The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 251 The Tenacious Bull
The Cavaliers didn't have an easy start. They will go to an away game against the Bulls immediately after they finish playing the Knicks.

The Bulls are very optimistic about this season. Jimmy Butler's growth, Rose's comeback, and Gasol's joining. Compared with last season, their defense has not lost, but their offense has become much stronger.

This season in the Eastern Conference is not destined to be peaceful.

But in this game, Jimmy Butler will not play because he injured his finger in the preseason.

He was replaced by Mike Dunleavy, and the Bulls' starting lineup included Rose and Pau Gasol, who were invisible last season.

With the configuration of Noah and Gasol, Zhang Xiaotian was a little worried about the inside line at first.

But at the beginning of the game, he found that there was no need to worry about the Cavaliers' inside rebounds.

He is also the opponent of the two towers in the previous two teams. He always has internal problems and has produced inertial thinking. Obviously, this team still has a few good rebounders.

And the Bulls don't have Jimmy Butler, no one can stop James.

James went on a killing spree when he came up, and the Bulls didn't adjust the lineup. The comeback Rose is still strong, and their insiders still have an advantage on the offensive end.

On the Cavaliers side, Varejao has a good sense of flexibility, but his hands are a little softer, and his strength is not as good as the Bulls' inside line, but the Cavaliers also have a way, and they quickly replaced Tristan Thompson.

There were loopholes in the defense of both sides, so they simply fought against each other.

Zhang Xiaotian still has an advantage against Kirk Hinrich. Maybe the opponent has no problem defending a striker like him at his peak, but now he has no such ability.

It's just that Irving couldn't handle Rose, and was quickly fouled two times, which made the first position a bit weak.

In the case of the two sides attacking each other, the Cavaliers will lead by a little.

But when the rotation period officially arrived, the Cavaliers encountered problems again.

One is because of the early substitutions, their formation is a bit stretched, and the other is that Waiters is still in poor condition, and there is no such outstanding performance as Aaron Brooks, Ty Gibson and others on the Bulls.

Not only the head coach of the team, but the Cavaliers are also a little depressed. This guy is usually bullish, but when he is on the court, he is all kinds of iron.

You know, the team had great expectations for Waiters to bring the sixth man.

With the strength he showed in the previous two seasons, it is entirely possible to compete for the best sixth man, and the Cavaliers will not lack firepower during the rotation period, allowing the main players to rest more.

As a result, this guy was emotional off the court, but he couldn't show his strength on the court, which made the team a little passive.

Seeing the Bulls overtake the score, David Blatt had to let James and Love play more time.

The Cavaliers were suspected of being the main force in the last game, and they played like this again this time. They are a team with the configuration of a team. If it is so difficult to play the regular season, the coach and players will be questioned.

But now there is really no other way, and the tactical coordination is not yet proficient. To win the game, the team's core team can only use the advantage of the matchup to do it.

Fortunately, after Irving was replaced in the second quarter, the offensive end opened up.

He and Rose, who is no longer at his peak, are almost exchanging blows.

By the end of the first half, the Cavaliers had the advantage in the score again.

As far as the first two quarters are concerned, except for the defense against Rose, there are basically no problems in other aspects.

When Love meets Gasol, he loses his former agility. This is also normal, and Dajia can also be inside and outside.

As long as the momentum is maintained in the second half, there should be no problem.

However, the Bulls also made adjustments. At the beginning of the third quarter, they increased their intensity, increased physical contact, and upgraded their defense to a higher level.

The Cavaliers also want to increase their strength, but they are not as good as the Bulls.

Paul Gasol is basically seamless in the Bulls lineup, and their cooperation is obviously better than that of the Cavaliers.

However, when the strength is increased, the efficiency of the opponent on the offensive end is also reduced.

The Cavaliers' main lineup is actually not afraid of grinding.

The reason why all-star players are all-stars is that they can show their strength in different rhythms.

The problem still lies with the substitute players. If Waiters doesn't score, the Cavaliers really have nothing to score on the bench.

There are about seven players in the lineup who can play, and the rest are old, weak, sick and disabled.

And among the seven main rotation players, Varejao and Tristan Thompson are not threatening enough on the offensive end.

The Cavaliers have four ball-holding points, one more than the Heat. It should be stronger after running in, but it is also more difficult to run in.

Because unlike experienced players like Wade in the Heat, Irving and Waiters are too young.

The bull was about to take control of the situation, but suddenly something went wrong.

The Bulls must have been cursed in recent years, and Rose felt something was wrong again.

Rose's style of play is already explosive, and this time he went against the truth. As a player who has suffered a serious injury, this is really not surprising.

The Bulls definitely didn't dare to take risks, and quickly replaced Rose with Brooks.

Seeing that the situation has eased, David Blatt also asked the main players to rest at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

He obviously hadn't figured out Zhang Xiaotian's situation yet, so he also put him off the field.

Pau Gasol's big hat, Noah's offensive rebounds, they used the inside with a substitute to achieve good results, Brooks also hit a three-pointer, and the score was narrowed all of a sudden.

The Cavaliers hurriedly made substitutions, James only rested for 50 seconds, and Zhang Xiaotian rested for an extra half minute.

James didn't feel good, but the team's defense was much stronger.

Moreover, Zhang Xiaotian will not feel bad at this time, and it is also because the characteristics of the two are not very similar. Zhang Xiaotian faced the frail second-year student Tony Snell twice in a row, helping the team stabilize the situation.

The Bulls can only replace all the main players, and the Cavaliers also replaced the decisive lineup.

But this time it didn't work. One is that the Bulls' two insiders are still a threat, and the other is that West is not in a good state.

But it's different from the main lineup. They replaced the young and strong Tristan Thompson inside.

The same goes for the Bulls, who replaced Gasol with their more familiar insider Taj Gibson.

The Bulls' adjustment made their inside line more dynamic, and they grabbed two offensive rebounds in a row, and the score was close again.

At this time, James held the ball for the Cavaliers, and it was divided into the hands of Love on the outside twice, but Love missed the shot.

Zhang Xiaotian was very anxious, he could eat Hinrich alone.

Instead of being silent, he took the initiative to communicate with his teammates.

They actually have several advantages, but now he is more able to ensure the feel.

At 2 minutes and 35 seconds, Hinrich made use of his teammate's high screen to hit a three-pointer, and the two sides tied at 91:91.

The Cavaliers asked for a timeout, but they didn't seize the opportunity after Rose went down.

Now is the last moment, and if it is not handled properly, problems will arise.

(End of this chapter)