Did the Heat lose another 20 points? How is this different from the opening game?

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Gasol's scoring ability is slightly inferior to that of his older brother, Pau Gasol. Over his career, he has averaged only around 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. But he still shares some technical similarities with Pau. He has a variety of offensive moves, including post moves, hook shots, mid-range and long-range shots, and even developed a three-point shot later in his career.

At his peak, Gasol averaged 19.5 points per game in a single season.

Although Gasol's personal skills haven't reached their maximum potential, he looks like a superstar when facing Joel Anthony.

With Joel Anthony behind him in the low post to receive the ball, Gasol backed into Anthony, made two moves inside, and found that his opponent wasn't moving at all.

This is Joel Anthony's only advantage: as a "worker" center, his strength is decent. At least against most of the league's interior big men, he doesn't get overpowered too easily.

The problem is that Gasol isn't a center who relies solely on strength. Realizing he couldn't overpower Joel Anthony, Gasol immediately spun around quickly, passed Anthony straight to the basket, and raised his hand to assist. The movement to the hoop was smooth and fluid.

In the following possessions, the Bulls focused on Gasol, scoring frequently in the paint, making it difficult for the Heat to stop the situation. What was once a close game began to change. The Bulls gradually gained control of the game and extended their lead.

The Heat immediately sensed the danger and called a timeout to adjust. However, the issue was that the only interior players the Heat could use were Joel Anthony and Big Z. Anthony couldn't defend Gasol, but Big Z could exert some pressure on him. However, his mobility was too slow, much slower than Gasol's, who isn't exactly known for his agility either.

When the Heat replaced Big Z, Gasol immediately opted to step outside and help the perimeter players by setting screens in pick-and-rolls that the Heat couldn't keep up with. The Bulls' perimeter shooters were on fire. When Gasol chose and rolled successfully, he created open shooting opportunities for Wang Chong, Curry, or Billups, often resulting in a three-pointer.

To counter this, the Heat had to grit their teeth and continue defending the pick-and-roll outside. But once this happened, Gasol immediately cut to the basket after the pick-and-roll, hitting every shot with precision.

Gasol's offensive actions threw the Heat's defense into disarray and chaos.

In the third quarter, the Bulls rode the momentum and launched a fierce offensive. By the end of the third quarter, the point difference between the two teams had grown to 10 points, a little over a double-digit lead.

Though the Bulls were in control of the game, it was undeniable that the 10-point lead wasn't insurmountable. If the Heat could recover their momentum in the fourth quarter and launch a strong attack, they still had a chance to come back.

Of course, Wang Chong wouldn't allow that to happen.

In the first three quarters of the game, Wang Chong had been playing in a steady, low-power mode to conserve energy. But in the fourth quarter, he exploded with force, carrying his team through a scoring surge.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Wang Chong immediately went full throttle.

At that moment, James didn't realize the gravity of the situation. He watched as Wang Chong approached with the ball, not too far away. He had just taken a defensive stance, but Wang Chong was already within a meter of the three-point line, ready to make his move.

"Ah!"

With a three-point skill value of 98, Wang Chong's silver-level "Remote Turret" badge could have an even greater effect.

This badge works by extending the shooting range based on the player's three-point skill value. The higher the skill value, the farther the shooting range. The level of the badge also affects the bonus to the shooting skill value.

If Wang Chong could train his three-point shooting skill to a total of 99 and upgrade the "Long-Range Strongman" badge to the highest Hall of Fame purple level, he could pull off all sorts of ultra-long three-pointers, even half-court shots like Curry, and maintain a high accuracy rate.

James was caught off guard and didn't have time to defend. He could only helplessly watch as Wang Chong hit the three-pointer.

The score gap suddenly jumped to 13 points.

The Heat attacked, and James broke Wang Chong's defense into the paint before forcing a layup with Gasol's help, resulting in a foul from Gasol.

At the free-throw line, James remained steady, hitting 1 of 2 free throws as always, successfully scoring a 0+1.

Switching to defense, Wang Chong was back.

With Curry's pick-and-roll assistance, Wang Chong brought the ball to the free-throw line and drilled a mid-range shot over Wade's defense.

Wade's defense wasn't bad, but the height difference between him and Wang Chong was just too great to protect him.

The point gap was once again up to 14 points.

When the Heat attacked, it was James again. He ran into the paint and passed the ball to Bosh, but Bosh's mid-range shot was contested by Garnett. Wang Chong grabbed the rebound and sprinted down the court.

Another fast-break attack!

The Heat, who had adapted to Wang Chong's playing style, managed to recover quickly on defense this time. James and Wade took defensive positions, hoping to trap Wang Chong.

Wang Chong raced to the three-point line, and James and Wade immediately flanked him, blocking his offensive path from both sides.

As they anticipated, Wang Chong stopped in front of both men, bent his knees, and raised his hands to shoot.

James jumped immediately, trying to use his elite jumping ability to make up for his height disadvantage and block Wang Chong's shot.

Wade, on the other hand, was quick with his eyes and hands, and his sharp knife aimed straight for the basketball in Wang Chong's hands, hoping to knock it away before Wang Chong could raise his hands to shoot.

However, neither of them expected that Wang Chong didn't rise up after bending his knees. Instead, he quickly spun to the side and passed the ball outside.

Outside the three-point line, Curry was already there, and without hesitation, he took the pass and fired.

The ball swooshed through the net as the crowd erupted!

The gap increased to 17 points!

All the Bulls fans at the United Center were ecstatic, standing up and cheering loudly.

In less than two minutes, Wang Chong's continuous attacks had directly broken the Heat, extending the gap from 10 points to 17 points!

With 10 minutes left, the 17-point gap seemed insurmountable for the Heat.

The Heat's head coach called a timeout to try to stop the bleeding, but it was already too late.

After the timeout, the Heat's offense became much more stable, executing plays more consistently and successfully scoring.

But the problem they now faced was not offensive, but the inability to stop Wang Chong from scoring on defense.

This was, in fact, a serious issue for all teams in the league hoping to defeat the Bulls. So far, no one had found a solution. What they could do was score points against Wang Chong and the Bulls and then try to use their offense to defeat the Bulls—but obviously, that was incredibly difficult.

The inability to stop Wang Chong meant that the scoring gap couldn't be reduced.

In the remaining nine-plus minutes of the game, the Heat repeated the same cycle in vain—scoring offensively, only to be outscored by the Bulls.

The 17-point gap soon turned into 20 points, and instead of shrinking, it grew even larger.

As time ticked down, the Heat saw no hope of a comeback and decided to bench all their starters with less than five minutes left, conceding the game early.

At the end of the game, the Bulls won 107–89 at home, with an absolute 18-point advantage, claiming victory in the Christmas Day showdown.

The first half of the game was undoubtedly intense. Both teams refused to back down, showcasing their strongest tactics. The Heat's Big Three didn't falter against the mighty Bulls.

But in the second half, the Bulls' depth began to show. Gasol took full advantage of the interior, helping the team establish a lead on the scoreboard. In the final quarter, Wang Chong's explosive performance effectively ended any suspense in the game.

The Bulls' victory ended the Heat's 13-game winning streak, while the Bulls' own streak extended to 19 games.

The facts proved that the Bulls were still the strongest team. What was even more frustrating for the Heat was the score difference between the two teams.

In this game, the Heat lost another 18 points on the road, a devastating defeat compared to the first game between the two teams, where there didn't seem to be much change.

At that time, the Heat lost at home by 23 points. This time, they made slight progress, losing by 5 points. But that progress was far too slow. The Heat didn't form the Big Three just to lose fewer points. They were aiming to beat the Bulls and win the championship!

But at this stage, the Big Three, who had slowly developed a tacit understanding, were still unclear about the future, and there was no chance—no possibility—of defeating the Bulls.

In the post-game press conference, the Big Three of the Heat remained silent when journalists approached them. In the end, it was Wade, the team leader, who spoke first.

"After all, the Bulls are a team with three dynasties. Their legacy and dominance are

beyond our reach, but I can guarantee that we will learn from every failure and improve in the next games. We have only one goal, and that is the championship!"

On the other hand, the Bulls' press conference was business as usual. This game was no different from any other regular-season game. Aside from being dubbed the Christmas Game and the focus of the battle between two consecutive-winning teams, there was no special meaning behind it.

The Heat's performance didn't warrant Wang Chong's commentary. Although he knew that the Heat's current tactics and style were still far from those of the two-time champions, it was pointless to remind the other side of this. Why seek trouble?

At least Wang Chong hadn't reached the point where he sought out defeat for the sake of it or became numb after winning. He was still looking for a strong opponent. The weaker the opponent, the happier he was.

So, he wouldn't comment on the Heat's Big Three and would let them explore on their own.

To put it bluntly, next season, James will earn the central tactical position of the Heat through his eight-point release, and the Heat will have established a full-court press and counterattack tactical foundation. This will definitely pose a lot of damage to the Bulls.

After all, the 2011-2012 season was also a difficult year for Curry. In the original history, Curry suffered an ankle injury that forced him to play only 26 games during the regular season before sitting out the rest. The injury led Curry to undergo surgery, and only then did he truly begin to change the style of the league with his three-pointers.

Since selecting Curry, Wang Chong had been paying attention to Curry's injury and had offered several suggestions, but it was ultimately Curry who made the decision. For something as significant as surgery, it was impossible to move forward unless Curry reached a certain level. There's no way around it, because no one could guarantee how well he would recover after surgery.

Curry was still very young and had a long career ahead of him. Not only him, but even his father, agent, or the team management wouldn't allow him to take such a risk.

In the first two seasons of his career, Curry had frequently sprained his ankle, but it wasn't serious. However, in the 2011-2012 season, Curry started twisting his ankle more often, which eventually led to his season-ending injury.

Although Wang Chong wasn't sure whether Curry in this timeline would face the same fate as the original Curry, so far, Curry had twisted his ankle numerous times with the Bulls. Although the frequency and timing weren't exactly the same, it was only a matter of time.

Therefore, Wang Chong needed to be mentally prepared to play without Curry in the 2011-2012 season.

The problem was that in the 2011-2012 season, the Bulls might not just lose Curry.

This was a very special season due to labor negotiations, which resulted in a nearly five-month lockout. After the lockout, each team was forced to play 66 games in the shortened season, which led to an increase in injuries.

A large number of players were injured that season due to the compact and high-intensity schedule, including some significant injuries that directly affected their careers.

The most famous, of course, was Windy City Rose, Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP in regular-season history, who tore his ACL in the first game of the playoffs, ending the promising superstar's rise.

Not only Rose, but Howard from the Magic also suffered a back injury that season, forcing him to miss the rest of the season and the playoffs. This injury severely impacted Howard, leading to him losing his most important position. Whether he joined the Lakers or the Rockets later, he could never regain his dominance in the Magic's paint.

Compared to these players, Curry was lucky. Although his season ended due to injury, he came back stronger after surgery, and his performance skyrocketed. He won the MVP in just his third season and captured a unanimous title. In his fourth season, he won his second MVP and remained in the spotlight for a long time.

This topic veered slightly off course. In the 2011-2012 season, Curry wasn't the only one at risk for injury with the Bulls. Another point guard, Chauncey Billups, also fell victim to injury in 2011-2012.

During this time, Billups was supposed to join the Los Angeles Clippers, but after playing 20 games for the team, he was sidelined for the rest of the season.

This injury directly ruined Billups' career. In the next two seasons, Billups only played about 20 games before being forced to retire due to a series of injuries, eventually returning to the Pistons and retiring quietly.

End of this chapter

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