Defending champion

Chapter 95

After three days of rest, the Hornets once again ushered in the Houston Rockets at home today.

The Rockets' schedule during this period is also very unsatisfactory. The Rockets just defeated the Kings in two overtime games at home a few days ago.He rushed to the Cleveland Cavaliers excitedly, but the Cavaliers led by LeBron James gave the Rockets a head-on blow.

I thought that the next day's home game against the Clippers would win, but there was an unexpected situation. When the Clippers came to the Toyota Center, it was like returning to Staples. Everyone was like taking Viagra. , unusually ferocious.The Rockets surrendered after halftime.

After the Rockets beat the Clippers at home, they immediately moved to the Hornets.They can't lose this game.If you lose this game.Then their position as the seventh in the West will be lost.

Yao Ming, the leader of the Rockets, is even more aware of this, and he stood up immediately at the beginning of the game.

The Hornets' offense failed, and Yao Ming immediately grabbed the offensive rebound.Then he succeeded in singles against Hilton in the frontcourt. He made a ecstasy turnaround shot with a bang, which was very refreshing. He demonstrated his excellent touch to Hilton, who is also an insider.

However, the Hornets are not some soft persimmons that you can pinch if you want to stick.Paul held the ball and saw that the Rockets were not retreating very quickly, so he immediately caught up and caught the Rockets by surprise.The Rockets' opening defense was very poor and frequently leaked inside.Paul made a strong hit, and then Paul and David West played a pick-and-roll while the Rockets were not attacking.David West is an enterprising person. After playing abnormally in the last game, he practiced hard and shot in this game, and became extremely accurate. Three of 4 shots were made, and in a blink of an eye, the Hornets expanded that lead to ten points, 6 to 16.The Rockets have dug themselves a hole.

Jeff Van Gundy of the Rockets immediately realized something was wrong, immediately called a timeout, and loudly reprimanded all the Rockets players.After returning from the timeout, the half defense has improved, but the offense is still sluggish.

After the Rockets' defensive strength strengthened, the Hornets' shooting percentage began to decline.The Hornets failed to score in consecutive attacks. The Rockets seized the opportunity. Several fast breaks initiated by Alston and Battier's Diethyl three-pointer made the Rockets, after the first quarter, The scores are not far behind.

In the first quarter, Yao Ming committed 2 fouls. He had no choice but to save 3 minutes in the first quarter and was taken down.

In the second quarter, the Hornets all replaced the substitutes. Under the leadership of Jack, the substitutes played a very smooth offense. In a blink of an eye, the Hornets scored another 12 points.

Jeff had to replace Yao Ming who was sitting on the bench in advance.Jeff Van Gundy's tactical arrangement is very clear, that is, to force Yao Ming to take the inside, but it is difficult for Yao Ming to get the ball under the double-team of Hilton and Jack.Even though the power at the basket is very terrifying, but Yao Ming can't do anything if he can't get the ball.

However, the Rockets' other substitutes are also very competitive.All the balls that should be scored are scored, and the ball that is a little bit hanging is also scored.

Byron Scott of the Hornets on the bench saw that the bench was really overwhelmed.With a wave of his hand, all the main players were replaced.However, the situation of the Hornets who replaced the main force is not very good.The Hornets players made mistakes one after another.Paul turned his wrist with the dribble, JR Smith walked when he broke through, and Butler made an offensive foul... The Hornets were in violation trouble.

The Rockets seized the opportunity to score several times, made a quick break pass, and Battier made a small dunk.Alstom made a 1-pointer and scored with a nerve knife and a strong shot.The Rockets got closer to the score.The Hornets' lead is only 45 point left, 44 to [-].

Jack also played very depressed in this half quarter, but he still scored 8 points and 8 rebounds and gave Alstom a spicy hot pot.

The halftime break is over and the third quarter begins.

The Hornets didn't know what to do. At the beginning of the third quarter, the entire Hornets team suddenly lost their sense of touch.

However, this is exactly what the Rockets wanted. They have Yao Ming, the most powerful center in the league. Are they afraid?not afraid.

Yao Ming was the Hornets player who showed off his terrifying defensive ability in the penalty area.Big take one after another, all of them are so hot.Not only that, today's rebounds seem to be like knowing Yao Ming, Yao Ming scored 8 rebounds in a single quarter.In the opening 6 minutes of the third quarter, the Hornets were given a 12-0 spurt by the Rockets and directly overtook the score.

Not only that, the Rockets also limited the Hornets' shooting percentage to only 10%.

The Hornets replaced Jack in time and took David West down.Jack is now reincarnated as the Hornets' firefighter.

As soon as he came up, he immediately gave Ars, who was very arrogant in the first half of the game, a hot pot, and also scored this rebound.

The Hornets attacked, and the Rockets were beaten by the Hornets this round.After the pick-and-roll, Jack went straight to the basket and received a pass from Paul, and then came directly and made an alley-oop.This is how today's top ten balls were born.

Because of Jack's activity, Jack boosted the Hornets' defense.People often say that defense leads to offense, and that is the case with the Hornets.The Hornets' touch has also begun to thaw.

At the end of the third quarter, the Hornets approached the score to 6 points left, and the Rockets led the third quarter 71-65.

The feeling of hand is a very wonderful thing, if you say it exists, you say it doesn't exist, but he really doesn't have it.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Rockets failed to score the ball in their first two offenses.The Hornets seized the opportunity, and Butler and JR Smith made two three-pointers. "Swiping" and "rinsing" count two points and three points into the net.

The Rockets players saw that they didn't make any shots, so they kept feeding Yao Ming.However, Yao Ming's touch was also frozen, and he failed to make two consecutive turnaround shots.If the Rockets can't make a shot, Jack will immediately get the rebound in the frontcourt, and Paul will immediately convert the rebound into an assist and score. Paul gets an assist and the ball gets a point.

The Rockets have no sense of touch, and the more they play, the less confident they are. All the players of the Rockets seem to start sleepwalking, making mistakes and making mistakes again and again. But consecutive misses.

The Hornets relied on defensive counterattacks to beat the Rockets to a 20-1 climax, and finally 72 to 85. In this way, the Hornets won the game dramatically.

Jack's contribution in the game was indelible. He played 33 minutes in the game, scored 18 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. The only flaw was 3 turnovers.

Before the All-Star Game, the Hornets still have two away games and two away games to go?After playing against the Houston Rockets, the Hornets will face two consecutive away games against the Jazz and the Boston Celtics.Then they have to return to the home court to meet the challenges of the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Jersey Nets.

(End of this chapter)