Chen Jie returned, and he also led the Bulls to catch up with the ten-point difference in four minutes of game time.
Now, the Bulls are only two points behind the Cavaliers.
Paul Silas was even forced to call a timeout. After returning from the timeout, he was unable to bring Ilgauskas up.
According to custom, Ilgauskas should come back with at least six minutes left in the second quarter, but now, he came back two minutes early. This shows the Cavaliers' passivity on the court.
LeBron James alone is simply unable to compete with the Bulls' half-main lineup's counterattack.
Moreover, the gap between the bench players of the two teams is really too big.
To win this game, Paul Silas can only increase the playing time of his main players.
If nothing else happens, it is estimated that LeBron James may play for more than 40 minutes in this game.
The return of Ilgauskas has stabilized the mood of some worried fans in the Credit Center.
They cheered, as if this way, the Cavaliers could suppress the Bulls' counterattack.
But the fans in Chicago didn't have any fear.
Their Chen Jie hasn't shown his full potential yet.
Having just faced the Cavaliers' lineup of three substitutes, Chen Jie had no interest in playing with them. He just let his teammates perform. His feint attack was enough for the Bulls to chase points.
Now that Ilgauskas is back, Chen Jie is probably interested. Once he performs a little bit, the Bulls will still be on top of the Cavaliers.
So Chicago fans aren't worried at all.
However, they seem to have thought wrong.
Ilgauskas is back and his main task is to defend Kwame Brown.
Although Kwame Brown successfully defeated Ilgauskas several times in the first quarter, once Ilgauskas discovered the characteristics of Kwame Brown's singles and found his own rhythm, then Kwame Brown's
Playing alone, you will no longer have the same success rate as before.
At this time, the normal play style should be for the Bulls to shift their offensive point from the inside to the outside, and continue to put pressure on the Cavaliers.
As for Chen Jie, he should start playing a few more games to put some pressure on the Cavaliers' defense.
In fact, this is what most people think too.
Many people were ready to see Chen Jie explode after taking a rest.
He just hit a three-point shot. For Chen Jie, this is not even a warm-up.
However, maybe it's because he still believes in Kwame Brown, or maybe it's because of something else. Seeing Ilgauskas' return, Chen Jie still didn't mention the idea of attacking.
He still chose to guide the ball to his teammates.
At this moment, Chen Jie is playing the same as Chris Duhon before.
On the defensive end, because Xiao Mo's offensive opportunities began to run out, Chen Jie's defensive pressure was not great. Apart from helping to block James' ball, he had no performance at all.
On the offensive end, Chen Jie's main task seems to be to dribble the ball across half court and then find a teammate to pass the ball out.
Many people remember that Chris Duhon used to play like this, right?
Dribbling the ball through half the court, then handing the ball to Chen Jie, then running himself, waiting for Chen Jie's possible pass.
Now, Chen Jie seems to have become like Du Hong.
Oh, no, it's not the same.
Chen Jie was even one step less than Du Hong, that is, after passing the ball, Chen Jie didn't even move, he just stood at the top of the three-point arc.
If his teammates pass the ball back, Chen Jie will continue to pass the ball to the next teammate.
Again, Chen Jie is like a transit station for basketball.
Could it be that Ilgauskas still can't ignite Chen Jie's desire to attack? Does he want to wait until all the main players of the Cavaliers are back and compete seriously?
Many people have given such a reasonable explanation in their hearts.
But they seem to have forgotten that Chen Jie in the past would not be so slack even if the opponent had all the substitutes.
In any case, with a reasonable explanation in mind, Chicago fans and media were not as surprised as when Chen Jie was distracted in the first quarter.
They were still watching the game calmly, waiting for two more minutes to pass before the Cavaliers sent back all their main players, and then Chen Jie became serious.
Skiles seemed to think so too, so he didn't call a timeout or ask Chen Jie what was wrong.
The Bulls players on the court seemed to think so too, so they slowly began to stop returning the ball to Chen Jie and instead played alone.
It has to be said that although Chen Jie did not take the initiative to attack, he was still a big threat to the Cavaliers when he stood on the court.
Even though he seemed to have little interest in attacking, the Cavaliers' defense still did not dare to neglect him in the slightest.
Xiao Mo still stayed by Chen Jie's side, not daring to easily help his teammates in defense.
In this way, other Bulls players have a much better chance.
Kwame Brown tried two singles against Ilgauskas, one was barely successful, and after the other was blocked, Chris Duhon took the lead in the offense.
Although Ilgauskas suddenly strengthened his defensive intensity, which made Kwame Brown's singles more difficult, it was still very easy for Kwame Brown to help Duhon block people.
Chris Duhon kept breaking through Luke Jackson's defense, and every time he got inside, he got an easy layup. The Bulls' offense continued to be stable.
However, after Ilgauskas came on the court, the Cavaliers played much more smoothly on the offensive end than before.
The Cavaliers' offense just now was actually LeBron James' singles effort.
He fought alone. Although he scored a few goals based on his personal ability, it was hard for a good man to beat two fists. The Cavaliers were still overtaken by the Bulls by ten points.
Now, Ilgauskas is here, and he has cooperated with James inside and outside. The Cavaliers' offense has many changes, and James has enough space for breakthroughs.
In these two minutes, the Cavaliers did not let the Bulls continue to chase points.
When the game reached six minutes and 43 seconds, the ball was dead and the official timeout was initiated.
At this time, the Cavaliers were 33-31, leading the Bulls by two points.
After this timeout, many people know that the Cavaliers' main lineup will be back, and the Bulls' main lineup should also be back. Both teams are stronger than before, and the game should be exciting.
However, this is not what everyone is most looking forward to.
They are still looking forward to the return of the Cavaliers' main lineup and the Bulls' Chen Jie to ignite their offensive passion.
Facing the Cavaliers' strongest lineup, Chen Jie should have fighting spirit?
During the timeout, Scales didn't ask Chen Jie much. He also knew that Chen Jie was in good condition because of the few balls at the beginning of the second quarter.
As for his somewhat negative performance on the offensive end, it must be because he did not encounter challenges.
Skiles knows about talents like Chen Jie. For such players, they cannot be interested in facing some weak teams. Their characteristic is that they like to challenge strong opponents.
When the timeout comes back and the Cavaliers send in their entire main lineup, Chen Jie should be back to normal.
Even Scales thinks so.
The minute of pause is fleeting.
Skiles didn't make many arrangements at all, he just explained that the offense should be carried out according to the original tactics.
Naturally, everyone knows this original tactic, which is to give the ball to Chen Jie.
However, when Scales said this, Chen Jie didn't have any reaction.
Of course, everyone has become accustomed to this arrangement, so it is normal to have no reaction.
Chandler returned to the field. In this game, due to Kwame Brown's outstanding performance, he got enough rest.
Nochioni, who had a large part of his playing time divided up by Kwame Brown, returned, Griffin went off to rest, and Piakowski came on.
That's all the adjustments during Skiles' timeout.
Kwame Brown returned to the bench with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Today, his performance was very amazing. Presumably, the media did not dare to talk about him after the game.
Now, Kwame Brown has become a taboo in the minds of many media. Unless he performs badly one day, otherwise, it will be almost impossible for the media to take the initiative to talk about Kwame Brown.
Especially after Chen Jie made a bet with many media regarding Kwame Brown's data.
Sitting on the bench, Kwame Brown accepted congratulations from his teammates.
He was also smiling. He was in a good mood today. Chen Jie's abnormality did not affect him.
He also knew that he was just taking a break, and it was estimated that Scales would continue to let him play in the third quarter.
It's possible that he will be on the court in the final decisive moment of the fourth quarter.
Slowly establishing a foothold in the new team, Kwame Brown is certainly in a good mood.
On the court, the Cavaliers indeed fielded their entire main lineup. James and Mo still didn't rest, but they took advantage of the timeout to get a temporary chance to breathe.
Ilgauskas, Guden, and Pavlovich once again went into battle.
The Cavaliers fielded their strongest lineup.
On the Bulls side, except for Pijakowski, they are all the main players.
In the last five minutes of the second quarter, it looked like the two teams were going to have a real fight.
Everyone wants to go into the halftime break with a lead.
After the timeout, the Bulls have the ball, because this timeout is an official timeout, and the official timeout in the second quarter is counted against the visiting team.
Chris Duhon followed Scales' request and sent the ball directly to Chen Jie.
Many people are also waiting to see what choice Chen Jie will make when facing the Cavaliers' main lineup.
