Zhiba NBA

Chapter 147 (140) Lockdown
"Everyone played very well, but the defensive end still needs to be strengthened." Tang Shuai said with a smile on his face: "Strengthen some defenses against Nowitzki and Howard, and we will definitely win."

Jefferson's face darkened, and he said inwardly, "The coach is criticizing me. Howard, who is playing against me, has already scored 11 points."

"I will watch Howard, and Yao will lead the offense." McGrady took the initiative to take the responsibility, "The Mavericks fouled a lot inside, and it is very beneficial for us to let Yao play more."

Yao Ming looked at McGrady gratefully. This guy who once made everyone on the team resent him now stood up like a big brother and helped the juniors establish their authority.He also stated: "I will do my best, and I will leave it to Tracy and Chauncey to organize the offense."

"Well, Yao stays off the court to rest for 2 minutes, and try to expand his advantage as soon as he enters the court." Tang Shuai also quickly thought of the next strategy.

***
The Mavericks still wanted to hand it over to Howard, who had a good touch, but McGrady lightly walked out of a position and stretched his arms, which was a steal.Billups was already running ahead, and he caught the ball and made an easy layup.

Nowitzki punched Wang Zhizhi hard, took two steps away and squeezed out a body position, then turned around and shot a sideways jumper with one foot upright, and the ball scored!
"It's another golden rooster move!" Dayao, who was resting off the court, complained, "This move is so popular all over the world. The whole league knows that he will make such a shot, but no one can guard against it!"

"This trick is to turn around to accumulate energy during the confrontation, and then borrow the opponent's strength with a push, so landing on one foot is enough to stabilize an unbalanced body in an instant. It is simple to say, but few people have learned how to do it." Yuan Fei explained: "Speaking of the stability of the mid-range shot, Nowitzki may be the top three figures in NBA history."

(Small knowledge: As of the 2016 season, Nowitzki’s career-long two-point shooting percentage was as high as 47.6%, which is undoubtedly the top level in history. For comparison, Kobe, another mid-range shot expert in the same period, was 40.2%)

McGrady was not at all swayed by the opponent's brilliant goal. He dribbled the ball lightly against Stackhouse's defense, and suddenly took a long stride and dribbled to the left.Stackhouse immediately took a step sideways to keep up, but McGrady pulled the ball back sharply and completed the dribble behind his back in an instant.Stackhouse just pulled back his center of gravity and tried to reach out to stop him, but McGrady turned around like a spinning top and rolled over.Bradley couldn't stop it. At this moment, his inner thought was: "Let's avoid it and don't get detained again!"

McGrady made a good split, 38:30.

The Mavericks can only be handed over to Nowitzki to solve the battle, and he hit the golden rooster independently again.

The Rockets gave an order, and Yao Ming came back.McGrady didn't break his promise, and then broke through and scored the first ball to Yao Ming's basket.

The next few rounds turned into a staggered singles by Nowitzki and Yao Ming.

Howard was very depressed, not because he didn't want to fight, but because he really couldn't find a chance to make a shot.It is really too difficult to deal with McGrady when he is serious.It was also difficult for him to shoot when he got the ball. He barely shot and got a big cap from McGrady.

Turkoglu hit a three-pointer, widening the point difference to 11 points for the first time.

Josh Howard became impatient. He tried to break through and create opportunities for his teammates. As a result, McGrady cut off his dribble without being polite.The Rockets got another fast break opportunity, and Parker, who came off the bench, completed a layup.

Howard finally didn't dare to play. After he got the ball, he hesitated and passed the ball to his teammates.The only thing the Mavericks can rely on at this time is Nowitzki, who narrowed the point difference to 10 points with a high-throw three-pointer.

"Josh, don't be discouraged, kill T-Mac!" Nowitzki encouraged his teammates.

Just as Josh mustered up his courage, McGrady destroyed his defense again with a head-on pull-up jumper.

"I've worked so hard, why can't I beat this guy in front of me!" Josh finally felt powerless despair, "Is it true that hard work can't make up for the gap in talent?" But the cruelty of competitive sports is often like this. Bradley's muscles can't resist O'Neal's strong fight after 10 years of hard training. This is due to talent.

Josh finally got rid of McGrady's defense, and for a moment he felt the joy of victory.But this gleam of joy was stifled in the next moment. Yao Ming, who assisted in the defense, destroyed Josh's layup with a blockbuster shot.Josh's face was ashen, and he no longer saw the pride and confidence of the first verse.

And McGrady became more and more calm as he played. He didn't focus on scoring, but kept calmly sending assists to his teammates.With his help, Reid and Turkoglu also gradually opened up their shots. With the interior dominated by Yao Ming, the Rockets, who had an advantage on the outside, gradually opened up the point difference.

When Shi Shi was intercepted by McGrady again in the third quarter, he was completely out of balance.By this time, the little general had to make adjustments, he shook his head and replaced Josh, who was playing timidly.

And Nowitzki was already very tired. The Rockets used Bosh, Big Zhi and Turkoglu to take turns to defend him, each of them was a new force.While the other Mavericks played too hesitantly, Nowitzki had to get the ball in almost every attack, his physical fitness gradually bottomed out, and his shooting was no longer accurate.

After Nowitzki hit the iron twice in a row, Avery Johnson became more and more shaken.There is less than one quarter left in the game, and the point difference is always around 15 points. It seems that a comeback is out of reach, but it is too shameful to give up early in front of the home audience.

Reed gave him another reason to give up. He made his fourth three-pointer of the game and widened the point difference to 18 points!
At the critical moment, Van Horn was intercepted by Billups. McGrady scored the ball and passed it back to Yao Ming who was following up. Yao Ming dunked vigorously and announced the end of the suspense of the game.This shot was another perfect fit from the CTM trio.

With 6 minutes remaining, the score difference is 20 points.The Mavericks replaced the main players and announced their abandonment of the game in advance.

Josh Howard lowered his head, like a frost-beaten eggplant, almost losing the courage to continue fighting.Under McGrady's defense, he only scored 6 points in the last three quarters.

Looking up at the roof, Nowitzki seemed to be asking himself if this was yet another season that was declared an early failure.He scored a team-high 29 points, but he only grabbed 3 rebounds under the defense of the Rockets in turn, and his performance was not outstanding.

而火箭那边换下的主力球员已经在击掌庆祝胜利了。姚明出战36分钟砍下33+8，麦迪打满了前三节，贡献了26+8+10+3+3的全面数据，防守端还彻底锁死了霍华德，发挥非常出色。

At the end of the game, the Rockets beat the Mavericks by 18 points. They won 2 away games and completely crushed their opponents.For them who are about to return to the Toyota Center, a 2-4 sweep of their opponents is very close.

　A new chapter will be added at the beginning of the month, at 5 pm.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)