Chapter 532 Three consecutive lottery championships
McGrady started the singles with a dark face, and Wilson Chandler's defense caused him some trouble.
But this goal was a must-goal for the Rockets.
Rick Adelman's roar and the bright 7:0 on the scoreboard above reminded McGrady that if he didn't score again, the Rockets would face a collapse at the beginning of this game.
Facing Wilson Chandler, Tracy McGrady took a step forward, then pulled back, then made another fake shot to pray to Buddha, shook it again, activated instantly, and took a step forward.
Wilson Chandler was thrown off his center of gravity and took action involuntarily.
But McGrady jumped up very shrewdly and threw the ball away regardless of whether it could go in.
Beep!
The referee blew the whistle and directly gave Wilson Chandler a thug foul, but the foul was a bit reluctant. After all, strictly speaking, McGrady raised his hand after the whistle blew.
All we can say is that they were all fouls, and they were committed by the team that was lagging behind at the beginning, so the referee didn't care.
The Rockets finally broke their opening scoring drought thanks to McGrady's foul.
In the commentary box, Barkley shook his head: "Wilson is still too young, he can definitely let T-mac pass."
McGrady made two free throws, and the score became 7:2.
And then, the Knicks' offense.
Lin Yu still took the lead, but this time Randolph's pick-and-roll cooperation was added.
Relying on an excellent pick-and-roll, Lin Yu easily got a shooting opportunity. Unlike McGrady, he almost never hesitates as long as there is an opportunity to take a long shot.
Whoosh!
Another pull-up jump shot after a pick-and-roll hit, and the score jumped to 9:2.
During the Rockets' offense, McGrady continued to play in isolation. Perhaps the two free throws in the previous offensive round helped him find the touch to put the basketball into the basket. This time, he took a step forward and directly hit Wilson Chandler.
The defense pulled out a ball and hit it with a bang.
Immediately, the Knicks attacked.
Lin Yu's singles attracted a very decisive double attack from the Rockets. In the double attack, although Lin Yu's pass found Kwame Brown inside, Kwame Brown's close shot missed the basket.
The Rockets grabbed the rebound and counterattacked again.
It was McGrady again. After a single breakthrough, he succeeded in a layup and scored consecutively.
The score was also chased to 9:6, and the Knicks' lead was only 3 points.
It was the Knicks' turn to attack again. This time, Lin Yu was still restricted by a double attack.
With several good teammates, Lin Yu's playing style is different from last season. When faced with a flanking attack, his first choice is to pass the ball.
To put it bluntly, Lin Yu last season was a bit like a less brainless Kobe.
This season, he will learn from James, play more rationally, and play more of a role in organizing passes to connect the team.
This time he passed the ball to Lowry, who caught the ball and went to the basket for a layup and drew a foul.
Standing on the free throw line, Lowry made one of two free throws, 10:6, and the Knicks' lead reached 4 points.
The Rockets' offense and McGrady's mid-range shot missed again.
Inside, Dayao grabbed the offensive rebound and then passed the ball back.
McGrady received the ball again, and then he realized that he also had a teammate on the court who was as powerful as a killer inside, which was Yao who had just grabbed the rebound.
He found an opportunity and passed the ball in.
When Dayao faced Kwame Brown, he easily used his steps to create a space, turned around and made a layup.
"Tracy McGrady finally thought of Dayao. Dayao caught the ball and lived up to expectations and hit a layup. At 8:10, the Rockets chased down the opening deficit to only 2 points."
The Rockets continued to chase points, but Hollins' performance was much more decisive than Adelman's. He immediately paused, interrupting the Rockets' offensive during this period. At the same time, he also responded to the sudden scoring shortage due to Lin Yu being flanked during this period.
The Knicks made adjustments.
"Lin has been flanked, so we need to make some adjustments on the offensive end. Kyle, next you try to stand in the weak side corner, Zach continues to pick and roll Lin, Kwame goes to the penalty area, Wilson, return to the bottom line
…”
After the timeout, compared to the opening, the Knicks changed Lowry from the strong side to the weak side.
This undoubtedly added some difficulty to the Rockets' defense. They had to assign one person to guard Lowry in the corner. In this way, it would not be so easy to execute Lin Yu's attack from the strong side.
On the first attack back on the court, Lin Yu relied on this simple adjustment to take a mid-range shot and successfully hit it, solving the Knicks' scoring drought.
But on the other hand, the Rockets have gradually regained their form in this game. From a big deficit at the beginning, they have almost caught up, at least the score is not that far behind.
The scores also showed a mutually increasing situation. Basically, the Knicks, with Lin Yu taking the lead, could always find opportunities to score easily.
On the other side, the Big Three finally played their role. Tracy McGrady's explosion in the opening stage of the first quarter allowed them to overcome the difficulty.
Then McGrady thought of passing the ball to Dayao, and Dayao's continuous singles under the basket helped the Rockets get through the period of continuous scoring after the Knicks solved the scoring drought.
Finally, there is Artest, who makes breakthroughs from time to time, like a master of chaos outside the system, disrupting the Knicks' defense from time to time.
In the first quarter, the Knicks led the Rockets by 4 points, 29:25.
In the second quarter, the substitute lineup came on the scene. Hollins continued the rotation order of the preseason, first replacing Lin Yu and letting Zach Randolph lead the team to last the first half of the second quarter.
Ricky Davis also came on the scene at this time, and with Chalmers, James Posey and Nazr Muhammad, the Knicks' bench was obviously still outstanding.
Without Lin Yu, facing the Rockets led by Artest and Tracy McGrady, the two teams tied again and failed to break the almost even tie.
In Lin Yu's view, it is already very good for the Knicks' bench to be on par with the bench led by Artest and Tracy McGrady.
You know, the Rockets' bench lineup is not bad at all. The partner of Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady on the court is point guard Aaron Brooks. If nothing unexpected happens, the Rockets will send Alston away in the middle of the season and then correct the little black beans.
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In addition to Little Black Bean, there is also Carl Landry in the interior and Chuck Hayes in the center position.
As a Chinese fan in his previous life, Lin Yu is very familiar with this lineup. Xiao Heidou is the most improved player in the future. Landry is nicknamed the Divine Bird. He had 17+6 in his peak season. Haiye is also considered an undrafted player.
He is an inspirational example, and his peak data of 8+8 is not bad at all.
Coupled with Scola who is not on the court, Kevin Martin and Ariza who have not yet joined the team, and Lowry who is in the Knicks, this Rockets that may never appear again in this time and space has completed the lottery.
The "great achievement" of three consecutive championships, if they are placed in the Eastern Conference, they will be a member of the playoffs.
This shows the strength of this group of role players.