On March 23, the Rockets lost to the Pistons 81-87 at home, and a day later, the Rockets lost to the Hornets 89-92 on the road.

Chris Paul shows superstar temperament. In this game, he faced Fisher, who was moving slower and slower, and was at ease, scoring 34 points and 11 assists.

So far, the Rockets have lost 11 games. The dream of chasing the Bulls record was shattered.

The most frustrated man was Jamario Moon, who burst out of the baseline on a fast break, injured his knee and sidelined him for four weeks. At this time, Kirk Snyder made a comeback. The uniforms were reluctant to give Moon another chance, and he dragged a broken leg and was cut.

After learning the news of the layoff, Moon felt that it was the end of the world. Not only did he lose the chance to get a championship ring, but he may also say goodbye to the NBA. Hayes assured that he should be signed back by the uniforms next season, and it was only when there were more chances to win the championship that Moon calmed down.

In Hayes's mind, Moon was stronger than Snyder and Weaver, but he couldn't play at the level because of the Rockets' tactics. Snyder has the ability to attack with the ball, which is more suitable for playing positional offense.

Can't break the Bull record, people feel a little regretful. But the Rockets are already doing well, and with more than 10 games left before the end of the regular season, they are sure to have the best record in the league. Moreover, Yao Ming and Maddie are both healthy, which makes people more optimistic about the prospects of the rockets.

According to the current selection criteria of the league, the MVP (Best Player) of the regular season is likely to be selected among the Rockets with the best record.

The Rockets' Big Three are all pretty stats.

Maddy had 25.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Perform well-rounded. Maddie has already won two scoring titles, and his personal accolades are just one MVP trophy away, and this season is the best chance of all.

Yao's stats are 21.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. In addition to data, Yao Ming also has the Chinese market behind him, and MVP is also likely to fall on him.

The fewest points of the Big Three were Hayes. His stats are 15.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals. He's averaging fewer points, but his rebounding stats are increasing all the time. He currently ranks second in the league in rebounds, behind Garnett's 12.9.

Fans are happy that Maddie, who can score, is back, and Yao Ming also played the best stats of his career. Hayes sees a different problem, with the Rockets having some changes in the distribution of the ball. Maddie and Yao Ming take turns playing singles, while role players rarely get offensive opportunities.

When interviewed, the three always said that in order to win, they would not fight over who was the boss of the rocket. But in the face of the highest personal honor, who can not be a little selfish? So far in the regular season, there is no clear boss in the team, and it is impossible to talk about who assists whom, and the data of the original three people is not too much, and it is not surprising that the MVP falls on anyone.

After the All-Star break, Jeff Van Gundy approached Hayes about shooting rights.

Owner Alexander made it clear that he wanted to use Maddie as the heart of the attack. Because he thinks Maddie is in good shape, sharp in attack, and has a beautiful style of play, which makes it easier to attract audiences. In the summer, Maddie was injured and couldn't play, but as he looked ahead to the new season, Alexander still had a smile on his lips and spat out almost all of Maddie's name, with his favorite description being "great player". He is a fan of Maddie and naturally wants Maddie to be the core. It's best to get the MVP of the season as well.

After Van Gundy and Hayes discussed, a clear division of labor was made, with Tracy and Yao Ming leading the offense, and Hayes controlling the rebounds and strengthening the secondary offense. As a result, Hayes has fewer shots and will have a hard time competing for the best player, but it's good for the team.

In fact, in Van Gundy's view, Hayes is more suitable to be the core of the Rockets.

Yao Ming moves slowly, lacks the ability to attack with the ball, and his physical strength is not good. He's a good player, but he's not a good leader; Maddie's attitude has always been a problem, lacking aggressiveness and not being aggressive when defending; Only if Hayes can attack and defend well and have a tough style, he is truly all-rounded.

But the Rockets' staffing meant that Hayes had to do the third point. It would be a waste to let Maddie be a pitcher with an annual salary of nearly 20 million. Yao Ming is also not suitable for being a blue-collar worker. Then Hayes can only sacrifice offense to grab rebounds.

For the sake of the team's victory, Hayes is also willing to make grabbing rebounds his first task. If he can grab 15 rebounds per game, the MVP will still be his. But he can't grab 15 rebounds, and he has Yao Ming, David Lee, Millsap, and Mutombo around him, and 12.6 is already the limit. With two interior substitutes on the bench, Hayes' playing time has also been reduced to an average of 35.6 minutes per game. In terms of efficiency, he surpasses Garnett, who averages 38.8 minutes per game, and is already the rebounding king.

Although there is no hope of winning the MVP, Hayes's sacrifice for the team has won the recognition of the majority of fans, especially Chinese netizens, who almost unanimously "stand up for the sea".

After losing to the Hornets away, netizen "Maddie Forever" posted on the Rockets bar: "In these two games, the other players of the Rockets did not support Maddie enough, resulting in a loss, and it is understandable that the role players did not play well, but Hayes played too soft for several months, he didn't dare to attack at all, and he passed the ball as soon as the opponent defended, and he almost disappeared from the court in the fourth quarter." ”

As soon as the post was posted, an hour later, hundreds of people commented, 80 percent of them complaining about Hayes.

Netizen "alleine" said: "Lanzhou baked cakes. Brains in water, right? Hayes soft? Grab 13 rebounds called soft? The score is basically based on grabbing the frontcourt rebounds and the second offense is called soft? If you want to attack, you have to get the ball, right? The whole court depends on Maddy's ability to either pull out a jump shot or shoot with the ball, and what is the shooting percentage of more than 30 points? The Rockets never lost when Hayes was the core, and Maddie knew that swiping data to compete for MVP was a cancer at all! ”

Netizen "Wushuang Lu Bu @ Ranlai Monk" said: "As long as you look at the record, you will find that when the Rockets attack with Hayes as the core, the playing style is very reasonable, and almost five people score double-doubles in every game, and they have not lost a game." Now that Maddy is back, the Rockets' offense is under 10 points except for the Big Three, and Hayes has also become a blue-collar worker. It's all thanks to Maddie's comeback. Also, I wondered why David Lee, who had two consecutive double-doubles at the power forward position when he first arrived, didn't let him play a little longer now? He's proven he's got what he's capable of, but now he only has 20 minutes of playing time per game, so what was the purpose of replacing Wells in the first place? Van Gundy's employment is very problematic. ”

Netizen "infatuated" said: "It's time for the Rockets to change the core, Maddie has unlimited shots, and he has scored more points than before, but as long as you look at what data the players opposite him have taken, you can know what he has done." When Yao Ming and Hayes supported the Rockets, they won easily against the Spurs and did not lose for a month. As soon as Maddie returned, playing the supersonic was as hard as dealing with the Spurs, and he was almost killed by Ray Allen. Now that the record is broken, it is no fun to trade Maddie away. ”

"Aiyue Entourage" said: "In order to grab the MVP, Maddie created his own iron nine style. The 43% hit rate says it all, don't explain ......"

"If it's just like the first sight" is more pertinent: "Hayes is a blue-collar worker for the sake of the team, because he can grab rebounds, attract opposing defenses and pass the ball, and is more comprehensive." Maddie's specialty is to steal points, and it is a waste to transform into a pitcher. The Rockets need Hayes, and they can't do without Maddie. Maddie is powerful, how many people in the league can get 25+5+5? ”

"Silly haw" said: "It doesn't matter if the Rockets don't attack well, they are already the strongest defensive team in the league." Defend your opponent to death! In the next game against the Bucks, they should score no more than 30. ”

"Drag the prince" replied "Silly, it's not 30!" Do you think the Chinese team is playing Saudi Arabia? ”

One thing netizen "silly haw" is right, the Rockets are indeed the best defensive team in the league. Even in the last 20 years, no team has defended better than them.

The Rockets are now conceding an average of just 85.3 points and limiting opponents to 42.1 percent shooting, which is a horrific record. Few teams can score more than 90 points in a game against the Rockets, and even the Suns, who have the strongest offense, have a hard time doing so. In the home game against the 76ers, the Rockets' 76ers scored only 57 points, and except for Iguodala, none of them scored in double figures.

Next, Hayes was quick to silence the skeptics with a brilliant performance.

"Magic" Johnson went to Houston, and what he really taught Hayes was actually only one sentence: "Do it before you think about it." Because of this sentence, Hayes's passing improved.

The Rockets won their home games against the Bucks and the Clippers on the road, and although Maddy scored more than 30 points in both games, Hayes hit back-to-back triple-doubles to make it even better.

In the game against the Jazz on April 2, Hayes also scored a quasi-triple-double of 16 points, 16 rebounds and 8 assists. After this game, the Rockets won the regular season championship early with a record of 63 wins and 11 losses.

All members of the Rockets are proud of this achievement.

Hayes is now convinced that the Rockets will win a championship and build a dynasty.

At the post-match press conference, Hayes was once again the center of attention.

The reporter asked: "Mr. Hayes, you have always said that you will determine whether you will renew your contract with the Rockets after this season, and now the regular season is coming to an end." A lot of teams have made it clear that they're interested in you and want that to come in next season. All Houston fans want to know what you think on this, can you give an exact answer? All the fans want you to stay. ”

Hayes suddenly felt sorry for the fans who had been concealing it, and he was in a good mood today, so he simply announced the answer, and said with a smile: "Please rest assured that Houston fans will stay for the championship, but the contract extension will wait until the end of the season, and I believe that the team leadership will give me a satisfactory contract." ”

Hearing the news, the Houstonians in the venue responded with warm applause. After the news was released, the team that wanted Hayes to join was only depressed.

(To be continued)