Zhiba NBA

Chapter 68 (67) Massacre
On May 5, the Rockets' home game against the Lakers at Tianwangshan started.The two sides each adjusted a starter. The Lakers were forced to play Medvedenko, and the Rockets also replaced a big man with peace of mind. Wallace and Turkoglu formed the starting lineup.Malone's absence has indeed had a greater impact on the Lakers. If it weren't for Malone's dominant performance in Game 14, the Rockets would probably have a 3-1 lead and hold the match point.

Zen master was very depressed inside, but he knew that he had to pretend to be calm to appease the players, so the surface was calm as usual.He said, "Shaq's main attack in the first quarter was mainly Yao Ming. He played too politely in the previous few games, so let's kill him today. If the Rockets double-team Shaq on the zone defense, they must actively move outside and kill the Rockets with three-pointers."

The Lakers players listened carefully, and O'Neal nodded.

Payton, a seasoned veteran with a very high golf quotient, quickly understood what the Zen master meant.After losing Malone's strong point, they can only rely on O'Neal's ace to fight and strive to establish an advantage in the first quarter.If the game is basically even, the Lakers' bench is not as good as the opponent's, and the spirit is not as good as the opponent's, and they are likely to collapse.

Tomjanovich was high-spirited. Contrary to Jackson, he deployed outside-oriented tactics.On the defensive end, the tall small forward Turkoglu will face the Lakers' expected starting short power forward Medvedenko, and the defensive strength Wallace will face Kobe.At this time, Tang Shuai believed that the initiative of this series was firmly in his hands.

According to the tactical arrangement before the game, the Lakers handed over the first attack to O'Neal, and O'Neal was blocked by Yao Ming as soon as he made a strong shot.Payton picked up the floor ball and immediately distributed it to Kobe, who pulled up and missed a three-pointer.McGrady grabs the rebound.

Billups assisted McGrady with a jumper to take the lead 0:2.

Fox lobbed the ball to O'Neal, but the pass was too high under the interference of Dayao. O'Neal failed to receive it, and saw that the pass error was about to go out of bounds.Kobe desperately jumped up in the air to get the ball out of bounds, but he lost his balance and his foot would go out of bounds when he landed.

Billups got the ball and quickly switched between offense and defense. Facing Payton who was back on defense, he made a shooting fake, shook Payton to collect the ball and threw the ball again.Injection, 0:5.

Kobe's strong play attracted two double-teams and then gave O'Neal a small lob. This time O'Neal got the ball and forced it up. Yao Ming raised his arms to interfere, but the referee whistled when he hit the iron.Yao Ming made a defensive foul.

Dayao looked at the referee with an innocent face, the ball could be blown or not.O'Neal made 2 of 1 free throws to open the game for the Lakers.

Zen master loudly directed the Lakers players to actively defend. It seems that he was very dissatisfied with Payton's performance when he was hit by a three-pointer.Payton also knew his shame and was brave. The guard who won the best defensive player was nicknamed "Glove" and was known for his defense when he was young.He really forced Billups to be serious.

Seeing that Chauncey was cornered three or four meters away from the three-point line, Yao immediately dropped O'Neal and ran out to cover.Billups took advantage of Yao Ming's huge body and easily rushed over, making a successful mid-range shot, 1:7.

"This goal should be mainly attributed to Yao Ming's excellent awareness!" Doug Rivers, a guest on ABC's live broadcast who was hired as the Celtics coach for the next season just half a month ago, commented: "Although Billups' shooting is also very good, but Yao Ming's screen is even more outstanding."In the future, he achieved good results in the Celtics and was well known to Chinese fans.

O'Neal's singles attracted Turkoglu's help defense, and O'Neal immediately distributed it to the open Medvedenko, but unfortunately he missed the shot.And Billups hit a jumper again, 1:9.Jackson got up and wanted to call a timeout, but he hesitated and sat down again.

The Lakers finally hit the game's first sports goal by Kobe's fadeaway jumper, but Turkoglu immediately returned a three-pointer with 3:12.Zen Master finally asked for a timeout.

At this time, McGrady's killer qualities were undoubtedly revealed. On the first ball after the timeout, he waited for an opportunity to steal Kobe's pass, and directly staged a slam dunk.

Bryant catches the ball at 45 degrees on the left wing and takes the ball to the baseline with his left hand.Wallace pressed hard and refused to give in. Kobe made an emergency stop for a jumper. Due to inertia, his body was still tilting to the side. Wallace was in place but failed to block the shot. The ball scored 5:14.

Yuan Fei nodded secretly, Wallace defended well.For defending a superstar of Kobe's level, it is unrealistic for him not to score.A good defense is to force him to make more difficult and uncomfortable shots, and the rest depends on Kobe's touch.And Kobe did not reach his technical peak during this period. He is not the scoring maniac who can do whatever he wants in the face of high-pressure defense.

Sure enough, Kobe hit three irons in a row.The Lakers only relied on O'Neal's inside offense to support them, while the Rockets blossomed more, leading by 13 points in the first quarter, and widened the point difference to 21 points at the end of the first half.

In the fourth quarter, when Kobe used a high position to hold the ball with his back, turn left with his right foot, step forward with his right foot, then turn with his pivot foot and lean back, the Zen master sighed deeply.Wallace's comeback changed the series, and it was his successful defense of Bryant that completely overwhelmed the Lakers.

Of course the goal was missed, and Bosh grabbed the rebound.Reed scored another three-pointer to crush the Lakers players' belief in winning.

The Lakers finally replaced the OK duo, and the game officially entered garbage time.The Rockets fans on the sidelines began to celebrate in advance when they saw this substitution.

82:109，一场27分的大屠杀，火箭兵不血刃拿下了天王山之战。华莱士贡献6+7+2，数据平平，却在防守端完全遏制了科比。科比24投8中仅得20分。奥尼尔这场一扫颓势露出了第一中锋的峥嵘砍下26+15，但无法阻止湖人的兵败如山倒。

At this time, the top four in the Eastern Conference also entered the battle of Tianwangshan. The Pacers, Heat, Nets and Pistons all won their first two home games in this round, and each committed suicide to a tie.In the match against the Rockets on the same day, the Nets finally broke this round of the undefeated Eastern Conference team at home.They fought hard to tie the Palace of Auburn Hills 127-120 in three overtimes.Among the Pistons' starting five, only Bodi Loga made it to the end. The other four were sent off for six fouls, and the Nets also sent off Kenyon Martin and four others.The old overlord in the East, the Nets, took a 5-6 lead.

次日的比赛中，步行者在前三节建立了18分的巨大优势最终拿下了天王山，热火新秀韦德展示出了卓越的组织能力拿下16+3+10。而森林狼队则依靠斯普瑞维尔的34+7+6力克国王，也取得了赛点。

The four semi-finals finally came to the battle of life and death.

(End of this chapter)