After the Rockets' game against the Trail Blazers, Uncle Mu, who played 5 minutes and grabbed 5 rebounds, said happily: "I don't have much playing time, that's because my teammates are good, David is doing a good job, but the Rockets still need me now, and I want to win a championship and leave." Reading artifact wwW." As early as before the start of the season, NBA commissioner Stern reserved a spot for Uncle Mu. However, the African Mountain does not think his mission with the Rockets is over, saying: "First of all, I want to see what happens next, I don't think I'm old, and if we make it to the finals this year, I want to win a championship and walk away from this team." I'm going to continue to cheer on my teammates for the rest of the game, give some advice to the younger players, and protect our rebounds when they need me on the court. ”

Mutombo's age has always been a "secret", the official version is that he is now 40 years old, and according to Mutombo's close friend Ewing, Uncle Mu is actually more than 40 years old. Previously, when all walks of life speculated about their age, Uncle Mu, who has always been open-minded, always smiled and did not give a positive answer.

The major television media continued to make up all kinds of jokes about Mutombo's age, such as the legend that Mutombo was in his hometown and cut a tree every first birthday, but when he left home, the tree was cut down, so he couldn't figure out how old he was. Similar jokes upset Mutombo's family, who revealed in an interview with ESPN this week that he intended to ask the league's president, David Murphy. Stern asks for help. to discourage TV commentators from publicly accusing themselves of concealing their age.

Uncle Mu explained the whole incident: "I don't think the media's jokes bother me in any way, my daughter is only 9 years old now, and she already knows about it. When people think your father is a liar. It will make you feel embarrassed in front of your own daughter. ”

After the Rockets' victory in Game 3 against the Trail Blazers, they became the focus of media attention. Whether it is Yao Ming, Marbury, Scola or David Lee, their performances have been unanimously recognized by the media, and even some media have begun to imagine that they can reach the finals. In fact, the Rockets have the best chance of making it past the first round of the playoffs this year, and they do have the potential to reach the Finals. Here are four reasons why local media in Houston:

1. Defense

The Rockets aren't as defensively as they've been in past seasons this year, but they're still one of the best teams in the league to defend. Their defense is more than capable of helping them win a playoff series. The iron curtain of Battier and Ariza is a natural danger for all breakaway and jump shooting lovers, and Mutombo's old spiciness has added another layer of worry to the opponent's interior in addition to Yao Ming.

2. Leadership

The Rockets haven't won the first round of the playoffs since 1997. There's less Tracy this year. McGrady, Yao Ming got a chance that was completely his own. He will prove that he is a qualified leader who can lead the team through the gloom of the past. Of course, the airborne general Stephen. Marbury, as well as Battier and Scola on the team, will also be Yao Ming's most reliable helpers.

3. Balance

Rafael. Alston isn't bad, it's just that compared to Marbury, one is a normal starter and the other is an All-Star. With Marbury's organization and breakthrough, Battier, Ariza, Brooks and himself in the Rockets can all get very good three-point opportunities. The interior line led by Scola and David Lee formed a very balanced distribution of offensive firepower.

4. Depth

Everybody is saying that the Lakers and Clippers have excellent benches. In fact, the rocket is not bad. And, even Houston's bench lineup has to outperform their starters in athleticism, with the likes of Brooks, Lowry, Weaver and David Lee all running and jumping. And the offense and defense are good, the second and third games are like this, after Yao Ming fell into a foul crisis, the Rockets benches still did not give the Trail Blazers any chance.

If the Rockets can hold on to these four points, then the Rockets and Clippers will meet and win in the second round. It's not impossible, after all, the strength of the Rocket's Yao Ming and the front guard line is obvious. The Clippers' luxury roster doesn't have a far superior quality gap, and the Finals aren't just a dream for this year's Rockets.

The Clippers did not comment on this, and the American media deliberately interviewed Yao Ming and the twin brothers, but all three were fooled, saying that they are now thinking about the opponent in the first round, and the next round is not too late to think about it when they really qualify.

On the second day, the Spurs and Mavericks game was played before the Clippers, and the game was scheduled for 19 o'clock in the evening.

Spurs head coach Yankuai vic looked unhappy and complained about why Spurs' games were always scheduled to be held in the evening, just after a full meal, can the players be in good shape? Why is the Clippers always the best time to play? Why does the national live stream always favor the Clippers? Yankuai accused the league of taking too good care of the interests of television stations in arranging the fixtures and neglecting the state and rest of the players. He doesn't shy away from believing that the Spurs are the biggest victims, and that the Clippers, Lakers and Cavaliers are clearly taking advantage of the schedule.

"I've never complained about the team's schedule before, whether it's in the regular season or the playoffs," Yankuai said angrily. They designed such a schedule, which can only be said to be ideal for live television, which is a huge sponsor of the league. I don't want to be foolish enough to say that 'the TV broadcast shouldn't affect the schedule', because the TV station is stuffing our purses and everybody sees that. "Well, only the old man in the alliance dares to complain like this, he is capricious.

In the last game, the Dallas Mavericks' defense was under Parker's onslaught and became Maginot. Mavericks center Dampier claimed after the game that he would strengthen his defense and "bring down Parker." His remarks attracted attention, and NBA officials even intervened in the investigation, but in the end he was not fined.

Dampier showed an attitude that the Mavericks will play more tenaciously when they return home. As it turned out, the Mavericks' defense at home was a bit different from the last game, but they didn't need to "bring Parker down."

Nowitzki regained his senses, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter. The Mavericks started the game with a 10-0 run and continued to widen the gap to take a double-digit lead 24-12 with three minutes left in the quarter. Parker continued to break through, but was blocked twice, one of which was given to him by Dampier. Parker also scored 10 points in the first quarter, but the Spurs trailed 16-27.

In the second quarter, the two teams under the high-intensity defense, the shooting percentage dropped, the Mavericks still maintained the advantage, Kidd hit two three-pointers in the second quarter, once helped the team lead by 21 points, the Mavericks ended the first half 46-30.

Nowitzki and Howard hit a lot of shots at the start of the third quarter, but Ginobili and Jamison were on the outside, especially Jamison, who scored 11 points in the third quarter to help the Spurs tie the score at 68-60.

The Mavericks sent Barria and Kidd to partner in the backcourt in the fourth quarter, and with Nowitzki's power, the Mavericks once extended the score to more than 10 points in the middle of the fourth quarter, and with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks led by 12 points at 80:68.

In the last five minutes, the game fell into a high tide, Ginobili scored two consecutive breakthroughs and layups, and the Spurs narrowed the gap 80-72. Terry made a layup and colored, Ginobili broke through again and hit a 3-pointer, and then the Spurs increased their defense, the Mavericks suddenly fell into a scoring drought, Parker's breakthrough made the Mavericks collapse again, and the Spurs overtook the score 8-0. Nowitzki scored four points in a row in the final moments, and the Mavericks overtook by one point. However, Parker hit three more mid-range shots at the critical moment, and the Spurs won the game.

The Mavericks once led by 21 points in this game, but in the face of the Spurs' strong hard power, they could only use this to save face slightly, and this night did not belong to them.

The Spurs' Duncan had 10 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, Parker had 30 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, Ginobili had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and Jamison had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

For the Mavericks, Nowitzki had 25 points and nine rebounds, Howard had 11 points and eight rebounds, Barria had 12 points and seven assists, Terry had 13 points and Kidd had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

It can be seen from the number that the Dallas people are still lacking in hard power this year, and the team has great flaws in the lineup, and being able to fight with the Spurs like this is enough to make the cowboys leave with their heads held high.

At the post-game press conference, a reporter mentioned the past six years ago, when Kidd's contract with the Nets expired and he was about to become a full free agent, he had the opportunity to join the Spurs, and finally the thought made him choose to stay in New Jersey, and he missed the championship.

"It's probably a stupid reason, but at the time I wanted to win a championship with my own efforts, and we had that opportunity in New Jersey, but then the Nets went in a completely different direction." Kidd said with remorse at the moment, "San Antonio did everything right, and I made the wrong choice at a critical moment. ”

Does that mean that if he was given a chance to do it all over again, Kidd wouldn't hesitate to join Duncan?

Kidd replied, "They've won two championships since then, and if I had gone, I would have gotten a ring." ”

From Kidd's point of view, this is true. But for the Spurs, if they had brought in Kidd, would it have been the right choice? Look at Tony. Parker's table in this series, even if we can't conclude that he is the best player for the Spurs, but considering the fact that Duncan only scored 10 points in the third game, the Spurs can still win, you can't deny the importance of the Frenchman to this team. (To be continued)