火箭五虎

Rockets - 3-2 series lead

Tracy McGrady was hitting shots and giving out assists at a record pace. Yao Ming was grabbing rebounds and dominating inside.

A change of scenery was just what the All-Star duo and the rest of the Houston Rockets needed to regain control of their playoff series with Utah.

McGrady had 26 points and a career-high 16 assists, Yao had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and the Rockets beat the Jazz 96-92 on Monday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

"It's up to me to make my teammates better and to get them the open shots," McGrady said. "If I penetrate and be aggressive and guys collapse on me, then those guys got to be confident enough to knock down shots on the perimeter."

Yao sealed the victory with two free throws with 11 seconds left. His last rebound was in the closing seconds after Deron Williams missed a desperation 3-pointer.

Back home after two lethargic losses in Utah, the Rockets rediscovered their shooting touch, going 35-for-75 from the field (47 percent) and 12-for-24 from 3-point range. They also outrebounded Utah 42-39.

"We're very comfortable here," McGrady said. "We played with a great deal of confidence."

The Rockets can was a series for the first time since 1997 in Game 6 on Thursday in Utah. The Jazz dominated the first two games there and haven't lost to Houston at home since March 2005.

Carlos Boozer of the Jazz scored 26 points but had only eight rebounds, denied a double-double for the first time in the series. Derek Fisher added 17 and Williams had 13 for the Jazz, who have lost three straight Game 6s.

Boozer remains confident, though, knowing Utah dominated Houston in Games 3 and 4.

"We'll be ready to go on Thursday," Boozer said, "make no mistake about that."

Utah's last win in a Game 6 was a 103-100 victory over Houston in the 1997 Western Conference finals.

McGrady left the game in the first quarter with a hip pointer, but came back to score 20 in the final three quarters. He hit 11 of 25 shots and grabbed four rebounds.

From the start, McGrady was more aggressive driving to the basket than he was in Utah.

He was fouled with 3:09 left in the first quarter, then drove for another layup with 2:40 left. A minute later, he was bending over, clutching his right side and asking coach Jeff Van Gundy to call a timeout.

McGrady limped off the floor with 1:14 left in the quarter, then went to the locker room with trainer Keith Jones, an ominous sign for the Rockets. McGrady missed 44 games over the last two regular seasons, mostly because of back problems, and Houston lost 35 of them.

This time, the seven-time All-Star returned a few minutes later and immediately checked back into the game. The Rockets said McGrady had a hip pointer. McGrady said after the game he wasn't worried about the injury affecting him on Thursday.

McGrady missed his next three shots and Utah stretched its early lead to 37-27. Yao then flipped in two hook shots and McGrady hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-40.

McGrady drove down the lane in the final minute of the half, then found Shane Battier in the corner for a 3-pointer that made it 44-43.

The Rockets went 12-for-39 from 3-point range in Games 3 and 4, losing both games by double digits.

"They found their life with the 3-point shots," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "We broke down a couple of times on the defensive end and gave up the kinds of baskets you don't want to give up."

Luther Head, 1-for-6 from 3-point range in Utah, hit two early in the final quarter to give the Rockets a 76-75 lead. McGrady assisted on both to pass his previous career high of 13.

"He created so many great shots for other guys through his penetration and he played a tremendous game," Van Gundy said.

McGrady swished a jumper from the free throw line and scored on a backdoor cut and Juwan Howard found Yao for a layup that put Houston up 91-84 with 3:58 to go.

Matt Harpring scored twice and Boozer drove around Yao for basket that cut the Rockets' lead to one. Yao banked in a shot, but Boozer answered to make it 93-92.

Harpring missed a mid-range jumper with 20.5 seconds left and Rafer Alston rebounded. He split two free throws to put the Rockets up by two.

Fisher then drove down the lane, but was called for an offensive foul after colliding with Chuck Hayes. Yao got the inbounds pass and hit both free throws. Yao went 9-for-10 from the line in the game.

"That fourth quarter," Boozer said, "they just executed a little bit better. We missed a few shots and they won the game."

Game notes
Utah outscored Houston 28-25 in the third quarter. The team that won that quarter had won the previous four games. ... The Jazz went 5-for-12 from 3-point range after going 9-for-49 in the first four games. ... The Rev. Jesse Jackson had a courtside seat.

James sweeps Wiz

A year ago, winning a playoff series by any means was cause for major celebration by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This year's sweep of the Washington Wizards? That's simply what the Cavaliers were supposed to do.

Cleveland swept a series for the first time in franchise history, finishing the job Monday night with yet another uneven performance in a 97-90 victory.

The Cavaliers did just enough to beat a depleted team that nearly emptied its bench in the first half, then LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Larry Hughes and Co. walked off the court with hardly any celebration.

"Last year, going into the playoffs, it was all about making the playoffs," James said. "I hadn't been there in my NBA career, and Z hadn't been there since his rookie season, so that was our main focus: 'Let's make the playoffs, let's make the playoffs.' We've got bigger and better things now. It's about winning a championship, and we're one step closer."

The Cavaliers truly made it sweeps week in the NBA, becoming the third Eastern Conference team in three days to wind up a series in four games. Detroit dismissed Orlando on Saturday, and Chicago ended defending champion Miami's season on Sunday.

Cleveland has won only six playoff series in its history, and this series was the first time the franchise has won consecutive road playoff games. The Cavaliers now await the winner of the one East series that's still going on -- New Jersey vs. Toronto.

"It's going to be a long and stressful and 'fatigueful' postseason for us," James said, "so the more rest we can get, us taking care of business tonight, it's going to add to us being able to recover and mentally let us refocus."

James labored through an 8-for-22 shooting night, but he made 14 of 17 free throws to finish with 31 points. He also had 11 rebounds and seven assists, including back-to-back assists to Ilgauskas in the decisive final minute.

Ilgauskas finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds, and he and Hughes (19 points) scored 18 of Cleveland's final 20 points. That stretch emphasized an ongoing theme during the series: James didn't have to carry a disproportional share of the load.

"We can't win if these guys don't play well, Z and Larry," James said. "Simple as that. I need them every game to be a factor."

The Cavaliers beat the Wizards in the first round a year ago -- winning three games by one point -- but Washington had Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, who both missed this year's series with injuries. Washington had its season end with a playoff loss on its home court for the third straight year, but this one will be remembered with an asterisk because of the two missing All-Stars -- a situation unprecedented, at least in Eddie Jordan's coaching life.

"Not with your major guys -- not only their numbers, but their personalities," the Wizards coach said. "Gil's a strong personality. Caron's a strong personality. They're tough. They bring more to the table than just numbers, and their numbers were huge."

A stellar effort from Antawn Jamison wasn't quite enough for the Wizards again. He scored 31 points Monday and averaged 32 in the series. Darius Songaila added 12 of his 16 in the fourth quarter, and Antonio Daniels had 13 points and 12 assists for the Wizards, who lost their last eight home games -- six in the regular season and two in the playoffs.

"It was basically the same story in all four games: When you go out there, your job is to put yourself in position to win the game, and I think we did that," Daniels said. "We just didn't hit our shots down the stretch, and they did."

Washington trailed by one point with less than two minutes to play, but two doses of the James-to-Ilgauskas combination essentially settled the game. In between those two baskets, Jamison had the hard-luck moment of the series when he committed a turnover by dribbling the ball off his left foot.

"I don't want to say they were looking past us," Jamison said. "But I think they did just enough to get the job done. I just wasn't ready to go home."

With nothing to lose, Jordan played everyone except in-the-doghouse center Brendan Haywood before halftime. Calvin Booth got on the floor for the first time this series, and youngsters Andray Blatche and Donell Taylor got their first substantial taste of playing time. The backups, who also included Songaila and Roger Mason, scored all but two of the Wizards' 23 points over a 12-minute stretch.

Consecutive 3-pointers put the Wizards ahead by nine early in the third, but the Cavaliers did what they have done all series -- play just well enough to stay in position to win.

In the next round, they know they'll need to find another gear.

"We want to go from good to great," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "And our goal is not to stop playing anytime soon."

Game notes
Haywood did not play after getting no points and no rebounds in 10 minutes in Saturday's Game 3. His nameplate over his locker was missing after the game, and his future with the team is obviously in doubt. "That's something we'll handle in-house," Jamison said. "I can understand his frustration as far as not getting an opportunity to play. ... It definitely won't be a distraction next year." ... Wizards G DeShawn Stevenson went 0-for-8 from the field and was 9-for-46 for the series. ... With the Wizards down 3-0, playoff fever in the nation's capital ebbed significantly. There were many patches of empty seats throughout the arena, even though the game was announced as a sellout. ... The Southeast Division went 0-12 in the playoffs.

为什么最后的盖子总是不揭开？

火箭以这种方式输球，对于老球迷来说，应该一点也不惊奇。不这样输怎么输？找不到另外的输法。如果火箭能够挺一挺，多打几场球让我们看一下的话，我们会惊奇地发现，只要火箭输球，99%会以这种同样的方式输。

看过中国国家队比赛的朋友们，对这种输球方式应该更有体会。

为什么远在大洋彼岸的火箭能够选择与中国国家队同出一辙的输球方式？这实际上就是这么多球迷把失败的部分矛头指向姚明的深层原因，尽管姚明的得分表现堪称稳定。论坛球迷现在真的不错了，看得出比赛的内涵，也能够讲实话。尽管爱国的利剑悬在头上，不少人还是选择了讲出真话。

事实上还有更直接的说法：有姚的球队输球，不以这种方式输，还有另外的方式吗？

姚明的打球风格完完整整地影响他所在的球队，不管是火箭队，还是中国国家队，只要他作为一个重要的球员出现。为什么会这样？教练的担心无非是两个：一是放着得分能力这么强的大个子中锋不用，违反篮球规律，非常容易遭来全人类的指责；二是不重用等于不用甚至相反，如果给姚明改变角色，发挥不了他的优点，可能剩下的全是缺点，可能比不上任何一个垃圾球员。不重用姚明带来的风险太大了，是教练生命中无法承受之重啊。

如果姚明能够主动改变球风，那可真是解了所有人的难，但这几乎不可能。很多人有很多理由，无非是身材太高的副作用，亚洲人的体质共性等等，把问题抛给了生物学家。好在刘翔易建联正在努力改变这种教条式的伪论调，如果可能的话，我更愿意说是国家经济水平的影响，吃好了情绪好了思想自由了体质也就好了。

还是把最后的盖子揭开来最好。这个盖子是什么？是技术。姚明千不行万不行，技术不行是第一。姚明除了投篮，其他的技术聊胜于无。投篮技术是职业球员特别是国内球员的最基本技术，不过关几乎不可能。姚明的投篮也就在美国那帮无法无天的中锋球员中能够说好，放到国内任何地方，只能说是普通。其它的技术，真的看不到。不管多少人多少次地杜撰出“中锋技术”这类名词，我能看到的只有一个：身高体重。有身高体重，于是在内线能够挤进去站住。这是生物本能，上升不到技术层面。

同一个教练同一帮球员，能够在不同的时间打出不同的篮球，只要改变相应的战术。球员必须有能力适应不同的战术要求，如果他拥有合格的技术能力的话。这里只有一个熟练程度的问题，不存在不能改变的硬故障。这一点对于姚明来说，可能永远都做不到，能够改变的只有教练和战术，而不是姚明。为什么？因为姚明拥有的技术太少了，只有投篮一项。要他改变，他没有其他的技术供选择之用，等于就是放弃，缴枪投降。上面说的教练的担心是完全有理由的：如果给姚明改变角色，不但发挥不了他的优点，可能剩下的全是缺点，可能比不上任何一个垃圾球员。

姚明的篮球，在中国和世界，现在都俨然成了一个另类品种，几乎能够单列出来给予一个全新的命名。火箭和中国国家队的比赛，几乎就是新品种篮球与常规篮球的对抗，不管是教练还是其他球员，从事的很难再说是单纯的篮球比赛，很难说不是一项篮球领域的科学实验。他们从事的是篮球的革命事业。

中国国家队？他们不可能改变了，没有资源。火箭队怎么办？两个选择，要么继续试验，要么放弃试验，都是赌博。休斯敦不是拉斯韦加，为什么火箭总是离不开赌呢？因为他们选择了一个赌博式的球员。姚式篮球与传统篮球差异太大了，非此即彼，没有调和的空间。在豪赌5年、名利双收之后，休斯敦人还有没有兴趣继续赌下去？我的观点比较悲观。假设我是火箭老板，再赌下去就是贪婪，就是蠢了。我的第一选择是马上卖掉，趁着季节还没有完全转淡。继续拖延下去，库存下去直至报废的可能性没有，打个1折2折处理的机会那是相当相当大的。真要这么干的话，我就不承认亚历山大是个精明的生意人了。

Bulls strip Heat's crown

Michael Jordan's old Chicago jersey hangs over the Miami Heat's home floor, a tribute to the six-time NBA champion.

Now, a new bunch of Bulls want a title of their own after ending the Heat's reign atop the league with a four-game sweep.

Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng had 22 to lead Chicago past Miami 92-79 Sunday in Game 4 to clinch the first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bulls advanced in the postseason for the first time since Jordan's last title in 1998.

Chicago, which meets Detroit next, became the first team to oust a defending champion in the first round since Phoenix did it to San Antonio in 2000.

"We felt confident coming into this series," Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We felt like we could win."

With good reason. Including playoffs, Chicago was 7-1 against Miami this season, starting with a 108-66 win on opening night, spoiling the Heat's championship-ring celebration, and ending their season by allowing only two points in the final 5:27 of the clincher -- closing the game with a 14-2 run.

The coach of that Suns team that beat San Antonio seven years ago? Scott Skiles, who coaches the Bulls now and who put together a plan that befuddled Miami all series long.

"It's an accomplishment," Skiles said. "We're in a funny position here. We want to enjoy it. It was great. We played well. We played hard all four games. We deserved to win -- but we want to keep playing."

Chicago became the 80th consecutive NBA team to advance after taking a 3-0 lead in a series. Only three teams in major pro sports have overcome such a deficit, and the Heat won't be joining the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2004 Boston Red Sox in that exclusive club.

"We ran into more than a formidable opponent," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "They are a great team. ... They deserved to win. There's no doubt in my mind. They can go a long way."

Dwyane Wade scored 24 points for Miami on 8-for-22 shooting, and added 10 assists. Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points, Alonzo Mourning scored 14 and James Posey had 18 rebounds -- a club-playoff-record 17 on the defensive end -- for the Heat.

"They were the better team," Wade said. "They won. We're not into what they were doing last year, saying they should have won. ... They beat us fair and square. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it."

Miami, which didn't trail until late in the third quarter, got within one point twice in the fourth -- first on a jumper by Wade with 11:15 left, then when Posey made a pair of free throws with 5:27 remaining.

It was all Chicago from there.

"They had our number, first game of the season," O'Neal said. "And they had our number the rest of the season. They just had our number."

Wade scored with 2:32 left to get Miami within 84-79, and the Heat then turned to the Hack-a-Ben strategy -- intentionally fouling the Bulls' Ben Wallace, a notoriously terrible foul shooter -- with hopes of getting the ball back. But Wallace made all four of his tries within a 21-second span to push the lead to nine, and the white-clad Heat crowd began shuffling into the offseason.

Wallace finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Andres Nocioni had 11 points for Chicago, which committed only five turnovers while forcing 17.

"This is a great feeling. We're someplace we've never been before," Deng said. "The guys made it a goal at the beginning of the season to get back to this spot, and it worked out that we played them in the first round."

Miami scored the game's first eight points, the first six of those coming from O'Neal -- who was 6-for-7 in the opening half. But the Bulls coolly withstood the opening burst and knotted the game at 14 when Gordon hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter with 5:30 left, the first of four ties in the half.

Chicago never led in the first half and trailed 48-44 at intermission, but probably felt quite good about the second quarter. The Bulls made only 33 percent of their shots in that period, compared to 64 percent shooting by the Heat. And in the third, Chicago finally broke through.

The Bulls got their first lead when Deng hit a jumper with 2:45 left. It was Deng's third basket in an 11-2 Chicago run to end the third quarter, and when Chris Duhon hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left, the Bulls had a 68-64 lead entering the fourth.

They didn't trail again. And the so-called Baby Bulls -- a young team that had endured two straight first-round ousters, including last year against Miami in six games -- officially grew up.

"They showed signs of maturity," said Wallace, who now gets to face his old team, the Pistons, with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals at stake. "I like to see that."

Game notes
Heat backup center Alonzo Mourning said he will decide soon whether to return next season, and Wade said he hasn't decided if he'll need surgery to repair the left shoulder he dislocated in February or on playing for USA Basketball in Olympic qualifying this summer. ... The Bulls beat Detroit in three of four meetings this season. ... Posey replaced Jason Kapono as the starter at small forward for Miami; before Game 3, Kapono took the starter spot from Eddie Jones, who did not play in Game 4.

stupid rockets, t-mac, yao

Mehmet Okur scored like he used to and played defense like he never has before.

Okur scored 16 and helped limit Houston's Yao Ming to 20 points in Utah's 98-85 win over the Rockets on Saturday night, tying the series at 2-2.

The Jazz forced 16 turnovers, sapped the Rockets' will with another dominant third quarter and kept Houston from going to the free-throw line.

"Our guys were alive defensively," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "It's a three-game series now. We'll see what happens."

Deron Williams added 25 points, including 11 in the third quarter. Utah outscored Houston 33-17 in the period and again flustered the Rockets into a listless second half. It was the same formula Utah used in its win Thursday, when only four Rockets scored at all.

This time Houston got points from 10 players, but not nearly enough from any of them, including Yao and Tracy McGrady.

McGrady scored 18 and both he and Yao had their lowest point totals of the series.

"They're doing a great job of putting the pressure on us," McGrady said. "They're playing harder than us."

Game 5 is Monday in Houston, where the Rockets won the first two games of the series.

Carlos Boozer finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Matt Harpring added 17 points and the Jazz ensured there will be at least one more home game this season.

Okur hadn't scored more than seven in the first three games of the series and ended up tying his career playoff high. On defense, he made Yao miserable again, keeping him from getting inside much and swiping the ball away with quicker hands several times.

Yao had finally had enough by the fourth quarter and landed an elbow to Okur's chin while trying to get him out of the way for a shot in the lane. Yao was called for an offensive foul on the play.

"I just want to play good defense on him, grab those rebounds and we go from there," Okur said.

For the first time in the series, the Rockets went to the line fewer times than the Jazz. Utah was 26-for-33 from the line and Houston just 15-for-20.

Houston finished with 16 turnovers, leading to 18 points for Utah.

Rafer Alston scored 12 points and Shane Battier had 10 for Houston.

Williams drove around Yao for a layup just seconds before halftime to give Utah a 50-45 lead, and then the Jazz pulled away with the first eight points of the third period and the demoralized Rockets didn't make much of a threat from there.

Okur hit a 17-foot jumper at the beginning of the third, Boozer tipped in a rebound and Williams added a jumper and two free throws as Utah's five-point lead grew to 58-45.

The Rockets didn't score in the third until Yao's turnaround jumper nearly 3 minutes into the period.

"They are making it a lot harder on us, than we are making it on them," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "It's not just getting one guy in gear. We've got to get our team competing at a higher level."

Utah was 11-for-18 from the floor during the third and added a 10-1 run late in the quarter after Houston had gotten within 80-62 on a 3-pointer by Luther Head.

The Rockets had a 2-on-1 going right after that, but Fisher broke it up with a steal that started a break for Utah. Gordan Giricek finished it by setting up for a 3-pointer just before the buzzer and Utah led 83-62.

Game notes
Williams also had seven assists. ... Okur added six rebounds. ... Four Houston starters scored at least 10, but none of the reserves reached double digits. ... Andrei Kirilenko had four blocks and four assists for Utah.

Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams (8) keeps up with Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston (12) during the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff basketball game Saturday, April 28, 2007, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz beat the Rockets 98-85, tying the series at two games each. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac) · View photo | View gallery

Team Stat Comparison
	HOUSTON	UTAH
Points	85	98
FG Made-Attempted	32-76 (.421)	35-76 (.461)
3P Made-Attempted	6-20 (.300)	2-8 (.250)
FT Made-Attempted	15-20 (.750)	26-33 (.788)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total)	11-40	11-38
Assists	19	22
Turnovers	15	11
Steals	6	7
Blocks	2	6
Fast Break Points	13	14
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	26 (0/0)	25 (0/0)
Largest Lead	5	25

Top Performers
HOUSTON		UTAH
	Y. Ming Points: 20 Reb: 9 Ast: 2 Stl: 0 Blk: 1		D. Williams Points: 25 Reb: 2 Ast: 7 Stl: 1 Blk: 0

Game Leaders
	HOUSTON	UTAH
Points	Y. Ming 20	D. Williams 25
Rebounds	Y. Ming 9	C. Boozer 10
Assists	R. Alston 6	D. Williams 7
Steals	C. Hayes 3	C. Boozer 2
Blocks	R. Alston 1	A. Kirilenko 4

Series
Series tied 2-2
Apr 21, 2007	@HOU 84, UTA 75
Apr 23, 2007	@HOU 98, UTA 90
Apr 26, 2007	@UTA 81, HOU 67
>Apr 28, 2007	@UTA 98, HOU 85

Pistons sweeps Magic

The Orlando Magic had the lead, the momentum and the crowd support. The Detroit Pistons used their postseason experience to overcome all of it.

Chauncey Billups scored 25 points, Richard Hamilton added 19 and the Pistons avoided a fourth-quarter meltdown to beat the Magic 97-93 Saturday and sweep the first-round series.

"The one thing we had such a big advantage on them is experience, and the only way you can get better at that is to go through it," Billups said. "I'm sure there are a lot of things they would change coming down the stretch."

The sweep was Detroit's first in the playoffs since 1990, when the "Bad Boys" won a second consecutive NBA title.

The Pistons handily won the first three games of the best-of-seven series, but the finale was much more difficult -- mostly because Detroit went cold to start the final period.

The Pistons were ahead 78-69 early in the fourth, but after missing 11 of 13 shots to start the period they found themselves trailing 85-80 with about 3 minutes remaining.

But the veteran team, which has advanced to four consecutive Eastern Conference finals, took control down the stretch.

Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer that made it 85-83. Chris Webber followed with a hook shot in the lane. Then Billups and Hamilton took over, combining to score Detroit's final 12 points.

Hamilton made a jumper in the lane to put the Pistons ahead 87-86, then Billups sank a driving layup high off the glass. Hamilton followed with another jumper -- both came over undersized point guard Jameer Nelson -- that made it 91-88.

The duo also went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 21 seconds.

"It was good for us to step up and make plays the we did," Tayshaun Prince said. "Obviously, our leadership and our veterans kicked it into gear."

Dwight Howard had 29 points and 17 rebounds -- dominating the post for the only time in the series -- to lead the Magic. Wallace, Webber and others bottled up Howard in the first three games but had less success Saturday.

Howard was 10-of-15 from the field and 9-of-17 from the free throw line.

Grant Hill, possibly playing his final game for Orlando, had 17 points. Darko Milicic added 14 -- half of them in the closing minutes.

It wasn't enough, though.

"I thought we would at least get one (game)," Hill said. "Getting swept, that was a surprise."

All five Detroit starters scored in double figures. Prince and Wallace had 13 points apiece, and Webber finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Pistons can only hope their starters continue playing the way they did against Orlando.

Detroit, which won all eight games against the Magic this season, will face the winner of the Chicago-Miami series. The Bulls lead 3-0 heading into Sunday's Game 4.

No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.

The Magic looked like they would send the series back to Detroit, but the Pistons closed out the final three quarters strong -- much like they did in Game 3.

They got an unlikely basket to close the half -- Hamilton went coast-to-coast in 3.2 seconds for a layup -- and Prince had a 3-pointer and two free throws in the final minute of the third. Prince's unanswered points gave the Pistons a 73-67 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

The Magic sliced into the lead with a 12-0 run in the fourth, but had two big turnovers in the final 2 minutes that allowed Detroit to seal the victory.

"If you're not competing against them, they're just a really fun team to watch," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "The way they play and their guys are so in tune with each other and so professional. I hope they go a long way."

Game notes
Webber finished 1-of-6 from the free throw line. ... Orlando's biggest question heading into the offseason is whether Grant Hill will return. Hill signed a 7-year, $93 million contract in 2000, but the seven-time All-Star has played just 200 regular-season games with the Magic. Will he feel obligated to stay in Orlando for less money? Or will he sign elsewhere in hopes of winning a championship? ... Former Florida guard Taurean Green and his father, former UNLV star and college coach, Sidney Green, were courtside for the second straight game.

rockets sucks

The Utah Jazz shot poorly again and rushed on offense a few times, yet coach Jerry Sloan was about as tickled as he gets.

Utah's defense was good enough to overcome any offensive struggles, and the Jazz beat Houston 81-67 Thursday night to cut the Rockets' lead to 2-1 in their playoff series.

The Jazz held the Rockets without a field goal for 10 minutes in the second half and didn't allow Houston's reserves to score a single point. Yao Ming scored 26 and Tracy McGrady had 24 points for Houston, but only two other Rockets scored.

If Yao and McGrady combine for just 50 points, it's not a bad night for the defense, especially when the rest of the team scored only 17 more.

"I don't think you're going to stop those guys," Sloan said. "I thought we tried harder and that's all you can do."

The stifling defense made up for another marginal night on offense. Utah was 33-for-85 from the field -- 2-for-15 on 3-pointers -- but had 15 offensive rebounds to Houston's nine and forced the Rockets into 19 turnovers.

And the Jazz were finally able to crack the Rockets' defense inside, outscoring Houston 40-10 in the paint.

"It's all about energy and I think we had it tonight," said Utah's Matt Harpring, who had 13 points to lead the Jazz reserves. "When we're good we get in the paint. We shoot free throws and we rebound. When we have those three things going for us, we're a tough team to beat."

Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Mehmet Okur had four blocks and four steals, blanketing Yao all night with much more physical defense than Utah usually gets from its second-leading scorer.

"It was a great defensive night for us. Memo stepped up a lot," Utah's Deron Williams said. "I think defense won the game for us tonight."

Williams added 11 points and eight assists, and rookie reserve Paul Millsap scored nine points.

Game 4 is set for Saturday night.

"They were the mentally tougher team," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "They got up into us good. That's what they do. They're a very good team and they responded like a good team would."

Shane Battier scored 11 and Rafter Alston had six points for Houston. They were the only other Rockets besides Yao and McGrady to score.

The Rockets won the first two games of the series at home, but were sloppy on the road during the first playoff game in Utah since 2003. Houston had 19 turnovers to Utah's 11 and was just 21-for-64 from the floor (32.8 percent).

"It was sloppy," McGrady said. "Our offense was terrible. We did a fairly good job on the defensive end, but offensively we were out of sync."

The Rockets had another big advantage from the free throw line, but it wasn't nearly enough because they were outplayed everywhere else. Utah's reserves outscored Houston's 33-0 and outrebounded the Rockets' reserves 18-6.

Gordan Giricek had 10 points for Utah, which last won a playoff game on April 26, 2003 -- exactly four years before.

Yao, Houston's 7-foot-6 All-Star, scored 14 points from the line and was flustered all night, even flailing a backhand at Okur in a scramble for a loose ball in the first half. It was one of many times the Rockets lost their cool.

"We didn't have any energy on the court," Yao said. "They made it hard to score."

The Rockets didn't have a field goal from Battier's 3-pointer with 5:26 left in the third until McGrady hit from 19 feet out with 7:26 left in the game. The Rockets missed shot after shot and were outplayed by the Jazz for nearly every rebound during the 10-minute stretch.

Juwan Howard appeared like he was going to end Houston's scoring drought when he broke away for a layup. Okur -- who is not the fastest member of the Jazz -- got back in time to block it. Howard felt he was fouled and remained seated below the basket looking for a call that didn't come.

Houston still had eight more attempts from the line.

The Jazz closed the third quarter with a 7-1 run, then opened the fourth with Giricek's 3-pointer that extended the lead to 64-52. Utah didn't score again for more than 4 minutes, but kept Houston off the board as well and thrilled the home fans with every stop.

Notes: McGrady made his first four shots and scored 13 of Houston's 17 points in the first quarter. ... Giricek started a 9-0 run at the end of the first with a 20-foot jumper and added a 3-pointer with 6.8 seconds left to give Utah a 23-17 lead at the end of the first. ... Only nine of Houston's 43 rebounds came on offense.

Team Stat Comparison
	HOUSTON	UTAH
Points	67	81
FG Made-Attempted	21-64 (.328)	33-85 (.388)
3P Made-Attempted	6-19 (.316)	2-15 (.133)
FT Made-Attempted	19-26 (.731)	13-18 (.722)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total)	9-43	15-44
Assists	11	19
Turnovers	19	11
Steals	6	12
Blocks	7	4
Fast Break Points	4	9
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	20 (0/0)	19 (0/0)
Largest Lead	4	17

Top Performers
HOUSTON		UTAH
	Y. Ming Points: 26 Reb: 14 Ast: 1 Stl: 0 Blk: 1		C. Boozer Points: 22 Reb: 12 Ast: 4 Stl: 0 Blk: 0

Game Leaders
	HOUSTON	UTAH
Points	Y. Ming 26	C. Boozer 22
Rebounds	Y. Ming 14	C. Boozer 12
Assists	R. Alston 5	D. Williams 8
Steals	R. Alston 1	M. Okur 4
Blocks	S. Battier 2	M. Okur 4
· Team stats: Houston | Utah

Series
Houston leads 2-1
Apr 21, 2007	@HOU 84, UTA 75	Recap | Box Score
Apr 23, 2007	@HOU 98, UTA 90	Recap | Box Score
>Apr 26, 2007	@UTA 81, HOU 67	Recap | Box Score
Apr 28, 2007	HOU @ UTA	10:30 PM ET
Apr 30, 2007	UTA @ HOU	8:00 PM ET

左姚右麦

火箭到底是谁的球队，姚明的，麦迪的，还是姚麦两个人的？当一支球队拥有两个全明星的时候，这个问题往往会困扰球队和他的球迷们。季后赛对阵爵士，前两战姚麦双星分别联手拿下51分17板和58分19板，帮助球队取得2比0的领先优势，晋级形势一片大好。毫无疑问，火箭就是姚麦两个人的球队，但前两战的过程和结果却彰显了两人之于火箭的不同价值和意义。


很显然，两战分别拿下28分13板、27分9板的姚明是火箭胜利的基石。姚明是球队最稳定的得分点，这一点已经无需证明。火箭首战，从他摘下全场第一个篮板和投中第一个进球开始，就显示了他要拿下这场比赛的必胜信念和决心。面对入选西部全明星的布泽尔和奥库双塔镇守的爵士内线，姚明开场后连续投篮命中，帮助火箭打出了8比0的梦幻开局。当上半场以麦迪为首的火箭外线陷入屡投不中的困境时，还是姚明站出来，强攻对方内线，连投带罚，紧紧咬住比分，不至于火箭这个坑挖得太深，为球队延续了翻盘的希望。如果没有姚明上半场在攻防两端的出色发挥，火箭很有可能在上半场就会崩溃，更不可能给麦迪上演王者归来好戏的机会。第二战，姚明遭遇了奥库等人更为严酷的防守，被抓伤的手臂甚至开始滴血，但是姚明却用稳定的罚球和得分，以血还血，使火箭在外线依然低迷的情况下仍然能够获得再次逆转的机会。


姚明对于火箭是镇队之宝，但火箭比赛的终结者却是麦迪。首战，麦迪上下半场的迥异表现直接决定了比赛的走势。上半场，仍在沉睡之中的麦迪6投0中，只拿到 1分，下半场，突然回魂的麦迪10投8中，独砍22分，个人表现有天壤之别。与之相对应的是，火箭在上半场只拿到33分，落后对手9分；下半场却只让爵士拿到33分，最后胜出对手恰恰9分。这就是“麦迪效应”，我们不能不佩服麦迪作为超级巨星的自我调节能力，可以说是他一手导演了这场翻盘好戏。次战，麦迪仍然慢热，一直在寻找丢失的手感，虽然下半场不像第一场那样猛然迸发，但他那时断时续的20分，却分分关键，一次次地将爵士反扑的势头化于无形。因而，麦迪是火箭当之无愧的核心和灵魂，麦迪火则火箭胜，麦迪蔫则火箭败，比赛胜负几乎完全维系于其一人之身。拥有这样的核心球员，对于火箭来说就是把双刃剑，既可能破敌也可能伤己，关键在于他们到底拥有的是第一战上半场的那个麦迪还是下半场的那个麦迪。


姚麦两人对于火箭的不同价值和地位是由两人所在的位置和对球权的控制所决定的。作为中锋，姚明是火箭最有力的拳头，可以用自己强力的内线攻击和稳定的得分给予对手最大限度的杀伤，但是他需要队友的传球，而无法亲自去掌控场上的局势。而掌握着球队控球权的麦迪，才是火箭比赛的大脑，他既可以自己直接攻击对手，也可以借助队友，尤其是姚明这个拳头来打击对手。而姚明这个拳头能否发挥最大功效，关键在于麦迪这个大脑能否指挥调配得当。大脑和拳头无缝连接的最佳战例就是在第二战第四节最后时刻，当对方连续得分将分差缩小到4分的时候，姚麦的无敌挡拆重现江湖，姚明拉到高位为麦迪突破做掩护，就在麦迪吸引了对手的所有注意力之后，姚明迅速杀到篮下，人到球到，接麦迪长了眼睛一样精准的传球，来了一个难得一见的空中接力，将球灌入篮筐，同时也击穿了爵士反攻的心理防线，基本奠定了比赛的胜局。


姚明能够解决火箭的温饱问题，麦迪则可以带领火箭奔小康。对于爵士，已经2比0领先的火箭只要姚麦能够天人合一，大脑和拳头协调一致，不要突然缺氧或抽筋，啃下这块硬骨头指日可待。

go up 2-0

Tracy McGrady scored 31 points and the Houston Rockets had an exceptional night at the free throw line to overcome Carlos Boozer's huge game.

The Rockets went 34-for-38 from the line in a 98-90 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night and took a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Boozer matched a career high with 41 points, tossing in jumpers from all angles over 7-foot-6 Yao Ming. He finished 17-of-30 from the field and had 12 rebounds and six assists.

But Boozer dribbled the ball off his foot with 20 seconds to play and Yao finished off the Jazz with two more free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

Yao had 27 points and hit all nine of his free throws. McGrady went 12-for-14 from the line.

The Jazz were 13-for-17 from the free throw line.

Chuck Hayes, whose wife gave birth on Saturday, had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who have won seven of eight playoff series when they led 2-0.

Game 3 is Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

Since 2001, only six teams have rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a series. The Rockets were one of the teams that blew a 2-0 lead, losing four of five to Dallas in 2005.

The Jazz have never come back from an 0-2 deficit to win a playoff series. They have lost 16 of their last 17 road playoff games.

The Jazz were called for 29 personal fouls playing the tough, physical defense that's been their trademark under coach Jerry Sloan.

The Rockets, a 75 percent free throw shooting team during the regular season, gladly took advantage, making 29 of 32 in the second half in winning for the 10th time in 14 games.

The Jazz have dropped eight of their last 13, a late swoon that cost them homecourt advantage in this series.

But Boozer looked right at home on Monday night, scoring 15 of Utah's first 17 points. He had only 11 points in Game 1.

The Rockets missed 15 of their first 21 shots, while the Jazz started 12-for-20 to build a nine-point lead.

Rafer Alston made Houston's first 3-pointer three minutes into the second quarter after the Rockets missed their first eight attempts. Yao beat Mehmet Okur for two layups to cut Utah's lead to 31-28.

After the hot start, Boozer missed four straight shots, part of Utah's 4-for-16 second quarter as the Rockets got within 41-39 at halftime.

Yao started the second half with a three-point play that gave the Rockets their first lead. But Boozer rediscovered his touch with two perimeter jumpers and the Jazz went back ahead.

Boozer scored 10 points in the third quarter, but the rest of the Jazz missed 11 of 16 shots.

Shane Battier swished his second 3-pointer and Yao hit a turnaround as the Rockets opened the final quarter with a 9-2 spurt to stretch their lead to 76-64.

Near the 5-minute mark, Utah point guard Deron Williams collided with Battier near midcourt and crumpled to the floor. Battier was called for a foul and Williams remained on the court for several minutes with his hands over his face.

Trainers attended to Williams and after a Utah timeout, Williams stayed in the game.

Yao and Alston missed layups on consecutive possessions and the Jazz trimmed Houston's lead to 84-80 on baskets by Okur and Boozer.

But McGrady made two free throws with 3:13 left as chants of "MVP! MVP!" echoed through the Toyota Center.

Hayes pulled down his seventh offensive rebound and scored on a putback with 2:21 left to push the lead to 90-80.

Boozer broke free for a dunk and hit another jumper over Yao to draw Utah within six. But the Rockets hit 10 of their last 12 free throws to secure the victory.

Game notes
Boozer reached 30 points for the 11th time this season and recorded his 54th double-double. ... The Rockets went 4-for-24 from 3-point range. ... Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, who cried in front of reporters on Sunday because of reduced playing time in the opener, was no factor again. He picked up five fouls and didn't score in 15 ineffective minutes.

BIG yao

火箭开门红三喜三忧

比赛打到第三节，火箭队员突然学会狞笑。不对，那不是狞笑，那是一种源于自信的凶狠的笑、得意的笑。笑吧！不笑如何成为王者！笑，是胜利者应有的姿态！
姚明拿下了季后赛生涯最高的13个篮板，麦蒂在下半场展现出超级巨星的风采，火箭的两件最得力武器兑现了自己的诺言：一定要把火箭带向胜利。
东部的篮网刚刚击败猛龙，但火箭没有重复猛龙的悲剧——84：75，一场起起伏伏的胜利，不仅让火箭1：0领先，而且保住了艰难取得的主场优势。
开门红的背后，火箭有三喜三忧——
第一喜：火箭防守很有针对性，范甘迪顺利通过考试。
去看看布泽、奥库的成绩单吧！前者17投4中，只得到11分；后者更惨，14投2中，仅仅得到6分！而且，布泽同学还送出了4次失误！
虽然德隆·威廉姆斯依然是阿尔斯通的噩梦，效率奇高，送出15分9个篮板9次助攻，但是，爵士的其他得分点，都消弭于火箭预先设计好的坚韧防守。
范甘迪最怕哈普林，而后者恰恰发挥出了自己的攻击特长，但只有一个哈普林根本不足以击败整个火箭。第四节关键时刻，重新回到小前锋位置的麦蒂，成功冻结了哈普林——天知道，火箭是不是在前三节故意放哈普林。
第二喜：姚麦的调整能力今非昔比，各自打出巨星级的比赛。
姚明28分13个篮板，两项数据都是全场最高，但是，他的命中率并不高，爵士通过不断变换防守方式，不停地干扰姚明的节奏。不过，姚明确实成熟了。他最终送出的答卷非常出色，同时，来之不易。
麦蒂上半场只得到1分，虽然送出6次助攻但有4次是在第一节，也就是说：整个第二节，麦蒂只送出2次助攻，而且1分未得。
不兴奋+状态糟糕——麦蒂很累，火箭很危险。
但麦蒂就是麦蒂，第三节的大爆发，让你不得不对他的自我调整能力竖起大拇指！8投7中得到16分！第三节，他一个人的得分，比爵士全队都要多出5分！
第三喜：请不要吝惜掌声，为阿尔斯通喝彩吧！
德隆确实没防住，但德隆也没防住阿尔斯通！9分11个篮板8次助攻2次抢断，除了命中率差了点，你还能要求街球王做更多吗？
说句心里话，火箭首发阵容中，季后赛经验最丰富的就是街球王，在季后赛走得最远的也是街球王。他的经验，他的经历，对火箭而言都是一笔财富。
第一忧：谁来抢前场篮板？谁来保护后场篮板？
拉空内线让姚明单打，然后三个射手埋伏在外线，这个时候，一旦姚明投篮不中，谁来抢前场篮板？上半场，火箭并没有给出答案。
海耶斯三秒区外盯防奥库，布泽提上掩护，姚明跟出，对手投篮不中，谁来保护后场篮板？上半场，火箭同样没有给出答案。
下半场，凭借麦蒂和阿尔斯通的出色发挥，火箭解决了后场篮板的问题。但前场篮板问题依然存在。第四节，霍华德充当了奇兵的角色，但不知道这是无奈之举，还是一个好的迹象。
第二忧：火箭板凳如何才能博得信赖？
海德果然是一个变数，直到第四节中段，他才命中一个压哨球！霍华德进攻不错，但防守奥库还是有些吃力；大叔又有机会晃动手指，但他跟队友根本不是一个节奏。
而火箭其他的板凳，则被范甘迪改造成拉拉队员。
14分——火箭全体板凳队员的得分，和哈普林的个人得分一样多。
第三忧：打算让阿尔斯通坚持多久？
46分钟！阿尔斯通今天居然打了46分钟！拜托，这不是最后一场生死战，这仅仅是万里长征的第一步！这么打下去，街球王还有没有体力去接受第二轮的挑战？
不过，这反映出火箭的一个尴尬现实：街球王确实没有人可替！至少在范甘迪眼里是这样！麦蒂可以控球，但看看麦蒂的出场时间：40分钟，也不少了！

Rockets lead series: 1-0

Playing with home-court advantage for the first time in his career, the seven-time All-Star had just one point at halftime before scoring 16 points in the third quarter to lead the Houston Rockets to 84-75 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night in Game 1 of their first round playoff series.

McGrady, who scored 23 points, was 0-for-6 in the first half. Before his outburst, the Rockets relied on Yao Ming, who finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Utah led by nine at halftime and was ahead 49-41 before Houston went on an 8-2 run, fueled by 7 points by McGrady to get within two. A jump shot by Deron Williams made it 53-49 before a 3 by Shane Battier put Houston within striking distance.

The Rockets took a 54-53 lead late in the third when Derek Fisher missed a fast break layup and Rafer Alston got the rebound and found Yao alone at the other end of the court for a one-handed dunk.

McGrady's 16 points in the third quarter came on 7-of-8 shooting. After Yao's dunk, he made a long two before sinking a 3 on the next possession to push Houston's lead to 59-53. After the three, McGrady backpedaled while repeatedly yelling 'Yeah' at the frenzied crowd.

The Jazz made just four shots in the quarter and Carlos Boozer missed three of six free throw attempts. Boozer finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Matt Harpring had 14 points.

Utah cut the lead to two points several times early in the fourth quarter, but each time the Rockets answered. Consecutive 3s by Alston and Luther Head stretched Houston's lead to 71-63 and the Jazz didn't threaten again.

McGrady hit a 3, followed by a pair of free throws late in the fourth to make it 78-65.

Williams had 15 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for Utah. Fisher added 15 points.

After missing the postseason last year, the Rockets are looking to win a playoff series for the first time since 1997 behind McGrady who is winless in five career playoff series. The Jazz, in the playoffs for the first time since 2003, won three of four regular season meetings.

Game 2 is Monday night in Houston.

The Jazz led by 1 after the first quarter, but Houston made just 2 of 13 shots in the second quarter and trailed 42-33 at halftime. It would have been worse if not for seven free throws by Yao in the quarter. McGrady had seven assists and Alston finished with nine points, eight assists and 11 rebounds.

Game notes
Chuck Hayes missed Saturday's shootaround for the birth of his first child, a son, Dorian Titus Hayes. He returned in time for the game and made his first playoff start and had four points and nine rebounds. ... Yao's 13 rebounds are a playoff best for the center, whose previous high was 11 against the Lakers in 2004. ... Williams came just shy of joining Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as the only players to record triple-doubles against the Rockets in the playoffs.

Team Stat Comparison
	UTAH	HOUSTON
Points	75	84
FG Made-Attempted	31-87 (.356)	27-69 (.391)
3P Made-Attempted	4-17 (.235)	9-27 (.333)
FT Made-Attempted	9-17 (.529)	21-26 (.808)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total)	14-48	6-46
Assists	15	19
Turnovers	10	13
Steals	8	8
Blocks	2	6
Fast Break Points	5	8
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	22 (0/0)	16 (1/0)
Largest Lead	9	14

Top Performers
UTAH		HOUSTON
	D. Williams Points: 15 Reb: 9 Ast: 9 Stl: 3 Blk: 0		Y. Ming Points: 28 Reb: 13 Ast: 0 Stl: 1 Blk: 1

Game Leaders
	UTAH	HOUSTON
Points	D. Fisher 15	Y. Ming 28
Rebounds	C. Boozer 12	Y. Ming 13
Assists	D. Williams 9	R. Alston 8
Steals	D. Williams 3	R. Alston 2
Blocks	A. Kirilenko 1	T. McGrady 2

Saturday, April 21
RESULT				WINNER HIGH	LOSER HIGH
New Jersey 96, Toronto 91				Jefferson 28	Bosh 22
Chicago 96, Miami 91				Deng 33	Wade 21
Detroit 100, Orlando 92				Billups 22 Hamilton 22	Turkoglu 17
Houston 84, Utah 75				Ming 28	Fisher 15 Williams 15

Time flies like an arrow

为何一转眼，时光飞逝如电。漫漫常规赛季转眼之间已然结束，火箭队取得了52胜30负的成绩，排名西部第5，并如愿以偿取得了对爵士队的季后赛主场 优势，尤其是考虑到姚明因伤缺席了小半个赛季的情况下，这样的成绩和之前可以预计的最好情况仍然相互符合，再高的要求就意味着火箭队的成绩超越马刺队，这 似乎不太现实。

　　82场常规赛，对火箭队来说就像是故事的发生、发展、高潮和收尾一样，也可以大致分为这4个阶段。

　　春天的花开秋天的风以及冬天的落阳—2006年11月1号至12月23号(16胜11负)

　　第一个阶段，从赛季开始到去年12月23号和快船队的比赛中姚明膝盖受伤为止，火箭队取得了16胜11负的战绩。这段时间，火箭队的特点可以概 括为以下几点：范甘迪调整攻击策略，以姚明为主力进攻点，并配以海耶斯来弥补姚明在防守速度和篮板上的不足；姚明不负众望发挥出色；麦蒂表现低迷心事重 重；巴蒂尔物有所值甘当无名英雄。

　　本赛季是主教练范甘迪4年合同的最后一年，在遭遇了一系列的失败之后，范甘迪对火箭队的阵容战术做出了巨大调整，为自己在火箭队乃至未来的执教 生涯孤注一掷做出最后一搏。上个赛季受伤病困扰，去年夏天球队保留了姚明、麦克格雷迪、阿尔斯通、霍华德、赫德和海耶斯等主力阵容，重点引进了防守专家巴 蒂尔，并在最后时刻收编了无路可走的猛将邦奇-维尔斯，还吸收了斯潘诺里斯和诺瓦克等新秀球员以及施耐德和帕吉特。

　　继首场比赛客场立足未稳输给爵士队之后，火箭队主场大胜强敌达拉斯小牛队31分，姚明得到36分，并上演空中接力表现出超强水准。小将军约翰逊 赛后说，“姚明打得就仿佛我们的球员根本不在球场上一样的轻松。”给人留下了深刻的印象。之后火箭队客场战胜卫冕冠军迈阿密热火队，也使第一中锋改朝换代 的说法得到了似是而非的论据。即便论据似是而非，加上论点本身也是以偏概全模棱两可，但姚明稳定的表现的确是火箭队取得良好开局并重获自信的重要原因。 12月9号，客场对奇才队的比赛中，麦蒂第四节因伤下场，姚明垄断了所有进攻，一节得到23分，并在最后关键时刻强行侧滑中高难度跳投得分锁定胜局令人难 忘。

　　联盟更换了新球后，并没有影响姚明稳定的投篮，姚明受伤前27场比赛中的命中率是52%，并在大卫-韦斯利离队后，姚明以87%左右的罚球命中 率更是担任起主罚球队技术罚球的的角色。其间姚明打出加盟NBA以来最好的状态，甚至被众多人士认定为常规赛MVP的候选人之一。

　　姚明发挥出色的最重要原因得益于范甘迪对球队攻击思路的转变。范甘迪面对现实，在保留了麦蒂有权力主导策动进攻的同时，强化了以姚明主打内线为主的进攻策略。拿球的机会多了，得分自然也就上去了。

森林狼队的中锋布朗特这样评论姚明，“对我来说，姚和以前没有什么不同，只不过是火箭队的其他球员更多的把球交到了他的手中。”

　　而另一主将麦克格雷迪在这一阶段表现比较低迷。在姚明12月23号受伤之前，麦蒂已于12月9号对奇才队的比赛中提前挂彩，之前麦蒂一共参加了 20场比赛(14胜6负)。期间麦蒂的投篮命中率只有42%，而三分球是94投27中命中率只有可怜的29%，但却每场可以送出6.3次助攻。究其原因有 以下几点：一是球队进攻重心转移，麦蒂需要重新适应角色，以前的绝对主角遭遇边缘化使其一下难以接受，各种媒体赛前赛后总是抓住姚明或者第一中锋等不着边 际的问题问个没完使其烦躁；二是麦蒂长期以来一直受到伤病困扰，久病无孝子，也致使麦蒂本人意志消沉，甚至还面对TNT电视台的场边记者报出退役去棒球的 打算。

　　尽管消极避世投篮失准，麦蒂仍然凭借高人一等的篮球智商尽最大可能为球队做出了自己的贡献。最重要的表现就是麦蒂变得更加愿意传球，这样不仅可 以使姚明更从容的主打内线，更关键的是麦蒂的分球和助攻使火箭队原本凝滞的进攻体系变得润滑起来，使其他角色球员能够更主动的参与到进攻与防守中去，这也 是本赛季火箭队的进攻显得比以往流畅得多的最重要最直接的原因。

　　期间由于AI阿伦-艾弗森要求转会，本来AI没有任何道理和可能来到火箭队，但在新浪网进行的网络调查中，支持火箭队用麦蒂交换AI的球迷比例 超过了支持麦蒂留队的比例，尽管网络调查有很大的水分，对照AI转会到掘金队后和麦蒂在姚明受伤时的表现，还是让人感到了人情冷暖世态炎凉。

　　队中角色球员的处境也是不尽相同，海耶斯依靠跳跃和灵活跑动，在防守方面被认定可以给姚明以更好的帮助，一跃取代老将霍华德成为大前锋的首发球 员。巴蒂尔是万金油式的球员，有姚有麦，巴蒂尔只好效忠防守。事实证明，当对手的2号位是其主要火力点时，只要不是科比-布莱恩特，巴蒂尔都能够对其进行 有效的抑制，甚至包括不可一世的小皇帝和韦德，当然限制不了科比这也绝对不是巴蒂尔的错，巴蒂尔的出现彻底解放了麦蒂，使麦蒂可以最大限度的投入到进攻中 去。阿尔斯通和赫德经过苦练，很好的充当了外线火力点。施耐德也起到了自己的作用，但却在对尼克斯的比赛中手腕受伤。维尔斯桀骜不驯和范甘迪八字相克，本 来有相当不错的机会为集体效力，却被长期闲置，直到麦蒂受伤后才得到重用。至于斯潘诺里斯和诺瓦克等边缘球员，处境则有些不忍让人提起。

　　流水它带走了光阴的故事改变了一个人—2006年12月26号至2007年3月3号(20胜12负)

　　第二阶段是姚明受伤期间，从12月26号客场对步行者队到3月3号主场对

马刺队为止。火箭队在缺少姚明期间的32场比赛中取得了20胜12负的成绩，总成绩为36胜23负，稳居西部第5位，超出了几乎所有人的预料，并一举奠定了季后赛的位置基础。

　　在姚明打出准MVP水平后突然受伤之后，很多人都认为火箭队这个赛季又要报销了，可火箭队的前进步伐并没有嘎然而止，相反则是大有势如破竹之势，这一切说白了只是因为一个人，那就是获得新生的1号球员特雷西-麦克格雷迪。

　　麦蒂在这期间所参加的30场比赛中，场均得到28分，15次得分超过30分，投篮命中率上升为44.6%，三分球的命中率则上升为37%，助攻 次数为5.9个。麦蒂经过7场休息复出后，从第3场到第8场6场比赛中每场得分都超过30分，他的超强表现带动了全队，使火箭队重新获得了信心。麦蒂本人 对自己这段时间内的表现也是相当满意，甚至认为这是他个人NBA职业生涯中最辉煌的一段时光，由于还没有季后赛获胜的经历，人们有理由相信麦蒂的辉煌其实 还在不远地方等着他。

　　麦蒂变脸最重要的原因是在休息7场期间，经查理-沃德的介绍与美国华佗遭遇激情，经过这位神医的治疗，长期困扰麦蒂的背伤得到了有效的治疗，解 决了这一后顾之忧，使麦蒂的心理得到了彻底的放松。再者，由于姚明的受伤，形势迫使麦蒂角色回归，对于习惯成为关注中心的麦蒂，这样的回归使麦蒂找回了丢 失已久的自信，麦克格雷迪再一次成为了人们心目中的T-MAC。

　　这一时间内，对火箭队保持稳定战绩起到重要作用的还有霍华德和穆托姆博两位老将。由于姚明受伤，火箭队急需寻找另外的火力点，海耶斯也就失去首 发的位置，找回稳定中投感觉的霍华德凭借良好的职业精神打出较高水准，并且带动了全队的士气。40岁的穆托姆博之前其实已经处于半退休状况，此时也不得不 接受返聘挺身而出负责球队的篮下防守。今年1月10号对湖人队的比赛中，除去抢到19个篮板，穆大叔还5次送出盖帽，使个人盖帽总数一举超过天勾贾巴尔成 为NBA全时间第二盖帽王。3月2号，穆托姆博回到NBA生涯的首发站丹佛，为自己的职业生涯终点站球队拿下22个篮板，成为历史上唯一一位40岁以上并 抢到20个以上篮板的NBA球员，没完没了的老头是没完没了的跳，彻底的震撼了雪山、青草和美丽的喇嘛庙。

　　其他球员除去几名绝对替补以外，也都在关键时刻为球队做出了个人的贡献。火箭队看到球队战绩不错并且为了保证不使姚明的伤情有所反复，对姚明的复出时间采取了保守疗法。而全明星赛后，火箭队前进势头有所减弱，3胜4负，姚明的复出也就显得更加的水到渠成了。

　　再次的见面我们又历尽了多少的路程—2007年3月5号至4月1号(11胜4负)

　　第三阶段是姚明3月5号复出客场挑战小皇帝到4月1号主场输给爵士队为止，期间火箭队是11胜4负，总成绩为47胜27负。

　　姚明在受伤期间一直坚持各种各样的训练使自己保持手感和竞技状态，以便复出后可以马上进入角色。姚明复出和球队的二次磨合其实只用了三节的时 间，这相比于奥尼尔和斯塔德迈尔的复出要快出了很多。尽管首场比赛输给了小皇帝，可火箭队很快利用凯尔特人、网队和魔术队三支实力一般的球队找回了感觉和 自信。从3月7号到月底，火箭队是11胜2负，只是输给了两支快速球队太阳队和黄蜂队，很多场次都是一路领先并最终大比分轻松获胜，包括客场以50分的优 势战胜了费城76人队。

　　3月30号，火箭客场挑战湖人队，双方打出超级好球，姚明、麦蒂和巴蒂尔大战攻击之王科比-布莱恩特，上演了三英大战吕布的好戏，群星闪耀好莱 坞星光大道，是一场经典之战。科比当仁不让得到53分，可仍然没能挽救比赛。姚明得到39分，并在加时赛关键时刻接到霍华德篮下传球投篮得分使火箭队把比 分反超，本场比赛也是姚明和麦克格雷迪组合以来最精彩的一场常规赛事，在姚明的5年NBA职业生涯中，可能只有2004年火箭客场挑战小牛队的第二场季后 赛事可以与之相提并论。麦克格雷迪也得到30分，尽管投篮手感不佳，可仍然在罚球线上16罚15中，加时赛落后4分时遭遇科比犯规3罚3中体现了大将风 度。

　　和赛季开始时一样，姚明只要在内线站好位置，外线队员总是尽量把球交到姚明手里，以前4个赛季中绕行姚明的运球几乎彻底消失不见了，作为中国球迷，这球看得也就更有意思了。

　　令人稍感不解的则是之前风光无限的麦蒂的投篮命中率又降回到39%，三分球命中率也降至29%，而助攻次数则略有上升，平均每场为7.5个。

　　刻划着多少美丽的诗但愿不再终究是一阵烟—2007年4月4号至4月18号(5胜3负)

　　第四阶段是最后8场比赛，为调整收尾为季后赛做准备阶段。由于主场输给爵士队，事实上就丧失了争取主场优势的主动权，同时西部第6名也已不可能 赶超火箭队，因此火箭队采取了稳妥策略，让姚麦修身养性，力争使姚麦保持最佳健康状态为季后赛做最后的充电。这一阶段火箭队基本放弃了对成绩的刻意追求， 激活了久别赛场的维尔斯，甚至还给郁闷了一个赛季的斯潘诺里斯以机会。

　　出人意料的是爵士队很不争气，在战胜火箭队之后一下遭遇5连败，尤其是在大比分领先的情况下背靠背输给了国王和超音速队，加上遇到士气正旺的勇 士和掘金两队，只靠小牛队放了一马才勉强结束连败，这也从另外一个侧面说明了这支年轻球队的经验、意志力乃至真正实力绝对不在火箭队以上。

　　火箭三连败后，随着姚明和麦蒂的回归，再次打出小高潮取得5连胜强势收尾，尤其是接连战胜了此前均三连败的快速克星球队黄蜂和太阳，你踢我三 脚，至少我还能还你一拳，证实了火箭有能力在适当的时机战胜任何球队。让人感到遗憾的就是邦奇-维尔斯的离队，这位在火箭队中球风唯一独立于姚麦体系之外 的猛将本来有足够的实力使球队更上一层楼，却由于性格也过于独立终于失去容身之所，性格决定命运这一真理也再次得到了令人不快的证实。

　　“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. ”—时光飞逝如箭。果蝇喜欢香蕉。 这两个结构看似相同的句子其实是貌合神离，这一点上与理应珠联璧合的姚麦组合在现实中往往不大合拍，经常各自表述有些许相似之处。在本赛季最后一场姚麦联 手的常规赛中，姚麦双管猎枪共同开火，加上外线三分球多点开花，终于构架出立体火力网，也因此险胜苦主太阳队。

　　除去范甘迪的正确领导，姚麦内外组合双引擎带动全队以外，本赛季火箭队最值得一提的就是三分线外对对手的远程打击。火箭队创历史的共有4名球员 投中一百个以上的三分球，分别是阿尔斯通192个，赫德177个，巴蒂尔157个和麦克格雷迪的126个。真正的内外结合必然使对手顾此失彼而疲于奔命。

　　姚麦组合目前最现实的问题就是要在季后赛中实现一次真正的升华。姚明和麦克格雷迪头上已经拥有了无数光环，却还没有季后赛系列获胜的经验，说什么也不能放弃这个黄金机会了。

　　从目前情形双方实力以及两支球队最后阶段的表现来看，至少在大多数篮球赵括眼里，火箭队首轮战胜爵士队不成问题，姚麦组合实现最低档次的升华已 是指日可待。历史数据也明显偏向火箭队，从2003年以来NBA东西两区各自第四第五名之间的较量中，拥有主场优势的球队总共7次获胜，只有1次被淘汰。 至于最终火箭能升多高走多远，得陇望蜀现在说来还有些为时尚早，这一话题放在火箭和小牛都杀出第一道封锁线之后再说似乎更为合情合理。

姚明完美回归

上周最佳阵容

　　新浪体育讯　北京时间4月20日，NBA官方公布了最新一期的最佳阵容。湖人当家科比依然持续着对最佳得分后卫的垄断，艾弗森则成为表现最好的控卫。姚明重新夺回最佳中锋位置，实现了完美回归。

　　以下为具体阵容、上周数据及点评(依据球员当地时间4月9日-15日表现)：

　　控球后卫：艾弗森 掘金

　　数据：场均21.3分，3个篮板，9.7次助攻和1.3次抢断

　　点评：改换门庭之后，艾弗森的场均得分由费城时期的31.2分降至丹佛时期的24.8分，更重要的是，76人当时战绩仅为5胜18负，但如今的东家掘金刚刚以一波9胜1负成功冲入季后赛。

　　得分后卫：科比 湖人

　　数据：场均35分，7个篮板，4.5次助攻，1.5次抢断和0.3次封盖

　　点评：四连败之后，科比带湖人止住了颓势。他们已一次2连胜结束了常规赛的征程，而在这两场比赛中，科比共计44投30中，命中率高达68%。

　　小前锋：大卫-韦斯特 黄蜂

　　数据：场均32.3分，8个篮板，2次助攻，1.3次抢断和0.7次封盖

　　点评：韦斯特的今年多灾多难，赛季刚开局就上了伤病名单，但他却以入选

最佳阵容结束了本赛季。考虑到黄蜂一直没有放弃季后赛的希望，因此韦斯特上周的杰出表现也显得分量十足。

　　大前锋：艾尔顿-布兰德 快船

　　数据：场均27.6分，9.8个篮板，4.4次助攻，1.4次抢断和2.4次封盖

　　点评：西部这个位置上强手如云，邓肯、加内特和诺维斯基等人的杰出表现让我们一度忘记了快船当家的存在。但布兰德上周的出色数据又重新唤起了人们对他的记忆。

　　中锋：姚明

火箭

　　数据：场均29.3分，7个篮板，1.3次助攻，0.7次抢断和1.7次封盖

　　点评：谁才是现在比赛中最具统治力的中锋？现在还有什么疑问吗？沙克的光芒已经黯淡，小斯塔达迈尔还需提高，现在是属于姚明的时代

2007 nba playoff Aporil-21

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0
New Jersey at Toronto					12:30 PM
Game 1 - Series tied 0-0
Miami at Chicago					3:00 PM
Game 1 - Series tied 0-0
Orlando at Detroit					7:00 PM
Game 1 - Series tied 0-0
Utah at Houston					9:30 PM

2007 Playoff Matchups

(1) Detroit (53-29)
(8) Orlando (40-42)

(2) Cleveland (50-32)
(7) Washington (41-41)

(3) Toronto (47-35)
(6) New Jersey (41-41)

(4) Miami (44-38)
(5) Chicago (49-33)

(1) Dallas (67-15)
(8) Golden State (42-40)

(2) Phoenix (61-21)
(7) Los Angeles (42-40)

(3) San Antonio (58-24)
(6) Denver (45-37)

(4) Utah (51-31)
(5) Houston (52-30)

20年1遇奇迹重现

再不用遮着掩着了，“他跟马拉多纳一摸一样！”阿根廷的《奥莱报》赛后向梅西献上了崇拜。国王杯半决赛上，巴萨5比2大胜赫塔菲，若干年后可能没人会记得这场的比分，但绝对绝对不会忘记梅西这个进球--他从中线开始带球，连过4人最后晃过门将小角度破门。这一幕同1986年6月22日世界杯上马拉多纳在对英格兰队时打进的绝世进球如出一辙！调查-您认为梅西马拉多纳罗纳尔多谁的进球更精彩？　

　　长话短说，我们先来看看梅西是如何完成的惊世之作。当时比赛进行到第28分钟，德科先是在本方半场断球交给哈维，哈维塞给中线左边的梅西，奇迹开始上演了！请注意，这时的梅西还处于自己的半场。他先是带过纳琼，然后左脚外脚背一拨晃过帕雷德斯，接着沿内线挺进腹地，跑动中加速再次超越帕雷德斯。赫塔菲中卫贝伦格尔倒地铲球，梅西左脚外脚背机警的一拨，随即一扣又过掉补防的阿莱克西斯，面对出击的门将路易斯-加西亚稍做停顿再向外侧一扣小角度右脚命中空门！整个过程耗时11秒，盘带了近60米(诺坎普球场长107米)，过人5个，梅西之夜诞生！

　　无论是过程、结局还是射门角度，梅西的进球都跟世界杯时马拉多纳对英格兰的进球一样。如果要找不同的话，马拉多纳在接球时有一个转身动作，而梅西没有。但梅西的带球速度、频率更快，盘带距离更长，射门角度更小，这些却是马拉多纳当年没有做到的。赫塔菲防线不行？他们可是西甲失球最少的球队。西班牙媒体赛后适时的抛出了调查，“梅西和马拉多纳的进球哪个更漂亮？”巴塞罗那的《世界体育报》有70%的读者选择梅西，而马德里的《马卡》选择前者的球迷比例也高达65%。

　　梅西进球后被队友包围，大家都对小家伙的进球感到不可思议，诺坎普球迷也马上掏出了白手绢。因为这个进球，梅西成为当晚的英雄。里杰卡尔德站到场边，为弟子的神奇表现鼓掌，脸上露出微笑，带着折服的那种。就连一向矜持的拉波尔塔也在主席台上笑容满面，连连鼓掌。

　　奇迹还没有结束，之前哈维的进球也是来自梅西的助攻。而第44分钟，梅西又进球了。德科左路传中，梅西禁区中央接应，接到半高球右脚一卸左膝一顶过掉阿莱克西斯左脚劲射远角得分，无懈可击的停球，闪电般的速度，完美的射门，难怪阿根廷人给他起外号叫“小跳蚤”，让他把握到机会真是一抓一个准。

　　上周末对马洛卡的比赛梅西换位左路表现一般，后来传出他对位置不适应的消息。里杰卡尔德还解释，“梅西应该懂得为全队去服务，我知道他对左路可能不适应，但那样是为了拉开进攻宽度，全队都会因此受益。”荷兰人当然知道梅西在什么位置更有威胁，对赫塔菲他重新让梅西打右边锋，但荷兰人没想到的是这个决定复制了马拉多纳的世纪之作。

　　“是的，能进这样的球真了不起。”带领巴萨第100次打主场的里杰卡尔德赛后谈到梅西的进球时说，“梅西拥有很高的天赋，今天他进了一个非常非常精彩的进球。看起来它很像马拉多纳当年的进球，但是我觉得梅西的加速更快，这个球更应该被叫做‘莱昂进球’(梅西的名字)。马拉多纳的时代已经结束了，而梅西还非常年轻，他有着天赋只要把现在这种心态坚持下去，他会带来更多的惊喜。担心？不，我一点也不担心梅西，他人很随和，不会在赞誉面前迷失自我，他能应付这些压力。”

　　而梅西则继续保持着谦逊和低调的论调，“我不能跟马拉多纳相提并论，而且我一直都认为马拉多纳就是马拉多纳，也许这个球跟迭戈的进球很像，但我还是应该向前看。”谈到为什么会选择这样的方式去完成进球时，梅西轻描淡写：“我只是看到前边有空间，所以决定加速，然后就有了进球。”

　　梅西本赛季在受伤两个多月的情况下已经进球13个，还包括对皇马时的帽子戏法。跟那些球相比，今天的进球无疑更有视觉冲击力。1986年6月22日世界杯，马拉多纳对英格兰打进惊世骇俗的一球；2007年4月18日国王杯，梅西复制了马拉多纳的进球。20年后，又一颗阿根廷巨星冉冉升起！

houston vs. phoenix

best record since '97

Tracy McGrady had 39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Houston Rockets clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with a 120-117 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.

Yao Ming added 34 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets, who won their fifth straight game and snapped a six-game losing streak to Phoenix.

The Rockets secured their best record since 1997 and will open their first-round playoff series against Utah at home next weekend.

Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points and Shawn Marion added 27 for the Suns, who used their starters most of the game even though they had already clinched the No. 2 seed in the West. Steve Nash added 15 points and 15 assists.

The game had playoff intensity from the start, and despite building a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Rockets had to sweat out their first victory over the Suns in Houston since 2003.

Leandro Barbosa started the rally with a layup and a 3-pointer. Nash then intercepted a bad pass by Luther Head and found Stoudemire for a dunk to trim Houston's lead to 118-115 with 48.5 seconds left.

McGrady missed a 3-pointer and the Suns rebounded with one last chance to tie. Nash missed a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left, but the ball ricocheted off Head and out of bounds.

Stoudemire missed another 3-pointer and Marion tipped it in, but that only cut the deficit to one. Rafer Alston was fouled and hit two free throws for the final margin.

McGrady hit 14 of 31 shots and missed his first triple-double since 2003 by one assist. Yao was 14-of-20 and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

McGrady scored 25 points in the fast-paced first half, smoothly sinking jumpers from every angle. Every time McGrady scored, the Suns answered.

McGrady also had five assists in the half, the last to Yao for a hook shot with 5.2 seconds left before the break. Yao blocked a shot by Stoudemire in the closing seconds, but Stoudemire got the rebound and threw in a mid-range shot at the buzzer to cut Houston's lead to 56-54.

Stoudemire was 8-for-12 and scored 20 points in the opening half.

McGrady came up with the shot of the night a minute into the second half, driving past Stoudemire for an up-and-under reverse layup. Unfazed, Stoudemire responded with a mid-range jumper at the other end.

McGrady sank his second 3-pointer and Yao converted a three-point play to start a 19-4 Rockets run that broke a 66-66 tie.

Phoenix made 17 of 21 shots during one stretch between the second and third quarters, then missed four of the next five as the Rockets pulled away.

McGrady hit a fadeaway from the baseline and drove for a layup to put the Rockets up 85-70.

Dikembe Mutombo had two tip-ins in the last minute of the third quarter as Houston took a 91-79 lead into the fourth. After three periods, Houston had outscored the Suns 28-4 in second-chance points.

The Suns rallied with Nash on the bench. Marion scored twice inside and James Jones hit a 3-pointer from the wing to cut Houston's lead to 93-86 with just under 10 minutes left.

Phoenix closed the gap to five before Shane Battier's 3-pointer from the corner put Houston up 100-92.

Nash and Stoudemire returned after long rests with 7:03 left, but Head hit a 3-pointer and Yao scored inside over the next minute to push the lead back into double-digits.

The Suns mustered one more rally in the final minutes, but couldn't complete their second straight regular-season sweep of Houston.

The Suns had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Game notes
The Rockets honored retiring general manager Carroll Dawson at halftime. Dawson spent 27 years with the Rockets, the last 11 as GM. "I look forward to many years in the stands hollering for these guys," Dawson told the crowd. During timeouts, the scoreboard showed videotaped messages to Dawson from NBA commissioner David Stern, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon and Rudy Tomjanovich. ... Phoenix can match a franchise record for regular-season wins with a victory over the Clippers on Tuesday. ... The Rockets reached their highest victory total since going 57-25 in 1996-97. ... Houston Texans defensive end Mario Williams had a courtside seat.

Team Stat Comparison
	PHOENIX	HOUSTON
Points	117	120
FG Made-Attempted	47-82 (.573)	45-93 (.484)
3P Made-Attempted	8-18 (.444)	11-23 (.478)
FT Made-Attempted	15-18 (.833)	19-22 (.864)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total)	7-31	19-46
Assists	31	23
Turnovers	13	13
Steals	9	7
Blocks	4	1
Fast Break Points	19	6
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	20 (1/0)	17 (1/0)
Largest Lead	5	15

Top Performers
PHOENIX		HOUSTON
	A. Stoudemire Points: 30 Reb: 5 Ast: 1 Stl: 6 Blk: 2		T. McGrady Points: 39 Reb: 11 Ast: 9 Stl: 2 Blk: 0

Game Leaders
	PHOENIX	HOUSTON
Points	A. Stoudemire 30	T. McGrady 39
Rebounds	A. Stoudemire 5	T. McGrady 11
Assists	S. Nash 15	T. McGrady 9
Steals	A. Stoudemire 6	S. Battier 3
Blocks	A. Stoudemire 2	Y. Ming 1
· Team stats: Phoenix | Houston

2006-07 Season
Phoenix leads 3-1
Nov 29, 2006	@PHO 102, HOU 91	Recap | Box Score
Jan 17, 2007	PHO 100, @HOU 91	Recap | Box Score
Mar 12, 2007	@PHO 103, HOU 82	Recap | Box Score
>Apr 16, 2007	@HOU 120, PHO 117	Recap | Box Score

Next 5 Games
PHOENIX (ET)	HOUSTON (ET)
04/17 LAC 10:00pm	04/18 @UTA 9:00pm

火箭总经理道森荣退

今天是火箭本赛季在主场丰田中心的最后一场常规赛比赛。除了迎战强敌太阳争取锁定季后赛主场优势之外，队中还有一件重要的事情：今天还是火箭总经理道森的荣退之日。

　　在比赛进行到中场休息的时候，丰田中心举行了大型的庆祝活动。做为一名为火箭服务了27年，担任火箭总经理11年的巨星级人物，包括摩西-马龙、汤姆贾诺维奇在内的众多火箭老友都前来捧场。汤帅强调，对于火箭来说，94年95年能够两度夺冠，有两个功臣：奥拉朱旺和道森。奥拉朱旺做为当年能够统治内线在超级巨星自然为火箭过关立下汗马功劳，但是没有总设计师道森，火箭也不会取得那样的成就。

　　
火箭老板亚历山大在接受主持人访问的时候说：“别人都觉得我是火箭的NO.1，但我觉得道森才是。”

　　道森今天心情明显很不平静。在出场的过程中，他经常手扶眼镜框，看起来相当地激动。他非常感谢家人和朋友能来出席这个仪式，尤其是自己最好的朋友汤姆贾诺维奇能来参加比赛，他很开心。在火箭的这么多年中，能看到火箭一代一代领军人物从摩西-马龙到奥拉朱旺、巴克立、弗朗西斯、姚明、麦蒂，他很欣慰。道森还特别感谢了范甘迪，因为在本赛季姚明因伤缺席了32场比赛的情况下，球队还是获得了51场胜利，范甘迪功不可没。

　　在道森看来，姚麦是火箭的两大基石，以现在的阵容火箭会有非常没好的未来。本赛季火箭能够走得非常非常远，甚至有望拿到总冠军，因为今年的这支火箭与95年的那支非常像。火箭有姚明麦蒂这样的联盟中优秀的球员，球队的化学反应也进行得很好。

　　道森对姚明更是珍爱有嘉，他说如果姚明按照目前的趋势发展下去，肯定会成为NBA最好的球员，因为他的自身条件非常出众，本人还那么刻苦勤奋。

　　在庆祝仪式的现场，升起了道森的球衣，球衣上写着他的英文名字开头的缩写CG。火箭队还做了一个画框，里边装着道森的画，这让即将退役的总经理非常感动。

　　当有记者问道森今年是否有可能再来中国的时候，道森表示非常有可能。因为他的太太非常喜欢中国，他们之前在
长城拍了很多优美的照片都还在家中珍藏着。

　　退休之后，道森想旅游，因为以前工作太忙根本没有时间。也很想当篮球老师，他以前就是在大学当篮球教练。那种看孩子们在球场上成长的感觉非常好。退役之后，道森说自己不会离开火箭，可能会继续担任顾问一类的职务，因为火箭就是他的声明

rockets in race for home court

Yao Ming scored 30 points, Tracy McGrady got 11 of his 25 points in the final five minutes and the Houston Rockets snapped a three-game home losing streak with a 123-112 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night.

Rafer Alston added 21 points and a season-high 13 assists for the Rockets, who started the night one game ahead of Utah in the race for home-court advantage in their first-round playoff series.

McGrady had 10 assists for the Rockets, who reached a season-high point total at the Toyota Center. Houston's 33 assists were also a season high.

David West matched his season high with 33 points and Chris Paul added 20 points and 15 assists for the Hornets, who are all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. New Orleans started the night two games behind Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers in the race for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West.

New Orleans center Tyson Chandler missed his fifth straight game with an injured left big toe. The 7-foot-1 Chandler defended Yao well in two previous matchups this season. Without him, the Hornets struggled to stop the 7-foot-6 Yao, who hit 11 of 16 shots and went 8-for-11 from the free-throw line.

Yao reached 30 points for the sixth time since returning from a broken right leg. McGrady recorded double-digit assists for the 11th time.

Team Stat Comparison
	NO/OKLAHOMA CITY	HOUSTON
Points	112	123
FG Made-Attempted	45-83 (.542)	49-84 (.583)
3P Made-Attempted	5-17 (.294)	9-19 (.474)
FT Made-Attempted	17-20 (.850)	16-20 (.800)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total)	10-33	8-30
Assists	26	33
Turnovers	12	9
Steals	5	8
Blocks	3	4
Fast Break Points	8	8
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	16 (0/0)	17 (0/0)
Largest Lead	1	15

Top Performers
NO/OKLAHOMA CITY		HOUSTON
	C. Paul Points: 20 Reb: 8 Ast: 15 Stl: 1 Blk: 0		T. McGrady Points: 25 Reb: 7 Ast: 10 Stl: 3 Blk: 1

Game Leaders
	NO/OKLAHOMA CITY	HOUSTON
Points	D. West 33	Y. Ming 30
Rebounds	C. Paul 8	T. McGrady 7
Assists	C. Paul 15	R. Alston 13
Steals	D. West 2	R. Alston 3
Blocks	D. West 1	Y. Ming 2

范甘迪受青睐成头号人选

NBA官方专家发表文章，选出了本赛季年度最佳教练的5位候选人。火箭主帅范甘迪最受青睐，被官方的专家评为最佳教练的头号竞争者。

　　年度最佳教练的评选一般有两种情况。第一种是球队的战绩十分突出，至少取得了65场以上的胜利。比如菲尔-杰克逊(95-96赛季公牛的72胜 10负)，比尔-沙尔曼(71-72赛季湖人的69胜13负)和汤姆-海恩索恩(72-73赛季凯尔特人的68胜14负)。而另一种情况就是球队虽然战绩 并不出色，胜场甚至不足45场。但有了长足的进步，比如胡比-布朗(77-78赛季老鹰的41胜41负)，道斯-里弗斯(99-00赛季魔术的41胜41 负)和吉恩-许(81-82赛季华盛顿的43胜29负)等等。那种情况给人留下的印象最深刻？统治性的表现还是球队的复苏？

　　当然，最佳教练的评选也有其他的因素。比如对新球员的合理使用，年轻球员的成长或者处理好了明星球员的伤病，这也可以为自己加分。以下的几位竞争者就是我们综合多种因素而评出来的。

　　1 杰夫-范甘迪

火箭

　　目前战绩：50胜29负 上赛季战绩：34胜48负 提高：+16

　　点评：姚明缺阵33场，麦蒂缺阵11场，但范甘迪带领火箭打出了西部第四好的战绩。结束了令人失望的05-06赛季，范甘迪本赛季实现了火箭的 复苏，尽管邦齐-维尔斯一直成为火箭的牵挂。范甘迪成功的把刚加盟的巴蒂尔融进球队，还让海耶斯发挥出了全部能量。范甘迪带队赢下了几乎所有该赢的比赛， 而且他们的客场成绩不俗：24次客场胜利高居联盟第五。

　　2 艾弗里-约翰逊 小牛

　　目前战绩：65胜13负 上赛季战绩：60胜22负 提高：+5

　　点评：如果剩下的比赛小牛全胜，那他们将追平71-72赛季的湖人和96-97赛季的公牛，成为历史第二好的战绩。那样小牛本赛季的胜场就比上赛季多了9场，而火箭如果全胜则是多赢19场。作为上赛季最佳教练得主，“小将军”在与热火的

总决赛中表现不佳，他们在先赢2场之后输了个0比4。我承认约翰逊本赛季接近完美，但考虑到范甘迪的成就，我不看好约翰逊有能力成为历史上蝉联年度最佳教练的第一人。

　　3 萨姆-米切尔 猛龙

　　目前战绩：45胜33负 上赛季战绩：27胜55负 提高：+18

　　点评：猛龙拿下了队史上的首个分区冠军，米切尔居功至伟。科朗吉洛历经几年的努力，给米切尔凑了一手好牌，但也同样要求米切尔会用。在球队成员一直变化的同时，米切尔很好的融合了新球员，也保证了核心克里斯-波什在本赛季达到巅峰。

　　4 杰里-斯隆 爵士

　　目前战绩：48胜30负 上赛季战绩：41胜41负 提高：+7

　　点评：执掌爵士的19年间，斯隆只有一个赛季表现失败，这是个多么伟大的成就。但是这位老帅还从未获得过年度最佳教练。本赛季斯隆重现了爵士的 光荣传统，他把布泽尔和德隆-威廉姆斯的组合打磨成当年马龙和斯托克顿的样子。基里连科的伤病也处理的很好，小将米尔撒普也得到了成长。但是近7场比赛爵 士输掉6场，这对于斯隆竞争最佳教练可不是什么好消息。

　　5 斯凯尔斯 公牛

　　目前战绩：47胜32负 上赛季战绩：41胜41负 提高：+6

　　点评：公牛的开局不好，但斯凯尔斯用防守让球队迎头赶上(公牛场均94.1分的失分是联盟第6少的)。而公牛主帅最大的贡献，就是很好的组织起来了一个辛里奇+邓+戈登+华莱士的组合，在这个团体中，每个人都分工明确。

5年挥汗换来今日统治力

姚明已经成为联盟中最有统治力的大个，这种说法并不新鲜了。近日《体育画报》专家克里斯-巴拉德发表文章，详细解读了姚明这几年来取得的进步。

　　相比历史上那些最具统治力的球员，姚明已经达到了他们的水准。本赛季初，姚明表现出了MVP的实力，场均27分9个篮板。只是圣诞节之前的那次受伤毁了一切。当时姚明还保持乐观，但诊断结果出来后，小巨人被迫躺上病床，至少6个星期。

　　好在球队没有掉链子，而在姚明回来之后火箭更是蒸蒸日上。姚明的能力再次得到体现。无疑这几年火箭中锋的进步是可喜的，更是全方位的。

　　表现最为明显的就是力量，尤其是上肢力量。回想初进NBA，姚明的力量同其他内线球员差距明显。但时至今日，

小巨人的力量有了质的飞跃，卧推重量已经提升到了310磅。与此同时，姚明的体重却没有多少增加。

火箭要求他保持体重，因减轻对关节的压力。私人身体教练安东尼-法尔送在这个过程中给了姚明很大的帮助。

　　姚明的勤奋才是根本原因，他的训练积极性，连一向对球员要求苛刻的范甘迪都感到惊讶，范帅一直认为小巨人是他见过的最努力的球员。每天在场上拼命的往返跑，在力量房挥汗如雨，这才是成就统治力的真正途径。

　　在奥尼尔日益老去的今天，魔术的德怀特-霍华德恐怕是未来5年内唯一有能力威胁到姚明统治力的球员(奥登有望马上加入到这一行列)。这位2米 11的猛男力量惊人，而且拥有可怕的运动能力。当得知姚明卧推达到310磅时，小霍华德不屑一顾：“那不错，我最好纪录是345磅。”但不久前霍华德大战 火箭，结果让复出不久的姚明掠下37分。

　　姚明的进步还体现在对美国文化的适应上。英语能力提高很快，自从进入NBA的第三个赛季姚明就已经用不着翻译了。他现在的英语说的很好，尽管有 时还会有起伏。但是要知道，来美国之前姚明对英语几乎一无所知。火箭经理道森回忆当年他2001年第一次见到姚明：“他对我说的第一句话竟然是：‘道森教 练，欢迎来到中国’(Coach Dawson, welcome to China.)。当时我惊呆了。”而随着英语能力的提高，姚明的

幽默感也表现出来，他对美国文化的适应能力着实让人惊讶。

　　谦虚的态度一直没有离开姚明，他表示自己的努力将永无止境。“我还有一段很长的路要走。”姚明说，“我觉得自己每年都会一点点变得更好，然后达到一个新的高度。哪里是尽头？如果你放松了或者对自己要求不严了，那别人有一天就会打败你。或许是明天，或许是后天。”

　　“有13亿人民在注视着我，我要做到这些给他们看。”

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