Chapter 61

With 8 minutes and 11 seconds left in the first quarter, the Pistons were trailing by 5 points at 9-14, prompting John Kuester to call a timeout. The Pistons showed signs of weakness less than 4 minutes into the first quarter, during which the Bulls scored 14 points—highlighting the Pistons’ poor defense and, by extension, the Bulls’ strong offensive firepower. After the timeout, John Kuester made some adjustments to the Pistons’ lineup. Greg Monroe, who had already received 2 fouls in his earlier matchup with Carlos Boozer and was unable to contain Boozer, was replaced by the experienced veteran Samuel Dalembert. On the Bulls’ side, there were significant changes: Keith Bogans, the only starter who hadn’t scored yet, was replaced by sharpshooter Kyle Korver; Joakim Noah was replaced by Kurt Thomas; and Ron Artest was replaced by Ronnie Brewer. Once play resumed, Samuel Dalembert made a significant impact for his team. He first blocked Kurt Thomas’s layup, then caught a perfect pass from Zhou Yi and scored at the rim. Before the game, Zhou Yi had vowed to guard Derrick Rose tightly. At the start, he might not have been in top form, but after John Kuester called a timeout, he regained his focus. In the subsequent attacks, he intensified his defense on Derrick Rose, preventing him from making two consecutive mid-range shots. Samuel Dalembert grabbed a rebound in the backcourt, spun around, and passed the ball to the front court, where Zhou Yi and McGrady were already in motion. With no defender chasing them, Zhou Yi and McGrady executed a perfect alley-oop, with McGrady dunking the ball beautifully into the basket. Naturally, their flawless alley-oop combination earned the loudest cheers from the crowd. Derrick Rose took control of the ball, moved slowly toward the three-point line opposite the basket, and tried to bypass Zhou Yi by accelerating. However, Zhou Yi’s strong defense, combined with his excellent footwork and agility, prevented Derrick Rose from breaking through.

Watching Zhou Yi’s stance, Derrick Rose wasn’t careless. He stepped sideways in front of Zhou Yi and drove inside. In terms of speed, Zhou Yi was no match for Derrick Rose, but he had an advantage in agility. So, even though he was giving it his all, Zhou Yi could still keep up with Derrick Rose’s pace.
“Dude, your defense has gotten even stronger,” Derrick Rose couldn’t help but say to Zhou Yi.
At that moment, Zhou Yi was focusing all his energy on defending against Derrick Rose, so he ignored his words.
Derrick Rose also had a decent understanding of Zhou Yi’s temperament, so he wasn’t annoyed by Zhou Yi’s lack of reaction. Instead, he sped up his dribbling even more.
Derrick Rose dribbled with his right hand, suddenly accelerated and rushed toward Zhou Yi’s right side, then stopped abruptly in front of him and changed direction. Zhou Yi’s defense was really intense, but Derrick Rose was truly unstoppable. His breakthroughs were fierce and varied, and even with all his efforts, Zhou Yi was still breached by Derrick Rose. After breaking free from Zhou Yi’s defense, Derrick Rose stopped abruptly and shot a jump shot—the ball swished through the basket.
Zhou Yi inwardly sighed that Rose was far too strong; he really wasn’t his opponent right now. What he didn’t know was that Rose had already used all his strength in that breakthrough, even though it seemed effortless on the surface. Derrick Rose was also shocked—this kid’s defensive skills were really strong now, much better than before. Although he could keep up with him, it wasn’t easy at all.
“A very talented kid,” that was Rose’s assessment of Zhou Yi, but he wouldn’t express it deliberately. Sometimes, admiring someone too much might make him lose his calm judgment.
Derrick Rose slowly dribbled as he crouched down to defend Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi also moved forward slowly, and with each step he took, Derrick Rose stepped back, maintaining a gap of about one step. This kept Zhou Yi from breaking through or shooting. But Zhou Yi neither tried to break through nor shoot.
Thanks to his excellent vision, Zhou Yi saw that McGrady was cutting toward the basket. Suddenly, he passed the ball to the ground. Derrick Rose tried to steal it but failed—the ball ended up in McGrady’s hands behind him, who then dunked it.
“Wow…” The fans at the scene screamed again in admiration for Zhou Yi’s performance.

“Derrick Rose dribbled past, but Zhou wasn’t fooled. With consecutive changes of direction from Derrick Rose and coverage from Kurt Thomas, Derrick Rose finally broke free from Zhou Yi’s defense and rushed inside to score a dunk! Oh my God, he even forced a defensive foul on Zhou!” The commentator on site exclaimed excitedly as he watched the game unfold.

With only 4 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first quarter, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau called a timeout to let several starters rest.

After the timeout, the Bulls’ Carlos Boozer was replaced by Ty Gibson, Kurt Thomas by Omir Asik, and Rolando Blackman by Ronnie Brewer.

On the Pistons’ side, McGrady was replaced by James Posey, Tayshaun Prince by Charlie Villanueva, and Ben Wallace by Taylor Hansbrough.

After easily making one free throw, Derrick Rose quickly retreated to defend.

Chapter 223: Intense Battle

Zhou Yi took the ball and tried to attack, but his mid-range jump shot missed due to Derrick Rose’s defense. However, Taylor Hansbrough secured the offensive rebound.

After getting the rebound, Taylor Hansbrough, with Ty Gibson’s help, prepared for a second attack.

Ty Gibson had no advantage in defending Taylor Hansbrough, aside from being slightly stronger. They were about the same height, but Taylor Hansbrough was more agile. After making two clever feints, the big man suddenly turned and headed toward the basket. By then, Ty Gibson was already behind him. It seemed Taylor Hansbrough was about to finish the attack with a two-handed dunk.

But suddenly, Omir Asik, who should have been defending Samuel Dalembert, rushed in. He stretched out his long arms and slammed his big hand onto the basketball in Taylor Hansbrough’s hands. At that moment, Taylor Hansbrough was holding the ball with both hands for a dunk, while Omir Asik was trying to block it with one hand. In every sense, Taylor Hansbrough should have had the upper hand. Yet, he suddenly felt Omir Asik’s powerful hand and the basketball was flung out of the air, landing outside the court.

“Great job!” Derrick Rose went over and high-fived Omir Asik excitedly.

It was still the Pistons’ offense; Zhou Yi took the ball and organized the attack. Using Charlie Villanueva’s pick-and-roll, Zhou Yi broke free from Derek Rose’s close defense and headed toward the basket. Although the defense wasn’t intense, Zhou Yi didn’t choose to attack instead. He glanced around and saw James Posey open on the perimeter. Without hesitation, he passed the ball to James Posey, who caught it and shot it away with a swift motion. The basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air, and with a “swish,” it went in.

On the Pistons’ bench, Will Bynum stood up excitedly, cheering for his teammates.

Derek Rose took the ball and opted not to drive but instead threw it inside. Omir Asik crouched in place and pushed Samuel Dalembert back, causing him to take a step backward. That step allowed Omir Asik to turn around and jump, easily dunking for a score.

With about 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Zhou Yi was substituted out by Austin Daye.

The next 3 minutes were still extremely intense.

When 20 seconds remained in the first quarter, the Pistons had only one last offensive chance. Will Bynum held the ball steadily, trying to slow down the pace since only 20 seconds were left. When 10 seconds remained, Will Bynum moved. He drove and passed the ball to James Posey. But at that moment, James Posey made a mistake and lost control of the ball, which was intercepted by Ronnie Brewer. Ronnie Brewer threw the ball toward the Pistons’ half-court, where Derek Rose was already rushing over.

Will Bynum tried desperately to chase Derek Rose, but to no avail. After catching the ball, Derek Rose rushed inside the opponent’s free-throw line, jumped, and forcefully dunked the ball into the basket. He hung his arms on the rim, as if a king looking down on the world.

With 2.1 seconds left, James Posey received a pass from Will Bynum but missed his three-point shot, ending the first quarter.

“Derek Rose is still strong…” Zhou Yi thought again, staring at the red number 1.

The first quarter ended with James Posey’s missed three-point shot. At that moment, the players on the court headed toward the benches to rest before returning to battle.

The large screen at the Auburn Hills Palace of Auburn Hills displayed the score at the end of the first quarter: 30:21, with the home team, the Bulls, leading by 9 points. Of the Bulls’ 30 points, Derrick Rose contributed 12 points along with 5 assists, delivering an outstanding performance. On the Pistons’ side, Zhou Yi also had a solid performance, scoring 8 points and providing 5 assists—matching Derrick Rose’s assist total. The second quarter was about to begin, and players from both teams were gradually returning to the court. For the Bulls, Derrick Rose left the court and was replaced by CJ Watson, while the Pistons made a lineup change as well, with Zhou Yi replacing James Posey.