"Tonight's game against the Bulls is a good chance for us to end our losing streak, and they've been on a three-game losing streak recently," said Gao as he drove to the Toyota Center Arena, where he was officially his friend Patterson.

"The Bulls are not easy to deal with, they have a very tenacious style of play, especially Noah, who has a lot of small movements under the basket," Patterson responded with a wry smile.

"But today Asik is the focus, facing the old master for the first time, and the fighting spirit must be strong," said Gao Dazhuang.

"Hopefully he'll be tough enough tonight," Patterson continued, "By the way, I recently spotted a small villa near Herman Park in the city, and I'm going to buy it, are you interested?" So that we can continue to be neighbors."

"Downtown villas? The prices there are not cheap, I have to think about it," Gao Dazhuang replied with a smile.

……

After a three-game losing streak on the road, the Rockets are finally back at the familiar Toyota Center, where they will face the visiting Bulls, Knicks and Raptors at home in succession, and today will be their first game back at home, against the Chicago Bulls.

Today, Rockets coach McHale also returned to the team in time after dealing with personal matters, and will personally direct the Rockets' game against the Bulls.

The Rockets, who have lost in a streak, can no longer afford to lose, and the team is feeling the pressure from all sides, and they desperately need to get a win from the Bulls, who are currently on a three-game losing streak.

With 10 minutes to go before the game, the Toyota Center Arena was already full of people, but the Rockets' recent poor record still affected the attendance a little, and many areas were not full.

Tall and Delfino are practicing free throws at the free-throw line, Coach McHale is coaching Harden and Jeremy Lin on the sidelines, while Rockets general manager Morey is discussing something with Patterson, Douglas and Aldridge in the breakout.

"Hey, Gao" Gao Dazhuang, who had already scored ten goals in a row, was interrupted by a voice, and Gao Dazhuang looked back and saw Patterson walking over with a solemn face.

"Dude, what's wrong? Who you off," Gao Dazhuang quipped.

"I have to accept the fact that Gao, I'm here to say goodbye to you, I'm leaving" Patterson said with a sigh.

"Let's go? Where to go? The tall man asked with some eagerness.

"We were traded, just now," Douglas suddenly interjected.

"What? Who makes the decision? The tall man roared angrily.

"Morey just informed us that we were traded to the Kings, and in fact I'm not a Rockets player anymore," Patterson replied with a look of reluctance.

"FUCK, I'm going to find Morey" Gao Dazhuang couldn't help but say a foul word.

"It's useless, Gao, this is business, the NBA is a business, I miss the days when I played side by side with you, we were brothers no matter where we were," Patterson said with some relief.

"Patrick, I" Tall Stout suddenly didn't know what to say to Patterson, remembering that on the way there Paterson was still planning to buy a house in Houston, but now, he was about to leave the city, and it all came so quickly.

Patterson can be said to be the first and closest friend that Gao Dazhuang made in the NBA, and seeing him leave helplessly at this moment, Gao Dazhuang was very painful in his heart, but he couldn't do anything about it.

……

The Rockets played the Bulls at home, a big game, but the sudden trade made many media give up watching the game on the spot and stay in the locker room passage.

Five minutes before the game, a number of well-informed media outlets had already received the news that the Rockets had completed a deal involving six players and one draft pick, specifically the Rockets sent Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldridge, Tony Douglas and some cash in exchange for Kings power forward Thomas Robinson, small forward Francesco Garcia and Tyler Hanikart.

There is no doubt that this is a difficult time for the three players who have been traded.

Just before the game, Patterson, Douglas, and Aldridge were still warming up at the venue, as usual, but at this moment, the trade had already happened.

After getting the news, Dougris and Aldridge left in a hurry in a depressed mood and did not accept an interview, only Patterson gave a brief interview in the players' tunnel, and in the face of a large number of reporters, Patterson tried to calm himself.

"I didn't know I was traded five minutes before the game, and I had to accept the result," Patterson said bluntly, adding that he was already on the inactive list at this point, and it could be said that he is no longer a Rockets player.

"Thank you to the fans for always supporting me, I will miss my time in Houston, especially some guys on the team, and I wish the Rockets all the best" Patterson didn't say anything in the face of all the tricky questions from reporters, but quickly left under the escort of the Rockets press officer.

And just as Patterson left the Toyota Center, the Rockets' game against the Bulls began.

The Rockets started with center Asik, power forward Morris, small forward Parsons, shooting guard Harden, and point guard Jeremy Lin.

The Bulls, on the other hand, have center Noah, power forward Boozer, small forward Ruhr Deng, scoring guard Hamilton, and point guard Hinrich.

The Rockets still didn't feel good after the opening, missed consecutive shots, and played nearly 2 minutes before Parsons hit a three-pointer.

But soon Jeremy Lin launched a quick attack, just arrived in the frontcourt, while the opponent's foothold was not stable, Jeremy Lin hoisted the ball, Parsons cut in from the baseline, and easily dunked after receiving the ball.

At this time, Harden gradually found his senses, and with 5 minutes and 30 seconds left in the quarter, Harden made a quick attack after a steal and scored a dunk in the face of an empty basket.

The Rockets, who were playing at home in the first quarter, trailed the Bulls by two points 20-22, and the tall and strong team did not get playing time in the first quarter.

At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, Gao Dazhuang replaced Harden, but the second team led by Gao Dazhuang suddenly lost his crosshairs, especially Gao Dazhuang's continuous shots missed, while the Bulls played steadily and gradually pulled the score away.

With 3:43 left in the quarter, Butler scored a layup to give the Bulls a 10-point advantage at 43-33.

At this time, Harden appeared again, and soon shot a shot from close range, and the Rockets also took advantage of the situation to play a small ** of 9:3, and the Rockets fell behind 42:46 in the first half.

Harden scored 18 points in the half, and Jeremy Lin also had nine points and six assists, but the tall man only made 1 of 6 shots and only scored 2 points and 1 assist.

Jeremy Lin hit a shot shortly after the start of the second half, and Harden followed up with a three-pointer as the Rockets started the quarter on a 9-1 run, leading 51-47 in one fell swoop.

Jeremy Lin, Harden, and Gao Dazhuang appeared on the court at the same time in the entire third quarter, but compared to Harden and Jeremy Lin, who were in a recovering state, today's tall and strong suddenly fell into a low ebb.

The score of the two sides remained anxious for the rest of the game until 4:42 left before the end of the game, when Bulls point guard Hinrich hit a three-pointer to give the Bulls an 84-79 lead.

But then the Bulls missed consecutive shots, and the Rockets failed to seize the opportunity, and the tall and strong breakthrough was blocked by Noah, and then the tall and strong three-point shot also missed again, but fortunately, Harden under the basket seized an opportunity to score a basket.

At this time, Rockets coach McHale actually replaced Gao Dazhuang, and Gao Dazhuang watched the game on the sidelines at a critical moment for the first time since joining the Rockets.

The tall and strong man sitting on the court watched Harden sweep away the haze of the previous battles, and the more he fought, the more courageous he became.

With 1:11 left in the game, Harden hit consecutive three-pointers, and the Rockets took the lead at 86-84.

In front of the Rockets' pressing defense, the Bulls didn't score a point in 4 minutes and 37 seconds, watching their opponents turn the tables.

The Bulls' Ruhr Deng hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to tie the score at 89-91, but it was too late, as Jeremy Lin hit two free throws to seal the win for the Rockets.

In the end, the Rockets ended their losing streak at home and won 93-89 at home against the visiting Bulls.

Rockets star Harden scored a game-high 33 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 11-of-19 shooting and 8-of-9 free throws, once again playing All-Star-level statistics.

Jeremy Lin also played his best game since joining the Rockets, scoring 19 points and 15 assists, but Asik, who faced his old owner for the first time, played 38 minutes and contributed only 6 points and 9 rebounds.

However, the most surprising thing is that the Rockets' "super rookie" is tall and strong, 1 of 9 in the game, 2 of 4 free throws, only 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, sleepwalking throughout the game, and 4 points is also the lowest score since Gao Dazhuang entered the NBA.

As soon as the game ended, the reporter of the "Houston Chronicle" blocked the tall and strong in the players' tunnel, "Gao, you didn't play well today, what affected your performance?" ”

"I didn't get the news of Patterson, Douglas and Aldridge being traded away until five minutes into the game, so it felt a little weird to me, and it's hard to focus, it's hard not to be affected by this because they're all my friends," Gao replied without much thought.

"What do you think of this deal? Can you improve the team? The reporter continued to ask.

"I don't like this deal, I'm not used to the separation of friends, but the NBA is a business, as for whether we can improve the strength of the team, maybe, we won today, the new teammates are very good" Gao Dazhuang's undisguised sarcasm made the reporter's eyes shine, but Gao Dazhuang rejected his remaining sharp questions and quickly left the arena.