This battle completely boosted the morale of the rockets. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 INFO Most Houston fans believe that the Rockets will definitely achieve a big comeback, eliminate the Spurs, and even win the championship.

The fourth game on May 11 also seems to be moving in the direction that fans predicted. Unlike the previous three games, this time the two sides started the game inextricably, and the Spurs only led the Rockets by one point 24-23 in the first quarter. The Rockets' bench lineup is obviously stronger than the Spurs, and as long as it is consumed, the advantage of the Rockets will come.

The two sides tied at 24 in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, the Rockets fielded a small lineup, Reed and Oku scored consecutive points, and although Duncan also beat Wallace, the Rockets relied on flashy offense to overtake the score, 70-79.

And a foul at the beginning of the fourth quarter changed the course of the series. Maddie made another gorgeous pull-up jumper to widen the margin to 12 points. But he fell to the ground in pain after landing and had no choice but to leave the field. The replay footage shows Maddie stepping on Bowen's foot when he lands (note: Bowen has injured people many times in history, and Carter the Flyer is one of his victims).

The main player left the court with an injury, but it stimulated the fighting spirit of the young players of the Rockets. Reed hit back-to-back three-pointers, and Turkoglu also had a good performance and contributed nine points in a single quarter. The final score was 98-105, and the Rockets won a hard-fought home victory over the mighty Spurs to tie the overall score at 2-2.

In this game, Yao Ming got 19+7, Tekoglu 17+3, Maddie performed bravely, and before leaving the court, he repeatedly made Spurs players foul and went to the free throw line, and got 33+6+3 in 14 of 17 free throws. Duncan of the Spurs also had an MVP-level performance, and he cut down 36+9+5.

But only one of the two MVP-level players is destined to make it to the Western Conference Finals.

The post-game diagnosis was not promising, with Maddie suffering a sprained ankle and is expected to miss two to three weeks of play. And two weeks later, the Western Conference finals are over, can the Rockets, who lost Maddy, win consecutive matches to reach the Finals?

The reality is brutal, and although Reid and Johnson, who played in place of Maddy, both played well, they still couldn't match Maddy's level.

99:109 Spurs win at home against Rockets.

106:104 Spurs narrowly beat Rockets away.

The Rockets reached the Final Four and their 2002-2003 season was over. The Chinese media had no choice but to focus on a close-up shot of Battle comforting Yao Ming.

***

Bowen received a three-game ban from the league, but that didn't affect the Spurs' fighting power. The Western Conference Finals became a Texas civil war between the Spurs and the Mavericks (narrowly defeated the Kings 4:3), and finally the Spurs eliminated the Mavericks 4:2 and advanced to the Finals again after 4 years.

The East was completely dominated by the Nets, who defeated the Celtics and Pistons (76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals) with two 4-0 sweeps to win the Eastern Conference championship in a row.

The finals became Duncan's super gorgeous solo show, Shi Fo played an average of 24.2+17+5.3+5.3 data per game in the face of the Nets' weak interior line, and completely dominated the game, and finally the Spurs defeated the Nets 4-2 to win the championship. Duncan won the MVP of the finals. In the five years since Jordan's retirement, the Spurs and Lakers have won all five championships, and Duncan and O'Neal have won three regular season MVPs and five Finals MVPs, and the two giants have completely dominated the post-Jordan era. Battle failed to get playing time in the playoffs, but he became the first Chinese player to win an NBA championship.

***

The season is over, and it's the offseason when the top players are hiring. The summer was particularly lively because the competition for the championship was fiercer.

The Triple Crown winners of the league, the Lakers, were killed by the upstart Rockets, and the veteran powerhouse Spurs won the second championship in team history. This has shown many strong opponents that the championship is not out of reach.

The Dallas Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals, and the basketball-loving owner of Cuban was satisfied, and he was ready to dig into his pocket to bring in more money.

The Lakers see their aging problems and are ready to strengthen their roster around the OK duo.

Although the Spurs won the championship, the shortcomings of the No. 1 position are obvious, and they will not be satisfied with the current status quo.

The Timberwolves have been up and down for years, and general manager McHale has to fight for it.

The Pistons in the east have picked up a big bargain and are snickering. In August 1997, the Pistons hired a player (our old Rockets teammate, the recently retired Otis Brown). Thorpe traded the Grizzlies for one of their first-round draft picks for the next seven years. But the Grizzlies have played poorly in recent years, and they have been in high ranks every year. The management was reluctant, so it dragged on for 6 years and didn't give the Pistons this draft pick. After playing in '03, the Grizzlies only had 28 wins, the sixth lowest in the league. This trade is in its final year, and this draft pick has to be given. The unlucky Grizzlies' character broke out and was drawn to second place, so the Pistons, the runner-up in the East, picked up a list in the draft year, which was really strong.

The other two bad teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the No. 1 pick, and the Denver Nuggets drew the No. 1 pick, and their road to recovery began.

The Raptors' first-round pick became the No. 7 pick, which went to the Rockets (from the Maddy Francis trade).

At this point, Dawson was already busy with the draft and free agent market, but Yuanfei was worried about something else.

***

"Mr. Alexander, I still think it would be more appropriate to continue to use Tomjanovic as the head coach."

"That's how I think about it. One is that Rudy is older and not in good health, and it is doubtful that he will be able to do the job next season; The second is that Rudy's personality is too good, and he can't pull his face down and seriously criticize the players, and it has been Hakim who has helped him criticize people for a long time. And now that Hakim is about to retire, I asked him for his opinion and he doesn't want to stay with the team. We have a lot of young players in the team, and it's inevitable that we will be a little loose, so I think it's better to find a strict and serious manager for this team. Alexander replied earnestly.

"Do you have the right person?" Yuanfei asked.

"Jeff. How about Van Gundy? He was very successful during his time with the Knicks, making the playoffs every year and having a Finals. The resume is beautiful. ”

"I know this coach well, he is very strict with the players, and traditional Orientals like Yao and Wang are very suitable for this type of manager. Maddie has a relatively weak personality and can get along. Yuan Fei changed his words: "But he is more difficult to get along with other players with relatively lively personalities, and there are many young players in our team, and it will be more troublesome if the relationship between players and coaches is not good." In addition, his players have very poor qualifications, having only played in some amateur student leagues, and players generally do not particularly respect such a manager. And Tomjanovic is a veteran of the Rockets with impeccable qualifications. In addition, Van Gundy's employment is very rigid and does not listen to persuasion. From a management perspective, I wouldn't recommend Van Gundy, who is likely to cause problems for Mr. Dawson and my work. ”

Yuan Fei's true thought in his heart was that he was afraid that Fan Bald would drag down the team. In his previous life, during his four years in charge of the Rockets, he had a 2-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs twice and was overturned, and he lost 1-4 in the first round and failed to make the playoffs once. On the offensive end, there are two sets of tactics, Maddie singles and Yao Ming singles, which caused both of them to be overtired and left injury risks.

"Well, since you're strongly opposed, forget about this candidate." Alexander reluctantly cut off this thought, "But do you have any other suitable candidates?" ”

"Rick. Adelman, whose contract has just expired. The Kings veteran has a stellar resume, nearly ending the Lakers' three-game winning streak last year. ”

"Well, this old gentleman is indeed a reliable candidate. But he was coaching at the king, and it might be a bit difficult for us to poach them. Let Dawson talk. ”

"We don't need to be impatient, if Adelman renews his contract with the Kings, we can continue to use Tomjanovich. I'm sure he's physically fit to do the job for at least one or two seasons (he coached the Lakers from July '04 to February '05). We signed him until the end of the '05 season. This is also to help the boss save some money! ”

"Very good Jason, that's it!" Hearing the money of Yali is very easy to persuade.

***

Adelman and Dawson happily exchanged coaching topics, and he showed a keen interest in the Rockets. However, he also said that he had a pleasant job with the Kings and had a certain affection for the players. After much deliberation, Adelman shortened his new contract with the Kings from the originally planned three seasons to two seasons (until the summer of 2005), when Tomjanovic's contract ended and Adelman and the Rockets reached a verbal agreement to take over.

On June 27, Adelman officially renewed his contract with the king for two years.