Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

After the All-Star weekend, the Bulls' next goal is to hit first place in the Eastern Conference.

However, before the Bulls could exert much force, the Heat fell from the first place in the Eastern Conference due to injuries.

Seeing this situation, the Bulls naturally would not miss the opportunity to reach the top of the Eastern Conference. With a wave of eight consecutive victories, they successfully replaced the Heat to reach the top of the Eastern Conference and completely consolidated their first place in the Eastern Conference.

Seeing that there are only a dozen games left in the regular season, the Bulls have also begun taking turns to prepare for the next playoffs.

It's just that the plan can't keep up with the changes. Even if injuries are avoided as much as possible, some of the Bulls' main players are still injured, and there are more than one.

It can only be said that modern basketball has accelerated the pace of the game and strengthened the defensive standards, making it easier for people to become sick from overwork and increase the risk of injury.

Fortunately, there are many people in the Bulls who can play this season, and they have been rotating normally. Even the main players are not consumed too much.

Therefore, although someone on the Bulls team was injured, the injuries were not particularly serious.

Curry broke through his sprained foot with the ball. Because he was always equipped with foot protective gear, the injury was not serious and he could just rest for a few days.

Ibaka fell to the ground and suffered a back injury after a layup, but it was just soreness in his back muscles. He only needed to take normal medication and recover for a period of time.

Green enjoyed the process of wrestling with others. When he was defending his opponent's breakthrough, he was elbowed in the corner of his eyebrow. He was diagnosed with a first-level concussion. Due to the concussion protection mechanism, he was suspended for one game.

On the whole, injuries in the second half of the regular season did not have much impact on the Bulls.

Before the end of the regular season, the Bulls' main players recovered one after another and were in full swing for the next playoffs.

With 59 wins and 23 losses, the Bulls almost reached a regular season record of 60+ wins.

Of course, it is already remarkable that the Bulls were able to win 59 games this season despite being targeted by the league.

Dunn's previous prediction of the final regular season record was only 58 wins.

In the second half of the regular season, most playoff teams suffered from injuries. The Bulls took the opportunity to take advantage and achieve a better regular season record.

Time soon came to late April, and the NBA playoffs finally started.

The Bulls' opponent in the first round this year is the Brooklyn Nets, and the Nets' stars are the former Eagle King Joe in isolation, and Deron Williams, who eats, sleeps, and plays Paul.

In addition, the Nets' main lineup also includes Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez.

It stands to reason that with such a lineup configuration, the Nets will not be ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference.

However, the fact is that neither Joe nor Deron has strong team leadership ability in singles.

This year's Nets configuration is pretty good, but they have not been able to unite as one and actively push forward.

In the end, they were able to advance to the Eastern Conference playoffs because other fringe Eastern Conference playoff players and star players were injured and fell behind at the last moment.

Of course, even if it's not the Nets, other fringe teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs are lucky enough to reach eighth in the Eastern Conference, and the final result has already been determined.

For a championship team like the Bulls, which has rich playoff experience and aims to win the championship and build a dynasty, any team in the Eastern Conference is just a chicken and a dog, not worth mentioning at all!
By the way, the outside media are also very aware of this. The Bulls in the regular season are the Bulls who have been weakened by the league.

By the time the playoffs come, the league will not be able to blackmail the Bulls every game.

This also means that the Bulls who train with weight during the regular season will be unstoppable in the playoffs.

On the way to the Bulls' promotion to the playoffs this year, neither the Nets nor the Heat can cause much hindrance to the Bulls.

Just based on the strength shown by the Bulls in the regular season, the media can conclude in advance that the Bulls can easily break out of the Eastern Conference and reach the finals again!
"Unless the league manipulates the game, the Chicago Bulls will advance to the Finals with overwhelming force!"

"The Bulls with Duane can't be defeated! Brothers, Bulls champion!"

"59 wins, first in the Eastern Conference! This is why Duan is the best player in the league!"

"We must admit that no team in the Eastern Conference can match the intensity of the Bulls! If it were not for some obstacles that we can see with our naked eyes, the Bulls will definitely be a 60-win team this season!"

"If Duan leaves the NBA, there will be nothing to watch in the playoffs! If Duan returns to the NBA, the only thing left to watch in the playoffs is the Bulls winning!"

"A moment of silence for this year's Eastern Conference team, the Chicago Bulls will surely make a comeback."

"The Bulls led by Dunn have taken the suspense out of the Eastern Conference, and perhaps this will also make the competition in the Western Conference more intense!"

"The Chicago Bulls are more championship-worthy than the Oklahoma City Thunder. It only took one season after Durn came back to perform at the level of a regular season MVP!"

Before the first-round G1 match between the Bulls and the Nets, outside media had already made such comments and predictions, and regarded the Bulls as the top seed to win this year's championship.

The fact is, as everyone suspected, the Bulls have not felt any pressure in the Eastern Conference since the first round of G1.

The penalty scale in the playoffs is even better than that in the regular season for the Bulls.

With a real home court advantage, the Bulls played two consecutive three-quarter games and beat the Nets 2-0.

In order to cooperate with the team in selling tickets, and also to increase the ratings of the league, the Bulls played a tacit game in G3 in advance, which gave the Nets a little taste.

By the time G4 arrived, the league actually still had the idea of ​​helping the Nets.

However, under the leadership of Du En, the Bulls were in excellent condition, and then easily defeated the Nets players, winning another big victory with a score of 121 to 95.

Perhaps it was this big victory that directly knocked the Nets' spirit away.

In the first round of G5, the cheers at the Chicago United Center almost never stopped for a moment.

With the support of the home fans, the Bulls players had no idea of ​​wasting energy. They showed their fullest form from the beginning, and then cut through the mess neatly and quickly. The main force clocked in in the third quarter and took away the Nets in a wave.

In the fourth quarter, although the Bulls replaced substitute players, they still sought to win steadily. They sent Green, Middleton and others with playoff experience to win the game, instead of rashly using one of the team's players. Rookie of the year.

“Everyone played great, including our opponents.

I love the team and I hope to lead the team back to the finals.

We look forward to meeting the Thunder in the finals this year. They are our goal. They are a historic team with two MVPs.

Yes, I think Russell will be MVP! His hard work and performance on the court deserve such an honor.

As you know, even when KD was injured, Russell still led the Thunder to victory after victory.

Anyone who can really understand the game knows how strong Russell is. "

After G5 defeated the Nets and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, Duan was interviewed by Time and started planning for the finals in advance.

It was also because the results of the regular season MVP were about to be announced, so Dunn took advantage of the opportunity to give the Thunder Gemini some eye drops.

As the saying goes, attacking the city is the next step, and attacking the heart is the top step. War is a continuation of politics.

Whether the league wants Durant to win the second consecutive MVP award, or it really makes a surprise move and awards the regular season MVP to Westbrook, it can make the other player feel grudge.

It is worth mentioning that Durant's contract is about to expire, Westbrook's contract is only a few years old, and the Thunder's owners and management are not good at spending big money and paying the luxury tax to maintain a championship lineup.

Duan also considered that once his contract is renewed in the summer, the Bulls' lineup will inevitably be dismantled in order to reduce taxes.

At that time, the overall strength of the team has declined, but the championship opponents have remained the same or improved slightly, which will be very bad.

At the moment, the Thunder are the most threatening to the Bulls next season. It would undoubtedly be great if the Thunder can be brought into civil strife.

After Du En finished throwing the bait, he didn't think about what fish he could catch next. He had to wait and see later.

Time passed quickly, and the Bulls soon ushered in their second-round opponent-the Wizards, the fifth-ranked player in the Eastern Conference.

In the previous first round of the Eastern Conference, the Wizards relied on their talent to defeat the Raptors.

You know, the Wizards currently have the 10th No. 12 pick John Wall, the 13th No. pick Bradley Beal, and the th No. pick Otto Porter.

The core lineup is very young and very energetic. As for the main rotation players, there are also many players who were born in the first round.

For example, Paul Pierce is about to retire, Nene Hilario is in the late stages of his physical condition, James' CBA teammate Drew Gooden, and green card artifact and snake-mongering Kevin Seraphin.

Facing a team like the Wizards in the Eastern Conference semifinals, which requires both talent and experience, is indeed much more difficult than playing the Nets in the first round.

Of course, no matter how strong the Wizards are, they can't be stronger than the Bulls.

However, the Wizards relied on their own efforts to have a great performance early in G2.

Because all players were online and working hard, the Bulls also seemed a little careless and lost the game that they should have won safely.

Fortunately, after the Bulls realized the threat of the Wizards, they regained their place in G3.

It's also because G2 has already lost before, so this time there is no need to play tacit basketball on the road, just go all out to defeat the Wizards.

The problem is, the league is unwilling to let this series end so quickly.

The Bulls are the only one with the best strength in the Eastern Conference, and their momentum to advance out of the Eastern Conference is basically unstoppable.

Only a team like the Wizards, with young players at its core, can suddenly give the Bulls a try in the playoffs.

The league hopes there will be some changes in the playoffs to attract viewers' attention.

At the same time, I also hope that the Bulls can resume their original role-helping other teams and other players to perform on the stage.

It was also the referee who took the side off the court, and the Bulls and Wizards played in G4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in an extremely anxious manner.

The Bulls clearly established an 11-point lead in the first half. At the beginning of the third quarter, Curry was called for two consecutive fouls, first blowing the Bulls' biggest off-ball threat.

In order to facilitate Wall and Beal to score from the basket, Baibian also accumulated his fourth foul halfway through the third quarter.

Fortunately, the mysterious George suddenly stood up and made two consecutive three-pointers in the last few minutes of the third quarter to help the Bulls stabilize the score.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Duen tried to stagger the game, but was frequently flanked and had poor offensive opportunities, so he did not score many points.

Duen still relied on his game experience and game reading ability to help other teammates more and pass several wonderful passes to help the Bulls open the score by connecting the team.

By the time there were just over 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls, led by Duane, had already established a 19-point lead.

In order to reduce the consumption of main players and avoid subsequent injury accidents, Bulls head coach Scott Scales withdrew Duane and other starting players in advance.

The main players of the Wizards continued to stay on the court until the last 42 seconds of the game before calling a timeout and taking a rest off the court.

No way, the Bulls played more patiently, playing against time, relying on the substitute players to play steadily, and running out of time to win the game.

Of course, if the Wizards' offensive firepower is too strong and they continue to chase points in the last three minutes, Duen and others may not be able to hold back and return to the court.

All I can say is that ginger is still spicy! Scott Skiles has coached in the NBA for so many years, and it is not for nothing that he has won so many championships.

Scott Skiles had already guessed that several young Wizards players lacked playoff experience and had tried their best to win in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, they did not have so much energy to ensure scoring efficiency. They all relied on fighting spirit. persist in.

In the end, it was indeed the case. Just relying on their tenacious fighting spirit and holding on for a few minutes failed to help the Wizards turn defeat into victory. On the contrary, it only consumed a few more points of their physical strength.

Two days later, this round of G5 in the Eastern Conference semifinals will start again.

Even young players such as Wall, Bill, and Otto Porter did not recover physically so quickly.

After the start of G5, the Bulls had the home court advantage and were able to play more easily as they waited for work.

As soon as the starting lineup came up, they quickly won points and widened the point difference.

In the last three minutes of the first quarter, Scott Skiles directly sent out a pure substitute lineup composed of five rookies, once again using on-the-spot arrangements to help the Bulls win.

In fact, the reason is very simple, it is to use a substitute lineup that is prone to mistakes to give the Wizards some opportunities to chase points.

It's not entirely about giving away points, but rather to seduce the Wizards' main players to stay on the court, let them persist for a while, and then exhaust their energy as much as possible in the first half.

Sure enough, no one in the Wizards was aware of Scott Scales' plan to lure the enemy deeper.

Of course, in the playoffs, it is also the most common tactic to rely on the main players. If the Wizards want to win, they can only stick to the main players and win the chance of survival.

It turned out to be a trap!

As early as the middle of the second quarter, Wall showed some signs of physical exhaustion.

And Bill prefers to shoot. It just so happens that the Bulls' forward group defends defenders, so they are better at defending those defenders who like to shoot.

Relying on the overall defensive advantage, the Bulls had established a 22-point lead after the first half.

In the third quarter, the Bulls did not rush to win the game with their main force, but continued to fight a war of attrition with the Wizards.

The Wizards thought that the Bulls' lead was too much, so they tried their best to switch, grab rebounds, and try to hit the basket again and again.

Then he drained his energy bit by bit and fell into prey in the spider web laid out by the bull.

After the third quarter, the point difference was reduced to 13 points, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Bulls once again widened the point difference to about 20 points.

Scott Skiles saw this and promptly replaced Duane and others off the court.

However, veteran Pierce still exceeded everyone's expectations, scoring 7 points in a row at the critical moment, and soon beat Duan to the court.

Sometimes, if a head coach shows off his skills, he may be slapped in the face by his opponent, and Duen is not surprised by this.

Du En didn't want to waste time or say anything more, so he immediately solved the problem when he returned to the court.

On the defensive end, Pierce should be dealt with personally, so that Pierce should behave and obey his old age.

On the offensive end, Duan showed the same momentum as on the first day of the league, scoring 5 points in a row as soon as he came on the court.

Even though Bill struggled to get the ball to cause damage and relied on free throws to score points, the Bulls' scoring efficiency during this period was pretty good, and the score remained at a dozen-point gap.

In the next few rounds, the Wizards continued to attack, and the Bulls focused on reducing the game time. As long as they did not give open three-pointers the opportunity to chase points, they could give two-pointers to the basket.

Occasionally in a few rounds, the Bulls relied on defensive counterattacks and transitioned offense, and evened out the Wizards' score in the previous round.

With more than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Duan took the initiative and succeeded in two consecutive singles with the ball, consolidating the Bulls' advantage to more than 10 points.

The Wizards couldn't find anyone else to step up and score at critical moments, and no one was able to step up and create a wave of McGrady or Miller moments.

So, the Bulls retreated when they saw a good situation, and once again replaced the main players, allowing the rookies to fight.

In the end, there were no surprises in the result of the game. Until the end of the game, the Bulls won the game and the series with an 11-point lead.

The Bulls advance to the Eastern Conference Finals again!

Two days later, the Eastern Conference finals roster was released!
The Heat did not disappoint the Bulls and successfully met the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals!

"As you know, the Miami Heat have been our biggest enemy in the East in the past few years!

I retired last year and our team lost the game.

I'm back this year, and our goal is—yes, revenge! "

Before the Eastern Conference Finals started, Du En made harsh words in advance to attract the attention of the outside world.

Only if more people pay attention to the game can the Bulls get more fairness in the game... (End of this chapter)