After the first quarter, the score was 26 to 20, and the Bulls ended the first quarter with a 6-point lead.
After Kobe was restricted by Xu Yong, the Lakers were at a disadvantage in the starting period. However, after entering the rotation, Odom of the Lakers was in great form, and his consecutive scores helped the Lakers to keep up the score difference.
In history, Odom won the only best sixth man honor in his career this year.
As for the Bulls, Thibodeau only used 8 players in rotation in the first quarter, and only Hinrich, Korver and Artest got playing time from the bench.
Moreover, at the beginning of the second quarter, Xu Yong, who had just rested for a minute, was substituted again.
After confirming with my eyes, I know that Thibodeau is the real deal.
But the good news is that O'Neal appeared as the ninth man at this time.
O'Neal's appearance also caused whistles and boos from the audience.
In fact, there is a hidden event behind O'Neal's appearance today, that is, this is his first time to appear as a substitute for the visiting team.
Los Angeles fans will naturally not miss such an opportunity.
However, O'Neal still looked the same as he did in the previous game against the Heat, smiling and polite.
At this time, the lineups of both teams on the field were: Bulls: Hinrich, Korver, Xu Yong, Artest, and O'Neal.
Thibodeau obviously has not given up the one-big-four-small style of play. If he wants to make it a secret weapon, he has to figure out the best time to bring it into play.
Lakers lineup: Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, Matt Barnes, Odom, Gasol.
The Bulls attacked first, and O'Neal went straight to the low post and leaned against Gasol to ask for the ball.
It was obvious that O'Neal was just like when he played against the Heat, smiling on his face but holding back his anger.
At this time, the ball was in Xu Yong's hands, and he certainly could not fail to see O'Neal's body language.
Moreover, this lineup on the field is the same as the inside-out tactics used by the Chinese team in the previous World Championships.
After Xu Yong signaled to move to the weak side, he directly passed the ball to O'Neal.
Feeding the ball to O'Neal is not much different from feeding the ball to Yao Ming.
After receiving the ball, O'Neal directly forced Gasol to attack.
Although Gasol has a low center of gravity, his weight disadvantage makes it difficult for him to hold up O'Neal.
Moreover, the Bulls have a lineup of one big and four small players. Among the four small players, three are very accurate from the outside, and the remaining Artest is also above average, so the Lakers dare not shrink at will at this moment.
The result is that although my sister-in-law tried hard, she couldn't withstand the impact of this meat bomb!
After pushing Gasol away, O'Neal made a close-range hook shot and sent the ball steadily into the basket.
Looking back, at Thibodeau's signal, the Bulls set up a 3-2 zone defense.
It is obvious that Thibodeau is protecting O'Neal from the point under the basket where he cannot get out.
The Lakers broke the double-team defense, Gasol connected at the free throw line, and finally threw the ball to Blake outside the three-point line in the right corner.
There was no problem in breaking the double team, but the defensive rotation of the Bulls' four-small lineup was faster than expected, and the moment Blake shot, he was blocked by Hinrich.
"when!"
Although Hinrich failed to block the ball, Blake's shot was obviously off target and the basketball hit the rim and bounced out.
Under the basket, O'Neal accurately judged the landing point of the basketball, grabbed it with his long arms, and then passed it to Xu Yong on the outside.
The Bulls launched a defensive counterattack, and Xu Yong directly knocked Brown away during the fast break and put the ball into the basket.
30 to 20.
The Bulls played a small ** at the beginning of the second quarter, and the score difference on the field reached double digits for the first time.
Thibodeau unconsciously stretched out his hand and clenched his fist on the sidelines.
In fact, as early as in the previous game, the Bulls proved that the tactic of one big and four small players was very suitable for them. The only problem was that the defense at the fourth position was weak.
It now seems that Xu Yong's proposal has grasped the key to the problem. As long as it is not used for the first time and the right opportunity is found, it will still be very powerful.
Moreover, the Bulls have two big men, Yao Ming and O'Neal, which also gives Thibodeau more diverse options.
The camera turned to Phil Jackson. The "Zen Master" still did nothing as in the past and chose to leave the game to the players.
At the critical moment, it was Gasol again. He faked a breakthrough from the free throw line, forced his way to the basket and confronted O'Neal head-on, causing damage.
Gasol played this ball as tough as he did in last season's finals, but O'Neal is not Garnett, and the price Gasol paid was being knocked to the ground.
The Los Angeles fans at the scene immediately booed O'Neal.
I only see the new people laughing, but don't hear the old people crying.
But O'Neal seemed unconcerned because it was obvious that the Bulls had the upper hand.
After Gasol adjusted, he made both free throws, helping the Lakers narrow the gap to single digits again.
The Bulls advanced to the frontcourt and continued to play positional defense, and the ball was fed to O'Neal under the basket again.
O'Neal continued to hold the ball and play one-on-one, and the Lakers chose to double-team him this time.
O'Neal quickly passed the ball and the Lakers chose to rotate their defense. When the ball was passed to Xu Yong, Xu Yong made a fake shot and then broke through to the basket.
Seeing this, Gasol was forced to make a tip-in, but at this moment, Xu Yong threw the ball directly to the right side of the basket.
O'Neal was still near the baseline after passing the ball, but now he was lifted into the air by the ball and grabbed the ball with his right hand in mid-air.
“Bang!”
He completed the alley-oop pass with a powerful one-handed slam dunk over Barnes who was rushing over to try to stop him.
The fans at the scene were stunned for a moment. Is this the 38-year-old O'Neal? !
O'Neal seemed quite excited after completing the alley-oop. He immediately turned around, spread his legs, waved his hands, and performed his unrestrained celebration move.gif.
At this moment he is laying his cards on the table and is no longer pretending. He is here to win!
The Staples Center was in a state of restlessness.
It's not just because of O'Neal's unexpected dunk, but also because of the current situation on the court.
It was originally thought that the Lakers would be able to catch up with the score during the substitute period, but now the result is: the Lakers starters couldn't win, and the substitutes couldn't win!
Thibodeau's rotation of the main players has allowed the Bulls to maintain a high lineup strength on the court.
Moreover, neither Gasol nor Kobe could find a good angle to play under the Bulls' defense.
This basically became the decisive factor in the outcome of the game.
After four fierce quarters, the Bulls defeated the Lakers 116-101, ending their opponent's five-game winning streak while also ending their own two-game losing streak, bringing this Western Conference road trip to a perfect end.
According to post-match statistics, for the Bulls, Xu Yong had 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Rose had 24 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, Yao Ming had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, O'Neal had 14 points and 5 rebounds, and Artest had 13 points and 3 rebounds.
On the Lakers side, Gasol contributed a team-high 23 points and 9 rebounds. Kobe played poorly under Xu Yong's full-court surveillance, making only 7 of 26 shots and only getting 21 points by relying on free throws.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that Xu Yongjin has surpassed Kobe in statistics since entering the league.
After the handshake ceremony, O'Neal was caught by media reporters on the sidelines for an interview.
Having won the game and put in a good performance, O'Neal was in a good mood when facing the reporters.
Even when reporters asked about the substitute issue that fans were most concerned about, O'Neal seemed to not care at all.
"I won't come off the bench for anyone except Yao."
In the history that Xu Yong experienced, O'Neal had a deep admiration for Yao Ming. He did not hesitate to say that he was blocked three times by Yao Ming, and he took the initiative to put on Yao Ming's jacket in the Hall of Fame.
Now that we are on the same team, this is not bragging, this is being realistic.
You have to know that if you ask him to be Howard's substitute, he would rather retire where he is.
Winning this game is very important for the Bulls.
It was not just a victory that allowed them to respond to outside doubts. What was more important was that Thibodeau found the correct way to use the "one big and four small" formation.
As a bonus, Thibodeau has even figured out the most suitable rotation for the Bulls right now: starting Rose and Xu Yong in the backcourt, Artest and O'Neal Jr. as forwards, plus Yao Ming in the interior, Hinrich and O'Neal as substitutes, and Allen/Korver in the backcourt choosing who to play depending on the opponent's situation. This is the basic 8-man rotation.
Although this took some time, the season has only started for more than half a month, so it is not too late for the Bulls.
And there is good news for the Bulls, that is, after finishing this difficult schedule at the beginning of the season, they will have a relatively sweet journey.
Their next opponents are: Cavaliers, Raptors, Hawks, Pistons, Nets, Clippers, and Trail Blazers.
Among these seven opponents, only the Hawks and the Trail Blazers can theoretically pose a threat to them.
Here we need to mention some basic rules of the league's schedule.
The league is divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, which are the East and West we are familiar with. Under the divisions, there are divisions, such as the Central Division, Southwestern Division, etc., a total of 6 divisions.
Based on these foundations, the rules are: different divisions play against each other twice a season (once at home and once away), different divisions in the same division play against each other three times a season, and the same division and division play against each other four times a season (twice at home and twice away).
Therefore, simply comparing the number of wins cannot fully reflect the strength of a team, because there is a strength gap between the East and the West, and there is also a strength gap between teams in different divisions.
Yes, Eastern Welfare does exist.
As for the next period of time, you can fully understand that the Bulls will start to enjoy this kind of benefit after fighting a difficult battle.
…
Time flies, and it is early December. The Bulls have finished their entire November game.
Their final record was 11 wins and 2 losses!
That’s right, the Bulls didn’t let this benefit slip away at all. Including the win over the Lakers, they won eight consecutive games!
Although if you look closely you can see that this is a real benefit, just like James fans in history never talk about how much benefit the Heat's 27-game winning streak brought, Bulls fans naturally won't mention it either.
All you need to know is that the Bulls had the longest winning streak in the league and that they were at the top of the Eastern Conference and even the league after the first month!
As a result of this record, Thibodeau was unsurprisingly elected Coach of the Month, and Rose was successfully elected Player of the Month for the first time in his career with an average of 26.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.
Yes, Rose's numbers are far from spectacular, but that's because the Bulls have more than just him who can play.
In the November games, Xu Yong averaged 23.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 51% and a three-point shooting percentage of 40.3% respectively, with amazing efficiency.
Yao Ming also delivered an all-around performance in November, averaging 17.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 56.2%, a career-high.
The Bulls did not have a Big Three lineup, but third-year player Rose and sophomore player Xu Yong, together with Yao Ming, managed to create the effect of a Big Three.
Even O'Neal was able to deliver outstanding statistics of 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds with a hit rate of 67%.
It's clear that the Bulls have found their winning formula.
While the Heat are not ranked second in the Eastern Conference, their record in November is amazing... 7 wins and 7 losses, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference!
They did win four straight games at the intersection of October and November, but in the seven games they lost in November, their opponents were: Celtics, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Hawks, Pacers and Mavericks.
The result of this polar reversal finally led fans on social media to launch a desperate counterattack against the previous remarks made by James fans.
"The Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference? Am I dazzled or is the league targeting the Heat and counting their wins as losses?" Comment from "KBfnas".
“Some people who enjoy welfare end up becoming the welfare itself.” Comment from “KBforever”.
"To quote a certain fan, you have to believe that at the end of the season, the Heat will still be No. 1 in the league."
"The Heat's opponents must be too strong. The Cosmic Bee and the Five-Star Lord, the Alliance is just bullying the Heat's Big Three because they haven't gotten used to each other yet!"
"You guys are just bashing for the sake of bashing. Aren't the Celtics and Mavericks strong teams?"
"So you also know that the Mavericks are a strong team! So the question is, are the Bulls a strong team?"
"Wade and Bosh are just too bad. They drag LeBron down. LeBron should have just joined the Bulls instead of having so many problems now!"
…
While fans were arguing fiercely on social media, Xu Yong found Grover at this time.
"I want to start working on my turnaround and fadeaway technique."
Generally speaking, those involved in the matter are often confused while those who are not involved can see things more clearly. However, this is exactly the opposite for Xu Yong.
He is very clear about the reasons for the Bulls' current record, so his attention is not on the team's record at this time. Instead, he has been focusing on improving his own strength.
So just like Kobe Bryant would go to Olajuwon to train his footwork after winning the championship, Xu Yong took action immediately after he found that he had mastered the puppy gait and had time to train other skills.
Originally, he was planning to wait until the offseason to ask Kobe for this technology, but thinking about the look in Kobe's eyes when he played against the Lakers, he felt that even Kobe would probably hold back on him for the time being.
Fortunately, he now has Grover, the goat trainer who has served as a personal trainer for both Jordan and Kobe, and he must be very familiar with this technique.