Edison sat on the team's chartered plane and turned his head out the window. Thibodeau sitting next to him was still studying the data report.
The sunlight outside the transom window shines on the marshmallow-like white clouds, creating a golden halo, which is reflected in people's eyes, making people feel warm, comfortable, relaxed, and uninspiring, like a lullaby that makes people faint.
drowsy
But Edison did not feel like he was resting. Although his eyes were staring blankly outside, he did not appreciate the gorgeous scenery like an oil painting, but thought about the problem.
"Paul, what are you thinking about?" Thibodeau suddenly asked, waking Edison up from his daze.
Edison came back to his senses and was stunned for a moment, then collected his thoughts, sorted out his words and replied, "I didn't think about anything, just think about the next few games. You know, the next games..." Edison didn't say much.
, just biting his lip and shaking his head
Thibodeau made a clear expression and said as if to himself: "Yeah, it's not easy to fight in Texas continuously."
Everyone knows the Bermuda Devil's Triangle, which is located in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a mysterious area that scares everyone. There are many cases of accidental disappearances and crashes of ships and planes. Legend has it that Marion will go there every once in a while.
There is also a place similar to the Bermuda Triangle in today's NBA, and that is Texas.
The away game that most NBA teams fear most is Texas every season. When the head coaches of NBA teams get the schedule, they will have a headache when they see that they have to play two consecutive away games in Texas. If it is consecutive
3 games, then you can greet David Stern’s female relatives with all your heart. Even if your language is vulgar and inhumane, no one will accuse you of going too far. Instead, they will pat you on the shoulder to comfort you.
The reason is very simple. When a team with average strength enters Texas to challenge, the result usually is one win, two losses, or even a three-game losing streak. Even if the championship level reaches here, it will be difficult to escape. If you win 3 games
If you win completely, you will quickly rise to the top three in the league's strength list. When Rivers was the head coach of the Magic, he even called the three Texas teams, the Mavericks, Spurs and Rockets, the "Texas Triangle."
Compare it to the "Bermuda Devil Triangle" in the NBA
In the early 21st century, due to personnel turmoil, the Rockets declined in strength and became a weak link among the top three teams in Texas. However, with the selection of Yao Ming in 2002 and the trade for Kidd, they suddenly became the top 4 level in the Western Conference. It can be said that recently
In the past two years, Texas' top three are at their peak period in history.
In addition to its strong strength, the Texas Triangle Tour has another unanimous consensus in the league, that is, it is the best testing ground for a team's insiders to continuously compete with Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming and Tim
-Duncan's battle, just thinking about it makes me feel painful, so this is definitely a nightmare for those inside the league.
What is now in front of the Magic is the three consecutive away games in Texas. The top three in Texas will meet each other within 5 days. First, they will play the Rockets away from home, then take 2 days off to play the Mavericks, and finally play the Spurs back to back.
Although the league now says that the schedule is all randomized by computers, in fact it is still artificial. This section of the Magic's schedule was actually specially arranged by David Stern.
Everyone knows that Edison is David Stern's godson, and he has surpassed James and has developed into a biological son, so countless pairs of eyes are staring at David Stern
And David Stern does take good care of the Magic's schedule. For example, when the season is coming to an end, the Magic basically play one game every one or two days, so that the Magic can better adjust their physical fitness and player status to prepare for the playoffs.
Prepare but the bias cannot be too obvious, so David Stern also set up one or two obstacles for the Magic in front, and this away trip to Texas is one of them...
So if some people say that the Magic's schedule is good, as long as this schedule is moved out, people will shut up. After all, this schedule is too scary. But in fact, after careful study, even this schedule was arranged by Stern, and the Spurs
The games against the Mavericks and Rockets were also the second of back-to-back games, which helped the Magic reduce the difficulty in disguise.
Without further ado, the Magic quickly arrived in Houston. After putting their luggage at the hotel, everyone went to the Toyota Center without much rest to conduct pre-game acclimatization training and then prepare for the evening game.
The Rockets made a lot of moves this summer. They first renewed Yao Ming's contract for five years in advance. However, just after the renewal, Yao Ming was accidentally injured in the summer. As a result, the Rockets' original insiders were stretched thin, so they participated in a three-way trade in New York in exchange for Uncle Huo Er.
, and then renewed his contract with living fossil Mutombo
The Rockets' inside line in the new season is composed of the three veterans of the league, Mourning, Huo Ershu and Mutombo.
In addition to repairing the inside line, the Rockets also brought in veteran Jon Barry to expand the team's outside space and sent Mike James to the Raptors in exchange for streetball king Alston to serve as Kidd's substitute.
………………
At 7:45 EST, Edison was doing his final game mobilization in the Toyota Center away locker room.
Because it is the first stop of the horrific away schedule, the Magic players are under great pressure. After all, this is the best game to play. If they lose, it may be another three-game losing streak. Therefore, even Howard, who was jumping away, stopped
Laughing and joking, the honest author prepares for the game
"I know some of you are worried about this game, because the winning rate of our strong teams this season has not been high. You may even be thinking about the game we lost to the Rockets at home. I am not asking you to forget that game now, but
Remember, how did we lose to Dwight back then, and how did we lose the last game?"
Howard heard Edison's roll call, recalled it painfully, and then said, "It seems that my performance in the last game was too bad. There were too many openings in the paint, and I was caught by the opponent."
"Very good, but why did we have so many gaps inside?" Edison looked around for a week, and then gave the answer himself, "Because we are still in the running-in period, and Dewalt and Elton don't know each other's capabilities yet.
What can we do, and we have never encountered a particularly good inside combination before, because we were caught off guard by the Rockets. But now, how is our inside running-in? Elton, you think you can cooperate with DeWalt and the others now.
How's it going?"
After hearing Edison's question, Brand massaged the muscles of his arm and said in a sullen voice, "I don't think there is any problem with our cooperation. We trust each other and know each other's positions."
"It's just like this that we didn't do well in the last game. Now that our problems have been corrected, what are you still worried about? Now stand up and get ready to play. Come on! Come on! Come on!"
Although most of the Magic's players are young, their IQs are not low. There was no situation where Edison's words of encouragement caused everyone to "ouch" and walk out. However, Edison's words still had an effect, at least not on the players' emotions.
So depressed, let go of the burden in my heart
During the free activities before the game, the atmosphere between the two teams was very friendly. Alston even came over to say hello to Magic coach Mark Jackson. Both of them are players from Queens, New York. As the first players to bring street ball moves to the
NBA streetball senior, Alston has special respect for him
And the most former Magic veteran, Uncle Huo also came over to hug each other with his old Magic teammates, even though these people only stayed with him for 3 months...
However, following the instructions from the referee and the fourth official, the originally harmonious atmosphere was instantly broken, and tensions began to rise between the two sides.
"Good evening, viewers, welcome to the game between the Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic brought to you by tnt. I am Charles Barkley, next to me is the ugly Kenny Smith, and on the other side is the big man O'Brien who is only slightly worse than me.
Rajuwan”
Barkley still gave various explanations without any shame, but the audience just liked his style.
The Rockets' starters are center Mourning, power forward Huo Ershu, backcourt are Kidd and Wesley, and small forward is Bowen.
As for the Magic, although Roy was already able to play, Edison was conservative and did not let him start. They still started with 4 people, plus veteran Hardaway.
The bell rang and the game was about to start. Howard and Mourning stood on the center circle, preparing to jump the ball.
"Look at the muscles of these two people, I don't understand why they have to train their bodies to that level. Are their muscles obviously powerful? I don't understand what they think at all." Barkley shook his big head, heartbroken.
As he said that, Olajuwon and Kenny Smith beside him could only say "hehe"
Mourning was definitely a hero back then, but after suffering from kidney disease, his physical fitness was not as good as before. Howard easily batted the ball to his side.
After Nash got the ball, he quickly passed the ball out. The ball found Iguodala through the gap in the crowd. After receiving the ball, Iguodala used his shoulder to shoulder Bowen who was defending him. After squeezing out the space, he high
He jumped high and made a one-handed dunk, giving the team the first victory. At this time, the game clock had only passed 4 seconds.
Da Meng on the sidelines watched this goal and couldn't help but shook his head, "The Magic's idea is very clear. It is to target the Rockets' slow speed and hit the ball faster because the Rockets players are not ready yet. Juwan Howard is still
I didn’t realize it, Iguodala was already in the paint.”
Van Gundy was naturally dissatisfied with the players losing points due to lack of concentration, so he stood up and yelled at the players on the court.
But no one expected that as the game progressed, this kind of yelling at players would become what Van Gundy did most.
