Slam dunk / Inoue, Takehiko

With thirty seconds left, the Kings from Kainan hold their four-point lead, but unpredictable Sakuragi gets his chance to restore hope to his team on the free throw line.

Sakuragi's rebounds helps eat away at Sannoh's lead with seven minutes left in the second half, but Sannoh's star player is not making it easy on the Shohoku team. Rukawa and Sakuragi must dig deep for an understanding of themselves and the game if they are to have any hope of pulling off a Shohoku win.

During the second half of the game against Sannoh, Shohoku High is feeling the pressure but Coach Anzai primes player Sakuragi for a comeback.

The members of the Shohoku basketball squad are involved in an on-court fight with a group of thugs and Kogure stops the confrontation by reminiscing about one of their opponent's past as a star player.

Coach Anzai knows he needs to do something quick in order to retake the lead from Shohoku, but is not sure if Mitsui has enough strength left in him to hit those crucial three-pointers.

Shohoku debuts in the National Championship, playing against Toyotama. Coach Anzai hopes his plan will take the team to the next level, but the Shohoku players are not sure they will be good enough to beat last year's champion, Sannoh.

Sakuragi Hanmichi, a freshman at Shohoku Prefectural High School, quickly becomes a standout on the basketball court and must learn to transfer some of that skill to the game of love.

The Shohoku basketball team avoids suspension over the on-court fight, but Coach Anzai decides on a starting lineup for Shohoku's game without Hanamichi, Rukawa, Ryota, and Mitsui as punishment for their lack of discipline.

At half time, Shohoku High is only down by six points in the game against Ryonan, but it remains to be seen if Shohoku can take advantage of that or if Ryonan's Coach Taoka is just waiting for the Shohoku team to slip up.

Rattled after being knocked down by Uozumi in Shohoku's game against Ryonan, Akagi doubts himself and defers plays to his teammates, which lets Ryonan pull ahead and makes Shohoku wonder if they have a chance of catching up.