Zhiba NBA

Chapter 20 ([-]) First defeat of the season
"Today's opponent, the Raptors, has special meaning to the management." Yuan Fei said to the players in the locker room: "The Raptors have already traded their first-round picks this season to us, so we must get rid of them. The lower their ranking, the better for our draft in the coming year. What's more, this is our first home game of the season, so we have to win beautifully."

"The Raptors are not the finals-level team they were before. Only Carter and Francis can count on the whole team. Their center Antonio Davis (34 years old at the time) has declined significantly after entering the late stage of his career." Tang Shuai analyzed the opponent: "Our strength is stronger, but our disadvantage is that we just finished the away game in Denver yesterday, lack of rest, and poor physical fitness. Fortunately, our bench depth is very strong."

"I wasn't too tired yesterday. It's okay to play 40 minutes today." McGrady took the lead in expressing his attitude. He only played 28 minutes in Denver.

"Very good, Tracy." Tang Shuai arranged tactics: "Today our starting lineup is Jamal, Kenny, Richard, Tracy and Chauncey. Our main tactical arrangement is..."

Yao Ming remained calm, but felt a little sad in his heart.Magloire is still the main center forward. I don't know when he will be able to start.

"Tracey, this is the legendary Jason?" Billups asked McGrady in a low voice, "It's too young, and it's completely different from what I thought."

"Yes, he is only sixteen or seventeen years old, but he has a high prestige in the team. Almost all the existing players were built under his planning, including the introduction of you is also his idea."

"I thought it would be a bearded dad wearing glasses. I have the impression that a data analyst is such a serious person." Billups said seriously.

"Pfft haha." Maddie couldn't help laughing. "Jason is very nice, you two will become friends."

***
The progress of the game was beyond people's expectations. Vince Carter was injured and left the field in the opening 6 minutes, which became the turning point of the game. At that time, the Rockets had already led by a score of 17 to 7 (a real event in history).

In the following games, the Raptors without Carter were like a mess. Although Francis scored 28+8+5 with all his strength, the Raptors lost 86:108.The Rockets got off to a good start at home.

马格洛伊尔和姚明各打了24分钟平分上场时间。姚明7投4中得到了8分4篮板颇有进步（真实数据），而小马哥贡献了11分12篮板的两双。

For Yuanfei, the joy of winning three consecutive victories at the beginning was quickly overshadowed by the shock of a bad news.

"Jason, there is a player requesting to be traded to another team." Manager Dawson brought the bad news.

"Is this... Jamal Magloire? I did think about it because Yao shared his minutes with Mehmet."

"No, it was Kenny Thomas' agent who made this request to me."

"What? It's Kenny?" Yuan Fei was taken aback, "But it's true when you think about it carefully. Kenny was the main player in the iron fight last season, averaging 34+14 in 7 minutes per game. Although he is still the starter this season, since Mehmet mostly plays the 4th position, Gerrard is also much more mature than last season, and his playing time has been allocated a lot."

"Yeah, Jason, what do you think we should do? The team just started to improve, and the starting power forward wanted to leave."

"Although Kenny is a good man and we have great feelings, he is really not in our future plans." Yuan Fei gritted his teeth and said, "The only players older than me are Kenny and Hakeem, and I am reluctant to leave Kenny. But to be honest, the team doesn't really need him. Mehmet is enough to deal with the tall and strong insider at the 4th position, and Gerrard, a short and flexible insider, can completely defend him. You can sell him. Or sell Jamal, let Okur play more at the 5 position, and give Kenny more playing time."

"Then I'm going to ask the price like this?"

"That's right, let's go to the bottom first to see which method can earn more. We want the draft picks in 03 and 04. I also think about whether there are other ways to solve the problem."

***
On November 11, the Rockets ushered in the Sonics at home after a 5-day rest.The two teams were also not favored by others, but they won the first three consecutive victories. This game was hailed as a dark horse battle.

"The Supersonics are still a team with veteran Gary Payton as the core. If you strangle him, you strangle the soul of the Supersonics, so Chauncey, it's up to you." Tang Shuai nodded to Billups.

"I would like to add that you have to be careful of No. 77 Radmanovich." Yuan Fei continued: "He averaged only 6.7 points per game last season, but his three-point shooting percentage exceeded 40%. He is a shooter with great potential. In the last game against the Jazz, he scored 15 points off the bench."

"No problem, I'll defend him. We will definitely win." Jefferson was in high spirits.

Yuan Fei noticed that Tang Shuai frowned slightly.

***
The start was as smooth as expected by the Houstonians. Tracy McGrady, Billups, Thomas and Magloire each scored a goal, and the Rockets beat their opponent 0:8 at the beginning.But Payton then completely controlled the rhythm of the game. Facing Billups' defense, he continued to assist Lewis to score. He sent 6 assists in a single quarter. After the first quarter, the Rockets only led by 3 points.

In the second quarter, McGrady started to show off. He made consecutive shots and scored 12 points in a single quarter.But Desmond Mason and Jerome James, the supersonic substitutes, also continued to score points, and the point difference failed to widen. 50:53, the Rockets took a slight lead into the second half.

"Boys, you are too proud." Tang Shuai expressed his dissatisfaction. "I know that you have experienced the previous two bad seasons, and it feels good to win now. But the opponents in the first three games were not top teams. It will not be too late to talk about pride after you win the Lakers and Kings. You didn't show a good attitude at all in this game. Face it."

The players were silent, and Tang Shuai was also silent.He felt that everyone didn't seem to listen to his words.

Sure enough, as Tang Shuai expected, the Sonics counterattacked aggressively at the beginning of the second half.Payton broke through Billups' defense at the beginning of the game and passed a wonderful pass to center Drogbiak, who made a successful shot, 52:53.

McGrady also scored 2 points.Payton attacked by himself, but the shot was hard.Looking back, the Rockets Jefferson missed a three-pointer, and the ball was given to the Sonics.Payton assisted Barry and hit a three-pointer, 55 tie!
Jefferson made a strong breakthrough with the ball, but was blocked by Lewis and had no chance to break through the line.Jefferson barely passed to Magloire, who was in a position. The latter dribbled the ball twice and hit the iron with a hook.The ball came to Payton again, and Payton assisted Lewis in a mid-range shot, 2:57.

McGrady made another 2 points.Payton's breakthrough disrupted the Rockets' defense. Payton was assigned to Mason on the outside, and McGrady rushed to make up for it. Mason then assigned to Barry, and there was an empty spot!Brent Barry makes a shot.Goal scored 60:57!

Yuan Fei sighed. Brent Barry is a sharp shooter. He has made more than 40% of his three-pointers for three consecutive seasons. It is certainly not good to give him an open shot.Now the team's offensive end basically relies on McGrady's singles, and the defensive end is not good.

Thomas missed a shot, and Payton assisted Drogbiak for a dunk again. At 62:57, the Rockets became anxious.Billups hit the iron with a jumper in singles, Magloire desperately squeezed out of position, and finally scored 2 points with a tip-up.

Payton and McGrady hit the iron once each, and the ball is still in the hands of the Sonics.Payton passed to Lewis who ran out of space again, and the CIC succeeded 64:59.The Rockets were forced to call a timeout.

After the timeout, the Rockets replaced Wallace and Turkoglu, and finally found a little sense on the defensive end, barely able to contain the waves of the Sonics' offensive.But the offensive end also seems to have nothing to do, and the point difference is still slowly widening.

In the last 2 minutes of the third quarter, the Supersonic pitchers broke out. Mason, Radmanovich, and Lewis made three-pointers successively, while the Rockets hit the iron again and again. Fortunately, Payton missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, and the Rockets ended the quarter behind 80:68 by 12 points.

Facing the depressed players, Yuan Fei spoke before Tang Shuai: "Let me say a few words first, Gary Payton is 34 years old this year. Just now he scored 5 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists in one quarter."

The players couldn't hold their heads up in shame, especially Billups and Parker, who couldn't contain the old Payton at all.But Yuan Fei comforted them again.

"The problem of defense is not entirely in the 1st position. Chauncey and Tony can defend well. Payton has only made 16 of 5 shots so far, but sent 16 assists. Our overall defense needs to be strengthened."

"Being behind by 12 points in three quarters, we haven't lost enough to give up." Tang Shuai encouraged the players: "Boys, do you still want to win?"

"Of course!" McGrady agreed loudly, he was the only one in the team who played normally.But the other players were dejected and agreed feebly.

"Don't tell me this is your strength." A tall figure stepped into the door.

"Captain, why are you here? How is your injury?" The players immediately got up and stepped forward to greet him.Of course, the comer is Olajuwon, the superstar with the highest status in their minds.

Olajuwon waved his hand to stop the movement of the crowd, and said: "We have lost many games, and of course we can lose, but I don't want to see you lose like this. Chauncey, are you scared by Payton's trash talk?"

"Of course not!" Billups widened his eyes.

"When I'm not around, you're the oldest big brother on the team, and you're going to lead them forward. Go beat Payton!"

Billups nodded emphatically.

***
The game was over, and Billups sat down on the floor, seemingly exhausted.He scored 12+4+4 in the fourth quarter, completely suppressing the old Payton.McGrady was also fully fired under his organization, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Payton walked up to Billups, gasped and said to him: "You will definitely become a first-line point guard in the league. You are really good."

Billups smiled at him.A few months ago, he wasn't even a star, and his home team wasn't even willing to secure him a starting spot.And now, one of the two major point guards in the league (the other is Jason Kidd) has recognized him and recognized him as an opponent of the same level.At this moment, winning or losing is no longer important. He felt that he had found himself and his dream of basketball.

At 107:105, the Rockets narrowly lost to the Sonics by 2 points, their first loss of the season.

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(End of this chapter)