Thibodeau's choice was… to bring on Rose, Noah, and Boozer early.

As the head coach most trusting of his main players in the entire league, he wouldn't be stingy with playing time.

Popovich didn't make any substitutions.

The Spurs now had an 11-point lead. As long as they weren't caught up, every extra minute this lineup stayed on the court was an effective drain on the Bulls' main players.

Rose held the ball and attacked in the frontcourt. He crossed over Green in one step, drove into the paint, and drew a shooting foul on Splitter.

Irving had a hundred ways to get past a defender, but Rose only had one, and it was the kind you couldn't defend even if you knew it was coming.

Two free throws made, Rose helped the team narrow the gap to single digits.

The Spurs' set offense was defended.

Turning around, Rose passed the ball to Boozer in the low post. Boozer backed down Leonard, turned around, and hit a fadeaway jumper.

The Bulls chased down 4 consecutive points.

Popovich was on the sidelines, resting his chin in his hand at this time. The weakness of this lineup in a set offense was obvious.

Ginobili's snakelike breakthrough in the frontcourt was interfered with by Noah and missed. Noah also grabbed the rebound.

The Spurs hadn't scored on several consecutive possessions. Popovich turned around and called Diaw over.

Rose drew another shooting foul on Splitter in the frontcourt and went to the free throw line again.

The game entered a dead ball, and Diaw replaced Splitter.

When Rose took his free throws, deafening "MVP" cheers rang out in the arena.

Whenever the Bulls were behind, the first to step up was always Rose.

Rose made both free throws, leading the team on a 6-0 run, immediately narrowing the score to 5 points.

"Defense! Defense!"

When the Spurs advanced the ball, the cheers from the fans in the arena were deafening.

The strong point of Popovich's three-wing lineup was defense, but now they couldn't stop Rose, so this lineup wasn't as effective.

The Bulls' players on the court were like they had been injected with chicken blood, incredibly invested on the defensive end. The Spurs' hammer play still didn't work.

Ginobili passed out to Tang Tian at the last moment of his breakthrough. Tang Tian, facing Boozer's help defense, quickly took a three-point shot.

After the ball was released, the shouts of the audience obviously paused.

Could it go in again?

*clang!*

The ball hit the back rim and bounced high. Tang Tian's three-pointer finally missed!

The audience breathed a sigh of relief.

If that had gone in, it really would have been outrageous.

But at this moment, Diaw used his big butt to squeeze away Noah and actually grabbed the offensive rebound.

He found Tang Tian again.

After taking the shot, Tang Tian didn't stand still, but quickly moved to the corner, and no one had noticed him!

Diaw threw a bounce pass, and the ball passed by Deng and came into Tang Tian's hands.

Tang Tian took another three-pointer from the open spot.

*Swish!*

The sound that made the fans in the arena despair still rang out.

Tang Tian's 7th three-pointer of the first half!

"God!"

The commentator on the sidelines couldn't help but slap his forehead and shout.

Tang Tian's touch from beyond the three-point line was really hot tonight!

The 5-point difference immediately became 8 points, and the situation on the court once again tilted towards the Spurs' side.

Popovich couldn't help but smile at this time.

Diaw had passed 3 assists to Tang Tian in the first quarter, and another one as soon as he came on. The chemistry between the two was really surprisingly good.

What he didn't know was that when Diaw was losing weight, he was in the training ground with Tang Tian and Leonard. Diaw had passed them both a lot of balls.

In the Bulls' offense, Rose still crossed over Green in one step and broke through to the basket.

However, he made a mistake during the breakthrough. He staggered inexplicably and passed the ball directly into Diaw's hands.

Diaw took the ball and turned around to get past Boozer and charged forward. This was an agile fat man.

He found Tang Tian again in the frontcourt, and Tang Tian caught the ball and shot again.

*Swish!*

It went in again!

Tang Tian's 8th three-pointer of the first half!

The fans' eyes widened.

This, was he cheating?!

Tang Tian maintained his shooting form after the shot and smiled when he saw the ball go in.

After exchanging for "Mask," as his stamina recovery speed increased, his shooting accuracy became more and more stable.

This blue skill didn't seem to bring him any substantial attribute changes, and it was like a stone falling into a lake without causing much of a ripple, but the invisible changes it brought were real!

The Bulls called another timeout at this time.

Rose walked to the bench with his hand on his groin, frowning.

The fans in the arena were worried.

Rose had missed the longest 12 games of his career this season because of a groin injury. Judging from his posture, had it relapsed?

When the timeout was over, Rose was subbed off.

Rose's departure had a great impact on the Bulls, especially on the offensive end. The Bulls suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to play.

Rose didn't come back on, but he didn't return to the locker room after communicating with the team doctor, so it seemed the situation wasn't too serious.

Rose's unexpected situation brought the strong matchup to an early conclusion. The Spurs extended the score to 15 points in the first half and ultimately ended their three-game losing streak with a 116-93 victory over the Bulls.

Rose had 16 points before leaving the court. He was actually in very hot form tonight. If he had continued to play, the result of the game might have been different.

Tang Tian had an explosive touch from beyond the three-point line in this game, making 8 of 9 shots in the first half and 10 of 13 shots in the entire game, plus 2 of 3 free throws, scoring 32 points and breaking his single-game scoring record again.

And what was even more gratifying than the scoring record was the tacit understanding between Tang Tian and Diaw.

Diaw had 7 assists in this game, 6 of which were to Tang Tian!

They achieved this effect in their first start together. The speed at which they clicked was almost as fast as Huawei's fast charging!

After the game, the players from both sides shook hands in a final gesture of sportsmanship and then prepared to return to the locker room.

As Tang Tian was about to leave, Butler came over and stopped him.

Butler only played one quarter in garbage time in this game, getting 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal.

"I heard that you trained with Walker, Thompson, and Irving last summer?"

Butler wasn't here to reminisce this time, but to talk about offseason training.

Tang Tian nodded. There was nothing to hide.

"Will you guys be training this summer too?"

Butler asked.

"Probably."

Tang Tian nodded. The offseason, like it was for other rookies, was an important period for him to improve himself.

Last offseason, his training focused on catch-and-shoot three-pointers. This year, he would definitely have new training content.

"If you are, I'd like to join you guys, is that okay?"

Butler looked directly at Tang Tian.

Tang Tian looked at Butler in surprise. He didn't expect Butler to be looking for him for this.

"I want to improve myself, just like you guys."

Butler was direct enough.

"No problem."

Tang Tian nodded with a smile.

The more people there were in training, the better. They could learn from each other's strengths, and progress together.

And with more people, they could play half-court or even full-court games, and the training effect would be even better.