Chapter 85 Cowboy Shoots Down the Sun
After Game 3, the entire Rockets team fell into a deathly silence. They lost three games in a row, one of which was lost at their home court...

Everyone knows that this series is a foregone conclusion.

McGrady, with his head covered with a towel, raised his head at the end of the game. He looked at the roof of the Toyota Center, which was now covered by dark clouds. Who could clear away these clouds?
No one can do it, not even themselves.

Then he stood up and walked towards the player tunnel, and a little boy next to him shouted at him.

"Tracy, please lead us to victory!"

The child's voice was very childish, but his tone was extremely serious and strong.

The 10-year-old boy has been watching NBA games since he was 7 years old. The Rockets have always been his favorite team and McGrady has always been his favorite player.

He didn't want to see them fall here, he wanted to see them win the championship!
McGrady heard the voice, but he paused and did not look back. Instead, he continued to walk straight into the player tunnel, leaving only a somewhat lonely back to the fans.

He was afraid that he had given them hope, only to disappoint them again.

……

On April 4, Game 30 of the Rockets-Mavericks series continued at the Toyota Center. This game was a life-and-death battle for the Rockets.

Because now they are standing on the edge of the cliff, just a little bit and they will be crushed to pieces.

But throughout the game, they did not play as aggressively as they did in the previous game. Instead, they were constantly suppressed by the Mavericks.

Zheng Yang knew that they had completely lost their morale and energy. The outcome of the game had already been determined before it even started.

At the end of the first half, the Rockets were already 15 points behind and some fans in the stands began to leave.

They really couldn't stand watching this game anymore. What kind of game was the Rockets playing?
Do they really have no desire to win at all?

The truth is, Rockets fans want to win this game more than anyone else, but when you experience their desperation, you also lose hope for the final outcome.

They don't see any possibility of winning at all!
"At the end of the game, the Rockets still failed to win the game against the Mavericks, 98 to 87.

In the first year of the Yao-McGrady combination, they ultimately lost to the Mavericks. Both Yao Ming and McGrady were still very young, and they had performed well enough this season. It was a pity that they had no helpers around them to step up and help them.

Hope they can achieve better results in the future.

And now, we need to give applause to the Mavericks. They used their perfect performance to help the team win this series. They entered the Western Conference semifinals one step ahead of their opponents.

The Suns are currently leading the Grizzlies 3-0 and will play Game 4 tomorrow. The Suns have a chance to win the series directly and meet the Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.

This is also a very topical series because Nash, who was the biggest contributor to the Suns' 62 wins this year, played for the Mavericks last season.

How will he perform when he meets his old team in the Western Conference semifinals?

Stay tuned for more news on this series.”

At the end of G4, Mr. Yu Jia said such meaningful words after the game, which coincided with the inner feelings of countless fans who watched the game in front of the TV.

The reason why Mr. Yu Jia is so highly regarded in the Chinese basketball commentary circle is that he can always express the feelings of the fans in beautiful sentences. Coupled with the contrast of the three musketeers who sell condoms, he naturally gains the respect of the fans.

There was still not much suspense in the game between the Suns and the Grizzlies on May 5st. After the first quarter, the score between the two teams was 1:39!

Scoring 05 points in a single quarter in 39 was enough to prove how strong the Suns' offense was.

Although the Grizzlies chased them by 12 points in the second quarter, the Suns still had the initiative in the game.

After the final four quarters, the score was 123:115. The Suns won the series with a huge advantage of 4-0 and met the Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.

This is also the first round of semi-finals in the entire league, and of course, it is also the most interesting one.

……

“We all look up to Steve and he’s given so much to this city, but no one can stop a cowboy from shooting the sun down.”

This was the headline of Dallas Sports Weekly before the start of this series, and the picture below was a picture of a cowboy holding a gun and aiming at the sun.

I don’t know if the inspiration for this picture came from Houyi shooting down the sun!
From this title and the accompanying picture, we can see how much Dallas fans hope that the team can beat the Suns and enter the Western Conference Finals.

Of course they knew that the Suns were a strong team. They won 62 games in the regular season, tying the best record in team history set by Buckley in the 92-93 season.

They have three players selected for the All-Star Game this season, the most in the entire league!
But so what?
The Mavericks have Dirk, Chris Paul, Finley, and a bunch of great players.

They also have the league's best scoring man, Zheng!

He is only in his sophomore year, but he has already broken countless doubts. With him, they will definitely be able to win this series.

Before the G1 match between the two teams started, Anthony had a phone call with Zheng Yang.

"Hey Zheng, beat the Suns! No one on this team can defend you.

I'll go to the gym and wait for you. Remember to bring the championship trophy over for me to touch." "Of course, you practice first, and I'll come find you after our championship parade."

After hanging up the call with Melo, Zheng Yang received another call from Wade.

"Hey Zheng, play well and let's meet in the finals. We will definitely win the championship earlier than Cameron."

"Haha, if Cameron heard this, he would definitely want to beat you up."

Zheng Yang laughed loudly and said that Wade has been dissatisfied with his third place in the championship club for a long time. Once he wins the championship, he will definitely rise up and directly overthrow Anthony's suppression.

After hanging up the phone, Zheng Yang received text messages from Yao Ming, Garnett, and some other players with whom he had a good relationship, all of whom were cheering Zheng Yang up.

In fact, we can see from the attitudes of these people that everyone knows that the Suns are really strong.

They were able to get 62 wins by relying on their real strength, not by cheating.

Their run-and-gun tactics made everyone suffer. When playing against them, you can't be distracted for even a moment, otherwise they will make you pay with one fast break after another.

G1 was played at the Suns' home court. When the Mavericks' bus arrived at the airport on May 5, a large number of fans were already waiting at the door.

"Western cowboy, shoot down the sun!"

"Western cowboy, shoot down the sun!"

"Western cowboy, shoot down the sun!"

The fans held up signs and shouted loudly, cheering for their team.

Seeing this scene, the Mavericks players were very moved. Sometimes the reason why they play so hard on the court is for the fans who support them.

Their passion is extremely pure, without any utilitarianism or watering down, they just love it, extremely passionately.

The basketball market in Dallas is not as big as that in New York or Los Angeles, but the fans here love their home team just as much as fans in other places.

Seeing that the boarding time was approaching, old Nelson shouted to the players to get ready to board the plane, while he shouted to the fans at the door.

"Please watch our games on TV, we can feel your love.

We will return to Dallas with a win."

……

On the plane to Phoenix, Nelson talked to everyone about the next tactical arrangements.

"We played the Phoenix Suns four times in the regular season, and we all know how fast their offense is.

It often strikes suddenly when you least expect it.

So we must pay attention to the following two points in this series.

The first point is to return to defense in time, no matter whether the ball goes in or not, unless the basketball falls next to you, otherwise you must immediately return to defense as quickly as possible and drag the Suns into the quagmire of positional warfare.

As long as they can't launch a fast break, their offensive threat is reduced by half.

The other is to cut off the connection between Amare and Steve during the positional battle.

Once the two are ready to play pick-and-roll, Zheng or Josh will immediately go to assist in double-teaming, and Dirk and Eric will retreat to the inside to prevent Amare from rushing forward.

Although this will give the Suns many more shooting opportunities from the outside, it is impossible for such a team to completely restrict them.

We can only bet that the opponent will not be in good form and will not be able to keep up with our attack.

As for our offense, it is the same as before. We will play fast breaks when we have the chance and play positional defense when we don't. Their defense is very bad, so we must play aggressively on offense.

We need to increase the frequency of attacking the basket. No matter whether it is Dirk, Zheng or Josh, just rush to the inside when they get the ball.

Unless they fouled us, they could only watch us score.

Another point is that we must try our best to consume their physical strength during the game. If they are willing to run, let them run a few more steps. Our physical strength is no worse than theirs, and our perseverance is no worse than theirs.

I just don’t believe they can run the entire game.”

After explaining the main things, Nelson analyzed the offensive and defensive moves that the Suns' main players were accustomed to, allowing the players to be more comfortable when playing the game.

"The Suns are a very strong team, but we are no worse than them. Remember our goal, everything is possible!"

At the end, Nelson gave everyone some encouragement. Although it was a bit stiff, the players were still moved by the fans' cheers before boarding the plane.

Therefore, a little bit of bloodiness was aroused at this moment!
Phoenix Suns, here we come!

(End of this chapter)