The Bulls' bench was also boiling, and Thibodeau sat there looking calm, but his clenched fists betrayed him.

After giving up the regular style of play, he is under a lot of pressure, because there are actually only two real power forwards in the Bulls' lineup, O'Neal Jr. and Ty Gibson.

Gibson still needs to grow, and if O'Neal Jr. can't do it, the Bulls will inevitably struggle, and may even have to solve the problem through trades, which is obviously not a good choice for the Bulls, who are already lacking in tacit understanding.

The Lakers' offense, Gasol moved to the free-throw line this time to respond to the offense.

Bryant cut to the basket, but Gasol didn't have a good passing angle.

Allen's prowess at defending off the ball is outstanding.

Seeing this, Gasol suddenly started and broke through O'Neal Jr. with the ball.

His footwork was very beautiful, but O'Neill Jr. was very attentive tonight, spotting his intentions at the first time, and then following him closely.

Gasol showed his agility, a big hook on the road.

That's what he's good at, but O'Neal Jr. interferes with his angle with his long arms the moment he shoots.

"Phew!"

The basketball finally smashed out of the frame, and the rebound was turned around by O'Neal Jr. to accept it.

The Bulls' bench boiled again.

O'Neal Jr.'s performance is the same as in the past few games.

Sure enough, for the old guys, playing needs a motivation, and starting is the biggest motivation for O'Neal Jr. tonight.

And this change is important for the Bulls, because if the No. 4 position is not disadvantaged, the biggest problem of the Bulls' past losing streak is solved, and the chances of winning the Lakers tonight will suddenly become bigger.

In the position of the Bulls, Rose and Yao Ming played blocking and dismantling, Yao Ming dismantled and went down, received a pass from Rose and completed the violent dunk directly on Fisher's head.

The Bulls opened with a series of violent dunks, full of momentum.

Kobe Bryant knew that he couldn't play like this, and when Gasol held the ball high on the strong side, he took the initiative to move from the weak side to the strong side, and then took Gasol's "back door" to cut to the basket.

This is also one of the ways of playing triangle tactics, which depends on the tacit understanding between the two.

Obviously, the sister-in-law has a tacit understanding with each other.

Gasol handed the ball in his hand and immediately set up a block in place to block Allen.

Kobe Bryant accelerated past O'Neal Jr. and went straight to the basket.

O'Neal Jr.'s size makes it difficult for him to catch up with Kobe.

However, just when Kobe Bryant was about to stage a "Peter Pan" exclusive flying dunk, Yao Ming had already retracted to the basket.

Facing Kobe's movements, Yao Ming held back his strength and reached out directly.

"Bang!"

After a burst of air power exchange, Yao Ming directly flew Kobe's dunk fan out of the court!

Yao Ming, who was behind the block, waved his fist excitedly.

The Lakers also threw an olive branch to him this summer, but he didn't choose to go to the Lakers in the end.

The main reason is not the contract, but the fact that he has been beaten by the Lakers by the Rockets for the past two consecutive years, and he can't do it when he joins the Lakers in this context.

It is precisely because of this that even if he changes teams to play the Lakers, he is holding back his strength.

In the front court of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant ran a no-ball catch shot, but he couldn't completely get rid of Allen and still smashed the frame.

Yao Ming protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls quickly played a defensive counterattack.

Rose and Xu Yong faced Kobe Bryant's one-on-two frontcourt.

When he broke to the free throw line in the front court, Rose took Kobe's attention and passed the ball to Xu Yong.

However, Kobe's puppy footwork was very good, and he quickly turned around and faced Xu Yong again.

The space is too small to pass the ball again, and it is too close to the basket to change direction without slowing down, so in a hurry, Xu Yong directly dribbled behind to avoid Kobe's defense, and then took off into the air and directly reflexively smashed the ball to the .gif of the basket.

Kobe Bryant was too late to stop at this time, so he could only watch Xu Yong complete the fast attack after showing off the operation in front of him.

The scene was agitated.

The Bulls' competitiveness at the start was not at all like a team that had just suffered a losing streak.

Bryant's expression looked more complicated at this time.

Because of the action Xu Yong did just now, he also did it when he was young and still wearing No. 8.

Including the ball that was covered by Yao Ming before, he had the same opportunity to directly block Yao Ming when he was No. 8.

This made him have to sigh, and he had to admit that even if he worked hard to improve his skills, his physical functions had begun to inevitably decline.

It's not a shame to admit that you're old, living in the past will only hurt the team, and only by recognizing the reality can you make the right choices in the game.

In the Lakers' round, Kobe Bryant began to hold the ball.

It's just that instead of doing the trademark pull away as he did in the past, he gave Gasol a look.

Gasol understood and quickly moved to the top to make a block.

Both husband and wife still need to pat their butts, but a look between the sister-in-law is enough.

With Gasol's blocking, Kobe Bryant quickly broke through with the ball and completed a pull-up jump shot before O'Neal Jr. came up.

"Huh!"

Basketball hollow pocket.

There was a burst of cheers from the audience.

Bryant and Gasol once again exchanged their fingers in the air during the retreat.

The cooperation between the two just now is not just a block, there are many details in it.

Although Kobe Bryant's cut in the last round was covered by Yao Ming, one thing was successful, that is, Gasol successfully blocked Allen.

It's a detail that others may not care too much about, but Bryant keenly captures Allen's weakness in dealing with Gasol's cover.

As a top defender, he knows how to find and spot weaknesses in defensive players.

He proved to be successful.

This goal is also crucial, because the Bulls' defensive counterattack is now the signature tactic, and forcing the Bulls into a positional battle is clearly more beneficial to the Lakers.

"Defend! Defend! ”

And the classic cooperation of the sister-in-law just now also aroused the emotions of the fans at the scene, and the shouts and cheers sounded in the Staples Center.

The Lakers put up a high defensive intensity, and Rose's breakthrough attempts were fruitless before dribbling back to the three-point line and then giving the ball to Seo.

Last season's experience has shown that Xu Yong's ability to solve hard battles is stronger.

Xu Yong had not much time left to attack with the ball, and he directly beckoned Yao Ming to mention the blocking and dismantling of the high position.

This time, Yao Ming took Ariza away to the free throw line after dismantling, and Xu Yong broke through Bynum with the ball, and changed to fly backwards and made a layup to finish.

In this process, Bynum habitually pulled Xu Yong's jersey and wanted to prevent Xu Yong's layup, but not only did he not succeed, but he was also caught by the baseline referee and paid a defensive foul.

After Xu Yong's calf deltoid muscle strengthening training, his explosiveness has reached a higher level than in the past.

Kobe Bryant was nearby at this time, looking at Xu Yong who had landed on the ground, his expression was a little dazed at this time.

For a moment, he didn't seem to be him, but turned into the boiled egg, and Xu Yong's figure highly overlapped with him when he was young.

6 and 8, in fact, are just half a circle missing.

6 and 8, in fact, are just half a circle missing.

Xu Yong went to the free throw line, and there were also free throws after adjusting his breathing.

9 to 4.

The fans at the scene were more agitated, from the opening to the present, from defense to offense, the Bulls gave people the feeling that they were the stronger team.

At the critical moment, it was Kobe Bryant who stepped forward on the Lakers' side.

He continued to break through with Gasol's cover, and although this time Allen bypassed the pick-and-roll and didn't give him a chance to shoot directly, he dribbled and turned around to play Gasol's second pick-and-roll, and then made a quick mid-range jumper.

Although Aaron struggled to squeeze past Gasol, his action was noticeably slower.

"Huh!"

Bryant hit mid-range jumpers in quick succession to stabilize the situation for the Lakers.

And after Kobe Bryant retreated to the defensive end, he switched defenses with Ariza and directly defended Xu Yong.

The movement of bending over, the fierce eyes, and the right hand that constantly tried to interfere with Xu Yong's activation.

Although he feels old, his competitiveness has not diminished at all.

Yao Ming took the initiative to block and dismantle Xu Yong at this time, but Kobe Bryant successfully dodged it with puppy footwork.

Xu Yong relied on his explosive power, but still grabbed a gap and rushed straight to the basket.

However, Ariza's help defense soon came, and Xu Yong finally chose to throw a falling step under the front and back of Ariza and Kobe, but unfortunately the ball failed to hit.

The rebound was protected by Gasol, who dribbled directly and advanced quickly, showed off a crotch dribble and advanced to assist Kobe Bryant's fast-break layup score.

9 to 8.

In the blink of an eye, the Lakers have narrowed the gap to 1 point.

Thibodeau reached out and called a timeout.

There were bursts of cheers and applause at the scene, and the camera was naturally Kobe.

Kobe Bryant scored 6 points in a row and was a key figure in the Lakers' pursuit of points.

After the timeout, the Bulls made changes to their lineup, and Artest came on to replace Tony Allen.

Allen's defense can't be said to be bad, but the truth is, he wasn't able to contain Kobe Bryant tonight.

And when he was on the floor, the Lakers defended four and were unscrupulous with the ball carrier.

Therefore, the replacement of Artest can maintain the defensive intensity while reducing the defensive pressure on the offensive end.

It's just that in this way, the requirements for Xu Yong are even higher, because he has to keep an eye on Kobe Bryant while taking care of offense.

So after making adjustments, Thibodeau also patted Xu Yong's shoulder meaningfully, as if a thousand catties of weight were delivered to him.

Xu Yong's response was to smile indifferently.

Kobe Bryant is now both offensive and defensive, and it is natural for him to do this at a younger age.

Not to mention, he did it last season when he was a rookie.

And now, he actually has another thought, that is, he has always wanted to see if his puppy footwork can prevent Kobe.

Although he had a very successful restriction on Durant at the World Championships, there is still a certain gap between Durant and Kobe Bryant today.

Coming back to the Bulls' offense, Rose and Yao Ming returned the ball after blocking and dismantling, and Yao Ming's mid-range shot hit steadily.

To say that the biggest difference between the Bulls this season and last season is that there is more Yao Ming, which can be hard to solve, which greatly improves their positional battle grasp.

The pressure on the Lakers is still very high, because Gasol does not have an absolute advantage in the matchup, and as long as Kobe Bryant's score is broken, the Bulls can quickly pull the score away in the starting period.

Kobe Bryant's ball, Gasol continued to play cover, but his cover failed to stop Xu Yong.

Xu Yong walked the same as Kobe, but with quicker footwork, he dodged the cover and followed Kobe Bryant.

Bryant took the initiative to bypass Gasol's second pick-and-roll as in the previous round, grabbing a mid-range jumper from the gap in the pick-and-roll.

But Xu Yong once again bypassed the cover, and the flying pounce gave Kobe a lot of interference.

Bryant was forced to lean back in the air, and although he showed his waist to force a block from Xu Yong, the ball instantly turned into a difficult shot.

"Phew!"

The basketball slammed into the basket and there was a crack of iron, and Kobe's offense was broken.

Thibodeau couldn't hold back his excitement this time and got up.

In fact, the reason why he replaced Aaron, or the reason why he dared to replace Aaron, in addition to the previous considerations, there is a more important reason for Xu Yong's existence.

When he went to Turkey to investigate, he saw with his own eyes how much Xu Yong struggled to restrain Durant.

O'Neal Jr. protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls played a defensive counterattack again, and Rose scored a flying layup that easily passed Fisher on a fast break.

The Bulls played a beautiful positional battle tonight, but their old job was to defend and counterattack.

Although O'Neal Jr.'s play has reduced the flexibility of their lineup, with Rose and Xu Yong, two fast-break machines, their speed can't be slowed down.

Phil Jackson, who had always been calm, couldn't sit still, he got up and went to the sidelines, blowing his trademark whistle with both hands.

He's been coaching for so many years, and with his reflexes, he's already feeling the threat the Bulls pose.

The Lakers advanced to the frontcourt, and everyone else moved to the weak side, Ariza landed in the bottom corner of the strong side, Fisher held the ball outside the 45° three-point line on the right side, and Bryant had his back to Xu Yong in the high post.

This is the most standard triangle offensive tactic.

Bryant caught the ball with a small jump on both feet, bowed to feel Xu Yong's defensive center of gravity, and then faked a right turn and backward jumper.

His series of technical moves were very silky, but Xu Yong was not shaken.

Because of the dream footsteps, he learned it with Kobe Bryant.

And when Kobe Bryant leaned back, he saw the timing of the save and gave Kobe a very big interference.

In fact, the reason why Xu Yong's defense against Kobe Bryant is good, in addition to the fact that he learned Kobe's puppy footwork, there is also a more important point is his size.

Although Allen's defensive skills are also excellent, his height in shoes is only 1.93 meters, while Xu Yong's is 2.06 meters, and the defensive effect brought by this size difference is completely different.

Kobe Bryant is still Kobe, and under the huge interference, he still dodged Xu Yong's block with a super difficult lever.

Merely......

"Phew!"

This kind of difficult shot, and the final result can only be three Yanghua two irons.

Yao Ming received another defensive rebound after the card with Gasol, this time Artest and Rose fast-break, Rose's fast-break layup was deflected by Ariza after interference, but Artest followed up with a rebound to complete the score.

The scene was agitated.

Bryant looked up at the score.

15 to 8.

The Bulls went on a 6-0 run to pull away again.

Only this time his mood was more complicated than before.

Because of Xu Yong's "apprentice", the speed of improvement on the defensive end seems to be a little too fast.

(End of chapter)