Zhiba NBA

Chapter 49 (48) Hip tension

On the 26th, the Rockets, who had just bloodbathed the Lakers, moved to Denver.Denver is on a high plateau and playing back-to-back games, and other teams must be complaining about this terrible schedule.

But the Rockets are really not afraid of this, why?The bench is deep!

The elderly Olajuwon and McGrady, Okur, and Turkoglu, who played more in the previous game, raised their exemption cards.This allowed the long-lost substitutes Battelle and Joe Johnson to get playing time.Facing the old master, Battelle sighed again.

The Nuggets showed a strong combat effectiveness in this game.The two new cores performed well. Anthony played 37+7 at the superstar level, and Andrew Miller also scored 22+4+7.But the inside line is still dominated by Yao Ming, who contributed 16+10+3, completely suppressing the Nuggets twin towers, and Cambinene only had 8 points and 15 rebounds in total.Nene was also dunked by Battelle head-on, losing all face.

比卢普斯打米勒也是特别来电，加上今天麦迪休战，昌西球权在握打出了14+6+10的不错数据。但最终决定胜负是乔.约翰逊，他在比赛最后8秒里命中了一个关键的准绝杀球，全场贡献了赛季新高的22分（其生涯最高则是转会火箭前2次得到23分，其中02年2月22日对战公牛时还是新秀的乔砍下了23+10+6，一时被捧为媒体焦点）。火箭96:95客场惊险取胜。

"Rudy, the NBA sent me a private warning." Boss Alexander said on the phone.

"Oh? About what?"

"Warning us not to rotate stars too much, after all, stars are the guarantee of game attendance."

"But didn't we win the game? As long as we continue to win, our Rockets' subs can beat the main players of other teams, so what else can the league say?" Lao Tang disagreed: "Just today Jefferson and Reid complained to me about the lack of playing time! Our subs are very young and need playing time to develop!"

"Since you insist on this, Rudy, I believe you!" Alexander also strengthened his confidence.

Facts have proved that old fritters like Tang Shuai can make mistakes.

On the 29th, the Rockets returned to their home court to face the underdog Supersonics with a winning percentage of less than 50%. Tang Shuai took turns to rest Yao Ming and Billups.

最终是雷.阿伦的三分绝杀带走了胜利。阿伦22投10中得到了31分，巴里、刘易斯、拉德马诺维奇也纷纷外线开火，这四个人就为超音速命中了15记三分球。麦迪得到了33+8+11的准三双，赢了数据输了球。

After losing the ball, the NBA naturally has a reason to take care of it.The league officials issued a heavy fine of US$10 to Tomjanovich, and President Stern unceremoniously labeled the Rockets as "passive sabotage" at the press conference.

But having said that, the league's punishment is also justifiable.For a leading team like the Rockets to take a break, it doesn't affect the ratings too much.If the Clippers, Magic, and Bulls at the bottom of the list follow suit (with the intention of winning the No. 2012 pick), and the teams are already rotten and their stars are rested, their market will be ruined. After all, the NBA is a commercial league, and the league obviously doesn't want its influence to decline (in 25, Popovich's Spurs rested four main players in the focus game against the Heat, and then the league imposed a heavy fine of [-] on Popovich).

12月31日，03年的最后一天，火箭主场迎战76人队。76人核心球星艾弗森因伤缺阵，实力无法和火箭媲美。尽管肯尼.托马斯竭尽全力砍下了15+12，但老队友姚明在他头上拿下了21分。麦迪三节砍下27分，72：97火箭轻取对手。

In this way, the Rockets with 24 wins and 7 losses maintained their position as the league leader at the end of 03.

The next two games in the first two games of the new year were uneventful. The Rockets defeated the visiting Jazz and Warriors by 21 points and 23 points at home.

Just when the league officials thought that this dishonest Rockets team was finally willing to play with peace of mind, something that made them dumbfounded happened.

On January 2004 and 1, 7, the Rockets will go to the Pistons and Knicks in an away game, but McGrady and Olajuwon simply did not go with the team.An explanation was not given until the team announced the list of players for the Pistons World War I-Olajuwon had a back strain and Tracy McGrady had a tight hip.

Olajuwon is nearly 41 years old. He is a rare old birthday star in NBA history. It is normal for him to truce (Historically, Olajuwon failed to complete this three-year contract. He announced his retirement in November 2002 due to a back injury. In the entire history of the NBA, there are only a few people who are over 11 years old. Jabbar, Malone, Stockton, Parish, Willis, etc.).But what the hell is this hip tightness on Maddie?Maddie is not gay!

Facing the reporter’s question, the Rockets gave a very official and decent answer——McGrady is an important core of the Rockets. The team attaches great importance to his physical condition, and there should be no hidden danger of injury. Even the slightest muscle soreness must be checked carefully before he can play the game.

Without Tracy McGrady, the Rockets failed to overcome the Pistons' iron wall, and they lost 18 points to the Palace of Auburn Hills.But the next day they regained the feeling of a strong team. The small lineup was invincible and played against the Knicks, who had just made a big deal and were still in the running-in period.Knicks new aid Marbury only scored 12 points on 3 of 6 shots.The Rockets were in full bloom, Billups, Yao Ming, Wallace, Jefferson, Reed, Wang Zhizhi, and Bosh scored in double figures, and the Rockets beat the Knicks 7:118.

The Rockets' biggest rival, the Lakers, fell behind. In the game on January 1, O'Neal strained his right leg muscle and left the field directly. After diagnosis, he is expected to be absent for three weeks. Half of the F2 combination was missing, causing the Lakers to lose to the Supersonics, Clippers, Timberwolves and Nuggets successively. They suffered a 4-game losing streak, and their record was overtaken by the Kings and Timberwolves.On the same day that the Rockets lost to the Pistons and the Lakers lost to the Nuggets, the Kings unexpectedly lost to the Sonics.Ray Allen led the team to defeat the top three in the Western Conference, and they were in the limelight for a while.

It wasn't until the home game against the Eagles on the 9th that the Lakers regained their glory.Under the leadership of the only remaining two giants, Kobe Payton, they beat the underdog Eagles with 46 points, ending the losing streak.

The Rockets took the opportunity to start the winning streak.

On the 11th at home against the Celtics, Tracy McGrady, who had rested for two away trips, came out of the cage like a hungry tiger, scoring 41+8+6, and the Rockets narrowly beat their opponents by 4 points.

On the 13th, the Wizards were overthrown in an away game, and Yao Ming's 21+10 should be recorded as the first achievement.

On the 14th, they played against the Celtics back-to-back. Tracy McGrady was extraordinarily energetic against Pierce and scored another 38 points. The Rockets won by 10 points.

On the 17th, they played against the Timberwolves again at home. This time, the bad feeling turned into a pack of wolves. Garnett and Sprewell repeatedly hit the iron. Although the old Cassel repeatedly made three-pointers to save the savior, the Rockets couldn't hold back the collective explosion. The Rockets beat their opponents 86:105.Garnett made 20 of 7 shots and only scored 19+7+6, Yao Ming 22+15, McGrady 32+8+7 to reproduce the superstar demeanor.

After the game, the media hyped up the performance of the two MVP favorites McGrady and Garnett, thinking that McGrady won through this direct dialogue and has already taken the lead in the future MVP selection.Not only did he win the data, the Rockets' 31-8 record is also far ahead of the 26-12 Wolves.

The NBA is very realistic, and winning is the last word.As long as you keep winning, who cares if the star has an occasional "hip tension"?

　Lei Yong's battle has reached the tiebreaker, and we can only give endless praise to this classic series that must be recorded in history.Whoever wins and loses is a hero!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)