Duan originally thought that this time against the Heat, they would be easily defeated by running and gunning alone, just like last season.
Unexpectedly, through summer transactions, the Heat could not fall behind in a short period of time against the Bulls who continued to push speed and switch offense.
Just a quick mention, the Heat had just won the championship in the summer and sent the team's third-leading player, Caron Butler, to the Grizzlies.
The Heat's move is similar to that of the Lakers in the previous two years. Caron Butler is in a contract year, but Wade is also eligible for 30% of the maximum salary cap.
And because O'Neal is an indispensable link for the Heat to win the championship, and O'Neal's big contract period is relatively long.
Therefore, when choosing between Wade and Caron Butler, the Heat can only choose Wade.
From the perspective of Heat fans, the lineup of Wade, O'Neal, and Caron Butler can actually play for another year.
The problem is that the entire league is making reinforcements, and the Heat management cannot remain indifferent.
Not to mention, there are some players whose contracts have expired and are destined to go to other teams to fight for a bigger contract after winning the championship and increasing their value.
In order to continue to remain competitive, we also deal with the junk contracts within the team.
The Heat used Caron Butler as the subject of the trade, and at the same time Brian Grant's garbage contract matched the salary, and they acquired white chocolate Jason Williams and 3D James Posey from the Grizzlies.
In this way, the Heat's lineup for the new season will be the starting lineup of White Chocolate, Wade, Posey, Haslem, and O'Neal.
In addition, the Heat signed Antoine Walker with a mid-level contract to strengthen the offensive firepower of the bench.
Coupled with the fact that Alonzo Mourning, who was waived by Alan Houston and returned to the Heat with a minimum salary, the Heat's bench lineup is also guaranteed.
Generally speaking, through the operation of the magician Riley, the Heat's paper strength this season is stronger than last season's championship lineup.
It stands to reason that the Heat should indeed be more competitive this season.
However, Riley never expected that O'Neal would suddenly lie flat.
Even in Riley's view, O'Neal is just trying to avoid injuries in the regular season and recuperate for the playoffs in advance.
In this regard, although Riley continued to urge O'Neal to intensify training, he had nothing to do with O'Neal's character of being a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water.
All that can be done now is to further punish young players like Wade.
As the head of the Heat, Riley also knows where the Heat's shortcomings are.
Usually playing other teams, the Heat do not show much fast break ability.
Except for Wade who relied on his lightning speed and relied on defensive counterattacks to switch offenses, the Heat were basically grinding away in positional warfare at other times.
After all, with O'Neal in charge, it would be a bit foolish to compete with opponents on fast breaks.
In today's league, there are really not many O'Neal who want to guard the ball in the low post.
The same was true for the Bulls' matchup with the Heat tonight. Tyson Chandler's defense was already very good, but he was still left helpless by O'Neal.
In Duane's view, with Tyson Chandler's current defensive level, it is only a matter of time before he is selected for the defense.
All-Defensive team honors come with a lag.
After all, defense is not like offense. The strength of offensive ability can be seen at a glance just by looking at the scoring data. It is difficult to judge the quality of defense based on data.
Only players who make an unforgettable impression in the playoffs, or who repeatedly commit crimes in the regular season and make people shudder, will have a chance to win the favor of the judges and be selected for the defensive team.
Although Tyson Chandler has the nickname of boxing champion, he is not yet a villain. He has only fought once in the playoffs so far, so it is difficult to leave a deep impression on the judges.
However, this season, it is not unusual for Tyson Chandler to rely on the Bulls' exposure to be selected for the defensive team or even the best team.
But then again, Tyson Chandler now has a very good defensive level among many centers in the league, but in one-on-one situations, there is no way to guard O'Neal.
The only way the entire league can limit O'Neal's scoring is for his teammates to turn into Kobe Bryant, or to go around and prevent O'Neal from catching the ball.
However, today's O'Neal will rely on pick-and-rolls and catch the ball in motion to score, unlike before with the Lakers, who just took the ball in the low post and played in isolation.
Coupled with the no handcheck rule, Wade's strength has been greatly enhanced. O'Neal and Wade play pick-and-rolls, which also benefits a lot.
In the first quarter of tonight's game, the Heat scored 23 points relying solely on the pick-and-roll cooperation between Wade and O'Neal.
In addition, White Chocolate, Posey, and Antoine Walker's shooting also helped the Heat score 8 points.
If the Bulls hadn't scored nearly 20 points by relying on transition offense, the Bulls might have fallen behind the Heat by double digits in the first quarter alone.
However, when the game entered the second quarter, the situation slowly began to reverse.
O'Neal's weight and physical strength issues still have an impact on the Heat.
O'Neal only played more than 7 minutes in the second quarter, and his condition was not as good as in the first quarter.
At the same time, Duan took the initiative to defend White Chocolate, and the Bulls used a four-pointer to shrink the basket to restrict Wade.
Although Wade practiced more mid-range in the summer, his obviously bulging cheeks and stronger arms made Wade's shooting more unstable.
It can only be said that adding muscle has made Wade's explosive power and physical confrontation ability stronger, but there are gains and losses, and his shooting ability has declined as a result.
In this case, as long as Wade's breakthrough space is locked and Wade is kept away from the basket, Wade's scoring ability will inevitably be limited.
However, just as Wade and O'Neal were declining in scoring ability, Antoine Walker, who was good at shooting birds randomly, suddenly stood up.
In the summer, the Heat surrounded Wade and O'Neal and equipped them with a group of shooters.
It is true that White Chocolate and Posey's shooting ability is not particularly outstanding, and they can only shoot a little.
But Antoine Walker, who has been selected as an All-Star and served as the star of the Celtics, is extraordinary.
As long as Antoine Walker feels good and gives him the ball, Antoine Walker can still help the Heat win the game with a series of three-pointers and long two-pointers like he did with the Celtics in the past. .
The Bulls were not very lucky tonight. At the end of the second quarter, Antoine Walker made 3 of 5 three-pointers to help the Heat relieve the offensive pressure.
The Bulls were about to take the lead, but in the end they were defeated by the Heat 64 to 63, suppressing it by 1 point.
As the game entered the third quarter, Wade had difficulty scoring inside and had to pass to his teammates on the outside.
White Chocolate and Posey also started to hit three-pointers, and Haslem, who was under the basket, used O'Neal and Wade to attract the defense and also started to eat pie.
Originally, the Bulls could use the time when O'Neal was off the court at the end of the third quarter to chase points, but the Bulls players also had some physical problems.
Perhaps it was also because of the excessive celebrations in the previous two days. The exhausted Bulls players inevitably suffered from backache, leg weakness and physical exhaustion.
For this reason, at the end of the third quarter, the Bulls players who showed symptoms of physical discomfort had extremely low offensive efficiency. Only Duan scored 2 points in a sports battle.
93 to 85, the Heat entered the fourth quarter with an 8-point lead.
In order to reverse the score and turn defeat into victory, Duan had to travel at the wrong time at the beginning of the fourth quarter, not wanting O'Neal to be a hero and see the same thing.
Van Gundy also knows that at the critical moment of the fourth quarter, O'Neal will easily be hacked if he stays on the court. In this case, it is better to let O'Neal use up his energy earlier and rest.
For O'Neal, if he were playing against other teams, O'Neal would have already decided.
But against the Bulls and against teams with former teammates like the Lakers, O'Neal will choose to go all out.
When encountering the Full Shark, Du En could only be dumbfounded.
Not to mention, for half of the fourth quarter, the Bulls players were basically unable to move and became soft-footed shrimps.
Du En also didn't expect that it was obviously a planned victory, but he didn't want to play so hard and ended up losing the game.
It can only be said that the Bulls have just set a new winning streak in team history. Everyone in the Bulls is too excited and indulgent.
But this is also human nature, especially black players. There are few who are not proud, indulgent and dissolute.
115 to 102, the Bulls were defeated by 13 points at home and lost to the defending champion Heat.
Although they maintained their No. 1 position in the Eastern Conference, their nineteen-game winning streak was ended by the Heat, and they were unable to continue to set a new record in winning streak and team history.
"Dunn, Shaq has already said that Shaq is here to end you!"
After the game, O'Neal triumphantly came to Du En to show off, and Du En could only punch O'Neal in the chest to vent his anger.
"Shaq, I didn't expect you to have the energy to hit us!
You hateful guy, you have ended our winning streak, let’s see if I don’t beat you to death!
However, you have taken away our halo, and you will be further targeted by other teams in the league.
Maybe next time, we will become the challenger and take away the halo from you again! "
The Bulls are still first in the Eastern Conference and first in the league, and they definitely still pose a threat to other teams in the league.
But compared to the nineteen-game winning streak, the threat is definitely less.
Not to mention, it was the defending champion Heat who defeated the Bulls.
This will undoubtedly make the championship teams in the league shift their attention from the Bulls to the Heat, feeling that the Heat this season are more powerful and terrifying than last season!
Cognition has inertia, but players will grow, and the team's strength will also grow accordingly.
Just like before tonight's game, even though Duen studied the Heat's game videos, he still didn't realize how strong the Heat had become.
It was only after a fight that I realized: "Damn it, why did the Heat become so fierce all of a sudden?"
The reason for the cognitive bias is that the Heat's young players have become stronger after being tempered in the playoffs and finals.
The players who just came to the Heat in the summer have become more integrated, so the Heat's overall strength is increasing day by day.
The same is true for the Bulls today. Young players are constantly growing. By the time the playoffs come, the Bulls' strength may have undergone earth-shaking changes.
(End of chapter)
