Rebirth of Hayes Cyclone

Chapter 111 [Sweep to advance!Never say never!】

The Rockets beat the Clippers twice at home.

The two teams moved to Los Angeles. Amidst the cheers of the home fans, the Clippers failed to show momentum. On April 4, 29 to 101, the Rockets scored another 91%. On May 5, 2 to 92, the Rockets did not leave the home team. With no sympathy, the Clippers were swept out.

The Rockets passed the test easily, and the Clippers left fans in the playoffs with only disappointment.

The Clippers have entered the playoffs for two consecutive years, and their record has overwhelmed the Lakers. This allows the team management to see the hope that the "small yacht" will become a "luxury cruise ship".They turned out to be the Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank within a short distance.

At the post-match press conference, Mike Dunleavy admitted that the strength gap between the two sides was too great. "The Rockets are now a super strong team. Their defense is impeccable. The players have strong single-defense capabilities, and they will change their patterns to supplement and assist defense. Our offense is restricted. In addition, the Rockets' offense cannot Block. They have three superstar players with individual abilities, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Van Gundy seemed calm.

The Los Angeles reporter asked: "Coach Van Gundy, the Rockets have advanced to the second round again since 97. What do you think?"

Van Gundy smiled and said: "Our strength is relatively strong, so we won, that's it. As for the first-round curse, there is nothing to talk about that topic. The Rockets' goal now is only the championship. We will strive to win every game .”

The reporters also interviewed Yao Ming, he was the happiest person on the scene.This game was a breakthrough in Yao Ming's career.This season he not only played beautiful statistics, but also tasted the sweet taste of entering the second round of the playoffs for the first time.

Yao Ming said with a smile: "This is a beautiful series, very good. In the regular season, our players already know how to win. For me, this is a big step in my career. I hope the team can go further."

The reporter interviewed another hero, Hayes.Hayes played 36.4 minutes.Scored 17.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, shooting 57% from the field and 40% from three-pointers.Although his scoring is not as good as Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, his efficiency is very high.

When talking about the reasons for the victory, Hayes said it was mainly because of the team's strong execution. "In every pre-game preparation, we have been very firm in executing the game plan, no matter how the opponent changes the lineup, we have a way to deal with it. We are the best team, so we won the game and were able to eliminate 4-0. The opponent makes us very happy because there is a big difference between sweeping and not sweeping."

The reporter asked, "You mean the rest time?"

"That's right. We can now better prepare for the next round."

The reporter asked, "What do you think the Rockets' odds are for the second round?"

"We will definitely win. We are not afraid of any opponent!" Unlike the modest Yao Ming, Hayes said simply.

Almost all of the Eastern Conference's matchups have been one-sided.

Like the history Hayes knows, the Pistons swept the Magic.Dwight Howard scored 21 points, 12 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in the series, but Lupus and Hamilton blasted the Magic inside.Howard can only swallow the bitter pill of defeat.

The Cavaliers VS Wizards, who were predicted to have a hard fight before the game, were also one-sided.LeBron James played well, averaging 30.2 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game, leading the Cavaliers to sweep the Wizards 4-0.

The most surprising thing is the Bulls VS Heat.

The three-game losing streak has no way out for the Heat, and they launched a massive attack at the beginning. The first to bear the brunt is "Shark" O'Neal. O'Neal is 36 years old, and he is not the only one who is old. There are also 36-year-old Mourning and 38-year-old Payton. , 33-year-old Walker, 34-year-old Eddie Jones... Heat players have reached the age where they do not accept gifts during the holidays and only accept melatonin.No one believed that they could be reversed, they were desperately trying to catch their breath.

It's a pity that even if the Heat have Wade, who won the finals MVP at the age of 24, they can't change the fate of losing.

86比91，热火0：4被公牛横扫，成了NBA历史上近50年来第一支在首轮被横扫的卫冕冠军。

The Nets and Raptors became 2-2.The next game will be played at the home of the Raptors.

In addition to the advance of the Rockets, the situation in the West is much more complicated.After all, the Spurs are a team with championship background. They pulled three games in a row when they fell behind the Jazz 0-1.

The Suns defeated the Nuggets away in the fourth game, and the total score also achieved a 3-1 lead.The Nuggets only rely on Anthony "Melon" who averaged 28.7 points per game in the regular season, which is incomparable to the Suns' attack group.

The most intense is undoubtedly the Timberwolves and Mavericks.The Mavericks won two games at home first, and the tenacious Timberwolves returned to the home court to pull two games in a row.The total score became 2-2.

5月3日，篮网89比87战胜猛龙，总比分3比2领先。

On the 4th, the Jazz beat the Spurs 106 to 98 at home in Salt Lake City, pulling themselves back from the brink.In this game, Deron Williams beat Tony Parker. In this series, Deron Williams averaged 18.6 points, 10.8 assists and 2 steals per game, which was greater than his average data in the regular season, and his performance was not bad. nash.As a result, Deron has attracted the attention of experts and is regarded as a future superstar.

On the other hand, Deron's teammate Luther Hyde in college, after entering the playoffs, his average playing time in the Rockets was only 5 minutes per game, scoring a total of 4 points.At the University of Illinois, Hyde was the team's number one star, and Deron often came off the bench.Feng Shui took turns, Hyde, known as "Hai Da Fu", is now sitting on a bench, and Delong, a "little noble son" who has not received much attention, has suddenly become "Lu Ding Gong".

The game between the Suns and the Nuggets was decided. 127 to 111, the Suns advanced to the second round 4 to 1.

The Mavericks defeated the Timberwolves 114 to 97 at home and won the crucial "Battle of Tianwang Mountain".

The allusion of "Tianwang Mountain" comes from the Warring States Period in Japan. Akechi Mitsuhide fought a decisive battle with Hashiba Hideyoshi after the change of Honnoji Temple.Tianwang Mountain is a very important commanding height. It is said that whoever can climb up first will win. It sounds like a monkey war.As a result, Hideyoshi's monkey army climbed up Tianwang Mountain first, and Akechi Mitsuhide was defeated and committed suicide.

The NBA playoffs are a seven-game four-win elimination game. If the two teams are tied 2-2 in the first four games, then the fifth game is called the "Battle of Tianwang Mountain". History shows that winning fifth 80% of teams in a game will win the entire series.

On May 5, the Nets beat the Raptors 5 to 104 at home and advanced to the second round.The next day, the Spurs beat the Jazz at home to pass.

Just when people thought that the Mavericks would advance with the same score, the suspense resumed.When the Timberwolves fell behind throughout the game, they chased 11 points in the fourth quarter and dragged into overtime.In overtime, "Wolf King" Garnett scored 8 points in a row, leading the Timberwolves to a successful reversal, and the total score became 3-3.

From the perspective of overall strength, the Mavericks with Nowitzki, Terry, Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Dampier and other good players are absolutely dominant, but they played against the Timberwolves extremely uncomfortable.

"German Chariot" Nowitzki's height and style of play determine that he is the most difficult player to mark among players in the same position. Those with height can't keep up with the speed, and those who can keep up with the speed will suffer. Fouls are basically equal to points. .Few people in the league can guard Nowitzki, but "Wolf King" Garnett happens to be one of them.
Garnett has excellent wingspan, guard-like speed, strong jumping ability, and is more flexible than Nowitzki.Nowitzki, who averaged 26 points per game in the regular season, met Garnett. His scoring data dropped to 18.4 points and his shooting percentage was only 4%.

The Timberwolves' offense is simpler. Garnett picks and rolls. Iverson breaks through and has unlimited firepower. When double-teamed, he returns the ball to Garnett for singles.Whether the Timberwolves can win basically depends on Iverson's touch. Garnett can contribute 20+ points.In addition to the two of them, the person who can help the two superstars is the Serbian Marko Jaric.He averaged 8.7 points and 3.2 assists in this series.

Game 7 was held at the Mavericks' home court.

People are not optimistic about the Timberwolves.But as soon as the game started, Iverson showed super offensive power.He scored 5 points in a row in 8 minutes, proving to people that he is still at his peak and is still the scoring leader.He broke through three times in a row, causing fouls by Harris, George and Dampier of the Mavericks respectively. He did not miss 6 free throws!

With 5 minutes and 15 seconds left in this quarter, Iverson controlled the ball, and Terry was overshadowed by the breakthroughs in these few games, so he dared not get too close.Taking advantage of the opponent's unpreparedness, Iverson pretended to break through from the middle, took a step back, jumped to the highest point, and hit a jumper!
After 2 minutes, the Mavericks served the ball in the backcourt. The astute Iverson saw Dampier's intention to pass the ball, succeeded in stealing and assisting Trenton Hassel for a layup.

1 minute and 18 seconds before the end of the first quarter, Iverson used his speed to force Terry to make a layup, caused a foul, and made an additional penalty!Successfully played 2+1!Leading the Timberwolves to a 9-0 offensive climax, leading by 7 points in the first quarter.

"Answer" hit crazy.He showed his passing again in the second quarter. With 7 minutes and 16 seconds left in this quarter, the Mavericks missed an offense. Iverson launched a fast break. Just after passing the center line, he hit the ball with a precise wide angle Find edge man Eddie Griffin, who made a layup and drew a foul!At halftime, Iverson made 13 of 7 shots and 9 of 8 free throws, scoring 23 points and 5 assists.
Every time Iverson gets the ball, the home fans will boo him.

But Iverson was unmoved, and the second half was still his performance time. Iverson looked very confident in the face of Terry, whose height was close to his own.Score a layup, hit a jumper, break through and draw a foul, completely blowing Terry up.

One minute before the end of this section, Iverson broke through from the left wing, faced three defensive players, hit the ground and passed the ball to Garnett, who was fouled by Nowitzki for a dunk and succeeded in a three-pointer.

The Mavericks took the lead, and the Timberwolves kept biting the score.

In the last quarter, Iverson, who has never rested, still maintained his own offensive rhythm, and made a sudden stop jumper after the left wing broke through.At 9 minutes and 04 seconds before the end of the game, Iverson once again showed a wonderful ground pass and assisted Mark Blount for a dunk!Then, Answer steals the Mavericks pass again and gets the 7th steal of the field!Half a minute later, Iverson shook Terry for a layup, which caused a foul by Stackhouse and made 2 of 1 free throws.

In the last minute, Iverson and Garnett scored consecutively and beat the Mavericks 1 to 104 in an away game, becoming the last team to enter the second round.

艾弗森全场出战，28投16中，三分球7中3，罚球14投10中得到全场最高的45分9助攻。加内特也得到18分14篮板6助攻4盖帽。

After the game, some home fans applauded the Timberwolves.The Timberwolves laughed at the end with their tenacious will. They conquered their opponents and also conquered the audience.

With the never-say-die Iverson, the Timberwolves have changed!
Having seen the failure of the golden guns, Hayes originally thought that Iverson could only bring the Timberwolves into the playoffs at most. Now, he has changed his view, and the Timberwolves have become a strong team!If they continue to strengthen the lineup next year, the Timberwolves will definitely become an obstacle for the Rockets to create a dynasty.

(End of this chapter)