Chapter 290 Who is the Alliance going to support? (A small leave)
As soon as he entered the bar, Howard found a seat near the bar and sat down like he was familiar with the place. He happily introduced the bar to LeBron.

From the moment LeBron entered the bar, his nerves were tense and he subconsciously stayed away from any man who approached him.

The good news is that Howard found his target as soon as he sat down.

Seeing Howard chatting enthusiastically with another man, LeBron hurried away.

“Your friend is gay!”

As he left, the man who was chatting with Howard looked at LeBron’s back and said something to Howard.

This was the second time Howard heard someone say that LeBron was gay. He was already somewhat skeptical, and now he became even more skeptical.

“He was very resistant, but if it happened again, maybe it would be completely different…”

Howard’s eyes were filled with excitement as he listened to the man’s analysis.

he thinks……

Give it a try!
Howard’s favorite thing to do is to hunt for novelty!
For example, right now, at least two gay people say LeBron is gay, so how can he not verify the result of this matter?
Meanwhile, the playoff run continues.

After the Clippers eliminated the Timberwolves 4-2, the New York Knicks also waited for their semi-final opponent:

Chicago Bulls!

They defeated the Eagles 4-2.

After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs again, there have been reports that the Hawks management is considering rebuilding.

The main thing is that Joe Johnson is already 32 years old.

This is an awkward age, when the core players usually start to decline. After being eliminated in the first round, the Hawks really have no reason to stick with the current lineup.

It’s better to rebuild it sooner.

While Horford and other main players are still young, build a second core lineup!

As for the Bulls who made it to the second round…

They are all full of fighting spirit!

Last season they wanted to meet the New York Knicks in the playoffs, but they were eliminated by the Pacers and did not have a chance for revenge.

This time, they finally met again in the playoffs.

and……

“We have our problems, but the New York Knicks also have their problems. We all know that the New York Knicks this season can be targeted!” Joakim Noah was very confident when talking about the semi-finals with the New York Knicks.

He bluntly said that the New York Knicks have weaknesses that can be targeted this season.

However, when the reporter asked him to talk some trash to Su Wan, his face turned red, his mouth moved for a long time, but in the end, he didn’t say a word.

He still can’t forget what happened to the entire team after he talked trash to Su Wan.

After losing that series, some media even believed that his “trash talk” ruined the Bulls’ efforts for the season.

and so……

Although he was confident that the New York Knicks had shortcomings this season, he still didn’t dare to talk trash to Suwan.

In other words, he has something he wants to say, but he has to wait until he beats the New York Knicks!

Before that, he had to act like a mute when facing Su Wan!
Soon the series between the Bulls and the New York Knicks officially arrived.

The first game of the series was played at the New York Knicks’ home court.

Just like the previous game, the scene turned into a “sea of ​​red” early on, but compared to the Bucks, the Bulls were obviously calmer.

This is also a team that once played in the “Eastern Conference Finals”!

They are not comparable to the “new recruits” of the Bucks…

The big screen at the scene showed the starting lineups of both sides:

The New York Knicks still maintain their regular lineup.

As for the Bulls, their roster is:

Derrick Rose at No. 1, Hamilton at No. 2, Joakim Noah at No. 3, Boozer at No. 4, and Joakim Noah at No. 5!

The original Bulls also completed this main lineup this season.

But Derrick Rose suffered a season-ending injury last season, and Hamilton soon suffered an injury, resulting in the Bulls putting together this lineup. Therefore, the five people did not show their full abilities and the chemical reaction of their cooperation.

This time it’s different.

Derrick Rose wasn’t injured, and Hamilton has maintained his form.

The five of them gradually got into the right groove together.

The current Bulls are a team that is both aggressive in attack and has very good defensive capabilities.

It can be said that this is one of the most offensive and defensive teams in the league…

Local media in Chicago believe that this Bulls team has more changes on offense than the New York Knicks.

Compared to the Bulls, the New York Knicks have relied too much on three-pointers this season, leading many media to believe that they will be in big trouble in the playoffs.

This includes the Bulls.

Before the first game of the semifinals officially started, the Chicago media had been emphasizing how the Bulls should target the New York Knicks’ three-point shooting.

Interestingly, the coaching staff of the New York Knicks predicted what the Chicago Bulls would do. Tyronn Lue said directly: “I know very well that the Bulls will target the New York Knicks’ three-pointers, but what I want to say is that if the Bulls target the New York Knicks’ three-pointers too much, then they will pay the price for it!”

However, in the eyes of Chicago and other major media, Tyronn Lue’s remarks were just a “smoke bomb” intended to make the Bulls hesitate.

However, Thibodeau was obviously not fooled. The Bulls’ defense today was aimed at the New York Knicks outside the three-point line, and the entire defensive formation was very spread out.

Dio, who was dealing the ball at the top of the arc, seized the opportunity to pass the ball to Suwan who was cutting to the wing.

Su Wan rushed to the free throw line and scored with a “change of hands layup” very easily.

Thibodeau watched Suwan attack without being too impatient.

The tactic the Bulls formulated before the start of this game was to let Suwan take on as many of the New York Knicks’ breakthroughs as possible in the early stages and block other people’s three-pointers.

The Bulls’ scoring points this season have greatly improved compared to when the two teams met two years ago. For this reason, Thibodeau feels that if only Suwan plays like crazy, the Bulls’ offense can still hold up.

This was proven in the next attack:

Derrick Rose is in his fifth season of his career. With more experience, he averaged 5 points per game this season, ranking fourth in the league’s scoring average list, second only to Kevin Durant, Suwan and Carmelo Anthony.

Stephen Curry tried very hard to keep up with his speed, but unfortunately he was still easily overtaken by him.

It would be really scary to change direction without slowing down!

Rushing to the basket, Tyson Chandler’s decline was fully demonstrated at this moment.

If it were him in the past, even if he couldn’t completely gain a foothold in front of Derrick Rose, he could still cause interference from the side.

But for this shot, Tyson Chandler could only cover Rose’s head with his hands, which was not enough to cause much interference.

All he could do was watch Rose complete the attack.

In addition to the fact that Derrick Rose is indeed better and Tyson Chandler has regressed compared to before, another very important point is the change in league rules:
Tyson Chandler was obviously a little cautious in his defense this time and didn’t dare to move.

By the way, since the league’s rules were changed, Derrick Rose has played two games, scoring 33 points in one game and 35 points in another game!
Once he completes the breakthrough and reaches the opponent’s basket, no matter how many opponents there are, for him, it is like entering an empty space and he can do whatever he wants.

A smile appeared on Thibodeau’s face. In his opinion, Derrick Rose this season is already a “super giant” level player. After the league’s rules were changed, he became one of the three best “scorers” in the league!

When the entire league was ridiculing LeBron for the official temporary adjustment of the rules, Thibodeau couldn’t suppress a smile on his face.

He believes that after this rule change, the Bulls have the ability to compete at the championship level!

The more powerful Derrick Rose will make the Bulls’ offense even more sharp at critical moments…

Before this game, he was still a little worried.

After all, the Bucks are not the New York Knicks.

But after watching Derrick Rose score at the basket just like eating and drinking water, he was completely relieved:

Steady!

The game continued in the following time.

The New York Knicks fought back.

The ball was still given to Suwan.

Suwan dribbled the ball to the basket, but the Bulls did not double-team him, allowing him to complete a layup and score.

This made Su Wan raise his eyebrows slightly.

Don’t you respect me so much?
Derrick Rose responded 10 seconds later. Looking at Thibodeau, who was beaming in front of the bench, Suwan nodded slightly:
Is this the reason why you don’t double-team me?
Su Wan continued to attack with the ball.

Derrick Rose was in really good shape tonight. He responded to almost every attack by Suwan.

At the end of the first quarter, Suwan had 14 points and Derrick Rose had 12 points.

It can be said that it is not inferior!

The New York Knicks were only leading by 1 point at this time…

At the beginning of the second quarter, Tyronn Lue took the lead in changing the formation and began to double-team Derrick Rose.

It was just a double-team after Rose broke through!
The purpose of doing this is to continue to consume Derrick Rose’s physical energy, and then to distribute the pressure on the Bulls’ offensive end to other people and test other players of the Bulls.

As for the offensive adjustments on their side, the New York Knicks asked Suwan to do more containment and movement.

In the first quarter, Suwan’s attack was too aggressive and needed some adjustments.

The most important thing is that the opponent clearly wants Su Wan to attack alone, and they can’t fall into the Bulls’ trap.

Although they all believed that Suwan could sweep the Bulls alone.

But there are 7 games in the series, and we have to win 4 of them.

It’s too tiring for Su Wan to play like this in every game.

If someone from the New York Knicks can step up at this time to help Suwan and share the pressure on the offensive end, it will also put pressure on the Bulls’ defense.

Tyronn Lue is very sure that the Bulls coaching staff has clearly determined that, apart from Suwan, the New York Knicks have no other qualified ball handler who can threaten to attack the basket with the ball, which is why they are so unscrupulous in blocking other people’s three-pointers.

Well, this kind of targeting did not just appear in this round of series, but has existed since the end of the season.

The New York Knicks have never given a proven answer, so much so that everyone thinks they can’t give an answer.

In fact…

I really can’t give an answer!
but……

It’s the original one!
The original New York Knicks could not give an answer that was satisfactory to the outside world.

But after the league recently revised the “vertical jump” rules for inside players, the New York Knicks can now give an answer.

That is……

“Two points scored from a layup by Stephen Curry!”

Ah!
Yes!

This is the New York Knicks’ answer:
In addition to Su Wan, there is another “scorer” who can continuously provide threat with the ball!
The biggest problem with Stephen Curry’s dribbling breakthrough is not his breakthrough.

He is now very skilled at dribbling.

His biggest problem is that after he breaks through with the ball, his finishing methods at the basket are too mediocre, and his ability to resist interference is even more… a mess.

However, now, the restrictions on the inside defense under the basket have increased again, resulting in his attack on the basket becoming threatening after entering the basket.

Mike Malone discovered this during a training match before the semifinals.

After a serious discussion with Tyronn Lue, they believed that Stephen Curry could make this change on the court.

This is also the reason why they took advantage of the situation from the beginning and followed the Bulls’ thinking, allowing Su Wan to continue attacking!
They were not afraid at all that Su Wan’s physical energy would be consumed too much at the beginning.

They knew very well that Su Wan could take a break at some point.

Of course, they were still a little worried before Stephen Curry completed this attack.

But it’s just a tiny bit!

Now, as Stephen Curry made his first possession, they breathed a sigh of relief…

Thibodeau didn’t realize the problem at this time.

But as Stephen Curry completed another layup and shook his shoulders proudly when he landed to defend, his expression suddenly became serious.

Stephen Curry didn’t have such strong attacking ability in the past.

He first wound up Noah: “Joakim, damn, what are you doing?”

But the effect is still not ideal.

Stephen Curry quickly completed another dribbling attack…

This made Thibodeau’s face look even uglier.

If Stephen Curry really has the ability to attack the basket, it will not just be a simple matter of the New York Knicks having one more ball handler…

This is also related to the overall defensive layout of the New York Knicks.

TNT studio.

Barkley looked uncertainly at Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal next to him: “Is that what I think?”

Seeing Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith nod, he no longer hesitated and said directly: “I now have reason to doubt who the league wants to promote. This time, their rule changes have helped the New York Knicks a lot!”

(End of this chapter)