"Yao, although you have done a great job, the team needs you to stand up and take on more responsibilities in this game."

"You know the current situation of the team. Even if Dwight's personal defense ability is indeed excellent, the team has to let you make more offensive moves."

"I will try to allocate your playing time in the second half, but I hope you can put more pressure on the Magic every second on the court."

"You need to play more decisively on the court, and once the Magic doubles you, you can split the balls to get the others to finish."

Hearing Adelman's words, Yao Yao nodded with helplessness but firmness.

Regarding these words, Yao Ming's ears were almost calloused in every game that was considered a headwind this season.

It’s no wonder that Adelman always repeats these meaningless nonsense, because for today’s Rockets, this is the solution, and this is the best choice for the Rockets today.

Many people in later generations will question why Adelman used Yao Ming so much that his ball rights ratio on both offense and defense reached the top three in the league.

He even asked Adelman online, "Don't you know that with Yao Ming's height and weight, using him like this will cause great harm to his body?!"

In fact, Adelman, as the head coach, knows these remarks more clearly than others, but he has no choice.

Because with the Rockets' lineup today, if Yao Ming's ball possession on both offense and defense, then with the offensive and defensive abilities of others, the Rockets would have long fallen to the bottom of the West.

So for Adelman, relying on Yao Ming is really helpless.

At least compared to later Jeff Van Gundy, Adelman's use of Yao Ming is actually very reasonable now. At least he has kept him away from the penalty area to the greatest extent, thus ensuring Yao Ming's physical health.

"Carl, after returning to the second half, I hope your desire to attack the basket becomes stronger."

"I don't need you to do too much on the court, but remember, you must have a basket position in your eyes!!"

It can be said that Carl Landry's playing style this season has a lot to do with head coach Adelman's training direction.

Because for Adelman, in addition to ensuring that the team can play smooth Princeton tactics, there must always be a sharp weapon on the bench.

For such players, they do not need to play according to tactics after they come on the court. They only need to use their personal abilities to try their best to score more points.

This is exactly the gorgeous Kings coached by Adelman back then, and so is the broken Rockets now.

It can be said that for these veteran coaches, their tactical playing style and employment philosophy have long been completely finalized, and it is basically impossible to make too much changes.

After returning from the second half, Yao Ming also stood near the free throw line according to tactical arrangements to observe.

However, the Magic have obviously been very wary of the Rockets' running position without the ball after returning in the second half.

At least, it is no longer like the beginning, two players often collided with each other because of a pick-and-roll without the ball, which gives the Rockets more opportunities.

Seeing that his teammates were unable to run out of the position very quickly, Yao Ming looked at Howard, who was a certain gap in front of him.

Yao Yao thought for a moment and made a mid-range shot directly.

The shot of this ball was very sudden, which made Howard not able to react immediately and make a save and defend.

Because during the whole first half, most of Yao Ming's shots came from strong attacks at the basket and turnover jump shots near the reasonable collision zone, and there were absolutely few shots directly pulled out from the middle distance.

So when Yao Ming continued to stand in this position to support him, Howard also became very careless, believing that Yao Ming would still use tactical passes, but he did not expect that Yao Ming would be so determined to shoot this ball.

"Swish~"

53:50

After scoring the goal, Yao Yao also clenched his fists excitedly, then raised his arm and made a cheering gesture to himself.

Seeing that Yao Ming scored a goal so easily after the opening, Stan Van Gundy off the court also shouted a few words at Howard with dissatisfaction.

After all, Howard often performs indifferently and unpositively on the court during this period, and even Stan Van Gundy, as the head coach, is quite helpless.

Because Howard is currently a hot star in the league, Van Gundy cannot say that he is too fierce in the face of this unpositive attitude, otherwise it will easily cause a fierce conflict between the two.

But I can't say nothing but let him continue sleepwalking on the field, so Howard's frequent distraction also made Van Gundy speechless.

The Magic attacked and saw that the Rockets still defended the second and third joint defense on the defensive end after returning in the second half. Su Jiu also used Howard's pick-and-roll to continue looking for the Rockets' flaws.

It seems that Adelman would rather relax his vigilance outside the three-point line than use the second and third-level joint defense to try his best to preserve Yao Ming's physical strength on the court.

It is not difficult to see from this subtle scene how important Yao Ming is to the Rockets so far.

Seeing the defensive position of the second and third joint defense, Su Jiu did not just pull up and throw three points from the outside. After all, this is not DeRozan's strength, but try to find more opportunities for his teammates through pick-and-roll.

Once the Rockets' defense tries to reach outside the three-point line, the middle distance will inevitably usher in a significant flaw.

So the two teams are more like a silent bet at the moment.

As the game continued, both sides were indistinguishable on the court. Whether it was the Magic or the Rockets, it was difficult for both teams to start the game as soon as possible.

Especially Yao Ming, Yao Ming's style of playing after he came back in the second half has undergone a huge change.

First of all, Yao Ming also played more resolutely on the offensive end, and his desire for offense became stronger.

In order to avoid Yao Ming from driving too much attack from his teammates, Van Gundy has not asked for a pincer attack on Yao Ming on the field, which has also led to Yao Ming killing all sides after he came back in the third quarter.

Whether it is a back-to-body force in the low post or a turnover jump shot in the three-second range, Howard can be said to be miserable.

The scene where Howard was beaten by Yao Ming with one hand in the third quarter also made home commentator Mark Woodson teased bluntly:

"Today, I saw that the title of the best defensive player is indeed well-deserved. Facing Yao, the third quarter is about to end, and I have only successfully defended Yao's two turnover jump shots."

"Haha, if Yao didn't enter the league's best team this year, I really don't know if Dwight can still win the Best Defensive Player award with peace of mind."

Partner Tom Hovas: "Indeed, first of all, Dwight's defensive ability is absolutely unquestionable. In so many games this season, Dwight has also contributed a very perfect defensive efficiency."

"But in this game, I'm afraid all this will be ruthlessly broken by Yao Shengsheng, because what we are seeing is that when facing Yao's attack, Dwight can be said to be helpless."

"Because Yao plays very smartly on the court, he will not only sit in the low post and make some strong shots, but also use his range advantage to attract Dwight to a further place."

"And because of his excellent support and passes, it is also difficult for other players to double-team him effectively."

"So Yao is really Dwight's big victim this season, haha."

Under the teasing of the live commentator, at the end of the third quarter, the Rockets also successfully tied the score to:

76:76 square meters!!

In the entire third quarter, facing Dwight Howard's individual defense, Yao Ming made 4 of 6 shots in a single quarter, made 3 free throws, and scored 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in a single quarter.

Coupled with the first half game data, Yao Ming contributed a luxurious data of 31 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists at the end of the third quarter.

It can be said that the biggest contributor to the Rockets' ability to compete with the Magic!!

However, Howard, who has been playing against Yao Ming, only handed in a 9-point, 9 rebounds and 1 block after the end of the third quarter.

And his personal efficiency is also relatively low. After 11 shots, he only hit 4 goals, and only scored nine points in one free throw.

It can be said that in this match against Yao Ming, Howard in this game was completely defeated.

Although there has been a saying on the Internet during this period that eating, sleeping and fighting monsters has been circulating on this Internet to evaluate Yao Ming.

But in fact, this sentence has only gradually spread in China's basketball circle. In the United States, it can be said that few people have heard such comments.
Chapter completed!