NBA: The man who passed the ball to Yao Ming

Tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Rockets will host the New Jersey Nets.

So after Zhang Jinshui hung up the video, he took the time to wash up, turned his phone to silent, turned off the lights and went to bed to get ready for sleep.

Although the Rockets looked down on the Nets during training and chatting in the afternoon, in fact, the team's paper lineup is very strong.

The core of the team is Jason Kidd, who led the Nets to the Finals twice in 02 and 03.

He has won the league assists leader 5 times, was selected to the first defensive team 5 times, and was selected to the second defensive team 2 times.

Although the limelight in the past two years has been somewhat overshadowed by Steve Nash, he is definitely one of the three or four strongest point guards in the league.

In addition, the Nets also have the former leader of the Raptors, the league's top shooting guard UFO Carter who has averaged 25+5+5 per game for many years, and the small forward who was trained by the Nets and averaged 22 points and 7 rebounds per game last season. Richard Jefferson.

The troika composed of these three players is definitely the most luxurious backcourt in the league.

However, there is a reason why the Rockets don't look down on the Nets.

Because the Nets only equipped the troika with two engineer-type insiders.

This kind of top-heavy lineup can usually easily take away the game with the powerful attack power of the troika when playing a big team.

But if you play against a strong team, especially a team like the Rockets, which has super strong points both inside and outside, there is generally no room for fighting back.

Not only the soldiers of the Rockets, but many expert media also predicted before the game that the Rockets will easily win the game.

However, Zhang Jinshui still attaches great importance to this game. In addition to the system task, this game will also be the first time he faces a Hall of Fame point guard at his peak.

In fact, in the last life, Zhang Jinshui especially admired Kidd.

In addition to the commendable ability to command the game and superb passing, Kidd's defense is also recognized as tough.

In the finals in 2011 in the previous life, this 1-meter-tall point guard, at the age of 93, even defended against the young emperor James at his peak, which can be called a god-level performance.

Zhang Jinshui can't wait to wrestle with this legendary defender on the court.

The next day, it was less than two o'clock in the afternoon local time in Houston, and the Toyota Center was already crowded with people.

The stands were full of fans wearing red Rockets jerseys. In addition to Tracy McGrady's No. 1 and Yao Ming's No. 11, there were many more fans wearing Zhang Jinshui's No. 86 jersey. Together, they turned the entire arena into a Red ocean.

For games like this one held on weekday afternoons, the attendance rate of the Toyota Center was at most [-]%.

But the Rockets' four-game winning streak at the beginning of the season, as well as the lore of the Heat in the last epic matchup, made Houston fans' enthusiasm for the team reach an unprecedented height.

Tickets for today's game were emptied early in the morning, and many fans who thought they could buy tickets when they came over were all in vain, so they could only hold up a cardboard outside the Toyota Center to buy tickets at a high price.

At exactly 02:30 in the afternoon, Zhang Jinshui and other Rockets soldiers rushed out of the player channel led by Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

In the stands of the Toyota Center, warm cheers erupted immediately.

Yao Mai and Zhang Jinshui cordially high-fived the fans on both sides of the aisle, and waved to the fans in the stands.

Today, the faces of all Rockets players are filled with confident and calm smiles.

Biting the hard bone of the Heat in the last game not only gave the Rockets fans a good start at home, but also brought the temperament and confidence of the entire Rockets to a new level.

During the warm-up, Zhang Jinshui stretched on the sidelines while looking around the sidelines, and easily found Zi Chunlin next to the Rockets bench.

Dawson, the old boy, helped him save more and more tickets.

After greeting Zi Chunlin from a distance, Zhang Jinshui found Zhao Min'er in the media area, waved to him, and made a cheering gesture.

Zhang Jinshui suddenly remembered that Zhao Min'er said that he would move to his house soon, but there seemed to be no movement in the past two days.

After the game is over, I have to ask her.

Zhang Jinshui finished thinking in his heart, shook his head, and cleared all these distracting thoughts from his mind. Next, Zhang Jinshui will put all his energy on the game.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, as the referee threw the ball high into the air in the middle circle, the game between the Rockets and the Nets officially began.

The starting lineup sent by the Rockets today is the same as the previous game. Zhang Jinshui continues to replace Alstom in the point guard position. I believe this situation will become the norm in the future.

The Nets' main lineup is center Nenad Krstic, power forward Jason Collins, small forward Richardson Jefferson, shooting guard Carter and point guard Kidd.

The Rockets took the lead in obtaining the ball. According to Van Gundy's pre-match deployment, Zhang Jinshui began to continuously look for Yao Ming inside.

Krstic first defended against Yao Ming, but Zhang Jinshui handled the lobs well, successfully lobbing the ball to Yao Ming three times in a row.

Yao Ming lived up to expectations, and after receiving the ball three times, he went inside to complete the offense and helped the Rockets gain a 6-0 opening advantage as soon as he came up.

Next, the Nets were forced to start double-teaming, although it was Carter, not Kidd, who helped double-team Yao.

But Derek Anderson will immediately run over to help Zhang Jinshui sit in the open pick-and-roll after being emptied.

The liberated Zhang Jinshui first received Yao Ming's point and assisted McGrady to complete a breakthrough layup. Then, taking advantage of the opponent's internal chaos, he broke into the three-second zone and passed back to Yao Ming to complete a dunk.

When the game progressed to the 5th minute, he even moved to the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer after receiving a point from Yao Ming, helping the Rockets make a perfect 15-2 start.

The head coach of the Nets had to call the first timeout of the game.

After leaving the field, Van Gundy praised the performance of the players loudly.

Especially Yao Ming, it can be said that today the Rockets relied on Yao Ming to revitalize the offense of the entire team and gave the Nets a big blow.

"This game is going well, McGrady, you just stay on the court to rest and prepare to take over the game in the second quarter.

Yao Ming, you can consider doing a support and pick-and-roll for Zhang Jinshui, so as to enrich the sense of offense. . "

After Van Gundy finished laying out his tactics, the whistle for the end of the timeout also sounded.

Van Gundy clapped his hands vigorously and said, "Come on everyone, the game has just begun, don't take it lightly."

The two teams returned to the field and the game continued.

Although the Nets were tortured by Yao Ming, after all, they won five consecutive victories in the opening season and ranked second in the Eastern Conference. They must still have strength.

After re-entering the offense, the Nets no longer let the troika play loose, but handed over the ball to Kidd for control, and launched a counterattack against the Rockets.

And Zhang Jinshui finally had the opportunity to experience the style of the legendary defender Kidd's passing group.