It may be hard to believe, but when Rose was shooting free throws, the Bulls already had a huge advantage tonight, and could even be said to be winning.

This is thanks to the excellent level of the Magic management.

In December last year, in the deal that brought back Turkoglu, in addition to sending out Carter, they also sent out a "little man" Marcin Gortat.

Gortat, nicknamed "Polish Hammer", is 2.11 meters tall and can play both center and power forward positions. He is excellent in pick-and-roll. Anyone who knows a little about basketball should have heard of the "Gortat pick-and-roll". He is quick in making up for defense, and his lateral movement is unexpectedly good for a big man. He also has strong tactical execution and a tough style of play.

In the past few seasons, he has demonstrated excellent inside strength in limited opportunities and is Howard's most reliable substitute.

Therefore, many teams wanted to recruit him to be the starting center. In 2009, his rookie contract expired and the Mavericks offered him a 5-year, $34 million contract, but the Magic eventually chose to match the contract.

Logically speaking, if he just continues to be Howard's substitute, this contract should not be matched. Since it is matched, he should be reused. After all, in this era when the maximum salary is only 14 or 15 million, it is quite a luxury to be a substitute for a team with an annual salary of 7 million.

As a result, Van Gundy really continued to use him as a substitute, and would rather use Brandon Bass than start him this season.

You have to know that Gortat is not a standing center. He has skills and a stable mid-range shot. In his first full season after leaving the Magic, he averaged a double-double of 15.4 points and 10 rebounds per game.

As a result, Van Gundy didn't use Gortat's contract, which made Gortat's contract look like a premium contract. In the end, the Magic Johnson, who matched the contract, chose to send him away.

Of course, if there is no one to look at him and Van Gundy is unwilling to use him, then Gortat will be sent away.

But the amazing thing is that they didn't make any reinforcements to the inside line after sending him away!

The direct result of this is that Howard is the only center on the Magic's 15-man roster.

Yes, you read that right, Howard is the only center, and the two tallest players are the power forwards, veteran Malik Allen, who is also 2.08 meters tall, and second-year player Earl Clark.

No one knows what the Magic Coach is thinking. Maybe, as the fans said, they really treat Howard as a "superman".

The direct result of this is that after the trade, Howard's playing time was a career-high 38 minutes.

Although Howard averaged career-high stats of 22.9 points, 14.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game throughout the season, the increase in stats was actually more due to the increase in playing time. His personal strength did not improve, but instead his consumption increased in vain.

What is even more terrible is the indirect result. Because there is no substitute, once Howard suffers an injury or falls into a foul crisis, the Magic will not even have someone who can take over, and can only rely on Clark or Bass to play center.

This is also the reason why the Magic replaced the power forward Ryan Anderson at this time.

They could barely hold up against other teams, but against the Bulls, do they think Yao Ming can't play or O'Neal can't play?

Both sides had done enough foreplay and were ready for a big fight, but just one minute later, the Magic team said they couldn't do it anymore.

In the end, the Magic were defeated in three quarters and lost to the Bulls 76-101.

In terms of statistics, Rose scored 28 points in three quarters, blowing Neals' underwear clean off.

Howard was troubled by fouls and only played for 21 minutes, scoring 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 5 fouls.

The Magic's highest scorer was Turkoglu, but he only scored 18 points.

The game wasn't over yet, but social media was already exploding. Fans thought the Magic would lose, but they didn't expect it to be in this way, and to lose so completely.

"Dwight doesn't look like a 'monster', but more like a 'giant baby'. Does he really not know how to control his fouls?"

"How did he beat LeBron back then?" Comment from "My.King.LeBron".

"I don't know. I just remember Howard averaging 5.3 fouls per game in pick-and-rolls. He fouled out in 3 of the 6 games. He was fouled out in the two most crucial games, G3 and G5. He really doesn't know how to control fouls." Comment from "KBfnas".

"If I remember correctly, even then, Howard still scored 25.8 points and 13 rebounds with a 65% hit rate. If he hadn't committed so many fouls, he should have been able to score 30+15. The Cavaliers would have been swept by the gentlemen."

"Tsk, peak Warcraft bullies young James? How can the Magic still win even with such hype?" Comment from "I want to bring my talent to South Coast" (reputation -100).

"Don't you know how strong the Magic's lineup was that year? Lewis and Turkoglu were all All-Star teammates. In contrast, the Cavaliers was a team with LeBron as the only core. He averaged 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8 assists that year. What else do you want from him?" Comment from "Bronny Future Superstar".

"Oh, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. He averaged 15.7 free throws per game, which is more than Howard. So he must have blown up the Magic's inside line. No wonder Howard committed so many fouls. It turns out that he couldn't defend against LeBron and could only rely on fouls to stop him." Comment from "I Want to Bring My Talent to South Coast" (Reputation -999).

"I think the Magic management has a bigger problem. They didn't even find a substitute for Howard." Comment from "My.King.LeBron".

"Yes, it's not surprising that the management team asked O'Neal whether he was worth a 100 million contract and then let McGrady accompany Hill to recover from injury during his peak period to make such a move." Comment from "Bronny Future Superstar".

"You changed the subject very quickly." Comment from "I want to bring my talent to South Beach". (This user has been reported)

…

"I don't think this is our true level. I will solve my foul problem in the next game and 'Superman' will be back." In the post-match press conference, although he lost G1, Howard was still that sunny boy, full of confidence.

This also makes the outside world continue to pay attention to this series. After all, what Howard said is not wrong.

However, this attention was attracted by another game the next day.

On the second day, the other two groups in the divisional semi-finals also started their confrontation.

The Heat defeated the Celtics 93-88 to win their first victory.

There is not much to say about this game. Although James played averagely and only scored 20 points on 7 of 19 shots, he was still unable to withstand Wade's 38 points on 14 of 21 shots and almost won the game single-handedly.

What really attracted the fans' attention was the game between the Lakers and the Mavericks. This round of series was considered the least suspenseful, but the Mavericks took the lead with 96 to 94.

Kobe made 14 of 29 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers and scored 36 points, but the Lakers' inside line was blown up by Nowitzki alone.

Nowitzki scored 28 points on 11 of 22 shots and won the game with free throws in the final moments.

In fact, the Lakers' lead even reached 16 points two minutes into the third quarter, but in the end they failed to win the game.

Some fans began to feel that the Mavericks were underestimated, but more people still shared Comey's opinion on social media.

"G1 was just an accident, the Lakers will still win the series 4-1."

…

The Bulls are preparing for Game 2.

After the training, Xu Yong was resting on the sidelines, and O'Neal walked towards him with a smile.

"When can I eat the pancake you mentioned?" O'Neal said as he subconsciously wiped the corner of his mouth.

What Xu Yong had described to him before made him very excited, but the last time Xu Yong mentioned this was before the playoffs, and now more than one round of the playoffs has passed and he still hasn't had it.

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He didn't expect that O'Neal was still thinking about this thing. If O'Neal hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten it.

"After the series with the Magic, I will cook it for you myself." Xu Yong replied with a smile.

He may not be very good at cooking, but he is still good at making this.

"Then we have to hurry up." O'Neal said seriously.

Nothing can stop him from eating good food, not training, not the series.

Xu Yong couldn't help but laugh when he saw this. O'Neal's funny personality is really likable.

"The next game won't be as easy as the previous one," Xu Yong reminded.

The Magic are a mature team after all. If Howard plays normally, the Magic can definitely bring more difficulties to the Bulls than the digital man.

"As for that guy Dwight, let me tell you, I can still control him right now." O'Neal looked disdainful.

Xu Yong nodded. Although Howard was not as disadvantaged against O'Neal as Yao Ming, he was indeed very restricted.

Because in terms of size, O'Neal is a size bigger than Howard, and it is difficult for Howard to break out from the front.

"With his condition, how can he be called 'Superman'? Has he achieved anything? A champion in the dunk contest?" O'Neal muttered.

Xu Yong couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

A little-known fact is that in addition to the nickname "The Great Shark", O'Neal actually has another nickname, which is "Superman".

So when Howard snatched the title in the dunk contest, O'Neal was always resentful.

In addition, the media always likes to compare him with Howard, which makes him even more unhappy.

For a historical center like O'Neal, he respects Yao Ming because of his strength and skills, but Howard has played for so many years and is still a rough guy, how could he be worthy of his attention.

To put it bluntly, these superstars with status and strength look down upon the players who have rough skills but are praised by the media.

However, O'Neal's idea shows that he is also trying hard to beat Howard.

In G1, because of Howard's foul crisis, he had no chance to face Howard.

"What are you talking about?"

Just then, Yao Ming saw the two chatting and walked over and sat on the other side of Xu Yong.

Xu Yong looked at O'Neal, then turned to look at Yao Ming, and said with a smile: "We are talking about how to play against Howard."

Yao Ming laughed subconsciously after hearing this.

…

The next day, the second game of the Bulls and Magic series continued at the United Center.

There were also quite a lot of media present at this game. Howard's confident remarks after the previous game attracted a lot of attention, so during the pre-game warm-up, the camera kept focusing on this "superman".

Howard also still has his signature smile.

It has to be said that Howard has a really good attitude and can always smile so brightly no matter what situation he encounters.

The warm-up was over quickly and the opening ceremony began, with the starting lineups of both teams announced one after another.

The Bulls continued to use a lineup of one big and four small players, and the Magic continued to start Nelson. Neither side made any adjustments to the starting lineup.

For the Bulls, there is no need to make adjustments when they have an advantage. For the Magic, the lineup that the Magic built for Van Gundy this season is also excellent. If they don't use Nelson, they can only use Arenas.

"Agent 0" is 28 years old this year and has three years left on a maximum salary contract that is higher than Howard's. Due to injuries, he can't even compete with Nelson.

Without a decade of cerebral hemorrhage, it would be impossible to create such a lineup.

Then in fact, you, as a smart person, should have discovered another problem, that is, this Magic team does not even have an elite perimeter defensive player.

Keith Bogans, DeShawn Stevenson, Trevor Ariza, Courtney Lee, Michael Pietrus, all these defensive stalwarts from the Howard era, now there is really not a single one left.

It would be inappropriate not to give a bonus to such a magic tube, so of course the Bulls should give it.

So this season, Van Gundy is somewhat like a housewife without rice, and he can only take one day at a time.

The game started quickly, and Howard was indeed full of fighting spirit. He jumped like a rocket at the beginning, pushing the ball back to the half court, officially opening the curtain of G2.

However, despite his excitement, Howard was not yet excited enough to attack Yao Ming in the low post.

He just played pick-and-roll with Turkoglu and then cut into the basket.

This time he was wary of Battier's foul. After stopping the ball, he used his strength to squeeze past Battier, then jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

"Bang!"

However, as soon as the ball was pulled up, it was hit away from behind.

Howard dunked the empty basket.

The basketball hit the backboard and bounced into Yao Ming's hands.

He gave Howard a familiar greeting gift at the beginning.

After getting the rebound, Yao Ming turned around and threw the ball out.

After receiving the ball, Rose and Xu Yong quickly ran down the court, two against one in the frontcourt.

After fast breaking to the frontcourt, he seized the opportunity and threw the ball directly into the air.

Xu Yong was lifted into the air by the ball, grabbed the ball in mid-air and slammed it into the basket.

The United Center exploded instantly.

They didn't know whether "Superman" would come back, but the team's block and alley-oop at the start were very exciting.

The Magic continued to play pick-and-roll in the frontcourt. This time Yao Ming retreated to the basket and Turkoglu chose to make a quick stop and shoot from mid-range.

However, Battier successfully blocked the interference from the defense and his shot failed to go in.

Yao Ming protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls failed to find an opportunity for a defensive counterattack and moved back into position.

The Bulls' playing style did not change much from G1, and Rose continued to dribble past Nelson.

Nelson followed Fisher's example and lifted up his trouser legs, but he couldn't keep up with Rose's speed and turned into a wooden stake.

Rose broke into the paint and jumped for a layup.

Howard came out to assist in defense at this time, and Rose lost the angle for the ball. After adjusting in the air, he passed the ball to Yao Ming behind Howard.

Howard showed his strength as a DPOY in this ball. After realizing that Rose was going to pass the ball, he turned around and stood in front of Yao Ming to assist in defense.

“Swish!”

Although, this did not work for Embiid.

After receiving the ball, Yao Ming faced Howard's light hook shot and made a steady hit, helping the Bulls score another goal.