Yi's Clutch Performance Leads Chicago Past Detroit
Everything seemed lost for Chicago late in the 4th Quarter, when they were down by 8 points, with less then 2 minutes to go. It was then, that Former Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls, their current Summer League HC, decided to call a timeout and send Power Forward Yi Jianlian out on the floor to get 2 more minutes of playing time...that decision gave the Bulls the victory.
Yi, who had nothing except for 3 fouls in the 7 minutes that he played, stepped on the floor, and just as all the Detroit Fans thought that even the coach of the Bulls had given up, that they had won, Yi proved them wrong.
in just 2 minutes, he scored 9 points, had one steal, and grabbed 4 boards off the Piston's missed shots, his 9 points included a 3 point play, and also included his game winning steal and layup.
after the game, Detroit Star Tim Duncan, who had an amazing game himself with 61 points and 16 rebounds, commented on the last 2 minutes of the game to be "just absolutely amazing", "he was playing as though he was possessed, even; that was how good he was, we couldnt stop him, no body can stop him; and when you are against an opponent that had caught fire, just like how Yi did, there is nothing you can do"
the other Bull that had a big part in tonight's victory was Deron Williams, who had just recovered from his minor injury, he came in and scored 35 points, leading the bulls in scoring, he also had a game high 4 steals.
after the game, GM John Paxson was asked on how he thought the team did, after a not so impressive 2-2 performances in the Summer League.
"well, i think they did allright, we do have some issues with having too many small guys and not enough bigs..but its alright, we still have the regular training camp coming up, we'll figure the roster out as we go"
Starting 5
Boxscores Detroit
Boxscores Chicago
Player of the Game
Yi's Clutch And1 Dunk
Players at the Half