"Failure may not be a big deal to you, but for an athlete, there's a world of difference between failure and success," Barkley said after the game, looking a little depressed, "I hate failure, and the pain is like last year and last year......

Failure is not the same as success, the Suns were almost swept last year, and this year Barkley thought he had a chance to achieve his dream, but the Rockets failed to perform at the level expected, and they were not as strong as people thought.

"Charles is right, failure is always bitter, especially at this stage of the season!"

Olajuwon said after the game, Drexler simply did not participate in the post-game press conference, he knew that if he did not show up, he would be criticized by fans and Houston media, and the saliva on his face was probably not wiped off when he appeared.

In fact, when Zhang Fu only scored 9 points in the second battle, someone was ready to put the pot behind his back. He returned to the last game, and after the game, the voice that attacked him was a little quieter. But today, Drexler was once again defended by Zhang Fu with only single-digit points, and he was treated as a bitch defensively, and I believe that the attack on him after the game will be more fierce than the last time!

It has to be said that this year's Rockets must have someone to blame, and that person will choose between Barkley and Drexler. But the former did well in the playoffs, while Drexler didn't perform well, and the people who were sacrificed naturally needless to say.

This is not a guess, after a fiasco in any field, someone must come forward to take responsibility.

Don't ask why, it's just the way it is, and it's hard to explain why.

What is certain, though, is that the Rockets will have to find someone to take the blame for keeping at least two of the Big Three in the summer. Then, they can see if there is a chance to cheat one or two big fish with the two giants this summer, such as Richmond, such as Glenn Rice, such as Chris Webb, Sprewell, Van Exel, Cassel, Gugliotta, etc., so that the Rockets have a chance to do it again.

It's a pity that now they don't have a chance, and the next game will return to the Lakers' home court, and the only suspense is whether Drexler can return to the light again, so that he and Barkley's choice can have more suspense.

"The rocket gas is exhausted, and the Big Three may fall apart?"

Here's ESPN's report for the second day: We know that the three core Rockets haven't had a good conversation with Rockets management about next season, and in fact no one knows what they'll do next, maybe even themselves.

But now that the Rockets are dying, and all three may have their own plans, we guess that if the Rockets are eliminated by the Lakers in this humiliating performance, the disintegration of the Big Three is imminent.

This kind of report is more like that of the Los Angeles media, but it is not. Now the Lakers have begun to put more energy on the Jazz, and the two teams that have entered the Western Conference Finals are basically the Lakers and the Jazz, and the Clippers and Rockets are already cold.

On May 13, since the Bulls had already advanced first, there was only one game between the Jazz and the Clippers today.

The Lakers certainly want the Clippers to get one more game back, and it would be better for these two teams to play a full seven games before ending the match.

It's a pity that the Jazz are not willing to play with the Clippers more, and their head coach Jerry Sloan decisively sacrificed a big killer in the stalemate of the fourth quarter between the two teams - shark slashing tactics!

There is a question - this "shark cutting tactic", was it used first?

Zhang Wei didn't know who was the first to use the "shark slashing tactic" to deal with O'Neal, but he knew that after he entered the NBA, he had already heard that there was a way to deal with O'Neal who was in the midst of a burst of seeds, and that was to let him go to the free throw.

This approach doesn't work every time, and O'Neal's free throws can sometimes be magically accurate for a while, then suddenly go berserk, plummeting all the way to the bottom, and then rebounding to around 50 percent...... After that, after a while, O'Neal's free throws will rise and fall weirdly, basically repeating the process over and over again......

Zhang Qi said: "Isn't this Nima just practicing free throws for a while, so he was accurate for a while, and then he stopped practicing, and his feeling naturally declined immediately." At this time, seeing that it is impossible to practice without practicing, then we can only practice for a while, and then after just a little bit, we will continue to give up halfway......"

O'Neal shot around 70 percent from the free-throw line at the end of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs, and no one dared to abuse his "shark-cutting tactics" with this kind of accuracy. But this time, he suddenly didn't even shoot 50% of the free throws, apparently because he neglected to practice free throws during this time.

Zhang Wei can guess the reason, others can naturally guess it, and even all the teams in the league can guess this.

In the Jazz's backup plan today, there is such a trick: if the game is deadlocked at a critical moment, you can use the "shark slashing tactic" at the opportunity, and the players can decide for themselves on the spot.

As a result, Zhang Yu saw a group of old hooligans in the Jazz team smiling obscenely, and took turns to use all kinds of despicable and shameless tricks against O'Neal......

Let's not mention Malone's iron elbow, Stockton is the real Liu gangster, he really took advantage of O'Neill's hand-to-hand combat above, and he was very unqualified to "steal peaches", "pad black feet", "top knees", in short, it was a lewd comparison!

O'Neal made a lot of free throws as a result, but he made 10 free throws in the final quarter. But the problem is that he only made 5 free throws in the end, and although some say that 50% of the free throw percentage is already very high, there are many prerequisites in this that cannot be generalized.

If the opponent is playing foul tactics in the frontcourt, then you can shoot 50% of the shots. But what if the opponent fouls in the backcourt? That 50% hit rate is not enough. Because the opponent is likely to foul when he can't prevent you, so your goal was originally a result of two points, and even a 2+1, and in the end, if you can only get a mere 1 point, it will naturally be a big loss.

This kind of ball must be scored in all of them to be cost-effective, but O'Neal just made this kind of ball 1 in 2, and the Clippers just said "injury".

"It hurts indeed!" Zhang Qi can see that the Jazz's "shark cutting tactics" have definitely been practiced, they are not brainless to foul O'Neal, but choose to foul in time when the defense line is about to be breached, which is very profitable!

But this kind of foul tactics must be practiced in advance in order to grasp the timing of the foul, otherwise it will be beaten into 2+1, and it will be a loss.

Of course, the Jazz made blood, and it was at the critical moment in the final quarter that they successfully slowed down the Clippers' scoring speed by letting O'Neal make free throws, and also disrupted the rhythm of the Clippers on the offensive end, making them impetuous, and finally grinding the opponent to death with their invincible stability.

"These guys are really capable of grinding, I don't know if they can automatically adjust their level according to the strength of their opponents? Or do they have the ability to grind any opponent to a similar level to their own, and then use their experience to take them out? ”

Zhang Qian felt that he might have been wrong before, and the second answer might be the reason why this Jazz team can play with anyone.

The Jazz finally wore out the Clippers who played well at home 94:90, and O'Neal did not complete the task of letting himself lose decently enough, and the overall score of 4:1 was at most a pair of pants left, which was better than 4:0 and could not be seen.

But at least O'Neal won't let his status drop too much because of this outing, and it is this victory that will allow people to give him another chance, as long as the Clippers can go further next year and reach the division finals, even if they can't still win the championship, O'Neal will not be criticized because there is progress.

In fact, the fans are not harsh, and if you are not the strongest, not being able to win the championship does not make people hate out of love. For example, Barkley, as well as the Jazz duo who have just qualified, they haven't won the championship yet, don't the home team and neutral fans also pity them?

But Jordan back then, Zhang Qi now, and who will be in the future...... If you're the number one player in the league that most people recognize, but you never win the championship, you're going to have to suffer the verbal criticism after the defeat.

Of course, there is also a deadline here - 7 years.

O'Neal was considered the strongest of the younger generation before Zhang Qi, so after he was swept by Olajuwon in the finals, although he was still young at the time and far from the seven-year period, he was still laughed at by neutral fans for a long time.

But now, he can't sit in this position, and there is not so much pressure if he doesn't win the championship, as long as he can not be swept away, then everything is easy to say.

The Bulls 4:0 Hornets, Jazz 4:1 Clippers, and one team from each of the East and West have advanced to the division finals.

The Knicks and Heat are tied 2-2, and it's too early to tell the winner.

Now it's up to the Lakers to see if they can just as quickly and kill the Rockets in one fight?

On May 14, in the face of the battle of life and death, the Rockets were certainly very nervous, but the Lakers seemed very relaxed. Whether it is from the pre-game preparation or the press conference on the day of the game, you can see that the Lakers players have a calm tone, relaxed expressions, and can make two jokes that are not necessarily funny from time to time.

Of course, for the Lakers, this battle is not a battle of life and death, the only pressure is brought to them by the Jazz, because they have already advanced to the division finals, and if they play six games against the Rockets, it will be a loss of face.

Before the start of the game, in the "Great Western Forum Arena", Lakers fans shouted wildly, like a jet plane is taking off, threatening to tear over the roof.

It's a way for Lakers fans to celebrate and light-hearted—celebrating the team's upcoming second consecutive trip to the Division Finals, and there's no doubt about the lighthearted result.

Going deeper, as the "Voice of the Lakers" Zike Hearn said, starting with George McCann, the Lakers have gone through Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and then the Magic, and there have always been many legendary stars on the Lakers.

But in the end, there will always be a day when these excellent talents will grow old, and the change of dynasties is inevitable.

However, even they could not have predicted that the new era would come so quickly, and almost in the blink of an eye, they ushered in a new era.

"Be cautious, the prey is visiting our house, don't let them mess up our home, we all know how much work goes into cleaning it up."

Zhang Qian finished sprinkling magnesium powder, pretending to be forced, and then licked Bilian to make his teammates cautious.

This is equivalent to saying to the younger brother: "I am responsible for pretending to be forced, and you are responsible for shouting 666." ”

However, his little brothers are really willing to work hard.

After the game began, the Rockets won the ball in the jump ball, but were immediately pressed by the Lakers, and the result was that Kidd got the opportunity to fight for the ball with the one who and regained the ball for the Lakers.

That's a 6, Kidd stared at the opponent like he was staring at his own job from the beginning, and the two horse-like guards of the Rockets were like beanbags in front of him.

The Lakers undoubtedly have the solid defense of a championship team, not only can Mutombo and Mason on the inside always limit Olajuwon and Barkley to an average level, but the Lakers' outside line is like a thick blanket, airtight, and firmly wraps the Rockets inside.

For the Rockets, the Lakers' outside line is an electrified barbed wire, and the inside line is a thick, barbed wall, and even if they are lucky enough to cross the grid, if they want to climb over this wall again, they will have to be pierced into a hole.

Nearly three minutes into the game, the Rockets made their first shot, which was completed by Olajuwon.

Today is the home court of the Lakers, the Rockets' two horse-like guards are too nervous, Malaysia even threw a three-no-stick, and the pony passed the ball directly into Zhang Fu's arms, which was really panicked.

The offense was unfavorable, and the Rockets' defense of the Lakers was also unsuccessful, and after halfway through the first quarter, they trailed by 10 points at 5:15 and continued to be pressed to the ground.

The Lakers' defensive strategy hasn't changed from start to finish, but the details have been fine-tuned. Today, Kidd and Starks are more supportive of the interior, obviously figuring out the two horse-like guards of the Rockets, who really don't have the ability to start a top team. These two guys are okay to play off the bench, but to let them play in the division finals as starters is obviously not up to the task. Not only the Lakers, even if they meet the Clippers, I'm afraid it will end up the same, this is not a regular season that can be confused.

With 5 minutes and 20 seconds left in the first quarter, Drexler missed the shot, and Olajuwon desperately grabbed the rebound and made a layup, but Zhang Zhu slapped the ball directly to the rebound from behind, and his reputation was ruined!

The Lakers were in a big voice, although they had crushed the Rockets in momentum, but this earth-shattering hat completed on Olajuwon undoubtedly made the entire arena begin to burst into flames.

Next, Zhang Qi scored two breakthroughs in a row, one of which was a hard dunk and caused a foul, and one of the free throws scored 5 points in a row, leading the Lakers to play a wave of 8:0 and then turning the score into 25:9.

The Rockets had a disappointing performance in the first quarter, shooting just 5-of-22 from the field and trailing by 18 points at 14:32, which made the suspense of the game disappear from the start.

Drexler pretended to be confident before the game, "I've been through this," he said, "I'm going to put everything aside and just think about what's on the field, and I'm going to let my teammates go with me." But when it came to the court, it was another matter, Drexler's performance was still out of order, and he scored zero duck eggs in front of Zhang Yu in the first quarter.

After the start of the second quarter, the Rockets obviously carried the ideological baggage, and the outside players repeatedly missed shots on offense, and they were a little overwhelmed on defense, and were easily broken through by the Lakers' outside players many times, Zhang Zhu scored 15 points for the Lakers alone in the second quarter, and the aristocratic lords once extended their advantage to 25 points.

The Rockets, who were trailing by a large score, began to play inside, and Olajuwon scored 10 points in the quarter, but Barkley was held down by the Lakers, and the Rockets still trailed 36-61 at halftime, and it looked like a massacre was inevitable.

"Don't keep your hands, this battle will break their fighting spirit for the next few years!"

Zhang Yu was very excited in the middle of the court, he was no longer satisfied with winning this battle by a big score, he wanted to use a battle to destroy the Rockets, it is best to let it split internally, break up the Big Three in one fell swoop, and completely cut off their idea of surviving for a few more years.

The Rockets were pretty much torn apart, with only four of them scoring in the first half, and Olajuwon's 18 points were high, but apart from Ross Barkley's nine, the rest didn't do much to help.

Although Zhang scored 22 points alone, Kidd, Starks and Mason also contributed their own contributions, with seven players scoring and three scoring in double figures after halftime, which was enough to shame the Rockets' role players.

The Rockets were even worse in the third quarter, with only three players scoring in the first half.

Olajuwon and Ross Barkley are struggling to hold up, and now they are not winning or not winning, but for the battle of honor.

Well, don't ask what the honor is, it's hard to explain.

But what can be confirmed is that with Olajuwon and Barkley alone, the Rockets will not be able to keep any honor.

In this quarter, when other scoring points were completely unable to open the situation, the Rockets completely panicked, and the defense of the Lakers became useless, and the Lakers shot 11 of 21 in this quarter, and won 30-20 in a single quarter, leading 91-56 after the first three quarters, forcing the Rockets into a truly desperate situation.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets still couldn't replace their main team because they couldn't allow themselves to end the playoffs with a huge 35-point deficit.

But the problem is that if you don't raise your hand first and admit defeat, the Lakers won't stop.

Barkley scored two points shortly after the start of the final quarter, but the Lakers scored five straight points after that, which was a 40-point rhythm to stop.

At this moment, Yao Ming, who was sitting in front of the TV eating melons and watching the excitement on the other side of the ocean, suddenly felt a heartache in his heart, which was very inexplicable.

The Rockets are now riding hard, and the main team has been on the court for the first five minutes, but the difference has not narrowed, but has come to 41 points.

At this time, even the home fans couldn't bear to cheer for the Lakers, and everyone sat there quietly watching this game like an irrelevant melon eater.

But it is precisely because even the Lakers fans at home stop cheering that the Rockets have completely lost the desire to play.

Barkley missed a dunk after being interfered with by Mutombo, and the referee did not blow a foul, and Sir Bar looked angry and deliberately chased the referee to theorize, and was ejected from the game.

Tang Shuai looked at the 42-point deficit on the scoreboard with a dead face, and he was already a little unstable off the court.

Of course, he knew that it was useless to go on like this, especially with Barkley's initiative to leave, the last vestiges of the Rockets' decency had also vanished, and he could only tremble his hands and play a humiliating GG no matter how reluctant he was.

The Lakers led the Rockets by 42 points at 109:67 at this time, and the game had already become garbage time, so after Tang Shuai played GG, the Lakers quickly withdrew all their main forces and advanced to the division finals in a brutal way.