Yao Ming's brilliant performance of two consecutive doubles conquered the American media. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 INFO Sports Illustrated once again put Yao Ming's photo on the cover, titled "Yao Next Year". And ESPN also gave a very high evaluation - an analysis article of "Who is the second center in the NBA", praising Yao Ming as the second center after O'Neal in just 2 months.

This is true for the media, and even more so for the fans. Yao Ming led O'Neal all the way in the All-Star Game vote and has a tendency to become the starting center in the West.

(Quick fact: The All-Star Game began in 1951 with the main purpose of attracting attention, increasing popularity and influence, and ultimately increasing player income by bringing together star players in the league.) In the era of the article, the rule was for fans to vote for one center, two forwards and two guards in the East and West to be the starters of the All-Star Game. ）

Now that Yao Ming has received such high praise and attention, people can't help but start comparing him to O'Neill. The Rockets, as the league's No. 1 dark horse, and the Lakers are the defending champions and the Triple Crown, and the meeting between the two is very exciting. In the last game of the Lake of Fire, O'Neal was absent, Yao Ming scored 20 points for the first time to lead the team to victory, and let Barkley kiss the donkey's butt. This time O'Neill is here, but it's not that simple.

Yao Ming is also looking forward to the upcoming summit showdown with O'Neal, but he still has to face the current game first:

In the first game of the new year on January 4, the fast-paced Warriors caused a lot of trouble for the tall Yao Ming, and the final result was 88:91 The Rockets defended their home court. The Warriors' young center Murphy performed well and got 23+10, and Yao Ming got 11+17 (real data).

On the 7th at home against the Timberwolves, Billups finally proved his worth in the face of his old club, he played a quasi-triple-double of 14+7+11, and the Rockets defeated the opponent by 8 points.

Back-to-back away games against the Magic on the 8th, the long journey made the Rockets start to feel tired. Big Dream rested as usual, Yao Ming played 37 minutes in the first game and got 23+11, which completely broke the same level student Gooden, and Maddie also contributed 27+5. 101:81 Rockets won away from home.

On the 10th, the Rockets traveled to Atlanta, the same venue where the All-Star Game will be held. The fatigue of the Rockets' days of trekking finally exploded, and although Maddy scored 40 points on 14-of-22 shooting, the rest of the players were completely out of order. 89:94Hawks upset win over Rockets.

On the 11th, the Rockets returned to their home court against the weak Nuggets, and finally narrowly defeated the opponent 85-90. ended this sinister schedule of 5 days, 4 games and 3 away games. At the beginning of the season, the Rockets schedule is relatively loose, and in the middle of the season, fatigue is the enemy of the players. Nuggets' young Brazilian center Nene . Hilario had an eye-catching performance and got 14+10. The Rockets Billups got 25+4+6, and Maddy also contributed 26+7.

Next, the Rockets won the Celtics at home, but were upset by the visiting Suns. Marbury, Marion, Stoudemire and Magloyer each scored 20+ points, especially the 24+13 Xiao Si suppressed the 11+7 Yao Ming, and the little horse brother also showed his strength in front of his old club. Houston fans still love Little Pony and gave him a warm applause when he dunked. After the game, Big Dream also warmly invited his junior Magloyer to dinner.

After a day of rest, the highlight of the 17th came the long-awaited event for fans. The 28-9 Rockets host the 18-20 Lakers, but welcome the return of O'Neal. Before the start of the competition, Da Meng's words were amazing.

"Let Yao start, the audience wants to see him fight against the sharks." Olajuwon gave this advice empatheticly: "I'm old, I'll be Yao's replacement in the future." Tang Shuai also pushed the boat down the river and put Yao Ming in the starting lineup.

The starters for both sides were in action, with Yao Ming, Wallace, Turkoglou, Maddy, Billups taking on O'Neal, Walker, Fox, Bryant and Fisher.

At the beginning, O'Neal leaned back against Yao Ming on the inside to ask for the ball, and after receiving the ball, he used a big PG to sit and hit Yao Ming, and Yao Ming was no longer the rookie who was bullied by another (Jermaine) O'Neal. He lowered his center of gravity and was not pushed away by Ao Fat, and when Ao Fat turned over and made a hook move, Yao Ming raised his hand violently to meet him.

"Smack!" A big hat, Yao Ming gave O'Neill a Chinese hot pot on the first ball! The fans in the stadium immediately boiled.

"Awesome!" Parker and other substitute players also applauded Yao Ming.

And Yao Ming did not slack off, and when he saw Billups get the ball, he also began to run wildly. At this time, Da Yao had not gained weight, and his speed was quite good, but Ao Fat failed to keep up. Yao Ming ran directly to the Lakers' interior line, and receiving the pass was a dunk. 0:2 The Rockets scored first. Seeing this dunk, Da Meng laughed and said: "It seems that letting Yao Xianfa is really the right choice, the young man didn't disappoint me!" ”

Big Dream laughed too early, and the surprise was still to come. On the court, Bryant hit a three-pointer to overtake the score. The Rockets missed Maddy's jumper and the Lakers regained possession. O'Neal was eager to save face, and a hook shot ate Yao Ming's big hat. After coming back, Yao Ming received a pass from Maddie and scored a hook hand, and the Rockets took the lead again at 3:4.

On the bench, the Rockets were already laughing. Good for you, O'Neal, the No. 1 superstar in the league, the MVP of the three-time finals, was taught to be a man by our rookie today. Here Kobe Bryant and Fox hit consecutive shots, and the Lakers took the lead again at 8:4.

Yao Ming received another pass from Maddie and scored a jumper. O'Neill couldn't take it anymore and reached for the ball again, this time he opted to throw. As a result, I ate the third big hat raw!

This time, even the Rockets players couldn't believe it, and many home fans were stunned. Yao Ming scored 6 points on 3-of-4 shooting and handed out 3 blocks in the opening 3 minutes (a real event in history). Is this rookie really going to torture the big shark?

Of course, O'Neill just started slowly, and he didn't really beat Yao Ming. Soon he found his groove and played in succession. Yao Ming was unable to confront the powerful O'Neal head-on, and his shooting also lost his crosshairs. At the end of the first half, O'Neal scored 11+4+3 on 5-of-10 shooting, while Yao Ming missed 4 shots and still only had 6 points and 3 blocks. Similar to Yao Ming, the Lakers' other superstar Kobe Bryant. Bryant came up and hit two three-pointers in a row and suddenly lost his touch, and hit iron again and again under Maddy's defense, and got 10+7+7 on 2-of-12 shooting in the first half. Maddie scored 15+5+3 on 5-of-8 shooting, and the two superstars of Komai were inseparable. The score of the two teams was also quite close to 47:46.

The Rockets returned to the locker room, and Yao Ming kept panting. Fighting the shark for nearly 20 minutes consumed a lot of his physical strength. So far this season, he has played more than 30 games, less than half of the regular season, but that's almost the same amount of games as a whole year in the CBA. For Yao Ming, such a large number of competitions and a dense schedule made him uncomfortable.

"I can't do it, I can't bear it." It was Wallace who shouted first. "That Samaki. Walker is so strong, I can't bear it, he has to help Yao assist, that shark knocked me and Yao together! ”

"My opinion is that in the third quarter, no matter how strong O'Neal is, speed is not a strong point. Use Oku to drain his energy and fight it out again in the fourth quarter. What do you think? "Tang Shuai has always been a democratic coach, he has great respect for the opinions of the players, and he is deeply loved by the players.

"I think it's good, I'll do the bench on the inside in the third quarter, let Yao rest." Big Dream said.

"Leave it to us." Oku is also full of confidence.

"Our interior rotation is a bit weak, Jason." While the players were talking about it, Tang Shuai approached Yuanfei and whispered: "It's okay for Magloyer and Thomas to take one, but two at once, the depth of the inside line is a little reduced." This is obviously not suitable for public speaking, otherwise it would not be respectful enough to Bryant and Long, the two 10,000-year substitutes.

"I've thought about it. Please rest assured, I will report to the boss on the right candidate and try to get the result before the transfer deadline. "Yuanfei seems confident.

***

"In the third quarter, the Rockets often used small-ball tactics, Shaq you have to be careful." The wise elder with white whiskers (similar to KFC's signature) who spoke is naturally the current NBA's gold medal coach - the legend who led the Bulls to win three consecutive championships twice and led the Lakers to complete three consecutive championships - Zen master Phil. Jackson is up.

"Haha, I'm not afraid of their juggling." The big shark said proudly: "The Warriors like to play fast basketball like that, isn't it a bad team?" Basketball relies on super centers, Rockets? Hakim is old, Yao is not good yet! ”

"We've got to be ready to go down and rest if you don't handle it well, and then we'll decide it in the fourth quarter." Jackson said calmly.

***

At the start of the second half, the Lakers players despite the fact that they were in Phil. Jackson was reminded to prepare, but was still taken aback when he saw the Rockets.

Oku, Tekoglu, Maddie, Reed, and Parker appear in front of them.

"Maddie's size is okay with playing small forward, that Turkish mustache should be in the opposite position with me, right? Can he play inside? "Robert. Holly wondered.

But soon the Lakers tasted the bitterness because these five guys were too strong in long-range shooting. Maddie's attack is the strongest and can't be released, Reed is a magic shot, needless to say, even Turkoglu and Oku can pull out and shoot three-pointers, O'Neal and Hawley can only defend themselves, and the inside line is suddenly scattered by Parker.

Turkoglu hit another three-pointer to give the Rockets a five-point lead! "Is there any mistake, how do these guys feel so good?" Hawley roared.

"Does it just feel good?" Yuan Fei on the sidelines sneered and flipped through his data. This season, Turkoglou is shooting 37.2 percent from three-point range, Oku 35.9 percent and Reed 43.8 percent, while the league average is 34.9 percent, and the Rockets are all above average.

Maddie broke through the dunk and caused Fox to foul, 2+1, and the difference was 8 points!

Although the Rockets can't guard O'Neal, as long as they play offense before the Lakers settle down, the success rate is frighteningly high. Jackson finally couldn't sit still and replaced O'Neal.

Tang Shuai was soon replaced by Olajuwon and Jefferson, and the battle between the two towers began. Another wave against Samaki. Walker's crushing. After the sharks went down, the Lakers were obviously short of height inside. At the end of the third quarter, 72:84 the Rockets were already far ahead.

In the fourth quarter, the rested shark began to show its teeth and claws again, and Yao Ming, who was also in a full state, also greeted him. It's another tough battle.

In the end, the Lakers lost to the Rockets 104-108. O'Neal won the stats and lost, he cut 31+13+4, and Kobe Bryant hit a quasi-triple-double of 22+11+9. For the Rockets, Maddie is 44+11+6. Da Yao started high and went low this time, with 6 points and 3 blocks at the beginning, and only 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks at the end, but it was not bad to play a double-double against O'Neal.

This is the end of the first Yao shark war.

After the game, Yao Ming, who played the fourth quarter, collapsed in the locker room and almost collapsed. The reporter swarmed around him and asked, "Yao, how do you feel?" Yao Ming replied weakly: "I'm still alive......"