Chapter 57: The strength of the two-time scoring champion

At night, the Toyota Center was filled with cheers. (Baidu search: with dreams, the fastest update)

This silent city only bursts into excitement and energy when a basketball game is played. For the Rockets, Adelman fielded the Rockets' strongest lineup. Center: Yao Ming, this is almost a position that the Rockets have no choice. When Yao Ming is not troubled by injuries, the Rockets don't think about second people in this position.

Power forward: Luis Scola, the Argentine nicknamed Diamond has been the Rockets' biggest takeaway this season. He joined the NBA at the age of 27 and averaged 10.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game this season. If he is given more playing time, it is inevitable that the stats will improve further. He also impressed head coach Adelman with his superior performance on the bench and gradually got the chance to start.

Small forward: Sean Battier, who will be the main defender of LeBron James today. As one of the best perimeter defenders in the league right now, no one would be surprised that Adelman would make that choice.

Shooting guard: Tracy McGrady.

Point Guard: "Street Ball King" Raf Alston.

On the Cavaliers' side, Ilgoskas once again served as the starting center, because the opposite player was Yao Ming, and Ilgoskas was also tall and could play a good defensive effect. You must know that when Yao Ming first entered the league, one of his draft templates was Ilgauskas.

Zhang Kong continues to play the position of power forward, which is also a strong point of the Cavaliers, and Zhang Kong's tall stature can play a good advantage against the relatively short Diamond Scola.

The small forward continues to be played by LeBron James, but when defending, he will go to the wrong position to defend McGrady, compared to Larry Hughes, LeBron's defense is more reassuring, and if Larry Hughes defends Tracy, the difference in height can allow Tracy to make a dry jump shot above his head.

The point guard is still Gibson, and now he is the most reliable point guard for the Cavaliers, although LeBron does most of the ball control.

Jump ball, unfolded between Zhang Kong and Yao Ming. Although Yao Ming is two meters and twenty-six tall, jumping is really not his forte. The same sad bounce may still have a slight advantage against Ilgoskas, but against Zhang Kong, he is completely helpless.

Easily moved the basketball from the top of Yao Ming's head to his own half, Zhang Kong didn't forget to squeeze his eyes at Yao Ming, which made Yao Ming feel helpless. It is said that he was also very good at jumping when he first entered the league, but over the years, because of injuries and the continuous increase in his weight, his bounce has long been classified as a floor trend.

While Van Gundy transformed Yao Ming into a low-level killer, he also completely destroyed Yao Ming's spirituality, whether this is good or bad, no one can say.

Gibson dodged Alstom's gambling steal, steadily advanced the basketball to the three-point line, and then handed the ball to James.

Standing in front of James is the Rockets' perimeter defense expert Sean Battier.

Sean Battier is a defensive specialist on the outside. But his specialty isn't defending players like LeBron James, and his skill is delicate, so having him defend an offensive player with the same skill level, such as Kobe Bryant, could work well.

But if he is asked to defend a shooting guard like Wade who is explosive with his speed, he will be inadequate, after all, his physical fitness is actually average. And in the face of LeBron James, whose physical fitness is exaggerated to the sky. His smug glass-wiping defense was even less effective.

On the three-point line, James directly carried Battier into the interior, and Scola stood in a position one step outside the reasonable collision area with the intention of making James's offensive foul, but he turned around and shook it in one of his moves, and there was an empty space under the basket, and James jumped up and dunked to end the attack.

Battier's simple and direct attacks made Battier helpless, he is not the kind of player with physical quality, and the most praised defense does not come from his explosive physical fitness, but from his calm judgment and delicate technique. But against a player like LeBron who doesn't play with you at all and rushes in like a bulldozer, he really doesn't have a good way.

Alston advances steadily with the ball.

This thing used to be the basketball overlord of Queens, known as 'play with me', and his dribbling skills can definitely play you until your eyes are golden, your limbs are weak, and your hands and feet are weak...... Unfortunately, in the NBA, this is a violation.

His first performance on the NBA court, 'Through Your Soul', was blown two steps in a row by the referee. Then he was sent to the CBA team for training in the 98-99 season, and was terminated by the Bucks in 01; In 02, he briefly joined the Golden State Warriors for 1 month, and in January 03, he signed a 10-day contract with the Raptors, which was then extended to the end of the season; He joined the Heat at the end of '03 and returned to the Raptors in '04. Joined the Rockets in the 05-06 season.

Now he is more like a very standard and ordinary point guard, dribbling the ball all the way to the frontcourt, handing it to the core player McGrady or Yao Ming, and then waiting for an opportunity on the three-point line, most of the time it is no different from the point guard of the Cavaliers, but there are occasional flashes of light.

Dribbling to the frontcourt, Alston passed the ball to McGrady, and then, the sleepy-eyed scoring champion faced LeBron James' unrelenting defense, and without saying a word, he pulled up the jumper.

"Huh~~~"

James's interference was a step slower, perhaps because he didn't expect McGrady to play so aggressively and resolutely as soon as he came up, let alone McGrady to shoot so quickly, and when he jumped up to interfere, Maddy had already shot the basketball in his hand.

The arc is flat and straight, plunging headlong into the blue frame.

Back to the offensive end, James held the ball in a high position, ran up to James and made a solid block, firmly blocking Battier at his side, James scurried and rushed directly into the interior, after switching defenses, Scola couldn't block James's impact, and the basketball score also caused Scola's foul.

As James made a layup, Scola's hand hit James' arm.

After steadily scoring the free throw, Alston advanced to the front court again and handed it to Tracy, this time Maddy also called a block, Scola blocked James, and Maddy broke through along Scola's side, Zhang Kong immediately prepared to make up the defense, but just one step into the three-point line, Maddy had already jumped and shot.

The undisturbed basketball, again in a flat and straight arc, drilled into the Cavaliers' basket again.

In the first ten minutes of the first quarter, the Toyota Center seemed to have become a bullring for the two scoring champions, and the scores of the two continued to improve under the premise of completely controlling the ball and offensive power.

Yao Ming and Zhang Kong have become blocking and dismantling machines, in addition to breaking up the blocking and dismantling of these two soaring, that is, grabbing rebounds and playing the second offense.

The audience was naturally fascinated by it, and the star players' actions made their blood boil. But as a head coach, Adelman can't be so calm. He doesn't look good, partly because Maddy's on-court rambling disrupted his tactical deployment, and secondly because the Rockets are now behind......

There is no doubt about James' scoring ability, although he has not won any scoring title, but no one will doubt that James' scoring ability is not the top in the league. One of the reasons why he didn't win the scoring title is because he has so much to do with the Cavaliers.

And Maddie, the two-time scoring champion, has already said a lot about his scoring ability. Although the level has dropped due to injuries that have never been stopped in one day, and over the years, he has gradually reduced his breakthrough and increased his pull-up jumper, resulting in a decrease in scoring ability compared to before, but today's Maddy is clearly on fire.

The two fought for a half on offense. The main reason why the Rockets will fall behind is the loss of rebounding!

Bang!

With a layup from James, Zhang Kong jammed Scola hard, then jumped high and picked up the rebound above Yao Ming's head, swiping his personal rebounds to five while also taking the fourth offensive rebound of the first quarter.

Syllable......

Facing Yao Ming, who came up on the defense, Zhang Kong handed the basketball to the vacant Ilgoskas with a ground-hitting pass, and Ilgoskas scored the ball with a one-handed split!

Slamming is too rare in Ilgoskas's career, although he is 221 cm tall, but he was born in Lithuania, Europe, and believes in the basketball credo of 'can shoot without dunking, can go to the basket without dunking, avoid physical contact, and reduce physical exertion'.

It's just that Zhang Kong's pass is too comfortable. There was no one in front of him except for the basket, and the force of the ball rebounding was just right.

He couldn't help but get excited and deducted one.

Taking advantage of the dead ball, Adelman stood up and called a timeout.