Leonard scored four points in the first quarter and made two mid-range shots. If someone tells you that this guy's offense helped the Pacers open up the situation, it's going to make people laugh.

4 points, two mid-range shots, how to open up the situation? I can do it too.

However, this is really the case. In the tactics of the Thibodeau plan, Leonard can be safely emptied of this. And those who let go of Leonard can naturally focus on other people.

But when Leonard was able to shoot those open spots, the Bulls' defense had to make changes. As soon as there is a discrepancy between the plan and the actual game, there will be a loophole!

And this small hole was enough for the Pacers to take the lead after the first quarter.

As a result, Leonard, who only hit two mid-range shots and scored only 4 points, became a stone in Thibodeau's heart. How to defend Leonard? Do you keep putting it or don't give him room to shoot?

At this point, Henson remembered a metaphor used by the media.

There are two bottles of poison in front of you, and it's up to you to choose.

After the start of the second quarter, both sides switched back to the main lineup. Although in the first quarter of the game Lore. Deng had been playing for 10 minutes, but he still showed up again at the start of the second quarter.

In the past two seasons, since Thibodeau coached the Bulls, Lore. Deng's playing time is more than 39 minutes! I have to say that Xibodu is really ruthless than anyone else when he starts the main force. But what's even more ruthless is that "British Jordan" not only did not cause injury problems because of this terrible playing time, but Lore has been playing for two seasons. Deng has hardly ever missed a game.

This is really a typical wish, a wish.

The battle between the two starters, it was another defensive battle. Derek. Rose continued his non-scoring "performance", and it could be seen that last season's MVP had a poor hand today, and he couldn't even put the ball in for a breakthrough layup when he encountered a tough defense. It seems that Rose's offensive form today is not as good as John's on the bench. Lucas III.

On the Pacers' side, although Paul's strong court vision allows him to easily find teammates who have opportunities, the Bulls' defense is too fast. They were always able to snuff out chances before the Pacers players could take them.

As a result, after a slightly fluid offense in the final moments of the first quarter, the two sides once again fell into a situation of fighting defense. Henson and Thibodeau didn't think there was anything wrong with that, but the slow tempo and the frequent interruptions of the game due to fouls and mistakes all the time made fans feel drowsy.

Finally, in the 7th minute of the first quarter, Thibodeau took the lead in substitution. He took Rose, who had only one shot in the first half, and put John Brown. Lucas came on early.

The purpose of this substitution is very clear: even the defensive idiot Thibodeau wants to score!

The fans were instantly excited, and the dreary defensive battle was finally over!

John. Lucas's performance today was truly magical, hitting a three-pointer as soon as he came on the court, and the effect of Thibodeau's substitution was immediate.

But equally, Paul was able to focus more on offense after being freed from the defensive end. So in the final moments of the second quarter, Paul scored consecutive points, and his agile breakthroughs and unpredictable rhythms beat the Bulls' proud defense to the ground.

At the start of the game, Paul showed his determination with a flying save. Therefore, in today's game, "Queen Bee" played very hard.

The reason why he had only scored four points before that was because Paul put that determination into defense. Look at Rose's shooting percentage and you can see how hard Paul is trying.

At this time, Rose was off, and Paul could finally let go of his hands and feet to attack. Thibodeau was anxiously moving from the sidelines, and his fears were fulfilled.

Rose's form, Paul's defense...... The Bulls used to be the most proud No. 1 position, but now they are suppressed!

So, after halftime, Rose shot 1 of 9 and only scored 2 points! Since that shot, Rose has gone through the embarrassment of not scoring for a full 22 minutes, which is not what an MVP-caliber player should perform.

The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, also trailed 43-50. The 7-point difference is also the largest score difference in this game so far!

"After Ross went down, Chris. Paul was completely liberated. His last-minute performance of seven consecutive points is the main reason why the Pacers are now able to take the lead. Fortunately, the Bulls' bench players played well today, otherwise, the point difference might have been widened! "Mike. Brin looked at the statistics of the first half of the game, and the Bulls now scored the most points. Lucas III!

Don't think Thibodeau will be happy about this, because such a statistic only indicates that the Bulls' offense has a huge problem!

In this regard, Ross himself felt extremely angry. That's right, it's anger. Not angry Chris. Paul, but he was angry with himself.

Back in the locker room, Thibodeau noticed that Rose was sharp-eyed, gritted and geared up, as if he wanted to get back on the pitch and take on Paul now.

But Thibodeau also knows very well that it is not enough to have a warm blood. Whether Thibodeau wants to admit it or not, the Pacers' defense is making it difficult for Rose to get on his feet, and that's true.

If Rose is to score like an MVP, Thibodeau will have to work more on offense that he's not good at. The current Pacers are no longer something that Rose can beat by his own ability.

Although the half-time break was only 15 minutes, it was clear that all the fans who were following the match were already impatient. So when Henson was the first to appear on the basketball court, reporters on the sidelines immediately found him.

"The Pacers played really well in the first half, how do you keep the advantage in the second half?" The reporter couldn't wait to hand the microphone to Henson's mouth.

"There's no way to hold on to the advantage, it's going to be a tough fight, man. Unless the 48 minutes are over, no one dares to say that he can hold on to the advantage. Henson didn't taunt his opponent as he used to, nor did he put on that arrogant posture.

Henson is well aware that the Bulls, who eliminated themselves last season, cannot be defeated so easily! It's only a 7-point difference, and the Pacers are still close to the standard of "safe ashore".

Before the start of the second half, Henson deliberately pulled Paul to whisper a few words. No one knows what the Pacers said to the two brains on and off the court, but just seeing these two guys secretly plotting, Thibodeau could probably be shocked into a cold sweat.

Finally, the much-anticipated game continued with the second half of the showdown. The Bulls clearly made a change, with Thibodeau replacing Hamilton, who had barely performed today, with Brewer as the starter for the second half. It looked like the Bulls were going to step up their offense, and Thibodeau brought up everyone who could score.

Sure enough, in the first round, Rose used his coquettish break to attract the defenders, and then stuffed the ball into Noah's hands amid the siege of several people.

Noah, who looks like a bum, is really simple and rude, and after receiving the ball, he directly smashed the dunk and scored the first point of the second half for the Bulls!

"Hmm...... Sure enough, Rose stopped playing alone on his own. In the second half, the Bulls will certainly increase the number of times they pass the ball. Henson wasn't surprised to see the dunk. No matter how obsessed with defense is, now the Bulls have to work on the offensive end.

However, the Bulls players didn't have long to be happy, and Paul immediately responded with a mid-range pullup jumper after a cover.

Paul's pull-up jumper is what Henson thinks the team is the most stable, and this guy's shot is very comfortable, as if as long as he throws the ball, he will definitely score.

Thibodeau's emphasis in the second half was to let the players block Paul's passing lanes as much as possible and prevent the Pacers from continuing to play more blossoming performances. As everyone knows, Paul simply didn't pass the ball to watch, but continued the state at the last moment of the second quarter and chose to attack by himself.

Is this a coincidence? Or is it a tactical arrangement? Why is Henson always able to predict his own setups? Thibodeau found that the "half-" he once looked down on had become more and more difficult to deal with.

After the next goal, Rose first burst the ball to Brewer, and Brewer made another breakthrough and passed the ball back to Rose. The latter jumped high from beyond the three-point line and hit the basketball. It seems that Rose's offensive feel is back in the second half.

But Henson is very clear that this is not the transformation of Rose alone, but the transformation of the entire offense of the Bulls. Instead of relying on the individual abilities of their stars, they used some more complex balls. Take the opening two goals as an example, they were both goals that led to assists.

In this way, Paul's defensive pressure will be reduced, because the offensive points are also distributed.

So in the next round, Paul broke through again with a pick-and-roll. Brewer immediately switched to Paul, and Rose went to block George's catch.

But Paul still didn't pass, and he used a very beautiful change of body to pass Brewer, which caused a burst of exclamations from the audience.

Just as Brewer was exhausted and reflexively pursued, the cunning Paul retreated again. The continuous change of center of gravity made Brewer stumble under his feet and almost fall to the ground!

So, in the midst of the audience's exclamations, Paul stepped back and made a jumper. Another steady middle distance, basketball into the net!

"Continue to hold the edge, Chris. Paul continued his excellent scoring form in the final period of the second quarter! If the first half of the game was a defensive battle, then the second half was a wonderful attack! ”

Watching Paul score again, Henson nodded in satisfaction and stood on the sidelines applauding the players.

"Rose won't be obsessed with going head-to-head with you anymore, so you can focus more on the offensive end. Destroy them with your score just like you did! ”

Before half-time, Henson muttered in Paul's ear.

Previously, once Rose started scoring like crazy, it was difficult for the Pacers to cope. But this season, I also have a superstar who can dominate the game!