In the first game of the Finals, although the Rockets only won by 10 points, the Pistons never took the lead from the beginning of the game to the end of the game.

It seems that the Rockets won this game easily.

After the first battle, the major media in North America further raised their evaluation of the rocket.

"Before the Finals, our prediction was that the Rockets and Pistons would play Game 7, and the Rockets would win the seventh-game game and then win the championship."

"But after the first game, we had to change our predictions, this game the Rockets won so easily, the Pistons couldn't compete from start to finish, and our new prediction is that the Rockets will lift the O'Brien Cup in five games!"

Hoop Sports was the first to change their predictions.

At the same time, they also argued: "Larry Brown has to make a change, and if it doesn't, the Pistons are likely to be swept by the Rockets in four games." ”

But in the second game, the Pistons didn't make a change.

……

At the beginning, the two teams still played in regular lineups, but in this game, the Pistons' opening defense did not collapse, and they were also wary of the Rockets' fast-break counterattack.

In the first half of the game, the two teams played an 8:8 draw.

The game then went to an official timeout.

Qiao Hai broke the regular rotation and went straight to the small lineup, he didn't want to see a draw all the time, Qiao Hai still wanted to take some leads.

But Larry Brown did not make any substitutions, and the main force went down.

The Rockets' running and bombing could not break the defense of the Pistons' main lineup, which Qiao Hai knew after the first game, but he did not withdraw the small lineup, but continued to use this small lineup to maintain pressure on the Pistons' main lineup.

In the first quarter of the game, the Rockets led by 1 point at 24-23, leading the Pistons.

In the second quarter, Qiao Hai replaced Yao Ming and Gary Payton, focusing on defense.

Larry Brown made another surprising move, the Pistons' rotation lineup in the second quarter, he directly replaced Rasheed Wallace and Steve Francis, the two offensive strong points in the starters, starting the five Tigers, and the other three Tigers continued to play, plus Memet Oku and Chaki Atkins.

But at the beginning of the second quarter, the Pistons were without Steve Francis on the court, and the offensive end immediately couldn't find a crosshair, and they continued to hit iron.

Then, the Pistons started giving the ball in.

But on the inside, Big Ben can only eat cakes, and in a one-on-one situation, it is difficult for him to score, even if he is connected to the ball, the strong top under the basket is always forcibly pressed by Yao Ming.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Pistons exploded and couldn't score at all.

Charles Barkley kept shaking his head: "The Pistons' offense is so bad, it's really bad, they can't find a way to attack at all!" ”

In the first quarter, the Rockets hit the Pistons with a wave of 9:2, and the lead was stretched to 9 points.

Then, Larry Brown called a timeout and brought back Steve Francis and Rashid.

On the Rockets' side, there was another wave of rotation, and Wade came on the court and rushed to score points with a small lineup.

Rotated against the main force, and the Rockets played a tie with the Pistons.

At halftime, the Rockets were at 57-46, and the halftime lead stretched to 11 points.

After a 15-minute halftime, the Pistons continued to play with all their strength, and then in the third quarter, the two teams played a 17-15 to pull back a two-point deficit.

But before the start of the fourth quarter, they were still nine points behind.

In the fourth quarter, the reasonably rotated Rockets broke out again on the offensive end, beating the Pistons again 30:23 in a single quarter.

At the end of the game, the Rockets won another game with a score of 102:86.

"The problems of the Pistons in this game have all been exposed, their offense is too difficult, Steve Francis is not a top outside scorer, but he is already the Pistons' best scorer."

"When Steve Francis is on the court, the Pistons' offense is already very difficult, and as soon as Steve Francis leaves, the Pistons are equivalent to no offense."

"Compared with the Rockets, which are both offensive and defensive, this Piston is really too serious."

The Pistons, who were heavily biased, finally exposed their problems in Game 2, and the Rockets focused on defense, making it difficult for them to score.

In the regular season, Steve Francis performed quite well, but when it came to the playoffs, when he encountered a defensive player like Gary Payton, Steve Francis immediately became dumbfounded.

The Rockets won two in a row at home, and the score in the finals became 2:0.

"Yao Ming had 27 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, Dwayne Wade had 25 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Gary Payton had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and Ron Artest had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals."

"For the Pistons, Richard Hamilton had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Steve Francis had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, Rasheed Wallace had 15 points and 4 rebounds, James Posey had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and Ben Wallace had 4 points and 14 rebounds."

……

Next, they set off for Detroit.

In Detroit's first away game, Larry Brown was also ruthless, playing the first five Tigers for 12 minutes in the first quarter, and Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and James Posey took turns to rest for two or three minutes in the second quarter.

Two of the most important players on the Pistons' lineup, Steve Francis and Ben Wallace, never left the court.

That is, in the first half, Steve Francis and Ben Wallace played the full 24 minutes!

But the effect was there, the halftime score, 45:40, the Pistons also led by 5 points.

In the second half, Big Ben and Steve Francis still did not rest, and the Pistons maintained a high-intensity defense from start to finish.

Playing away, the Rockets finally lost a game with a difference of 82:88, 6 points.

But for the Pistons, the win in this game was due to their overdraft of Ben Wallace and Steve Francis's physical strength.

Big Ben played 46 minutes and 33 seconds and had only 1 minute and 27 seconds of rest for the entire game, and Steve Francis played 45 minutes and 52 seconds and had only 2 minutes and 08 seconds of rest for the entire game.

With such a high-intensity game and such a long playing time, it's safe to assume that Big Ben and Steve Francis won't be able to get back to their peak before the next fight.

In terms of post-match stats –

"Richard Hamilton 22 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, Rasheed Wallace 20 points and 7 rebounds, Steve Francis 18 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists, James Posey 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals, Ben Wallace 8 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks."

"For the losing Rockets, Yao Ming had 27 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, Dwyane Wade only had 20 points and 4 assists on 7-of-20 shooting, Gary Payton had 12 points and 5 assists, and Ron Artest had 15 points and 8 rebounds."

……

Two days later, the Rockets challenged the Pistons on the road, and in this game, the Pistons failed to show their competitiveness at all, and Steve Francis and Big Ben were both out of shape.

The Rockets took a 17-point lead in two quarters.

In the second half, the Pistons directly disarmed, and the Rockets won a crazy victory at 113-87.

"Yao Ming had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Dwayne Wade had 24 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Gary Payton had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and Ron Artest had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists."

"For the Pistons, Steve Francis had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists on 5-of-18 shooting, James Posey had 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Richard Hamilton had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, Rasheed Wallace had 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Big Ben had 8 points and 7 rebounds."

"The Rockets managed to win the match point!"

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