Eight and a half minutes into the first quarter, both sides began to rotate.
On the Heat's side, except for Wade and Bosh who remained on the court, the remaining three were replaced by Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller and Joel Anthony.
For the Bulls, Rose, Allen and Yao Ming all took a rest, and Hinrich, Korver, Xu Yong, Artest and O'Neal were on the court.
The score on the court at this time was 6-20. For more than half of the past quarter, the Bulls had seriously pushed the Big Three to the ground and rubbed them.
In this situation, the morale gap between the two sides is also visible to the naked eye.
The Bulls' bench was talking and laughing, but the Heat's bench was extremely dull.
Especially those like House and Magloire who come to hug their thighs.
I accidentally hugged the wrong leg this time!
However, during this period, the Heat played quite well on the court.
Chalmers's three-pointer is more reliable than Arroyo's, and Miller's three-pointer can also open up the space. With Yao Ming off the court, Wade and Bosh have room to play.
The two sides fought back and forth on the court, and the point difference not only did not continue to widen, but actually got closer to about 10 points.
James was originally sitting off the court biting his fingernails. After seeing the situation on the court, he couldn't sit still. He stood up and turned on the motivation mode to his teammates behind him: "We still have a chance. The game lasted 48 minutes and we just played. Ten minutes, believe in yourself!”
His sudden encouragement made everyone a little confused, but out of courtesy and respect, they nodded one after another.
After James sat back, the people at the end of the bench looked at each other. This didn't seem to have much to do with them?
But whether it should be said or not, they are more impressed by James' [leadership], because these words are usually said by the team leader.
After the first quarter, the score between the two sides was fixed at 14-28, still a 14-point difference. The Heat performed pretty well in the closing minutes of this quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the two sides continued to rotate.
The Heat's lineup on the court: Chalmers, Miller, James Jones, James, Joel Anthony;
Bulls: Rose, Hinrich, Korver, James Johnson, O'Neal Jr.
Xu Yong was taking a rest off the court. He was sitting between Artest and O'Neal.
O'Neal is a very talkative person. He talked non-stop with James Johnson before. Now Xu Yong sat down and he approached Xu Yong again.
"Jermaine should have forced Chris out of the three-second zone on that ball at the end of the first quarter. It would be troublesome for him to catch the ball in that position."
"Dwayne's center of gravity is very low, so you can't get too close to him."
He analyzed while pointing to the position on the field.
At this moment, James used Anthony's pick-and-roll to attack the inside, and completed an explosive dunk over O'Neal's head.
"James, go around and stop him from speeding up!"
He even stood up and shouted at Johnson.
Xu Yong can definitely hear that O'Neal really wants to play.
Really speaking, O'Neal went to the Celtics this year in history. Although he was also a big fan, he was still a starter before he was injured at the beginning of the season.
He still had gas in the tank, and he knew it.
On the court, Rose broke through Chalmers and headed for the basket, but James saw the right opportunity to catch up and block the ball.
James' words are correct from a certain perspective. You are the Bulls' first starter, right? Yao Ming has one pillar in the basket, right? But there are 48 minutes in a basketball game, and you have to take a break!
When you guys get off the stage, it will be my performance time.
The Heat failed to start a fast break and advanced to the frontcourt and backcourt. James once again took the ball and broke through the basket.
Although Johnson's physical condition is not inferior to that of James, his defensive experience and awareness are relatively average.
When James speeds up, the Bulls can only choose to shrink to prevent him from continuing to dunk.
It was at this time that James showed his ability to score suddenly and accurately distributed the ball to Jones on the weak side. The latter adjusted his three-point shot after receiving the ball.
"Uh-huh!"
The knife fell from the hand.
The Heat's group of shooters showed off their ability to hit open three-pointers.
19 to 28.
After making this three-pointer, the Heat beat the Bulls 5-0 in the second quarter, narrowing the point difference to single digits.
When Thibodeau saw something was wrong, he turned around and glanced at Yao Ming, then skipped Yao Ming, looked at O'Neal, and signaled O'Neal to come on.
O'Neal was overjoyed when he saw this. He walked towards the technical table while peeling off his training clothes. As a result, he walked to the technical table and had not finished peeling off his pants.
This scene amused everyone on the Bulls team, and even Yao Ming couldn't help laughing.
Except for the exception of the Cavaliers last season, there is always joy in a team with O'Neal.
Of course, when O'Neal was about to take the stage, there was a burst of cheers.
"Shark"'s popularity cannot be overemphasized. Even at this stage of his career, he is still the fans' favorite as long as he appears on the stage.
"Look at me, brother." When replacing O'Neal, O'Neal said while reaching out and touching O'Neal's bald head.
James frowned visibly when he saw O'Neal play.
They were teammates last season, but they have become rivals this season.
However, James' mental adjustment ability is very fast. He quickly relaxed his brows, and then smiled and said hello to O'Neal who came on the court.
O'Neal responded with a smile, a polite shark.
Substitution comes back and the game continues.
Rose and O'Neal broke through in a pick-and-roll, but Chalmers was blocked. Anthony chose to shrink to the basket, and Rose made a sudden stop and shot from mid-range.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball goes hollow into the net.
From the opening one to the one just now, Rose's shooting improvement this season can be seen with the naked eye.
This goal allowed the Bulls to temporarily stabilize their position, but what is more important at this moment is the defensive end.
The Bulls' ability to suppress the Heat in the first quarter was all about defense. If they couldn't hold on, it would be easy to chase points with the Heat's talent as before.
James continued to hold the ball from the outside, and Johnson finally got the ball in place under O'Neal's shout from behind.
But James didn't waste much time. After signaling Joel Anthony to pick and roll, he rushed directly to the basket.
O'Neal is very experienced, or as he analyzed off the court, he is a former teammate of James and Wade after all, and he has already shrunk to the basket.
James took a look and said, "Good guy, even his 120 kilogram body can't hit this 200 kilogram fat man!"
In the critical situation, he took three steps and two steps at a time, took another step to avoid O'Neal, and hit the ball with a sideways shot.
O'Neal's eyes widened when he saw this, and he turned around and made crazy walking gestures with his hands clenched at the referee.
Not only him, but a group of people on the Bulls bench, especially assistant coach Malone, ran under the linesman's nose and shouted while doing it.
The referee's whistle sounded, indicating that James' walking was illegal.
Sorry, you really didn't whistle this season.
This scene caused a burst of whistles and cheers.
Even Xu Yong couldn't help laughing.
At this moment, he suddenly had a new understanding of the legendary [8-Minute Military Power].
Maybe that's not really "I don't want the FMVP championship", but in a high-intensity game with a bad touch and no whistle. At this time, James had neither a back-up nor footwork, so he could only play like that.
James spread his hands in confusion, frowned and shook his head, then sneered and walked back.
In fact, he had already felt the change in the whistle, but it was his subconscious action, and feeling it and being able to accept it were two different things. He had to give it a try.
And his reaction as if he had been treated unfairly completely angered the fans at the scene.
There was a burst of boos at first, and then when the Bulls attacked, there was a uniform cheer.
"Come on Bulls!"
This kind of shouting during the substitute period is also quite rare.
O'Neal continued to play pick-and-roll for Rose. This time Anthony did not dare to shrink in but jumped out.
At this moment, Rose showed off his passing skills and made a beautiful ball diagonally to O'Neal.
O'Neal caught the ball and took a step directly to the basket.
James sensed the Bulls' offensive intentions in advance and quickly shrank towards O'Neal to block the shot.
But it was obvious that he underestimated O'Neal's determination to attack the frame.
"Bang!"
Before James could block the shot, O'Neal slammed the ball into the basket with both hands like a heavy hammer. The huge impact made the basket shake.
The big shark is just old, not that it can no longer jump. People can still be invincible for five minutes.
This dunk caused the United Center to boil instantly.
Xu Yong and Yao Ming both stood up excitedly and applauded O'Neal's dunk.
What is happy basketball?
Watching O'Neal dunk feels more powerful than his own dunk on the court!
The Bulls' subsequent reinforcements in the free market, O'Neal's signing is the finishing touch.
O'Neal also smiled and nodded while retreating, pointed at Xu Yong and Yao Ming, and even gave O'Neal a wink.
It feels like you are actually teaching on site.
It's just that the Bulls are happy, but James is uncomfortable.
It’s okay if you haven’t played in this starting period. Why are you being so ravaged during the substitute period?
James chose to continue the pick-and-roll and attack the basket, and this time he believed in himself after gaining weight, holding the ball and having a head-on confrontation with O'Neal.
"Duang!"
He felt like he hit a mountain of meat, and then the ball was bounced away.
There was a burst of whistles and laughter.
Generally speaking, this kind of behavior of knowing that there are tigers in the mountains and going to the tiger mountains instead of having the courage to challenge is called courage.
But I don't know why, but James' behavior doesn't feel that way. Instead, another word comes up subconsciously: overestimating one's capabilities.
Or maybe, the muscles have taken over the brain, causing James to lose his ability to make correct judgments.
O'Neal looked at James, with a smile on his face again: Demo, can I still understand you? If you choose to shoot, I lose.
The collision just now made James wake up instantly. When the Heat's sideline ball came out again, he put his hands on his hips and let Chalmers play with the ball.
Chalmers was also a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers. He thought O'Neal was getting old, so he rushed to the basket with all his strength and threw the ball.
As a result, O'Neal had already found an angle and slapped the opponent directly on the head and face.
Chalmers' male model's face directly became the panel, making contact with the basketball at a negative distance.
The ball bounced off and headed toward the Bulls bench.
After seeing the basketball, O'Neal immediately ran over there, thinking about saving the ball.
Xu Yong was originally talking to Yao Ming about O'Neal's performance tonight. Because of O'Neal's previous enthusiasm on the bench, he was not surprised by O'Neal's performance.
Then he turned around and saw a huge creature rushing towards the bench.
Not just him, Yao Ming and others also saw it.
No need to say hello at all, a group of people all ran directly in both directions.
In the blink of an eye, when O'Neal rushed to the bench, the place that was originally full of people was already empty.gif.
This scene was captured by live cameras and projected on a large LED screen, instantly arousing laughter from the whole room.
O'Neal himself was happy, smiled, took the ball to the referee, then turned around and continued back to the court.
At this time, the laughter in the audience turned into applause and cheers.
They also really felt O'Neal's enthusiasm, which was completely different from the Sharks last season.
The Heat's attack ultimately came to nothing. When the Bulls attacked and O'Neal caught the ball in the pick-and-roll and met James in a mismatch, there was a burst of "hit" cheers from the scene.
When O'Neal saw this, he did not disappoint the fans. After reaching out to signal his teammates to pull away, he stuck out his big butt and began to beat him hard.
Even if James wanted to call for a defense change, it was too late, so he could only focus on using all his strength to resist.
But it was obvious that the weight gap made him feel powerless.
Seeing him being pushed into the penalty area, fortunately, Joel Anthony's help arrived at this time.
O'Neal saw this and turned sharply around Anthony.
However, at this moment, James reached out and pushed O'Neal.
If it was O'Neal in his prime, this kind of pushing would feel like a tickle to O'Neal, but now his body quickly loses balance and falls to the ground.
But his consciousness was still there, and he successfully completed the shot before falling to the ground.
"boom!"
The basketball fell steadily into the net bag diagonally after hitting the board.
You might think that O'Neal's dominance in the paint during his peak period relied on his body, but in fact, he relied on his skills.
The body will degrade, but the skills will not be lost.
"beep!"
The referee's belated whistle pointed at James.
Without the protection of the whistle, James' every move cannot escape the referee's eyes.
This ball is a 2 plus 1!
The scene was instantly filled with excitement.
Lian Po is old, can he still make a living? !
James, who was biting his braces and looking up at the timer, was very embarrassed.
Although O'Neal responded to him with a smile when he came on the court, he was not merciless at all when he hit him!
At the critical moment, Spoelstra came to the rescue for James. He turned around and signaled Bosh to come on and replace James.
After the two sides played for another two minutes to connect the substitutes, they were replaced as starters one after another. James also took the field again at this time.
But looking at Yao Ming and Artest on the inside, and Xu Yong who seemed to have had enough rest, he felt bad.
This is a sham!
How could anyone start Yao Ming, substitute O'Neal, and have such an iron net!
This is what Chiguoguo is targeting!
Yes, it is actually targeted. It is impossible to say that Foreman's series of signings are not targeted.
Who told him to be fooled by Riley in the free market?
But there is no problem with him doing this. The three giants unite at their peak and become the public enemy. They are not targeting anyone but you!
James' internal complaints are meaningless, and the game must continue.
But as the game continued, an idea emerged from the depths of his heart uncontrollably, and became stronger and stronger.
He wanted to end this torturous game as soon as possible.
But the game, why is it 48 minutes long?
Come on, men's basketball team
(End of chapter)
