One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eleven. Clocking Out After 3 Quarters of the Finals!

"We are so unlucky. Even if we staggered the game by one year, it would be fine! Why didn't we stagger the game by one year like the Kings did against the Lakers?"

When he came to the FedEx Arena again and was preparing for tonight's game, Rose couldn't help but have such an idea.

Everyone knows that the Grizzlies' lineup can only last for one year, but it was this year that he encountered it.

But when he had this idea, he was full of shame.

He didn't want to admit that he had such an idea, but after the first game, he felt the gap between the top team and the team that might be the strongest in history.

The opponent is too strong!

But even so, Rose didn't want to give up!

There is no word "give up" in his dictionary. This is also the key to his original time and space that he was reimbursed for several consecutive years, and he could still hold on until he was over 30 years old and could get back in the NBA. In the original time and space, he was 30 years old in 2018, but he stood in the league again. Although he couldn't be compared with the MVP of that year, he averaged 18 points per game and became a high-quality role player.

You should know that in the original time and space, when he was reimbursed for the fourth time, that is, in the 14-15 season, the doctor had already suggested that he retire with a salary of 100 million yuan to avoid sitting in a wheelchair, but he just held on until he practiced his shooting and no longer relied on breakthroughs.

It is not easy to practice shooting when he was reimbursed for years, because he injured the most important knee of an athlete, and he dared not exert force during the injury.

In this time and space, Rose changed his playing style in time, although his playing style lacked the kind of appreciation that made people cheer when watching the first three years of his career, and lacked the temperament that seemed to be extremely impulsive.

But persistence and never giving up have always been Rose's creed.

Just like the Grizzlies only arranged light training on game days, the Bulls only had two training sessions this morning. In terms of protecting the health of players, Sloan can be ranked first in the league, and Pat Riley shines with each other.

After a day of preparation, at 8 pm, the Bulls' second game in Memphis started.

The Bulls' starting lineup remained unchanged, with Rose, Dunleavy, Snell, Griffin, and Noah on the court.

The Grizzlies sent out Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Randolph, and Aldridge as the starting lineup.

Aldridge won the jump ball over Noah's head, and the game kicked off.

Paul George passed the ball to Sun Ce when he pushed past the midfield and ran to the sideline.

Snell defended Sun Ce at the top of the arc, Noah was ready to go out to defend Sun Ce and Aldridge's pick-and-roll, and was also ready to defend against breakthroughs. Griffin's mid-range defense was also in place, and the other Bulls players were also ready to switch defense.

In terms of tactical strategy, collaboration, execution, etc., the Bulls are impeccable. They have almost reached their current strength limit. If they want to improve, they can only make the core players continue to improve. Compared with the Lakers, Spurs, and Warriors, the Bulls are no worse.

They had already made perfect defensive preparations for Sun Ce's possible offensive methods, but tonight, Sun Ce, who was wearing a headband, slowly advanced from the center line to the right side of the top arc, and when Snell was nervous and stepped randomly, he pulled up and threw it directly!

Snell reacted quickly and rushed to Sun Ce as soon as he made a pull-up move.

It can be said that Snell's reaction was very fast, but Sun Ce's shooting speed was even faster than Snell remembered! It's not been a long time since they last played against each other. They just played a game the day before yesterday.

The speed of Sun Ce's three-pointer was like holding a hot iron ball in his hand and couldn't wait to throw it out. That's fine, the key is that it went in!

Tonight, Sun Ce came up and started cheating. Curryka has used it, and the 100% matching SS-level three-pointer is assigned with a level 5 fast shooting master!

The first ball went in. Sun Ce just wanted to try his luck, but now that he has scored, it will be easy. The first half of the last game was difficult because he couldn't make a three-pointer no matter how hard he shot. He shot 0 out of 3 in the first half, but now he has made it, and the Splash Power has been triggered at full level!

"Hey, are you ready? The show has begun!"

Sun Ce said to Snell, who was probably cursing in his heart, and then turned and ran back to his own half.

Hearing Sun Ce's words, Snell's tendency to curse became more serious, and the other Bulls wanted to curse even more!

Snell's ability to defend shots is his strongest point. He is not heavy enough and is often eaten by force, but he defends outside shots very well. In this era when shooting is becoming more and more important, he is the most critical point for the Bulls to defend outside shots.

But Sun Ce can throw directly into the ball when facing Snell... The Bulls dare not hope that Sun Ce is just lucky. This is the single-game three-point king in NBA history! The comprehensive three-point ability is recognized as the strongest under Curry!

Just like the bad premonition of the Bulls, as the game progressed, the Bulls felt that they could not play!

Sun Ce and Klay Thompson made 5 three-pointers in the first 5 minutes and 22 seconds, Sun Ce made 3, Klay Thompson made 2, and the Grizzlies scored 21 points in less than half a quarter!

Except for Sun Ce and Klay Thompson, the rest of the Grizzlies scored 6 points simply by eating cakes.

It was really easy to cut in and eat cakes. Klay Thompson first screened with Sun Ce, and the people defending the pick-and-roll went to defend Sun Ce who was holding the ball. Klay Thompson made two consecutive pick-and-rolls and then split the three-pointer, forcing the Bulls to need three people to defend the pick-and-roll of these two people.

Later, when Klay Thompson was looking for an off-ball pick-and-roll opportunity, Aldridge and Randolph both got the chance to cut in and eat the ball directly.

8 of 10 shots! The rhythm was not fast, and both teams were playing positional warfare, but the Grizzlies had an 80% hit rate during this period!

Two shots were missed, both were mid-range and long-range shots, Paul George missed a three-pointer, and Randolph missed a mid-range shot.

On the Bulls side, the score was very ordinary, getting 13 points, and there was no choice but to call a timeout. If they continued to play, they would be at least 10 points behind in half a quarter!

The Splash Brothers had such a good touch, and Coach Hollins replaced Richard Jefferson and Yi Jianlian after the Bulls called a timeout and entered the official timeout, and played a run-and-gun game directly!

The Bulls also found that the defense was about to collapse, and Sloan immediately made a decision to use a small lineup of Rose, Brooks, Dunleavy, Griffin, and Gibson.

After the timeout, Sloan saw the opponent's lineup. He was too experienced, and the opponent sent a run-and-gun lineup as he expected.

But what can we do if we expect it?

When Sun Ce and Klay Thompson scored 5 three-pointers in a row, Yi Jianlian, Richard Jefferson and Paul George had too many opportunities!

The Grizzlies' defense is not good, but they are trying hard to defend, which can more or less have some interference effect, and occasionally they can rely on Sun Ce's active defense.

But the Bulls can't defend at all. Sun Ce starts a fast break, Klay Thompson follows up, and Sun Ce throws it away if he doesn't agree... The entire Bulls' defense counterattack lineup is on the top line, and Richard Jefferson, Paul George and Yi Jianlian cut in like strolling in the back garden.

The key is that Paul George also has first-class offensive organization ability, and can cut in and receive the ball and pass it!

At the end of the first quarter, the Grizzlies made 16 of 22 shots, including 8 of 10 three-pointers, plus 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 44 points in a single quarter, breaking the first quarter scoring record of the Finals set by the 76ers led by Chamberlain in the two games against the Warriors on April 14 and April 24, 1967! At the same time, it tied the third highest score in a single quarter in the Finals!

The first place was the 47 points of the Celtics in the third quarter of the 1984 Finals, the second place was the 46 points of the Celtics in the second quarter of the 1960 Finals, and the third place was the 44 points of the Lakers in the fourth quarter of the 1982 Finals. The Grizzlies' score in this quarter also entered this list!

In this quarter, the Bulls also scored 30 points, 12 of 23 shots, including 2 of 5 three-pointers and 4 of 5 free throws, and scored 17 points in the second half of the game, which is quite good, with a hit rate of more than 50%. You must know that the hit rate of both teams in the previous game was less than 40%.

But the Grizzlies scored 44 points with a hit rate of 73.9%! Leading by 14 points into the intermission!

Sloan felt that this game was unplayable. The opponent scored 44 points, which was not the most critical. The key was that Sun Ce played too easily. He made 8 of 10 shots in a single quarter, including 4 of 5 three-pointers, and no free throws, and scored 20 points in a single quarter.

Sloan obviously felt that his players had been panicked by Sun Ce. Sun Ce could make decisions at will. There was not much confrontation in the 7 shots in the second half of the quarter!

Focusing on defending Sun Ce, there was a fear that other Grizzlies players would cut in but could not defend. Both sides were concerned and wanted to have both. This mentality made the Bulls' defense even worse.

When the combination of Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Livingston, Aldridge, and Gobert in the second quarter, with Aldridge as the starting point, Livingston as the axis, and Sun Ce and Klay Thompson as the end point, opened up with the excellent touch of Sun Ce and Klay Thompson, Sloan began to adjust, letting Rose and Griffin take turns to play, and reducing their playing time.

It seems that the two are always there, but in fact, the playing time of both has been reduced. The main players are Snell, Hinrich, Moore, Dunleavy, Gibson, Trevor Booker, Brooks... and others, who follow the Grizzlies to play with all their strength and don't let the rhythm stop! Even Noah has reduced his playing time.

The purpose is very simple, in order to make the Grizzlies feel that the game is not over yet, go all out and consume the Grizzlies.

This is the response method that Sloan's many years of coaching experience has made him think of.

However, this lasted until the middle of the third quarter. At 10:07 in the third quarter, the Grizzlies took the initiative to call a timeout.

97 to 60, the Grizzlies announced the victory with a rotation of five up and five down!

Sun Ce played for 30 minutes in three quarters, made 7 three-pointers, scored 32 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals, and clocked out after three quarters!