McGrady initially turned into an assist, concentrating on passing the ball to the inside. In terms of quality and timing of the pass, he was several levels better than Alstom. He focused on assisting, but no matter how capable Stephen had, he could not do anything.

Yao Ming's offensive routine is very simple. After receiving the ball from behind, he will press down on the basket. Just let him press two steps inside, and no matter where he turns, with Yao Ming's height, you basically don't have to worry about the possibility of being covered. Oberto couldn't stand Yao Ming at all.

**Vic immediately made a hand gesture below, and the Spurs immediately changed to Duncan to defend Yao Ming. Whether it is height or strength, Duncan is the closest to Yao Ming. After experimenting with Oberto alone, **Vic immediately activated the second plan.

But the second plan was not very effective. The first time Duncan defended Yao Ming, he was pushed to the basket by Yao Ming. Then Yao Ming turned around and hugged the ball into the basket. When he faced Duncan, Yao Ming did not dare to play around so unscrupulously.

The Rockets led the Spurs 8-6. After receiving the pass from Tony Parker, Stephen was also ready to play with his back, but the Rockets ran out of the basket and held Stephen behind Stephen's land. Stephen turned his head and saw that it was Hayes.

Stephen was very surprised. In the previous rounds, Sean Bathier was misplaced to defend Stephen. Why did it become Hayes at this time? Even if it matches the position, it should be McGrady, but no matter who it is, it has to be played.

Stephen originally meant it would be very simple. Who knew that he had just pushed back and started to push a blank. However, Stephen was about to increase his strength, but suddenly a strong force came from behind, making Stephen unable to exert force, so he stopped. The dribble in his hand was not as fast as Stephen could close, so he almost lost his hand.

Stephen looked at Hayes in disbelief. This guy is so short, why is he so powerful? And his skill is not as good as a player who blocks the order. Stephen now understands why Hayes was able to get a long contract with a rookie in the Rockets' third entry into the palace.

Just like **Vic has always been worried about it, there are too few inside players who can stand up to the crowd now. Most of them are the kind of attacking and defense. There are more and more big men who will shoot three-pointers from the outside, and fewer and fewer people will stand up to the crowd at the basket. Although Hayes is a little bit taller, his skill in reaching the crowd is not bad at all.

And what made Stephen most uncomfortable was that Hayes was a little shorter than Stephen, which meant that his power point was lower and his lower plate was more stable. However, when Stephen was about to turn around in advance, Hayes quickly touched Stephen. Although Stephen turned around, he also lost the possibility of attack.

This made Stephen suddenly look admiring at him. This guy has a good defense. Stephen rarely encounters such a good defense. Hayes's defense gives Stephen the feeling it feels like he has encountered those well-known defensive defenders in the league.

Moreover, in such a maneuvering place under the basket, Stephen's footsteps could not be fully utilized. Hayes followed him tightly until he ran out of the area under the basket and Sean Battier took over. Stephen took advantage of this opportunity to pass the ball to Oberto, but Oberto did not make it, wasting an opportunity.

After Yao Ming played the first few rounds, the Rockets' outside line began to take action. McGrady still made a jump shot and won the first goal. After Michael Finley missed the shot, Alstom made another throw from the basket. Although he missed, Yao Ming grabbed the rebound based on his height advantage, then raised his hand and put the ball in again.

The defense of both teams is very good. Except for Yao Ming, the Rockets, no one can do anything, but the Spurs also quickly adjusted their defensive strategy and changed it to Oberto, who was on the back to defend. If Yao Ming catches the ball on the strong side, Duncan will attack it. If he catches the ball on the weak side, Oberto will use the method of defending the ball on the front.

As for the Rockets' outside defense, except Stephen's focus on McGrady, there is no need to emphasize anything else. Anyway, the Rockets' offensive routines are always those few moves, and there is nothing new after tossing and turning. Just keep McGrady safe.

However, the Rockets are worthy of being a team that can compete with the Spurs in defense. In the inside competition, Yao Ming has a very good defense against Duncan. In addition to being entangled with Oberto, Hayes is also responsible for defending Stephen's basket offense. Occasionally, when Tony Parker breaks through, he also comes out to block the gun hole. It's such a tedious task. Hayes has done it very well.

On the outside, Sean Battier and McGrady defended Stephen and Michael Finley respectively. Battier defended very well in shooting. Although McGrady suffered a bit of a loss against Stephen, she still had no problem with Michael Finley.

Alstom may not be comparable to Tony Parker in terms of speed, but his sense of ball and efforts to make up for his weaknesses in this regard. In addition, the Rockets have a very thorough research on the Spurs' offense, and they always happen to be the connection between the offense in the card, so the Spurs had to rely on Stephen's solo score alone.

The two teams presented a defensive feast for the fans on the scene. Naturally, the scene did not seem as lively as the Spurs against the Suns. However, even so, the Spurs fans still tirelessly cheered the team, one wave after another, and never stopped.

After the first quarter, the two sides played 23 to 21. The Spurs led by only two points. Comparing the 40-tenth single quarter against the Suns, you can see how big the difference is. Stephen scored 12 points in this quarter, while Yao Ming scored 11 points in this quarter, and the two performed comparablely.

Before the first quarter ended, Yao Ming was replaced and rested. The one who replaced Mutombo, who defended and attacked by Zhu Wan, and he cooperated well. When Mutombo was on the court, you should always keep a two-point alert when you attacked at the basket, because you don’t know when his big hand, like a palm-leaf fan, was blocked on the ball.

Ginobili made a quick move, but he blocked it from the air. Fortunately, Stephen grabbed the rebound from the back and scored a layup when Mutombo couldn't take off again, making Mutombo so angry that he didn't care about shaking his finger. Isn't this bullying the elderly and weak in their bodies and poor ability to take off continuously?

After four or five minutes of rest, Yao Ming returned to the court. With the combination of Elson and Robert Horry alone, he could not have effectively restricted him like Oberto and Duncan. Soon the Rockets overtook the score. Stephen was very uncomfortable with this kind of outside defense. It was difficult to adapt to it after all.

Their defense limits Stephen's ball-holding attack by one-third, and Sean Battier's shooting defense against Stephen is also very good. In addition to the previous few offenses, the shooting percentage behind them is only a little over 40%, which is a very significant decrease for Stephen's shooting percentage of nearly 50%.

Stephen finally rushed to the basket with Robert Horry's cover, but almost got Yao Ming's big hat. Stephen did not dodge quickly, so he made a lever in the air and was almost blocked by Yao Ming. However, because of avoiding, Stephen's move was also lost.

After McGrady got out of the court, Hyde came on the court. After the training of the past two seasons, this guy has become much more stable and looks very sensible. He came up and made a three-pointer in front of Stephen. After falling down, he raised his chin provocatively at Stephen.

"Luther, are you trying to get angry with me on purpose?" Stephen approached Hyde and pounded Hyde with his elbow, but Hyde smiled.

After coming back, Stephen made a three-pointer. Although it was not Hyde who defended, Stephen still picked up his chin at Hyde.

"Your opponent is me, why are you demonstrating there?" Sean Bathir said dissatisfiedly. He didn't know the relationship between Stephen and Hyde, and thought Stephen was provoking Hyde, so he wanted to attract hatred, but he received a big roll of eyes.

Although the scoring of the two teams is difficult, as the game time goes by, the classification continues to rise. The Rockets have not been able to widen the gap in the score, and the Spurs are not able to overtake the score. It has always been a gap of two or three points. The two teams finished the first half.

In the second half, the Spurs were still on the bench, but the Rockets were all the main players, and soon widened the score gap to six points. At this time, **Vicci felt that the Rockets are indeed different from before. After all, they played in the Western Conference Finals team, and it was a bit unbearable to use such rotation.

When the Spurs replaced Duncan and Tony Parker, it was too late. Yao Ming was still unstoppable. At the same time, McGrady began to show off frequently on the outside, and the three-pointers of Alstom and Sean Bathier also began to go crazy. Soon the Rockets widened the score gap to more than ten.

At this time, **Vic quickly replaced Stephen, but once the opponent's outside group found the three-pointer, it would not be so easy to curb it. Although Stephen also performed very well after playing, he still felt a little unbearable when facing the opponent's full-strength firing.

Although the Rockets' condition declined after Yao Ming was out of the field, they prevented the Spurs from getting close to the score through defense. After Yao Ming returned to the field in the fourth quarter, he began to show his strength in the inside. Not half of the game was played in the fourth quarter, Duncan took his fifth personal foul. At this point, it was already obvious that the Spurs would find it difficult to win at home today.
Chapter completed!