On April 23, the Toyota Center was full, and the Rockets' first playoff game was about to start. Fans are waiting to see the Rockets sink the Clippers and break the rundown of the first-round playoff rundown.

After the Rockets triumvirate appeared, they stood side by side, facing the audience to the sound of music, raising their fists! The crowd shouted frantically, and the home stadium was like a rainbow.

This is the new way of playing for the Rockets, and the Big Three have a victory celebration from the start, which is easy to deal a psychological blow to the visiting players who are already at a disadvantage.

Yao Ming and Mobley exchanged pleasantries, and Elton Brand also greeted Hayes. "Chuck, don't be too arrogant, the playoffs are not the same as the regular season, you may not win."

"I'm afraid you'll lose worse than the regular season." Hayes laughed.

Brand didn't say anything and returned to the dugout.

The Clippers didn't think about creating the Black Eight Miracle at all, they just wanted to grab a win, and then they got the job done. At least you have to fight with the rockets, you can't lose too ugly.

Clippers head coach Dunleavy had a serious expression and arranged tactics: "Elton, you keep an eye on Hayes." Chris (Carman), today you defend Yao Ming alone, and if he shoots well, he goes around the front defense. Catino (Mobley), stalking Maddie, don't let him take it easy. On offense, Elton gave Catino a pick-and-roll, Maddy's defense was relatively weak, and we used that as a breakthrough, Sean (Livingston), you have to dare to attack against Fisher, you have the height and speed advantage. ”

Dunleavy didn't have Brand in the lead, and in regular season meetings, he was always below average for Hayes defense.

The Clippers were ready to guard against Yao Ming and Maddy, but on the other side, Van Gundy made a surprise move. Not only did the Rockets adjust their tactics, but they also changed their starting lineup. David Lee became the starting power forward, Hayes appeared at the small forward position, Battier played at shooting guard, and Maddy played point guard.

"The Clippers will definitely take special care of Tracy in the opening, and we will take them by surprise, and the opening will start with Chuck as the core offense, and David will come out to block and dismantle. Chuck, you can choose to play on your own, or draw the ball in defense and others look for opportunities on the perimeter. When defending, people mark, David goes to defend Brand, Chuck guards Margeti, David and Yao Ming control the rebound, and if there is an opportunity, Chuck counterattacks quickly. We not only have to win the first game, but also play with momentum and win completely! ”

Rockets starters: Maddy, Battier, Hayes, David Lee, Yao Ming.

Clippers starters: Livingston, Mobley, Corey Margetty, Brand, Carman.

The referee threw the ball into the air, and Yao Ming took the jump and easily flicked the ball to Battier, who handed it to Maddie.

Getting to the frontcourt, Hayes ran out of the post and received a pass. David Lee blocks the demolition. Hayes rounded Brand on the right and burst to the three-point line and hit a pullup jumper. 2 to 0.

Because of the change in the Rockets' starting lineup, Margeti hesitated a little to make up the defense, and Hayes scored easily.

The Clippers also had a pick-and-roll fit, but it didn't work very well. Brand gave Mobley a pick-and-roll, and after the switch, David Lee was active in the defense.

Mobley misses a jumper. Brand was resisted by Hayes, and suddenly his body loosened, and Hayes left a gap for him to enter the inside, and he rushed to the Clippers at full speed in the half.

Brand went inside to grab the rebound, but the ball bounced towards Yao. Yao Ming took the rebound with both hands, and threw the ball vigorously with both hands to Hayes in the front court. The Clippers have only one Livingston on their defense. Livingston stood up, shielding the vital point with both hands, and seeing the hope of death as home, Hayes made Hayes hit people with the ball, but Hayes pressed his body very low, turned around and passed Livingston and burst into the basket, and scored with both hands! 4 to 0.

This guy is getting better and better! The thought crossed Bland and Livingston's minds. Judging the direction of the ball's bounce, counterattacking quickly, increasing the speed of the dribble and making fakes are all the ways Hayes practiced after the star game.

In the regular season, Hayes mainly grabbed rebounds, and these abilities were not well displayed. After adjusting his position today, he took out his hidden strength.

Brand first blocked his teammates and then took a 45-degree position in the three-second zone. The Clippers pulled away and transferred the ball to Brand for him to single David Lee. The two are equal in strength, and David Lee has the advantage in height. Brand arched his back a few times, turned into the middle and entered the three-second zone, distanced himself from David Lee, and used his long arm span to dodge the block hook and the ball didn't go in. As soon as he landed, he saw Hayes attack again.

Yao Ming got the rebound and made another long pass. Hayes receives the basketball through the halfcourt. This time Margeti defended up, Hayes dribbled with his back, and Margeti's body was also strong, and he successfully stopped Hayes from moving forward. Quentin Rose, who was chasing back, wanted to step up and make a steal. Hayes turned his head to the right and passed the back of his right hand to Maddie, who was following on the left. Maddy makes a pull-up jumper from beyond the three-point line. 7 to 0.

After two rounds, after Brand blocked Mobley, he began to hesitate whether to squeeze inside to grab the frontcourt rebound. Hayes is ready to go down at any time, facing the defense of the outside players, his brutalist style of play can do whatever he wants as long as he gets to the basket, if he wants to defend Hayes, he can only be on it. At this time, Margeti made a move, and under Hayes's close interference, he didn't score a board jumper. Brand was distracted by defending Hayes and was easily stuck outside the three-second zone by David Lee and grabbed the rebound.

Hayes vowed to be worthy of his name as the best defensive team in the playoffs, so how could Margeti score easily? Margety's offensive ability is comparable to Mobley, and blocking him makes it even more difficult for the Clippers, who already have few attackers, to score.

The Rockets fell to attack, and David Lee blocked Hayes again. Hayes still broke through on the right side, Brand defended it, and Hayes returned the ball to the high post David Lee, who relied on his height advantage and hit the mid-range shot. 9 to 0.

At 1:41 of the opening period, the Clippers were called a timeout. Hayes Khan finished with four points and two assists before he even played.

The Clippers players were lifeless, surrounding Dunleavy and waiting for the coach to talk about tactics, Dunleavy didn't know how to set up defense, and the Rockets cooperated with a move to block and dismantle, simple but effective, making it difficult for them to guard.

Drexler, who was on the commentator's bench, laughed: "The game was only played for two minutes, and the Rockets had already won." The Clippers simply couldn't break their pick-and-roll tie. Van Gundy's change of formation this time was very successful, and the effect was too obvious. Although Hayes averaged much less points than Maddie and Yao Ming in the regular season, his actual offensive ability is not below the two, and he is fully capable of being the core of the offense. ”

Mark Bullard said: "When Hayes blocks his teammates, he often gives the impression of having a long eye behind his back. Today he is the main attacker, David Lee is also doing well, many fans think that David Lee is a qualified blue-collar worker, and he grabs rebounds very well. In fact, in addition to rebounding, his blocking role cannot be ignored. Both of them had a better blocking and dismantling effect than Yao Ming. ”

Why? In the previous two seasons, Yao Ming and Maddie's blocking and dismantling cooperation was far less effective than this season, so it can be said that the time is not effective. The problem lies with Yao Ming, Yao Ming's figure is tall, as long as he blocks it correctly, the effect will be bug-level, which is difficult to prevent. But when he has his back to the basket, it is difficult to find the sweet spot based on his feelings, which is the lack of pick-and-roll awareness.

In the first two seasons, people saw Maddie holding the ball on the outside many times, beckoning Yao Ming to come over to block people, Yao Ming pulled from the inside to the outside, and sometimes looked funny, he looked left and right, looking inside and outside with both eyes (more difficult than fighting eyes, you can try if you don't believe it). He wanted to see both the inside defenders and Maddie's intentions. Then Yao Ming's hands hung down and crossed, as if to protect his JJ. This is smart because blocking allows physical contact, and the screener can't physically move, otherwise the whistle blows and the cover fouls. Tossed like this for a long time, but I often saw Maddie dribbling a few balls, one of them was pulled out and thrown, and the result was iron. was so angry that the audience scolded her mother, and Zhang Lili of Imperial Court Radio 5 couldn't help but criticize Maddie for being unreasonable. As everyone knows, Maddie is sometimes helpless, because Yao Ming failed to find the best blocking point, and Maddie can see the situation clearly in the face of the basket. Suddenly entered, the defense team members can pull outside the reasonable collision area to close the door to Maddie, at this time, the efficiency of dismantling Yao Ming's high jump shot is very low, and it is handed over to other players, and he is not sure, so Maddie can only throw, and then he is scolded very badly.

Now the situation is different with rockets. Both David Lee and Hayes can shoot from mid-to-long range and also attack under the basket. It can be blocked and dismantled, so it is naturally difficult to prevent. The Rockets are getting better and better in this regard, and Maddie can score close to 26 points while sharing the ball with Yao Ming, thanks to the cooperation of blocking and pick-and-roll.

After the timeout, the Clippers pulled out the outside line became Carman, and they wanted to pull Yao Ming out of the line, so that Mobley and Margeti took the opportunity to break through to the inside. How do you know that the Rockets changed their defensive formation and defended a three-two joint defense, and Yao Ming and David Lee sat on the inside and couldn't come out.

Carman pulls out, Hayes defends the top; Brandra comes out, Battier entangles. Mobley missed another shot, and Yao Ming took the rebound and handed it to Maddie.

Maddie made a long pass to Hayes, and Battier and Hayes formed a two-on-two frontcourt. Facing Margeti who retreated from the middle, Hayes turned his head to look at Battier who was following up on the left, and then picked up the ball with his right hand and circled it behind him...... It's a pass from behind again, and it's still a trick? Margeti had already eaten this action once, and he immediately took a step forward, ready to block Hayes's passing route, but Hayes just feint, the ball was still in his hand when he got behind his back, and then circled back, sideways past Margeti into the inside, and scored with an easy three-step layup. 11 to 0.

Hayes's defender moves conquered the crowd, and the cheers rose higher and higher. The Clippers were completely suppressed!

(To be continued)