Stockton was Stockton. Even though he had no physical advantage at all, he used his skills and experience to help the Hawks maintain the score. By the fifth minute of the second quarter, the Rockets

The edge finally tied the score, the two teams were tied at 42, and the Eagles called a timeout.

Although Stockton had a few minutes of rest between sections, he obviously couldn't hold on for 10 consecutive minutes.

Liu Mang reappeared, bringing Jason Terry, Prince, Muhammad, and Kwame Brown on the field.

The Rockets replaced Francis, Mobley, Jim Jackson, Maurice Taylor, and Cato.

Mobley is back, Maurice Taylor is back, but Yao Ming is still resting. Van Gundy is becoming more and more cautious in using Yao Ming. He wants to rely on the outside line that played well in the first half of the second quarter to continue to support Yao Ming for a while.

Reserve a little more energy.

Regarding this point, the Eagles have also thought about it, so they have not yet implemented the defensive method discussed by Liu Mang and Mike Woodson, but played normally.

After the timeout, the Eagles have the ball.

Liu Mang advances to the frontcourt. Francis may not be so careful in guarding others, but he is very active in guarding against Liu Mang every time.

It's just that the more active Francis is, the easier it is for Liu Mang to pass him. Francis relies on his physical fitness to try to press and steal, but Francis' defensive awareness is really poor. Regardless of his height, he may be physically better than Kobe.

McGrady is okay, but his defensive awareness is horribly poor, and pressing is just a hard grab.

As soon as Liu Mang reached the three-point line, Francis pressed up. Liu Mang followed Francis's pressing movement and pulled the ball to the left. Francis rushed towards the right. Liu Mang changed direction and easily dumped Francis.

Behind him, Francis flew directly to the right.

Liu Mang became more and more experienced in beating Francis.

After passing Francis, Liu Mang entered the three-point line and went straight to the basket. Kwame Brown and Muhammad blocked their defenders on both sides of the three-second zone. Liu Mang entered the basket in the middle and dunked easily to score two points.

.

Francis' defense was proactive, but the effect was really touching. He was passed by in one step. The Rockets' inside line didn't even have time to assist in defense, and was blocked by the Eagles' inside line that had been expected long ago.

Offense and defense transition, the Rockets attack.

Francis felt like he was going to be beaten by Liu Mang again. That feeling was very powerless. Now Liu Mang no longer relied on tricks to compete with him like he did in his rookie season. Starting from last season, Liu Mang didn't use him as much.

This year, Liu Mang's strength has obviously surpassed him.

This feeling of powerlessness drives Francis crazy. Although his playing style has been criticized and his defense is surprisingly poor for his physical fitness, his fighting spirit and competitiveness have always been praised by people.

Even if you can’t beat him, you still need hard steel!

Moreover, Francis has a physical advantage over most point guards except for Baron Davis, and he is prepared to use his body to attack them!

The Eagles did not send Ratliff, nor did they have Rasheed Wallace. Francis was confident that even if Liu Mang let him go two meters, he could get in and stir up the inside.

However, after Francis advanced to the frontcourt, he found Liu Mang waiting for him at the three-point line! There was no humiliating defense like retreating to the free throw line!

Francis was a little confused, but more of an ecstasy!

Finally got a chance to physically bully this bastard!

Francis immediately started to speed up and rolled towards the right side of Liu Mang's body. Liu Mang did not dodge or choose to retreat and defend, but took a step forward to the front of Francis' breakthrough and lowered his center of gravity to wait for the impact!

At this moment, Francis' facial expression became ferocious, and he collided with Liu Mang with all his strength. Liu Mang moved from behind. Even if he was knocked over, it would still be a blocking foul. And according to the large penalty scale this season, it is very likely that the foul would be committed.

Can't blow!

Francis hit Liu Mang hard, and then...

Francis seemed to have bumped into a tumbler. Liu Mang's feet only moved back a little bit due to the force of the impact. Francis himself staggered due to the force rebounded from the force of the collision. Francis himself was hit.

Return!

Liu Mang had quick eyesight and quick hands. When Francis panicked and failed to control the ball, he bullied himself and poked the ball out. Then he immediately jumped out to control the ball and launched a counterattack!

Francis was shocked and angry!

His whole body was about to explode, and he immediately chased after Liu Mang. The speed of the two was almost the same.

After Liu Mang reached the frontcourt, he entered the free throw line and took off. He changed the ball from his right hand to his left hand in the air. He avoided the hand of Francis who came back to chase the goal, and dunked the ball into the basket with his left hand!

After Liu Mang landed, he patted the muscles on his chest and said to Francis with a sincere expression: "You are quite strong. I was a little bit hurt by the collision, but it's not enough. Try harder next time."

After speaking, Liu Mang turned around and returned to defense.

Francis looked at Liu Mang's return to defense and wondered if he was dreaming? And it was still a nightmare!

If this was the first time the two had played against each other after last season, he would have been able to accept it if Francis was held back when he relied on strength to crush Liu Mang, but just over a month ago, on December 10

No., the two of them had just fought against each other. At that time, Liu Mang could only retreat and defend, relying on the inside to defend him. But after only more than forty days, Liu Mang was able to hold him back!

Francis is a little confused!

He didn't believe what was happening. After Jim Jackson ran back and passed the ball to Francis, Francis pushed forward to continue to play Liu Mang in singles.

However, Hayes is already well-known for being able to carry Howard and Bynum inside and being a pick-and-roll master who can switch defenders outside. Liu Mang relied on the Hayes star card to obtain a stable strength in the bottom plate, and

With his better mobility, single defense trapped Francis at the three-point line!

Francis saw Liu Mang's disdainful eyes and the smile on his face, he was so angry!

Squeezing Liu Mang, Francis insisted on breaking through to the inside, but with Liu Mang's defense, Francis' strength did not have the obvious advantage as before. Standing still to fight, Liu Mang's strength was as high as 91, center level, and even had many jumps.

The center forward is not as strong as Liu Mang, and Liu Mang's mobile confrontation strength is 84. Although it is not as powerful as Francis' terrifying 88, it is enough to suppress Francis going to the wing.

Francis was forced to rush inside from the bottom line and reached the right edge of the three-second zone. At this time, Kwame Brown blocked the pass and blocked Francis' passing space with Liu Mang. Francis could only resist Liu Mang's attempt.

Push Liu Mang away and force him up.

But when Francis squeezed Liu Mang to get up, he couldn't push him! Instead, Liu Mang reached the basket and triggered the hot pot feast. He accurately predicted Francis's action of picking up the ball and cut off the ball with one palm!

Another steal!

This was not over yet. When the Rockets attacked in the next round, Francis still lost his basic judgment and continued to rush forward. For two rounds in a row, he unbelievingly tried to hit Liu Mang with the ball. Counting the first steal, Francis

Was intercepted by Liu Mang three times in a row!

The Eagles' lineup needs to be able to run as much as possible. After Liu Mang stole the ball for the second time, Jason Terry and Prince immediately came down quickly. Taking advantage of Jason Terry's ability to attract defenses, Liu Mang passed the ball to

Prince ran to the right at a 45-degree angle. Prince caught the ball and made a three-pointer.

After the third steal, the Rockets became alert when retreating and returned to defense immediately. However, the Eagles pressed forward with five players. The Rockets were unable to gain a stable foothold. Liu Mang faked a fax and shot from the top of the arc to the free throw line.

hit.

In just 59 seconds, the Hawks went on a 7-0 run and beat the Rockets to a timeout!

It was just one minute and one second away. He was beaten 7-0. Little Van Gundy became angry and sprayed at Francis. It was not yet time for Yao Ming to play. Little Van Gundy tried his best to let Yao Ming and Yao Ming play in the first quarter.

Play more at the end of the quarter, three or four minutes at the end of the second quarter, and three or four minutes at the beginning of the third quarter, so that Yao Ming has enough physical strength to play through the fourth quarter. This is a trick learned from the Lakers' use of O'Neal.

His physical fitness is probably similar to that of O'Neal at this stage. He can play for thirty-seven or eight minutes against a team with weak inside defense, but he can only maintain his physical fitness for about 30 minutes against a team with strong inside defense.

Van Gundy resisted the idea of ​​replacing Yao Ming now, angrily criticized Francis's way of dominating the ball, and asked Francis to share the ball with Mobley, Maurice Taylor and others to play more united.

Van Gundy made arrangements based on their play style in the first half of the second quarter when they had an advantage. The Rockets' three major outsiders all attacked with the ball. The offensive effect was very good in the first half of the second quarter. This time they also used

Maurice Taylor was replaced, and Van Gundy was more confident. He felt that he had been beaten 7-0 just now. It was entirely Francis's fault. A point guard was intercepted three times in a row. This was too exaggerated in Van Gundy's opinion.

The opponent was very lucky. After all, Francis was a point guard. How could he be intercepted so easily? It was all because Francis was too careless and played too uniquely in these rounds.

Francis could only nod with a dull expression. He still couldn't believe what happened just now, but the facts were before his eyes. He couldn't even attack Liu Mang!

At this minute, Francis felt the pressure from Liu Mang from that bastard in Los Angeles, the feeling that his offense and defense were going to kill him!

Francis had no objections to Van Gundy's arrangements. He was... scared!

Neither team made any substitutions and continued the same lineup.

However, after returning from the timeout, even though Francis began to share the ball, the Rockets' offense still could not open up.

Liu Mang locked up Francis, mainly because Francis didn't expect such a situation at all. Francis didn't expect Liu Mang to be able to withstand his strength, and was intercepted by Liu Mang three times, causing Francis to lose his accurate judgment, and

Being fooled, he completely ignored the fact that he still had skills in the subsequent confrontation with Liu Mang. If he couldn't withstand Liu Mang, he would pass out.

As for Mobley, he met Prince...

Mobley is very good, very good, a very good quasi-first-class star. He is very good at breakthroughs, three-pointers, jump shots and pull-ups under the basket. But facing Prince, except for three-pointers and pull-up jumpers, Mobley is very good.

, he has no way at all, he can even lean back even if he makes a strong shot. Prince's height, wingspan and mobility are too scary for outsiders who are not top-notch physical players!

As for Maurice Taylor, when he encountered the rim defense of Muhammad and Kwame Brown, he pulled out to shoot and was marked by Muhammad. When he tried to hit the basket, he was beaten to death by Kwame Brown. Cato's offensive end was

It's just a display, except for the second attack and direct dunk and layup after catching the ball, it has no offensive capabilities.

Jim Jackson... I have to blame Pat Riley. He is now a shooting-type offensive rebounder. In addition to fixed-point shooting and support, he also attacks rebounds on the offensive end. When he enters the inside, he encounters Kwame Brown and

Muhammad had no chance at all, and Jim Jackson could only shoot under the interference of Jason Terry, which was not very efficient.

The Rockets called a timeout but didn't call it. The only difference is that the people who forced the shot changed from Francis to Mobley and Jim Jackson, and they were able to make the shot.

Counting that 7-0 wave, starting from the fifth minute of the second quarter, the Eagles played for three and a half minutes and launched a 16-6 scoring shock wave. That is to say, Jim Jackson and Mobley felt good today, and one shot

Scored a three-pointer.

Van Gundy Jr. called timeout again.

The Rockets with Yao Ming and the Rockets without Yao Ming are completely different teams. The gap between a team with less than 30 wins and a strong team in the Western Conference playoffs!

The Rockets scored 48 points with three and a half minutes left, which can be said to be a very good offensive performance, but the Eagles scored a full 58 points!
To be continued...