(After Manu, there is no Manu!) Just as all beautiful things fade and even disappear, Manu finally came to retire. In my mind, Bald is not the best player, but he is the best player to play. If I want to sum up his career, it can only be four words "Peerless", a tribute to the creative court artist of the court. ）

On June 10, 2005, the fourth game of the finals continued in San Antonio.

Both sides started the game and didn't change much.

The Rockets are still Yao Ming's interior Optimus Prime, Battier is the perimeter defensive spearhead, and Hardaway is the core of the organization.

The Bobcats' starting center changed, Wade, Tony Allen, Josh Smith, Dazhi, and the starting center was Dwight Howard, today's top pick, which is also Howard's first playoff start, and the original starting Sabonis Sr. returned to the seat of the water cooler, chatting with former teammate Pippen. In addition to Sabonis, there is also a chubby figure that has caught the attention of the media.

Shaquille O'Neal is on the Bobcats' bench! O'Neill is back, silently. Why didn't he start the game, is there still a contradiction?

Seeing O'Neal sitting on the bench with a blank face, these thoughtful media people began to maliciously guess the mystery of this.

JUMPING BALL IN THE MIDDLE CIRCLE, YAO MING LOOKS TWO SIZES BIGGER THAN HOWARD, AND COMPARED WITH YAO MING, HOWARD, WHO IS ALSO A CENTER, IS JUST THE LITTLE BROTHER, BUT SURPRISINGLY THE LITTLE BROTHER WON THE BIG BROTHER IN THE JUMP BALL.

Howard held back his strength and soared into the sky when he jumped the ball, the speed of the bounce was extremely fast, and Yao Ming was a little careless, and the basketball was pulled out by Howard with a palm.

The ball flew towards the Bobcats halfcourt, and Wade took a step ahead of Hardaway and took control of the ball with a slight leap, at which point the jump ball could be said to be a perfect victory.

Fans and media couldn't help but be a little surprised by Howard's performance, because of the star-studded Bobcats, although Howard is the top player today, but he has never been at the top of his game, and is often considered an average rookie.

Howard's physical fitness in today's jump is truly eye-catching, and such bounce speed and perverted shoulder width and reach are definitely historical talents.

However, before the fans and media praised Howard, one of Howard's small hook hands on the side was ruthlessly blocked by Yao Ming.

Battier in the bottom corner was quick and regained possession of the ball.

No matter how annoyed Howard is now, hundreds of millions of viewers around the world have only seen him trying to gain living space under Yao Ming, and using the small hook he just learned to turn around, but he was still slapped by the other party's big hat.

This wonderful big hat was of course scrolled on the big screen at the Rockets' home court. As an emperor who understands the ball, Barkley has to stand up and comment at this time.

"For the first time in the arena, our champion used the technique of turning and hooking, which is known to be very difficult to block. The reason why Howard's ball was blocked is that although his shoulders are trying to open up his offensive space, his lower body strength is completely inferior in this confrontation, we can see that at the moment when Howard jumps, his body has tilted, and Yao Ming completely occupies the advantage of aerial confrontation, and the subsequent block comes easily. ”

"Dwight!" Hu Qingniu shouted Howard's name from the sidelines, gesturing with his fingers in the air.

After a few more rounds, Howard gave up his intention to attack, and tried his best to jam Yao Ming when defending, allowing Dazhi to get the rebound. When attacking, he swings around the mid-range distance 3-5 feet from the basket, always ready to cut in, moving back and forth, and occasionally blocking and dismantling with teammates with and without the ball.

Anti-blocking and dismantling was a big problem for Yao Ming in the past, but the current Yao Ming's speed at his feet is actually not slow, and the effect of blocking and dismantling is not good.

With such a tactic, the Bobcats fell behind in the score.

Relying on Hardaway's two cold-blooded three-pointers at a 45-degree angle on the left side and a subsequent rebounding whirlwind layup, the Rockets temporarily took a five-point lead, which made the Toyota Center cheer on the spot, scoring 8 points in a row, and Hardaway was open.

The Rockets high-fived Hardaway in turn, smiling and taking the lead at the beginning, which bodes well.

But Yao Ming realized something unusual in his heart, when there were 4 minutes left in the first quarter, he obviously felt that he was running a little panting, and he used to be able to hold on at least until there were 2 minutes left in the first quarter. For no other reason, Howard's size is lighter, and his frequent blocking and running makes Yao Ming have to follow as hard as he can, although the Bobcats did not score, but Yao Ming also spent a lot of physical strength because of this.

"There are two minutes left, and I'm going to have to keep going." Yao Ming constantly gave himself psychological hints in his heart. But what worries him the most came when a big fat man occupying two seats was on the Bobcats' bench.

"Shaq! It's your turn to perform! Hu Qingniu shouted at a row of benches.

The fat man stood up suddenly, moved his body casually, and then patted his big chest muscles vigorously, and said confidently.

"Wrap it up on me, my coach."

"Tick!" The Bobcats made a substitution, with No. 34 replacing No. 12.

The big shark is back here!

"Long time no see, my friend!" O'Neill didn't even say hello to his teammates, and directly found his opponent Yao Ming.

Yao Ming smiled bitterly and didn't make a sound, he was a little tired, and suddenly he didn't even want to speak.

O'Neill remembered Coach Hu Qingniu's pre-game instructions and used all his abilities to fight for the center as the highest point in the game.

"Bang!" With a bang, O'Neill, a 300-pound fat man, had already leaned in, and Yao Ming's chest was stuffy, this taste was too uncomfortable.

Yao Ming could only vividly feel that if it was a little calf playing in front of him just now, now at least a huge polar bear with a height of two meters has come to the door.

O'Neal is the only player in this year's playoffs who will play a battle against him for territory under the basket, and the previous big four interior players in the league, Garnett and Duncan are both lightweight power forwards, and they use more flexible tactics to get cheap. Only O'Neill is an unsympathetic, muscle-speaking fight. Moreover, Yao Ming now feels that his positional advantage is gradually disappearing, which means that he is about to lose this force.

For O'Neill, Yao Ming is not a rare opponent. Since the retirement of the other three centers of the Big Four, O'Neal has never faced a decent challenge under the basket. In the current league, Yao Ming is the only player who can play against him under the basket.

In the face of the shark's relentless strength, Yao Ming, who was physically tight, was gradually pushed out of the favorable rebounding position under the basket.

Just when Yao Ming was anxious, he remembered the words of his mentor and friend, old Sabonis, who was still sitting at the end of the Bobcats' bench watching the water cooler.

"Card position, in fact, is a technical job!"