Zhiba NBA

Chapter 36 (35) Re-engraving the Miracle

The Rockets had 1 win and 3 losses against the Spurs in the regular season, and only won the first game in 02. The 03 regular season lost three games in a row, and with these two games, the Rockets have lost five games in a row.

Alexander did not criticize Smith and Yuan Fei, but encouraged them, saying: "We defeated the defending champion under the unfavorable conditions of losing the head coach. It is already very good to reach the second round. It doesn't matter if we lose to the Spurs. Anyway, our players are very young, and they will definitely be stronger next season. For the rest of the game, just do your best."

This made Smith a little relieved, but Yuan Fei was still frowning.

Smith, who was relaxed, became active on the contrary. He changed his tactical plan and decided to try defensively.

回到主场的火箭球员果然放下了包袱，全力去拼。以首发小前锋身份出场的华莱士防得鲍文前三节6投0中1分未得，全力防守的麦迪也防得吉诺比利7投1中靠着罚球才得到6分。

But McGrady's energy is focused on defense, which consumes a lot, and his offensive end is not so effective.No one in the Rockets could contain Duncan's performance. Smith had to let McGrady go down to rest in the fourth quarter. Duncan had already scored 28 points.After most of the ball, the Rockets' offense was very bad, and the point difference gradually widened.

In the last half of the game, the Rockets were still 82 points behind at 69:13. The goddess of victory seemed to be beckoning to the Spurs again.

Wallace broke through and scored to Olajuwon, who scored at the basket, 82:71.

Spurs substitute Steve Smith missed a jumper and Dameng grabbed the rebound again.Wallace broke through and assisted Olajuwon again for a dunk, 82:73.

Malik Rose assisted Duncan for a dunk in return.Billups hit the iron with a jumper, but Wallace squeezed away Rose to grab an offensive rebound, assisted Reid to make a three-pointer, and there were 84 minutes and 76 seconds left in the 3:40 game!Relying on Wallace's wonderful performance, the Rockets saw a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

But the calm stone Buddha is as unshakable as a mountain. Duncan immediately assisted Cole and returned a three-pointer, 87:76, and the point difference returned to double digits.

Billups broke through Clarkston's defensive emergency stop and made a jumper, 9 points away!Popovich called a timeout and Ginobili and Robinson came on.The Rockets replaced Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

Ginobili missed a three-pointer, Cole grabbed an offensive rebound but Smith still missed a shot, Robinson still missed a tip-up, and Yao Ming protected the rebound.Wallace scored 2 points on a fast break layup, 87:80.

Duncan was blocked by Wallace for a layup. Billups attacked and passed Wallace again. The jump shot scored 87:82. In the last minute of the game, only 1 points were left!It's Wallace again!His super-level key performance helped the Rockets quickly catch up with the score.

Popovich called a timeout again, Jackson and Bowen came on, and Smith and Cole were replaced.This lineup will play until the end of the game.

Ginobili dribbled the ball a lot and suddenly broke through Billups in a snake shape. Then he passed Duncan with a fake move, but transferred the ball to the other side.The young Wallace played too excitedly before and was a little distracted. He missed Bowen in the bottom corner.

鲍文三分命中！之前6投0中的鲍文投中了这个价值连城的三分球！90:82，比赛只剩下44秒，火箭队基本提前被宣判了死刑。

Some fans at the Compaq Center have already started to leave. A team with such experience as the Spurs will hardly make any mistakes at the last minute to give the Rockets a chance.Most of the remaining fans began to pray to God to grant them a miracle.And will God really hear?
The Rockets served, and Billups advanced quickly, but it still took 6 seconds to pass the halftime under Ginobili's interference, and he immediately passed it to Tracy McGrady.Wallace stepped forward to screen and blocked Bowen. McGrady took a step without hesitation. Facing Jackson who switched defenses, he directly made a jumper.

The goal was scored, 90:85, only 35 seconds left in the game, 5 points are not irreversible!
Yuan Fei on the sidelines suddenly widened his eyes, as if he thought of a miracle he had witnessed.

The Rockets immediately fouled the Spurs (Note: Since there are only 35 seconds left in the game, and each attack in the NBA can consume 24 seconds, the Rockets can only use foul tactics to prevent the Spurs from wasting time, and wait for the Spurs to get the ball after free throws before attacking).Stephen Jackson, who made 76% of his free throws this season, made two free throws (Note: The free thrower in history was Devin Brown, but in 03 Devin Brown was still a marginal player and couldn't play, so the text was changed to Jackson), 92:85, and the Rockets were still 7 points behind.

The Rockets attacked, Yao Ming stepped forward to cover and tried to block Bowen, but Duncan immediately jumped out to make up the defense.McGrady made a shooting motion, and Duncan rushed to block the shot with all his strength, but unexpectedly, McGrady only made a fake move. Duncan used too much force to make contact with McGrady. At this time, McGrady used the strength of his waist and abdomen to fold in the air after contact and completed the shot.The referee whistles, foul.This three-pointer was also hit steadily, 3+1!

Maddie made a free throw, 92:89, only 3 points away!

The Toyota Center was boiling.Yuan Fei was dumbfounded, this familiar scene, could it be...

The Rockets fouled again, this time on Duncan.Duncan, who made 71% of his free throws this season, made two free throws steadily, which disappointed the Rockets players.As usual, Duncan and Jackson made 4 of 3 free throws, but they performed super-level and actually made 4 of 4 free throws.

The Rockets called a timeout and served from the center line.

Bowen clinging to McGrady made it difficult for the Rockets to serve, and Wallace almost violated the serve for 5 seconds.McGrady went around the center line and used his height advantage to receive Wallace's lob serve. He quickly dribbled and rushed forward, and Bowen was close to him.McGrady dribbled beyond the three-point line and made another pull-up jumper, and the goal was scored! At 94:92, there are 11.2 seconds left in the game, only 2 points away!

The Spurs served the ball at halftime, and the ball reached Jackson in the bottom corner. McGrady and Wallace suddenly double-teamed him. Jackson fell to the ground unexpectedly, and the Spurs had run out of timeouts (teams without timeouts will be sentenced to technical fouls)!

Wallace successfully steals the ball, McGrady gets the ball and dribbles to the three-point line, jumps high and makes a jump shot, the ball is scored, and the Rockets overtake the score at 94:95, with only 1.7 seconds left in the game!
At this moment, McGrady is like God wearing a Rockets jersey, invincible!
***
Without a timeout, the Spurs obviously cannot complete an effective attack within 1.7 seconds (Note: After calling the timeout, serving the ball from the center line can form an attack immediately, but without a timeout, the ball should be served from the bottom line).With Ginobili missing a long three-pointer, the game ended.

At 94:95, relying on McGrady scoring 35 points in the last 13 seconds, the Rockets completed a shocking reversal at the last moment.

前三节发挥不佳的麦迪最终25投11中贡献了28+7+3，姚明11+8，华莱士成为火箭的另一位英雄，他贡献了15+7+5。邓肯空砍了32+10+4，仍未能带队在客场带走胜利。

（注：史上35秒13分神迹发生于2004年12月9日的火箭对马刺的常规赛上。因为时代不同，和文中有少许出入）

(End of this chapter)