unfinished glory

Chapter 66 Three Attacks on Rockets ([-])

On February 2, the first game after the All-Star Game was against the Rockets.

There is no need for Popovich to mobilize more, the players are gearing up and ready to fight.The Spurs lost in the previous two away games, and this time they returned to the home team with full confidence.

But at the beginning, the Rockets gave the Spurs a head-on blow, and Yao Ming showed his might in the first half.He first caused Nesterovic's shooting foul in the first round of offense and scored a 2+1.

Then after the Spurs took the lead, they received a pass from McGrady and David Wesley, made two consecutive shots, and overtook the Spurs by two points.

After turning back and running for two rounds, McGrady missed a three-pointer. Yao Ming pushed Nesterovic away and made a dunk, which caused the latter's foul again and made an additional penalty.

In this way, in less than 6 minutes, Yao Ming made four of four shots and four of four free throws, scoring 12 points and leading the team to 18:11, leading the Spurs by 7 points.

Not only did he perform well on offense, but he also made great achievements on the defensive end, completing a block and a steal.More importantly, it caused two fouls by Nesterovic, forcing the Spurs to switch defenses.

Popovich didn't want to use Duncan to make an exchange too early, because the Rockets still had a McGrady who didn't open, so they had to keep a hole card to deal with it.

He first replaced Tony Masenberg to defend Yao Ming, but he was hit twice in a row, and the effect was too poor.Malik Rose went on defense again, and quickly lost a shooting foul.

Fortunately, the time was up, and after 9 minutes in the first quarter, Yao Ming took a rest.But the score on the field was already 28:17.The Spurs were at home and lost 11 points before the end of a quarter.

The cheering of the fans at the scene was not so loud, and the morale of the Spurs was a bit low.

Popovich would feel like vomiting blood. The Rockets only had two stars. How could the Spurs take turns?

This time McGrady is still on the court, maybe something like this will come, and the Spurs will really be over.

Li Chongxiao was entrusted with a heavy responsibility before he entered the court, and Popovich asked him to do his best to prevent McGrady from breaking out, even if he paid for all the fouls.If Bowen plays, there may be other explanations, but the young people are tender-skinned, and Popovich will not ask for anything.

But McGrady didn't think about offense at all. He turned into a point guard and constantly mobilized his teammates. In 3 minutes, he scored three assists. Juwan Howard and David Wesley scored consecutively.

Li Chongxiao's personal offense against the opponent's players was okay, but he was a little helpless against the pass, so the Rockets scored another 8:6.

At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets scored 36 points at the Spurs' home court, leaving the opponent with only 23 points.

The Spurs felt a little stunned.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Popovich took Duncan up at the beginning of the second quarter, ready to chase points, or else with a point difference of more than ten points, it would be uncomfortable to wait for Yao Ming to come back.

Duncan came up and succeeded in singles against Mutombo, narrowing the point difference by two points.But McGrady suddenly hit a three-pointer with a pull-up, and the score increased instead.

Li Chongxiao's defense was in place, but it didn't work.Back in the offensive half, he caught the ball at the top of the key and ran a pick-and-roll with Duncan.

According to the tactics, the ball should be Duncan walking inside, and then catching the ball to form a one-on-one.But McGrady was a little lazy defensively. After delaying Duncan, he didn't switch back to defend Li Chongxiao in time after Mutombo returned.

After the baptism of the rookie game and the three-point contest, Li Chongxiao's shooting confidence became stronger. He received a pass from Duncan and it was a three-pointer. McGrady just waved his hand and watched the ball fall into the basket.

The Rockets attacked, and the formation hadn't been set up yet. McGrady made another attempt, but this time Li Chongxiao was prepared and interfered a little. McGrady adjusted the arc a little and the ball missed.

Duncan got the rebound, but no fast break opportunities.Returning to the offensive half, he repeated the same trick and continued the style of play from the previous round.

This time McGrady switched, and after being blocked, he simply defended Duncan and let Mutombo defend Li Chongxiao.But after all, Mutombo was sent purely inside. After Li Chongxiao passed the pass to Duncan, he habitually shrunk in, leaving Li Chongxiao another shooting space.

Another three-pointer, the point difference came within ten.

Little Van Gundy held back and didn't call a timeout, but just gestured on the sidelines.McGrady also lived up to expectations, broke through the ball, and assisted Joan Barry to hit a two-pointer.

Duncan and Li Chongxiao's third pick-and-roll, this time Duncan delayed McGrady for a while, and immediately cut inside, Li Chongxiao passed the ball with a single hit.

Duncan turned around and brought the ball inside, pressing it outside the reasonable collision zone.McGrady hurried over to double-team, but Duncan made a trick. He made a back pass and gave the ball to Li Chongxiao at the top of the arc.

The third three points!
With a score of 34:41, the Spurs once again narrowed the point difference to less than ten points, and scored four consecutive rounds, with the same tactic for three consecutive rounds.

The Rockets timed out, McGrady rejected Van Gundy Jr.'s suggestion to replace him for a rest, and appeared with Yao Ming.

But Yao Ming's appearance didn't help the Rockets stabilize the situation. He didn't touch the ball in the three rounds of offense.McGrady played with anger and attacked for three consecutive rounds.

But his singles move has long been seen through by Popovich. Bowen played with Li Chongxiao to guard against deadlocks, and Duncan made up for the gaps in the interior.McGrady's two shots and a layup were blocked, and the Spurs took the opportunity to chase the point difference to one point.

Yao Ming finally received the ball in the fourth round, and he lived up to expectations and succeeded in singles against Duncan.But they missed someone on the defensive end. This time McGrady caught Li Chongxiao, but Bowen hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner.

The two sides tied 43:43.Juwan Howard missed the next round, but Parker made a layup and Tracy McGrady fouled on the block.

The Rockets called a timeout again, and McGrady was so angry that he slammed the towel on the floor.The assistant coach patiently persuaded him, and his face eased.

Jr. Van Gundy arranged tactics on the sidelines. This time, he firmly demanded that Yao Ming be the core to complete the next three attacks.

Yao Ming's touch today is really good, he hit two goals in three rounds, even if Duncan came to defend him, he couldn't defend him.

But in the same way, Yao Ming couldn't guard Duncan, who made one of two shots and handed Malik Rose an assist at the basket.In this way, the Spurs still lead by three points.

And McGrady will let go of the idea of ​​​​attacking and put his mind on defense, showing the skills he was famous for back then.Of course, Li Chongxiao can't enjoy this kind of treatment, Ginobili is the focus of McGrady's marking.

In the next few offensive rounds, Li Chongxiao wanted to continue his lead with Duncan, but the Rockets were already prepared. When they encountered a pick-and-roll, they switched defenses very quickly.

The game was stalemate like this, Yao Ming made a goal, the Spurs made a goal, at the end of halftime, the Spurs led by 56 points 53:[-].

(End of this chapter)