Chapter 84 Another victory

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, McGrady scored a mid-range goal against the defense of the ugly guy.

This guy only rested for a total of 3 minutes in the first three quarters. Judging from the situation, he should play the entire fourth quarter.

It was because he just took a breath during the intermission, otherwise this ball would not have been scored so easily.

Zheng Yang turned around and dribbled past the defender and rushed into the Rockets' inside line. In this game, Yao Ming received 4 fouls early on, so in order to avoid him leaving the game due to six fouls, Van Gundy did not let him play at this moment.

Having lost the 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, the Rockets still have the 7-foot-2 Uncle Mu. But Uncle Mu is no longer the African mountain who stood under the basket and shook his finger disdainfully at the players attacking the basket.

He is 39 years old this year, and may even be over years old. Because his date of birth has always been an unsolved mystery, no one knows whether the birthday he said is accurate.

Zheng Yang used a European step to freeze him in place, and then made an easy layup.

Stars on both sides stepped up to help their teams score in the first round.

The playoffs are the time to test the star quality of a player. If you want to get a big contract, you have to stand up and score at this time.

Otherwise, why would you be allowed to take so much money?

Don't look at Simmons, I'm talking about you. You just get a big contract but don't contribute. You really make the team spend money to hire an e-sports player, right?

And you, Leonard, you win the championship every offseason, but you wear a suit and tie when the playoffs come. People have to buy a suit when they buy your jersey, right?

Back to the topic, Zheng Yang focused on strengthening his ability to attack the basket during the offseason last year. After a season of training, he has now reached the level of perfection.

It's just that Yao Ming is too tall, otherwise it would be very difficult for an average center to pass him.

The Rockets continued their aggressive offense. McGrady knew that it was impossible for him to defeat the opponent alone in a game, and it just so happened that his teammates had a good touch in this game.

Therefore, he is also willing to create open opportunities for his teammates by attracting double-teaming.

With only nine minutes left, Nowitzki returned to the court and the pressure on the Rockets doubled.

When there were only 6 minutes left, Yao Ming returned to the court. The Rockets were already 5 points behind.

But they still have a chance.

With a 6-point difference in 5 minutes, the victory has not yet completely gone to the Mavericks.

When there were only 4 minutes left in the game, McGrady took over the ball again. He didn't attack much in these few minutes in order to save some energy for the attack now.

It is unlikely to rely on these teammates to score at such a crucial moment. Their performance today has been good enough, and it will be up to him next.

Da Chou, who was defending him, was also very tired, but he knew that his opponent would not have it any easier than him. As long as he gritted his teeth and held on for a while longer, the opponent would be the first to fall.

McGrady was making a triple threat posture at the three-point line. Da Chou knew that his opponent liked to pull up, so he didn't dare to stay too far away from him.

He stuck close to him, judging the position of his ball, not daring to even blink.

In the end, McGrady did not choose to pull up. He started dribbling and then moved closer to the inside little by little.

Da Chou kept blocking his position and constantly confronting him. Although the hand-check rule has been cancelled, it is still okay to sneak in and make some small moves.

After reaching the free throw line, McGrady suddenly accelerated. Da Chou rushed over, only to see McGrady suddenly stop again and then shoot from the free throw line.

He has already made two shots from this position today, but he hasn't shot the ball for nearly five minutes, and no one knows whether he still has the touch.

The audience held their breath, not daring to make any noise to disturb him at this time. Now they were still 5 points behind, and every offensive round was important to them.

Da Chou's reaction was very timely, but he still failed to interfere with the opponent's shot. When he just jumped up, the basketball had already been flicked out from McGrady's fingertips.

The basketball didn't stay in the air for too long. It spun towards the basket and finally went into the net.

With a "swish" sound, the entire audience immediately became happy.

"MVP!"

"MVP!"

"MVP!"

They shouted loudly to McGrady, saying that he was definitely worthy of the title of "MVP" in today's game, after all, his performance was so perfect.

Currently he has made 24 of 13 shots and has scored a game-high 36 points, and there is still a chance that this score can be further improved.

Hearing the fans cheering, McGrady waved to them with a determined look in his eyes.

He will definitely win this game today!
"Josh, I'll guard him later."

While running towards the opponent's front court, Zheng Yang said to Da Chou, and then patted his butt.

"It's not because you didn't defend well. You have already restricted him very well today. It's just that you know I like to play against the opponent's best defense, and I also like to defend against the opponent's best attack."

Zheng Yang's words were certainly meant to comfort the other party. After all, McGrady scored 36 points on the head of the ugly player today, and it was obvious that his defense was not successful.

But Zheng Yang knew that he had tried very hard, and his desire for victory was no less than his own, so he would also take the other party's face into consideration. Hearing the other party's words, Da Chou nodded, and at the same time made up his mind to continue to work hard in training and improve his defensive ability.

He hoped that he could help Zheng Yang more instead of always making Zheng Yang attack and defend.

That would be too tiring for him!

If Zheng Yang knew what Da Chou was thinking, he would be so moved that he would cry.

Dachou is still the better little brother. Unlike Nowitzki, he always wants to snatch the position of the boss.

Nowitzki: It seems like I came to this team first?
Of course, who will defend McGrady is a matter for the next round. The focus of this round is to score the ball first.

Zheng Yang took the ball and after attracting a double-team, passed it to Jason Terry on the outside, and the latter immediately passed it to Nowitzki.

But when the opponent thought that Nowitzki would be the end point of this attack, he suddenly threw a ground pass to Zheng Yang who cut into the inside.

Yao Ming's big body was unable to react quickly and he could only watch the opponent score the layup.

Seeing this, McGrady took a deep breath and adjusted his state. After Zheng Yang scored, the score difference came to 5 points again. This back and forth not only did the score difference not narrow, but also consumed a lot of time.

The less time, the more disadvantageous it is for the Rockets.

The ball was still in McGrady's hands. In order to prevent the opponent from not being able to receive the ball after crossing half court, the ball was directly passed to him when serving.

After dribbling the ball across half court, the player in front of McGrady was Zheng Yang. Everyone then noticed that the player defending McGrady was no longer Dachou.

The player who could rival McGrady in scoring now had to limit his opponents with defense.

No one would laugh at Zheng Yang, because everyone knew that this man was famous not only for his offense, but also for his defense.

Like Dachou, he is the team's perimeter defender.

Seeing Zheng Yang's actions, old Nelson was also a little surprised, but he did not stop him. He believed in Zheng Yang and he would never let down those who trusted him.

Let’s see how McGrady will play this offensive round!

Zheng Yang's physical talent is definitely not at a disadvantage when defending McGrady. Although McGrady's physical talent is already top-notch, Zheng Yang has never been afraid of anyone when it comes to physical talent.

McGrady knew that his defense was good, so he wanted to use pick-and-roll to avoid him at first, but after playing for so long, Zheng Yang's ability to squeeze through screens has improved, so McGrady was unable to successfully get rid of him.

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, McGrady simply gave up and signaled his teammates to play one-on-one.

He knew that the opponent was very strong, but don't forget that before Zheng Yang became the scoring champion, the previous scoring champion was him.

Before injuries hit him, scoring was always the easiest thing for McGrady.

He dribbled the ball and read Zheng Yang's defense. The latter raised one hand high and blocked him with the other hand. He knew that the opponent's offensive ability was very strong, so he didn't think about stealing the ball from the opponent.

The probability of success will be very low.

There was not much time left for the attack, so McGrady did not waste too long. After two crotch passes, he suddenly broke through to the left.

That was not the attack direction he was most accustomed to, but in order to mislead the opponent, he deliberately changed the attack direction this time.

Zheng Yang was indeed stunned for a moment at the beginning, but the game experience accumulated over the years made his body instinctively follow McGrady and block his offensive direction.

McGrady, who suddenly entered a dead ball situation when he broke through to the left side, did not choose to pass the ball. After a fake move, he saw that Zheng Yang was not fooled, so he immediately pushed the opponent with his shoulder and then leaned back to shoot.

Although Zheng Yang stretched out his hand, he was unable to take the risk because McGrady's resistance was really strong.

But McGrady's excellent jumping ability and wingspan allowed him to increase his shooting height and speed. Although the basketball successfully flew out, it failed to go in.

Zheng Yang successfully defended McGrady. Although it was only for one round, Zheng Yang's defense in this crucial round was worth a thousand gold.

But Zheng Yang did not rush to celebrate. Instead, he immediately rushed to the opponent's front court. Jason Terry, who received the basketball, immediately passed the ball to him.

Fast breaks have always been one of the Mavericks' regular scoring methods.

When Zheng Yang made a slam dunk and the score difference was extended to 7 points, the Toyota Center fell into deathly silence.

Countless Rockets fans held their heads, their eyes full of confusion.

Van Gundy requested a timeout, but he knew that it would not be easy to catch up, especially since Zheng Yang scored in two consecutive rounds and successfully defended McGrady.

This immediately destroyed the Rockets' morale.

At this moment, unless Rivers is invited to give everyone some chicken soup, the Rockets' morale will never be boosted.

……

At the end of the game, the score was fixed at 98:92. The Mavericks won another game. They only needed one victory to surpass the Rockets and face the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.

(End of this chapter)