After the start of the second quarter, Zhang Mao did not go to rest, he wanted to seize this rotation time to beat the Bulls, forcing Jordan and Pippen to stay on the court with him, especially Pippen, a weak guy.

The two teams were evenly matched in the first quarter, and the Bulls players did not rely on their individual ability to pull away from the Lakers, but the issue of physical strength had to be considered.

If they continue to play, will the Bulls be able to maintain this rhythm in the second half, or in the fourth quarter?

Don Nelson also had to take into account the physical problems of the players, so he replaced the older Jordan and Barkley in the second quarter, and chose to keep Pippen and Van Exel in the lead, and by the way, he also lost Rodman.

Rodman didn't mention it for a moment, Pippen's current physical condition is not very good, youth does not mean physical fitness, Don Nelson made this choice less than a minute before regretting it, because Pippen fell directly holding his ankle in a defense without physical contact.

"Awesome, the system really didn't lie to me, it doesn't seem to be going bankrupt!"

The first thing Zhang Yu thought about in his heart was not whether Pippen was dead or alive, but thought of Apple's stock, which had fallen to $5.4 a share today, and thought that he had started to collect it when he was $9 a share, and now he has lost nearly half.

If Apple really goes bankrupt in the near future, then the additional $150 million he invested before will be all in vain, and bankruptcy is also in sight.

However, Pippen's fall to the ground gave him more confidence in the system, and it seems that the system really didn't lie to him, the apple was still saved, and the new product in Jobs's mouth may not be fooling him.

Today, starting from the first quarter, Zhang Qian used the constant change of direction to break through Pippen, many times he didn't score by himself, and chose to pass more after the breakthrough, but he still broke through first, in order to test Pippen's body.

To be honest, today, and even this season, Pippen is still too heavy on the defensive task. Barkley on the inside will not always fill in for him, and the Bulls players still have to focus on offense, so the task of defense is mostly done by him alone, and he also has to protect the rebound, such a heavy pressure makes Pippen unable to bear it, and his ankle finally has a problem.

In fact, Pippen from another time and space was reimbursed for half a season, and it was earlier. Now that I can persist until now, it is estimated that it is inseparable from the hard training in the summer. If it's not for the indulgence of private life, players who train hard are generally not prone to injury.

The human body is sometimes fragile, but sometimes it is also tenacious beyond your imagination, and it depends on your own hard work.

Zhang Qi is not surprised at all that Pippen is just twisting and GG, they are athletes with extraordinary physical talents, if they fall hard, it may not be a big deal. Even if your body is in a state of fatigue, but the movement is large, it means that your entire body's emergency mechanism will be activated, and your core strength will protect you from too serious injuries.

But falling on the ground is fatal, this kind of injury without much movement, usually a certain joint part suffers injury alone, and the core strength does not play a big role at this time, so an injury may be a major injury, and it is the kind that leaves hidden dangers.

Pippen suffered a foot injury in another time and space, plus a back injury in the playoffs, and his athleticism was greatly reduced since then, and he basically bid farewell to the All-Star rank, but fortunately, the Rockets who were wronged in the second year gave him a pension contract, otherwise the second brother would have vomited blood and died.

"Wait, what's the deal?"

The biggest thought of the Bulls management at this moment is not how Pippen's injury is, but his injury, which has already talked about the key stage of the transaction, how to proceed?

Now only Don Nelson knows in the entire arena that the rumors of that trade are not only true, but that they are going exceptionally well.

Grant Hill's personal will played a key role in the middle, and his agent put pressure on the Pistons to trade Hill if they can't trade a true All-Star by January.

They didn't say "otherwise" about it, but the Pistons could guess that Hill wouldn't be fighting hard for this team anymore, and that when his contract expired in two years, he wouldn't be with the Pistons anymore, and there would be nothing left in Motor City at that time.

This has happened a lot in the NBA, and the Pistons know that instead of holding on to Hill, it is better to trade him now and start a rebuild as soon as possible.

The Bulls are willing to trade Pippen and Rodman, especially since Pippen's contract will expire next year, and the Pistons have to accept it even if they are not satisfied, because Hill himself prefers to go to the strong Bulls rather than a certain fish belly team, so it is better to stay with the Pistons.

But the Pistons are more inclined to the Timberwolves' offer, and the Minnesotans are willing to trade Stephen Marbury + Tom Gogliotta for Hill, which is the Pistons' most inclined offer, because the loss is not too much, and if Marbury grows into an All-Star point guard in the future, they will not suffer at all.

Now that Pippen is injured, I am afraid that the transaction will be variable, and the Pistons naturally have a reason to reject the Bulls' offer, and if you Hill wants to leave, my Pistons will not give it any more strength, then it will not be able to make the old club so miserable, and it will not be the team that will be criticized by public opinion at that time.

The Bulls still have a difficult problem in front of them, not what to do with today's game, but once the Bulls lose Pippen, how to play the next regular season?

Of course, Zhang Mao's side is Meizizi, no matter how Pippen is, he can make his attack very uncomfortable, and now this guy is hitting the street, and he still doesn't do what he wants?

However, both sides underestimated the depth of the Bulls' roster, and there was another Kukoc, who had worked hard all summer, and the Croatian, who had been scolded all summer, had a higher three-point shooting percentage this year than the two of Joppies, who also worked hard.

Although I don't know if there has been a qualitative change in Kukoc, who has always been sharp in the regular season but has been sluggish in the playoffs, at least this year's Kukoc has become sharper in the regular season, which is progress.

Don Nelson's heavy attacking and light defensive style of play is also more suited to Kukoc and Van Exel, who is always ignored.

Zhang Wei didn't expect to fold a Pippen, but Van Exel and Kukic were activated, Rodman could also have more playing time, he and Marshall could both pass the No. 3 position, and the strength of the Bulls was not affected too much.

The Lakers didn't expect the Bulls' bench depth to be so amazing, especially that Kukoc and Marshall, these two guys' three-point shots were like hanging in the second quarter, how to shoot and how to have, especially Marshall, a figure who has never heard of, has such an accurate three-point shot for Mao?

Don Nelson watched from the sidelines with a smile, Marshall was a surprise for the Bulls in the summer, in addition to the defense and rebounding are not bad, and the mid-range shot is also stable, there is also a three-point shot with a convulsion, and he once played an amazing performance of 13 three-pointers in a single game in the team's training game, which made Jordan can't help but give a thumbs up.

Marshall was a little convulsive today, the Lakers players said they didn't know what was going on, obviously Pippen hit the street shortly after the start of the second quarter, but after the quarter, they went from leading by 4 points to trailing by 5 points, what is the situation?

Zhang was unhappy with the performance of the No. 3 and No. 4 positions at halftime, how could they let those two guys shoot six three-pointers in one quarter? But after thinking about it carefully, I found that it was wrong, because he himself was the third position, isn't this scolding himself?

Harris found that Mason, a big forward who can shoot from a distance this year, basically didn't succeed a few times, and every time he was used to fly a kite with flexible feet, his 280-pound figure was too bloated, and the sense of defense and defense was really bad, who made him an outlier born for single defense. The NBA in another time and space only began to allow joint defense after '01, when Mason had already retired, so his flaws under the new rules were never exposed.

Harris still chose to trust him in the second half, and the result was that Zhang Yu used the breakthrough to score 16 points in a single quarter, but the Lakers were 6 points behind the Bulls.

Harris also began to scratch his head, strictly speaking, the Bulls' offense is not particularly fast, they just have a fast pace of offense after they are in position, which is a variant of Don Nelson's small-ball tactics for the Bulls.

In the first three quarters, he basically didn't see that the Bulls had too many off-ball cover and running tactics, and as soon as they entered the offensive position, they began to use their individual ability to attack, and the so-called coordination was simple blocking, breakout, and pulling away singles. The Lakers pass the ball if they are in the bag, and anyway, even if Pippen is off the court, these players also have the ability to break and pass, everyone can pass the ball under the bag, and then let the other person continue to attack with the ball.

Kukoc and Marshall were able to get so many three-point shots because the Lakers players had to be distracted to help defend Jordan, Van Exel, and Barkley with the ball, and all three of them were a threat on their own, especially when the Bulls were in excellent form as a team.

This is also Don Nelson's true intention, since I can't play you better than cooperating, then I will fight with you for personal ability, if it is just in time for my player to be in good shape, then I will have the opportunity to reason with you and use my personal ability to defeat you.

Today is the home court of the Bulls again, and as long as the home team players score, the scene will erupt in an overwhelming cheer!

These off-court factors have kept the confidence of the Bulls players, especially the team's morale, high, and invisibly narrowed the gap in coordination, and the Lakers have never been able to play offensive waves to take away opponents at this pace.

Zhang Qi began to smell defeat, he had scored 40 points in the first three quarters, but still could not lead the team to overtake the score, which is not a good sign. Now the Lakers still have a certain amount of morale, and it is completely the buff of 23 consecutive wins supporting them. But to overtake the score, they have to play an attacking wave, at least to make the Bulls' offense less smooth.

"We can't continue to play against them, patience and discipline are essential factors for champions, and since the enemy is gaining momentum, then we will switch to a defensive stance and wear down their spirits."

Before the start of the fourth quarter, Zhang made another decision for the head coach, completely forgetting one thing, that is, at halftime, Harris seemed to say something similar.

But where were the Lakers willing to retreat at that time, of course they were unwilling to give up the attack with the Bulls, so there was the embarrassment of losing 1 point in the third quarter, which was the result of being willful.

But there is a question, are the Lakers disciplined?

Of course there is, but Zhang Qi must be allowed to speak to have an effect, and only when he says "let's make a wave" can the Lakers calm down and execute.

Harris deliberately replaced Zhang Qian before the end of the third quarter, not to rest him, but to calm him down. He knew that as soon as Zhang Qi stopped, he should be able to figure out how to fight to lead to victory.

This is where he is suitable for instructing koala babies, as soon as Zhang Qian sat down here, he quickly calmed down and knew what to do in a while.

The Lakers players got real orders, reverted to a patient positional play in the fourth quarter, and no longer shot blindly against the Bulls.

This behavior was naturally ridiculed by the home fans, because they were cowardly!

Zhang Fu is not affected, now maintaining the winning streak is the top priority, cowardice, if you win, the statement will be completely different, and if you lose, you will be criticized as brainless and reckless. Even if English is not as broad and profound as Chinese characters, a passage can still change its meaning depending on the outcome of winning or losing.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers stopped playing indiscriminately, but also gave up their own not too proficient joint defensive formation, decisively hit people and marked, and replaced Mason, who had been flying kites, with Big Ben to increase the mobility of the interior line.

The Bulls' lineup is not easy to defend with joint defense, all of their interior lines can pull out shots, even three-point shots, and under the restrictions of rules such as the three-second zone, there will always be a large gap under the basket, Mutombo said that he is tired and does not make up for his broken leg.

It's different when people mark people, Lakers players don't need to think too much about positioning and strategy, the truth is similar to the Bulls' offense, when to fill the position you take your own attention, when to cover your own forced number, in the end, it's nothing, you can do it!

Zhang Zhu can be described as a father and a mother here, if he doesn't play with his life, Jordan, Barkley, Van Exel's attacks are difficult to defend alone, and he must give his teammates some support.

He chose to support the inside line, Barkley is not the most threatening of the three, but Big Ben is a lot less experienced, and he is afraid that he will collapse if he doesn't help. Kidd's side can still cope with Van Exel's offense, Jordan will let it go, anyway, there is Mutombo on the inside to parry, and Finley in the middle distance to die, if you have the ability, you can shoot us with a three-point shot!

Once again, the Lakers chose to ignore Jordan's three-pointers, regardless of your previous shooting percentage. He still remembers that Jordan's three-point shot in the regular season last year was also good, but it was like in the playoffs, which shows that under high pressure, his three-point shot is still unreliable, baby, I just look down on you now, what's wrong?

This kind of defense has had some effect, at least the Bulls can't play a fast-paced offense, they can't find opportunities after three or two passes, and they have to increase the number of passes. And as soon as the number of passes is more, the Lakers' advantages in cooperation will be brought into play.

However, the defense is just to stabilize their position, and the real change for the Lakers is still in the offense - they began to increase the number of passes, no longer follow the beat of the Bulls' blind play, and each offense must find a way to create a good enough shooting opportunity before shooting, so as to increase the scoring efficiency.

In this way, the enemy's scoring efficiency will be affected, and his own efficiency will not be reduced at least, and he will slowly establish an advantage in one and second time, and when the enemy's patience is worn out, then it will be time for them to kill with one blow.

The Lakers' wave this year has been played like this, this time it is just a little willful, but the source of willfulness is still its own strength and confidence, and it is by no means a fool who waves out of thin air.

In the fourth quarter, Zhang Zhu forced Kukic to win on his first offense, and when Barkley and Marshall arrived, they could only witness Zhang Qi take the lead to complete the shot.

Today's Bulls' defense is like this, unless it is wrapped at the beginning, it is difficult to form an effective co-defense against Zhang Mao's breakthrough, and the level of this Bulls on the defensive end has obviously declined.

The Zen master showed a satisfied smile in front of the TV, and secretly laughed in his heart: "Want to beat the Lakers with offense? Dream on! ”

The Lakers are also different on the defensive end, they have become more patient, they have begun to emphasize execution and coordination, and they can no longer be affected by the random offensive rhythm of defense.

Kidd began to pestering Van Exel from the backcourt, and Zhang Mao also kept an eye on Kukoc, intending to force Jordan to attack with the ball himself. In this way, the Lakers can judge the direction of the Bulls' offense. Lao Mu has been staring at Jordan on the inside, and the subtext is: If you dare to come, I will elbow you!

Jordan couldn't pass the ball to the sides, and it wasn't time to shoot a three-pointer, so he had to throw the ball to Barkley.

Barkley tried to arch the dead Ben behind him twice, and it felt like it was going to be more strenuous than last year, but it was still impossible to carry his buttocks, and after arching twice, Big Ben was still pouted and took two steps back.

Zhang Yu quickly came to support, and Barkley saw this and passed the ball to Kukoc.

Kidd made a prediction this time, and Kukoc's idea of wanting to shoot right away gave up, and he turned around to pass the ball to Van Exel.

"I've arrived early!"

Zhang turned around almost at the same time as Kidd's pre-judgment help got to Kukoc's side, rushing to Van Exel, and the two switched defenses perfectly to make the Bulls' pass no longer possible.

"Give me the ball!"

Jordan moved in on Kukoc, and the two made a hand-to-hand pass, and the latter immediately pulled the man to the far end.

Finley and Kidd looked at each other at this time, and the two chose to pounce on Jordan at the same time, not caring where Kukoc was going, they knew that Zhang Qi would help them with this problem.

Jordan hesitated, at this time passing seemed to be the most correct choice, but he wanted to go straight to Huanglong, in fact, there was this entanglement, indicating that he still did not fully adapt to the defense under the new rules.

This hesitation, Jordan was immediately surrounded by the two, and Zhang Mao's side blocked the passing route, if it weren't for the dribbling skills, Jordan might not be able to hold on for a few seconds and be broken by the two together.

"Get out of here!"

Jordan was furious, because Van Exel made a wrong judgment at this time, he wanted to come over to answer, of course, the intention was good, but he also ignored the new rules, because this action brought Zhang Yu over.

At this time, Jordan couldn't get the ball out, and the route was completely blocked by four people, including Van Exel, because Jordan definitely couldn't give the ball to him, which was naturally equivalent to being surrounded by four people.

"Toot!"

The referee silently counted five in his heart, and the sixth step really couldn't be counted anymore, because it was the prerogative of the koala baby, and this ball Jordan walked.

Zhang Qi muttered to Jordan at this time: "Can 5 steps also be called walking?" ”

These words made Jordan even more angry, and immediately scolded Van Exel, which translates to "Don't come over, you don't understand people, come here and you are paralyzed"!

Seeing this, Zhang Yu quietly poked Kidd, who immediately made a move that made his headlines the next day - I saw that Xiao Zhengtai actually walked up to the two of them and began to fan the flames, gloating and slapping him, and of course, the underwhelming smile that imitated a koala baby.