The rocket lost. 101-108, although the Rockets struggled to catch up and adopted foul tactics in the final moments, but the players had a poor hand and failed to chase the score.

Although the Rockets suffered their first loss of the playoffs at home, the fans gave the Rockets the warmest applause after the game. Many fans held signs and shouted Hayes' name after the game.

Hayes smiled wryly and waved to the fans as he returned to the locker room. After packing up his things and taking a shower, Hayes went to the nearest hospital with the team doctor, Loewen, to check the wound. In Loewan's words: "You madman, come with me to the hospital, before you go blind." ”

To examine the wound, the tape must first be removed, and Hayes, who entered the hospital, did not show the spirit of a tough guy.

When the doctor removed the tape, Hayes screamed. "God, I knew I was going to bite something like a bone...... I felt like my brain was coming out. ”

"I didn't think it was right when I watched the game, Duncan really opened your wounds, and you can still play?" Lovan shouted.

Hayes knew it was Duncan who was fouled when he dunked under the basket. But that was when the chasing was the most intense, and although he was in pain, he endured it.

Miss Nurse used a disinfectant towel to stop Hayes's bleeding, and Rowan said, "I can only remove the stitches and stitch them again." ”

"Still sewn? Dude, I now suspect that your first sewing was not up to standard. Hayes shouted. Quacks, definitely quacks!

Rowan said: "For such strenuous exercise as yours, I just use the method of sewing clothes, and I also open the threads. ”

"How can you sew clothes so lightly? The first time you sewed it for me, you clearly used the method of containing the soles of your shoes......"

Luo Wen sweated wildly, shook his head and said: "You can take anesthetics this time, and it's not me who will do it, you can lie down quickly, don't let your economists see jokes." ”

Hayes found out that Gao Tongxuan had also come to the hospital with him, and looked at him nervously. Hayes exhaled and lay down on the bed. He forgot he could take anesthetics...... Battier, Yao Ming and Van Gundy were joined in the post-match press conference.

Van Gundy bluntly said that the Rockets lost to the sluggish form of the team and the poor defense. "We dug a big hole for ourselves in the first quarter, and some of the players didn't defend hard, and that was the main reason for our loss. On the offensive side, we found a way to deal with the opponent, but unfortunately Hayes was injured in the game, otherwise we would have ...... I mean, I'm going to win the game. In the fourth quarter, the players worked hard and played bloody, and we just lacked a little bit of luck. ”

The reporter asked: "May I ask if the person you said who doesn't work hard to defend is Maddie?" ”

Van Gundy took a deep breath and said angrily, "Did you come to interview without watching the game?" I don't want to say much about who doesn't work this team, you can go back and watch the video yourself! ”

The reporter interviewed Battier, who scored 17 points, and Battier said: "We lost our defense, and this is not the secret of the playoffs. We can play fast, but when Yao Ming is on the court, we have to defend our own turf first, and we have to find a way and maintain the best offensive principles, rather than letting Yao Ming chase the opponent's ass back to the defense. ”

The reporter asked: "Can you comment on Hayes' performance today?" He came on with an injury and made a big impression. ”

Battier said solemnly: "Chuck's performance today made my blood boil, and I am proud to be teammates with him. He is the best team player and can do anything the team wants, grab rebounds, score, assist, defend, ...... If he doesn't get injured, he can lead the team to turn the tide. Everyone saw that even if he only had one eye to open, he almost led the team to a comeback in the fourth quarter. With him here, I firmly believe that the Rockets can knock out the Spurs in this series and win the championship! ”

Battier mentions "leading the team" twice, and his words have affirmed Hayes's centrality.

The reporter interviewed Yao Ming again.

After the game, Yao Ming, who has always been honest, was a little angry today. 'We were a very strong team and we would have won the game,' he said. Sadly, Hayes' injury changed that. In particular, we played at home, and we actually slackened in the first quarter, which is too undeserved. We have to be more focused and more motivated. ”

The reporter asked: "You only scored six points in the whole first half, what do you think is the reason for that?" ”

"Yes sir" Yao Ming was a little angry when he heard the reporter's question. said: "I hate the first half, I hate it so much! I've only been playing for a little over a quarter and don't understand what we're playing. I didn't feel bad, but I didn't get the ball, I only had five shots! I'm just running along. In fact, this has happened many times this season. When the team played well, everyone played beautifully; When it doesn't work, we let the team go down with it. I don't want to criticize anyone because everyone has a bad time. But we must never forget the team! ”

Losing to the Spurs meant losing home-court advantage in the playoffs, which was what worried and angered Yao the most. Maddie's performance is more like sleepwalking. As the MVP of the regular season, he didn't step up when the team was behind. He didn't feel good, he could assist, he could defend, but Maddie didn't do anything, not even say a word of morale off the court. In the fourth quarter, he became the quietest fan to watch the Rockets be defeated. Yao Ming didn't say anything in order not to affect the unity, but he felt disgusted by Maddie's laziness in his heart.

What did the Rockets' opponents say about this game? Spurs head coach Vicky said: "We won this game in a thrilling way, luck was on our side. The Rockets had some holes in defense today, and we caught them. Thank God. ”

When asked to comment on Hayes' performance today, Duncan said: "He's a great player, a respectable opponent. What do you say about him? He's tough, and in some ways, a bit like me...... I've always felt that he is a person who can't be knocked down, and he can't be crossed. ”

While the injured "hero" Hayes was stitching in the hospital, Maddie was also interviewed by reporters.

Only then did the reporters know that it turned out that Maddie was also injured.

"I've actually been feeling sick in my lower back for a while now, about a week or so, and I went to the doctor this Monday." Maddie said.

A straightforward reporter asked, "Didn't you say you were back to your best when you hit the Suns?" ”

Maddie was a little embarrassed and said, "Uh...... It was a bit worse today, I woke up in the morning and felt stiff in my back, so I took a more cautious approach and didn't risk playing in the fourth quarter. This time I felt different from the previous injury, but I felt a little stiff in my waist. I'm not worried, and I don't think too much about it. ”

After a few simple explanations, Maddie and his wife left the court, and kept greeting acquaintances along the way, walking posture did not look injured at all, and the diamond studs on the ears were still so shining.

The next day, the media broke the news that Maddie's poor form was due to injury.

After the game, reporters interviewed the players of the Rockets. When asked about Hayes, everyone gave a thumbs up and expressed their sincere admiration, and when it came to Maddie, the players interviewed were reluctant to comment more.

The Houston Times Sports section devoted a full page analysis of the current situation of the Rockets under the title "Rocket Infighting?" MVP rebels? 》

At this juncture, of course, no one on the Rockets will be stupid enough to engage in internal contradictions, but they can't stop the media from hyping up whether Hayes will squeeze out Maddie has become the most talked about topic among Americans.

The fans are divided into two factions, and a large part of the United States is in favor of Maddie on this issue.

The New York Times said: "Maddy's poor form is really due to a recurrence of an old injury, and winning the regular season MVP this season has said it all, and he is the number one star of the Rockets." Hayes is just a hard-working contract year, and his individual ability is much inferior to Maddy. If he gets a high salary next year, will he be able to work as hard as he did this year? ”

The New Jersey Sports Newspaper expert said: "Hayes is just a reckless blue-collar worker, with the help of Yao Ming and Maddie to achieve today's achievements, if there are no teammates around, he simply does not deserve the top salary, that is, the level of the full middle class." Now if the Rockets give up the scoring title for him, they will definitely regret it. And the Rockets already have two superstars, and if Hayes is re-signed with a maximum salary, it becomes a question how much luxury tax they will have to pay. ”

The Denver Evening News was even more ruthless, directly exposing the conspiracy theory that Hayes brushed data for a big contract, and Van Gundy was embarrassed to arrange tactics in favor of Hayes and set up MVP.

In all, the media that supported Maddie accounted for more than half. The funny thing is that most of these cities that support Maddie and provoke trouble for the Rockets have NBA teams, and they are those teams that are ready to let Hayes join with a maximum salary, which is a conspiracy.

The team that made it clear that it wanted Hayes to join, only Maddy's "old club" Magic spoke ill of Maddy.

The two hosts of the Orlando sports show "NBA Spotlight" Rambis and Harman commented on the Spurs and Rockets game.

"Today, there's a lot of news about Hayes and Maddie, and a lot of people are judging who is better than the two," Lambis said. Remember the 1-19 start of the 2003-04 season for the Magic? At that time, no one believed that the magical Maddie would save the magic again, and he was passive and slackened off and only cared about performing alone. That season, the Magic ended up with the worst record in team history with 21 wins and 61 losses, and Maddie and the Magic fell out because of it. Losing is losing, and the key point is that Maddie's attitude provoked public outrage, when he said: 'This season, I'm just playing for points and stats. In order to develop in the future, I have to use the title of scoring champion as my bargaining chip. 'What can a person who lacks a work ethic do, no matter how strong his personal ability is?' ”

Harman laughed, "Do you know what Maddie's teammates in the Magic say?" It's basically like this: 'We think Maddie is always slacking off in training, in games, he doesn't move us, he doesn't communicate with us, it's a shame for us to be teammates with players like that. Rockets fans have always chosen to be accommodating with the so-called "excuses" for Maddy's truce. Sometimes a small cold can be an excuse for Maddie to miss a game. ”

Both Hayes and Maddie saw the news, and it is impossible to say that they were indifferent. There has been a rift in the relationship between the two.

(To be continued)