Twice in a row, McGrady hit unreasonable pull-up shots under Chen Jie's tight defense. At this moment, McGrady raised his arms high to greet the cheers of the Toyota Center audience.
At this moment, there is no doubt that McGrady is the protagonist of this court and the king! And Chen Jie's lonely background is the best footnote for McGrady's ascension to the throne.
Skiles was helpless and called a timeout, which only added to McGrady's performance this time.
In fact, there was nothing Skiles could do.
McGrady felt hot at the beginning of the second quarter. He only played for one minute and hit two consecutive three-pointers. If McGrady continues to play like this, the Bulls will not be able to fill the hole they dug in the first half even if they tried to do so in the second half.
There's a solution.
Now, the score gap is already 14 points. It is really difficult to reverse the 15-point hurdle!
Therefore, even though it was less than a minute into the second quarter, Skiles still had to call for this timeout. Even if it disrupted McGrady's shooting rhythm, this timeout had to be called.
On the Rockets' side, as soon as they heard the referee blow the whistle for a timeout, they immediately became excited. They rushed to bump into McGrady's chests to celebrate. Yao Ming also waved a towel and high-fived McGrady.
With the excitement at Toyota Center, the Rockets' situation now looks great.
It seems that they have already won this game.
Bull, which was prosperous in the east, seemed to be about to encounter Waterloo as soon as it arrived in the west.
Chen Jie's expression has not relaxed since the beginning.
It seems that this is the first time he has entered the league. Chen Jie has no way to face an opponent. In the past, even if he failed, at least Chen Jie could fight hard and see the hope of victory.
But in this game, until now, Chen Jie couldn't see any hope.
During the timeout, Scales had no explanation.
The defense is already in place and the offense is reasonable. At this time, what else can be done?
On the inside, I just can't guard Yao Ming. On the outside, McGrady's shooting is accurate. These are all very powerless things.
The only thing we can hope for now is that after the timeout, McGrady's shooting rhythm can be disrupted. As long as McGrady's shooting is not so accurate, the game should still be played.
Skiles' hope was dashed within a few dozen seconds after returning from the timeout.
After Chen Jie's breakthrough missed due to Uncle Mu's interference, McGrady, who got the rebound, dribbled the ball forward and was one step away from the three-point line in the second half. McGrady directly chased for a three-pointer and the ball hit the net!
This goal completely ignited the atmosphere at Toyota Center to the extreme.
The Rocket Bears waved the flag and ran wildly, and the fans at the scene screamed desperately for their lives.
With a cool expression on his face, McGrady turned around, blew his fingers gently, and glanced provocatively at Scales, who had just called a timeout. He seemed to be saying, my ball is hot, you can
I'm not afraid if I continue to call timeout. When I come back, I can still hit.
All the Bulls soldiers looked at each other, even Chen Jie looked helpless at this moment.
What can you do if you encounter a McGrady like this?
Chen Jie, who has always been very confident and even a little arrogant, finally saw the gap between himself and the top stars this time.
Facing a top superstar player, Chen Jie knew that it was still impossible for him to defeat the opponent.
The reason why I was able to compete with Kobe and Iverson was probably just because at that time, or in that game, neither player was at his peak.
Obviously, in this game, McGrady did not look down on Chen Jie like Kobe and Iverson did, but went all out to fight Chen Jie.
And McGrady, who has shown all his strength, is indeed not something Chen Jie can handle!
I still need to continue to improve.
An idea came into Chen Jie's mind.
Looking at McGrady's back, Chen Jie secretly thought in his heart, in the previous life, you were my idol, so now, I will regard you as my goal. One day, I will defeat you and surpass you!
However, Chen Jie also knew that this was not the game.
After McGrady made three three-pointers, the score gap reached 17 points.
Then, Yao Ming came on the court and after a series of attacks on the inside, the Rockets finally brought the score gap to 20 points one minute before the end of the first half.
20 points, this is a huge gap. If the Bulls cannot make a small hit to shorten the score immediately, then this game will most likely become garbage time in the end.
24 seconds before halftime, Chen Jie assisted Noccioni to hit a three-pointer, and the score gap once again reached 17 points.
But immediately, McGrady hit a two-pointer at the buzzer, freezing the score gap at 19 points.
Throughout the second quarter of the game, McGrady was undoubtedly the absolute protagonist. If the first quarter belonged to Yao Ming, then the second quarter undoubtedly belonged to McGrady.
McGrady scored 17 points in a single quarter, helping the Rockets continue to widen the score.
If the Rockets win in the end, there is no doubt that the three three-pointers at the beginning of this quarter and the three consecutive three-pointers made by Tracy McGrady will be a watershed.
It was McGrady's three three-pointers that put an end to the Bulls' preparations for a counterattack, causing the Bulls to completely succumb to the power of the Rockets.
Three three-pointers, three consecutive three-pointers, not only expanded the score gap, but more importantly, psychologically, McGrady's three three-pointers destroyed all the Bulls soldiers including Chen Jie.
Their pride made them lower their arrogant heads.
Throughout the second quarter, if it weren't for Chen Jie and Nocchione's scoring contributions, the Bulls would not only be 19 points behind.
Even though the score gap never widened, the Bulls' performance on the court was very low on morale. Facing the Rockets' tidal wave of attacks, they seemed to have no courage to resist and could only let others ravage them.
Skiles later stopped calling timeouts because he understood that a timeout could not change the Bulls' current morale.
Maybe this is really what this game is all about?
When walking back to the locker room along the tunnel, looking at all the players wearing Bulls uniforms in front of them with their heads lowered and looking helpless, Scales sighed and said in his heart.
Facing the power of the Western Conference, do the Bulls really have no power to fight back?
Is the current Bulls really just a pseudo-powerful team, as the newspapers say?
Scales was unwilling to accept this reality, this reality that seemed to be staring him in the face.
For this team, Skiles really devoted all his efforts.
The Bulls are like Skiles' child. He wants to lead the Bulls to rebuild the glory of the previous era.
