Although the Jazz fell on the floor of the Western Conference Finals last season, they seemed to be stronger this season than last season. Karl Malone started the season in excellent form and currently ranked third in the league in scoring per game, second only to Michael Jordan and Jonny. △ John Stockton's assists are also ranked first in the league. Even the Jazz's record is currently steadily ranked first in the West.

When facing such an opponent, Magic is definitely impossible to guarantee that they will win. Of course, it is impossible to make them surrender before the game begins. Magic is well prepared for this game. Not only did Jonny rest a game, but even Anfini Hardaway did not play in the last game, he also had a little injury.

However, before the game started, the Magic got bad news. The team's deputy captain, the starting small forward Denis Scott, was injured again. This time the injury was not light, and he had to rest for at least a month. This made the Magic feel helpless. Although Denis Scott was not as important as before on the offensive end because of Joni's appearance, the injury of the starting small forward will still have some impact on the Magic.

As for Denis Scott's starting lineup, only Nick Anderson was the one above, so the Magic's starting lineup in this game became the starting point guard Anthony Hardaway, starting shooting guard Joni Lee, starting small forward Nick Anderson, starting power forward Horris Grant, and starting center Ronnie Sekali.

Nick Anderson was very excited. He knew that as long as he performed well in both offense and defense, he could sit in the starting position for at least a month. If Denis Scott returns, as long as he shows his defensive role against the team, perhaps he can also steal the starting start from Denis Scott. In this way, even if he can't play as a starting shooting guard, it's good to play as a starting small forward.

However, what Nick Anderson didn't know was that after Denis Scott was injured and John Gabriel from Orlando received news, his deal accelerated. After careful consideration, John Gabriel decided to keep Denis Scott. In his opinion, the Magic's substitute lineup is equally important, and Denis Scott can leave the substitute lineup that leads the team. It is enough to send away a Nick Anderson and get a pure defense player. He doesn't want to be too harsh on the current team.

The game against the Jazz, especially at the Jazz's home game, makes people feel frightened. The Energy Plan Arena is the most terrifying away game in the United States. The fans here are very fanatical. After a game, the coach can even shout hoarse in order to arrange tactics.

Under such circumstances, Joni walked into the arena with fear.

The Jazz's starting lineup is also their regular starting lineup. The starting point guard is John Stockton, the starting shooting guard is Jeff Hornersec, the starting small forward Brian Russell, the starting power forward is Karl Malone, and the starting center Greg Osttarger. In this game, Joni's opponent is not Jeff Hornersec, but Brian Russell.

In this game, the Jazz replaced defense against Jonny, and Brian Russell, a single defender from the outside, and the Magic also replaced defense against Jeff Hornersell, and Nick Anderson replaced defense against Jeff Hornersell. So although Jonny played as a shooting guard, his opponents on both ends of the offense were Brian Russell. For such a player who had no offensive ability on the offense, Jonny had to worry about his only his attack was defended by Brian Russell.

"Jonny Lee, I'm Brian Russell. I will defend you in this game!" Before the game began, Brian Russell said to Jonny solemnly.

Joni had a strange expression on Brian Russell's harsh words, his head tilted, and said, "Do you just protect me? Then I can protect you too!"

As soon as Joni finished speaking, his teammates laughed around him. Everyone knew that Brian Russell had no offensive ability, and Joni actually wanted to compete with Brian Russell who could defend whom, which made people speechless. This was all good for Joni, because from the beginning, Joni could be invincible.

When he heard Jonny's words, Brian Russell's facial expression was also very painful. When he thought, when he made the harsh words just now, Jonny's response should be: "You won't defend me!" But he didn't expect Jonny to compete with him with whom, which made Brian Russell very painful. He had to speak again and say another harsh words: "Don't you have the confidence to break through my defense?"

When Joni heard this, his face suddenly became cold: "Of course I have confidence, just be optimistic. You can't defend me in this game!"

"The game started, the Jazz got the ball rights, and they started the first wave of offense, Kevin, who do you think will win in this game?" The commentary combination sent by NBC in this game is still a combination of Kevin Harlan and Craig Sager.

"From the perspective of strength and condition, of course, the Jazz is most likely to win, but Magic is not without chance. Whether Magic can win is Joni. He is the only place in the Magic lineup that may surprise people. So, I think if Magic wants to win in this game, Richie Adubatu has to give Joni more opportunities." Kevin Harlan roughly analyzed that he is not optimistic about Magic winning.

On the court, the Jazz's first wave of attacks, John Stockton passed the ball with a hit, and Karl Malone ran back and got the ball and dunked it directly. The Jazz's tactics were all kinds of pick-and-rolls, and John Stockton and Karl Malone's pick-and-rolls were the ones who were most skilled in cooperation.

Then the Magic's attack, Anfini Hardaway broke through and passed the ball, and Joni received the ball from outside the three-point line. However, Brian Russell's defense against Joni was very strict. It seemed that Jerry Sloan had already raised his attention to Joni's point. Brian Russell was marking Joni like an All-Star player.

After Joni got the ball, he found that Brian Russell's defense was very tight, and he did not pass the ball immediately. Like Anthony Hardaway, Joni knew that he could still pose a great threat to the opponent's defense. He could get a better offensive opportunity by taking the ball and attacking it. So Joni took the ball and faced Brian Russell's defense and rushed into the three-point line.

Then he suddenly stopped, holding the ball with both hands, as if he was about to make an emergency stop and jump shot. Brian Russell was shocked when he saw this, and then jumped to interfere with Joni's attack.

However, Joni just took a fake shot, took another step towards the inside, and took action without defense.

"Jonny's breakthrough, he took action! No, it was just a fake move. Brian Russell was completely deceived. Joonny took another step and took action! Go in!"

With a swish, the ball entered, Joni waved his hand and smiled at Brian Russell. The meaning of this smile was obviously saying: You didn't defend me! This made Brian Russell a little angry. But he had no choice but to make up his mind to defend Joni on the next attack.

The game continued, and at the beginning of the game, both sides scored a 2-pointer, and it seemed that both sides were in very good shape.
Chapter completed!