At the end of the training, the three of them sat on the sidelines panting.

Tang Shuai let out a sigh of relief, picked up the water next to him and drank more than half of it, and then shook the sweat on his forehead.

"Don, I've heard that Luke is ready to start using small-ball tactics in the next game." At this moment, Brewer suddenly spoke.

"What?" Tang Shuai stopped and shook his head and looked at Brewer suspiciously.

"In the last game against the Spurs, Luke had already used a small lineup in the second half, and Paul and Harrison were the starting interior linemen." Brewer followed.

"Playing like this with the Spurs? Didn't get blown up? Tang Shuai said a little speechlessly, the interior combination of Aldridge and Duncan, which one can Barnes's small body prevent? Although Wharton treats Barnes as Green's envoy, he obviously doesn't have Green's defensive ability!

"Defensively, it's not good, but the offensive space is okay, and I heard Brian say that Luke will try the starting interior of Knowles and Harrison in the next game." Brewer continued.

"Luke announced?" Tang Shuai asked.

"It's almost announced, it should be eight or nine and ten." Brewer nodded.

Tang Shuai frowned, didn't the previous lineup play very well, why did he turn his head and try a small lineup? But when it comes to the pre-game training session against the Grizzlies, it seems that Wharton has already begun to experiment with the possibility of a small-ball lineup.

It seems that Wharton has a soft spot for small lineups.

"Isn't it nice to have a small lineup, and I have more opportunities to pass the ball when I play faster." Stephenson said disapprovingly.

"Hope...... That's a good thing. Tang Shuai paused and said, playing a small lineup means improving the offensive and defensive conversion, which is definitely an opportunity for a master of chaos like Stephenson, but the current lineup configuration, the first Barnes's ability at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends is obviously not as good as Green, and the second Lakers lineup does not have a second stable three-point point except for him, what is this for?

The next day, Wharton organized the daily training of his players as usual, and before the training session began, he announced the starting lineup for the next game in front of all the Lakers players.

Exactly like Brewer said, Wharton replaced Gasol with Barnes, and directly promoted Clarkson to the starting line-up, and Tang Shuai was moved to the No. 2 position.

The players didn't react much, and it seemed that they had known that this would be the arrangement, which was actually seen from the rumors that Brewer had gotten that Wharton was intentional.

Gasol's face was not very good-looking, but he didn't say anything, it should be that Wharton had communicated with him before.

After announcing the starting lineup, Wharton didn't explain too much and then began his daily training.

When the full-court confrontation was completed, returning to the familiar No. 2 position, Tang Shuai did feel a lot more comfortable on the field, but without Gasol's response, the rotation of the ball on the starting team's side was obviously not as smooth as in the previous games.

Tang Shuai still played efficiently in the face of Brewer's kraft candy defense, but Barnes on the inside was a little miserable by Gasol.

After 20 minutes of full-court confrontation, the bench team won 40-34.

ended the confrontation, originally thought that such a result would make Wharton reconsider the arrangement, but seeing that he didn't mean to summarize at all, he was determined to do so.

The Lakers will play at home, and their opponent is the Chicago Bulls.

Because of Jordan, the Bulls have always had a high status in the league, but when it comes to the team that has changed the most in the offseason, the Bulls are definitely one of them.

This offseason, the core of the team, Rose, was traded, Noah and Gasol also signed out of the Bulls as free agents, and the Bulls last season only had Butler as the core, but then signed Rondo and Wade, the core of the former Heat, in the free agent market, to make up for the team's strength.

On November 15, U.S. time, at the United Center Arena in Chicago, the bronze statue of Jordan maintained the posture of flying buckles, and a large number of fans poured into the stadium, and the new trident of Wade, Butler and Rondo made fans still full of infinite reverie for the Bulls in the new season.

The Bulls have played seven games before, and their 4-3 record is not too good, but they are still fifth in the West, just the same as the Lakers' ranking in the West.

"Victory!" With fans lining up to get in and a burst of shouts from time to time, Chicago's basketball atmosphere is definitely second to none in the league.

In the stadium, players on both sides came to the stadium early for pre-game training.

On the faces of the Lakers players, a feeling called dazed can be clearly identified, including Tang Shuai, who is unsure of Wharton's small lineup.

The game's commentators were Starkey King at home and Tracy McGrady, a new commentator from ESPN.

"Tracy, this is your first time commentating in an official match?" Kim spoke.

"Yes, for the first time, this is the first time I've officially commented on a game in a game." Maddie had a look of greenness on her face.

"Are you nervous right now?" Kim asked.

"No, I'm not going to be nervous...... Well, only a little. Maddie let out a hearty laugh.

"Haha, but don't be nervous, just imagine you as part of the competition."

"Yes, I can do it." Maddie nodded.

"Okay, let's look at today's game, today is the Lakers' away game against the Bulls, according to the usual practice of the commentators, you can predict the two teams, who will win the game?" Kim spoke.

"Oh no, it's ...... again," Maddie shook her head, having been asked to do that when he was talking about the All-Star in Toronto.

"It's conventional, you can't escape." Kim said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I think ......," Maddie dragged his chin in thought for a moment, then added, "The Lakers have a better chance of winning." ”

"Why do you think that?" Kim asked, as a commentator for the home team, he will definitely favor some home teams.

"Don, that guy still leads the league's scoring charts right now, he's going to be explosive in the new season, just like James did when he joined Houston, he's going to be one of the best shooting guards in the league, he's going to lead the team to win a lot of games." Maddie did not hesitate to praise Tang Shuai.

"I've heard that you and Tang met in China before, and had a one-on-one bullfight?" Kim spoke.

"Yes, it was once...... Amazing experience, I lost that bullfight, yes, I lost......" Maddie said and shook her head, "I was feeling, what? I lost to a rookie of the alliance, a Chinese? But ......"

"Look at Don's performance in the playoffs last season, look at how he's doing now, I think that's a normal thing, I'm old, I'm a 37-year-old guy. ”

"Haha......" Maddie's words made Kim laugh, and he followed, "Will you expect a showdown between Don and Wade?" ”

"yes, I expect that, but I don't think Hojberg (referring to Bulls head coach Hojborg) is going to arrange them for one-on-one matchups, I'm like Lajon (referring to Rondo) more often than not, and it's going to be a pair that people are looking forward to." Maddie followed.

"Yes, you're right, and in fact for Rajan, it's also a chance for him to redeem himself, he didn't live up to the team's expectations in Dallas and Sacramento, and joining Chicago is the best chance of redemption since he left Boston." Kim said in agreement.

"Toot ~"

As he said that, a long whistle blew on the sidelines, and the game entered the final three-minute countdown.

The starting line-ups of the two teams began to be posted on the big LED screen at the scene.

On the Bulls' side, Wade, Butler, and Rondo all appeared in the starting lineup, and the other two starters were Robin Lopez, who had just been traded from the Knicks, and Mirotic, who joined the team in 2014.

The Clippers have the same lineup as they did in practice, with Clarkson and Don Shuai as two guards, plus Barnes and Batum as two risks, and Noll on the inside.

It can be seen from the lineup that Wharton chose to use a small lineup in this game because of his considerations, although the Bulls' No. 4 Mirotic is 2.08 meters tall, 5 cm taller than Barnes, but it is also a three-point shot, love to play on the outside, and the two can face each other at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.

The fans had all entered the stadium and listened to the coach's final arrangements before the game, and the starters on both sides appeared one after another.

Gasol reached out and waved to the audience, which attracted a lot of cheers from the fans, Gasol played for the Bulls in the first two seasons, and his departure this offseason was also peaceful, and there is still a lot of popularity here.

Tang Shuai and Clarkson were the last to play, and Wharton told them a thousand times, hoping that they could bring the rhythm of the game up.

When Tang Shuai came on the court, he looked up at the top of his head.

Like Los Angeles, the Bulls have always been a big team, they have won a total of six championships, but unlike the Lakers, these six flags are all related to a man named Michael Jordan.

Just as he withdrew his gaze and looked down, he noticed that someone was watching him on the sidelines.

Turning his head, a cute baby face, his right hand pulled his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose, and he looked at him with winking eyes, it turned out to be Selena Gomez, who he hadn't seen for a long time, but unlike the previous two times, this time Swift was not with her.

Seeing that Tang Shuai had noticed her, a happy smile appeared on her face, and then she reached out and made a gesture to make a phone call.

Tang Shuai didn't respond, and turned his head back to the court.

Gomez stomped his foot angrily, but soon looked at the field with a smile on his face.

It was Lopez and Da Gasol who jumped the ball, Gasol was tall and long-armed, jumped up and pulled the ball back to the Lakers' half, and the game between the two sides officially began! (To be continued.) )