Eight and a half minutes into the first quarter, both sides began to rotate.

On the Heat side, except for Wade and Bosh who remained on the court, the remaining three were replaced by Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller and Joel Anthony.

On the Bulls side, Rose, Allen and Yao Ming all went off the court to rest, leaving Hinrich, Korver, Xu Yong, Artest and O'Neal Jr. on the court.

The score on the field at this time was 6 to 20. In the past half quarter, the Bulls really pinned the Big Three to the ground and gave them a good beating.

In such a situation, the morale gap between the two sides is visible to the naked eye.

There was laughter and chatter on the Bulls bench, while it was extremely dull on the Heat bench.

Especially those like House and Magloire who come to curry favor with the powerful.

This one was careless and seemed to have hugged the wrong leg!

However, in this period, the Heat played quite well on the court.

Chalmers' three-pointer is more reliable than Arroyo's, Miller's three-pointer can also open up space, and with Yao Ming off the court, Wade and Bosh have room to play.

The two sides fought back and forth on the court, and the score difference not only did not widen further, but instead narrowed to around 10 points.

James was originally sitting on the sidelines biting his fingernails, but after seeing the situation on the court, he could no longer sit still. He stood up and started to motivate his teammates behind him: "We still have a chance. The game has 48 minutes, and we have only played for ten minutes. Believe in yourself!"

His sudden encouragement left everyone a little confused, but out of politeness and respect, they nodded one after another.

After James sat back, the people at the end of the bench looked at each other. It seemed like this had little to do with them.

But it should be said that they have a stronger impression of James' [leadership ability], because these words are usually said by the team leader.

After the first quarter, the score between the two sides was fixed at 14 to 28, which was still a difference of 14 points. The Heat performed quite well in the last few minutes of this quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, both sides continued to rotate.

The Heat's lineup on the court: Chalmers, Miller, James Jones, James, Joel Anthony;

Bulls: Rose, Hinrich, Korver, James Johnson, O'Neal Jr.

Xu Yong was resting on the sidelines at this time. He was sitting between Artest and O'Neal.

O'Neal is a very talkative person. He was talking nonstop with James Johnson before. Now that Xu Yong sat down, he talked to Xu Yong again.

"Jermaine should have forced Chris out of the three-second zone on the last ball of the first quarter. It would have been troublesome for him to receive the ball in that position."

"Dwayne's center of gravity is very low when he breaks through. You can never get too close to him."

He analyzed while pointing at the positions on the field.

At this moment, James used Anthony's pick-and-roll to attack the inside and completed an explosive slam dunk over O'Neal's head.

"James, go around and stop him from speeding up!"

He even stood up and shouted at Johnson.

Xu Yong could clearly hear that O'Neal really wanted to play in the game.

To be honest, in history, O'Neal went to the Celtics that year. Although he was also clinging to others, he was also a starter before he was injured at the beginning of the season.

He still had gas in the tank, and he knew it.

On the court, Rose broke through Chalmers and headed for the basket, but James seized the opportunity and blocked the ball.

James' words are correct from a certain perspective. You are the starting player of the Bulls, right? Yao Ming is a pillar under the basket, right? But basketball games have 48 minutes, and you have to go off the court to rest!

As soon as you guys leave the stage, it's time for my performance.

The Heat failed to start a fast break and advanced to the frontcourt. James once again broke through the basket with the ball.

Although Johnson's physical condition is not inferior to James, his defensive experience and awareness are relatively average.

When James picked up speed, the Bulls had no choice but to shrink back to prevent him from dunking again.

It was at this time that James showed his ability to break through and pass the ball accurately to Jones on the weak side. After receiving the ball, the latter adjusted his three-point shot.

“Swish!”

The knife fell with a sudden movement.

The Heat's shooters showed their ability to shoot open three-pointers.

19 to 28.

After this three-pointer, the Heat beat the Bulls 5-0 in the second quarter, narrowing the gap to single digits.

When Thibodeau saw that the situation was not right, he turned around and looked at Yao Ming, then skipped Yao Ming and looked at O'Neal, signaling O'Neal to go on the court.

O'Neal was overjoyed when he saw this. He took off his training clothes while walking towards the technical table. As a result, he reached the technical table without taking off his pants.

This scene amused everyone on the Bulls team, even Yao Ming couldn't help laughing.

Except for the special case of the Cavaliers last season, there is always joy in a team with O'Neal.

Of course, when O'Neal was about to come on stage, the audience burst into cheers.

The popularity of the "Great Shark" is not to be underestimated. Even at this stage of his career, he is still a favorite of the fans whenever he appears on the court.

"Look at me, brother." When replacing O'Neal Jr., O'Neal said as he reached out and touched O'Neal Jr.'s bald head.

When he saw O'Neal come on the court, James frowned noticeably.

They were teammates last season, but this season they have become rivals.

However, James was able to adjust mentally quickly. He soon relaxed his frown, then greeted O'Neal who was on the court with a smile.

O'Neal responded with a smile, politely calling the Big Shark.

After the substitution, the game continues.

Rose and O'Neal made a pick-and-roll breakthrough, Chalmers was blocked, Anthony chose to retreat to the basket, and Rose made a quick stop and mid-range shot.

“Swish!”

The basketball went into the net.

From the opening shot to the one just now, Rose's shooting improvement this season is visible to the naked eye.

This goal allowed the Bulls to stabilize their position temporarily, but the defense is more important at this moment.

The Bulls were able to suppress the Heat in the first quarter by relying on defense. If they couldn't defend, it would have been easy for the Heat to catch up with the points as before with their talent.

James continued to hold the ball from the outside, and Johnson finally got the ball in place with O'Neal's shouting from behind.

However, James didn't say much. After signaling Joel Anthony to set a pick-and-roll, he rushed directly to the basket.

O'Neal is very experienced, or as he analyzed off the court, he is a former teammate of James and Wade after all, and he had already retreated to the basket by now.

When James saw it, he was shocked to find that even his 120-kilogram body couldn't push past the 200-kilogram fat man!

In the critical situation, he took two steps at a time, took one more step to avoid O'Neal, and made a side shot.

Upon seeing this, O'Neal's eyes widened, and he turned around, clenched his fists and made traveling gestures towards the referee.

Not only him, but a group of people on the Bulls bench, especially assistant coach Malone, ran to the referee's nose and did it while shouting.

The referee blew the whistle, indicating that James committed a traveling violation.

Sorry, you really don't have a whistle this season.

This scene caused a burst of whistles and boos from the audience.

Even Xu Yong couldn't help laughing.

At this moment, he suddenly had a new understanding of the legendary [8 points release of military power].

Maybe it wasn't really a case of "I don't want a championship that's not my FMVP", but in a high-intensity game where his shooting was not good and there were no whistles, James had neither back-to-the-basket nor footwork, so he could only play like that.

James spread his hands in confusion, frowned and shook his head, then sneered and walked back.

In fact, he had already felt the change in the whistle, but that was a subconscious action. Feeling and accepting are two different things. He had to give it a try.

His reaction, as if he was treated unfairly, completely angered the fans at the scene.

There was a burst of boos at first, and then when the Bulls attacked, there was a unified cheer.

"Go! Bulls!"

This kind of cheering during the substitute period is quite rare.

O'Neal continued to set pick-and-roll for Rose. This time, Anthony didn't dare to retreat inside but rushed out.

It was at this moment that Rose demonstrated his passing skills, making a beautiful shot and passing the ball to O'Neal at an angle.

O'Neal received the ball, dribbled one step, and headed directly for the basket.

James had foreseen the Bulls' offensive intentions and quickly moved toward O'Neal to block the shot.

But it was obvious that he underestimated O'Neal's determination to attack the basket.

“Bang!”

Before James could block the shot, O'Neal slammed the ball into the basket with both hands like a sledgehammer. The huge impact force made the basket shake.

The great shark is just old, not unable to jump. People can still be invincible for five minutes.

This dunk instantly made the United Center boil.

Xu Yong and Yao Ming both stood up excitedly and applauded and cheered for O'Neal's dunk.

What is happy basketball?

Watching O'Neal dunk feels more exciting than dunking on the court yourself!

The Bulls' subsequent reinforcement in the free market, O'Neal's signing is the finishing touch.

While retreating, O'Neal smiled and nodded, pointed at Xu Yong and Yao Ming, and threw a wink at O'Neal Jr.

It felt like I was actually teaching on the spot.

It's just that the Bulls are happy, but James is sad.

It would be fine if he didn't play in the starting lineup, but why was he beaten like this during the substitute period?

James chose to continue with the pick-and-roll and attack the basket, and this time he believed in his weight-gained self and had a head-on confrontation with O'Neal with the ball.

"Duang!"

He felt like he had hit a mountain of flesh, and then both he and the ball were thrown out.

There was a burst of whistles and laughter at the scene.

Generally speaking, this kind of behavior of heading towards a mountain of tigers despite knowing there is a tiger there and daring to challenge is called courage.

But for some reason, James' behavior doesn't give people that feeling. Instead, another word comes to mind subconsciously: overestimating one's own abilities.

Or maybe, the muscles have taken over the brain, and James has lost the ability to make correct judgments.

O'Neal looked at James and smiled again: "Little guy, how can I not understand you? If you choose to shoot, I lose."

The collision just now made James sober up instantly. When the Heat's sideline ball came out again, he obediently put his hands on his hips and let Qian Moss hold the ball.

Qian Moss was also a young and fearless person. He thought O'Neal was old, so he rushed to the basket and made a jump shot.

As it turned out, O'Neal had already found the angle and slapped the man directly in the face.

Qian Moss's male model face turned into a panel, and he had negative distance contact with the basketball.

The ball bounced and flew toward the Bulls bench.

After seeing the basketball, O'Neal actually ran over there, trying to save the ball.

Xu Yong was originally talking to Yao Ming about O'Neal's performance tonight. Because of O'Neal's previous enthusiasm on the bench, he was not surprised by O'Neal's performance.

Then he turned around and saw a huge monster rushing towards the bench.

Not only him, but Yao Ming and others also saw it.

Without even saying hello, the whole group of people ran directly in both directions.

In the blink of an eye, when O'Neal rushed to the bench, the place that was originally full of people was already empty.gif.

This scene was captured by the on-site camera and projected onto the large LED screen, instantly causing laughter in the room.

O'Neal himself was amused. He handed the ball to the referee with a smile, then turned around and returned to the court.

At this time, the laughter in the audience turned into applause and cheers.

They also truly felt O'Neal's enthusiasm, which was completely different from the Big Shark last season.

The Heat's attack ultimately failed. When the Bulls attacked and O'Neal received the ball in the pick-and-roll and was mismatched against James, a burst of cheers of "fight" began to be heard at the scene.

Seeing this, O'Neal did not disappoint the fans. He stretched out his hand to signal his teammates to move away, then started to play hard with his big butt sticking out.

It was too late for James to call for a switch, so he could only lower his center of gravity and use all his strength to force the ball.

But it was obvious that the weight difference made him powerless.

He was pushed into the penalty area, but fortunately Joel Anthony came to help defend him.

Seeing this, O'Neal turned around and walked around Anthony.

However, at this moment, James reached out and pushed O'Neal.

If it was O'Neal in his prime, this kind of push would feel like tickling to him, but now he quickly lost his balance and fell to the ground.

However, he was still conscious and he successfully completed a rebound shot before falling to the ground.

"Bang!"

After hitting the backboard, the basketball fell steadily into the net at an angle.

You thought that O'Neal dominated the inside during his peak period by relying on his body, but in fact he relied on his skills.

The body may degenerate, but the skills will not be lost.

"beep!"

The referee's late whistle was directed at James.

Without the protection of the whistle, James' every move cannot escape the eyes of the referee.

This ball is a 2+1!

The scene instantly became lively.

Lian Po is old, can he still eat? !

Now James, biting his braces and looking up at the timer, felt very embarrassed.

Although O'Neal responded to him with a smile when he came on the court, he showed no mercy when he beat him!

At the critical moment, Spoelstra came to the rescue for James. He turned around and motioned Bosh to come on the court to replace James for rest.

After both sides played for another two minutes with substitutes, they gradually replaced their starters, and James also took the field again at this time.

But looking at the inside line of Yao Ming and Artest on the opposite side, and Xu Yong who seemed to have had enough rest, he felt unwell.

This is cheating!

Who would start with Yao Ming and substitute O'Neal and use such a set of iron nets?

This is blatant targeting!

That’s right, it’s actually targeted at Foreman. It’s impossible to say that this series of signings by Foreman is not targeted at all.

It's his fault that Riley played him around in the free market.

But there is absolutely nothing wrong with what he did. The three giants at their peak have become public enemies, so who else can they target if not you?

There is no point in James' inner complaints, the game has to go on.

But as the game continued, an idea emerged uncontrollably from the depths of his heart, and it became stronger and stronger.

He wanted to end this torturous game as soon as possible.

But why is the game 48 minutes long?