The Christmas game was in Miami, and the Bulls flew there the day before the game.

"What do you think of what he said?" Yao Ming and Xu Yong sat together and chatted.

"What do you think?" Xu Yong knew he was talking about James, and asked with a smile.

"The more a person lacks something, the more he will emphasize it," Yao Ming replied seriously.

Xu Yong laughed out loud after hearing this.

In fact, he would feel more familiar with James' words, because during last year's playoffs, James once said to him in a game, "This is the last time you disrespect me." It was exactly like what Yao Ming said, always talking about respect, which shows that he really lacks respect from others.

Because it's hard to imagine Jordan or Kobe saying something like that.

And now he can better understand Grover's theory of passives, competitors and rulers.

“Passive people rely on others to judge their success.”

James, in that category, should be classified as a passive person.

Therefore, this classification should not only refer to strength, but also mentality.

That mentality may not necessarily determine a player's career, but it will determine the final evaluation he receives from the fans.

When all is said and done, it is essentially true.

So if we make the distinction as before, the Heat's Big Three, one passive and two competitors, these are indeed points that can be exploited in the game.

"Xu, I plan to live in the city center." When they got off the plane in Miami, O'Neal suddenly found Xu Yong and said.

"Traffic jams are really torturous," O'Neal went on to explain.

Xu Yong laughed after hearing this. He didn't expect that O'Neal would be the first one to lose patience.

But it's true that Yao Ming has a strong ability to endure, but at this stage of his career O'Neal just wants to live a comfortable life, so it's really difficult for him to be stuck in traffic every day.

…

Miami is a port city with a long coastline. Its palm sand beaches are unique and it is a world-famous holiday resort.

Especially during holidays like Christmas, Miami's beaches are very lively.

Of course, for the Bulls players, because of the Christmas game, they spent Christmas Eve on the plane, so they had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Miami.

That night, the American Airlines Arena, located on the seafront and surrounded by water on two sides, was extremely lively, and the fans' festive enthusiasm was fully reflected on their faces.

Although there are many doubts about the Heat from the outside world, Miami fans must be in a very good mood recently. The 11-game winning streak indicates that the team is officially on the right track after being fully integrated. They have reason to believe that the Big Three can beat any team.

Many celebrities also appeared in the front row of the audience.

In addition to being a holiday resort, Miami is also a popular city for wealthy people from all over the world to immigrate to.

Why do you think Beckham wants to invest in the Miami team, why do you think Boss May wants to join the Miami team? There is a reason for all this.

When Xu Yong came out of the player tunnel, he saw Swift again in the front row of the audience.

And when she saw him, Swift was trying hard to reach out to him and say hello.

This gave him the illusion that Swift came to Miami just to watch him play.

Xu Yong just responded with a smile, and then focused his attention on the court.

As the saying goes, despise your opponent strategically, but take him seriously tactically.

Although there are some reasons for the Eastern Conference benefits, the Heat's 11-game winning streak shows that they are no longer the same team as at the beginning of the season.

If they underestimate their opponents because of their experience in the opening game, then tonight they will become the last stepping stone before the Heat reach the top.

James' seemingly slightly funny remarks will also become a big source of bragging for his fans.

In competitive sports, the winner always takes all.

So before the game was over, he didn't have the mind to think about too much else.

The warm-up on the field was quickly over, and the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Bulls: Rose, Xu Yong, Artest, O'Neal Jr., Yao Ming.

Heat: Arroyo, Wade, James, Bosh, Joel Anthony.

On the Bulls side, O'Neal wore a suit and did not fight tonight.

The game was about to start. James walked to the technical table and continued to throw magnesium powder to the camera. He also deliberately added a chest-beating and roaring action to maximize his presence before the game.

With the whistle on the sidelines, Anthony passed the ball back to the Heat's half, officially opening the curtain of the Christmas game.

After the Heat advanced to the frontcourt, James held the ball at the top of the arc, but the team's tactics were centered around Wade.

Obviously, as Xu Yong analyzed before, the key to the Heat's victory is to clarify Wade's position as the core of the offense.

Xu Yong was trying hard to keep up with Wade, but he soon discovered that although he could bypass the pick-and-roll, it was difficult for him to keep up with Wade's speed.

Wade was at his peak at this time, and "The Flash" was really as fast as lightning.

When Wade moved to the right side of the free throw line with the help of a screen, James passed the ball to him. Wade took a step forward and made a quick shot.

At this time, Xu Yong broke through the cover and rushed forward to interfere.

But Wade still completed the shot before that.

“Swish!”

The basketball landed accurately.

After scoring the goal, Wade glanced at Xu Yong. From his eyes, Xu Yong felt his strong desire to fight.

Yes, when James attracted most of the attention from the outside world with his words and actions, few people noticed Wade's fire of revenge tonight.

"We will be stronger next time we meet."

This is what Wade said after the opening game, and as a competitor, he has indeed done it now.

The Bulls fell into position, Rose and Yao Ming played pick-and-roll, and the Heat directly chose to double-team Rose to interfere with his passing.

This strategy was very successful. Rose's passing ability was not strong, and Anthony moved faster than Ilgauskas, which put a lot of pressure on Rose with the ball.

Just when Rose thought he had found the passing angle to pass the ball to Yao Ming, Wade suddenly rushed out from the side and directly intercepted his pass.

After Wade stole the ball, he ran away at lightning speed, shook off the Bulls' defense and slammed in another 2 points.

The scene was instantly filled with cheers from Miami fans.

0 to 4.

The Heat swept away the gloom of the opening game and gave the Bulls a warning right from the start.

And from the previous round, we can see the changes in the Heat's defense. They use the rotation advantage of the Big Three to exert defensive pressure on the ball handler.

Judging from the results, Spoelstra's ability to create a suitable tactical system based on the characteristics of the Big Three is quite impressive.

As a result, the pressure on the Bulls' ball handler will become very great.

However, next to Thibodeau, Malone saw through the weakness of the Heat's tactics at a glance. After whispering with Thibodeau for a while, Thibodeau immediately made a tactical gesture to Rose.

Once the Bulls advanced to the frontcourt, they immediately showed tactical changes.

The ball was in Xu Yong's hands, but Xu Yong did not play pick-and-roll tactics with Yao Ming. Instead, he waited for Yao Ming to get into position in the low post and then directly fed the ball in.

That's right, Malone keenly discovered the Heat's weak points in the interior after starting with Anthony.

Compared to Ilgauskas, Anthony, who is short, dark, and strong, is like an ATM for Yao Ming.

Facts soon proved that although Ma Long was only an assistant coach, his tactical ability was excellent.

After receiving the ball, Yao Ming immediately made a high-altitude hook shot.

Anthony couldn't stop him from shooting.

Moreover, Yao Ming often plays in the low post and has a very fast shooting speed, which does not give the Heat any chance to double-team him.

Spoelstra's expression was a little serious at this time. He didn't expect the Bulls coaching staff to react so quickly.

However, he did not adjust the lineup, because it was this style of play that allowed the Heat to turn around the situation in the past month. If he gave up and returned to the style of play in the opening game, the Heat would still have no chance of winning.

Wade quickly proved the correctness of his choice. After another off-ball run and receiving the ball, he broke into the inside and successfully caused O'Neal Jr. to foul, winning two free throw opportunities.

During the 11-game winning streak, Wade averaged nearly 30 points per game and was in hot form.

Thibodeau turned his head and looked at Allen at this time, but still did not make a substitution.

Although Allen can keep up with Wade's speed and his defensive effect will be better, the Heat have now adjusted their style of play. If Allen is on the court, Yao Ming will inevitably be double-teamed in advance, which is not worth the loss.

So at this stage, it depends on who between Yao Ming and Wade can break through the opponent's defense first.

Wade adjusted his breathing and made both free throws, scoring all 6 points for the Heat at the start.

The fans at the scene cheered.

Wade is the one who helped the Heat win their first championship in team history and is the true king of Miami.

The Bulls were attacking, and Xu Yong continued to feed the ball in.

This time, Anthony lowered his center of gravity and pushed Yao Ming out, but Yao Ming took advantage of the situation by turning around and rushing to the basket, making an easy layup and scoring the ball, which also caused Anthony to commit a pulling foul.

What does it mean to be relaxed and happy?

Yao Ming can play against Howard with ease, so this bankrupt version of Anthony should have it too easy.

Xu Yong, who did not forget to pass the ball after Yao Ming scored, pointed at him.

Xu Yong was also smiling happily on the outside, and he also experienced the joy of getting assists.

And speaking of which, in the history he knew, in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, Hibbert averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game against the Heat.

The Heat's playing style at that time was not much different from that of today, except that Spoelstra's tactics weakened the role of the inside line and increased the rotation speed to double-team the ball handler.

If Stern hadn't realized that no one was supporting him and he could only support James, and hadn't introduced the vertical jump rule, the Heat might not have been able to get out of the Eastern Conference.

But this season, the Heat have no whistles, and the Bulls don't have a "black Yao Ming" but Yao Ming himself.

Judging from the smile on Yao Ming's face when he was at the free throw line, he probably didn't expect that he would suddenly play so easily in the second game.

Yao Ming's free throw was also successful, and the score came to 5 to 6.

In the transition from offense to defense, Xu Yong adjusted his defensive strategy. He no longer followed Wade, but instead focused on James' passing route to limit Wade's reception of the ball.

Because James' passing is different from that of point guards like Nash and Rondo. Although he occasionally has some eye-catching passes, they are mostly tactical passes, so they are easier to cut off.

This strategy worked very well. Wade ran to James twice in a row, but James didn't dare to pass the ball both times because there was a great risk of being intercepted and turning it into a turnover.

There was not much time left for the attack, so James took the ball and attacked on his own. Facing Artest's defense, he chose to force a layup.

In terms of confrontation, the weight-added James is much stronger than Artest, but Artest has rich defensive experience. He knows that James can't stop with his back to the basket and is not stable, so he tried his best not to let James accelerate.

So even though James broke into the three-second zone, he didn't have a good shooting angle.

And if he went any further, he would most likely be blocked by Yao Ming. In a flash, he threw the ball to Bosh at the baseline.

After Bosh received the ball, there were only 2 seconds left for his offense. He had no time to make any offensive moves. After receiving the ball and making a slight adjustment, he could only force a shot facing O'Neal Jr.

O'Neal's long arms provided enough interference, and Bosh could only raise the arc as high as possible, and the shot was like a super high toss.

“Swish!”

But Bosh threw the ball in!

James waved his arms excitedly, but Bosh, who scored the goal, had a blank expression on his face.

There is really no pleasure in scoring this kind of goal.

But this is also a good thing for the Heat, after all, they don't have to face the Bulls' defensive counterattack.

The Bulls were forced to continue grinding the field.

But in this situation tonight, positional warfare is actually easier for the Bulls.

This time, the Heat double-teamed Yao Ming in advance at Spoelstra's signal, but Yao Ming was double-teamed every day when he was with the Rockets, and he reacted quickly and passed the ball back to Xu Yong on the outside.

The Heat's defense rotated, James covered Xu Yong, and Xu Yong seized the opportunity to pass the ball to Artest at the top of the arc.

Artest made a decisive three-pointer.

The ball was thrown very straight, but unfortunately the force was a little too strong, and it hit the back edge of the basket and bounced out.

Just when Miami fans were rejoicing that their team had finally secured a victory, Yao Ming judged where the basketball would land and grabbed the offensive rebound.

Because Anthony already had a foul, he didn't dare to make any big defensive moves and could only block Yao Ming's second attack from the bottom.

At the same time, James quickly retreated to the basket, ready to block Yao Ming's shot when the opportunity arose.

Yao Ming was originally going to finish with a hook shot, but changed his mind after seeing James. He first gave Anthony a hard confrontation and pushed him away, then exerted force...

“Bang!”

The ball was smashed into the basket by James who hadn't even jumped yet!

After completing the dunk, Yao Ming waved his arms and enthusiastically gave James a tomato.

You want respect, right? Come, this is the most direct way to show respect!

The live camera was immediately given to Spoelstra.

The Heat coach looked constipated at this moment.

He thought about the threat Yao Ming might bring to the Heat's inside line, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly and violently.

The Miami fans at the scene were also very agitated.

Yao Ming's performance in the opening game was mediocre. They almost forgot that the 2.26-meter-tall guy in front of them was one of the top two centers in the league, nicknamed the Little Giant.

If the Heat plays like this, there won't be enough space inside for Yao Ming to fill his teeth!