After a day's rest, the Bulls continued to face the Pacers at home.
The Pacers have been in trouble since the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills and have failed to reach the playoffs for four consecutive seasons.
However, this season with the addition of Boozer and the rise of young players such as Darren Collison and Roy Hibbert, they are also rising rapidly.
Collison, Brendan Rush, Granger, Boozer, Hibbert, this lineup is very competitive in the Eastern Conference.
This game was also more intense than many people expected.
Although Granger was severely restricted by the double gates of Allen and Xu Yong, Boozer's performance left the Bulls somewhat helpless.
The power forward in his prime was just like he was in Utah, destroying the Bulls' defense with one mid-range shot after another.
Moreover, his offensive choices are very quick, and he doesn't even wait for you to attack in advance before taking action.
But in the end, it was the Bulls who won the game.
Because the Pacers can't do anything with the Bulls' perimeter guns.
Boozer scored 30 points, but Rose and Xu Yong scored almost 50 points together.
Moreover, the Pacers' head coach Jim O'Brien is obviously not very good. The team's rookie Paul George performed well on the defensive end, but he did not get much playing time.
With a wave of two consecutive victories to start the game, the Bulls got on the plane to Houston and began their road trip in the Western Conference.
This will also be their biggest challenge at the beginning of the season. First, they will go around the territory of the "Texas Big Three", and then they have to face the defending champion.
But the good news is that they will first face the Rockets, the weakest team among these teams.
Returning to Houston after a few months, Houston fans also applauded and cheered for Yao Ming.
The Rockets did not keep Yao Ming, but after some operations, the team still has the starting lineup of Brooks/Lowry + Hamilton + Luol Deng + Scola + Noah, and it is still a playoff-level team in the Western Conference. .
However, the Bulls played very easily in this game. They basically sealed the victory in three quarters, and the remaining quarter was the performance time of the substitutes.
This game was actually very similar to the one against the Heat. The Rockets had no way of breaking through the Bulls' defensive net, so they had to rely on piecemeal scoring, and naturally there wasn't much suspense about the result.
But despite the loss, Noah's performance on the Rockets was quite good.
While he scored 16 points, he also had 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.
After the game, Noah also chatted with Xu Yong for a long time with a smile.
Just like Harden didn't shine until he arrived in the Rockets in history, players need a bigger stage to break through their ceiling.
If Noah continues to develop in the Bulls, his upper limit will be Draymond Green, but by the time the Rockets have more rights to control the ball, in this era of scarcity of centers, there is a vague trend of becoming the number one center in the Western Conference.
So being traded is not necessarily a bad thing for Noah's personal development, especially in the contract year.
After defeating the Rockets, the Bulls got off to a very strong start with three consecutive wins despite a difficult schedule.
However, just when Chicago fans were looking forward to the Bulls continuing their efforts, the Bulls lost to the Mavericks and Spurs in back-to-back games. After three consecutive victories, they suffered a two-game losing streak.
The Bulls didn't have many problems with their own performance. Rose, Xu Yong and Yao Ming all performed online, especially Xu Yong. In the game against the Spurs, he scored a game-high 35 points with his stable mid-range shooting.
The key to the problem is defense. Nowitzki and Duncan simply ate Artest alive.
And unlike Boozer, they not only score by one person, but also use their own restraint to activate the entire team.
In this level of confrontation, this situation is completely enough to determine the outcome of the game.
At the same time, the Heat used a "roundtable meeting" to stabilize their morale after losing to the Bulls, and won a wave of four consecutive victories, including a 96-70 bloodbath against the Magic.
For a moment, the James fans, who had almost disappeared due to the disastrous defeat in the opening game, jumped up together and jeered at the Bulls.
Such as "There are some teams that are ranked high at the beginning of every season but disappear quickly in the end", "Grandma O'Neal leads the team better than Thibodeau", "A group of old, young, sick and disabled people gather together and shout I want to win the championship, why does this plot seem so familiar?" and so on.
The pressure on the Bulls was greater than Yao Ming expected, because they were on the opposite side of James' group when they formed the team, not to mention that the season started with a bloodbath against the Heat.
It is against this background that the Bulls came to Los Angeles, the last stop of this road trip.
They will next face the defending champion Lakers away from home, who have won 5 consecutive games since the start of the season and are in great form.
The only good news is that they have a rare two days of rest and can use the time to adjust their mentality.
Xu Yong continued to maintain the same training intensity as in the past.
By the way, I should mention here why Megan Fox didn’t come to Xu Yong to discuss life again. This is because this summer, Fox has reunited with her ex-boyfriend Brian Austin Green, who has been dating for five years. A wedding was held in Hawaii, which had been baptized by fire.
So for Fox, Xu Yong's current state is: experience it, and then send blessings to him.
Without the woman, he was now very energetic and enjoyed the kind of high-intensity training required by Grover.
This night he was exhausted after training and was sitting on the sidelines resting.
Just then Thibodeau came to the training hall.
Because the two of them had had many such private exchanges, Xu Yong was relatively relaxed, sitting there drinking water while smiling and reaching out to say hello to Thibodeau.
Thibodeau sat down next to him, and then suddenly asked: "Do you think that playing with one big and four small will do more harm than good?"
Xu Yong didn't expect Thibodeau to ask this suddenly, but seeing the latter's serious expression, he knew that the two of them had communicated too much, and Thibodeau wanted to ask for his opinion.
He put down the water bottle and said what he really thought: "I think the pros outweigh the cons."
"Huh?" Thibodeau looked at Xu Yong in surprise. It was obvious that Xu Yong's answer was somewhat beyond his expectation.
You must know that the reason why he asked this was because the team was in poor condition recently, and based on his understanding of Xu Yong, Xu Yong should not have thought of this.
"But I think it should be used as a secret weapon rather than a conventional weapon. Its weaknesses are too obvious and it is too easy to be targeted." Xu Yong continued.
He refers to the Warriors' "Five Death Players". As the Warriors' trump card, the "Five Death Players" could be said to be a nightmare for opponents in that era. Especially in the beginning, it was often the Warriors who resorted to this attack. Fa, the game was immediately ruined.
But even then, the Warriors rarely use the "Death Five" in the starting lineup, because the average height is too short, and the opponent will be very passive in the beginning to catch your weakness inside.
Thibodeau obviously didn't expect this. He thought for a while and then nodded seriously.
In the two games against the Mavericks and the Spurs, the Bulls were passive at the beginning and could not regain the initiative later on.
"When we play against the Lakers, I will arrange for Jermaine to start." Thibodeau said his arrangement.
Xu Yong did not raise any objection.
O'Neal Jr. has mid-range, is already a kaleidoscope in the low post at this stage, and even has good rebounding ability, which matches well with Yao Ming.
But O'Neal's injury risk is a big problem. If Xu Yong remembers correctly, O'Neal only played more than 20 games in Boston this season before being reimbursed for the season.
If it weren't for this, the Bulls wouldn't have been able to sign him for 5 million a year.
But it's hard to talk about injuries. You have to know that even if he is a starter, O'Neal's pressure will be much less with Yao Ming.
But it's hard to talk about injuries. You have to know that even if he is a starter, O'Neal's pressure will be much less with Yao Ming.
With the decision made, Thibodeau asked Malone to practice according to the adjusted lineup during the training session the next day.
O'Neal looked very excited.
His choice to sign with the Bulls for 5 million in the summer shows that he has pursuits, but in these five games he was a bit embarrassed. He was not as effective as O'Neal as a substitute center, and he couldn't get much playing time as a substitute power forward, so he was a bit marginalized.
Now that he suddenly became the starter, he was very motivated and even tried to dunk O'Neal.
The intensity of the Bulls' training quickly increased.
These old guys have played too many games, and their desire to compete really needs something like this to stimulate them.
…
On the night of the second day, the arena at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was full.
The Lakers and Knicks have always been the top two teams in the league in terms of market value, and Kobe Bryant is the team's guarantee for selling tickets, and every game is basically full.
Not to mention that in addition to the duel between the two strong players tonight, there is an additional topic, that is, O'Neal is back in Los Angeles.
Although the OK group has buried the hatchet over the years, O'Neal always attracts attention every time he returns to Los Angeles.
During the warm-up before the game, the on-site photographer was looking for O'Neal's lens. O'Neal and Yao Ming were talking and laughing there. This scene under the spotlight is very classic.
While Xu Yong was warming up, he saw Swift again on the bench.
The arena where Swift has appeared most often is the Staples Center, and it was just a coincidence that she went to Chicago before.
Swift did not sit in the front row of the auditorium this time, but sat in the middle near the audience aisle with her friends holding a large bag of popcorn.
When the camera turned to her, she waved wildly, looking like she didn't have any celebrity look at all.
The warm-up ended quickly and the opening ceremony began.
The Bulls took the lead as the visiting team, with Rose, Tony Allen, Xu Yong, O'Neal Jr. and Yao Ming.
When he saw the Bulls' starting lineup, Phil Jackson's expression from the Lakers was stunned for a moment.
The Lakers came on the scene as the home team, with Fisher, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol, and Bynum, a lineup that Lakers fans are no longer familiar with.
During the final tactical arrangements before the game, Phil Jackson rarely used a tactical board to draw and talk a lot.
It can be seen that Thibodeau's starting adjustment caught the Lakers off guard.
The short whistle sounded on the sidelines, and the starting lineups of both sides came on stage one after another.
Kobe looked very relaxed before taking the court, and even chatted with his old friend Nicholson on the sidelines.
Although his personal statistics this season are not very impressive, compared with the beginning of last season, the entire team is healthy and he has won consecutive games, so he is naturally in a good mood.
Yao Ming and Bynum's jump ball in the center circle.
As the referee blew the whistle, Bynum took the lead and moved the ball back to the Lakers half, and the game officially started.
After the Lakers advanced to the frontcourt, Fisher gave the ball to Gasol in the low post on the strong side.
The Lakers still play the triangle offense, and Phil Jackson's game plan is to attack the Bulls' power forward's weak point.
The Bulls' sudden adjustment to the starting lineup caught Jackson off guard, but he did not temporarily change the game strategy, but arranged more details.
For example, Kobe didn't move much in the opening game. At this time, he needs to make more off-ball moves on the weak side.
However, Jackson's arrangement did not succeed, because Allen followed Kobe like a ghost.
When Thibodeau replaced O'Neal Jr. as the starter, he was also considering who to replace. In the end, after weighing the balance, he chose Artest because Allen's defensive effect was obviously better against Kobe.
Facts have proved that his choice was very prophetic.
Gasol turned around and saw that Kobe had no chance. Ariza in the strong side corner was also stared at by Xu Yong. He directly chose to attack in the low post.
A highly personal back-up bend to sense the defensive center of gravity, and then a fake turn to turn around and attack the basket.
I have to say that Gasol's low post skills are quite beautiful.
However, O'Neal did not lose his defensive position. He kept trying to destroy the ball in Gasol's hands while retreating.
The two fought to the basket, and finally Gasol suddenly used his strength to squeeze away O'Neal and smashed the ball into the basket with his right hand, giving the Lakers the first advantage.
When Kobe was retreating, he smiled and found Gasol for a high-five. Since his outstanding performance in last season's finals, Gasol is now almost a power forward on the same level as Nowitzki, Duncan and Garnett.
Phil Jackson also raised his eyebrows. He could have temporarily adjusted his tactics, but in the end he chose to believe in Gasol, and Gasol lived up to his expectations.
Thibodeau moved his body at this time, and O'Neal had to face Gasol as soon as he started. This was not an easy task.
In the Bulls' positional attack, Xu Yong came out to catch the ball and didn't have a direct chance to make a shot. Just when he was about to start a pick-and-roll tactic, O'Neal was asking for the ball in the low post with his back to Gasol.
Obviously he wanted to fight back after being hit by Gasol just now.
Xu Yong knew Thibodeau's tactical adjustments and naturally knew the importance of O'Neal. He stretched out his hand to signal to pull away and then hoisted the ball in.
After receiving the ball, O'Neal Jr. turned around and chose to attack facing the frame. He made a fake move to break through to the free throw line, and suddenly changed direction and broke through from the baseline.
He looks a little heavier now, but his change of direction is not slow at all.
When Gasol reacted, it was too late to stop him from breaking through. He could only use his body to squeeze O'Neal, trying to squeeze him out of the baseline.
This strategy is correct, but O'Neal's steps are big. After two steps, he has already crossed the basket, and then suddenly makes a counterattack.
"Bang!"
He smashed the ball into the basket with one hand!
There was a commotion in the place.
O'Neal responded with a pretty tough dunk.
After dunking, O'Neal also bulged his muscles with his hands and turned around and roared at Gasol.
Who isn't an All-Star power forward?
There was another person who was very excited at this time.
Yao Ming took the initiative to high-five O'Neal while retreating.
It may be a bit sad to say it, but this is the first time he has a serious and capable inside partner.
I sit in front of the computer typing every day, and I have almost forgotten what life is like. Today when I was taking a break, I saw an up owner from Station B taking pictures of catching crabs in the river and catching fish in the fields. It really felt like I was back in my childhood. I felt like I was a kid. It’s two different worlds than the one we live in now.
(End of chapter)
