On the 26th, the Rockets, who had just bloodied the strong rival Lakers, moved to Denver. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Denver is located on the plateau, and it is back-to-back battles, so other teams must have complained about this kind of deadly schedule.

But the rocket is really not afraid of this, why? The bench is deep!

The elderly Olajuwon and Maddie, Oku, and Tekoglu, who played a lot in the previous game, are exempt from the game. This made the long-lost substitutes Battle and Joe. Johnson gets playing time. Battle sighed again in the face of the old master.

The Nuggets showed strong fighting power in this game. The two new nucleus performed well, Anthony played a superstar level of 37+7, and Andrew Brown. Miller also had 22+4+7 in his credits. But the interior is still dominated by Yao Ming, who contributed 16+10+3, completely suppressing the Nuggets Twin Towers, and Cambinene and the two combined only 8 points and 15 rebounds. Nene was also hit by Battle and dunked in the front, and he lost face.

Billups also made a special call to play Miller, and with Maddy's truce today, Chauncey played a good data of 14+6+10 in his possession. But in the end, it was Joe who decided the winner. Johnson, who hit a crucial quasi-killer shot in the final 8 seconds of the game, contributed a season-high 22 points (his career high was 23 points in the first two games of his transfer to the Rockets, including Joe, who was still a rookie against the Bulls on February 22, 02, cut 23+10+6, and was praised as a media spotlight for a while). The Rockets won a thrilling away game 96-95.

"Rudy, the NBA sent me a warning privately." Alexander boss said on the phone.

"Oh? About what? ”

"Warn us not to rotate the stars too much, after all, the stars are the guarantee of attendance in the game."

"But didn't we win? As long as we continue to win, our Rockets' bench can beat the main players of other teams, so what else is there to say in the league? Old Tang disagreed: "Just today, Jefferson and Reed complained to me about the lack of playing time!" Our substitutes are young and need playing time to develop! ”

"Since you insist on that, Rudy, I believe you!" Alexander also strengthened his faith.

It turns out that old fritters like Tang Shuai can also make mistakes.

On the 29th, the Rockets returned to their home court to face the weak team SuperSonics with a winning rate of less than 50%, Tang Shuai took turns to rest Yao Ming and Billups, but the team played quite unsmoothly, and it became a one-man show for Maddie, once Maddie went down to rest, the ball became very chaotic.

Ultimately it's Ray. Allen's three-point strike took away the victory. Allen scored 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting, and Barry, Lewis and Radmanovic also fired from the outside, and the four of them hit 15 three-pointers for the SuperSonics alone. Maddie got a quasi-triple-double of 33+8+11, won the stats and lost.

If you lose, the NBA league will naturally have a reason to take care of it. The league officially issued a heavy fine of $100,000 to Tomjanovich, and President Stern unceremoniously directly labeled the Rockets as "passive sabotage" at the press conference.

But then again, the alliance's punishment is also excusable. A leader like the Rockets takes a rest and doesn't affect the ratings too much. If the Clippers, Magic, and Bulls at the bottom of the list follow suit (intending to get the top pick), the team will be rotten and let the stars rest, and their ball market will be ruined. The NBA is a business league after all, and the league clearly doesn't want to lose its influence (in 2012, Popovich's Spurs rested four key players in the focus game against the Heat, and then the league imposed a heavy $250,000 fine on Popovich).

On December 31, the last day of '03, the Rockets hosted the 76ers. 76ers core star Iverson is out due to injury, and his strength cannot match the Rockets. Despite the fact that Kenny. Thomas did his best to cut down 15+12, but old teammate Yao Ming scored 21 points on his head. Maddy scored 27 points in the third quarter and the Rockets took the opponent 72-97.

In this way, the 24-7 Rockets maintained their position as the league leader at the end of '03.

The next two games of the new year were also uneventful, with the Rockets defeating the visiting Jazz and Warriors by 21 and 23 points at home.

Just when league officials thought that the dishonest Rockets team was finally willing to play with peace of mind, something happened that made them cry and laugh.

On January 7 and 8, 2004, the Rockets were scheduled to travel to the Pistons and Knicks on the road, but Maddie and Olajuwon simply did not go with the team. It wasn't until the team released the Pistons' roster of players for the first game that an explanation was given — Olajuwon suffered a back strain and Maddy had a tight hip.

Olajuwon is nearly 41 years old, a rare veteran in NBA history, and his truce is normal (Olajuwon has not been able to complete this three-year contract, and he announced his retirement in November 2002 due to a back injury). In the entire history of the NBA, there are only a few people who are over 41 years old, such as Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Stockton, Parish, Willis, etc.). But what the hell is Maddie's tight hips? Maddie isn't a!

In the face of reporters' questions, the Rockets gave a very official and decent answer - Maddie is an important core of the Rockets, and the team attaches great importance to his physical condition, and can not leave a little injury risk, and the slightest muscle soreness must be carefully checked to confirm that it is okay before playing.

Without Maddy, the Rockets failed to overcome the Pistons' iron wall, and they suffered an 18-point loss to Auburn Hills Palace Arena. But the next day, they regained the feeling of a strong team, and the small lineup was invincible, and the Knicks, who had just made a big deal and still in the run-in period, lose their armor. New Knicks signing Marbury scored just six points on 3-of-12 shooting. The Rockets were in full bloom, with Billups, Yao Ming, Wallace, Jefferson, Reed, Wang Zhizhi, and Bosh scoring double-doubles, and the Rockets defeated the Knicks 118-79.

The Lakers, the Rockets' biggest rivals, fell behind, and O'Neal pulled a muscle in his right leg in the game on January 2 and left the game directly, and was diagnosed to miss three weeks. The F4 combination was missing half of them, resulting in the Lakers losing to the SuperSonics, Clippers, Timberwolves and Nuggets, suffering a four-game losing streak, and the record was overtaken by the Kings and Timberwolves. And the Kings also lost to the SuperSonics on the same day that the Rockets lost to the Pistons and the Lakers lost to the Nuggets. Ray Allen led the team to the top three in the west, and he was in the limelight for a while.

It wasn't until the home game against the Hawks on the 9th that the Lakers regained their strength. Under the leadership of the only remaining Kobe and Payton, the two giants, they beat the weak Hawks by 46 points and ended the losing streak.

The Rockets, on the other hand, took the opportunity to start a winning streak.

On the 11th, he played at home against the Celtics, and Maddy, who had rested for two away trips, came out of the cage like a hungry tiger, slashing 41+8+6, and the Rockets narrowly defeated the opponent by 4 points.

On the 13th, the away team overturned the Wizards, and Yao Ming 21+10 should be the first credit.

On the 14th, back-to-back against the Celtics, Maddy was extraordinarily energetic against Pierce, scoring another 38 points, and the Rockets won by 10 points.

On the 17th, the home team played the Timberwolves again, this time the poor hand became a group of wolves, Garnett and Sprewell repeatedly hit the iron, although the old Cassel repeatedly scored three points, but could not stand the Rockets collective outbreak, 86:105 The Rockets defeated the opponent. Garnett only scored 19+7+6 on 7-of-20 shooting, Yao Ming 22+15, and Maddie 32+8+7 reproduced the superstar style.

After the game, the media hyped the performance of the two MVP favorites Maddie and Garnett, believing that Maddie has been far ahead in the future MVP selection through the victory of this direct conversation. Not only did he win the stats, but the Rockets' 31-8 record was also far ahead of the Wolves at 26-12.

The NBA league is realistic, and winning is the last word. As long as you keep winning, who cares if a star has an occasional "hip tension"?