When the Rockets lost to the Suns before the All-Star break, few teams were optimistic that they would break the 72-win record, and it would be difficult to even tie it. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info: They must win at least 27 of their last 29 matches to break that record.

And after the All-Star break, their record is an astonishing 18-1, and they came to April with such a hot form. Nine of the last 10 games of the regular season would set a new NBA all-time record if they could win nine of them.

The mainstream media has focused on the Rockets' record. Fox Sports pointed out that the Bulls had a 62-8 record in April '96, while the Rockets are currently 64-8, still half a step ahead. It's not a fool's dream to surpass the bulls, at least there's a good chance that they'll catch the bulls.

And whether the Rockets can break the record, we have to ask Kobe's Lakers whether they agree. On April 2, their final test came - to Los Angeles Staples Arena to face the arch-rival Lakers. There is no need to go into detail about the grievances between the two teams, especially Jason. Bass has a strong competitive mentality against Wang Yuanfei, and he constantly pushes his players to win this game.

And more fans see this ball as a head-to-head matchup for MVP. Although Nash, Duncan, Bodiloga and Nowitzki have all led the team to good results, in the minds of fans, Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming are already the only two candidates.

The two sides are also familiar with each other's lineups, know each other well, and do not dwell too much on changes, and each sent the most common starting lineup. The Rockets still let Jefferson defend Kobe, and the Lakers still let Mutombo keep an eye on Yao Ming.

Yao Ming won the jump ball, and Billups won the ball. He shouted at Reed and Jefferson to run, but hoisted the ball to Yao Ming in the low post while the defender's attention was drawn to the wings.

Yao Ming sat with his back and took a step, and Mutombo didn't resist the first time, which was a little unbalanced. Da Yao turned around and hooked his hand to shoot the basket, and the ball went in!

Delon's somewhat casual pass was tackled by Reed, who suddenly activated. Reed wanted to score directly on the fast break, but Kobe, who was fast enough, returned to the defense in time and covered Reed's breakthrough route with his burly body to prevent the opponent's fast attack.

"Even Michael, who has the worst defense, is so aggressive, it seems that the players really want to win this game!" Curry said to Adelman.

"That's a good sign." Ah Shuai is also very satisfied.

The inside combination of Bosh and Yao Ming is powerful, not only with strong ability, but also with perfect coordination. If Gasol faced other opponents, it would be easy for him and Mutombo to form a two-man inside package, but Bosh would pull him away from the basket. As soon as Yao Ming got the ball this time, Gasol saw that Mutombo couldn't resist and hurriedly helped to defend it. Yao Ming did not hesitate to distribute the ball to Bosh at the free throw line, who hit a jumper, 4:0.

"Don't leave your target behind!" Van Gundy yelled from the sidelines. Gasol's face turned blue and white, and his expression was very ugly.

Kobe Bryant was very competitive, holding the ball and making a strong shot. Bosh grabbed the rebound.

The rocket was still handed over to Yao Ming, and this time Gasol didn't dare to let go of Bosh, but Kobe Bryant was eager to wrap up and want to reach out and break the ball. Yao Ming also reacted quickly, handed over the ball in a moment before Kobe Bryant's shot, Reed got the ball outside, shot three points in the face of a big vacancy, and the ball went in!

This time, the Lakers were attracted by Kobe Bryant and handed over to the outside Bartyr, but Reed knew that the opponent was very accurate in three-point shooting, and he clung to it. saw Battier dangling a shot, tricking Reed into jumping and then turning to a breakthrough layup. But in the face of Yao Ming's height covering the sky, his layup was interfered with and missed. Gasol squeezed past Bosh to grab the rebound, the whistle blew!

The referee ruled that Gasol was fouled when he grabbed the rebound, and the Rockets had the ball. The scene immediately booed.

"How do you feel that today's whistle is very positive, and there is no feeling of being away from the whistle at all." Spency said.

"A young man from Europe, you don't know this referee, do you?" Curry laughed: "This bald old man is the famous sentry Joseph. Joey. Crawford (often referred to simply as Joe. Crawford), who has been a referee in the league for almost 30 years since '77. Usually the referee will give the star some privileges and relax the blowing penalty of the big names. But this old man is iron-faced and selfless, and there are not a few superstars who have been sent off under his judgment. ”

"I see." Span's sudden realization.

"Don't look at him so serious now, it's actually a tease." Adelman recounted the old story like a grandfather told his grandson: "Once Crawford was very excited to tell Bill. Feige (a well-known head coach in the '70s and '90s) was fouled on a technical foul and dislocated his finger with too much force. We laughed at him for a long time. ”

(Minor allusion: Crawford has many anecdotes about law enforcement, most notably in a game against the Mavericks Spurs in '07, when he sent Duncan off the bench on the grounds that Duncan challenged the majesty of the referee by laughing from the bench.) Because the penalty was too ridiculous, the old man was banned by the league for many games afterwards)

When the Rockets laughed after listening to the story and then looked on the court, Yao Ming had already scored singles again, 9-0. The Rockets got off to a dream start, and the players seemed to have seen 73 wins beckoning!

The Rockets' opening tactic was very simple, which was to use Yao Ming's interior advantage to force the aging Mutombo. If the Lakers are on the pack, Yao Ming immediately passes the ball. The other four of the Rockets all have good shooting ability, as long as they get an open space, they have a big chance.

Van Gundy finally couldn't sit still and called a timeout. He made early changes to his lineup.

Odom and House up, Mutombo and DeLong down. House's ability to handle the ball is not as good as DeLong's, but the Lakers have Odom and Kobe, two capable of playing as a guest point guard, and passing the ball is not a problem.

In this way, Yao Ming's opponent was replaced by the young Gasol, and Bosh's opponent was replaced by the faster Odom. The Rockets' interior alignment advantage is no longer so great, and there are few in the league that can compete with the Rockets' twin towers, and the Lakers are one of them.

Bryant hit Jefferson with his back and hit a flip jumper to hit the Lakers' first shot of the game.

The Rockets were still handed over to Yao Ming for a single, and this time under Gasol's interference, Odom grabbed the rebound and launched a fast break. Kobe Bryant attracted the Rockets' two-man defense to run to the bottom corner, Odom gave it to Gasol in the high post, and Gasol turned to the outside house, empty!

Eddie. House makes a three-point shot! This guy's overall strength is not very strong, but if he only talks about shooting three-pointers, he won't even accept Reed.

The eyes of the Lakers players are full of fighting spirit. Want to win 73? Staples didn't say yes. (To be continued.) )