In the 2008 NBA draft, the Rockets selected the all-round small forward Nicolas Batum from France in the 25th place in the first round, but the young player did not stay on the Rockets' roster for too long, and was traded to the Trail Blazers by Morey in exchange for NCAA super scorer Dante Green and Joey Dorsey, known as the second generation of "Big Ben".

In July 2007, Morey made the biggest deal since he took office, trading Dante Green, Bobby Jackson and a future first-round pick from the Kings for Ron Artest, who was known as the "Beast", at that time, Artest had a stalemate with the Kings' management, and he wanted to go to a competitive team, and Artest also played for Adelman in the 2005-2006 season, although he only played 40 games. But Artest admires Adelman very much, and has publicly praised the latter on different occasions, and this has become a major reason why Artest chose the rocket.

Last season, Artest played 57 games for the Kings, averaging 20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game, shooting 45.3% from the field and 38.0% from three-point range But his defense is among the best in the league, he doesn't suffer physically against bulldozers like Pierce and James, and he can keep up with the lateral speed of breakaway flow like Carter Maddy, he was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2003-2004, was named to the All-Defensive Team four times before this year, and was an All-Star once.

The Rockets brought in Artest, got Dorsey, and that's not all, Morey signed veteran Brent Barry with a two-year exception worth $2.9 million, and then the day before the start of the new season, he confirmed the last spot on the team's roster, which was Wayne Weaver, who performed well in the preseason.

The Rockets formed a luxury army on paper, super center Yao Ming, super guard Maddy, and a super forward, Artey, the Rockets' book strength jumped from the playoffs to a championship-level team, all Rockets fans are full of infinite expectations for it, this season, Yao Ming recovered from a foot injury, played in 77 games and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 Rambo shot 54.8% from the field, and Artest played in 69 games, He averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, but, what about Maddy?

This season, Maddie grew a beard, only 30 years old, he looks five or six years older than his actual age, he has back injury, elbow injury, knee injury, especially knee injury, according to the doctor at the time, because Maddie was young unscientific training and did not pay attention to the protection of the body before entering the professional arena, resulting in the meniscus in his knee wearing out at a faster rate than other players. This injury is not caused by accident like a fracture, but a long time, after years of not paying attention to protection, as early as last season's playoffs Maddie has realized that there is a problem with his knee, but under that kind of conditions at that time, he can not be suspended, he can only resist, which also accelerated Maddie's condition, and finally, on February 20, 2009, before the NBA trade deadline, Maddie announced that he needs minimally invasive knee surgery, and will not be able to play for the rest of the schedule, In the end, Maddie played in 35 games this season, averaging only 15.6 points per game.

This period of history is quite mysterious, first of all, with Maddie's situation at the time, it is impossible for the Rockets not to know that there is a problem with his body, but they did not make emergency countermeasures in time, which is not like the attitude that the management should have towards the team leader, so this also involves another problem, according to rumors, the Rockets have no patience for Maddie, they have put Maddie on the shelf, and the other twenty-nine teams came to take out their own chips, and the most satisfying for the Rockets is the Nets, The offer they made was Vince Carter. It was clear that Maddie clearly didn't want to swap clubs with his cousin, and as a result, Maddie privately decided to have surgery, which cost him the season and forced the deal to abort.

Because of this delicate relationship between Maddie and the management, the atmosphere in the team's locker room is not very harmonious, everyone is cautious and cautious, but there is one exception, he is Ralph Alstom, Alston has always been hearty, straight character, what to say, in a media interview he directly admitted that the Rockets locker room is not harmonious, he made the internal contradictions of the Rockets public, which angered the Rockets management, so before the trade deadline of the year, The Rockets quickly traded Alston to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Brian Cook and Kevin Lowry, with Aaron Brooks becoming the team's starting point guard in the second half of the season.

This season, the Rockets have got a large number of role players with good strength, Wayne Weaver has become the team's biggest surprise, he can average 9.7 points per game in 19.4 minutes, is the team's first firepower on the bench, Carl Landry can also contribute 9.2 points on the bench, new entry Lowry can average 7.6 points per game, the Rockets have won a total of 53 games, finishing fifth in the West to enter the playoffs, and their opponent is the Portland Trail Blazers, who won 54 games in the regular season.

At that time, the Trail Blazers were led by Brandon Roy, known as the "Yellow Mamba", and LaMarcus Aldridge was the second leader of the inside and outside lineup, of which Roy also scored a super kill of 0.8 seconds against the Rockets in the opening stage of this season, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Trail Blazers are the Rockets' nemesis.

In the first game between the two sides, the Rockets won a big victory with an obvious inside advantage, 108:81, four quarters of the game, the Trail Blazers did not exceed the score of each quarter of the Rockets, of which Yao Ming only played 24 minutes and scored 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 9 shots, completely blowing up the opponent Joel Pulzbilla, who is known for his defense, and this game has also become one of the most classic games for Yao Ming in the few playoff games. The steady Louis Scola also had the upper hand in the confrontation with Aldridge, Scola scored 19 points and 8 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting, while the latter had only 7 points and 3 rebounds on 3-of-12 shooting, Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy only scored 21 points on 10-of-23 shooting under Artest's care, while Artest himself scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, the best performer in this game was in addition to Yao Ming and Xiaobu, who hit 10 of 17 shots and got 27 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.

The second game was extremely difficult, in the last minute of the game, Trail Blazers big man Travis Outlaw stole Brooks' fast-break basket and hit 2 points to stretch the score to 98:90, and then Yao Ming hit a hook hand under the basket, Battier fouled Roy, and at the critical moment, Adelman sacrificed a dual-point guard strategy, that is, Lowry and Brooks were on the court at the same time, and the latter completely played the temperament of a superstar! Roy hit both free throws to put the Rockets down by eight points at 92:100, and Brooks hit a 3-point shot at the top of the arc! The Rockets trailed by 5 points at 95:100, and then Lowry fouled Fernandez, who hit both free throws again, 95:102, Artey missed three points, Aldridge grabbed the rebound, Lowry tactical foul, Aldridge made one of two free throws 95:103, there were less than 20 seconds left, and the game should have ended here, but! Team Rocket didn't give up! Everyone did their best!

Brooks stepped up! He hit a layup first, 97:103, Lowry fouled Oterlo, who made one of two free throws, 97:104, and Brooks hit another three-pointer in the final 6.9 seconds of the game! 100:104！ Brooks drew a tactical foul on Roy, and Roy made one of two free throws 100:105! In the end, Brooks hit another three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in the game!

103:105, Brooks' magical play surprised the Trail Blazers in a cold sweat, and in the end, although the Trail Blazers won the game thrillingly, but this game also made the Rockets not abandon and not give up the spirit of Xiaoqiang has been vividly displayed!

Roy scored a game-high 42 points on 15-of-27 shooting, Aldridge scored 27 points and 12 rebounds, Rockets Brooks scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Yao Ming played poorly, 11 points and 8 rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting, Artey scored 19 points and 5 rebounds on 8-of-20 shooting, and Weaver scored 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting on the bench, including 12 points in a single quarter in the second quarter.

There was a very heart-wrenching episode in this game, Rockets backup center Mutombo played for only 2 minutes, fell in the process of a rebounding scramble with Oden, and then fell to the ground in pain, Uncle Mu was lying on the ground at that time, his hands were clenched into fists, he couldn't stop hitting the ground, and big tears flowed from his eyes, at that time, everyone knew that Uncle Mu's career was over, Uncle Mu played five seasons in the Rockets, mainly as Yao Ming's substitute, he was a natural leader, Always give Yao Ming a lot of encouragement and protection when Yao Ming falls into a trough, so he is very loved by everyone, in addition, Uncle Mu who is on the court can always play the residual heat, he once got 10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks at the age of 43, thus becoming the oldest player in NBA history to get two doubles, although he did not play much, but his 293 blocks ranked tenth on the Rockets' all-time block list.

Well, back to the game, the Rockets and the Trail Blazers also played a very anxious game in the fourth game, 86:83, the Rockets only won 3 points but enough to take away a victory, Brooks was not efficient, scored 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting, but with his stable free throws in the final moments of the game, Scola 19 points and 9 rebounds, Battier scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, Yao Ming struggled, only 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting but grabbed 13 rebounds.

The first three games were generally more intense, and the Rockets temporarily led 2:1, but then the fourth game, which was far more intense than fans imagined, the Rockets only won by 1 point 89:88! Roy scored 31 points on 8-of-17 shooting, Aldridge had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Otlaw scored a bench-high 14 points, and Yao Ming on the Rockets' side found his feel in the game after two slumps, he scored 21 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting, Scola scored 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Weaver played well off the bench, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

In the last 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the game, Landry hit two points under the basket, which was the 87th point scored by the Rockets in the game, and the Trail Blazers scored 83 points at this time, and then Aldridge attacked the basket and caused Landry to foul, and after both free throws, the Trail Blazers closed the score to 85:87, and the Rockets only led by 2 points! Then both teams sacrificed a suffocating defense Lowry was stolen by Roy, and when he passed back to Blake, he was cut off by Artey, who made a three-point shot that would not be total, and Landry grabbed the offensive rebound, but the alert Roy immediately fouled Landry, and this time the foul was only awarded a blocking foul, not a shooting foul! In the next two minutes, there were constant mistakes, iron, steals, both teams could not increase the score, and the time was consumed until the last 24 seconds, the Trail Blazers had no choice but to foul Xiao Bu tactically, Xiao Bu hit only 2 of the four free throws in a row, and the Rockets finally increased the score to 89 points, and in the last 2.3 seconds of the game, Fernandez hit a magical three points to help the Trail Blazers close the score to only 1 point, but time was running out, and the Rockets passed the danger with a one-point advantage!

In the fifth game, Roy and Aldridge combined to score 50 points to help the team win, and on the Rockets' side, except for Yao Ming, who scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 15 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting, everyone else's performance was lackluster, and the Rockets lost another game 77-88.

In the crucial sixth game, Artest suddenly broke out, he scored 19 points in the first half, helping the team lead with a score of 52:37 in the first half, the Trail Blazers were powerless in the second half, and could only accept the bitter consequences of defeat, Artest contributed 27 points in the whole game, Yao Ming scored 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting, and the Trail Blazers Roy and Aldridge combined to score 48 points, and the others did not score double-doubles.

The Rockets entered the second round of the playoffs again after 12 years, 12 years, it is a reincarnation, the last time they entered the playoffs, the team was still led by Olajuwon, Drexler and Barkley, and this time, the Rockets will be Yao Ming, Artey, and Xiaobu's new "Big Three" will start a fierce battle with the Los Angeles Lakers!