Zhiba NBA

Chapter 207 (two hundred six) The Second Battle of the Lake of Fire
On February 2, the Rockets beat the Sonics by 3 points at home.

On February 2th, they faced the underdog Knicks in an away game and unexpectedly fell into a hard fight, and finally won by 5 points.

2月6日，火箭在费城地盘18分大胜76人。至此他们不声不响再次取得了5连胜，以42胜5负的战绩继续领跑联盟。此时，72胜的纪录看上去并不遥远。

But the real test is yet to come. After returning to the home court for a day of rest, they will face the challenge of the full lineup of the Lakers.After the halfway baptism of the regular season, the US media basically reached a consensus on the prediction of the playoffs. The Rockets are the number one favorite, followed by the Lakers and Pistons.If there is a team that can beat the Rockets, the Lakers are obviously the most likely.Because the Lakers are a newly built formation, they can continue to improve after running-in, and they have great potential.The Pistons' Five Tigers lineup has lost to the Rockets for two consecutive years.

After Gasol's comeback, the Lakers' lineup has undergone some grinding and polishing, and it has achieved initial results.Van Gundy, who has always been stubborn, rarely listened to the advice of Jason Bass, put Odom on the bench, and adopted the twin towers of Gasol and Mutombo to start.In fact, it's not that Baldy Fan is obedient, but that he has always been dissatisfied with Odom's sloppy attitude.Odom is also open-minded. He considers that Mutombo is old and lacks physical fitness. As long as he can guarantee his playing time, it doesn't matter whether he starts.

After several trials, Bu Laiqie was completely sidelined by Van Gundy.The actual center substitute behind Mutombo is Gasol. In the second team, Odom will play the fourth position and Gasol's partner, and Mihm will become the second substitute inside.

"So, I will be playing against Gasol a lot of the time, not that old uncle Mutombo?" Yao Ming asked.

"That's right, that's it." Yuan Fei said: "Chris has a lot of responsibilities, except for Gasol and Odom, both of whom are not good at it; not to mention Richard, Kobe has to be defended by you; Reid defends Battier, just pay attention to his three-pointers; as for Chauncey, his brain is clearer than mine, so there is no need to talk nonsense."

Jefferson showed a wry smile. Kobe has been in such a good state recently, who wants to guard against him at this time?Maybe he is the person in the Rockets most looking forward to McGrady's comeback.But Jefferson never expected at this time that he himself was the most eye-catching person at the beginning of the game.

Gasol jumped the ball to win, and the Lakers took the lead in getting the ball.Mutombo received the ball inside and Gasol made a high-low cooperation, and the latter opened the scoring with a jumper.

Bosh showed no sign of weakness, received a pass from Jefferson and immediately shot, hit!The power forwards of both sides opened their mouths.

Bryant held the ball in high post singles, Jefferson didn't know which tendon had a twitch and suddenly reached out to steal the ball, but it was a pity that Bosh missed a shot during the fast break.Now Kobe felt ashamed and wanted to get it back no matter what.He hit Jefferson hard with his back, swayed left and right to get out of the gap and shot a jumper, but missed.

The two sides fell into a long iron war.Yao Ming, Shane Battier, Billups, Williams, Reid and Kobe Bryant each missed shots. The game has gone on for 4 minutes and the score is still a poor 2-2.

Finally, Jefferson received a pass from Billups and hit a three-pointer, giving the team an advantage.

"Richard is too hot today, isn't he?" Yuan Fei couldn't help admiring.

"Isn't that right, he hit a three-pointer at the beginning, sent out assists, and defended Kobe three times." Adelman was full of praise for his performance.

Ah Shuai was too happy this time.Then Kobe returned to his killer qualities, hit Jefferson with three consecutive backs, and quickly overtook the score.

"Kobe's back-up technique has reached the point of proficiency. It is difficult for Richard to guard him. Only his own touch can guard him." Yuan Fei said helplessly.

Kobe turned around and walked to the bottom line again. Yao Ming stepped forward to make up for it, and together with Jefferson, Kobe was double-teamed in a very bad position.But Kobe took his time, and a ground pass has been handed over to Gasol at the free throw line. The latter made a mid-range shot and made a hit.

"When Kobe started passing the ball calmly and didn't insist on singles, he was simply invincible." Yuan Fei's expression became more and more ugly.

Gasol held the ball with his back to the basket in a high position. He passed the ball behind his head to Battier, turned around and cut to the basket.The two are old teammates of the Grizzlies. Naturally, there is a tacit understanding. Battier will pass back to Gasol, and the latter catches the ball and dunks successfully at the basket!
"When did the Lakers have such a variety of cooperation?" Bosh and Yao Ming, the inside partners, were confused, they couldn't figure out the opponent's routine.

Then they became even more confused. When it was time for the official timeout, Van Gundy still let Mutombo go off the field in the old way, and Odom came off the bench to fill the fourth position.Now, Gasol and Odom, a pair of inside partners who are good at passing, combined with Kobe and Deron, the team's passing ability is very strong, and they both have shooting ability.The Lakers dazzled the offense even more.

Gasol held the ball in a high position and made a wonderful pass to Deron. Deron pretended to shoot and attracted Reid's help defense. Then he divided the corner to Battier and scored a three-pointer from the open!

Yao Ming worked so hard and successfully returned a goal in singles.Here Gasol holds the ball in a high position, and four teammates run at the same time. Kobe and Odom both cut to the basket, disrupting the Rockets' defensive formation.

"For the first time, I felt that it was very difficult for us to score. It was easy for the opponent to score." Jefferson said with a bitter face.

After the first half, the score became 49:37, and the Lakers led by a big score.

"This opponent is very resilient, so don't be careless! Continue to fight fiercely, and don't give the Rockets a chance to comeback." Kobe is still constantly motivating his teammates.

"That's right, don't forget that they are the team that fell behind 1-3 in the Finals and made a shocking comeback!" Van Gundy was very satisfied with the performance of the players, especially with Kobe's fighting spirit, but he still put on a fierce face and yelled.That's his coaching style.

In the third quarter, a lot of time is the competition of the second team.The rookies of the Rockets, Spann and Roy, have brought many victories to the team this season. Just at this time, Kobe is off the court again. The Rockets players are still full of confidence and feel that this is a good opportunity to chase points.But Roy's first layup was slapped by Mutombo with a big cap, and Deron got the ball and made a fast break.

Span confronted Deron head-on, and only then did he understand why his opponent was a high-ranking rookie.The strength of this little chubby is simply at the level of an insider. When his body made contact, he remained motionless, but he almost bounced Span away.Span forced a layup against the defense, and under the pressure of Deron, his posture was quite awkward and he made a shot.After attacking back, Deron took control of the ball unhurriedly, and seemed to be delaying time.Suddenly he accelerated after a cross step, and instantly left Span behind him, making an easy layup.

"My God, is this humble guy so strong?" Spann was a little dazed.

Deron Williams is expensive, so he is naturally very strong.It's just that Kobe and Gasol have too much possession of the ball to cover up his strength.When Kobe was off the court to rest, this little chubby pier burst into light.

When Kobe returned to the court, the point difference had gone straight to 20 points.In the fourth quarter, the Rockets replaced the main players and gave up.

At 101:78, the Rockets ended the match with a home defeat.Bryant didn't have full firepower, he scored 29 points in just a small test, Gasol scored 27+11, and Deron contributed 19+4+9. The three of them taught the Rockets a good lesson.

(End of this chapter)