The Pacers returned to Indiana on time, Chicago was very good, and the windy city showed them the style of the City of Giant Shoulders at all times. Unfortunately, they could not stay here for a long time. The series did not end, and even if it ended, they were only one step closer to the goal.

“Defeat the Bulls is not our goal.”

Thibodeau said something to ask the press conference to continue asking.

"What are your goals?"

The reporter thought Thibodeau would say something like the championship and the finals.

Unexpectedly, Thibodeau acted extremely down-to-earth.

"Our goal is to find ways to win the second semifinal," he said.

As strong as the defending champion and the overlord who has won three consecutive championships, is he so low now?

Some people are sad for the Pacers. They were once powerful and helpless, but now they are like the teams they ruled in the past, with the goal of winning one game.

Because Thibodeau was too low-key, many fans expressed their dissatisfaction.

"If Tom Thibodeau is not fired at the end of the season, I'll really go crazy!"

"Even if you put a pig on the coach's seat, it won't be worse than Thibodeau!"

"Larry, come and coach, the general manager is not suitable for you."

There are all kinds of comments.

A rational comment was deliberately ignored: "You are just swearing tom. Have you forgotten that Arthur also thought that we would make a profit if we win one?"

Then, he quoted what Xie Hou said in an interview after the game 2 game.

"...The Bulls are so powerful that they can't imagine that even if they just win one game, it's enough for us to celebrate." Although this was Xie Hou's original words, no one looked in.

Even Xie Hou's wife, Xuewei Mustu, felt that Thibodeau had put his posture too low: "Shouldn't your goal be a little higher?"

Xuewei said it well.

Xie Hou asked: "How high do you think it is appropriate?"

"Even if the teams in three consecutive championships have to lose, they have to lose in the finals, right? Just like the Lakers." Xuewei was brought into the NBA circle by Xie Hou.

Her understanding of NBA was based on the year 2004.

Like some Impression fans, she thought that the Lakers' three consecutive championships ended in 2004.

Xie Hou immediately educated her: "Don't you know that the three-game winning team lost the semi-finals is a tradition?"

"Oh? How do you say it?"

Xie Hou immediately introduced the story to him about the story of the Bulls who completed the three-game winning streak in the second half of the 1994 season and the Lakers who completed the three-game winning streak in the second half of the 1994 season and the Spurs who lost to the semi-finals in the second half of the 2002 season.

As for the Bulls who built the second dynasty in 1999, due to the loss of elites, they turned into fish on the chopping board during the season and were slaughtered and slaughtered one after another, but the result was good. In the end, they welcomed the top scorer in the 1999 draft.

Any team that is bad, as long as they can get the No. 1 pick, it is the best hood!

Regarding that draft, the most annoying thing was not that the Bulls had been strong for so many years and got the No. 1 pick when they were in a bad position for the first time. Or it can be said that the Bulls were the most angry team.

They obviously had the right to start in that draft, but the Spurs used the last pick in that draft to pick the first person in that draft.

I won’t mention the past.

After hearing his words, Xuewei said worriedly: "Do you also want to lose in the semi-finals?"

“I don’t believe in the so-called law.”

"Then what do you believe?"

"I believe in strength." Xie Hou said, "The strength of the bull is indeed above us. If you want to win, a miracle needs to happen. We cannot expect God to be with us. We can only do our best to see if a miracle will happen."

The miracle did not happen in the third game after all.

May 9 21:00 pm

The battlefield of the third game of the semi-finals was transferred to the Banker Life Stadium.

Before the game began, the large screen in the center of the arena reviewed the glory of the Pacers in recent years.

Five-year four championships is a great achievement. Although it is not as good as the Bulls' 6 championships in 8 years, it is not as good as the Lakers' 11-year domination over the West in the 1980s, and it is even less comparable to the ancient Celtic dynasty. But in terms of the current history of the NBA, no other team can beat the score in terms of performance without the above three dynasties.

At the beginning of the game, the biggest difference between the Bulls and before was that the ball rights on the outside were far beyond the inside. Howard no longer frequently took the position. He did the most of the pick-and-roll, cover, and rushing to attack and rebounding in order to seek a second attack.

This positioning strengthened his basketball hoop attributes and weakened his useful low-post offense.

It seems that it is a big use of small abilities, but it is actually this way that the Bull's potential has been stimulated.

Garnett continued to pull the space outside, before for Howard, now for Paul, Martin, and Sephrosa. Of course, some are also for Howard. Only by pulling the space open, Howard cuts inward will it be spacious, with enough position to jump and release his endless talent.

The Pacers dared not give Garnett three points.

In the first quarter, the Wolf King took 0 shots throughout the whole process, and standing there was a threat.

The Bulls' outside line contracted 95% of the firepower output. Howard did not have a single match at the low post, and scored 4 points with offensive rebounds alone and made 1 of 4 free throws.

30 to 22

The Bulls lead the Pacers by 8 points, and the accuracy of the periphery is as bright as a mountain burning, making it difficult for Pacers to defend.

Fortunately, when they moved to the home court, their feel was not bad, and they withstood the Bulls' attack.

Thibodeau let Xie wait for the rest of the first quarter.

However, unexpectedly, the Bulls led the team to play in the second team with Garnett. Paul was not there, so he was the core of offense and defense on the court. His offense and defense, the threat to rebounds, was something that the Pacers' second team could not cope with.

How difficult is a multi-core team? That's it.

Paul and Howardian were on the court, and there were also strong players such as Garnett, Sephrosa, Brewer, and Tyrus Thomas on the court.

The intuitive talent gap made the Pacers lose quickly.

The second team was a showdown of self-inflicted humiliation, and was shot out 16-5 attack waves within a few minutes.

Thibodeau called a pause with a gloomy face.

"Arthur only took a few minutes to rest, but the 8-point gap was quickly widened - the Bulls were ahead of 19 points in the second quarter. Is there still hope?" Bobby Leonard expected the Bulls to play strong, but he didn't expect it to be so strong.

George McGuinness habitually nitpicked everyone except Sherlock: "The worst decision Tom Thibodeau made was to give Arthur a break when he was eight points behind in the first quarter."

If Xie Hou was injured due to too much playing time, he would be the first to scold Thibodeau.

"It's understandable to let Arthur rest. Tom's biggest disadvantage is the time to pause. At this time... it's a bit late." Leonard said pessimistically.

46 to 27

This is the score between the two sides when Xie Hou came on the court.

The Bulls learned the lesson from the previous game, and Howard's singles tactics disappeared.

Moreover, Garnett became the one who led the second team to score the gap.

Bulls coach Winnie Denagro looked arrogant and rude, but actually had a secret scheming, so he made a beautiful change of formation.

The best thing about letting Garnett lead the second team is to fully utilize the former's comprehensive offensive and defensive influence.

Garnett is not considered a defensive core in the Bulls, but at most he is a defensive pillar with Howard. There is Paul on the offensive end and Howard on the low post. He can occupy at most outside the three-point line and serve as a turret, and he doesn't have many scenes. Such an arrangement actually wastes his offensive talent.

Denagro asked him to lead the second formation, which was a reform that would do its best.

Garnett brought out a 16-5 offensive to repay him.

Xie Hou knew that he had to turn on the offensive mode.

It's too early to start from the second quarter.

In the face of a 19-point gap, he doesn't have many choices. Attacking and attacking again is the top priority at the moment.

The Bulls gathered two excellent 3D wings, Bruel and Sephlosa, but they couldn't stop Xie Hou.

Xie Hou changed the ball and pulled up the three-pointer, 30-46;

Someone can respond to the Bulls. Xie Hou didn't care, so he continued to attack, chased the layup, and played Garnett in the time difference, 32 to 48;

The bull's attack hit the iron, Xie Hou counterattacked a one-stop. Although three people were close, he cracked it with a pull rod.

34 to 48

In order to boost morale, he took the initiative to compete with Garnett.

Garnett also intended to fight back, and the two of them met their minds - although they both wanted to kill each other, in essence, their ideas were connected.

Garnett's jump shot is unstable at critical moments, and it is no problem to play Xie Hou under normal circumstances.

He responded to Xie Hou.

Within 15 seconds, Xie Hou called the pick-and-roll to force Garnett to get close, accelerated the breakthrough, and faced Thomas. His body suppressed the talented jumping man, and he toughened to break through the Bulls' inside line and scored with a dunk.

Score 9 points in a row.

36 to 50

The Bulls were hit with a timeout and they still had 14 points to lead, but they could not allow Xie Hou to continue to play like this.

"The Bulls don't want Arthur to continue scoring. Maybe no matter how many points Arthur scores, he can't win, but if he gets the form and breaks the single-game score record in the playoffs, it's probably not good."

The Bulls were clear about his mind, but he just didn't let Xie Hou score.

He can pass the ball and let others score. If he wants to continue the momentum of continuous offense, it is something the Bulls cannot tolerate.

The suspension ended, and Paul and Howard all returned.

Xie Hou noticed how much Garnett cared for him, and also found that Howard's big hand was like a pre-targeted shell, ready to hit him at any time.

Brewer and Sephrosa took turns defending so that he would not get a psychological shadow.

If Paul wasn't too short and had the risk of being beaten by Xie Hou, the Bulls would definitely let Paul, who has the potential to be the best defensive lineup, do the trick.

Despite this, in order to limit a person's offense, so many defensive resources (4 people) are used, it can also be seen what the Bulls regard Xie Hou as.

Squeeze Xie Hou's attack = win.
Chapter completed!