Chapter 152 151. Massacre by accident!
After seeing his players start a war of attrition on their own, Bickerstaff was prepared to fall behind at the start.

The Rockets' defense this season is better than Bickerstaff expected, sticky and grinding.

Especially at the beginning of the game when Yao Ming had the most energy, he could cover the entire three-second zone by himself. The other four players of the Rockets each performed their duties under Van Gundy's defensive system. Except for Felton's step-back three-pointer at the beginning, the Bobcats basically did not get any regular shooting opportunities.

But under such circumstances, they are still leading!

Bickerstaff was amazed by Zhang Yang's vision for finding opportunities and his ability to seize them.

However, Bickerstaff recalled Zhang Yang's four goals, one tip-in, one step-back shot against the defense, one counterattack score, and one opportunity to run back and catch the ball and shoot quickly...all of them were beautiful, but none of them were easy to score!

Even in that counterattack, he had to run a long distance, pass Battier first, and then protect the ball and advance despite Alston's interference.

The easiest one is probably the run and shot just after entering the game.

Bickerstaff is very worried about this style of play. Does Zhang Yang have the physical strength to withstand it?

Stop Zhang Yang from playing like this? That's definitely not possible. Why fall behind and chase points when you can be ahead?

Then we have to think of a way...

On the court, both teams missed a shot, and then McGrady passed the ball to Yao Ming, who cut in at the right time, received the ball and shot high, then made a layup under Okafor who was returning to the basket.

Looking back, Gerald Wallace broke through McGrady on the wing and rushed to the basket for a layup but missed. However, Okafor, who was holding back his strength, got under the basket before Yao Ming got stuck in position, and made a quick tip-in to push the ball back into the frame.

The Rockets called a timeout!

Halfway through the first quarter, the score was 12 to 10, with the Bobcats leading by two points!

Bickerstaff is under pressure because he is worried about Zhang Yang's physical strength. They have the initiative in the game.

Jeff Van Gundy is under really huge pressure!

We played such a good defense at the beginning, but we were still two points behind!

If the opponent wants to wear down Yao Ming, why not let Yao Ming concentrate his energy to output a wave? If he is tired, replace Yao Ming with a group of people to block the basket and defend three-pointers, and let McGrady swing alone? No, no, no, this will make Yao Ming's continuity worse.

Then let Yao Ming be responsible for containment and defense? No, if the inside advantage is not brought into play, McGrady's chances of singles on the outside will be even worse.

Fighting on offense? Not necessarily winning.

Learn from the big brother's play style, Yao Ming squats under the basket, McGrady plays one-on-one from the outside, puts out 3 shooters, only blocks the three-pointer and the basket? The opponent's three-point shooter has not even one...

Jeff Van Gundy had countless ideas in his mind, but the timeout was about to end and he still hadn't made a decision. Seeing that the timeout was about to end, he quickly made a rotation.

Jeff Van Gundy didn't make any adjustments in the end, and as usual, when the score was tight, he strengthened the defense and replaced Juwan Howard with Chuck Hayes.

On the other side, Bickerstaff replaced Felton and Perkins with Rondo and Muhammad, while Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace and Okafor continued to play.

Zhang Yang was a little surprised that he was not substituted. He attacked fiercely at the beginning and was prepared to be substituted after half a quarter.

After the preseason, the coaching staff communicated with him about his playing time, which was not much different from last season. He played 6-7 minutes in each quarter, and except for the last quarter, he tried not to play the entire quarter in the other three quarters.

The coaching staff's attitude is very clear: his health is more important than how well he performs.

But it’s good to be able to continue playing. I made 6 of 4 shots in the first half and scored 8 points. That’s great!
And he didn't play hard, he just shot the ball.

The main reason is that he doesn't consume much energy on the defensive end. Battier doesn't run much on the offensive end, and he usually spreads out on both wings. He just needs to keep an eye on the people. Occasionally, when his teammates have cut off the middle, he will move back to the basket, so the defensive end consumes a little more energy because of this.

After Bickerstaff finished adjusting his tactics, Zhang Yang's expression became strange...

...

The timeout ends, the game continues, and the Rockets attack.

Alstom received the serve at the center line. He was originally excited, but when he saw Zhang Yang standing at the top arc, his face suddenly fell.

After the first official timeout, he was able to increase his independent offense. He saw that the opponent had replaced a first-round rookie and wanted to bully the rookie.

But the opponent actually let Zhang Yang defend him! He was least good at dealing with such a tall, defensive and calm opponent.

The two teams played against each other twice last season, and both times his two-point and three-point shots were blocked by the opponent.

Zhang Yang did not expect that he would be assigned to defend Alston at the top of the arc. This was of course easy for him, as he only had to block the shot, which was what he was good at.

It's just... he glanced at Rondo's side. His positioning was good. As long as Battier didn't have the ball, Rondo would have no problem defending Battier's shooting.

Alstom dribbled to the left side of the top arc and saw Zhang Yang following his steps, he felt tremendous pressure.

Never mind, just hit him first!
Alston gritted his teeth and started dribbling the ball in a fancy way. As he expected, the sophomore on the opposite side ignored him, put his left hand on his waist and raised his right hand to shoulder height, ready to interfere with the shot.

Alston had no choice but to break through... fake move! He retracted his foot, changed hands, dribbled behind his back, took a step to the top arc, and jumped...

Zhang Yang took a step forward immediately, jumped up and stretched out his hand.

There was a slight speed difference, and he was unable to completely follow Alstom, but he had a great advantage in height and wingspan, and he was still able to interfere even though he was half a step behind.

Alston raised the shooting angle and shot the ball...and missed!
The ball hit the inside left edge of the basket and bounced to the right. McGrady rushed to grab the offensive rebound...a little black guy got in front of him and grabbed the ball first!
Rondo protects the defensive rebound!
Battier, Yao Ming and Hayes were ready to retreat when Alston shot. McGrady failed to steal the ball, so the three of them and Alston at the top of the arc formed a retreat formation.

Rondo gave up the fast break and looked for Zhang Yang. Seeing Zhang Yang running slowly over, he could only advance to the frontcourt by himself.

After reaching the frontcourt, Rondo continued to look for Zhang Yang and saw Zhang Yang running to the left baseline and going mid-range... Was this a tactic of playing a wing screen and then running back? He could see Zhang Yang's tactical intention at a glance.

But who should the ball be passed to to initiate the offense? Without Felton, neither Okafor nor Gerald Wallace can initiate the offense of this tactic!

Also, he saw that Alstom, who was defending him, had many defensive loopholes... He couldn't bear it anymore, so he rushed forward quickly!
Before Alston could react, Rondo had already passed by him!
Alstom turned around and chased, but couldn't catch up!

Rondo rushed to close range and took a step forward to make a layup...and made it!
Hayes on the wing and Yao Ming under the basket were also unable to react!
Yao Ming just looked at the top arc and saw Rondo protecting the ball sideways to prevent Alston from stealing it. He turned his head to look at Zhang Yang who was running from the baseline to the 45-degree angle on the left to seek screen. When he turned around, Rondo had already rushed in front of him!
What's wrong with this rookie? He didn't even take the first step to break through? He just charged straight away?

The Rockets are surprised, while the Bobcats are happy!
The basket protected by Yao Ming was broken by their rookies!
Zhang Yang excitedly high-fived Rondo as he retreated.

It's this move, Rondo's 'stealing step'!
Coach Long has few ways to score, but his breakthroughs are a headache for opponents. When he breaks through, he doesn't put on a loose posture like Paul and Deron, telling the opponent that he is going to break through and asks the opponent to come and defend him quickly, thereby attracting help defense and making assists. He just keeps dribbling like that, and when there is a flaw in the opponent's defense, he suddenly starts and goes straight to the basket to end the attack.

That’s right, Rondo’s breakthrough is aimed at scoring, not organizing the offense.

Relying on his unpredictable start and super-fast speed, Rondo maintained a hit rate of over 12% before his serious injury in the 13-45 season. His hit rate even exceeded 50% in his junior and senior years.

Bickerstaff on the sidelines was surprised. He asked Zhang Yang to defend Alston at the top of the arc in order to reduce Zhang Yang's physical consumption in flank defense and let Zhang Yang save his energy for output on the offensive end.

As a result, Zhang Yang gave the ball to Rondo after returning from the timeout... The rookie Rondo came up and scored under the basket protected by Yao Ming!

Should we praise Zhang Yang for trusting his teammates and playing unselfishly, or should we praise Rondo for not being afraid of the stage?
On the court, Alstom advanced to the frontcourt and started attacking. He stopped shooting and changed direction to break through!
Zhang Yang covered Alstom's space for a long-distance jump shot, and he couldn't defend against the opponent's breakthrough. In this one-on-one situation, no one in the entire league could defend Alstom's breakthrough.

After being passed, Zhang Yang did not chase deeper, but moved to the right, blocking between Battier and Alston who were moving at a 45-degree angle.

Rondo retreated to the wing and helped Gerald Wallace who was coming in from the baseline to block Alston, then quickly moved away, cutting off Alston's connection with McGrady who was shooting from a fixed point in the long two-point area at the baseline.

Alston was covered by Zhang Yang on the outside and by Gerald Wallace on the inside. He had no space to shoot at this distance. Okafor had already returned to the basket, so Alston had to pass the ball to Hayes who was left in the empty space on the left side of the three-second zone.

Hayes received the ball and shot... "bang"... Okafor protected the defensive rebound!

Bickerstaff's eyes lit up. The poker-faced rookie surprised him on offense and didn't disappoint him on defense!
During the summer league, he noticed Rondo's excellent defensive awareness, but in a game like that, a center with good defensive awareness is very obvious, but it is difficult for a small point guard with good defensive awareness to have any outstanding performance.

In the first six preseason games, Rondo just ran the tactics honestly. Apart from his accurate passing, there was nothing outstanding in his cooperation. He was also rated by the media as the rookie guard with the worst shooting in the preseason.

In the game against the Pacers, Rondo's defensive talent was shown, and he did a good job in both one-on-one and help defense. Although he didn't play much and no one else noticed, he, as the head coach, noticed it. So when he thought about further reducing the defensive consumption for Zhang Yang tonight, his first reaction was not Alan Anderson, but Rondo.

On the court, Okafor grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately passed the ball to Rondo who was under the basket. Rondo took two steps to get out of the basket and made a long pass...

Zhang Yang, who stayed in a high position, rushed out the moment Hayes shot!
When Zhang Yang shook off Battier's pursuit and entered the three-point line, the ball fell right in front of him. He received the ball, rushed into the inside and slammed it with his left hand to score two points.

16 to 10, the Bobcats lead reached 6 points, and the Rockets called a timeout!

The official timeout was called less than a minute after it was over, which was very demoralizing, but Jeff Van Gundy had to call it because the opponent was about to gain momentum!

The Bobcats, which are mainly composed of young players, have a high probability of not being able to suppress the opponent.

He is very annoyed now. Why didn't he be ruthless and attack Yao and McGrady directly?

In fact, there was nothing wrong with his conservative response just now. Normally, he could have continued to fight with the Bobcats.

Who would have thought that a rookie who came on as a substitute on the opposing team would be given such an important role in his debut and have such an outstanding performance?
Jeff Van Gundy looked at Bickerstaff. How come this old man was so lucky?

On the other side, Rondo returned to the bench and received warm care from his teammates, some of whom gave him high fives and some of whom gave him head rubs.

2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, Rondo still has a poker face, but he also gained the trust of the coach and teammates in his debut!
…The Rockets replaced Alston with Luther Head, and the other players remained unchanged. The Bobcats did not make any personnel adjustments.

After the timeout, McGrady broke through and made a quick pull-up jump shot to help the Rockets stop the bleeding.

When it was the Bobcats' turn to attack, Luther Head let Rondo go one step to prevent a breakthrough, but it was useless. Rondo used his lightning speed to get past Luther Head and into the paint.

However, the Rockets not only began to pay attention to his breakthrough from the outside, but when he broke through to the close range, he was covered by Yao Ming. Yao Ming's huge body also made it difficult for him to pass to Muhammad on the left side of the basket, but his goal was not to pass to the inside. After he went deep into Yao Ming's cover, he passed the ball to the high post...

Zhang Yang used the screen from the wing to get one step outside the free throw line, received the ball, and took a long two-point shot facing Hayes who was switching defense... and made it again!
This is the third time in Zhang Yang's career that he scored in double digits in a single quarter!
Yao Ming looked at Rondo who ran out to high-five Zhang Yang. How did this rookie pass the ball? No, how did he see Zhang Yang's movement in the crowd?

At this moment, Yao Ming thought of the guy from the Nets... He shook his head. It was impossible, absolutely impossible. The Bobcats used a draft pick in the late first round. How could they be so lucky to select a player like that?

Zhang Yang was extremely excited. He also made similar runs in the first half of the quarter, but Felton almost never passed the ball.

The fat boy's vision is a little poor, and his passing is mainly stable. Passing the ball through the gaps between people is not something the fat boy is good at.

But Coach Long will definitely see it and will definitely dare to pass it!

When the Rockets attacked, Rondo took the initiative to switch defense to Luther Head.

His first task on the defensive end was to help Zhang Yang reduce physical exertion.

Luther Head is different from Alston in that he is a running catcher and shooter. Although defending Battier requires the responsibility of shrinking the wing, the consumption is definitely not as great as defending Luther Head's running.

Zhang Yang followed Battier happily and felt comfortable partnering with the smart point guard.

Of course, Zhang Yang still likes to partner with the fat little boss the most. The fat little boss listens to orders, while Rondo... this guy is too opinionated and difficult to command. Yes, the fat little boss is better.

Luther Head completed his mission of holding the ball when he advanced to the top arc. He passed the ball to McGrady, who continued to play one-on-one.

That's right, when Jeff Van Gundy replaced Alston, the ball handler, with Luther Head, a running, catching and shooting guard, it announced that the Rockets began to enter the Yao-McGrady firing mode with the strongest firepower!
With McGrady and Yao Ming as the main attackers, even Gerald Wallace and the twin towers of Muhammad + Okafor could not stop them.

A few rounds later, Jeff Van Gundy replaced the rested Juwan Howard and deployed the two-star and three-shooter formation he learned from his elder brother, making it even harder for the Bobcats to defend.

But he made this decision out of sheer helplessness...

After the first quarter, with Yao and McGrady scoring a total of 9 points in the second half, Battier and Luther Head each made a three-pointer, and Juwan Howard made one of two free throws, the Rockets scored 16 points in half a quarter and 26 points in a single quarter, but still lagged behind the Bobcats by 4 points!
Zhang Yang made 10 of 6 shots in the first quarter, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 14 points in the quarter, setting a new personal high for scoring in a quarter, and leading the team to a 30-26 lead over the Rockets!
The changes that the Bobcats brought to the offensive end after replacing Rondo disrupted Jeff Van Gundy's defensive preparation, and he was undecided about how to adjust on the defensive end.

Whenever he encountered a situation where he needed to make an adjustment he had never made before, he would struggle, come up with a bunch of ideas, and then... not change.

If the offense had not switched to Yao and McGrady's firing mode in time and continued with the style of play in the first half of the quarter, the score difference would probably have been widened to double digits!
Although the score was close, Jeff Van Gundy was in a bigger trouble.

麦迪打满首节拿到8分3助攻，这就算了，姚明首节打满拿到9分4板1助攻1盖帽！

This time is different from the opening game of last season. In that game, Okafor was the only strong player in the Bobcats' interior. Blazek and Jumaine Jones were just played for fun by Yao Ming. Yao Ming easily scored in double digits in the first quarter and played 40+ minutes in the whole game.

This time, the two teams' twin towers of Perkins + Okafor and Muhammad + Okafor took turns to consume him. On the offensive end, if he stood still, he would be fought by Perkins and Muhammad. On the defensive end, the opponents also attacked him one after another... Yao Ming was exhausted after the first quarter!

Jeff Van Gundy also wants to ask, what should we do next?
...

After the intermission, the Bobcats sent out a combination of Felton, Matt Carroll, Gerald Wallace, Millsap and Muhammad.

On the Rockets side, Jeff Van Gundy hesitated for a few minutes, and finally, he chose a safe rotation method, letting Yao Ming go down to rest, and sending out a combination of Alston, McGrady, Steve Novak, Hayes, and Mutombo.

Bonzi Wells, one of the Rockets' much publicized 'Big Three' before the start of the season, still did not play in the second quarter.

The management did not allow Jeff Van Gundy to use the bat in the opening game, and he did not want to use it. How could they tell him to use a 196 cm, 115 kg forward-guard swingman? When he signed the contract in early September, Batistuta weighed only 9 kg. In less than two months, he has grown more than ten kilograms!

He could only rely on McGrady's personal ability and Alston's wild shots.

After the start of the second quarter, McGrady and Alston did not disappoint Jeff Van Gundy on the offensive end.

McGrady was upset when he saw Zhang Yang scored 14 points in a single quarter. There was actually a high school student scoring right in front of him! He wanted to score back!

Facing Felton's defense, Alston did a good job in long-range shots.

But the Rockets' defense...

Felton and Millsap used pick-and-roll to attack the inside line crazily.

Felton is delighted with the rookie's pick-and-roll talent. He is the type of inside player he likes to partner with. Although his ability to cut in and pass the ball is a bit disappointing, he is aggressive in offensive rebounding and has strong lethality in attacking the basket without dribbling. He won Felton's recognition in the preseason.

Gerald Wallace was beaten by McGrady on the defensive end, so he vented his anger on the offensive end. Felton was tired, so Gerald Wallace continued to attack.

Mutombo looked very confident under the basket, but his steps were slow and his interference was weak. Occasionally he blocked a shot and shook his fingers, which looked very domineering, but it had little impact on the game. He was still undefended.

Van Gundy really wanted the boss to spend some money to get a younger backup center, but he knew the boss would not agree.

Mutombo, he's cheap and famous, it's easy to fool Chinese fans. The boss can't change him, and it's impossible for him to spend more money to sign a strong substitute inside player.

McGrady scored 7 points in the first half, raising his personal score to 15 points, surpassing Zhang Yang's 14 points.

Alston scored 5 points, and Novak scored two points from a mid-range shot, and the Rockets scored 14 points in half a quarter.

But when the official timeout came into the second quarter, the Rockets failed to narrow the gap and were still 3 points behind.

费尔顿半节4分3助攻、马特-卡罗尔3分、米尔萨普两分、杰拉德-华莱士4分、穆罕穆德和轮换上场的帕金斯各两分，山猫队半节拿到17分！
47 to 40, the Bobcats' lead expanded to 7 points!
Jeff Van Gundy looked at McGrady, who was sitting on the bench and breathing heavily. He knew that he had fallen into a vicious cycle...

麦迪连打18分钟，12投6中、其中三分球3中1，加上3中2的罚球拿到15分，表现是很好，但打得也很累。

Now Yao Ming has recovered and can play, but McGrady is not here. It is foreseeable that Yao Ming can only hold on to the score. When McGrady is well rested, Yao Ming will also be tired...

How can this situation be solved? It cannot be solved!

Not only is he easily confused when responding to situations, but there are also no conditions for him to respond more.

In addition to Yao and McGrady, the team's strongest player is Battier, who was traded for Rudy Gay. However, Battier is a blue-collar shooter and cannot be relied upon on the offensive end. Alston is already the third-highest scorer on their team...

Jeff Van Gundy: Destroy the world!
...

During the period when McGrady was scoring so much, Felton and Gerald Wallace led the team to overpower the Rockets without Yao Ming, and the balance of victory had already tilted towards the Bobcats.

In the second half of the second quarter, the two teams were tied at 11-11. At the end of the half, the Rockets narrowed the score to 51-58.

When Yao Ming came on the court, the Rockets' defense improved by two levels, reducing the scores of both teams, but failed to truly reverse the Rockets' declining trend.

After returning from the halftime break, the Bobcats, full of momentum, launched another fierce attack. In the first half of the quarter, with Yao Ming and McGrady on the field, the Rockets were still able to fight back and forth, but after Yao Ming left the field, the Rockets' defense collapsed.

The Bobcats were trailing 12 to 14 in the first half, but they scored 17 to 12 in the second half, and 29 to 26 in a single quarter. After three quarters, the Bobcats' lead expanded to double digits, leading 87 to 77!

首节9分、第二节6分、第三节9分，姚明三节打了26分钟，17投10中，外加5中4的罚球拿到24分9板2助攻3盖帽。

首节8分、第二节7分、第三节10分，麦迪三节打了30分钟，19投9中，其中三分球7中3，加上6中4的罚球，拿到目前全场最高的25分4板6助攻1抢断1盖帽。

Both of them performed well, but the Bobcats were just too good tonight! They scored 49 points in three quarters and led the team to a high score of 77 points, but they were still 10 points behind!
Not only that, the fatigue of the two was also visible to the naked eye!
Yao Ming was continuously consumed by the opponent, and the defense McGrady faced was not much better. Gerald Wallace stared at him the whole time, and some people in the inside would rather leave the defender open than not block him. Rondo, Zhang Yang, and Alan Anderson also came to double-team him on the wings... McGrady, who was not in a state of beating tonight, was able to shoot over 45% under such defense, which was already very impressive.

In the final quarter, Jeff Van Gundy chose to put both Yao and McGrady on the bench.

After the start of the fourth quarter, Zhang Yang rushed into the inside and made a quick jump shot against Mutombo's defense, increasing his personal score to 26 points, surpassing McGrady, and sounding the clarion call for the Bobcats to massacre!
Without Yao and McGrady, the Rockets couldn't make shots or defend.

In more than 4 minutes, the Bobcats launched continuous counterattacks. Zhang Yang scored 7 points in the counterattack and made 3 goals, one of which was a 2+1 free throw that caused Alston to foul. Together with the breakthrough points at the beginning, he scored 9 points, raising his personal score to 33 points!
Together with the 5 points scored by his teammates, the Bobcats had a score of 14 to 4 during this period.

101 to 81, the Bobcats widened the gap to 20 points.

Jeff Van Gundy called a timeout and announced his surrender!
Yao and McGrady went downstairs to rest together... and never stood up again.

Bickerstaff replaced Rondo, Alan Anderson, Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones and Millsap. He wanted Zhang Yang to score 40+, but this was the "China Derby" and it was not appropriate. He had to look for the next opportunity.

We have to give some face to the team that the other Chinese player is on and not make the score too ugly.

However, his players did not seem to understand his idea... Rondo led Matt Carroll and Millsap to play fast breaks to improve their stats!

In the next 7 minutes, the Bobcats scored 24 to 13!
马特-卡罗尔接应三分嘎嘎狂扔，6投4中拿到12分！加上前三节拿到9分，愣是在垃圾时间把个人得分刷到了21分！
At 10:24 pm, the final whistle sounded.

They continued to attack even in garbage time, and the Rockets fans, who had not reacted much at the scene and had no reaction even when the game was sent into garbage time, also booed.

Bickerstaff wanted to throw the cup. He should have let Jack score another 7 points! But can the players be blamed for this? Of course not. The opponent can only be blamed for bad luck...

首节14分、第二节3分、第三节7分、末节9分，张杨出场31分钟，24投13中，其中三分球4中2，加上6中5的罚球，拿到33分4板2助攻2抢断！

加上费尔顿16分7助攻、隆多末节6助攻单场10助攻6分、马特-卡罗尔21分、杰拉德-华莱士14分5板3助攻1抢断3盖帽、奥卡福12分10板……125比94，山猫队狂屠火箭队31分！
　1.15 words, please vote for me! Please vote for me!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)