At the beginning of the second game, James played extremely fiercely.

Jimmy Butler only learned at this time that James who was up to him in front of him was not in perfect shape at all.

However, it was Zhang Xiaotian who scored first, and when he received James's ball, he raised his hand to put three points into the basket.

As his three-point ability improved, his threat in the first three quarters grew.

The biggest headache for the Bulls is James's mid-range shooting, James' shooting can be described as ineffective, of course, his accuracy is based on the All-Star level.

It is much more difficult to defend when James shoots accurately, and after he has attacked a few in a row, the Celtics' defense can be described as a rumor, Zhang Xiaotian and Irving are the beneficiaries of it, and they hit three points in a row after receiving the ball on the outside.

Outside of the defensive end, the Bulls are more troublesome on the offensive end.

The Bulls had to make adjustments, starting with giving up Noah, who struggled to fit in with the team on the offensive end of the playoffs.

Noah has the ability to play, and he also wants the ball, but this time the Bulls have Rose, and Jimmy Butler is the new core, and one ball is not enough to score.

And Rose and Jimmy Butler are also a bit incompatible in their style of play, because the team defends well, and the problems on the offensive end will be covered up in the front.

Against a team like the Cavaliers that can tear through their defense, the Bulls' problems are exposed at once.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Bulls had not yet reacted, James and Zhang Xiaotian both scored double-doubles in the first quarter, and the Cavaliers led the opponent by 20 points at once.

Then the Cavaliers were much more relaxed, David Blatter boldly used the ten-man rotation, and Perkins, the firefighting insider, finally got a chance to warm up.

The Bulls have been chasing points, but not much.

When James has a good shooting hand, whether it is a two-interior lineup or a big and four small, it is difficult for the Cavaliers to restrict.

It wasn't until the last quarter that the Bulls recovered 4 points, but Zhang Xiaotian made two three-pointers, and the score gap expanded to 20 points, which is a desperate gap.

In the end, in the second half of the final quarter, the two sides withdrew the main force, and the bench, which was difficult to have a chance to play, went up and cooled.

The Cavaliers defeated the Bulls 110-91, and still held the home court without two important rotations, Zhang Xiaotian scored 29 points and 8 rebounds, which was the same as James who cut 33+8+8, which was an absolutely strong performance.

Speaking after the game, James said: "We are missing two players, so I have to play more aggressively. Even I'm going to be more aggressive than I usually am and I'm really happy to be able to help the team win tonight. ”

Brad was also in a good mood, "It's a typical LeBron, very aggressive, he's in attack mode, he's very committed, leading his brothers forward. ”

The victory also hit the confidence of the Bulls, who had expected to take advantage of the Cavaliers' lack of major generals to win the road, but the result was too far from what they expected.

Smith is coming back soon, and if they can't solve the problem of a weak offense, their playoff journey may end here.

On the same day, the showdown between the Western Rockets and the Clippers was much more intense.

Harden said before the game, "I don't think we should take them lightly because we don't have Paul, we have to work harder." In the last game, it was as if we were stuck in a quagmire in all four quarters. The second battle has to be better and I'm sure we will. ”

But thanks to Gryffindor's strong play, the Rockets were behind until the final quarter.

In the final quarter, Harden exploded and scored 16 points, and Howard also sent two key blocks, and the Rockets finally reversed to save a home court.

However, the Rockets made 64 free throws in this game, setting a new single-game record in the playoffs in team history and the second-highest number in all games in team history.

For such a peculiar game, Clippers coach Doc Rivers also complained in a slightly joking tone, "Did they make 117 free throws today...... Of course, some of this is because we deliberately fouled it...... But let's be honest, we could have won the game. ”

Clippers driver Blake Griffin was also a little unhappy with the referee's decision, "When the opponent makes 64 free throws and hits more than we combined, we can't win a few games." ”

On the Rockets' side, center Howard said: "It was a tough win, they were a tenacious team and they never gave up. ”

Either way, the playoffs are a winner's game, and the Clippers can only be upset.

The second round is more packed than the first, and the Cavaliers have to travel to the road on the day off.

The Bulls said before the game that they want to show the better side at home.

Within the team, there is also a temporary unity of thought, although Rose has been playing and stopping in recent years, and his previous performance has been up and down, but the Bulls still plan to make Rose the first core of the team.

After all, Butler is either facing James or Zhang Xiaotian, the pressure on the defensive end is greater, and he is better at defense.

Of course, this is just a statement, the key is that Jimmy Butler is younger and has a better personality, he can take a step back, and Rose is difficult to be the auxiliary one regardless of his personality or style of play.

Truth be told, after letting Rose get more balls, the Bulls didn't improve much on the offensive end.

However, the tactics are clear, and the team performance is still better.

Another change for the Bulls is the activation of Mirotic, who played soy sauce in the first two games, which is the biggest change on their offensive end, although Mirotic is a rookie, he is not a rookie in the professional league, and his performance on the offensive end can be described as remarkable.

On the Cavaliers' side, Smith's comeback performance as the sixth man can only be described as mediocre.

So the Cavaliers, although they have a major rotation player, are playing a lot tougher on the road.

Fortunately, they have been adjusting long enough before that, and several of the main scoring points are full of energy, and they are not afraid of the fierce confrontation deliberately created by the Bulls.

At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers only led by 2 points, but they didn't care, the playoffs can't win every game, you fight for me until the last minute is the mainstream of the playoffs, the first game they lost at halftime, and now the score is leading everyone in a good mentality.

In fact, they didn't expect Mirotic to change in the first half, and at halftime, the team also made targeted arrangements.

In the second half, however, the real trouble came.

It has to be said that Rose is still a player with the temperament of a leader, and the iron in the first half did not dampen his confidence.

After halftime, his touch adjusted, and he successfully singled out Irving several times.

Of course, Irving was not convinced and wanted to get it back, but this time Irving's hand was very average, and the Bulls took the opportunity to overtake the score, and the atmosphere on the court became more tense.