On June 8, the NBA finals kicked off at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Hayes appeared in the audience in a suit. Although he was absent from the game, the enthusiastic fans gave him a round of applause.

The ratings of this Finals hit a new high after Jordan's retirement, and the Cavaliers have James, the most popular All-Star ticket king in the United States, the Rockets have regular season MVP Maddy, and Yao Ming, who has attracted fans all over China!

James's 16-year-old promotional video once said that his idol was Maddie, which was hyped by the media before the game.

Both Maddie and James spoke to the media before the game.

"LeBron is a great player, and it's a great achievement that he's led the team to the Finals at such a young age," Maddie said. However, the overall strength of the Rockets is stronger than that of the Cavaliers, and I think the Rockets must be the one who wins the championship. We are the nemesis of the Cavaliers, and in any game I played, LeBron's Cavaliers never beat the Rockets. I hope that the finals will continue that record. ”

Compared to Maddie's victory declaration, James is a little more low-key. "The Rockets have had a great season, they're the best team and we've only lost one game in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean we don't have a chance," he said. We will not be timid and will do everything we can to win. ”

James didn't mention Maddy, although Maddie won the MVP this season, but James thinks he is stronger, he cares more about Hayes and Battier's defense than Maddy's pull-up jumper, and now that Hayes is not there, he is confident to lead the team to victory!

In short, the confrontation between Maddie and James is regarded as the biggest attraction of this Finals.

Fans who want to see the two score each other are going to be disappointed. In this grand final, Van Gundy is ready to be the bad guy.

When it came to setting up the tactics, Jeff Van Gundy said: "Our defensive tactics are clear, continue with the 122 defense. Tracy (Maddy), Sean (Battier), and Derek (Fisher) are out, with Yao Ming and David Lee included. Battier entangles James on the outside, don't let him start to break through easily, once the opponent blocks and dismantles, David goes up and wraps him with Sean, if he can still break through like this, Yao Ming lets go of the 'big z' (Ilgoskas) and makes up the defense. Except for James, no one else has to be afraid, as long as we seal him down, we will win. ”

The players are very excited, and the first home game is the key to improving the momentum, and there is no room for error. Hayes is not here today, so they have to work harder to fill the void in Hayes' absence.

"When attacking, resolutely hit Yao Ming! The Cavaliers' interior line is not strong, whether it is 'Big Z' or Vallejo, it is impossible for Yao Ming to defend alone. If the opponent goes around the front defense......" Van Gundy took the tactical board, drew a brief position map, flattened, and strived to be seen by every starter, and said: "The opponent will definitely go around the front defense, causing Yao Ming to have difficulty receiving the ball, at this time, you must completely withdraw the empty basket!" All the outside players are on the perimeter, David, and your task is critical at this time. You have to raise the high position, and make the most of the space under the basket, which is the first step to crack the front circle. Tracy doesn't break through with a pick-and-roll after receiving the ball and passes to Derek. Because David has the ability to shoot in a high position, the opponent's No. 4 defender must follow, at this time the basket is empty, Derrick hangs over the top to Yao Ming, Yao Ming can score directly in front of the basket as long as he blocks the player in front of him to receive the ball on the periphery! The outside players actively run and look for opportunities to shoot, as long as the knight wraps Yao Ming, Yao Ming will pass the ball! Again, the attack must be launched from Yao Ming! Whoever doesn't execute the tactics, I'll immediately replace him! ”

The team nodded. Van Gundy's last words were actually for Maddie. Maddie is an offensive strong, but the opponent will definitely send James to keep a close eye on him, if he attacks hard, he may play well, but it is simply stupid to let the opponent's weakness not attack.

Van Gundy's tactics are very clear, allowing Yao Ming to have unlimited shots, unless it is to attract the opponent to the bag, otherwise he can attack the basket to his heart's content!

At Hayes's house, Van Gundy talked with Yao Ming and Hayes for an hour, pondered all the defensive methods that the Cavaliers might take, and designed several sets of tactics for Yao Ming. In the end, it was concluded that Yao Ming would definitely be able to destroy the knight's defense! Because David Lee and Millsap both have the ability to shoot from the mid-range and can pull the inside line.

Yao Ming didn't say a word, his eyes were full of determination!

On the other side, Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown took it for granted that the Rockets would have Maddy as the core offense. Because Maddie is the No. 1 scoring point of the Rockets and the MVP of the regular season. Every time Maddie played against James, he played well.

Brown had already fallen behind when he arranged the opening tactics. He arranged defenders to mark, Ilgoskas defended Yao Ming alone, and James faced Maddie.

Rockets starting lineup: Fisher, Maddy, Battier, David Lee, Yao Ming.

Cavaliers starting lineup: Hughes, Pavlovich, James, Gooden, Ilgoskas.

The race is on.

Yao Ming jumped the ball to defeat Ilgoskas, and the Rockets fell into battle.

Yao Ming opened to the left side of the three-second zone, and the Rockets all pulled away, and Fisher handed Yao Ming a single. Yao Ming received the ball and squeezed a few steps, walked to the middle with the ball, turned and hooked his hand. 2 to 0.

There was nothing Ilgoskas could do about the goal. Yao Ming has an advantage in all aspects against Ilgauskas.

The Cavaliers attacked, and James had difficulties with the ball for the first time. Without Hayes, Battier would be difficult to defend alone. After a few encounters, Battier is already well aware of James' offensive routine.

James is so strong that as long as he gets close to Battier, he can squeeze him away with his body, overtake him, and then rush to the basket. Battier often trains with Hayes on the team, and against such a strong player, he can't get too close, and once he rushes, there is nothing he can do. It wasn't too far away, and Battier didn't want to foul James, he once cheated an offensive foul on James, but the impact made him feel like he was going to die. He just wanted to drag the ball into the half-court offense, block the breakthrough route as much as possible, and let James only score with a jumper.

Battier is a master of breaking, and James dribbled a few times and passed to Pavlovic on the perimeter, who missed a jumper. Yao Ming grabbed the rebound.

Rockets to the Cavaliers half-court, and then Yao Ming. Yao Ming turned around and hit a jumper. 4 to 0.

The Cavaliers' offense was still launched from James, and this time Gooden was ready to block and dismantle, but David Lee bypassed him without waiting for him to stand still, and surrounded James with Battier. As soon as James saw that the opponent was menacing, he took a step back with the ball, jumped up and gave the ball to Gooden, who cut inside.

Fisher burst out from the side and cut off the basketball.

The Rockets used the tried-and-true combination defense and wrap-and-pack tactics against the Spurs. David Lee and Battier's bag was actually a trap, deliberately leaving room for James to pass through, and Fisher was ambushed in the passing lane.

The Rockets were not in a hurry and continued to play positional battles, and this time Ilgoskas went around the front to defend. David Lee immediately pulled it out and made a pick-and-roll for Maddie, and Gooden followed. Maddie took the step and passed to Fisher, who hung Yao Ming back. At this time, Yao Ming successfully turned around and squeezed Ilgoskas outside. He received the basketball and dunked it with both hands! 6 to 0.

James forced a broken jumper missed, and David Lee grabbed the rebound. The rocket offense is still the same way, David Lee is pulled to the high position, and Gooden can only defend it according to tactics. Yao Ming had the upper hand in the power duel with Ilgoskas, and once again turned and squeezed away his opponent to receive a pass from Fisher. Basket hook hit. 8 to 0.

The Rockets made a dream start again, and the Cavaliers were beaten at the beginning and quickly asked for a timeout!

James' expression was ugly, the situation was different from what he imagined, and even without Hayes, they would still be difficult to compete with the Rockets!

When Yao Ming left the arena, he waved to Hayes in the audience. Their tactics worked. Dealing with Ilgoskas, Yao Ming was too easy. Fisher's high lob pass is in place, Ilgoskas is even less physical than Yao Ming, bounce is not his strong point, and it is difficult to disrupt the Rockets' pass.

Hayes was also happy for Yao Ming. People always say that Yao Ming is soft, and the most evidence is that Yao Ming is afraid of defending around the front. In fact, it is not Yao Ming's responsibility to break the front defense. He needs helpers, and a big forward with mid-range shooting ability pulls out the outside line, which is the best way!

In Hayes's other life, it wasn't until the 07-08 season that the Rockets had a big forward Scola who could shoot in the middle, but Scola had limited role in the first two seasons and couldn't share more interior pressure for Yao Ming. When Scola became stronger, Yao Ming was also injured and could no longer prove himself. Now with David Lee, Yao Ming is much more relaxed. The Rockets attack with him as the core, and they can also be strong!

The Cavaliers changed their defensive tactics and wrapped Yao Ming.

In the offense, the Cavaliers began to counterattack under the dispatch of LeBron James, and after James hit the whistle, the two sides were 25-19, and the Cavaliers trailed by 6 points. Yao Ming shot 6 of 9 in the first quarter and scored 12 points.

In the second quarter, Ilgoskas played during Yao Ming's break, slam dunk, jump shot and sent a block to Millsap, and the Cavaliers chased it to 27-30. The Rockets had to send Yao Ming to replace David Lee.

The Rockets used Yao's core tactics, and the outside players collectively pulled outside the three-point line to make room for Yao Ming, Millsap quickly raised the high position, and for the first time, Vallejo chose to wrap Yao Ming, and did not follow Millsap, and Millsap scored with an easy shot.

Vallejo followed Millsap, Ilgoskas went around to defend Yao Ming, Fisher received the ball, and Hughes interfered with the pass in front of him. Fisher passes to Millsap, who passes straight to the basket, and Yao Ming goes around Ilgoskas to catch the ball. One-handed backsmash the ball in!

The Rockets cracked the Cavaliers' front guard! If you want to restrict Yao Ming, the knight can only choose the bag clip. But do they dare to wrap it up? Yao Ming passed the ball out, and Maddie made consecutive mid-range shots by blocking and pick-and-roll.

At halftime, the Rockets led by 11 points, 52-41.

In the third quarter, the Rockets once again showed a tough defense, and Millsap became the top guard to defend James and did Hayes's job. He and Battier's bag defense made James extremely depressed. He can pass the ball and pass a lot of holes, but the rest of the Cavaliers are terrible. The main team didn't have much offensive ability, Eric Snow, Damon Jones couldn't come off the bench to score, couldn't defend, and the rookie Gibson, who had performed well, also turned off. Only 2 points were scored. Teammates couldn't help James, but Yao Ming played the most beautiful game of his career, scoring consecutive jumpers.

The Rockets reversed the basket several times, allowing Yao Ming to score easily, and the Cavaliers no longer dared to go around the front...... At 1 minute and 41 seconds in the third quarter, Yao Ming grabbed the frontcourt rebound and attacked for the second time, and the dunk hit also caused James to foul, and after adding free throws, the score was stretched to 76-52.

Yao Ming did not play in the fourth quarter, and he completely dominated the game, with 34 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in the third quarter.

In the end, with a 101-76 lead, the Rockets won a big victory!

James shot 6-of-21, plus free throws, to finish with just 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The Rockets sent four players to wrap up James, and after watching today's game, many fans who support the Cavaliers have a feeling that James was rounded by the Rockets...... Yao Ming became a hero in Houston. Chinese fans are happier than the Chinese New Year. The news used "Brave knights, it is difficult to cross the "Great Wall of China"! made the title, praising Yao Ming's strongest inner line! When the shark is old and the Warcraft attack is average, Yao Ming is already the first center in the league!

(To be continued)