Carlisle made player rotations and tactical adjustments, with Millsap and Mike Miller replacing Hill and Muhammad on the court, while Felton, Zhang Yang, and Okafor continued to play.
Seeing his close friend Carlisle's confident demeanor, assistant coach Vincent approached him and said, "Rick, don't worry. Haven't you always wanted to face a strong defensive team early to test our tactics? Well, although the defense of this opponent is a bit too strong, second in the league, they've already been toughened up in the Wild West for a month, while we've only played against bottom teams..."
"Sam, are you trying to comfort me?" Carlisle said with a roll of his eyes, much more casual when talking with a good friend.
