The China Power of NBA

At the end of the 1994-1995 season, Jordan's return shocked the entire basketball world. The once unstoppable overlord is back!This will undoubtedly form a four-center pattern - Olajuwon, David - Robinson, Patrick - Ewing and Shaquille O'Neal (some people count Mutombo as the fifth largest center). Add a fire!
The Bulls of that year had 65 wins and 34 losses in the first 31 games, and their shooting percentage would be more than half. However, in the 17 games Jordan returned, the record was 13 wins and 4 losses. In the end, the Bulls ranked 47 wins and 35 losses in the East. No.5, making it to the playoffs, although it is only the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, no one dares to underestimate the fact that this team has Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, and Ron Harper.

47 wins and 35 losses. Coincidentally, this is also the record of the Rockets this season. However, they can only enter the playoffs as No.6 in the sought-after West. The biggest difference between this Rockets and last year is a The new player, he was a teammate of Olajuwon in college, once fought side by side with the NCAA Finals, and was also selected as one of the top [-] superstars in the league. He is Creed Drake nicknamed "Glider" Schler, but the team also paid Otis Thorpe, who had been performing well before.

The Rockets didn't start this season well. As the main point guard, Drexler averaged 21.5 points and 4.4 assists per game, shooting 50% from the field and 35% from the three-point range. Obviously, he can score, but in Helping teammates to score is not good enough, Olajuwon is suffering from injuries, missed ten games, averaged 27.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, but these are not the most important, leading to the team's record The main reason for the poor performance is inside.

After Thorpe left, the team couldn't find a decent helper to help Olajuwon. The Rockets used a lot of people to partner Olajuwon in the fourth or fifth positions, such as Pierre Chilkat , He played 17 starts, and the season data is 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Another example is Mario Avery, he played 13 starts, averaging 8.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, and Chucky - Brown, who started 14 games and averaged 6.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and Carl Herrera, who played well last season, started 26 games and averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game , Obviously, these people are not as good as Thorpe who has left, whether it is data or the help they provided to Olajuwon on the court. This problem has been troubled until the end of the Rockets season and has not been completely resolved.

The Rockets' first opponent in the playoffs was the Utah Jazz. Karl Malone seized the Rockets' weaknesses and broke out. He averaged 30.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game but could not lead the team to victory. Like last year, the Utah Doubles Sha's combination is powerful, but the contribution of others is very limited. By the way, Olajuwon averaged 35 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game in this series, and his shooting percentage was as high as 57.5%. , not inferior to Ma Long.After the first 3 games, the Rockets fell behind 1:2 (at that time, the rules for advancing to the first round of the playoffs were five games and three wins).At the moment of crisis, the Rockets duo Drexler and Olajuwon broke out. In the third game, "Glider" made 18 shots and hit 12 goals. He scored 41 points and also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists. , completely beat Hornacek, who only scored 11 points in the whole game, while "Dream" scored 22 points by hitting 14 goals in 40 shots. The "double 40" helped the team win 123:106, the key In the fifth game, the Rockets duo played against the Utah trio. Olajuwon scored 33 points and Drexler scored 31 points. The two of them accounted for 67% of the team's total points!Jazz Malone had 39 points, Hornacek had 19 points, and Stockton had only 14 points on 4 of 12 shots. These three scored 72% of the team's total points!In the end, the Rockets won the game, 95:91.

It is worth mentioning that in the Eastern Conference, the fifth-seeded Bulls swept the fourth-seeded Hornets with a score of 4:0. Although the Hornets' two goalkeepers, Alonzo Mourning and Larry -Johnson averaged 20+ double-double contributions per game, and Dell Curry, the father of the current niche player Stephen Curry, also played well in this round of the series, averaging 12.8 points per game and shooting 42.8% from three-pointers (this can be seen Stephen Curry's metamorphosis must not be unreasonable, he has good genes, and he probably shot when he was in the womb) But they still lost, and the reason is because of one person-Michael Jordan, although in this season The performance in the last 17 games was tepid, but in the playoffs, Jordan broke out wildly and returned to his true colors, averaging 32.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2 steals. 50%, and the three-point shooting rate is as high as 47.1%!

The Rockets’ opponent in the second round was the old-faced Suns, led by Duke Charles. In the first three games of the series, the Rockets still had a bad start. They fell behind by a big score of 1:2. The mirror is generally accurate, and the shooting rate exceeds 60% and the three-point shooting rate is 100%!In the critical fourth game, the Rockets got off to a smooth start, leading by 4 points in the first quarter and another 6 points in the second quarter, but the situation changed suddenly in the second half. The Suns scored 37 points in the third quarter, while the Rockets only scored 23 points. Falling behind by 4 points, the Rockets were unable to catch up in the fourth quarter and eventually lost the game, trailing 1:3.

In the history of the NBA, there are only a handful of teams that are 1:3 behind in the playoffs and can be reversed. They can be counted with one slap, and this rocket has become the fifth team to create a miracle. After being overturned by the Rockets 0-2 and 1-3 for two consecutive years, the Suns said, "The Rockets are like a Texas cockroach. You step on it and hear a click, thinking it is dead. But you As soon as I lifted my foot, I saw it crawling away as if nothing had happened!" Barkley's words opened up the spirit of Rocket Texas Xiaoqiang, and reached its peak in the 2008 playoffs!

Every next game is related to the survival of the team. At such a critical moment, bad news came from the team. Drexley was seriously ill with the flu. Everyone thought he would not play, but Half an hour before the game, the "glider" still appeared in the team's locker room, so the Rockets' morale was boosted. In the fifth game, there were still 90 seconds before the end of the regular time. The Suns led by 1 point and Barkley Free throws, but he really didn't have a championship shot. He only hit one of the two free throws at the critical moment, and then Olajuwon made a hook shot in the penalty area. The game entered overtime. In overtime, the Rockets scored 11 points in one go. The Suns only scored 5 points, and the Rockets pulled back 2:3.

In the sixth game, the Rockets and the Suns fought 87:84 in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets played a wave of 29:19 attacks, which took away the victory of the game. Olajuwon 22 of 13 shots, scored 30 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks, while Barkley made 22 of 12 shots, scored 34 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 1 steal and [-] block.

Another seven-game battle, but Barkley and the Suns, who were eliminated last season, were full of anger this time. They beat the Rockets 26:13 in the first quarter, leading by 13 points!The advantage of the Suns in the first half expanded to 15 points at most, but at the end of the first half, the Suns trailed by 51 points 41:10. At the end of the half, Barkley suffered a relapse of his knee injury, but he was forced to play on painkillers. play!However, the head coach of the Suns, Paul Westphal, did not give more support to Barkley, who played with injuries. He arranged a lot of singles tactics by Kevin Johnson in the game, and Johnson, who got enough firepower His performance was also good enough, scoring 26 points on 12 of 46 shots!But in the end he failed to persist until the end. Halfway through the third quarter, Olajuwon got his fourth foul of the game and was forced to rest. The Rockets had no leader, but at this critical moment, the "glider" appeared again Cang, scored 14 points in a single quarter in the third quarter, allowing the Rockets to enter the fourth quarter 81:81. In the last 5.1 seconds of the game, the two sides tied at 110. At this time, Mario Avery contributed to the Rockets' history. A famous moment of glory!

Kiss of death!

At the critical moment, who should take the shot that determines the outcome this time?Olajuwon, Drexler, Kenny Smith, Mad Max, Cassell with a big heart or Horry?neither!

Mario Alley!

After the Rockets served, the Suns double-teamed Olajuwon, and Johnson was also fighting Drexler on the outside. They didn't even have a chance to make a move. After changing hands several times, the basketball came to ambush at the zero-degree three-point line on the left. Ignore Danny Ainge's defense and shoot directly!
"Shh!"

The ball is in!
The Suns fans in the entire arena were silent for a moment, and after the quasi-lore shot, Er Alley was also very excited. While running back to the backcourt, he gave the fans "blow kisses" with his fingers.This is the origin of the "kiss of death".

There was a tiebreaker, and it was still Olajuwon's Rockets who had the last laugh this time. Olajuwon averaged 29.6 points and 9 rebounds, 0 assists and 3.7 blocks per game, and his shooting percentage It is 2.3% and Barkley averaged 50.8 points, 22.3 rebounds, and 13.2 assists per game. It must be noted that in this round of the series, "Flying Pig" Charles Barkley also learned a new skill-three-pointers !This is more interesting. In the seven games, Barkley took 3.1 three-pointers and only hit 22 goals. Although the shooting percentage is not high, but Barkley, who is as fat and strong as a stump, is outside the three-point line. Like a guard pretending to make a fake three-point shot, the picture is always so unharmonious, Olajuwon said to Chilkat who was defending him,
"Let him shoot, as long as he shoots we win."

"What did you say! How dare you ignore me!"

Barkley yelled, staring at his huge donkey eyes, while shooting from beyond the three-point line with the most graceful posture.

"When~~~"

Stepping over Barkley's sun, the Rockets' opponent in the Western Conference Finals was David Robin's Spurs.This round of the series is a series with relatively high recognition by fans. The reason is that both Olajuwon and Robinson are among the four top centers in the league, but the two have spent their entire careers in the season. There was only such a meeting in the post-match.

The Rockets will not mention it first, let’s talk about the most NB man this season, Michael Jordan. After the Bulls advance to the second round, they will face Shaquille O’Neal, the inside killer who has only met once in 20 years magic.

This round of the series has played a total of six games, and Jordan is still unmatched, averaging 31 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, shooting 47.7% from the field, second master Pippen's performance was inaccurate. Although he averaged 19 points per game, his shooting percentage was only a little over 24%. On the Magic, the vicious Sharks almost tore Kukoc into pieces. 13.2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 48 blocks, while shooting 11% from the field, Kukoc scored 7 points and 44 rebounds, shooting only 18.5%. He also played very well. Guard Tim Hardaway averaged 7.5 points and 18 assists per game. Power forward Horace Grant, who was still playing for the Bulls last season, played extremely well in this round of the series, averaging 11 points and 64.7 assists per game. Rebounds, shooting percentage as high as 41.7%!In addition, there is Nick Anderson, who averaged 15.2 points per game with a 35% three-point shooting percentage, and Denis Scott, who scored 14.8 points with a [-]% three-point shooting percentage.

The result is obvious. The Magic eliminated the Bulls 4:2, making Jordan's first comeback championship a bubble.

The Spurs were strong that year. They won 62 wins in the regular season and ranked first in the league. Robinson won the regular season MVP. In addition to the Admiral, there was also the "little general" Avery who averaged 9.6 assists per game. Johnson, the "flower bug" Danny Rodman who averaged 16.8 rebounds per game, Sean Aiolet who averaged 20+5 per game, and his three-point shooting percentage exceeded 12% per game. The white shooter Vinnie DeNaglo, who was able to score [-] points, was also sitting on the bench with Doc Rivers (first Clippers coach), Terry Cummings, Willie Anderson, Chuck Bojan , JR-Red and other important substitutes.

It was Olajuwon and the Rockets who took away the victory. The game only played 6 games. The Rockets eliminated the Spurs 4:2. Olajuwon scored 32.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. , The shooting percentage is 48.3%, while Robinson's data is 23.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks, and the shooting percentage is 44.9%.

There is nothing to say about the process of the game. In fact, the main reason for the Spurs' loss was not lack of strength, but the lack of harmony in the locker room. David Robinson, as the leader, did not have enough aura to suppress Rodman and Avery. -Johnson, Olajuwon has a very strong offensive power inside. A single Robinson defense is not enough, but Rodman refuses to supplement Robinson's defense, or flank Olajuwon. Moreover, the little general wants to be a leader. Seeing that Robinson was beaten by Olajuwon this time, he encouraged others to leave Robinson's leadership. In addition, Rodman had too much negative news off the court, and he did not follow the rules. Povich was the team's general manager at the time, and the team's head coach was the gentle Bob Hill, whose aura was weaker than Robinson's) There are two worlds at all. Rodman wants to abolish the original contract and start anew. Signing a big contract was rejected by Popovich. In the end, this kind of grievance broke out in the playoffs, allowing Olajuwon to beat Robinson without helping.

In short, the Rockets, who only won 47 games this season, came to the stage of the finals again in the playoffs against the Jazz with 60 wins, the Suns with 59 wins and the Spurs with 62 wins. The Magic won 57 wins in the regular season. The latter eliminated Reggie Miller’s Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Sharks lived up to their reputation, averaging 27.8 points and 10 rebounds per game and shooting a horrific 66.1%. !

What kind of sparks will Olajuwon, who is at his peak at this time, face O'Neal, who has become a fearsome shark in the league only two years after he first entered the league?