At the post-game press conference, Boozer and Deron Williams were still adamant, saying that being behind 0-2 was nothing. They could win two games in a row back at home, and they would let the Rockets know what a devil's home court is.
Just listen to such necessary cruel words, not many people will take them seriously.
The reporter asked Jerry Sloan and asked him what he thought of Zhang Zhiyuan.
"There is no doubt that Zhang is a very good player, and he deserves the title of the Big Three. He can definitely score more points, such as 25, or even 30, as long as he is given enough ball rights."
While Sloan affirmed Zhang Zhiyuan, he also did not forget to sow discord.
This kind of provocation is very childish, but many stupid and big black players can fall into it repeatedly.
Unfortunately, this trick is ineffective against Zhang Zhiyuan.
At the Rockets' post-game press conference, Zhang Zhiyuan also attended with the team and was asked by reporters about Sloan's comments.
Zhang Zhiyuan said: "As long as they have enough ball rights, anyone can score 30 points. For example, Hayes, Hyde, and Sean. But they will not do this. They will choose the most appropriate way to help the team win.
So do I."
"Last year's No. 1 pick Bargnani only scored 2 points in the last game, but you have scored 20 in two consecutive games. Do you feel that you were racially discriminated against during the draft?"
another reporter asked.
This is a very tricky question. If Zhang Zhiyuan admits that there is discrimination in the NBA, he will undoubtedly offend the entire league. But if he denies it, there is no way to explain why he lost the election. At the same time, it will appear that he is spineless, as if he is giving in to the league's lies.
Zhang Zhiyuan thought for a moment and replied: "I have indeed been discriminated against, but this is a kind of empirical discrimination, not racial discrimination.
Just like companies like to recruit highly educated employees, this does not mean that they discriminate against those with lower academic qualifications. It is just that recruiting highly educated people is less risky and the company has a greater chance of benefiting.
In the past, there were few outstanding Asian players, so it is understandable that those managers did not believe in Asian players. Yao and I will work hard to play better and change the old ideas of those team managers, and the situation will gradually improve."
There is definitely discrimination in the NBA, but it is not as serious as imagined, otherwise Yao Ming would not have been elected No. 1 overall pick.
After Yao Ming came out, wouldn't Yi Jianlian be selected with the sixth pick?
After Zhang Zhiyuan finished speaking, the audience burst into applause.
This answer was perfect. It not only took into account the face of the league, but also did not offend the team managers. It also seemed neither humble nor arrogant, and full of positive energy.
After the game, Zhang Zhiyuan continued to be praised.
The media praised his consistency.
20 in a single game may be an occasional outbreak, but 20 in two consecutive games is a sign of strength.
At the same time, the media also praised his post-match interview.
Several questions were answered very beautifully, which made many people feel comfortable listening to them.
Some team managers also accepted interviews and admitted that missing Zhang Zhiyuan was their biggest mistake.
The Bucks' team manager even said that the Bucks will re-evaluate the potential of Asian players and expressed that they are very interested in Chinese star Yi Jianlian and have contacted Yi Jianlian for a trial training.
On the 24th, NBA has three games.
The Heat played against the Bulls first, and in the end the Heat lost again 89-107.
Those fans who had high expectations for O'Neal were disappointed. They thought the Sharks were just accumulating strength in the regular season and preparing to exert their strength in the playoffs.
It turned out that it was not a matter of accumulating energy at all, but that the shark was really out of energy.
In both games, O'Neal's score was less than 20, his rebounds were even less than double figures, and he could no longer show any signs of dominance.
Wade also failed to take the lead and performed mediocrely.
People like Mourning Payton realized their dreams last year, but now they no longer have the fighting spirit.
Trailing 0-2, the Heat were in danger.
Some people are dying and others are rising.
These two games directly featured two star players, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
The two scored 57 points together in the first game, and the two scored 53 points together in the second game. This is the playoffs.
After two games, the Bulls were also blown away.
Experts have changed their minds one after another, saying that although the Bulls have not yet won the championship this season, they can look forward to it in the future.
The next game was between the Lakers and the Suns, and the Lakers lost again.
98 to 126, the Lakers were defeated by 28 points.
This was thanks to the Suns replacing all their main players at the end of the third quarter, otherwise the Lakers would have lost even more.
Kobe's performance in this game was a disaster. He only played three quarters and made 4 of 13 shots. He scored 15 points including free throws.
And this is actually the highest score in the team.
When he came off the court, Kobe was cursing, and he didn't know who he was cursing.
Trailing 0-2, there seems to be no suspense in this series.
Game 3, the Mavericks played against the Warriors.
99 to 112, the Mavericks came back.
However, Jackson and Davis still performed well, but the rest of the Warriors fell behind.
The Mavericks relied on Nowitzki to shoulder the burden.
There are also three games on the 25th.
The Wizards lost to the Cavaliers again, and the Cavaliers also gained a 2-0 advantage.
So far, among the teams that have played two games, only the Mavericks are 1-1, and the others are 2-0.
But soon a team joined them.
The Nets lost to the Raptors 83-89 and tied 1-1.
The Nets' Big Three, Carter, Kidd, and Richard Jefferson, made 19 of 54 shots, with a shooting percentage of 35%.
They are the same three giants, but the gap is huge.
The Raptors won, but No. 1 pick Bargnani lost. He made 0 of 4 shots and only scored three points on free throws. He was pulled out for comparison with Zhang Zhiyuan.
Zhang Zhiyuan and Bargnani have not yet fought against each other, but Bargnani has already developed a high level of hatred towards Zhang Zhiyuan.
In the last game between the Nuggets and the Spurs, the Nuggets' dual guns showed their true colors and took turns to strike.
In the end, they lost the game 88-97, and the series score was tied 1-1.
They may be able to console themselves that they still have home field advantage.
But in the face of the absolute strength gap, not many people seemed to take this advantage seriously, and they unanimously believed that the Spurs would advance.
The Rockets flew to Salt Lake City on the 25th to adapt to the climate and arena in advance and prepare for the next day's game.
The Jazz's Energy Plan Arena is known as the devil's home stadium in the league. The Jazz's winning rate at home is much higher than that at away games. Especially in the era of Malone and Stockton, there was even a saying that it was a dragon at home and a worm on the road.
There are many reasons why Energy Solution Arena is difficult to conquer. One of them is that it has a high altitude, low temperatures all year round, and the air is thinner than in plain areas.
At the same time, Jazz fans are quite fanatical and can easily create a sense of oppression for away team players. Coupled with factors such as the home whistle and players being dirty and tough, the Energy Solution Arena is known as the 'Devil's Home'.
On the 26th, the NBA playoffs continue.
There are three games on this day, the first one is the Magic playing against the Pistons at home.
It's a pity that the home field advantage is useless in the face of absolute strength difference.
Howard had 11 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double in the playoffs. It's just that this kind of economical double-double doesn't look like star data, at least it must be in 2010.
What followed was the Lakers' home game against the Suns, and the Lakers pulled back a game.
The score was 91 to 95, and the Lakers won by 4 points.
The Suns have a higher overall shooting percentage. The Suns have a higher true shooting percentage. The Suns have a higher three-point shooting percentage.
The Suns had twice as many assists as the Lakers and had fewer turnovers than the Lakers, but the Suns just lost.
The Suns only made 12 free throws and the Lakers made 28 free throws.
Kobe made 13 of 13 free throws and scored a total of 45 points, which is currently the highest score in a single game in the playoffs.
This game gave Humi hope.
The last game was Rockets vs. Jazz.
Before the game started, Zhang Zhiyuan was thinking about whether to use consumable props.
Zhang Zhiyuan vaguely remembered that in this series, the Rockets won two home games first and then lost two away games.
Therefore, he did not waste his anger points in the previous two games. Anyway, he had a high probability of winning.
But this game was full of uncertainties, and he didn't know how big his role would be.
After hesitating for a while, Zhang Zhiyuan finally decided not to use it.
Currently, the rage value in the system mall has reached 7,000, which seems like a lot, but if you purchase S-level items, you can only use them 7 times.
What's more, using S-level items doesn't guarantee victory.
These props must be used at critical moments.
When the game started, both teams still started their regular lineups.
This time Yao Ming won the jump ball and the Rockets attacked first.
McGrady broke through with the ball and was double-teamed, then passed the ball back to Alston, who hit a long two-pointer.
Then Okur hit the iron and Yao Ming grabbed the rebound.
After the transition from offense to defense, McGrady made a pull-up hit and scored two more points.
4-0, the Rockets got off to a good start.
This made Zhang Zhiyuan a little confused off the court. The Rockets players seemed to be in good condition. How did they lose so miserably in history?
Is it because of their own reasons that the Rockets players' current mentality has changed?
Zhang Zhiyuan was still confused, and the situation on the court suddenly changed.
Boozer grabbed the offensive rebound and scored in the second attack.
Then Yao Ming hit the iron, but the Jazz players' touch was recovering.
Okur hit a 3-pointer to lead the score.
"Nice job."
"Kill them."
"Death to Rocket."
"*****."
The fans at the scene made deafening noises, giving the impression that they might rush down and fight with the Rockets players at any time.
The Rockets attacked, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were severely guarded, and Hayes was left open.
Hayes took a shot from mid-range and missed the ball.
Although he went 4-for-4 in the last game, it was just a beautiful accident.
In the next round, Battier also had a chance and missed a three-pointer.
Because Zhang Zhiyuan was added to the team, Battier's statistics dropped a lot, giving the impression that he was not performing well.
But today, he was indeed a little out of shape.
The Rockets hit one after another, but the Jazz hit consecutively.
Deron, Fisher, and Kirilenko all opened.
At 6-14, the Rockets quickly fell behind by 8 points.
But Van Gundy and Rockets fans were not too panicked. The Rockets fell behind at the beginning of the last game, but as long as Zhang Zhiyuan was replaced, the team could quickly catch up and overtake.
Van Gundy did not make any immediate substitutions and adjustments, appearing very calm and collected.
It wasn't until the official timeout that Van Gundy replaced Hayes with Zhang Zhiyuan.
The Jazz also replaced Fisher with Halprin to strengthen defense.
When the Rockets attacked, Kirilenko followed Zhang Zhiyuan, inseparable.
Alston immediately started a pick-and-roll with McGrady, and then McGrady broke through Deron and headed toward the basket.
However, Halprin appeared in front of him in time to make up the defense.
After two days of research and practice, the Jazz have figured out a new defensive strategy.
The four people except Kirilenko built a system of switching defenses to supplement defense. Although it is not perfect, it is enough.
McGrady can only make a pull-up jump shot.
Unfortunately, this offensive method was not efficient and the ball was not scored.
For two consecutive rounds, Zhang Zhiyuan failed to find a chance, and his teammates also failed to seize the space after Kirilenko was restrained and failed to score.
In the next round, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly accelerated and cooperated with his teammates. McGrady helped him block Kirilenko.
Then Zhang Zhiyuan caught the ball and faced Halprin.
Although it was not a good opportunity, Zhang Zhiyuan still chose to break through.
Halprin reacted a step too slowly and quickly backed away.
But because his center of gravity was unstable, he fell down.
When he fell, Halprin stretched his legs to Zhang Zhiyuan's feet.
Zhang Zhiyuan was tripped immediately and the basketball was released.
Deron picked up the basketball regardless and fought back. Zhang Zhiyuan opened his hands to question the referee.
This is a very obvious foul, but without watching the replay, it is actually difficult for fans to determine whether Zhang Zhiyuan made a mistake and fell down, or whether he was tripped by Halprin.
It's only 2007, there are no rules to challenge, everything is decided by the referee.
The referee did not call, so Zhang Zhiyuan could only get up and run towards his own half.
Protesting injustice is Van Gundy's business, and the players on the court don't have that much time.
However, even if Zhang Zhiyuan chose to retreat, he could not catch up with the Jazz's counterattack, and the Jazz scored two more points.
Van Gundy chased the referee off the court and roared, and was then severely warned by the referee.
The game continues.
Fans at the scene taunted Zhang Zhiyuan crazily, scolded him for diving, and called him a clown.
Although Zhang Zhiyuan was unhappy, he did not do anything extreme.
As a professional player, this kind of thing has long been commonplace.
Whether you like it or not, you just have to adapt.
It is undoubtedly the most enjoyable option to rush up and fight with the fans, but Artest and others have set an example and proved that it is not cost-effective.
In the next round, Yao Ming was trying to get a position under the basket but Okur pulled his jersey.
When the Jazz players saw that Halprin's foul was not called, they had some mental judgments about the penalty scale and became bolder in their actions.
Yao Ming took off after catching the ball, and Boozer jumped up and fell on top of Yao Ming.
This foul was so obvious that the referee couldn't turn a blind eye and finally blew his whistle.
Yao Ming made one of two free throws and suffered a slight loss.
If Boozer hadn't fouled, the ball he just scored would have been a guaranteed goal.
Even so, the fans at the scene were still dissatisfied and shouted that it was a misjudgement.
Fans are customers. Players, coaches, referees, and the league all know that these fanatical fans are making trouble unreasonably, but there is nothing they can do about it.
After the first quarter, the Rockets were 18 to 26, trailing by 8 points.
Zhang Zhiyuan also failed to step up to save the team, scoring only 3 points on 1 of 3 shots.
"The Jazz home court is not that easy to conquer."
Buckley laughed happily.
"The Jazz's home court advantage is too obvious. It will not be easy for the Rockets to win this game."
