NBA: Starting with the undercut by Parker and Bowen

"Beep!"

The referee blew the whistle, and the ball went out of bounds after the defending player number 21 touched it last. It was a ball in the attacking third near the goal line.

The call was correct; the ball was indeed blocked out of bounds by Yang Lin.

Rasheed Wallace stood under the basket, slightly turning his head to look at the referee, silently waiting for his next call.

And then... that was it.

When the referee called for the Pistons players to inbound the ball from the baseline, Wallace's expectant expression immediately froze.

He was getting anxious and asked the referee with a puzzled look, "Sir, where's the T? Where's the technical foul?"

The referee was taken aback by his shout, looking completely bewildered, and asked, "Technical foul? What technical foul?"

Wallace jumped up and down, waving his hands excitedly as he replied:

"I just blocked his shot and yelled at him, and you gave me a T; now he blocked me and yelled at me again, shouldn't you give him a T in return?"

Is there such a thing?

The referee scratched his head and thought for a moment.

Probably, maybe, it seems that two minutes ago, I did call a technical foul on Rashid Wallace.

But what is the relationship between the two?

He doesn't think that he praised him just because he yelled after blocking the shot, does he?

Of course, the technical foul was indeed related to his yelling, since his shouting had a provocative tone.

But the main reason is that you were yelling so loudly, you bitch.

I was standing next to you when you gave me a huge fright. I thought you were going to start a fight at the drop of a hat!

Although Yang Da Mao also yelled, he didn't say anything provocative. He's handsome, so why should I praise him?

Rashid Wallace: Fine! Fine! So you're being appearance-based, huh?

Referee: You talk as if you don't discriminate based on appearance. When you go out to have fun, don't you also look for people with good figures and pretty faces?

Recalling the previous technical foul call, the referee briefly explained to Wallace:

"There are some differences between the two, they cannot be compared. Now please serve and continue the game."

Upon hearing the referee's explanation, Wallace became enraged, strode aggressively toward the referee while shouting excitedly:

"How is it different? Aren't they both just taunts after a big hat-trick?"

"You sons of bitches of referees, you just have a problem with me, you're always picking on me and giving me technical fouls."

Upon hearing this, the referee stared intently, considering whether he should issue another technical foul to demonstrate his authority as the referee on the court.

When Billups saw his old teammate acting crazy again, he immediately went up and hugged him, covering his mouth to stop him from speaking further.

He smiled apologetically at the referee and said, "Excuse me, sir! Please don't take it to heart. He's a bit thoughtless; he speaks without thinking. Please understand! Please understand!"

After saying that, he patted Wallace's head and whispered some words of advice:

"Rashid, calm down! You already have one technical foul. If the referee gives you another one, you'll be ejected."

It took Rashid Wallace a while to calm down.

As the Pistons prepared to inbound the ball from the baseline, the referee casually remarked to him again, "Rasheed, those two block shouts were really different."

"If you are unhappy with my calls, you can watch the videos of both calls after the game. If you still have different opinions, I welcome your feedback to the league."

Wallace pursed his lips and silently served the ball from the baseline.

Hmph! Feedback to the alliance? What good is that?

I don't care about my own technical fouls!

If it really is my fault, then what should I do?

As long as I don't watch the video, you will never be able to convince me, and your officiating is an attempt to frame me.

Pah! A bunch of trolls.

The game continued, and shortly after Big Hat Tianzun got his revenge, Yang Lin was replaced by Hyde by Adelman.

Although he only played for nine minutes in the first quarter, Yang Lin already had several bloody marks on his arms.

The first quarter was fiercely contested between the two teams. At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led the home team Pistons 19-16 by three points.

It's worth mentioning that the Rockets' free throw percentage in the first quarter was simply below the minimum acceptable level.

The Rockets were awarded 7 free throws in the quarter, but only made 1 of them, for a free throw percentage of 14.3% in the quarter.

姚明2罚0中，麦迪2罚0中，杨林3罚1中。

Fortunately, Rasheed Wallace's technical foul gave the Rockets a free throw, which Yang Lin converted.

Otherwise, the Rockets would go 0-for-6 from the free-throw line, resulting in an embarrassing 0% free-throw percentage in a single quarter.

Yang, Yao, and McGrady frequently missed free throws, but the high-intensity competition in the first quarter did not seem to affect their shooting.

姚明4投3中，单节拿到6分5篮板；麦迪3投2中单节拿到4分；杨林3投2中，三分球1中1，单节拿到5分2助攻。

火箭受影响最大的是角色球员，巴蒂尔首节2中0；威尔考克斯首节4中1，海德替换上场之后3中1。

After the game started, the Pistons actively increased their physicality, which seemed to backfire in the first quarter.

Although the Rockets' role players didn't perform well, their three core players did well... except for free throws.

On the Pistons' side, apart from Chauncey Billups, everyone else's performance was disastrous.

华莱士4中1，汉密尔顿3中1，麦克戴斯4中1，普林斯2中0，替补球员合计甚至没有得到哪怕1分。

Only the clutch player was reliable, single-handedly carrying the home team, the Pistons, in the first quarter. He went 3-for-5 from the field, 1-for-1 from three-point range, and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line, scoring 10 points in the quarter alone.

Yang Lin actually tried his best on defense in the first quarter.

But some people's attacks are illogical; they're just randomly shooting, yet they still manage to score.

At this moment, Yang Lin seemed to understand a little of the helplessness that LeBron James experienced in last season's finals.

During the second quarter rotation, the Rockets continued with two starters and three substitutes, with Yang Lin and Wilcox leading Head, Barnes, and Scola.

Pistons head coach Flip Saunders was bold, opting for a starter with four substitutes.

Despite a poor performance in the first quarter, Rasheed Wallace still took to the court, leading Jason Maxiell, Jarvis Hayes, Arron Afflalo, and Ronald Murray.

Surprisingly, in the second quarter, the Pistons' rotation lineup actually performed quite well.

Without Yao Ming protecting the rim, Wallace and Maxiell completely overpowered the Rockets' paint, which was guarded by Wilcox and Scola.

First, Wallace scored five points in a row with a 2+1 play and a mid-range jumper;

Maxie then grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home with a dunk, followed by another offensive rebound and a strong 2+1 play, scoring five more points in a row.

After a four-minute rotation, the Pistons went on a 10-3 run against the Rockets, taking a 26-22 lead.

With Yao Ming back, the Rockets' advantage in the paint was immediately restored.

At 7 minutes and 50 seconds, it was the Pistons' first offensive possession since Yao Ming's return.

Ronald Murray challenged Yao Ming in the paint after a screen, but Yao Ming didn't hold back and blocked his shot with a powerful block.

A little over a minute later, Maxie received a pass from McDyess and tried to dunk under the basket, but was blocked by Yao Ming.

With 3 minutes and 11 seconds left, Prince cut inside to receive the ball and attempted a floater, but Yao Ming, who was on timely defensive possession, delivered a powerful block, marking his third block of the quarter.

Thanks to Yao Ming's inside advantage, when Yang Lin was substituted back into the game with 3 minutes and 15 seconds left, the Rockets had already regained the lead at 34-31.

Of course, Yao Ming wasn't the only one who contributed to the Rockets' 12-5 run.

Yao Ming contributed defensively, while the offensive advantage came from the contributions of T-Mac, another key player on the court.

In just over four minutes, McGrady scored 8 points on 4 of 7 shots.

Winning points isn't scary; the one who's missing is the one who's embarrassed.

Clearly, Yang Lin was the one who felt awkward this time.

Because he was in good form, even though Yang Lin returned to the court, McGrady still asked Yang Lin for the ball for a one-on-one attack during the Rockets' next offensive possession.

Yang Lin naturally had no objections, raised his hand and passed the ball over, while he pulled Billups to the left.

McGrady bent over and held the ball with both hands, looking very relaxed.

But in an instant, he suddenly started moving, rushing towards Prince's left side with lightning speed.

Prince reacted quickly, immediately shifting his weight to the left and blocking the left rear direction with his left foot.

Seeing this, McGrady pulled the ball back and shifted his weight to the left...

Before he could finish the movement, McGrady stumbled with his left leg and fell to his left rear, letting out a cry of pain.

On the left side of the arc, Yang Lin watched the same similar scene repeat itself three times in just over a month, and his anger and frustration immediately surged up in his chest.

He couldn't help but yell in Chinese, "Damn it! Is this never going to end?"