Chapter 901 900. Two Brothers with Love and Righteousness (Asking for Monthly Votes)

After Yao Ming came on, the Rockets' defensive intensity suddenly increased.

McGrady's breakthrough pass was very effective, and the Rockets' strategy was clear, which was to let the Hawks' role players shoot. However, Korver's touch was not good today, and he couldn't shoot. The Rockets relied on rhythm to drag the Suns to death, and in the last four minutes of the second quarter, the Hawks only scored 4 points, and the Rockets scored 7 points.

In the second quarter, Liu Mang scored 7 points and 2 assists, Jason Terry scored 13 points and 3 assists, and Iguodala, Muhammad, Josh Smith, and Mourning, who scored 17 points together with Liu Mang and Jason Terry's passes, ended the half with the Hawks leading the Rockets by 10 points 55 to 45.

Kwame Brown finally scored 4 points in the last three minutes with McGrady's breakthrough to the basket and Yao Ming's double-teaming. It was not easy!

In the third quarter, Van Gundy was still very economical with Yao Ming. So he let Yao Ming rest when he said he was tired in the previous game. Yao Ming dislocated his toe, and the team doctor suggested that he should rest for two weeks, so Van Gundy let Yao Ming rest for two weeks.

After the halftime break, Yao Ming wanted to play at the beginning of the third quarter, but Van Gundy did not agree. It was not just a problem of Yao Ming's physical fitness. Richard Jefferson also had to rest after playing the whole first half. The Rockets' strongest defense lies in David Wesley, Richard Jefferson, and Yao Ming, who can make up for the lack of defensive strength of the shooting guard and power forward.

Now, if Yao Ming is replaced, David Wesley alone is not enough, and it will only waste Yao Ming's physical fitness.

Van Gundy is indeed not good at on-the-spot reaction, but he is good at game planning.

Van Gundy could only replace Sura, another defensive cutter who relied on the contract year to average 8 points and 8 rebounds per game at the age of 32 to trick the Rockets into a 3-year, $14 million full middle-class contract in the summer of 2003, Scott Padgett, a 6-foot-tall minimum-salary forward, Maurice Taylor, and Mutombo.

Liu Mang came on the court in the third quarter, with Iguodala, Prince, Josh Smith, and Kwame Brown.

Coach Kruger thought it was better to stagger Kwame Brown's playing time with Yao Ming, and let Mourning defend Yao Ming. Kwame Brown was abused too badly.

He fought hard, but he couldn't be defended!

Jason Terry finished his swing, and it was Liu Mang's turn.

The Rockets were very wary of Liu Mang, the player with the highest three-point hits per game in the league, playing one-on-one outside the three-point line. Witherspoon mainly blocked Liu Mang's three-pointer. Liu Mang took advantage of Witherspoon's close proximity and chose to break through to attack the basket. Facing the aging Mutombo, he used his footwork to score continuously.

The Rockets' offense was the most miserable in the third quarter.

When the Rockets played against other teams, they often had an advantage in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the rotation lineup came up and gave away heads. The score difference was tied or even surpassed. In the third quarter, when Sura led the team, it was basically only Sura who played one-on-one. Sura's personal ability was okay, at least he had good skills among the starting players, but he was too confident. Now Yao Ming was more domineering. He would pass the ball to Yao Ming when Yao Ming was on the court, but except for Yao Ming, Richard Jefferson and David Wesley, he looked down on everyone else and played one-on-one, digging a hole for the Rockets.

In the third quarter, Liu Mang broke through the basket, made a mid-range jump shot, broke through and passed the ball. In six and a half minutes, he scored 12 points and 3 assists, helping the Hawks to a half-quarter score of 19 to 10. Kwame Brown played very excitedly. Yao Ming stopped defending and tried to cut, tricking Liu Mang into two assists.

With five and a half minutes left in the third quarter, the Hawks were already leading by 19 points, 74 to 55!

Seeing that the score difference was about to widen to 20 points, after the official timeout, Van Gundy could only replace all the main players in advance.

Liu Mang and Jason Terry were too brutal when it came to rotation time!

On the Hawks side, Coach Kruger's judgment was also correct. After the official timeout, he replaced Liu Mang and McGrady's outside duo.

If role players can continue to contribute, they are not role players, but stars. In the last 5 minutes of the third quarter, the Hawks only scored 6 points. Liu Mang made a mid-range shot. McGrady broke into the basket and caused Juwan Howard to foul twice. He scored 6 points with 4 free throws. The defense of the Rockets' main lineup, which rested for half a quarter during the halftime break and the third quarter, recovered the performance of the first quarter. The defense is still very targeted.

The Rockets' starting lineup is really powerful when it has enough physical strength. Otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain the fifth place in the West with such a poor substitute. The Hawks can only rely on defense and the scoring of Liu Mang and McGrady to maintain the score.

After three quarters, Liu Mang scored 27 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, McGrady scored 11 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, and the Hawks led by 15 points with 80 to 65.

…

With a 15-point lead in three quarters, Liu Mang felt that the score difference was still relatively stable. The Rockets' starting lineup was mainly to consume Yao Ming's physical strength, so this game was considered stable.

The Hawks coaching staff thought so too, so they replaced the lineup of Calderon, Jason Terry, Korver, Muhammad, and Mourning, using the twin towers to consume Yao Ming, and the outside trio scored under the leadership of Jason Terry.

After the intermission, the Rockets replaced the full starting lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter as expected.

There was nothing Van Gundy could do. If he didn't fight hard at this time, he would have no chance.

When Yao Ming saw that neither Liu Mang nor Tracy McGrady came up, you can imagine his anger.

It's so disrespectful!

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Eagles took the lead. Jason Terry made a three-pointer. Under the defense of Richard Jefferson, he missed a fadeaway jumper. Yao Ming struggled to beat Muhammad and Mourning. Grabbed a defensive rebound from a double attack.

The Rockets attack first when the offense and defense switch, and Yao Ming starts to show off his power by asking for the ball in the low post!

Yao Ming sat in the low post and beat Mourning in singles. The ruthless Yao Ming was definitely the most powerful inside killer in the league besides O'Neal. Not to mention Mourning, even Ben Wallace, who was at his peak last season, was beaten by Yao Ming got a double-20 once.

Yao Ming hit Mourning hard and smashed the ball into the basket through Mourning.

Mourning has tried every means to fight against Yao Ming, but he just can't stand it!

When the Eagles attacked, Jason Terry was prevented from having a three-point chance by Richard Jefferson. He suddenly made a pull-up jumper from the mid-range and scored two points.

On the Rockets' second offense, Mourning began to move around Yao Ming. Yao Ming followed Mourning and took a step to the mid-range of the baseline. David Wesley passed the ball to Yao Ming in time. Mourning pounced. He went up to block the shot, but Yao Ming's fadeaway jumper was almost equal to Nowitzki's golden rooster independence. It was almost impossible to block the shot from the front. Yao Ming shot from mid-range and then scored!

Yao Ming is starting to show off his power!

Mourning stayed in position, and Yao Ming played in low singles. Muhammad came up to attack from a double flank, but there was nothing he could do. Yao Ming got angry and dunked through the two defenses.

When Mourning moved forward to defend, Yao Ming went to the baseline to catch the ball and shoot from mid-range. Mourning moved forward and had to press back. When Yao Ming cut to the baseline, Mourning couldn't keep up immediately!

Yao Ming launched a fierce attack and scored 12 points in half a quarter, while the Rockets only scored these 12 points in half a quarter...

As for the Eagles, they relied on their better outside shooting ability during this period to hold the score.

Jason Terry made an emergency stop jumper and passed the ball to Calderon and Korver. Jason Terry made 2 of 5 shots and scored 4 points. Korver played for so long and finally got something in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer was hit, and Calderon also made a steady three-pointer. When Yao Ming stormed, the Eagles also scored 10 points!

At the sixth minute of the fourth quarter, when the official timeout was about to enter, the Hawks still led the Rockets by 13 points, 90-77.

Just when the Eagles thought it was safe and were waiting for the dead ball to enter the official timeout, the situation suddenly changed!

The Rockets used Yao Ming to attract a double team of Muhammad and Mourning. Juwan Howard set an off-ball pick-and-roll for Richard Jefferson from the outside. Chad Jefferson made a three-pointer.

On the next Rockets offense, the Rockets followed the same pattern. Yao Ming sent a three-point pass to Richard Jefferson, and Richard Jefferson scored again!

On the third Rockets offense, Richard Jefferson received the ball. Korver panicked and slapped Richard Jefferson on the floor for a three-point foul!

Richard Jefferson went to the free throw line and made all three free throws. The Rockets scored 9 points in a row in 1 minute!

The Eagles only relied on Jason Terry to hit a three-pointer and were beaten 9-3!

Richard Jefferson took advantage of Yao Ming's restraint and scored 9 points in a row. The two combined to score 21 points in the half quarter. At the same time, relying on defense, the Rockets limited the Eagles to only 13 points in the half quarter!

In 7 minutes, the Rockets went on a 21-13 run, narrowing the 15-point difference to 7 points!

86 to 93, the Rockets suddenly narrowed the point difference to less than 10 points!

As Richard Jefferson's free throw ended, the game entered an official timeout.

…

Everything happened so suddenly!

The situation changes suddenly!

Seeing a solid 13-point advantage, Coach Kruger originally waited for the official timeout to replace the main players, defend the point difference, and wait for the end of the game.

Moreover, the rotation lineup played very well in the first half of the quarter, withstanding the Rockets' Yao Ming's strong performance of scoring 12 consecutive points.

But who knew the Rockets would score 9 points in a row in 1 minute!

Liu Mang and Tracy McGrady quickly took off their training clothes and threw two hot hands. They had rested for most of the quarter. They originally thought that they would just go up and sharpen their defense in the last few minutes, but the opponent suddenly narrowed the point difference to 7 points!

Seeing that the Rockets are already gaining momentum, this kind of morale may allow them to reach the limit of their physical fitness. This will cause trouble for the Eagles!

Liu Mang was originally watching Yao Ming show off his power and was led by Jason Terry to resist, and he was still happy. He thought: I am dumbfounded. Your awesomeness in the inside is of no use. Without teammates, it is useless to shoot 6-for-6 from the field. !

Unexpectedly, I was the one who was dumbfounded in the end!

Richard Jefferson only dunked once today. He was very low-key offensively throughout the game, but he already scored 28 points, only two points less than Yao Ming's 30 points.

After the middle two quarters of the game, Liu Mang didn't expect to play a critical moment. He was prepared for a "low score" of only more than 20 points in this game. Who knows, he still had to play a critical moment!

…

…

The Eagles replaced the starting lineup with Liu Mang, Tracy McGrady, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Mourning.

Although Mourning was shot 6-for-6 by Yao Ming, Mourning was able to force Yao Ming to go to the mid-range. Although Yao Ming's mid-range shots were accurate, his mid-range shooting percentage was always lower than that of the basket. Mourning's front-running was much more experienced than Kwame Brown. Kwame Brown also used the front-running on Yao Ming in the second quarter, but the opponent passed the ball directly to the inside, and Yao Ming dunked it.

Mourning's front-running could at least prevent Yao Ming from catching the ball and dunking directly.

The Rockets replaced Mike James with the strongest lineup of David Wesley, Richard Jefferson, Juwan Howard, and Yao Ming.

After the official timeout, the Hawks attacked first.

Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to McGrady. The two continued to pick and roll and cut in from the wings. They were again blocked by the Rockets' quick switch defense against the two. McGrady passed the ball to Prince, who was free on the outside, and Prince took a three-pointer...

It missed!

When it was the Rockets' turn to attack, the Hawks mainly blocked Richard Jefferson and Yao Ming, and the Rockets' offense was not very effective.

The two teams fell into a period of iron shooting, and for two consecutive minutes, neither team scored a point.

The Rockets called a timeout!

Liu Mang did not get a chance to shoot after he went up, and did not shoot once in two minutes. The opponent's defense was too good.

They could only grind the defense!

After the timeout, the Rockets attacked.

Liu Mang stuck to David Wesley at the top arc, and he would break through if he wanted to. Anyway, this guy's layup ability was average, only more than 80. The Hawks' strategy was to block the opponent's outside shooting. The Rockets' most accurate mid-range shots were the two inside players.

David Wesley was stuck to Liu Mang, and he quickly pulled to the right. Liu Mang quickly rushed to the left and was blocked!

Yao Ming!

Liu Mang wanted to bypass Yao Ming, but Yao Ming grabbed his arm tightly!

The referee did not blow the whistle!

David Wesley bypassed Yao Ming's screen and before Mourning could jump out, he used Yao Ming's screen to shoot a three-pointer!

89 to 93, the difference was only 4 points!

"Despicable BIG-YAO!" Liu Mang glared at Yao Ming after Yao Ming released his arm.

"Shameless Ace Liu!" Yao Ming responded unceremoniously.

"You pulled my hand! Despicable villain!" Liu Mang didn't expect that he would use this sentence to scold others one day.

"What if I pulled you!" Yao Ming, a Shanghainese, spoke in Northeastern dialect.

At this time, the Hawks were forced to call a timeout. The two stared at each other like that, the first national inside player and the first outside player stared at each other, saying words that the referee next to them couldn't understand, but still came to separate the two.

It was because he was Chinese and people from other countries couldn't understand him when he spoke Mandarin that Yao Ming dared to fight back so shamelessly.

Liu Mang returned to the bench angrily.

When did this guy become so despicable! It is true that learning to be good may not necessarily make you good even after thirty years, but learning to be bad can make you bad in less than three years!

The fans in front of the TV in China were in an uproar. They never thought that these two people had a conflict!

After the screen switched back to them, Coach Zhang quickly explained that this was a manifestation of fierce confrontation in the NBA, and it was a normal expression of excitement after Liu Mang and Yao Ming both played brilliantly...

Coach Zhang explained it to the fans, but he admired the conflict between Yao Ming and Liu Mang from the bottom of his heart, mainly for Yao Ming!

Yao Ming played too well in the fourth quarter, and he would also bicker with the opponent, with that kind of strong attitude! Compared with the previous two years, the more willful and self-centered Yao Ming is now more appreciated by the older generation of players.

Although Coach Zhang has never played in the NBA, he has never been afraid of facing world-class players in the World Championships, and he is also the only Asian scoring champion in the Basketball World Championships!

Now people's overall academic qualifications and overall cultural level have improved, but their bloodiness has become less and less, and they always think that "peace is the most precious".

But what is sports? Isn't it just to show the soft power of the country through competition? This is war, the war of modern basketball!

Coach Zhang did not think it was bad that Liu Mang and Yao Ming could quarrel. Instead, he thought it was right. They should not play so harmoniously on the court just because they were teammates of the national team!

Liu Mang did not complain to the referee. It was useless to complain.

Although Liu Mang was one of the best players in his position, Yao Ming was not as strong as O'Neal, but he was definitely the No. 1 center in the West and one of the two best centers in the league.

In addition, this was the Rockets' home court. Although the Rockets did not have a home atmosphere at home, the referee would still give the Rockets a face.

From today's penalty scale, it can be seen that the whistle the Rockets received at home was the same as that of the Spurs. As long as it was not an obvious foul, no whistle was blown for the big double-teaming and blocking.

Liu Mang encountered such a fierce confrontation in this game, but he only had 6 free throws so far. He knew this very well.

4 points difference!

Liu Mang did not expect this to happen at all.

Liu Mang was not nervous at the end of the first quarter when the Rockets tied the game, because the advantage was huge later.

And just as Liu Mang expected, they started to have an absolute advantage in the second quarter, leading by 10 points at halftime and 15 points in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Coach Kruger used a rotation lineup to consume the opponent's starting lineup's physical strength, and there was no problem. They did withstand the opponent's starting lineup's offensive and led by 13 points in the first half.

However, the opponent scored three three-pointers in a row and made three free throws once, and played a wave of 12 to 3 in more than three minutes, narrowing the gap to 4 points!

Originally, Liu Mang thought that he had already secured a double win over Yao Ming, and had already started thinking about the next opponent, the game against the angry Sharks after the All-Stars weekend.

It seems that this kind of thought should not be allowed!

Liu Mang turned his head and looked at McGrady, and was very sure of this idea.

Thinking about something else, Liu Mang's emotions also calmed down due to his cold-blooded nature.

The score difference of 13 points suddenly became 4 points. The Hawks players had just created a 37-second tragedy not long ago, and now they felt that "retribution" had come.

Seeing that McGrady, who believed in fate, was confused, Liu Mang shouted to his teammates: "Hey, what are you panicking about? You still have me, the strongest scoring champion in history!"

Third in the category, just a little bit away from second, have lunch and continue, the next chapter will be before six o'clock, please vote for the monthly ticket!