Due to the outrageous performance of the rest of the Wizards in the first quarter, Li Kaiming had to play the entire first quarter and choose to take his own shots in the second half as much as possible.
There is a saying, scoring 11 points in a single quarter is considered to be full of intensity, but it seems that it is not enough at the moment.
United Center commentator Adams Vernal said at the end of the first quarter, "Li Kaiming's offense is still sharp. He achieved the 8 points per quarter he said before, but the support his teammates gave him was not enough. The Bulls The team’s defense is really strong.”
Gus Jason on the side nodded and said, "If nothing else happens, this game will be a game where Li Kaiming will score in the air, and there will be more and more scenes like this in future games."
It seems that the two commentators, Adams and Jason, recognized Li Kaiming's strength, but were very unfavorable about the Wizards' strength.
This idea is also recognized by most rational fans. Li Kaiming's current ability is obviously beyond the team's level. An empty cut will only be the most likely outcome for the latter, just like Jordan back then. Even if he averages per game 40 points is always not enough to pass the first round.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Sanders finally let Li Kaiming rest. Of course, this rest was only temporary. Sanders would stand on the sidelines and observe carefully, always ready to let Li Kaiming go up and put out the fire.
Li Kaiming also took advantage of this hard-won rest time to drink water and wipe his sweat on the bench, but his eyes never left the court.
He is afraid! He went down, and Arenas is naturally dominating the ball now. If the latter plays like he did when he came back, then today's game can be declared over early.
When playing against a team like the Cavaliers, which is so bad to the core, Li Kaiming still has the confidence and stamina to pull back the points difference behind, but when playing against a team like the Bulls in an away game, he wouldn't dare to play like this if he didn't have the guts!
With the starting lineup, he can only fight back and forth with the Bulls. If Arenas digs a hole after he comes up, then Li Kaiming will want to die!
Fortunately, Arenas has gradually regained some form after a few games. Arenas, who has the maximum salary, encounters substitutes from other teams, which is equivalent to a wolf entering the sheep herd, and even sudden changes will occur. Shooting, with this outstanding personal ability, led the Wizards' bench to fight against the Bulls' bench.
Of course, Arenas still deducted the passing button, mainly focusing on his own singles.
The semi-substitute lineups of the two teams fought fiercely for half of the second quarter. On the Bulls' side, Thibodeau took the lead in calling a timeout, and the score between the two sides was fixed at 41 to 40.
Of course, this was a short timeout. Thibodeau changed into the full starting lineup after the timeout. Sanders did the same thing. Originally, he wanted to try a lineup with five outsiders, but when he thought about Li Kaiming currently carrying two fouls, , and immediately gave up the idea.
The combination of Li Kaiming and Yi Jianlian cannot be said to have basically no defense, but it can also be said to be in name only.
This kind of inside combination is okay in some games where the intensity of the inside is not strong. The main offensive area is on the outside, and the main defense is to protect rebounds. But facing the inside combination of Noah and Gibson, Sanders does not even need to use this lineup. As soon as it was put on the court, one could already imagine the tragedy that would follow.
So this time the Wizards are still all starting.
Thibodeau on the opposite side was obviously dissatisfied with the performance of the team's substitutes, so he took the initiative to suspend the game and take over the starting lineup.
The Bulls in the first two seasons were still too immature, but this season the Bulls acquired Boozer in a trade, coupled with the growth of Rose and Noah, the Bulls' goal is definitely not satisfied by making the playoffs like before.
So he was very dissatisfied with a team that had the lowest odds of winning the championship and had a tough defense. Thibodeau was very dissatisfied with this. He was already as fat as a ball. When he was angry, his cheeks bulged. The face looks like an inflated pufferfish.
"After I go up there, I will defend carefully. I don't want to see the opponent get an open opportunity easily. If anyone is distracted on the defensive end, they will get out of my way! Do you understand? Defend!"
Thibodeau punched the tactical board hard. In fact, he was not so angry in his heart, but he did this to emphasize the importance of defense to the players.
In Thibodeau's team, you can only take advantage of the offense, but if you are distracted or unwilling to contribute on the defensive end, you will definitely be severely criticized!
The Bulls players also nodded solemnly, and then everyone clenched their fists and leaned together to complete the cheering activities before going on the field.
Before the timeout ended, the Wizards hit a goal, so after the timeout, the Bulls served. Rose quickly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt. Noah on the inside was already in position. Rose directly moved the ball in, and Noah turned and hooked. The basketball hit the rim with his hand and missed, but the Tony brothers on the sidelines were extremely keen and discovered that Blatche hit Noah's forearm during defense, and immediately called a foul.
Bracci got the second foul of the game before even covering the soles of his feet!
In fact, if this wave was based on the standards of the Bulls' defense against the Wizards, this goal could be called or not. However, the Bulls' home court and the two buffs of the Tony brothers successfully allowed Noah to stand on the free throw line again.
Noah made one of two free throws, 42 to 40.
The Wizards were attacking, and before Li Kaiming reached the three-point line, Gibson came up, still chattering rubbish, "Rookie, I'll let you know what defense is! You can't score in front of me!"
Li Kaiming was almost amused by this guy. He scored 11 points in the first quarter under this guy's defense. This guy actually boasted that he couldn't score points in front of him. This guy is really thick-skinned!
However, when Li Kaiming thought about it carefully, he knew that Gibson might not be talking trash just for the sake of talking trash. The latter was just to disturb his mood, preferably to make him uneasy and irritable.
Gibson put one hand on Li Kaiming's waist while doing the horse stance. At the same time, he stared at the latter and his mouth did not stop for a moment.
Looking at Li Kaiming's unhurried movements, Gibson gradually began to mutter in his heart, "Why is this kid so calm? If it were anyone else, he would have become furious and started to prove himself in singles! It's strange."
Hinrich then screened and broke through to the waist. Others on the Wizards moved without the ball. Li Kaiming clapped his hands to catch the ball at the free throw line, then feinted, attracting the attention of Rose and Gibson, and then passed the ball from Gibson's At his feet, a ball was passed to Hinrich's hands.
Hinrich took the ball directly and hit his second goal since the start.
42 square meters!
Gibson patted his bald head with some remorse, and then pointed out his problem to Rose.
As Li Kaiming retreated to his own backcourt, he spread his hands toward the bald Gibson and made a shrug. The meaning was obvious, it seems you can't do anything to me.
After seeing this scene, the on-site commentator Adams Vernal shook his head and said, "Gibson should not anger Li Kaiming. Maybe Li doesn't care about it on the surface, but his actions have shown that he will eat Gibson alive tonight." !”
Gus Jason next to him lamented, "Lee's competitive spirit is not weak at all. He just seems to have chosen a more reasonable way of playing. Some people on the Internet say that he only plays low-intensity games, but obviously the fact is Compared with digesting and taking action by himself, Li prefers to lead his teammates. The evaluation of him on the Internet is that he is embarrassed. Seeing Gibson today, I believe that in the subsequent games, if someone tries to challenge Li Kaiming, then I can only stand for that person in my heart. People observed a moment of silence!”
When the Bulls attacked, Rose held the ball and started from the corner position. Luol Deng used the cover of others to run quickly, but the Wizards players were also chasing after him. Luol Deng's touch was so good tonight. He was in the first half He hit 2 three-pointers in each game, and his scoring was the highest in the Bulls team.
Luol Deng's movement attracted the Wizards' defensive focus, and the inside line began to become a little empty, but Noah was still tightly guarded. Rose withdrew and gave the ball to Gibson, who was unguarded in the mid-range.
Li Kaiming is currently shrinking in the penalty area, helping Blatche prevent Noah from catching the ball, and slightly letting Gibson go two steps.
Gibson is the kind of player who is more defensive than offensive. He looks fierce and looks very good at defense.
His offensive range is limited to the basket, and he can occasionally try open shots from mid-range, but not three-pointers at all.
So when Gibson got the ball in the mid-range, he was excited, thinking about Li Kaiming's half-court singles to prove himself, and it was finally here!
Looking at Li Kaiming rushing towards him, Gibson showed his white teeth, and then directly faced Li Kaiming for a three-step layup. This distance was still enough.
Li Kaiming, who ran over, estimated the distance, and under the gaze of Gibson whose expression gradually changed, he kicked off and took off!
Gibson underestimated him for this layup. Although his defense was not good enough, his physical quality was here. The ball was so casual, and his incredible bounce was not considered at all.
So, the next scene gradually opened the mouths of the entire United Center fans to the maximum, and almost everyone could stuff two hard-boiled eggs.
As the client, Gibson was so frightened that he stood still and could only gradually lift his neck in line with Li Kaiming's position...
Li Kaiming, who was flying into the air, stretched out his hands to stop Gibson's layup in mid-air, and then held the basketball with both hands, confiscating the Bulls' right to attack!
Adams Vernal and Gus Jason stood up immediately on the sidelines, "Oh! Li Kaiming, beautiful defense, he directly ended Taj Gibson's offense in the air! This is a top-five defense!"
Thibodeau, who was standing on the sidelines, was also stunned by the ball and even forgot to criticize Gibson for being so casual in his offense...
On the big screen at the United Center, time passes by minute by second...
The defensive strategy emphasized by Thibodeau in the second quarter did not suppress Li Kaiming. After halftime, the two sides were still inextricable, with the Bulls leading 58 to 56 by 2 points.
Li Kaiming played 18 minutes in the half and scored 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block, the highest score in the game. Others from the Wizards Hinrich had 6 points and 5 assists, Blatche had 3 points and 8 rebounds, Nick Young had 11 points and 3 rebounds, and Ai Thorton had 6 points and 2 rebounds. Substitute Arenas was the Wizards' best performer besides Li Kaiming, scoring 12 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
