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Thibodeau could not understand Wang Chong's intentions, and Wang Chong had already achieved his goal in the past two months, which greatly improved the Bulls players' ability to withstand pressure. The goal was accomplished, and no further explanations were needed. The effectiveness of the Bulls in combat has significantly improved as Wang Chong intensified the defensive side.On March 6, the Bulls challenged the Orlando Magic on the road.
Since Garnett retired for this season, the Bulls had not won against the Magic. Howard could always create waves in the paint and easily beat Gasol, who had no defensive ability. When the Bulls' defense had problems, it was also hard to manage. The Magic's star-and-four shooters tactics tended to become a "magic ball" in the future.
But this time, the situation was different.
Bulls' starting lineup: Curry, Billups, Danny Green, Wang Chong, Gasol.
Magic's starting lineup: Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Hedo Turkoglu, Sharad Lewis, Howard.
At the start of the game, Howard easily won the tip-off.
After Nelson dribbled the ball past half-court, he immediately handed it over to Carter.
The butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong also had a big impact on the Magic. The failure of last season in the Eastern Conference Finals made the entire Magic team, including the management, unwilling to spend much money on such trades this season.
Carter is one of the four guards. Although his personal resume is not brilliant, his popularity cannot be denied. With his experience and performance in the dunk contest, Carter earned the title of "semigod" and was once considered the closest thing to a basketball god, akin to Jordan.
Originally, Carter joined the Magic, followed by Turkoglu's departure. After becoming a free agent last season, Turkoglu wanted a big contract that matched his skills, but the Magic's management believed Turkoglu was not worth a big contract with an annual salary in the tens of millions, so they opted not to renew his contract with the Magic. This led to Carter being brought in to fill the void left by Turkoglu's departure.
However, a disastrous defeat to Wang Chong and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals forced the Magic to grit their teeth and retain Turkoglu, and they also traded for Carter, causing the Magic's salary space to skyrocket this season.
The team already had a millionaire, Sharad Lewis. His contract for the 2009-10 season reached $18.88 million, Howard's salary was $15 million, and Turkoglu had an initial salary of $9 million, which eventually increased to $16.4 million. Scat, the combined salary of just these four players reached $59.28 million!
Don't forget that although Nelson, the Magic's starting point guard, is little known, his annual salary is around $6 million.
This resulted in the Magic's salary for the 2009-10 season nearing $90 million, ranking second in the league, only surpassed by the Los Angeles Lakers with $95 million.
In fact, the large investment has taken the Magic to a higher level. The record for this season has been inseparable from the Cavaliers. The win difference between the two teams has always stayed within 1 game. No one knows which team will be second in the East by the end of the regular season.
Against the remaining Bulls, the apparent strength of the Magic naturally had an advantage.
Carter faced Billups' defense. After a bit of testing, he used a pick-and-roll from his teammates to break free and took a three-pointer from the outside.
When Howard was at his peak, the Magic's main offensive tactic was to shoot from one star to another. Based on Howard's dominant rebounding, the four outside shooters for the Magic could shoot as many three-pointers as they wanted without fear of losing the game due to a low shooting percentage.
This time was no exception.
"Bang—!"
At the start of the game, Carter's hand had clearly not warmed up, and his shot missed the basket.
Gasol desperately pushed Howard under the basket, but his ability was limited. Howard grabbed an offensive rebound after a strong leap and pressed Gasol's head to take the ball.
After grabbing the rebound, Howard immediately jumped again, lifting his hand to slam the ball into the basket with his arm.
But at that moment, a palm shot out from the side and struck the basketball in Howard's hand. The sudden force made the ball veer off course before crashing into the basket and bouncing up into the air.
"What?"
Howard was stunned and subconsciously turned his head to look, only to see Wang Chong falling to the ground!
When did this guy get there? Can he really interfere with my dunk?
Although Howard had jumped twice and dunked with one arm, he had absolute confidence in the strength of his arm. Wang Chong was not known for his strength, and among the interior players, even the small forward position players were stronger than Wang Chong. There were also big players everywhere, like James, Artest, Anthony, etc.
That's why Howard was surprised.
Wang Chong, who had fallen to the ground staggering, did not stop at all and immediately adjusted his steps, running to the front court. After Gasol grabbed the rebound, he immediately passed it to Billups, who then moved the ball toward the front court. With one movement, it landed precisely in Curry's hands, who had already crossed half-court.
Fast break counterattack!
Because they did not expect Howard's dunk to be blocked, the Magic team was obviously half a beat slower in returning to defense. When Curry reached the basket with the ball, only Nelson had time to get back on defense and block him. Nelson, also a point guard, did not underestimate players like Curry, who focus on shooting.
Although mid-range and long-range shooting is also one of Curry's main ways to score, besides shooting, Nelson is good at other aspects as well. At 1.83 meters and weighing 91 kilograms, he is stronger than Curry, who is 80 kilograms.
Seeing Curry approaching the basket, Nelson stepped forward without hesitation and used his body to resist and press Curry to apply pressure.
But Curry, who was rushing toward the paint, had no intention of attacking. After approaching Nelson, Curry immediately tossed the ball high to Nelson's right.
The next moment, Wang Chong ran, jumped in the air, received the pass from Curry while in the air, and slammed the ball into the basket.
"Boom—!"
An alley-oop connection between Wang Chong and Curry!
The game had just started, and Wang Chong had already given the Magic a blow with a block and an alley-oop.
Wang Chong's ability to block Howard has a lot to do with his achievement of the elite tire protection badge at the gold level. This badge enhances the ability to protect the rim and block shots from the front. Moreover, Wang Chong practiced hard all summer to strengthen his shot-blocking ability, raising it to a value of 86. As long as he is willing to invest enough time and energy, he can average 10 blocks per game and may even achieve more than 2 or 3 blocks in a game.
But even so, Wang Chong could block Howard because Howard himself was careless. His attention was mainly on Gasol. He didn't expect the Bulls to still have someone who could jump without Garnett.
"You only get one chance like this. Never think you'll get this opportunity again!"
Howard was quite upset, but things had already happened, and it was useless for him to be upset. He could only focus on the next play.
However, as the game progressed, Howard, or more specifically the Magic players, began to feel that something was wrong.
Wang Chong's defensive position shifted from the original man-to-man defense to a position closer to the corner. From this position, he had a full view of the entire court and could immediately provide defense assistance at most positions.
This was originally Garnett's job for the Bulls. Why does Wang Chong have to do this now? Even if he could do it, what should he do if he defends the opposing team's offense?
The Magic team, who did not believe in evil, continuously attempted to attack from the outside. However, every time Wang Chong provided timely defense, the Magic's offense failed.
The Magic was surprised to discover that Wang Chong's defensive assist ability was not only as good as Garnett's, but because Wang Chong's speed and explosive power were greater than Garnett's, who was 33 years old, Wang Chong's speed in defensive assistance was even faster than Garnett's!
Therefore, even though his experience and defensive skills were somewhat inferior, Wang Chong's defensive impact on the court was not much worse than Garnett's.
The Magic's initial offense was restricted by Wang Chong. At the same time, on the offensive side, the Bulls, led by Curry and Billups, launched an extremely strong attack from the outside.
After the first quarter, the Bulls led the Magic by 11 points on the road, 28:17!
The local Magic fans were stunned.
In the second quarter of the game, after some adjustments, the Magic team began to play steadily, trying to avoid Wang Chong's defensive area and attack.
For the Magic, who had a star-and-four-shooters system, it was easy to move a defensive player out of position.
The Magic's offensive tempo finally began to pick up, but this did not allow them to change the situation, because Wang Chong immediately began to exert force on the offensive end.
In the first quarter, Wang Chong was fully focused on the defensive side and basically did not attack with the ball on the offensive side. He only scored one fast-break counterattack and an open catch-and-shoot, scoring only 6 points in a simple first quarter.
However, in the second quarter, Wang Chong began to take control of the ball and performed many individual attacks with the ball.
Turkoglu, who was responsible for guarding Wang Chong, could not defend him at all, and Wang Chong used various methods to rack up points.
Wang Chong hit 6 of 8 shots in a single quarter, 2 of 3 from three-point range, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 18 points and led the Bulls to score 35 points in a single quarter. In the second quarter, the Magic did not score low either, with 33 points, but instead of reducing the point difference between the two teams, it widened to 13 points.
The Magic, who were trailing at halftime, still could not reduce the score in the second half. Howard continued to intimidate Gasol in the paint, but the Magic's outside offense was restricted by Wang Chong. The Bulls' offense remained as efficient as ever under Wang Chong's leadership.
The result was that the Bulls defeated the Magic 116:99 with a 17-point advantage and won the game.
This game allowed everyone in the league to see how strong Wang Chong could be when he took defense seriously.
"It's incredible. I thought Garnett came back early for this game. Is Wang Chong's defense really this strong? The block on Howard's dunk at the start of the game scared me!"
"He's so terrifying. The scariest thing about Wang Chong is not his super personal ability or his static talent, but his capacity for growth, which knows no limits. Without everyone realizing it, Wang Chong has actually become one of the best defenders in the league! You should know that just two seasons ago, Wang Chong was recognized as a model of strong offense and weak defense!"
"In just a few seasons, Wang Chong has overcome physical problems and deficiencies in experience and defensive skills. Now, with Garnett's absence in the final season, he has finally shown everyone how strong his defense has become!"
"As a result, it is still unclear who will win the championship this season. If Wang Chong can support the Bulls' defensive system, even if he reduces his offensive output a bit, it will still be a huge improvement for the Bulls' overall system. They have the capital to compete in the Eastern Conference and even contend with the Lakers."
Unfortunately, the two games between the Bulls and the Lakers this season were played in the last few months. The two teams had no chance to play each other in the regular season this year. If they truly faced off, it would only be possible in the finals.
The Bulls, who defeated the Magic, were full of momentum all the time, defeating many strong opponents one after another. In March, they recorded a 13-2 record, and the team's overall record reached 60 wins and 14 losses. Only 8 games remained in the regular season to be played in April, but the Bulls had already reached over 60 wins, even without Garnett, who was injured and missed most of the season.
In the final eight games of April, the Bulls started on a rough path.
Wang Chong was very optimistic. The team had already secured first place in the regular season, and even if they won all of April's games, the record would only be 68 wins and 14 losses. Although this record is quite solid and could be among the best in history, for the Bulls, who recorded 73 wins and 9 losses last season, it actually doesn't matter much. Additionally, there were several high-level opponents in those 8 games, including the Cavaliers and Celtics, who wanted to win. The possibility of a full victory was low.
Therefore, the Bulls simply arranged for players to take turns in April. Key players, including Wang Chong, Billups, Curry, and Gasol, took one or two games off to rest, aiming to rest as much as possible before the playoffs, recover from the fatigue accumulated during the long regular season, and ensure that the team would not suffer another tragedy like Garnett's injury.
The result was that the Bulls got 4 wins and 4 losses in 8 games in April. The final record was set at 64 wins and 18 losses, with a win rate of 78%. They remained the only team in the league to win 60+ regular season games in the 2009-10 season.
When Garnett had just gotten injured and it was confirmed that he would be out for the entire season, who could have imagined that the Bulls would finish the regular season with the best record?
At this point, even Wang Chong's followers were completely speechless. The excuse they used before to criticize Wang Chong was: "Without Garnett, Wang Chong is nothing!"
Is it true that without Garnett, Wang Chong is nothing? How could it be that after one season, the Bulls have finished first in the regular season?
Who would dare to question Wang Chong's ability to lead the team now? Who else?
End of this chapter
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