six minutes, Jordan completely took over the game, not with his usual relentless one-on-one attacks, but with the most despair-inducing and correct choices.
Round 1: Jordan receives the ball in the low post on the right side, Eddie Jones holds him off tightly, and Garnett leaps from the weak side to delay him. Jordan loses his balance in mid-air, but manages to flick the ball out through the gap between two long arms. Steve Kerr receives the ball in the corner and drains a three-pointer. 82-82.
Round Two: Sam Cassell's turnaround mid-range jumper missed, Dennis Rodman grabbed the defensive rebound. The Chicago Bulls slowly pushed the ball up the court, Jordan received the ball at the top of the key, and the Celtics' defense dared not double-team him early anymore. Jordan suddenly lowered his shoulder and drove to the free-throw line, stopping abruptly and leaning back at the last second, the ball went in. 84-82, the Chicago Bulls took the lead.
Round 3: Mullin's three-pointer bounced off the rim, P.J. Brown grabbed the offensive rebound in the middle of the crowd, and forced a putback over Luc Longley's head to make it 84.
Turning around, Jordan called for the ball in the low post for the third time from the same spot.
Eddie Jones closely guarded the basket, Garnett dove to double-team, and Mutombo's massive frame stood guard on the baseline. In that instant, the three Celtics' best defensive big men formed an iron cage that almost welded shut all passing lanes and shooting space.
Jordan paused for a moment in mid-air amidst the tight double-team.
In that instant, it was as if he had calculated the movement routes of the other nine players on the field.
With a subtle bounce pass, the basketball grazed the defender's ankle and miraculously slipped into the paint, precisely finding Scottie Pippen, who had shaken off his defender and made a lightning-fast cut.
Pippen received the ball and easily made a layup. 86-84.
"Beep--!"
Adelman gritted his teeth and called a timeout. He knew perfectly well that the Celtics ' defense hadn't made a single mistake.
It's simply because Michael Jordan made the right choice once again in that seemingly unsolvable deadlock. This feeling of helplessness—being able to defend effectively but still not stop the opponent's offense—is more demoralizing to a young player than being scored on one-on-one.
After the timeout, the young Celtics players, fueled by their fighting spirit, continued to grit their teeth and persevere.
Garnett orchestrated the offense from the high post, delivering a wide diagonal pass to Eddie Jones, who cut to the basket for a dunk.
Sam Cassell, despite Harper's defense, forced his way into an audacious pull-up jumper.
Mutombo also delivered a big block on Luc Longley's defense.
With one minute and forty seconds remaining in the game, the score was 94-93, with the Chicago Bulls leading by only one point.
Boston has possession.
Sam Cassell dribbled steadily across half-court. He used P.J. Brown's solid screen to drive to the free-throw line, and in the instant that he successfully drew Jordan's help defense, Sam Cassell made a behind-the-back pass to Chris Mullin, who was completely open in the left corner.
The veteran catches the ball, jumps, and shoots.
If this shot goes in, Boston will take a 2-point lead.
The entire stadium held its breath, watching the basketball streak through the air.
"Bang."
The basketball slammed heavily against the back rim and bounced high into the air.
Dennis Rodman and Mutombo jumped simultaneously under the basket and collided, the ball being tipped out of the paint in the chaos.
Garnett, his eyes red with rage, charged forward recklessly, but Jordan was faster. He beat Garnett to it, his long arms outstretched in mid-air, and snatched the ball away. Instead of launching a fast break after securing the crucial ball, Jordan used his palm to firmly hold the ball under his body, slowly advancing it across half-court.
As Jordan dribbled at his unhurried pace, the roar of the entire arena gradually subsided.
With 58 seconds left in the game, Jordan received the ball in the low post on the right side.
Jones closely guarded him, Garnett lunged for the ball, Mutombo stood ready under the basket.
Jordan dribbled once, twice, three times with his back to the basket. Without warning, he suddenly twisted and moved to the baseline. Jones was in position, and Garnett's long arms were already blocking his forehead.
Three layers of defense, all in place. But Jordan still leaped into the air, his entire body stretching out in mid-air, raising the basketball high.
The basketball flew past Jones ' fingertips, grazed Garnett's palm, and even over Mutombo's long arm as he came to help defend, obediently slipping into the white net under the gaze of more than 20,000 people in the arena.
"Whoosh."
96:93.
Boston delivered a textbook defensive performance, but Michael Jordan still managed to sink that damn shot.
Sam Cassell, his face ashen, muttered the most vulgar curse under his breath and immediately launched a counter-attack. With 41 seconds remaining, Garnett received the ball at the high post. Facing Pippen's tight defense, he made no attempt to pass. The 20-year-old, wearing a mask, forced his way inside against the defense, and pulled up for a jump shot over Pippen's hand that was covering his eyes.
"Whoosh!"
The score was 96-95, the gap was back to 1 point, and the whole arena went wild again.
In the Chicago Bulls ' final possession, Jordan dribbled the ball in the frontcourt, coldly pressing down the time on the big screen.
Twenty seconds
Fifteen seconds
Ten seconds.
Eddie Jones was so tight he almost broke his ribs, and Garnett was ready to jump and surround him on the weak side at any moment. But this time, Jordan didn't wait for the Celtics ' double team to fully materialize. He started moving early, using Luc Longley's off-ball screen to laterally move to the right. Sam Cassell came over to help from the side without hesitation, Jordan suddenly stopped while moving, making an extremely realistic shooting fake.
In a state of extreme tension, Garnett and Jones were simultaneously thrown into the air by this feint.
Jordan didn't shoot. He stood calmly in place, watching Garnett's tall figure awkwardly pass by him, before steadily passing the basketball to the empty left corner.
Steve Kerr receives the ball, is open, and takes a three-pointer.
"Whoosh."
99:95.
With all the red lights on and only 8.4 seconds remaining, the game was over.
Head coach Adelman used his last, pointless timeout.
After both teams returned to the court, Sam Cassell forced a three-pointer from the outside, but it bounced off the rim. Dennis Rodman grabbed the crucial defensive rebound and drew a foul, making one of two free throws.
The final score was 100:95.
The Chicago Bulls won a nail-biting sixth game.
With a series score of 4-2, the defending champions advanced to the NBA Finals once again.
The Chicago Bulls players embraced and celebrated wildly in the center of the court.
The Celtics players looked at Jordan, looked at Pippen, looked at this team that still firmly held the top spot in the entire league as the absolute hegemon.
Garnett stood near the center circle, his hands on his knees, heavy breathing coming from behind his black mask. His jersey was completely soaked, his crooked nose was still throbbing, and his right shoulder was terribly numb, but he stood straight without lowering his head even an inch.
Jordan walked out of the celebrating crowd and stopped directly in front of Garnett.
The two generations of beasts stared at each other for a few seconds through a black mask.
Jordan slowly chewed his gum, looked Garnett up and down, and patted him hard twice on his sweaty chest.
"Good game, kid."
Garnett stared at him through the mask, without saying a word.
Jordan, seeing the murderous look in his eyes, instead gave a slight smile.
He turned and walked toward the players' tunnel, leaving only the silhouette of red number 23 in the FleetCenter, waving goodbye without looking back.
"Go back and watch TV. See how I get my fifth ring."
After saying that, the black-clad figure number 23 disappeared into the deep passageway.
Sam Cassell walked over and patted Garnett on the back, his face no longer showing any joking expression.
Veteran Mullin sat quietly on the bench, head down, unwrapping the bandages on his ankle.
Eddie Jones covered his entire face tightly with a large white towel.
Lin Qi stood at the back of the bench, looking at the mess on the field.
In this six-game battle, the youngest team in the league forced out a Michael Jordan who excelled in defense, passing, rhythm, and scoring.
Lin Qi knew very well that what was exposed in the last six minutes was not some mysterious secret tactic, but a stark difference in understanding of basketball and a gap in pure ability.
It's not because I lack courage, nor because I lack talent.
Instead, in the most suffocating and critical moments of life and death, the young players are thinking, "Maybe I can defend this shot," or "Maybe I can make that damn three-pointer."
But Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls dynasty operated on the principle of "I can do it."
There is a vast distance between "I might be able to do it" and "I can do it".
It's like ordinary people racking their brains to gamble on a probability, while the Lao Liumang sitting on the throne holds 100% certainty in his hands.
This is the most brutal gap in raw strength between the current Celtics and the ultimate dynasty.
Then, Lin Qi turned around and walked alone toward the home team's players' tunnel.
Head coach Rick Adelman stood at the tunnel entrance, his face ashen as he looked at the young players scattered across the field, who seemed to have lost their souls.
Lin Qi stopped beside Adelman, not wanting to disturb the group of young men, but turned his head and whispered something to the old coach.
" Rick, go tell those kids. If they want to play against Jordan on this stage again next year, everyone has to train like crazy this summer. Nobody can slack off."
Lin Qi straightened his suit collar and walked directly into the dark passageway.
"Let them go take a shower. The whole team is on holiday starting tomorrow."