After playing the Cavaliers, the Rockets faced the Clippers and won 99-85, and after ending the losing streak in the previous game, this victory began a winning streak.

But two days later, the Rockets lost to the Suns 87-102 on the road, ending their winning streak.

The Rocket's tactical training was also over at this time, and Qiao Hai could take the half-time speed change to the official game.

On December 23, the Rockets played against the Pacers at home, and for the first time in the official game, they practiced half-court speed-up, and the Rockets' half-court offense was very chaotic.

Perhaps the only good news was that at halftime, they played a 62-68 halftime score with the Pacers, scoring 62 points at halftime, and it looked like the Rockets' offense was finally on.

But as the offense opened, the Rockets' defense also slipped down.

So, in the half, the Rockets scored 62 points while conceding 68 points.

Then in the second half, the Rockets maintained a hot offensive touch, while also allowing the Pacers to maintain a hot offensive touch.

In the end, the Rockets lost 121-129, another wave of two consecutive defeats.

……

……

Christmas is approaching, the whole Rockets team drove out of Los Angeles, and Qiao Hai picked up Han Xue at Los Angeles International Airport.

I don't know why, Qiao Hai and Han Xue met this time, and both of them felt a little different.

Perhaps, at dinner, Stanreford, who had dinner together, said something that could explain all this: "Every year you always get together at Christmas, and it's a bit of a family." ”

Qiao Hai suddenly had a different understanding of this sentence, perhaps, it's time to go further?

But at the thought of going one step further with Han Xue, he suddenly began to hesitate again, the kind of hesitation that didn't understand why he hesitated.

……

Christmas is coming, but the Rockets are going to play a Christmas game on Christmas Eve, the opponent is the Lakers, and the Rockets have to rush to Los Angeles to play away.

Such a game naturally has pros and cons.

For most of the players on the Rockets, the downside of participating in the Christmas game is that they can no longer be with their families on Christmas Eve.

Of course, the favorable end is also very impressive, and the exposure of the Christmas game is obviously very high, especially the Rockets will be held in Los Angeles.

With Hollywood back, this game will win more attention, and the Rockets have a chance to take the opportunity to win more attention and gain more fans.

But as the head coach, Qiao Hai complained about the league's arrangement in front of the media.

"The idea of a Christmas game is good, the benefits are obvious, but the league is always inflexible, and on Christmas Eve, the players want to be with their families, so why doesn't the league bring the game forward and give the players a little bit of time to spend with their families?"

Of course, Qiao Hai's complaining will not attract too much attention, because almost every year, there will be coaches who complain about the arrangement of the league's Christmas war.

This year, the league has three Christmas fights scheduled.

The Lakers vs. Rockets are one of them, along with the Mavericks vs. Kings at home and the Grizzlies vs. Cavaliers.

Judging from the three Christmas battles, Qiao Hai also saw some clues.

The Mavericks' matchup against the Kings shows that the league encourages offense, as both teams are rare offensive teams in today's defensive league, so the No-hand-check rule will soon be implemented.

And with O'Neal aging, the lack of a dominant-level center on the inside, and the small-ball era is coming, the young Yao Ming may be an outlier in the small-ball era.

And this game between the Lakers and the Rockets is actually a duel between super centers.

The Grizzlies play the Cavaliers at home, and it's clearly a Christmas game that has been driven by multiple influences.

The reason why the Grizzlies appeared in the Christmas game is that they have a luxurious roster and are one of the best teams in the league, and on the other hand, they are in Vancouver, which is also the main reason.

The alliance still wants to promote its brand influence externally, and overseas expansion plans are still being implemented.

The Cavaliers, who have a 9-19 record in the regular season, appeared in the Christmas game for a very single reason, because they have LeBron James!

It can be seen from the appearance of the Cavaliers that the league has been praising LeBron James since his first year in the NBA, and LeBron James has been included in the league's star-making plan.

There are also commentators in the industry who called out LeBron James's other nickname besides the little emperor - David Stern's godson!

……

Before the Christmas war, although Qiao Hai complained about the arrangement of the alliance, the Rockets were still quite active and attached great importance to the preparation before the game.

This season, except for Gary Payton, the Lakers' recruitment is actually not a failure.

They signed Karl Malone with a one-year $1.9 million contract, and then signed Karl Malone's former teammate Brian Russell with a base salary.

Coupled with the original OK combination, as well as high-quality role players such as Derrick Fisher, Devin George, Stanislav Medvedenko, etc., the Lakers still look very strong this season.

Rick Carlisle's Lakers, compared to last season, are not much different in terms of tactics.

The offense is still a triangle offense, but the axis of the triangle offense has been replaced by Carl Malone, who has a certain ability to adapt, and the defense is still Rick Carlisle's joint defense system.

Although there is one more Karl Malone, in fact, Qiao Hai's method of beating the Lakers remains the same.

"On the offensive end, Yao must be put in a high position or at the top of the arc, so that the Lakers have to use another interior line other than O'Neal to defend Yao Ming, Karl Malone will not mention it for the time being, and the Lakers' 26 games this season, the main backup power forward has been Medvidenko."

"This is a 2.08-meter-tall power forward, the confrontation ability is insufficient, and the defense is useless, his outstanding point is his mid-range shooting and speed, so if the Lakers use him to defend Yao, Yao only needs to play hard to ensure the score, and the Lakers can only solve Yao through the bag."

"We have to play faster at halftime, not only to play, but we also have to play resolutely in this game, and the Lakers shouldn't have the time to watch the video of our last game, so if we speed up at halftime, we will definitely catch them off guard."

In 2003, which was not yet the age of the Internet, NBA teams often had to wait four or five days for the full version to be filmed against each other.

Most likely, the Lakers didn't notice the change in the Rockets' halftime speed, so this is also a change of tactics for the Rockets, which may help the Rockets gain an opening advantage.

"Finally, the shark slashing tactics, which is important, tell Kevin (Cato) and Greg (Ostertag) that this game, their task is important, and also, tell Dwyane and Ron that in this game, what they need to do is to keep hitting the inside, to wear down Shaquille O'Neal, to make his fouls!"

If O'Neal can be cut off the court, then the Rockets will be very good in this game, and they only need to lock Kobe Bryant to win the game.