At the beginning of the second quarter, D'Antoni did not start as many starters, but sent Ji Liang and Lafrentz to let the rest of the starters continue to rest.

The players were not in good shape due to back-to-back effects, which was one of the reasons why they were suppressed by the Rockets in the first quarter.

On the other side, the Rockets are still on the bench, but they also played the 'old cat' Mobley for the Rockets to continue to rest.

In the possession of the Nuggets, Corey Alexander held the ball through half court, and passed the ball to Ji Liang according to the head coach's instructions.

At this time, Pippen was still resting, and Sam Mark defended Ji Liang, although Mark defended well, but compared to Pippen, it was undoubtedly dwarfed.

Due to his physical strength, Ji Liang took the initiative to reduce the pace of the game and began to play with a success rate.

After waiting for a few seconds, Mark suddenly took a step forward, wanting to scare Chi Liang, but as soon as he mentioned it, he was almost broken through by Chi Liang, and he didn't dare to act rashly anymore.

Suddenly, Chi Liang moved, broke through to the right with the ball, Mark hurriedly stepped to block, and it was at this time that Chi Liang instantly retreated, holding the ball with both hands, and jumped on his knees.

When Ji Liang jumped, Mark hurriedly stepped forward and wanted to interfere with Ji Liang's shooting.

Brush~

Without a hint of hindrance, the basketball shot into the basket and brought up a net flower.

The step-back shot just now, Mark was obviously a beat slower, and for Chi Liang, it was not much different from the empty shot.

In the next few minutes, Chi Liang focused on organization, and under his organization, the Nuggets began to blossom more, although Mobley broke through one after another to score, but still couldn't stop the score from entering.

In the fourth minute of the second quarter, the Rockets finally called a timeout, and the score was 40-38, and the established advantage was almost wiped out.

After the timeout, the Rockets have made a change to the starting lineup. Rudy Tomjanovic is well aware of the Rockets' problems, which are nothing more than serious aging, and the old guys must be given enough time to rest. Now that they've had nearly a quarter of rest, these old guys have enough stamina to stay on the field.

Of course, the back-to-back Nuggets aren't much better, and these old guys won't necessarily be dragged down.

On the other side, the Nuggets also changed to the starting lineup, but Ji Liang was replaced by Fox and stayed on the bench to rest temporarily.

D'Antoni was also helpless, he could see that the efficiency of Chi Liang leading the substitute lineup obviously exceeded that of the starter.

How so?

If you want to unleash Chi Liang's strength, you must give enough balls. However, in the starting lineup, the ball was mainly controlled by Van Axel and McDyce, and when they played, it was difficult for Ji Liang to get much of the ball.

D'Antoni is more entangled, he can naturally see Chi Liang's strength, but there are so many balls, he is a newly appointed head coach, and he can't reduce the ball possession of Van Exel and McDyce.

In terms of strength, Chi Liang may not be inferior to them, but in terms of status and qualifications, the gap is obvious.

Both McDyce and Van Exel are All-Star calibres, and they're both in their prime.

In addition, they are the core of the team inside and outside.

For the Nuggets, D'Antoni is just the new head coach, and it is likely to be used for transition, so naturally he doesn't want to contradict them.

"I'll talk to him when I get back!"

With an idea in mind, D'Antoni refocused his attention on the pitch.

With Van Exel's organization, the Nuggets' offense is not much worse than that of the Rockets. But defensively, compared with the Rockets, who started on defense, the Nuggets are much worse, and it feels like a mess of sand.

With a better defense, the Rockets continued to take the lead, and the Rockets' Big Three, despite their age, are still strong enough to contain them without physical problems.

Of the starting five, the Nuggets are no worse than the Rockets in the backcourt, McDyce can blow up with Barkley, and Foxson can limit Pippen a little.

The biggest disadvantage is the center, both offensive and defensive, Laferenc was crushed by Olajuwon, and was plagued by fouls.

In addition, both Olajuwon and Barkley are both card position masters, with a great advantage in rebounding, and they often grab offensive rebounds to complete the second offense.

Before the end of the first half, Lafrenz suffered three fouls and had to be substituted.

After Lafrenz came off the field, the gap between the two sides in the center forwards was even wider. Olajuwon seems to have returned to his prime, turning the river and the sea on the inside.

56:43

By the end of the first half, the score had widened to 13 points, and the gap was even greater.

While the Rockets' Big Three are tired, the back-to-back Nuggets aren't much better.

So, no matter how hard Chi Liang tried, the process was almost the same as in the first half, and the Nuggets ended in defeat.

The two sides ended up with a score of 103-90, and the Rockets' big three joined forces to score 65 points together.

As for Lafrentz, he left the game with six fouls not long after the start of the fourth quarter. In the confrontation with the aging Olajuwon, he was suppressed in an all-round way, and finally only got 7+6 data, with a hit rate of less than 40%, and even got four mistakes, which almost wiped out his confidence.

Unlike Lafrentz, facing Scottie Pippen, Chi Liang played a total of 30 minutes and scored 18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

In addition, there were two mistakes.

But the flaws are not hidden, under Pippen's defense, Chi Liang did not fall into the disadvantage.

"Congratulations!"

After the game, D'Antoni took the initiative to shake hands with Tang Shuai, and compared with Tang Shuai, D'Antoni's grade was obviously much worse.

"Thank you! Mike, your players are very good, especially the number 1 player, I wonder if you have any idea of a trade? ”

When he spoke, Tang Shuai's expression was obviously much more serious.

Tang Shuai coached the Rockets for seven years, and led the Rockets to win the NBA championship twice in the 93-94 and 94-95 seasons, and was also the only two championships of the Rockets.

In terms of vision and experience, the current D'Antoni is far from being comparable to Tang Shuai.

Chi Liang left a deep impression on Tang Shuai, whether it was offense, organization or defense, there were almost no weaknesses at all, especially in the confrontation with Pippen, he did not fall behind at all.

Even if Pippen is not in his prime, there are only a few small forwards who can compete with Pippen such as Grant Hill.

In Tang Shuai's eyes, Chi Liang showed amazing potential and had the opportunity to train him to become the core of Team Rocket.

Tang Shuai knows very well that this rocket team will not last many years, and maybe in two or three years, it will enter the rebuilding stage.

"Sorry, I didn't have the idea to trade him!"

Barely negotiable, D'Antoni shook his head and rejected Tang Shuai's idea.