Chapter 165: Falling Behind, Reversal, Conflict, Gloating

There are more than twenty games left, but we can no longer afford to lose a single one. We must treat every game like the finals, and only by doing so can we make it to the playoffs.

Hustle, stay focused, lock down Star, do not let him catch the ball easily, and attack the paint more...

Come on, let everyone know: never underestimate the heart of a playoff team.

Van Gundy served up a mix of tactics and inspirational cliches, even heavily modifying the famous quote of coach Tomjanovich.

However, Tomjanovich had said never underestimate the heart of a champion after achieving ultimate success, which sounded quite imposing and deeply moving.

Yet Van Gundy's current remark about not underestimating the heart of a playoff team sounded thoroughly awkward.

The heart of a playoff team?

It felt a bit low-end. Isn't that something many teams could easily accomplish? Did they really need to make such a big fuss about it?

Still, for better or worse, Van Gundy's words ultimately had some effect.

The Rockets players realized the gravity of the situation, and their concentration improved.

Back on the court, the Rockets' outside shooting warmed up, with Wesley sinking back-to-back demoralizing three-pointers.

What was even worse was that the Clippers failed to score in both possessions, and the point deficit instantly ballooned to 6 points.

Dunleavy did not call a timeout; after all, the fourth quarter had just begun.

The Rockets attacked, with Mobley closely shadowing Wesley, giving him no further shooting opportunities.

Alston passed the ball into the paint, and Yao Ming scored another two points with a mini hook shot.

Once the shot went in, the Rockets players quickly retreated on defense, denying the Clippers any opportunity for a fast break.

8-0. Dunleavy frowned.

In the broadcast booth, Barkley and Zhang Heji were anxious on his behalf, questioning why he still hadn't called a timeout to disrupt the Rockets' offensive momentum.

Unfortunately, Dunleavy could not hear them.

On the court, the Rockets settled into a half-court offense, with Xinghui He tightly entangled by McGrady.

Mobley attempted to set a screen to help, but the Rockets had already figured out this tactic. The moment Xinghui He shook off McGrady, McGrady immediately charged into Cassell's passing lane for a blind interception.

His rich playing experience made McGrady entirely certain that once Xinghui He ran free, Cassell would pass the ball to him.

Therefore, he didn't need to wait for Cassell to release the ball before attempting the steal; he could simply wait in the passing lane beforehand.

This time, his gamble paid off.

The scene didn't look so much like he had stolen the ball, but rather as if Cassell had defected, passing it directly into McGrady's hands.

Having completed the steal, the Rockets were in no rush to attack, slowly advancing the ball once again.

After setting into their half-court offense, McGrady used Juwan Howard's screen, forcing the Clippers to switch assignments.

Facing Gasol, McGrady drove straight through, rushing to the basket for two points.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets stunned the Clippers with a direct 10-0 run.

"Cool."

A few Star-haters high-fived each other; this was the kind of scene they loved to see.

"With a level like the Clippers, they still want a championship? Making the playoffs is pure dumb luck, and they'll definitely get bounced in the first round."

"They always show their true colors the moment they meet slightly stronger opponents."

The Star-haters discussed animatedly and loudly, deeply annoying the Star-fans nearby.

"Yeah, the Clippers fall apart against strong teams, and can only beat trash like the Lakers. They seem to have played the Lakers twice so far, and it's 2-0."

One Star-fan remarked, knowing without guessing that the ones mocking the Clippers earlier were Kobe stans and Lakers fans.

As soon as these words were spoken, those Star-haters were left speechless once again. Who told the Lakers to be so pathetic this year and always lose to the Clippers?

Still, they could at least look forward to the game the day after tomorrow. Judging by the Clippers' current state, the chances of a Lakers win the day after tomorrow were quite high.

Following the 10-0 run, Dunleavy finally rushed to call a timeout.

The timeout was called, but what was he supposed to say?

Dunleavy felt his tactics weren't particularly flawed; it was just that the Rockets had suddenly gotten too accurate, compounded by an unforced turnover from his own side.

Yet, without saying anything, this timeout would seem far too perfunctory.

At that moment, Xinghui He was boosting team morale: "Don't panic, everyone. They're only leading by seven points; it's very easy to catch up."

"Star, it's ten points," Kaman reminded him.

"I know, but as long as we keep the deficit within three points by the end, I can execute a game-winning shot against them. So, we only need to make up seven points."

Xinghui He said this so naturally that everyone else was left rather speechless.

However, Xinghui He's unfathomable self-confidence invisibly infected everyone else.

If the team's alpha was this calm, what on earth did they have to be afraid of?

Besides, it was only 7 points after all, not that hard to erase.

"Let's stick to the 2-3 zone defense. The perimeter needs to mainly prevent Wesley and McGrady from shooting, don't worry about the others, defend Yao from catching the ball in the paint..."

Dunleavy emphasized the tactics, and then the timeout expired.

Both teams returned to the court, and the Clippers players elevated their concentration.

Clippers on offense: Xinghui He was still working through his cuts to generate shooting opportunities. They weren't going to abandon this off-ball movement tactic just because of one turnover by McGrady.

At worst, Cassell would be more careful when passing, paying closer attention to the Rockets players.

That wasn't too difficult for Cassell.

Asking him to run, jump, or back people down with his backside might be a bit much to ask of him right now, but leveraging his match experience posed absolutely no problem.

Xinghui He successfully received the pass, steadied himself, and released the ball in the rhythm of his training practice.

Swish.

This was a heavily momentum-stopping three-pointer, and the kind of basket fans loved most.

"In clutch moments, you still have to rely on Cousin."

Separated by thousands of miles, Barkley and Zhang Heji experienced a meeting of minds at that very moment, expressing the exact same sentiment in different languages.

Xinghui He's three-pointer acted like a reassurance pill for his teammates, boosting their confidence on the defensive end.

Whether their defense had improved or the Rockets' shooting touch had cooled down, McGrady's jumper once again resulted in a brick.

With this miss, he was now 7-for-19 from the field.

That shooting percentage was quite an eyesore.

More importantly, he had missed his shot in such a critical moment, giving the Clippers a chance to narrow the score.

On the counter-attack, Gasol stepped up, draining a mid-range jumper.

In the blink of an eye, the deficit was trimmed to 5 points.

If one believed Xinghui He's absurd theory, the actual deficit was now down to just 2 points, making it practically negligible.

In other words, a 10-point gap had been erased. The Clippers players' morale surged instantly, acting as excited as if they had taken the lead, leaving the Rockets players somewhat bewildered.

They desperately wanted to remind the Clippers players: you guys are still trailing by 5 points, 5 points! Please, can you stop looking so relaxed? Who do you think you're looking down on?

The game continued. Feeling insulted and angered, Alston pulled up for a mid-range jumper himself and nailed it.

Alston shook his fist, venting some unknown frustration.

On the ensuing possession, Gasol went to work against the aging Juwan Howard. Seeing that old Juwan was about to be squeezed to the ground, Yao Ming hurriedly came over to help defend.

Unfortunately, Gasol possessed decent playmaking ability and directly threaded a pass from the interior to the interior, hanging the ball up for Kaman.

Kaman threw down an alley-oop dunk into the basket.

The scoring method was a bit ugly, but it was still two points.

Afterwards, McGrady bricked another shot.

This, in truth, was also a microcosm of his season, and Rockets fans had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

McGrady gave them the feeling of being a tasteless chicken rib: unpalatable to eat, yet too wasteful to throw away.

Clippers on offense: Xinghui He ran his route, received the ball to draw a double-team, and then quickly dished it out to any available teammate. Under such circumstances, given his passing ability, finding the absolute best option was out of the question; simply getting the ball out to a teammate was considered a passing grade.

Receiving the ball, Cassell immediately passed to Mobley. His own three-point shot wasn't reliable, but Mobley was much more dependable.

Ultimately, Mobley did not disappoint, sinking a crucial three-pointer.

Although this shot wouldn't pad any individual stats for Xinghui He, its actual impact was massive, completely shattering the Rockets' defensive structure.

The deficit was now down to just two points. Xinghui He shouted to his teammates: "If you guys don't want to watch me hit a game-winner and flex, you'd better take the lead yourselves and stop giving me the chance to show off."

Heaven and earth as witness, Xinghui He genuinely said this just to act cool in front of his teammates and incidentally fire up their morale.

However, upon hearing these words, the Rockets players on the court collectively contributed a total of 120 rage points to him.

Too infuriating! Completely ignoring their existence!

The Rockets players declared this utterly intolerable.

What made it even more intolerable to them was that the rest of the Clippers players had also picked up bad habits, becoming exceedingly obnoxious.

On the court, Kaman bantered with Xinghui He: "Get lost, I'm already sick of watching you flex. We won't give you the chance this time."

For a role player to speak with such arrogance was even more aggravating than a superstar talking big.

At that moment, the Rockets players also contributed some rage points to Kaman, though unfortunately Kaman had no system and couldn't receive them.

The game continued. Both sides were playing with some heat, and even their physical contacts grew somewhat rougher.

Juwan Howard slapped Gasol across the face, while Cassell pinched Alston around the waist.

As long as the referees didn't blow the whistle, these players simply had to chalk it up to bad luck.

During one of McGrady's dribbling turnovers, Xinghui He and he scrambled for the loose ball on the floor, wrestling together on the hardwood.

McGrady threw a punch at Xinghui He, and Xinghui He retaliated with an elbow to his nose.

However, since the two were pressed tightly together, their movements weren't large, making it look like a regular tie-up.

The referee initially whistled for a jump ball. Once the players from both sides pulled the two apart, the referee discovered that Xinghui He had a bruised face and McGrady's nose was bleeding.

Well, well, only then did the referee realize the two had gone at it, so he promptly handed out matching technical fouls.

Following this minor skirmish, for reasons unknown, the Rockets' offense and defense suddenly experienced a blackout.

Perhaps Yao Ming's stamina was overly depleted, rendering him unable to keep up with Gasol's pace.

Perhaps the disappointment and psychological gap of having the score tied and then surpassed had taken its toll.

Or perhaps their shooting touch simply declined.

In short, the Clippers mounted a mini-surge, widening the lead. When the final minute arrived, the Clippers were already ahead by 7 points.

With this deficit and only a minute remaining, one could say catching up was technically possible.

In reality, however, the situation had become extremely dire for the Rockets.

McGrady attempted a three-pointer, which missed.

Yao Ming grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on the putback.

Cassell leisurely dribbled the ball across half-court, and as the 24-second shot clock was about to expire, he assisted Mobley on another three-pointer.

This shot thoroughly extinguished the Rockets' hopes.

The subsequent two possessions were also handled carelessly.

When the game ended, the Clippers secured a 112-104 victory.

The exact moment the game concluded, Xinghui He raised both middle fingers at his teammates and complained, "I have to suspect you guys were hiding your true strength before. Now, just to stop me from flexing, you're all playing like super-max superstars. Absolutely absurd."

"Hahaha..."

Kaman and Mobley were practically dying of laughter; in the final moments, the two of them combined had contributed quite a few points.