After a short rest in Detroit, the Celtics came to the windy city of Chicago with the momentum of victory to challenge the Chicago Bulls. After winning against the Pistons, the Celtics seemed to be stronger than ever, and the team's atmosphere also improved.
They have become more harmonious. Pierce was not very fond of Rivers when he first came to the Celtics last year. He felt that Rivers had been using the same method in the 1980s to compete with the current Celtics.
Players communicate, and sometimes even put a small note under the door of the player's room, writing some words of encouragement and how to improve next, etc. When Rivers was a player, the coaches in charge would do this.
However, Pierce didn't appreciate it at the beginning. Slowly, under Rivers' suggestion, Pierce improved some of his bad habits, which led to continuous improvement in shooting percentage and on-field efficiency. Only then did Pierce start
Take Rivers.
But acceptance does not mean absolute recognition. What really started to be recognized was this season. To be precise, after this game, Rivers made a surprise victory and gave the Celtics a taste of victory, especially for the meritorious coach Larry
Brown scratched his head, and Pierce began to believe that Rivers had the ability to help the Celtics win the championship.
Milicic, Al Jefferson, Eddie Jones, Fisher, this season the Celtics' main players have been replaced except for Pierce himself, but this lineup is the Celtics after Bird retired.
The strongest lineup, Pierce now even sometimes says when facing the media: "I really don't know any team that we can't beat."
Chicago was still the most famous sports team in the world a few years ago, but the Bulls dynasty fell apart after Jordan retired. After several years of dormancy, they finally assembled a more promising team after several years of draft accumulation.
The Chicago Bulls just held a retirement ceremony for meritorious player Scottie Pippen last month. After returning to the Bulls last season, Pippen made some contributions to the team and helped the players grow faster.
, the current Bulls have two rookies at the small forward position who have good strength. Luol Deng and Nocchione are both rare talented players. They played above the league average in their rookie year this year.
level of performance.
In addition, with the growth of Hinrich, the fact that Ben Gordon can become an immediate combat force when he comes, and the continuous improvement of Chandler and Curry inside, the Bulls have gradually grown into a team with balanced strength in all positions and unlimited future potential.
Team up.
However, the game between the Celtics and the Bulls is not a live broadcast in the United States. After all, the Bulls have not entered the playoffs for a long time. However, everyone on this Bulls team will achieve brilliant achievements later.
Gordon's Sixth Man of the Year, Luol Deng's All-Stars, Chandler's championship, Hinrich's Dream Team and Curry's super contract, these all illustrate this group of young people to some extent.
human abilities.
In the game between the Celtics and the Bulls, Derek Fisher was promoted to the main team due to his outstanding performance in the previous game against the Pistons.
The Celtics lineup is:
Point guard Derek Fisher, shooting guard Eddie Jones, small forward Paul Pierce, power forward Al Jefferson, center Darko Milicic
The Bulls’ main lineup is:
Point guard Kirk Hinrich, shooting guard Eric Piakski, small forward Luol Deng, power forward Tyson Chandler, center Eddy Curry
The two insiders of the Bulls are not easy to deal with. Milicic had met with these two guys before in the preseason. Before the game started, Curry came over and said to Milicic:
"Boy, I didn't expect you to be so popular this season. I have to make you suffer a little tonight."
Milicic smiled and poked Curry's chest with his finger, piercing a knuckle. He smiled and said: "You are worthy of being a player in the Bulls. With your chest, you can be called Jordan's successor."
"
Of course Curry knew what Milicic meant, and he suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Curry weighs 300 pounds but is not as solid as O'Neal was when he was young. Although he has great talent, he is still a flexible person with this fat content.
A fat man, but his obesity and competitive attitude have always been criticized.
When fighting for the ball, the Bulls did not use Eddie Curry, who had the best height and wingspan, but Tyson Chandler. Milicic was not very careful when fighting for the ball, and the ball was diverted by Chandler.
In the past, Hinrich controlled the ball and the Bulls got the ball for the first time in the game.
Hinrich is not a player who dribbles quickly in a straight line. Fisher is not afraid of this kind of thing. Moreover, the Bulls are also advancing in a positional battle. Both teams have good inside height, so this game is also a positional battle.
There is no room for trickery in confrontation.
The Bulls' first ball started from the inside. After Curry took a 45-degree corner position on the left, the other three people pulled away and Hinrich lobbed the ball into Curry's hands.
Milicic did not go around, but held Curry firmly behind him. After this period of training, Milicic's weight has now increased to 255 pounds, but the premise is that the flexibility is not affected.
In this case, the 10 pounds gained are all muscle, which gives Milicic more capital when defending against such a pure center.
Milicic has an absolute advantage in terms of bounce speed and jumping, and his wingspan is also ahead of Chandler, so there is no doubt that Milicic won the jump ball this time.
Fisher got the basketball and slowly advanced to the frontcourt. Fisher was not particularly strong in organization, but he had a very high basketball IQ and knew how to control the rhythm and make choices under what circumstances.
Attack.
This time at the start of the game, when Fisher went to the frontcourt and waited for the team to get into position, Hinrich was not particularly close to him. Fisher even jumped up and threw a three-pointer without any hesitation.
From the perspective of whether the ball is reasonable or not, this shot did not wait for the big man inside to get into position. If the shot was missed, there would be no rebound. However, the shot was made and went into the net.
Later, when Fisher was with the Lakers, he often used this method to end an offense when he had Kobe and Gasol. If no one was guarding him, Fisher's three-pointers were absolutely accurate.
Fisher's three-pointers in his career are about 40%, but his shooting percentage when unguarded is much higher than this number.
As soon as the game started, the Celtics gave the Bulls a disastrous start.
