Champion, please stay!

Chapter 134, Section 132: The Former Superstar, King of the Holy Land!

With no games on Christmas Eve, the media produced a lot of rankings, including rankings of interior defense.

The Celtics, Spurs, Lakers, Magic, Rockets, Jazz, Cavaliers... all made it into the top five of interior defense rankings by at least two or three media outlets.

Some media outlets believe the Jazz's interior defense is mediocre and relies on Kirilenko to orchestrate the defense; others believe the Cavaliers' twin towers are too old and rely on James's constant movement, thus not placing them among the top teams in interior defense.

The Rockets are ranked in the top five in interior defense by any media outlet, with most considering them third after the Celtics and Magic, or even higher than the Lakers' three towers.

But the Rockets' interior defense ranking is only because they have Yao Ming.

When Yao Ming is not on the court...

Yi Shui and Harrington's frontcourt duo initiated passing and cutting plays with pick-and-rolls at the top of the key, coupled with David Lee's mid-range and close-range pressure, turning the Rockets' interior into their own backyard!
Chuck Hayes, who came off the bench, actually did a very good job of blocking Yi Shui after Scola was dunked on. If you put a forward with this kind of athleticism, Hayes can really defend well. Even players with great physical attributes like James, Howard, and Josh Smith would have a hard time dealing with this obstacle.

But Yi Shui's skills are at the level of a shooting guard! Even when blocked, he can still use his height and wingspan to launch high floaters!
With such a huge defensive gap in the paint, Artest couldn't close it down no matter how hard he tried.

In the first four minutes, the Rockets held the Knicks to just seven points. In the final minute and a half, the Knicks scored three consecutive baskets: Yi Shui dunked on Scola, Chalmers hit a three-pointer off the bench, and after Yi Shui drew a double team, Harrington followed up with a pass and scored a 2+1... bringing the Rockets to eight points!
During this period, the Rockets made two shots, scoring 4 points, but the Knicks still managed to narrow their lead to 1 point.

At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks narrowed the score to 31-32!

Adelman remained calm about this, saying it was already a good result. At least they were ahead but were caught up, unlike last season when they were always behind at the start and had to rely on defense to wear down the opponent's shooting touch and slowly catch up.

Last season's 22-game winning streak was a highlight of his coaching career, but during the streak, he thought more than once, "I hope the winning streak ends soon." More than half of the 22-game winning streak was a comeback, and their key players were exhausted and injured one after another. Yao Ming was even out for the season. In the end, they won 55 games but were eliminated in the first round, becoming the only team in NBA history to have won 18 games but not won the championship. It is hard to say whether this winning streak is a glory or a disgrace.

As for Hayes' inability to defend against Yi Shui, Adelman had anticipated this and there was nothing he could do; Hayes was already their best substitute center.

Besides Hayes, they only have Mutombo left.

The management misled Chinese fans, saying it was extremely difficult to retain Mutombo, the "African Mountain," a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, and the second-highest scorer in history.

But in reality, he only used the veteran minimum salary of 79. A third of the season has been played, and Adelman has never put Mutombo on the field once. He can't even move his feet.

...

After the break, Adelman did not rush to bring Yao Ming back in just because the score difference was narrowing. Back when he was with the Kings, he often made a rash decision to bring in five players without warning. Now with the Rockets, he has developed composure.

Even when the Knicks, led by Yi Shui, stole the ball and launched a counterattack to take the lead at the start of the second quarter, Adelman remained calm and handed the game over to his players.

The Rockets' management relied on a defense, but the players were all resilient.

Brooks takes outside shots and initiates fast breaks on his own; McGrady drives and dishes to Battier for a shot; Landry makes mid-range jumpers and cuts for assists; Hayes fearlessly attacks the basket...

After taking the lead, the Knicks tried to widen the gap, but the opponent kept them close, and they only had a 6-point lead halfway through the second quarter.

When the game went into an official timeout, D'Antoni was a little disappointed, but he didn't hesitate to substitute Yi Shui and Harrington, and put in a lineup with Duhon and Curry as the core of the two point guards, along with the forward combination of David Lee, Wilson Chandler and Birdman, and started running again!
After the timeout, Adelman brought Yao Ming and Artest back in, along with Alston, Weaver, and Scola. The Rockets immediately regained control and dominated the Knicks.

Media predicted that Yao Ming would dominate the Knicks' interior defense, and that's exactly what happened. When he shot, the Knicks' players couldn't block his shots even when they double-teamed him. In the first quarter, he took 5 shots and made 3 of 4, and drew a foul on one of his shots, making both free throws.

Despite his significant height and strength advantage, Yao Ming rarely tried to force his way into the basket. His low-post back-to-the-basket moves were mostly floaters or hook shots. He played for 10 minutes in the first quarter and didn't dunk once!

Many people didn't notice that Yao Ming only had 22 dunks in the first 27 games of this season, which is one of the reasons why his health index soared this season.

In 05, after gaining 10 kilograms, he felt an unparalleled dominance in low-post offense and went on a crazy dunking spree. His dunking frequency was higher than that of top dunkers of the season, such as James, Kenyon Martin, and Anthony, ranking third in the league, only behind O'Neal and Howard. He had 126 dunks in 56 games.

And that was it. He played those 56 games, then was sidelined for the rest of the season. The Rockets also missed the playoffs because of his and McGrady's injuries.

Yao Ming has actually been working hard to adjust his playing style. By the summer of the Olympics, he finally found a more suitable way to utilize his physical advantages... This is also why he accepted Yi Shui's advice to lose weight. Now, this playing style doesn't require that much weight at all. After the Olympics, he dropped from 145 kg to less than 141 kg, but he still felt it was too much.

However, although the Rockets went on an offensive surge after Yao Ming came on, they were unable to completely shut down the Knicks' offense; the Knicks players were just too tenacious.

At halftime, the Rockets led the Knicks 58-56. The Rockets scored 26 points in this quarter, while the Knicks scored 25, making it a close game.

In the third quarter, D'Antoni and Adelman tacitly agreed to each have their star player lead the team for half a quarter.

Of course, Adelman was forced into it. He couldn't control how the opponent made substitutions. The opponent used fast attacks to force Yao Ming to speed up his retreat and wear him down, and he was powerless to stop it. In order to ensure Yao Ming's dominance on the court, he could only follow the opponent's rhythm.

Of course, he had to put it nicely to the players: "I believe you can create enough rest time for Yao."

In this quarter, the Knicks' role players' drive clashed fiercely with the Rockets' role players' resilience.

When Yao Ming put on an unstoppable performance, Duhon, Curry, and others fought back desperately; when Yi Shui and Harrington's high pick-and-roll combination overwhelmed Artest, the Rockets' "poor lineup" also persevered.

The Knicks, who lost by one point in the previous quarter, won by one point in this quarter, with the score of the quarter being 25 to 24. After three quarters, the Knicks trailed the Rockets by one point, 81 to 82!
...

During the break, commentators from both China and the UK were commenting on how much of a headache the two head coaches must be facing, but in reality, both head coaches breathed a sigh of relief.

Adelman was thankful that the opposing team hadn't completely collapsed.

McGrady was calm enough tonight, playing 20 minutes in three quarters and scoring 12 points and 4 assists. He drove to the basket when he needed to and passed the ball when he needed to, without making any reckless pull-up jumpers.

The "poor man's bench" did a great job in helping out on opposing pitchers and capitalizing on scoring opportunities.

D'Antoni was also relieved that his second unit wasn't locked down by the opponent.

Birdman made a great contribution, scoring 9 points in 15 minutes across three quarters. Midway through the third quarter, he rushed in to contest a rebound with Artest. His nose collided with Artest's arm as Artest landed after grabbing the rebound, drawing blood immediately. Despite the injury, Birdman risked his life to snatch the ball from Artest's hands and regain possession before the referee stopped the game to clear the ball.

Both players substituted their respective star players.

Adelman fielded a lineup of Alston, McGrady, Battier, Artest, and Yao Ming, which was their best offensive and defensive combination tonight, and the most successful combination in suppressing the opponent.

He didn't have any other tricks up his sleeve. Unlike D'Antoni, he didn't dare to use players like Nate Robinson, Birdman, and Wilson Chandler as his main offensive threats.

The team was able to rotate players so that, apart from Artest who played 30 minutes, all of them played just over 20 minutes in the first three quarters. This is a significant improvement compared to the Kings' eight-man rotation back in the day.

D'Antoni fielded a lineup of Curry, Yi Shui, Wilson Chandler, Harrington, and David Lee.

Although they kept the score close, their strategy of wearing down Yao Ming tonight was not very effective. Yao Ming played 10 and a half minutes in the first quarter, but only 12 and a half minutes in the next two quarters combined. Yao Ming had to work hard on the defensive end, but he played too easily on the offensive end. In 23 minutes, he made 7 of 10 shots and 5 of 5 free throws, easily scoring 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks.

There's no time to waste anymore, so let's face it head-on!
Fortunately for them, Yi Shui had even less playing time, only 19 minutes in the first three quarters, which was when he was at his best. D'Antoni rarely moved Yi Shui to the backcourt in previous games, usually to the power forward position. For example, against the Cavaliers, he once had Yi Shui guard Ben Wallace, worried that Yi Shui would strain his legs guarding a fast guard.

But tonight, Battier and McGrady will be playing the two and three positions, so there's no need to worry about that. It will also save Yi Shui from having to fight Artest on the defensive end, leaving those tasks to Wilson Chandler and Harrington, the two substitutes.

After the break, the final quarter begins!
After playing cautiously for three quarters, Yao Ming came out strong and delivered a huge block to Harrington who was cutting in to receive the pass!

Turning back, Yao Ming made a powerful drive in the low post, slamming the ball into the basket with both hands amidst the combined defense of Yi Shui, Harrington, and David Lee, completing his first dunk of the game and drawing a foul from David Lee, resulting in a 2+1 play!

Led by Yao Ming, the Rockets started the fourth quarter with an 11-4 run, extending their lead to 8 points and taking a 93-85 lead over the Knicks!

Under pressure, Yi Shui exploded. When it was the Knicks' turn to attack, Yi Shui made a back cut and cut in, received the ball at close range, knocked away McGrady who was collapsing to help defend, and bent down to face Yao Ming's block, leaning over and making a reverse floater, which also drew a foul from Yao Ming.

Yi Shui made the free throw, completing a 2+1 play and narrowing the gap to 5 points!
When it was the Rockets' turn to attack, Yao Ming went on a scoring spree for several possessions, and after gaining an advantage, he needed to slow down. Alston then initiated the attack, setting up Princeton.

Although it was a 'bankrupt' version of the tactical system, the ball movement was indeed good, successfully creating opportunities for Artest to break through against Wilson Chandler, getting rid of Harrington's physical battles, and avoiding being switched on by Yi Shui, who was known for his superhuman strength.

However, after Artest drove past Wilson Chandler into the paint, he made a mistake! It was Wilson Chandler, whom he had underestimated, who reached out and stole the ball the instant Artest grabbed it!

Wilson Chandler grabbed the ball and immediately passed it to Yi Shui. Yi Shui launched a fast break and passed the ball to Curry. Curry rushed to the top arc and then passed it back to Yi Shui, who slowed down to follow up on the right side.

Yi Shui caught the ball and launched a three-pointer as Alston rushed out again after retreating... and it went in!
91 to 93, the score difference has narrowed to two points!

Alston was helpless after being outmaneuvered by Yan Ye and losing 3 points. Compared to this, he had a feeling that Yi Shui's follow-up and receiving of the ball were not fast enough, as if they were waiting for him to pounce on them? How annoying!
They're both Chinese, both top draft picks, and Yao Ming on their team is such a nice guy, how could this guy be so despicable?

Adelman covered his face in anguish on the sidelines. Yi Shui's six points in those two possessions completely disrupted his plans!
His purpose in arranging for Yao Ming to launch a fierce attack as soon as he entered the game was to establish a clear lead, and then wear down the opponent with a defensive strategy.

This is their best way of winning.

The lead is down to just two points, there's no time to lose! That backcourt duo on the other side... let's just call them a backcourt duo, either of them could make a mistake and score and we'd take the lead!
Moreover, this situation may not be able to be contained...

However, without Adelman's reminder, Yao Ming, McGrady, and Artest led the team to launch a renewed offensive!

In the following possessions, Yao Ming made a mid-range jumper and a low-post turnaround hook shot, McGrady passed Battier an assist for an open three-pointer from the corner, and Artest drove hard to the basket for a 2+1 play, leading the team to 10 points in 3 minutes.

The Rockets were very efficient offensively, but they did not take the lead as they did at the start of the fourth quarter. After the Knicks scored 6 points in a row at Yishui, they gained momentum and scored 11 points in those 3 minutes!
末节打到6分47秒进入官方暂停，尼克斯队将比分追至102比103，分差缩小到1分！
After the official timeout, the two teams continued their fierce battle, with the score remaining close.

With 10 minutes and 58 seconds left in the game, McGrady received a pass from Alston, and despite Wilson Chandler's tight defense, he drove to the basket and launched a three-pointer... and it went in!
Tonight, excluding Curry's lunge for the ball, McGrady had three pull-up shots before, two from beyond the three-point line and one from a long two-point range, all of which missed. But this time, he still took the shot decisively!
This is the difference between a superstar and an ordinary player. No matter how badly they miss, they still dare to take the shot in crucial moments... Even former superstars are still superstars at heart.

115-114, McGrady hits a crucial three-pointer, and the Rockets take a one-point lead!
During the offensive-defensive transition, D'Antoni didn't call a timeout and continued the attack!

The Rockets' roster remains a mix of one big man and four small men, while the Knicks have made adjustments, replacing David Lee at center with Birdman, whose nose is currently stuffed with a stopper. Curry, Yi Shui, Wilson Chandler, and Harrington continue to play.

Curry went up the court and passed the ball to Harrington at the top of the arc, then moved to the right sideline.

Harrington used the Yi River to block McGrady and broke through to launch an attack.

After blocking McGrady and forcing the opponent to switch, Yi Shui moved to the right to screen for Curry against Alston's pursuit.

After the ball was separated, Yi Shui quickly ran to the right at a 45-degree angle. Harrington made a very bold pass. As soon as Yi Shui got into position, the ball flew in front of his face. Alston, who was switching defense, didn't even have time to stick to Yi Shui!
Yi Shui faced Alston rushing towards him, bypassed Curry and walked past McGrady who was charging towards the top of the court, pulled up and launched a three-pointer...

McGrady jumped with all his might to try and block the shot. If it were him back in the day, with that kind of speed and distance, he might have been able to block it. But now, his hand swung just below Yi Shui's hand after he had just finished shooting, and he missed...

At the crucial moment, Yi Shui didn't falter, and his shot went straight into the basket, making it 117-115, with the Knicks taking a two-point lead. The Rockets called a timeout!

After the timeout, neither team made any substitutions.

Adelman didn't set up any tactics; he called a timeout just to stabilize the situation. When the ball was inbounded from the frontcourt, Artest, who received the ball, passed it directly to McGrady at the top of the arc.

Because there are no conditions!
Yao Ming had only played 23 minutes in the first three quarters. After a fierce offensive run, he spent the next nine minutes guarding the basket, facilitating play, and catching the ball for mid-range shots. He had plenty of energy.

But unexpectedly, Yi Jianlian suddenly scored 6 points in a row, and Yao Ming had to continue to contribute on the offensive end. His score in the quarter had reached 14 points, tying his season high of 33 points when he played against the Magic!
Artest played for over 40 minutes, but couldn't penetrate anymore, and on the defensive end, he stayed close to Yao Ming to protect the rim; Alston was useless at this point, unable to make shots over Curry, and struggling to score even after getting past Curry and penetrating the basket.

At that moment, the only person they could trust was McGrady!

At that moment, standing guard in front of McGrady was none other than Yi Shui!
McGrady showed no signs of tension. Facing Yi Shui, who had switched onto him, he made a sideways movement and took a step forward!
Yi Shui retreated to the left and back, firmly positioning himself beside McGrady and preventing McGrady from accelerating on his second step.

The instant they clashed, McGrady abruptly pulled the ball back, stepped out of the three-point line, jumped diagonally to the right rear, grabbed the ball, and leaped to face Yi Shui, who was diving to block him, before launching a fadeaway three-pointer...

McGrady is still as confident as a superstar, but a former superstar is still just a former superstar. This complicated combo followed by a shot hit his neck!
Birdman, protect the defensive rebound!
D'Antoni didn't call a timeout. The opponent didn't set up any plays during the previous timeout, but he did... although it was still the 'old routine' of top-arc play.

Curry receives the ball and quickly advances the ball, continuing the attack!
When McGrady took the shot, the Rockets players had already started retreating on defense, prepared to take the final, crucial shot if they missed.

With the Knicks' overall pace slowing down, the Rockets still managed to establish a solid defensive formation. The Rockets' management relied on their defensive strategy, but Jeff Van Gundy left Adelman with a valuable defensive foundation.

Harrington received the ball and continued the pick-and-roll offense with Yi Shui.

But this time, Yi Shui's plan to execute a second pick-and-roll and create shooting space by forcing the opponent to switch defenses repeatedly failed. Curry ran along the three-point line and was left wide open. McGrady and Alston both rushed towards Yi Shui who was off the ball!
Harrington stopped the ball a step inside the free-throw line, leaned on Battier who had switched onto him, and turned to look for Yi Shui. He almost made a mistake, but luckily he wasn't a Lakers player and managed to hold onto the ball.

Seeing Yi Shui push past two players and move towards the inside with Alston close behind, Harrington, who was being closely guarded by Battier trying to steal the ball, quickly passed it to Curry.

McGrady, who had just missed a three-pointer, was unusually aggressive this time, leaping back to Curry. Curry was not intimidated, received the ball, and launched a fadeaway three-pointer...

He was confident and his aim was accurate, but he still hit the ball in the neck!

The backward lean was too large, and the force was not well controlled!

The fans in the stadium let out frustrated sighs.

Yao Ming's big butt bumped into Birdman and Harrington, who rushed in, pushing them aside and occupying the rebounding spot in front of the basket.

Adelman was ready to call a timeout immediately after Yao Ming got the ball, and Yao Ming had already stood on tiptoe and reached out...

Just then, Yao Ming felt a collision from behind, and a slender arm appeared in his line of sight, shoving the ball that had bounced off the rim and into the hoop!
Hearing the groan of the rim and seeing Yi Shui fall behind Yao Ming... the fans who were just sighing instantly erupted in cheers!

Their Holy Land King dunked over the Little Giant, sealing the victory!

(End of this chapter)