After discussion, Yuan Fei and Tang Shuai changed their tactics for the rest of the season. Since there are already doubts about the rotten pen, fun and pavilion www.biquge.info it is better to simply put it out ninety percent. Even encountering a weak team made Maddie play less, and the veterans took turns to rest. Only when you meet some powerful teams under special circumstances can young players fight hard and exercise seriously, which can be regarded as preparing for the future.

On January 10, 2002, the Utah Jazz became their first victim. The Rockets, who had only 9-25 before the game, suddenly pulled up and grabbed the 18-16 Jazz to beat hard, although the veteran Karl Brown. Malone got a good statistic of 30+10+6, but he couldn't stand the three-man performance of Maddy's 27 points, Parker's 19 points, and Tekoglu's 21 points. The Rockets picked off their opponent 97:88 away.

On January 15, the rematch for the 76ers was completely different. Because Iverson, the core of the 76 team, has returned, Maddie has long been grinding his fists in the face of this strong opponent. As a result, there was a scoring battle, Iverson scored 58 points on 21-of-42 shooting (true data in history), and Maddie also scored 43 points, and the Rockets lost in overtime.

The next day, the Rockets traveled to Toronto to challenge the Raptors, Maddie and Carter's cousin battle, which was also a game between Francis and his old club, the Rockets. In the end, the Rockets, who were tired from consecutive away games, lost the game 103-109.

After a day of rest, the Rockets came to Boston on January 18 to challenge the 23-14 Celtics. This time, the Rockets went all out without reservation, Maddy hit a 26+15+10 triple-double, and although the Celtics twins Walker and Pierce each played well, the Rockets kept the victory until the end with Reed's key three-pointer. At 104:101, the Rockets won away from a strong opponent.

Next, it was back-to-back, the Rockets moved to New Jersey, facing the 26-12 Nets, a strong opponent, and fought hard until the fourth quarter, and finally lost.

***

It's April 10 in the blink of an eye, and the Rockets have a 25-52 record (only two fewer wins than the same period in history due to the incomplete swing in the second half of the season). The players couldn't help but petition, and this time even the old captain Olajuwon couldn't stop this group of suffocating young people.

"Coach, we know the team has a plan, but it's the end of the season, can you let us play seriously." Thomas pleaded.

"Let Tracy play 40 minutes and lead us to a game!" Wallace couldn't stand it either. He didn't turn 20 until the summer, and he was the youngest in the team.

Magloyl sighed, "I think so too. ”

"In the previous three consecutive defeats on the road, Tracy only played an average of 28 minutes per game. We can see that. Jefferson also complained.

"Counting the previous home loss to Spurs, it has lost four in a row." Tekoglu also complained.

Parker didn't say anything, just stared at the coach's face, his eyes full of anticipation.

The old fritter Tang Shuai was also a little embarrassed, and hurriedly played Tai Chi and pushed it out. "Jason, what do you think?"

'It's good that I think the young players have fighting spirit, we lost a lot of games but people weren't frustrated, which is good.' Yuan Fei said slowly: "So, let's make this secret that is not a secret public, we were really messing up before." Of course, no one is allowed to admit it to the media. Since everybody wants to win so much, then I'm going to declare that it's over. I'll take the responsibility on the boss's side. ”

"Long live Jason! Long live the coach! The players erupted in cheers.

Yuanfei whispered to Tang Shuai: "I think I have lost enough, anyway, there are only 5 games left, win more to give them some expectations, and also give fans some expectations (Note: Yuanfei only remembers the approximate ranking of the rockets, specific to a certain season, a small fan of middle school students after more than ten years obviously can't remember clearly). ”

So it's time for the hapless team to stand up for this suffocated Rockets.

The Dallas Mavericks on April 11 were the unlucky ones. Even Gerrard, who had a mediocre season all season. Wallace both had a simple double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Maddie 25+10+7 is an understatement of quasi-triple-double. The Mavericks who wounded Nowitzki simply couldn't stop the rocket. It is worth mentioning that Wang Zhizhi got 9 points and 5 rebounds in this game (real data in history). 98:85 Rockets win.

Next, return to the home court to face the Trail Blazers. Big Dream and Pippen met with their old teammates, and Parker stole the show to score a career-high 24 points. 80:82 Rockets narrowly won.

On April 14, the Rockets prepared Thorpe's retirement ceremony for the Grizzlies at home on April 14, and this game certainly cannot be missed. But the 21-win Grizzlies showed strong combat effectiveness, Gasol played an 18+11+8 quasi-triple-double, and the defensive expert Battier also made Maddie quite uncomfortable. The Rockets were all soldiers, and seven players scored in double figures. Even old Thorpe fought hard to play an 11+6 performance. In the end, 98:101, the Rockets narrowly defeated their opponents at home. After the game, Thorpe said goodbye to the fans affectionately and left the familiar arena amid the cheers of the fans.

On April 16, the Rockets came to the plateau to challenge the Nuggets away, and in order to prepare for the back-to-back finale games of the second day, Maddy and Thorpe were rested. Jefferson hit a career-high 30 points, but the Rockets still lost.

In the final game on the 17th, the Rockets came to Portland to fight the Trail Blazers again. This game has nothing to do with rankings, and the Rockets have rested Parker, Curry and Big Dream. But the Trail Blazers were obsessed with the loss a few days ago, and actually beat the Rockets 9-26 in the opening game. Even the substitute veteran "Rain Man" Kemp (a supersonic superstar in the 90s, who has long since slipped to the bench) returned to play 12+10, and Wallace, who was angry, yelled. And there is a shouting originator in the pioneer formation - "Roaring Heavenly Venerable" Rashid. Wallace, this old Hua also abused Xiaohua without temper. Fortunately, Parker's bench Brown played well, playing 16+5+7 at a super level, and the Trail Blazers couldn't let the main team be too tired in preparing for the playoffs. In the second half, the main Trail Blazers rested, and the Rockets, led by Maddy, fought to catch up and finally won 95-92 away from home.

At the end of the season, the Rockets finished the season in 11th place in the West with a record of 28 wins and 54 losses (the same historical true record). Yuanfei secretly regretted that if he lost a little more, he would be able to surpass the Nuggets with 27 wins.

***

Yuanfei vaguely felt that something was wrong because the Raptors won 3 more games than in history due to the presence of Francis, ranking fourth in the East with a 45-37 record and facing the 44-win Hornets in the first round (fourth in history, fifth for the Magic, and seventh for the Raptors. But because the Magic failed to trade to Maddy, they didn't make the playoffs).

In the following playoffs, the Raptors defeated the Hornets 3-2 in the first round, but were beaten 4-1 by the Eastern Conference champion Nets in the second round. The combination of Francis and Carter failed to make a big impact on the history of the league. The Nets defeated the Celtics 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the Finals.

In the West, Cuban was once again proud as the Dallas Mavericks swept the Timberwolves 3-0. Wang Zhizhi played 17 minutes and scored only 2 points. In the second round, the Mavericks were eliminated 1-4 by the mighty Kings. On the other side, the Lakers also eliminated the Spurs by the same score and met the Kings in the Western Conference Finals.

As in history, the Kings led the Lakers 2-1 and took a 40-20 lead in the first quarter of Game 4. At one point in the second quarter, the score was 50-26, and the huge difference of 24 points was enough to make the Lakers desperate. But the Lakers, led by Kobe, began to fight back, and Bryant scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the second quarter, and finally the two teams were only 14 points apart at the end of the first half. The star of the third quarter was O'Neal, who broke down the defense of Kings center Divac with consecutive strong baskets. In the fourth quarter, Fat suddenly lost his offensive rhythm and shot 0-of-5, but his terrible free throws actually came into play, making 4-of-4 free throws. Those precious four points helped the Lakers drag the game into the final two minutes. With 1:52 left in the game, the Kings Quentin. Richardson hit a 2-pointer to give the Kings a 96-90 lead, and victory seemed within reach. Hawley hit a three-pointer to pull the Lakers back from the death line, 96-93. Webb assists Divac to give the Kings a 98-93 lead. Bryant immediately hit a shot back to make it 98-95. The Kings missed the shot, and Divac fouled O'Neal. O'Neal went to the free throw line again, hitting 2 of 2 free throws again, and 98-97 Staples Arena was boiling!

With just 27 seconds left in the game, the Kings' key offense, Bryant fouled Divac. The center, whose career free throw shooting rate is 7 percent more accurate than O'Neal's, actually made 1 of 2 free throws. 99:97 Lakers trailed by 2 points but got the ball. The Lakers have 11 seconds left to attack. Bryant missed, but O'Neal grabbed the rebound and missed the shot, but Holly grabbed the rebound again. Hawley three points, ball in!

99:100 The defending champion Lakers won magically, and the score was tied 2-2.

The Kings returned home court and the Lakers returned a quasi-shot, which was shot by "White Devil" Mike. Beebe. The Lakers' last attack, Kobe Bryant, could only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat, and the Kings won the match point 3-2.

The sixth game was ruled by the referee (the referee on duty in 2008, Tim Brown). Donathy accused the NBA league of wanting the series to reach Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to boost box office revenue, while the league prefers to have the Lakers complete a three-game winning streak to create buzz for the market. The Kings' main center Divac played 31 minutes and was fouled for six fouls, and the core Webber also fouled five times. The Lakers made 40 free throws, and even O'Neal, who was inaccurate, once again overplayed 13 of 17 free throws. The Kings lost by 4 points.

In the seventh game, Divac was completely frightened by O'Neill, playing only 27 minutes before leaving the game with six fouls. The two teams battled fiercely until overtime, and in the end, O'Neal cut 35+13+2, Kobe contributed 30+10+7, and the two superstars led the team to defeat the strongest opponent on the way to defending the title. The Lakers advance to the Finals! (This series is a real event in history, except for Richardson in the text, whose place in history belongs to Turkogru.) ）

The Finals were completely one-sided, and the Nets' weak interior couldn't stop O'Neal from playing. The Lakers beat the Nets 4-0 to win three consecutive championships!

On June 12, at Tomjanovich's home, Yuan Fei and Tang Shuai witnessed the Lakers' championship in front of the TV.

"The championship has been predicted by you again, the eye of the future." Tang Shuai said with a smile.

"But the time has come to change the future. Our mess is over, old friend. ”