Chapter 41: Anthony Injured
The Nuggets' third game started to fall apart from the first quarter.
Hunter, the newly appointed head coach, was sweating on his forehead. Everything he had planned came to nothing.
Today's Rockets are not very efficient, at least compared to the previous two games.
According to his vision, even if the tactics are not successful, based on the Nuggets' past firepower, there is a high chance of winning against the Rockets.
But he never expected that Anthony would transform into an iron god in the first quarter, shooting 1 of 10 from the field! With a 10% shooting rate, he would transform into the Rockets' sixth man.
He shot almost half of the team's shots and scored 2 points in a single quarter?
Immediately after the start of the second quarter, Anthony accidentally stepped on the foot of teammate Kenyon Martin while guarding Battier, spraining his left ankle.
Under such circumstances, it is simply adding insult to injury for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets home fans burst into boos.
Anthony sat on the field, covering his feet, silent, with a white towel draped over his head. At this time, he felt that there was nothing he could do to save himself.
In addition to being disappointed with the team, I am more dissatisfied that I am not strong enough.
Soon, Yao Ming also came off the court for the Rockets, with only 3 minutes left before the end of the first half.
At this time, because Anthony was injured and absent, the point difference between the Rockets and the Nuggets had reached 20 points, and the Rockets were far ahead.
Director Zhang of CCVV said with a smile on his face at this moment: "The second quarter is almost over, the Nuggets are 20 points behind, and the team's star Anthony is also injured. It seems that he will not play in this game."
"And for the Rockets to win this game and then sweep the Nuggets 4-0, the entire Rockets team will get a lot of rest time. They will be in perfect condition to face the finals."
A sweep, strictly speaking, a 4-0 sweep.
However, many times, in order to save face, most teams will play a little slack in the latter game and score 4:-1.
The so-called hello, my hello, and everyone’s hello.
However, Wang Jiexi did not have this awareness.
Although Yao Ming was replaced, the others were not replaced.
He just replaced Yao Ming with Hayes to guard the inside, and replaced Lowry with Brooks in the backcourt. He was determined not to let the Nuggets win even one game.
After Yao Ming of the Rockets left the game, Battier and Kyle Lowry were the team's leading scorers.
There is also Scola in the interior offense and Hayes in defense.
So even though Yao Ming is gone, this Rockets team is actually good at both offense and defense.
Wang Jiexi used two player upgrade experience cards for Lowry, and Lowry has absorbed them all.
So we can know how hard he works when training off the court. The intuitive performance is that he scored 20 points against the Nuggets in the last game.
Besides Yao Ming, he is the person with the highest score in the team, scoring more than Battier.
As for Kyle Lowry's seriousness, the players who will be able to play well in the future have proven to be valuable in cultivating.
Wang Jiexi is very willing to give more opportunities.
Brooks and Lowry used a cover-and-run tactic. Brooks used a breakthrough to attract the attention of the Nuggets. Lowry found an open space and the ball was immediately passed.
Lowry was very excited today. Since leaving college and participating in the draft, he has never enjoyed such treatment as a tactical core.
This is his favorite way to play.
So he is very excited now and is grateful to the head coach for giving him the opportunity.
He received a pass from Brooks, and Jones, who was guarding him, immediately pounced on him.
Lowry drew Jones' attention with a fake shot, and then immediately took a step back to open up the space for a 3-pointer.
Whoosh!
Entered.
Kyle Lowry, as the team's most recent newcomer, suddenly started playing tricks.
All of a sudden, all the Rockets fans in the audience cheered!
They all shouted: "Lori, Lowry..."
Lowry heard the fans shouting and was instantly moved.
Today he finally became the center of attention on the court. It had been a long time since I heard this voice.
Lowry opened his hands and trotted back to defend, feeling the atmosphere of the fans at the scene.
Director Zhang lamented: "Kyle Lowry is a great player. In this playoffs, since head coach Wang Jiexi boldly started from the bench, he averaged 11 points and 3 assists per game, and even scored 20 points in the last game.
.Became Dayao’s right-hand man next to Shane Battier.”
After Wang Jiexi's team finished the third quarter, the fourth quarter began.
Replaced five people including Kyle Lowry, Brooks,
Substitutes who usually rarely get playing time were sent on to let them become familiar with the game. Therefore, there was an unprecedented 10-man rotation in the entire game, which shocked the entire audience.
Although the Nuggets are interested in chasing points when they see the substitutes come on, Landry and Barry, who have played less than 10 minutes in recent games, are working very hard on defense and offense with their substitutes.
Anyway, no matter whether they score or not, except for Barry and Landry, the other three players are desperately clinging to the opposing Nuggets players, as if they have endless energy.
Although Barry and Landry led the team and their offensive efficiency was average, they still maintained a 10-point advantage at the end of the game.
The Nuggets did not have the miracle that fans expected at the end of the game. Anthony was really injured. Without Anthony, the Nuggets lost the power to create miracles and eventually lost G3 with a score of 89-79.
Post-match media interview.
A reporter asked Wang Jiexi: "You replaced the team's star Yao early in this game, and at the same time interrupted Yao's record of seven consecutive double-doubles. Will Yao blame you for this?"
When Wang Jiexi heard the reporter's question, he thought about it and it was true. However, Yao Ming would definitely not have any objections because of this. He is not a person who cares about data, otherwise he would have had objections because of Tracy McGrady in his previous life.
Wang Jiexi smiled and said: "If you think someone who had a chance to score 50+ quadruple-doubles in the last game would care about statistics, I have nothing to say."
"Are you confident that you will sweep your opponent 4-0 in the fourth game?"
Chapter completed!