321. The situation is changing rapidly

After the timeout, as expected by the Trail Blazers coaching staff, the Rockets continued to use the inside combination of Yao Ming and Joe Smith, and Mike James, Mobley, and Jim Jackson on the outside.

The Rockets attack, and Yao Ming blocks Kwame Brown in the low post to catch the ball.

Kwame Brown's preparation was to hold on with all his strength, but in the end he did not encounter the impact.

Yao Ming did not continue to press toward the inside! Instead, he took a step forward away from the three-second zone, turned over, and shot from close range...it went in!

Raheem took it back to cover the shot and missed the shot. Kwame Brown reacted quickly and jumped at the ball quickly, but he was unable to interfere with Yao Ming.

Liu Xiu took back the ball that bounced off the floor. Looking at Yao Ming who turned around to retreat with his right fist in his chest, Liu Xiu said "Wow" and dribbled under his crotch to express his respect. He stepped out of the baseline and passed the ball.

Send to Lynch-Hunt.

In the original time and space, Yao Ming's skill flow stage had just begun, but he gave up because he wanted to become a giant comparable to O'Neal in the eyes of 'people'.

In the original time and space, after the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady in the trade, they were promoting that Yao Ming + Tracy McGrady, the new version of OK combination, would build a championship lineup around the two... But the Rockets were just doing it for a gimmick, and Yao Ming really gave up his original style of play and added more players.

Weighs more than ten kilograms.

Will the Yao Ming Liu Xiu sees now be better than the super center who averaged 25 points per game in 33 minutes per game under Van Gundy? He is not sure about this, but he has the opportunity to play with a player on the court who he cannot predict in the end.

He was so excited that his hair was trembling just thinking about it.

Lynch-Hunter advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Liu Xiu in the high post on the right side of the free throw line. Liu Xiu rushed past Mobley and made an emergency stop jumper on the right side of the three-second area...

The power of the West Coast started, Liu Xiu missed the jump shot!

Unlucky, he lost his energy and hit the front of the basket. Yao Ming moved to the right sideline of the three-second zone and raised his hand to grab the rebound. Kwame Brown could only retreat in frustration.

During the transition between offense and defense, Yao Ming received the ball inside and passed it to Joe Smith. Joe Smith encountered Jon Barry's cover and passed it to Jim Jackson, who succeeded in a high jump shot.

When it was the Trail Blazers' turn to attack, Liu Xiu continued to play singles, breaking through the bottom line on the right side of the three-second zone. When he reached the 30-degree angle, he stopped suddenly, turned around and shot a jumper...

It’s no secret that the 30-degree angle on the right is Liu Xiu’s most accurate shooting angle. Last season, Liu Xiu’s three-point shooting rate at this angle was 40.6%, which was the only three-point shooting angle where his shooting rate exceeded 40%.

.

Mobley was on guard against this and pressed forward to interfere.

But Liu Xiu was also prepared. With the +3 bonus of the emergency stop of 'Flanking Lightning', he temporarily reached an excellent level of 80 emergency stops, allowing him to better add a fadeaway to his emergency stop turn jumper...

Got it!

The commentator on the court stage once again shouted "The showdown between the warden and the little giant" has begun!

Less than a quarter into the game, whenever Liu Xiu and Yao Ming took action, the commentator on the court would roar so loudly that the fans in front of the TV would become numb.

But this time, the two really got into a fight!

Later, Liu Xiu continued to play singles for three consecutive rounds and only scored 1 goal. After a timeout, he scored in this wave of singles, making a total of 2 of 5 shots.

Yao Ming made 3 shots in these 5 rounds, scoring 4 points on 2 of 3 shots. He also had a second offensive tip-in and was fouled and made two free throws, as well as the introduction assist to Jim Jackson, which helped the team.

He scored 8 points in 5 rounds, which is incredibly efficient! The strength of the second center in the league is fully demonstrated.

But! At 9 minutes and 11 seconds of the first quarter, when Van Gundy called a timeout and replaced Yao Ming, the score between the two teams was 17 to 17!

In one of Liu Xiu's three shots, Rahim grabbed an offensive rebound and passed it to Jon Barry on the wing, who caught the ball and hit a three-pointer.

Yao Ming returned to the sidelines and sat down. He played extremely coquettishly for the past three minutes or so. He performed very well on both offense and defense in the positional battle and led the team to a very good performance, but he failed to convert it into a lead.

The reason was that the little giant looked at the strange man opposite - the warden.

The Warden's play style in the past few rounds was completely beyond Team Rocket's expectations!

Those mid- and long-range single shots again and again made the Rockets' prepared defensive coordination routine useless.

From the early stage when the Rockets were able to very effectively contain Randolph's single attack with a mid-range shot, we knew that the Rockets were extremely well prepared for this team that Chinese fans were paying special attention to.

But Warden suddenly began to rely on his teammates' strong rushing ability to shoot single shots from the outside, but he was actually able to score. Not to mention scoring 10 points in a single quarter, his teammates actually grabbed an offensive rebound and converted it into a three-pointer.

Score hits.

Looking at the opposing lineup of Flying Squirrel, Derek Anderson, Outlaw, Butcher, and McDyess, Yao Ming was very worried about the next game. His lineup was Mike James, Jim Jackson, De

Smond Mason, Maurice Taylor, Mutombo.

However, Yao Ming, who was already familiar with Jeff Van Gundy's coaching philosophy, did not ask for more games. He knew that the playing time of 6-9 minutes in the first quarter was fixed and could only fluctuate within this range. The playing time of each game was between 28 and 35 minutes.

fluctuate between.

However, my teammates performed extremely well tonight!

Just like David Wesley's adjustment and response in the early stage was extremely good, other teammates also performed very well tonight. After Mobley was replaced, Mike James and Jim Jackson faced the Flying Squirrels and Derek Anderson

The backcourt combination is soaring!

In terms of the inside, Mutombo and Maurice Taylor restricted the Blazers' inside rush very well.

Although Yao Ming was not on the court, the Rockets could not prevent the Trail Blazers from attacking, but they did not lose any rebounds and did not allow the Trail Blazers to get any extra offensive rounds.

Mike James and Jim Jackson scored 7 points in less than three minutes and performed very well. Although the Trail Blazers scored 8 points at the end of the first quarter, they only led the Rockets by 1 point 25-24 entering the quarter.

rest.

…

The score was actually tight!

This was greatly beyond the expectations of the Trail Blazers. They thought that after Yao Ming was on the court, they could easily win the game.

Liu Xiu remembered that the Rockets during Yao Ming's era always seemed so tough, and it was because of this that he liked to watch Yao Ming's games in his previous life.

For example, in the 2008-09 playoffs, no one thought that without McGrady, Yao Ming and his team could actually reach the seventh game with the Lakers.

If the game doesn't go as planned, that's okay, just go out and fight!

After returning from the break, the Trail Blazers sent out a combination of Flying Squirrel, Liu Xiu, Outlaws, Raheem, and Kwame Brown.

Liu Xiu looked at the opposite side. The other side continued to send Mike James and Jim Jackson, another outside sent Bob Sura, and the inside sent Joe Smith and Mutombo.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Rockets attacked first. Mike James held the ball in singles and hit a three-pointer!

When the Trail Blazers attacked, the Flying Squirrel missed a three-pointer in response. Mutombo continued his excellent blocking performance tonight, and Joe Smith won the defensive rebound.

During the offseason, the Rockets signed Mutombo to a one-year, $4.5 million premium contract in order to block salary space. His usual performance was mediocre. Unexpectedly, in the Rockets' most important game at the beginning of the season, he played to match his salary.

Performance.

Immediately afterwards, Mike James hit another single three-pointer!

30 to 25, the Rockets took a 5-point lead after 58 seconds in the second quarter!

At this critical moment, Liu Xiu stepped forward.

The little flying squirrel broke through and launched an attack. Liu Xiu ran around the baseline and pulled towards the baseline. He caught the ball and hit a two-pointer, chasing the score to 27-30.

But Mike James continued to play alone against the Flying Squirrel and hit three consecutive three-pointers!

33 to 27, the Rockets lead by 6 points! The Trail Blazers were stopped at the beginning of the second quarter.

After calling the timeout, neither team made any substitutions. The Trail Blazers still had the confidence of a strong team. As for the Rockets, Van Gundy Jr. saw that his role players were playing well and of course he was versatile.

The Trail Blazers' timeout successfully interrupted Mike James's consecutive scoring momentum, but the Trail Blazers failed to take the lead in the next few minutes. The Rockets role players tenaciously held on to the score.

At 6 minutes and 44 seconds of the second quarter, the Rockets led the Trail Blazers by 5 points, 44 to 39, and the Trail Blazers called a timeout!

At this time, the Trail Blazers players missed Reuben Patterson. If they had Reuben Patterson's accurate high-position shooting, they would have been able to close the point difference in this half quarter.

When Liu Xiu returned to the bench, he joked with Randolph, "How about we apologize to Kobe Bryant's Terminator?" Randolph responded cheerfully. The two were just teasing and complaining, and did not express any regrets.

There is too much dissatisfaction with the current situation. The difference is only 5 points. The first half has not yet been played. The tone is also very relaxed, but the speaker is indifferent and the listener is interested.

The Outlaw understands the thoughts of his teammates. The key is that he himself feels that he did far less than Ruben Patterson in the last moments of the first quarter and the second half of the second quarter.

As the lawless fanatic expected, the coach replaced him in the next rotation.

However, under the influence of the warden's words, "You are our most talented outside player," the Outlaws are very confident in their talent.

Since you can’t compete, then learn! Then practice!

…

Officially back from suspension.

The Trail Blazers fielded a combination of Payton, Liu Xiu, Raheem, Randolph, and Kwame Brown.

The Rockets fielded a combination of David Wesley, Bob Sura, Desmond Mason, Joe Smith, and Yao Ming.

Yao Ming was very excited about the situation in front of him, but Liu Xiu became the one under great pressure.

But Liu Xiu has always had good ability to withstand pressure, and his way of thinking is very simple. This time, his goal is still the same - to hold on to the score while Yao Ming is on the court.

If possible, it would be better if you can seize the opportunity and create an advantage.

In competition, the situation is always changing rapidly and unpredictable.
Chapter completed!