In the first 6 minutes and more, the Chicago Bulls' starting five, with the strongest defense in the league, successfully limited the Bobcats to only 8 points, but Yao Ming, Hinrich, and Luol Deng focused intently on offense, leading the Bulls to only 15 points in the first quarter.
While the Bulls executed half-court offense well, they were mediocre in fast-break scoring. Even against the Bobcats led by Zhang Yang and Okafor in retreat defense, they couldn't manage a single successful fast break in half a quarter.
The Bobcats players knew they couldn't hold in a half-court defense, so they put heavy emphasis on defending counterattacks.
During the official timeout, Skiles helplessly replaced a heavily panting Ben Wallace after half a quarter, substituting in Tyrus Thomas, while the other four starters continued to play.
