On the 25th, the Rockets came to San Antonio to play away.
This is a crucial game, whoever wins will get two match points.
According to statistics, the team that wins the Battle of Tianwangshan will have an 84% probability of winning the entire series.
At the beginning of the game, Zhang Zhiyuan used the prop "81 Points Night".
[On the night of 81 points, the host's all attributes are increased by 10%. Every time a goal is hit, the next shot's hit rate is 1%, lasting 48 minutes. 】
The effect is not as overbearing as the coming of God, but it is better and more lasting.
Duncan won the jump ball and the Spurs attacked first.
Parker broke through with the ball, went to the basket and scored.
In this game, he held back his energy and wanted to prove that he was not a flaw.
The Rockets attacked and Zhang Zhiyuan hit a mid-range fadeaway jumper.
In the next round, the Spurs immediately double-teamed him.
This surprised Zhang Zhiyuan. He thought Popovich would send someone to defend alone. After all, he passed so many balls in the last game.
Facing a double team, Zhang Zhiyuan continued to take shots, but the ball missed.
The Spurs counterattacked and Bowen hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner.
In the transition between offense and defense, Zhang Zhiyuan attracted the defense and passed the ball, and Battier shot the ball.
Spurs score again.
2 to 7, the Rockets were already 5 points behind.
However, Rockets fans are not panicking, they believe the team can come back later.
When the Rockets attacked, Zhang Zhiyuan passed the ball to Alston, who was open. Alston was decisive and threw the ball directly. Unfortunately, the ball did not go in.
They don't seem to be in good shape today.
In the next round, Zhang Zhiyuan chose to do it himself.
After all, it was an 81-point night, so he should have taken more shots.
The more hits you make, the harder it will be later.
Three-point shot, ball scored.
5 to 9.
"Zhang Zhiyuan is still so stable. With him here, there is no need to panic."
Sun Zhengping said.
Zhang Zhiyuan is very stable, but unfortunately the Spurs are also very stable today.
Finley and Zhang Zhiyuan both hit a mid-range shot in singles.
During the transition between offense and defense, Zhang Zhiyuan missed the target when faced with a double-team.
Kobe's ability to score 81 points in that game was certainly due to his strength, but also due to some luck and the opponent's one-on-one defense.
Now Zhang Zhiyuan is faced with a double-team defense, and it is much more difficult to score goals.
The Spurs scored two more points and continued to widen the point difference.
In the next round, Zhang Zhiyuan attracted defense from the outside, and Alston assisted Yao Ming to score.
7 to 11.
The Spurs counterattacked, Parker broke through, Zhang Zhiyuan made up the defense, and then Parker assisted Finley and hit a three-pointer.
7 to 14.
"The situation is a little bad. The Spurs were too accurate today."
Sun Zhengping said.
"It's normal to have occasional outbursts. It probably won't last the entire game."
Zhang Lili said.
Sure enough, the Spurs weren't always accurate.
But the Rockets failed to live up to expectations and failed to seize the opportunity to chase points.
Perhaps because of their confidence in shooting in the last game, both Battier and Alston couldn't help but throw a few more shots in this game, but the effect was very poor and they didn't score.
Van Gundy couldn't stand it anymore, so he called a timeout and asked them to hand the ball to Zhang Zhiyuan and Yao Ming.
Returning to the court, Zhang Zhiyuan continued to be severely guarded. Yao Ming had a slightly better chance, making one of two shots.
Zhang Zhiyuan secretly thought that something was wrong. At 81 points, this prop was equivalent to a late-stage hero and needed to be developed (a large number of shots were taken in the early stage to gain a hit bonus).
But if it collapses in the early stage, will there be a later stage?
As a result, Zhang Zhiyuan, who had no chance, started running wildly, calling his teammates to help cover from time to time.
There was really no chance, so he took action forcefully.
After the first quarter, he threw 12 goals by himself and scored 4 goals. His shooting rate was a bit poor.
Worse than him were Shane Battier and Alston, who scored 1-for-9 in total.
Yao Ming made 3 of 5, and the team only scored 20 points, which was far below their average.
The Spurs were feeling great here, scoring 32 points in a single quarter.
In the second quarter, Zhang Zhiyuan did not rest and came on the field to lead the bench.
Facing the Spurs' bench, Zhang Zhiyuan has slightly more opportunities.
But the happy time was short-lived. The Spurs only let Finley rest for 3 minutes before letting him come back on the court and work closely with Ginobili to guard Zhang Zhiyuan.
He suddenly discovered that shooting stability is so important.
After finally recovering a few points, as soon as the Spurs' main force came on, the Rockets were immediately over.
Van Gundy belatedly replaced him as the main player.
It's a pity that neither Alston nor Shane Battier are in good condition today.
After two more irons, they simply didn't dare to throw anymore.
As soon as the ball comes to their hands, they immediately pass it to Yao Ming or Zhang Zhiyuan. They are afraid of becoming the team's sinner.
Little do they know that this approach is basically tantamount to being a sinner.
It is very dangerous for role players not to take action when they are open, and the opponent can double-team the core even more unscrupulously.
Not only did Zhang Zhiyuan not have a good chance now, but it was also difficult for Yao Ming to find one.
But there was no way, the two of them still had to keep throwing.
In this case, the efficiency will naturally not be high.
The second quarter is over.
The score was 48 to 64, and the Rockets were already 16 points behind.
Zhang Zhiyuan was in slightly better shape this quarter, hitting 5 of 11 shots and scoring 12 points.
Unfortunately this is far from enough.
"I can only watch the second half."
Zhang Zhiyuan thought to himself.
He has hit 9 goals at this time, with a hit rate bonus of 9%.
If he can play at his usual level in the second half (48% overall shooting rate), plus 9%, then his firepower will be quite strong.
In the third quarter, Zhang Zhiyuan began to explode, hitting two difficult shots in a row.
Then the Spurs began to change their defensive strategy, changing from guarding shots to guarding catches.
They double-teamed Zhang Zhiyuan frantically without the ball.
In the past, at least you had to wait until Zhang Zhiyuan had the ball in his hands before double-teaming him. Now, regardless of whether Zhang Zhiyuan has the ball in his hands, Finley and Gino
Billy, the pair of sleeping dragons and phoenixes, were all close to Zhang Zhiyuan.
This defensive strategy actually has a big drawback, which is to let the other Spurs play three against four.
Alston saw this and broke through, but was rewarded with a hat by Duncan.
Hayes made a shot from the open position.
Only Yao Ming hit one goal, and there was no way to quench his thirst.
Zhang Zhiyuan was still trying to get rid of the two cockroaches, and he kept moving.
Seeing that he was about to succeed, Finley did not hesitate to foul him and drag him down.
The referee turned a blind eye, but Zhang Zhiyuan was so angry that he yelled at the referee.
If Yao Ming hadn't pulled him, he would have eaten it.
"It's too much. It knocked people down, and there wasn't even a common foul."
Sun Zhengping was even angrier than Zhang Zhiyuan and punched the commentator's table.
"It's too much. The home whistle can't be so obvious. Now Xiao Zhang needs to calm down, but he can't let the referee find an excuse to send him off. It will be over if he is sent off to the Rockets."
Zhang Lili said.
The Chinese fans on the TV were already angry at the penalty scale, and with the Rockets lagging behind by a huge score, they became even more unhappy.
Unfortunately, their anger didn't help the Rockets.
On the court, Zhang Zhiyuan clashed with Finley again. Zhang Zhiyuan rushed for a rebound but Finley grabbed his jersey. Zhang Zhiyuan imitated Artest and swung his elbow backward, hitting Finley directly behind him on the head.
After all this, Zhang Zhiyuan pretended that nothing had happened and tried to get back on the defensive.
Unfortunately, Finley, who fell motionless on the ground, told everyone that this was impossible.
Parker and Bowen rushed towards Zhang Zhiyuan, trying to get an explanation.
Hayes had already been holding back his anger, and without saying a word, he punched Parker in the face. The scene was very chaotic.
The whistle sounded and the referee separated everyone.
Fortunately, everyone was angry and still had sense, knowing that they must not commit a foul and be sent off at this time.
In the seemingly heated scene, in the end, only Hayes was sent off, Zhang Zhiyuan was called for a first-level flagrant foul, Bowen was called for a technical foul, and Finley was carried off.
Overall, the Rockets suffered a slight loss.
"Sometimes players need to give a tough response."
Zhang Lili found a reasonable explanation for Zhang Zhiyuan's brutal behavior.
"That's right, otherwise the opponent will only take advantage of it. The blow Finley received was not light, at least he suffered a concussion."
Sun Zhengping tried his best to control himself and maintain an objective attitude. However, the tone of his words still revealed a sense of schadenfreude.
Fortunately, no Chinese fans would pick on him, and the Chinese fans were relieved at this time.
"Wow, this guy of yours is really savage. If this elbow hit an ordinary person, it would probably kill him directly. Do you think he will be violent at home? It's terrible."
Xie Nan threatened.
"Didn't you hear what the commentator said? That's called toughness."
Liu Yan retorted.
On the court, the game continues.
The Spurs players have restrained themselves a little, they don't want to become the second Finley.
They were afraid that Zhang Zhiyuan was a stupid young man who couldn't understand the seriousness and would take revenge regardless of the risk of being sent off and suspended.
A person who gambles his career casually does not look like a calm and rational person.
It's best not to mess with this kind of person.
Zhang Zhiyuan's pressure was slightly lighter and he hit two consecutive goals, but his physical strength declined seriously and Ginobili broke through continuously on the defensive end.
Van Gundy saw the problem, so he took Zhang Zhiyuan off to rest.
Zhang Zhiyuan originally wanted to refuse, but his body was telling him that he needed to rest.
After Zhang Zhiyuan left the game, the Rockets collapsed instantly and were beaten to a climax by the Spurs.
After the first three quarters, the score was 68 to 91, and the Spurs were already leading by 23 points.
Zhang Zhiyuan also put on a mask of pain. He didn't know what to do to beat his opponent by 23 points in a single quarter.
Even if we use another King of Endgame, we may not be able to achieve this.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Zhiyuan finally chose not to use it and save the hatred value for the next two games.
The last quarter started, relying on previous accumulation, Zhang Zhiyuan's shooting percentage has improved a lot.
He began to take over the game and continued to score difficult goals.
This made Rockets fans cheer, hoping that he would create miracles.
The Spurs fans at the scene were extremely nervous and kept shouting about the team's defense, defense.
If they lead by 23 points and are reversed, they will be so angry that they vomit blood.
Fortunately, this once-in-a-century thing did not happen after all. The Spurs players played very cautiously. They were leading by 23 points and still controlled the rhythm and success rate.
In the end, 100 to 112, the Rockets lost this crucial game.
It didn't help that Zhang Zhiyuan scored 24 points in the last quarter.
In the game, he made 19 of 40 shots, 8 of 20 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 50 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Scored a lot, but provided too few assists and didn't lead his teammates.
This is due to the Spurs' defensive strategy and the state of the Rockets' role players.
At the end of the game, Zhang Zhiyuan cursed, "Kobe Bryant made a mistake on me."
It’s not easy to use at 81 points.
These words left the Rockets and Spurs players scratching their heads, thinking that Zhang Zhiyuan was losing like crazy.
"Zhang Zhiyuan has tried his best. He has already scored 50 points, accounting for half of the team. You can't ask him to do more."
Sun Zhengping sighed.
Lose this game and the Rockets will be on the edge of the cliff.
Even if Zhang Zhiyuan performed very well in these three games, even if Zhang Zhiyuan is full of confidence, this cannot make people feel at ease.
"He broke out a little late. If he broke out in front, his teammates wouldn't have so much pressure."
Zhang Lili sighed with emotion.
Although it is the same fifty points, it plays different roles when obtained at different times.
In g3, Zhang Zhiyuan exploded at the start. When the team took the lead, the role players relaxed and were able to score points.
In this game, Alston, Shane Battier and others did not dare to take action again, and it had no effect at all.
"Fuck, except for Brother Zhang and Dayao, the rest of the Rockets are just rubbish."
"They can't make a shot in such a big open space, and they don't dare to make a shot. What's the point of their existence, just to make up the numbers?"
"It's better to fucking replace me. At least I dare to throw it."
Naturally, Chinese fans will not attribute the failure to Zhang Zhiyuan and Yao Ming, and can only criticize other Rockets players.
Of course, they did not wrongly accuse Alston and others.
In North America, several of their role players have also been criticized by many commentators and guests.
Especially Juwan Howard, he was ridiculed to the point of being completely covered.
Zhang Zhiyuan did not attend the post-match press conference. He had already said everything that needed to be said, and he had nothing new to say to the media.
Next, all you need to do is take action.
Van Gundy took all the firepower at the press conference and endured the torture of reporters.
Yao Ming was not spared either. Even though he had scored 28 points and 13 rebounds, reporters still questioned whether he had done well enough.
Yao Ming couldn't say that others didn't do well enough, he could only admit it silently.
Then the Spurs attended the press conference, and Parker finally cleared away the previous gloom and became arrogant.
Even if he only scored 22 points in this game, it was not even half of Zhang Zhiyuan's.
However, he still felt that he had a greater role and publicly mocked Zhang Zhiyuan as just a data brush.
Even Popovich and reporters couldn't stand hearing this. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Rockets' loss was due to a lack of depth in the lineup, and only Parker actually thought it was Zhang Zhiyuan's reason.
"Tim, do you also think Zhang is a data brusher?"
When the reporter asked Duncan, he felt as if he had eaten shit.
Admitting it would seem like an idiot, but denying it would be tantamount to slapping Parker in the face in public, which might cause discord in the locker room.
In desperation, Duncan could only pretend to be stupid and showed a confused smile.
No matter how reporters asked him, he never answered directly.
Not long after the game ended, the Rockets immediately flew back to Houston.
On the plane, everyone was in a low mood.
Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile: "What are you doing? Everyone is so sad, acting like we have lost. Don't worry, I didn't use all my strength in this game, and I deliberately made them happy first. Next.
We won two games in a row and came back, that would be interesting."
"...."
Everyone.
You still get fifty points without using your full strength?
No one believed this nonsense, but seeing that Zhang Zhiyuan was already so calm and confident, they relaxed a lot.
Even Zhang Zhiyuan is not afraid, and they have no reason to be afraid.
After all, if they lose, they will still have next season, and if Zhang Zhiyuan loses, he will quit the NBA.
"Next is our home court, we must win."
Yao Ming also followed suit to boost morale.
"certainly."
"I won't allow myself to play so badly again."
"Coach, if they dare to mess around again, let me play, and I will defeat one of their main players."
Super substitute Wells said that he also wants to leave his name on the stage of the Western Conference Finals, even if it is notoriety.
"Just play normally and we will win. They can't be so accurate in every game."
Van Gundy was infected by everyone's morale.
Of course, he is not blindly confident. The Spurs played an extraordinary game. He does not believe that the Spurs can score 112 points in every game.
The next day, media opinion was overwhelming.
Those experts who were originally optimistic about the Spurs' promotion jumped out again. The Rockets' two consecutive draws scared them.
Now that the Spurs are in great shape again, it's time for them to provide guidance.
Faced with these remarks, Zhang Zhiyuan posted an update on the 27th and @ many basketball commentators.
[Thank you Thomson, Maxon, Jimmy... I was worried about losing the key g5 originally, but their contempt made me worried again.
I regained my confidence. The more others despise me, the better I can perform.
A friendly reminder to my good friends, be careful when going to San Antonio in the future, Spurs fans may come to settle a score with you...]
No matter how you look at it, this is a clamor, but some Spurs fans really believe it.
They have @Thomson and others, hoping that they will stop their poisonous behavior and let their Spurs go. They just want to advance quietly.
After posting the update, Zhang Zhiyuan looked at the G6 between the Cavaliers and Pistons.
History did not change much because of him, and the Cavaliers still won the game easily.
Gibson became a key figure in this game. He came off the bench and made 7 of 9 shots, 5 of 5 three-pointers, and 13 of 15 free throws. He scored 32 points efficiently, blocking James' limelight.
"Are all young people today so fierce?"
Barkley couldn't help but complain during the live broadcast.
With a big score of 4 to 2, the Cavaliers took the lead in entering the finals.
On the 28th, the G6 game between the Rockets and Spurs started in Houston.
