NBA: The man who passed the ball to Yao Ming

自从在98-99的缩小赛季以31胜19负的成绩获得东部第四，并在东部半决赛中被纽约尼克斯横扫之后，老鹰队已经连续6个赛季没有进入季后赛了。

In the last season, they were at the bottom of the entire league with a record of 13 wins and 69 losses.

Speaking of which, the Eagles and the current Rockets still have a lot to do with each other.

Now Yao Ming's substitute, Uncle Mu, spent the most peak four and a half seasons of his career in Atlanta. In those four and a half seasons, he was selected to the All-Star five times in a row and won the league's best defensive player three times.

The opponent that the Eagles lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals 6 years ago was the Knicks, who were about to perform the miracle of the Black 8, and achieved the most brilliant and legendary chapters in the careers of Madman Sprewell and Van Gundy.

So far this season, the Eagles have a record of 3 wins and 10 losses and continue to be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

However, after signing the future "Eagle King" Joe Johnson this offseason, coupled with the assistance of El Harrington, who can average 18 points and 7 rebounds per game and is in his prime, the Eagles actually already have The confidence to hit the playoffs.

Last week, they even forced the Spurs to play two consecutive overtimes in Atlanta, almost breaking the Spurs' virginity, which is still undefeated so far this season.

Such a team with combat effectiveness and not too strong is suitable as an opponent for the Rockets who are in the running-in period and need to continuously increase their confidence through victory.

Last night, I went to the best western restaurant in Houston and slaughtered McGrady for a meal, and then happily gathered in the private room of the restaurant until 10:6 in the evening before reluctantly saying goodbye to the Rockets players. At [-]:[-] tonight The semis gathered again in the home team locker room at the Toyota Center.

After changing into the Rockets jersey, McGrady stood up, clapped his hands vigorously, and shouted: "Brothers, what is our goal for today's game?"

"Punch in three quarters." All the rocket soldiers shouted in unison.

McGrady turned his head, looked at the birdman Anderson, and asked loudly: "Who bragged yesterday that he must complete at least one alley-oop today and treat the other party to a hot pot."

"Me!" Birdman Anderson yelled.

McGrady turned his head, looked at Sean Battier, and asked loudly: "Yesterday, who said that the opponent's number one star, Joe Johnson, will be limited to 20 points today?"

"Me!" Sean Battier yelled.

McGrady finally turned his head, looked at JR Smith, and said: "JR, although you refused to express your opinion yesterday, I will arrange tasks for you now, and you must play during playing time to ensure that every shot is reasonable. Is there any problem? ?”

"No problem." JR Smith, who never showed his emotions, yelled loudly.

All the Rocket soldiers stood up, raised their right hands, formed a circle, and shouted "Come on! Come on! Come on!" Leading by Yao Ming, they rushed out of the locker room together.

At 7:[-] p.m. local time in Houston, the referee tossed the ball high into the air to the cheers of a packed Toyota Center.

The Rockets' home game against the Eagles has officially begun.

The Rockets got the ball first, Zhang Jinshui dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, and passed the ball directly to Yao Ming who took the position in the three-second zone on the right.

He leaned against the opponent's center Zaza Pachulia, first dribbled the ball to the top of the opponent, took advantage of the trend and made a jumper, and easily hit a mid-range shot, helping the Rockets get a 2-0 start.

At this time, Zaza Pachulia had just entered the league for more than two years. He was still a young man with dreams, and he still tried to defend Yao Ming within the rules.

However, the gap between the two sides was too great. After another layup by Yao Ming with a cross step into the interior, Zaza Pachulia had to send Yao Ming to the free throw line with a foul, but Yao Ming made a hit from the free throw line. The rate also made the Eagles center desperate.

While the offense is smooth, the Rockets' defense is also quite tough.

In the uniform "defensive" shouts of the Rockets fans at the scene, including Yao Ming and McGrady, every player in the Rockets devoted themselves to defense, putting great pressure on the Eagles.

Especially the new aid Sean Battier, who is highly expected by the Rockets fans, he and McGrady switched defensive positions to defend the Eagles' offensive arrow Joe Johnson.

Under Sean Battier's classic blindfold defense, Joe John missed two mid-range shots and tried to break into the inside line once, but was also slowed down by Sean Battier. In the end, he was severely rewarded by Yao Ming in the paint.

In the first 5 minutes of the first quarter, the Rockets only allowed the Eagles to score 5 points, while their own side, driven by the two cores of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, scored 16 points and played a perfect start of 16 to 5. .

What is more perfect than this start is the state of the Rockets soldiers in the process.

Players on and off the field gave their applause and cheers unsparingly after each teammate's successful offense and defense, demonstrating the wonderful team atmosphere.

After that, according to the Rockets' customary game rhythm, Van Gundy waved his hand and replaced Tracy McGrady with JR Smith.

In the first half of the game, Zhang Jinshui, who kept giving offensive opportunities to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady without even making a single shot, finally took over the banner of the Rockets' offense.

After all, the Eagles guard who is facing him is Tyronn Lue, who is only 1 meters tall. Zhang Jinshui has a huge advantage in the matchup, whether it is in size or personal ability. It can even be said that in this game, the Rockets are against One of the most advantageous points for the Eagles.

Zhang Jinshui first brought the ball into the frontcourt, raised his hand and pretended to ask Yao Ming to come forward to help him with the pick-and-roll, but at the moment Tyronn Lue turned sideways to deal with the pick-and-roll, he accelerated and rushed into the inside line, attracting Zazapa After Chulia's defense, Yao Ming assisted Yao Ming with a basket-hanging dunk on the inside.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Jinshui took the ball to the top of the arc, leaped high in front of the limited-height Tyronn Lue, and shot a three-pointer. His 90-point three-pointer ability allowed the basketball to draw in the air Out of a wonderful arc, and finally firmly hollow into the net.

Tai Lue's defense is really a bit vulnerable in front of Zhang Jinshui.

And his offensive organization, under the pressure of Zhang Jinshui [following like a shadow], is also somewhat hindered, with a 4% three-point shooting rate, there is no chance to play at all.

Hawks head coach Mike Woodson had to replace Tyronn Lue early in the eighth minute of the first quarter and put on backup guard Salim Stoudemire.

Salim Stoudemire and Zhang Jinshui are both rookies this year. He was selected by the Hawks with the No. 2 pick in the second round. He is highly valued by Mike Woodson. Players who played more than 1 minutes.

However, his offensive and defensive abilities are not worth mentioning in front of Zhang Jinshui.

Especially in the 9th minute of the first quarter, Van Gundy replaced Yao Ming and Charl Hayes with Uncle Mu and Birdman Anderson, and the Rockets entered the time when Zhang Jinshui single-core led the team.

He called Birdman Anderson's pick-and-roll consecutively, first assisted the former to complete a powerful alley-oop, and then after the Eagles shrunk the inside defense, he continued to distribute the ball to Sean Battier standing in the corners on both sides and JR Smith.

Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer, and JR Smith slid past the defender, smacked inside, and gave the Toyota Center fans his first impression with a one-handed snap.

During this period of time, every attack of the Rockets came from the initiation of Zhang Jinshui. He also played hard in the second half with 0 points and 1 assist in the first half of the quarter, scoring 5 points and 5 assists in one fell swoop, helping the Rockets to win the first half of the quarter. 32 to 10 points led the Eagles by 22 points.

This first quarter is definitely the smoothest first quarter the Rockets have played since the start of the season.

In the stands of the Toyota Center, the Rockets fans had already taken off happily. Many male fans who were in high spirits went to the store next to the aisle to buy beer. Celebrate with their hearty performance in the first quarter.

After Zhang Jinshui and his teammates returned to the bench, Van Gundy applauded happily and said loudly: "Players, your performance in the first quarter was really great, but this is only one game. There are still 36 minutes of the game, anything can happen, you must not be careless, you must continue the fiery state of the first quarter."

As far as the performance in the first quarter is concerned, the Rockets' performance is absolutely devastating.

However, this does not mean that the Rockets' performance has reached 100 points. After all, their opponents have been beaten by 3 wins and 10 losses in the season, and they are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Their too weak strength, although it can make the Rockets play with momentum and confidence, but at the same time it will also paralyze the Rockets players and make them ignore their existing problems.

Fortunately, Van Gundy is a very strict coach. After he finished talking with the Rockets, he went to JR Smith and Birdman Anderson alone, and began to communicate with them one by one about some minor flaws in the first quarter. up.

However, the rest time between festivals was still too short, and after a while, the whistle for the end of the rest time sounded.

Van Gundy waved his hand, and McGrady took Sprewell, Alston, Birdman Anderson and Uncle Mu to the field together.

In the first quarter, because the head coach of the Eagles kept Joe Johnson on the court, and Sean Battier successfully restrained Joe Johnson, Van Gundy kept putting Sprewell on the court. On the bench, keep Battier on the floor and limit Joe Johnson.

The madman Sprewell watched the fiery performance of his teammates on the sidelines and couldn't hold back.

Now that he finally stepped onto the court, he immediately bluffed: "McGrady, I can't help it anymore, I'm going to explode, you will help me with all your strength!"

McGrady immediately laughed loudly: "Okay, no problem!"

With the referee's whistle, the second quarter of the game officially began.

After the Eagles' backup guard brought the ball to the frontcourt, he handed the ball to small forward Smith, who was about to drive the ball into the interior, when the old demon Sprewell killed him from the side like a ghost.

He didn't need McGrady to help him at all, and copied Smith's ball directly within his control range.

Because the ball is still a little far away from him, it is not too often to dribble directly. Sprewell patted the ball in front of McGrady, and then rushed directly to the Hawks' half court.

After McGrady took the ball, he shook Smith's outstretched long arm and threw the ball directly into the Eagles' three-point line.

The high-speed sprinting Sprewell, like a runaway wild horse, threw off all the Eagles' pursuit, grabbed the basketball within the three-point line, took off in two steps, and slammed the ball into the basket.

After the ball was scored, Sprewell still didn't feel satisfied, and grabbed the basket and swayed back and forth, shaking the entire basket creaking.

In the stands of the Toyota Center, cheers like a tsunami sounded immediately.

But at this time, the madman saw the referee put the whistle into his mouth, jumped to the ground, and bowed to the referee for mercy.

In the NBA rules, if the time for pulling the basket with both hands after a dunk exceeds 1 second, it can be whistled for a technical foul.

Just now the madman was only focused on wreaking havoc on the opponent's basket, but in fact he had already hung up for this time.

Fortunately, the referee of this game is a judge with sharp eyesight. He saw the warm atmosphere on the scene, and the madman Sprewell's posture of begging for mercy was really well-behaved, so he finally chose to turn a blind eye. With one eye, he put down the whistle.

At this time, the Rockets have already led the Eagles by 34 points 10 to 10, and the madman's counterattack after this stage actually blew the prelude to his personal offense.

Next, like a tiger coming out of the cage, Sprewell once again received a point from McGrady on the offensive end and hit a three-pointer, helping the Rockets widen the point difference on the court to as many as 27 points.

And Tracy McGrady quickly shouted at each other on the offensive end with the madman. First, he announced his unwillingness to be lonely with a dry pull, and then entered the inside of the Eagles, carrying Smith's defense, and completed a one-handed Batch buckle.

44 to 14, the Rockets' advantage once reached as much as 30 points.

However, after the leading points were large enough, the Rockets' substitutes with madmen began to become relatively rough on the defensive end, and some points were also scored by the opponent.

In the 6th minute of the second quarter, when Van Gundy sent Yao Ming and Zhang Jinshui to the field, the Rockets led the Hawks by 52 points 27 to 25, still firmly grasping the rhythm of the game.

And at this time, with the combination of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and Zhang Jinshui, the Eagles will naturally be unable to make any waves.