The Bulls led by as many as 19 points at halftime, and while the Mavericks still had Nowitzki, the team was not as balanced offensively and defensively as it had been in previous seasons.

In the second half, although Nowitzki slowly adapted to the defense of the defenders, he gradually increased his scores. However, the rest of the team was heavily defended by the Bulls and completely untouched. And the Bulls' defensive counterattack played well. At the end of the game, the Bulls finally defeated the Mavericks 109-85 on the road.

In this game, Sun Xiaotian only played the first three quarters, because the team had led the Mavericks by 28 points at the end of the third quarter.

Even so, Sun Xiaotian still got 18 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in the all-around data. Under his leadership, the Bulls dished out 32 assists as a team, and everyone became very selfless in sharing the ball. It can be seen that they were not affected by the defeat in the last game.

After Dallas, the Bulls' road trip continued. Thibodeau has expressed his dissatisfaction with the arduous schedule more than once, which he believes is simply devastating for the players.

Sun Xiaotian is very optimistic about the four consecutive visitors, and he believes that such a schedule is conducive to the test of the team's quality, and can test the team's resilience against these teams with very different tactical styles.

The Bulls' next opponent is the Houston Rockets, a team that the Bulls played against them during the China game. Although those two games were only pre-season, the intensity of the confrontation between the two teams in the two games was no less intense than in the regular season.

The Rockets currently have a 19-12 record and currently sit in seventh place in the Western Conference. As the most offensive firepower team in the league, the Rockets are averaging 107.4 points per game. The new season's emphasis on shelling tactics has become a hallmark of the Rockets. Tireless on the inside to grab rebounds, tireless on the outside to shoot three-pointers.

So far this season, the Rockets have topped the league in three-point shooting and field fielding. Averaging 11.4 three-pointers per game, many teams in the league are very afraid of their outside shooting.

Coincidentally, the league-wide limit opponents' outside shooting percentage, and the one that does the best is the Heat, and the other is the Bulls.

In the preseason game against the Rockets, the Bulls' excellent outside limiting ability made the Rockets' three-point power unplayable. Therefore, limiting the Rockets' extra line shooting is not difficult for the Bulls.

In addition to the Rockets' three-point shooting, another thing the Bulls need to watch out for is the Rockets' new season core James Harden.

Getting rid of the shadow of the Thunder's second youth, Harden came to the Rockets and got real growth. From a sixth man to a team leader, he seems to be very adaptable.

So far in the game, he has averaged 26.4 points per game, and he is currently fourth on the scoring list. So in this game, the confrontation between Sun Xiaotian and Harden will also become the focus -

Although on the home court of the Rockets, the Bulls almost overpowered the Rockets with their iron bucket defense throughout the game, and only allowed Jeremy Lin to get 4 points, 3 assists and 5 turnovers. However, with Harden's last-minute power, he led the Rockets to a 10-0 climax in the final moments to overtake the score, and finally won a 93-89 home victory over the visiting Bulls.

Harden scored 28 points and made five steals.

Speaking after the game, Thibodeau said, "We were exhausted from four games in six days, we could have won today, but at the end they took advantage of all the mistakes caused by our exhaustion. ”

In fact, both sides played very ugly in this game, and the Rockets' fluid bombardment tactics did not work under the Bulls' defense. And the Bulls failed to play an efficient offense because they took care of each other on both offensive and defensive ends.

Throughout the game, Sun Xiaotian was wrestling with Harden. Harden's shooting rate is not high, and it can be said that Sun Xiaotian's restrictions on him are very good, but Harden hit 15 free throws in this game, which made Sun Xiaotian complain again and again.

But even so, Sun Xiaotian scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in this game, and also grabbed 12 rebounds. The efficiency is the highest in the entire Bulls, which Thibodeau did not deny, and said at the press conference that "Sun is our only bright spot" -

Leaving Houston, the Bulls are packing up for Memphis. The Grizzlies, based in Memphis, Tennessee, were founded in 1995 in Vancouver, Canada, and moved to Memphis in 2001.

The team's current head coach is Hollins, and the Grizzlies have been hovering below 30% in the first few seasons after joining the NBA, but in the 2003-04 season, under the tutelage of the old coach Hubby Brown, they sprung up and entered the playoffs for the first time with a 50-32 record, and in the 2004-05 season, they still maintained the top eight positions in the West, and after a lapse of six years, in the 2010-2011 season, they entered the playoffs again as the eighth in the West, and staged the "Black Eight" miracle in the playoffs. Directly hacked the Spurs, the regular season champion that year.

Today, the Grizzlies have become a powerhouse in the league, and the outstanding players on the team, coupled with the excellent coaching staff, have made the Grizzlies a force to be reckoned with in the NBA.

As can be seen from the Grizzlies lineup, the Grizzlies are definitely a ruthless character. The inner line has both tonnage and technology, which can be called the perfect black and white two bears, Gasol Jr. and Randolph.

Guy and Tony Allen are on the front line, and while Guy has been caught up in trade rumours lately, it seems to have fueled him even more. In his last three games, he averaged 24.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, helping the Grizzlies to a three-game winning streak.

Needless to say, Toni Allen is the best wing defender in the league, and he has always been the best defensive player in the coach's mind.

When it comes to Grizzlies point guard Conley, many pundits say he's the most underrated point guard in the league. Conley himself is also very competitive, averaging 14.5 points and 6.2 assists per game, and has become the leader of the team.

For the Grizzlies, they are a team that wins, they have a home advantage, and they have had a good rest for 3 days. And the Bulls just played a tough game and eventually lost the game, which made the whole team seem to have a little emotional swing.

So far, the Bulls have played three games in a row, with only one win and two losses. In Thibodeau's previous words, the Bulls' task on this road trip is to win at least two games. originally expected to get a victory on the Rockets, but he didn't expect the tenacity of the Houston people to surprise Thibodeau.

So, this game against the Grizzlies, Thibodeau told everyone to do their best. However, for the entire Bulls, this task seems to be a bit difficult. So far, their physical strength has turned red, and they don't know if they can still withstand the Grizzly Bears' hand-to-hand fight.

Sun Xiaotian played an average of 38.6 minutes per game in the first three games, which was the most minutes played in the team. If you want to say who is the most tired, of course he is the most tired. But even so, Sun Xiaotian is still full of fighting spirit. Against the Rockets, he couldn't defend against Harden at critical moments, and he blamed himself very much, despite Thibodeau's repeated reassurances.

Therefore, Sun Xiaotian worked hard and wanted to play more focused in this game. But the fatal thing happened, his substitute Belinelli will miss this game because of ankle pain. This means that Sun Xiaotian will stay on the court for a longer time.