Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

On one side are Chris Paul, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, and Clint Capela.

On one side are Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Kyle Anderson (the Rockets also have an Anderson, Ryan Anderson), and Lopez.

The starting lineups of both sides stood together, looked at each other, and saw a fierce fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

First the jump ball.

Capela touched the basketball first and hit the ball to the backcourt. Paul controlled the basketball and then launched an attack. When he reached the frontcourt, he dribbled the ball with one hand and directed traffic with the other. He seemed very dull facing Holiday's defense. The title of "King of Point Guards" is not exaggerated, even if he is an old point guard king.

Holiday rushed forward and covered Paul with his arms.

"Pick and roll."

Capela came up to screen and Paul took the opportunity to get rid of it, but his eyes were fixed on Capela, and he cut into the inside after Capela blocked it. Capela's speed is much faster than Lopez. At this time, Lopez went to the line to delay and could no longer block Capela.

The Lakers can only shrink their defense.

However, Paul did not pass the ball to Capela. Although his eyes were on Capela, the ball was passed to the left corner outside the three-point line and given to Tucker.

Tucker took a three-pointer as soon as he received the ball.

The Rockets are a three-point team and they took a lot of three-pointers last season.

After Paul and Tucker joined this season, they took more three-pointers, averaging 42.3 three-pointers per game, accounting for half of their total shots (the Rockets averaged only 84.2 shots per game this season).

This is extremely exaggerated. Half of the team's shots are three-pointers, which is much more than the Warriors. The Warriors only averaged 28.9 three-pointers per game this season.

So at the beginning, the Rockets did not play a simple pick-and-roll, but a three-point tactic.

If Capela has a chance, Paul will naturally give it to him, but if Capela does not have a chance after cutting in, Paul will pass the ball to his teammates outside the three-point line and let his teammates shoot three-pointers.

The Lakers were actually aware of this, but the game had just begun and the players had not yet fully entered the game, so Tucker seized the opportunity and made the three-pointer.

The score became 3:0.

"Watch out for their three-point shots..."

"Defend against three-pointers!"

"Give him back one..."

in the audience.

Some fans who support the Lakers shouted at the court. Some reminded the Lakers to defend the Rockets' three-pointers. Some shouted at the court, asking the Lakers to shoot another three-pointer. You know, the Lakers' three-pointers are also very powerful. In the previous series with the Warriors, both sides fought back and forth in three-pointers. They may not lose to the Rockets.

Lakers offense.

After Holiday pushed the ball to the frontcourt, he glanced at Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu nodded at him, then ran back to Holiday to ask for the ball. Holiday immediately passed the ball to him.

As soon as they saw Zhuang Yu catching the ball, the Rockets fans couldn't help but become nervous. Ariza, who was responsible for defending Zhuang Yu, even had his eyelids twitching. He hurriedly followed and launched an oppressive defense.

Capela behind was also ready to provide backup defense. Once Zhuang Yu passed Ariza, he would be the first to go up and provide backup defense.

Zhuang Yu first took a tentative step, then suddenly retracted his foot, slapped the basketball with his left hand and broke through to the left.

Ariza quickly moved sideways and retreated, and then Zhuang Yu changed direction in front of his body, switched the ball to his right hand, paused for a moment, and lowered his right shoulder.

Ariza retreated again and subconsciously opened his hands.

However, Zhuang Yu did not break through. At the moment of pause, he suddenly picked up the ball, grabbed the basketball, jumped up, and made a direct pull-up shot.

"Shh!"

There was a soft sound, and the basketball hit the net.

Ariza frowned.

This ball was neither a three-pointer nor a breakthrough, but a pull-up mid-range shot after a change of direction, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

After scoring the goal, Zhuang Yu glanced at Ariza and smiled contemptuously.

The opponent wants to defend his three-pointer to force him to break through, and then Capela will make up for it, and the others will also shrink the defense line.

This is not a secret, nor is it difficult to guess, because the Rockets have no other good way to limit him.

However, how the Rockets defend is up to the Rockets, and Zhuang Yu may not do as they expect.

I just don't play by the rules, what's wrong with that?

In the next few rounds, Ariza defended more carefully, but Zhuang Yu did not play according to common sense at all. He did not even take a single three-pointer and just broke through every time.

At first it was a pull-up shot with a change of direction, then a layup after a breakthrough, and then a turnaround jump shot after a breakthrough... He neither attacked the basket directly nor engaged too much in entanglement with the defensive players. He just took one or two steps forward and then shot in different ways.

Moreover, the moves were not repetitive, which made Ariza and the Rockets players helpless. They didn't know how Zhuang Yu would play and had no way to predict it.

Coach D'Antoni on the sidelines couldn't help but shook his head.

The main reason is that Zhuang Yu has too many ways to score, including three-pointers from the outside, mid-range fadeaways, close-range jump shots, breakthrough layups... basically there is no skill he doesn't know, and his offensive range covers the entire half court. Unless he is double-teamed in advance, it is difficult to limit his one-on-one play.

“The offense was too strong.”

"Yes, Zhuang Yu's offense is really unstoppable. In the previous series against the Warriors, he was able to compete with Durant and even had the upper hand. It is really difficult to defend him."

"Double-team him, don't let him play alone."

The home fans in the audience frowned.

It has only been a short while and Zhuang Yu has already scored 6 points in a row. We can't let him continue to score like this.

The home fans shouted towards the court, asking the Rockets to double-team Zhuang Yu, as only double-teaming could limit Zhuang Yu's scoring.

However, Coach D'Antoni did not want to double-team so early. Did he really think that the other Lakers players were just decorations?

The previous series between the Lakers and the Warriors has proved that the Lakers are not only strong in Zhuang Yu, but also in other players. If the Rockets double-team Zhuang Yu, they will inevitably miss other Lakers players and lose points.

Coach D'Antoni also wanted to try and see if he could use team defense to limit Zhuang Yu as much as possible instead of double-teaming him.

Just from these few rounds, it is unrealistic to use teamwork to limit Zhuang Yu's scoring.

Fortunately, the Rockets' offense also played well.

Paul's ability to control the game is as strong as ever. When he reaches the frontcourt, he will not pass the ball directly to Harden, but will first call a tactic and organize the offense.

When his teammates have a chance, he always passes the ball to them in the first place.

Only when the tactics cannot be implemented and his teammates have no chance at all will he pass the ball to Harden and let Harden solve the problem with his personal ability.

After a few rounds, Zhuang Yu of the Lakers kept scoring, while Harden of the Rockets didn't take many shots. Instead, Tucker and Capela each scored...