At the end of the game, the Staples Center resounded with a tsunami of cheers.

The Western Stars defeated the Eastern Stars 136-122 and won the game!

"The first half of this All-Star Game was an exhibition game, but the intensity of the second half was comparable to a playoff game, and the two teams fought hard for a second half, and finally the stronger Western team won the game."

"The brightest thing in this game is not a player from the East and West, but the head coach of the Western Stars, Qiao Hai, this is his second time coaching the All-Star Game, the last time, he also played five big men on the floor at the same time, this time, he sacrificed the triangle attack in the second half of the game, it was really amazing......

“……”

Amid the cheers, the star players did not leave the field, and Qiao Hai and Byron Scott stood aside and chatted.

The NBA's official host and David Stern stood in the center of the court, and a black display was placed next to them, and on the display was the All-Star MVP trophy.

Unlike last year's special trophy, this year's trophy has reverted to a very ordinary trophy made of transparent crystal.

The official NBA host announced: "The star player who won the MVP of the 2004 Los Angeles All-Star Weekend All-Star Game is Shaquille O'Neal!" ”

Then, Shaquille O'Neal walked to the front of all the players amid a cheer at the Staples Center.

Then, shake hands with a smiling David Stern.

Finally, after receiving the MVP trophy handed over by David Stern and holding it high above his head, there was another cheer in the Staples Center......

"In this game, Shaquille O'Neal came off the bench, 12 of 19 shots, 24 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, his scoring was the highest in the game, therefore, he lifted the All-Star MVP trophy......"

"In terms of other players, Kobe Bryant scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 1 block in this game, Tim Duncan had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists, Gary Payton had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Kevin Garnett had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and Yao Ming only played a few minutes and got 6 points and 3 rebounds."

"On the bench side in the West, Ray Allen also had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists......

Qiao Hai looked at the statistics after the game, and he knew that after this game, the gap between Kobe and O'Neal was deeper.

In this game, the two were both representatives of the host team, and the data in the half game were equally good, and at the end of the game, the data of the two were equally bright, but because O'Neal had 4 more points, the MVP was taken away by O'Neal.

To say that Kobe Bryant didn't have any ideas is certainly impossible.

……

This season, the strongest teams in the West seem to have some problems at the moment.

The OK combination within the Lakers and Karl Malone, or even head coach Rick Carlisle.

The conflict between Wang Zhizhi and Pau Gasol on the Grizzlies, and the distrust of Hubie Brown by team owner Michael Hasley.

The Mavericks' roster configuration issues, the Kings' defensive problems, the Rockets' fitness problems, the Spurs' offensive problems, and the Timberwolves' salary space problems.

It can only be said that there is no perfect team, the problems of the Kings, Rockets, Spurs and Timberwolves have little impact, and the problem of the Mavericks' team configuration can basically be ignored.

But the contradictions within the Lakers and Grizzlies are difficult to solve.

……

After the All-Star, on February 17, the Rockets faced off against the Wizards.

In this game, Qiao Hai rotated some of the players who participated in the All-Star Weekend, including Yao Ming and Gary Payton, who did not start.

In the opening game, the Rockets fell behind for a while.

But in the second half, after Yao Ming and Gary Payton re-played, the Rockets broke out and quickly completed the reversal.

In the end, in this game, the Rockets won the game with 107:91.

Counting the All-Star win against the Lakers, they once again won a two-game winning streak, and the physical problems gradually reached the half-time speed requirement with the Rockets' non-stop high-intensity training for two months.

After a three-day break, the Rockets faced the Mavericks away.

This season, the Rockets played the Mavericks once, and the six-game winning streak at the beginning of the season was ended by the Mavericks, and it has to be said that this is a strong offensive team.

Although there are many problems in terms of team configuration, the Mavericks' offensive firepower is still among the top three in the league, and the only one who can compare with them is the Kings.

Of course, after the half-time acceleration of the Rockets, the offensive firepower is gradually approaching these two offensive powerhouses.

……

"So far this season, the Rockets have an excellent record, 41 wins and 12 losses, ranking first in the league, facing strong teams, the Rockets are 2-0 against the Lakers, and 2-0 against the Grizzlies, but against strong teams in the same state of Texas, the Rockets' record is not outstanding."

"Against the Spurs, they are 0-2, they are also 0-1 against the Mavericks, and the Texas Civil War is 0-3, and the Rockets seem to be restrained by the Mavericks and the Spurs......"

Before the game, Qiao Hai faced reporters and mentioned the record of the Texas Civil War, Qiao Hai did not answer positively, but said with a side smile: "Before this game, we were 0-1 against Dallas, but after this game, it will become 1-1." ”

The implication is that the Rockets will win this game.

However, before this game, the Rocket, who had been resting for three days, had completely replenished his physical fitness, and there were no physical problems, and the Rockets still had a great chance of winning.

……

Before the start of the game, Qiao Hai didn't make any special arrangements.

In fact, after the execution and the opening half of the game, Qiao Hai did not adjust the opening style of the Rockets, in the past 30 games, the opening style of the Rockets was the cooperation of Yao Ming and a group of small people on the outside.

The reason is that the rockets need to practice their tactics in real combat.

……

In the first quarter of the game, the Rockets completely broke out on the offensive end, Yao Ming scored 6 points and 4 rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting, and Dwayne Wade scored 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists on 3-of-5 shooting.

Chris Anderson had five points and three rebounds, and Boris Dior also had six points and one assist off the bench.

The Rockets beat the Mavericks 30-16 to take a 14-point lead in the first quarter, and everything looked like it was going well.

But in the second quarter, Dirk Nowitzki scored 7 points on 2-of-3 shooting, Josh Howard scored 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting, and Steve Nash hit two three-pointers, and the Mavericks directly played a 31:21 in the second quarter and chased the difference back.

After halftime, the Mavericks trailed the Rockets by just four points, 47-51.

After a 15-minute halftime break, both teams made adjustments, the Mavericks picked up more speed, and on the Rockets' side, Qiao Hai began to strengthen their defense.

He asked Yao Ming to protect the rim and the nimble Chris Anderson swept the mid-range, forming a systematic defensive formation all of a sudden, intent on strangling the Mavericks' mid-range and close-range offense.

In the second half, one of the two teams continued to strengthen the attack, and the other switched to improving the defense.

As a result, after the real start of the fight, Qiao Hai found that the Mavericks' offense was already unstoppable, and their offensive touch had completely exploded.

However, on the Rockets' side, Yao Ming broke out and scored 12 points in a single quarter.

After three quarters, the Mavericks overtook the score and led the Rockets by 2 points at 78-76.

In the fourth quarter, the real heat of the game arrived, and the two teams first played off the bench.

At the beginning, the Mavericks continued to play iron, and Boris Dio, who came off the bench on the Rockets' side, scored 2 points first, and also caused the opponent's foul, the point difference was tied, and there were additional free throws.

Before the free throws, the two teams switched to the main players.

Then, Boris Dioga hit a free throw, and the Rockets took the lead.

But after the Mavericks replaced the main force, their offensive firepower came back.

The score began to rise alternately, until there was 1 minute and 38 seconds left in the end, Yao Mingzhong missed, Dwayne Wade rushed to grab the rebound, and then made a rebound, successfully scoring two points!

The Rockets are 96-94, leading by 2 points!

Don Nelson had to call a timeout.