Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Soon the second quarter began, and the Lakers sent out a bench lineup consisting of Rose, Clarkson, Kuzma, Nance Jr., and Zubac, with no starters.

The Rockets sent out Eric Gordon, Daniel House, Carmelo Anthony, Gerald Green and Clint Capela, with Capela being the only starter.

In this lineup, the Rockets rely on Gordon, Anthony and Capela. Gordon and Capela's performances are pretty good, but Anthony's performance is average.

With this lineup, the Rockets still threw three-pointers crazily, constantly breaking through and scoring, and then shooting three-pointers from the outside. Capela was responsible for fighting for rebounds and could also grab a rebound if he had the chance.

Gordon, House, Anthony, and Gerald Green are all able to shoot three-pointers, and they did make three three-pointers, one for Gordon, one for House, and one for Green.

But the Lakers are also scoring.

Rose's breakthrough, Clarkson's singles, Kuzma's three-pointer...

For a while, the two sides were evenly matched.

"Hey, Anthony is still not in good shape today."

"After all, he is not the same Anthony anymore."

"yes......"

Some fans were discussing and felt a little disappointed.

It was thought that the Rockets' introduction of Anthony this season was a good reinforcement. However, Anthony's performance in the ten games he played with the Rockets was somewhat disappointing. He only averaged 7.6 points per game, a significant drop compared to his performance with the Thunder last season.

Of course, this has to do with the Rockets' tactical system.

Last season, Anthony complained more than once when he was on the Thunder that he did not have the ball, as the ball was in the hands of Westbrook and George.

There were even reports that he had a conflict with Westbrook in the locker room, accusing Westbrook of only knowing how to improve his own stats.

When he came to the Rockets, Anthony found that the situation was similar to that of the Thunder.

Although there is Paul who can pass the ball, the absolute core of the Rockets is Harden, who is the soul of the team. Harden's playing style this season is almost exactly the same as the season when Westbrook won the regular season MVP.

Harden needs a lot of ball possession, Paul also needs the ball, and even Eric Gordon in the bench lineup also needs a lot of ball possession.

As a result, Anthony's role positioning has become somewhat awkward, and his role in the team has been reduced a lot. Last season, he was a starter for the Thunder, but this season he has been a substitute more often for the Rockets.

Even among the substitutes, the core is not him, but Eric Gordon.

He was once the league's top small forward and an offensive kaleidoscope.

Now he has become an outside three-point shooter, with almost no ball possession. He just waits for an opportunity to receive the ball outside the three-point line and shoots three-pointers directly.

This style of play is naturally not what Anthony likes or is used to. He is trying to adjust himself and adapt himself to the new role, but obviously this takes time.

At least for now he has not been able to adjust, and what he shows is that he cannot get the ball, and even if he receives the ball and shoots directly, the effect is not good.

"boom!"

There was another muffled sound, and Anthony's three-pointer missed.

On the other hand, Rose of the Lakers took advantage of the pick-and-roll to break through and made a folding pull-up layup in the air. The contrast between the two formed a strong contrast.

The Rockets' new player Anthony has become a three-point shooter with an unstable hit rate, while the Lakers' new player Rose has played very well.

This makes it even more obvious that the Rockets are inferior to the Lakers.

After a few minutes, the gap between the two sides further widened.

The Lakers have led by 13 points.

Coach D'Antoni called a timeout and began to replace the main players. Anthony was also substituted. Anthony lowered his head and looked a little depressed.

The reason why he chose to join the Rockets after the buyout was for the championship, but the current situation is hard for him to accept.

He didn't come to the Rockets to be an ordinary rotation player, nor to be a substitute for a substitute. He wanted to make a difference.

As a former All-Star player and one of the league's top small forwards, he has his own pride.

But perhaps this is the reason why Anthony performed poorly.

He has his own playing style and habits, and he has his own pride. It is too difficult for him to completely transform himself and adapt to a new role and become a blue-collar player.

What is a blue collar player?

It's all about plug and play. You may not know a lot of things, but at least one thing is reliable.

For example, when shooting a basketball, you won’t have a lot of ball in your hands. You can’t hold the ball and create opportunities by yourself, nor will you have the chance to get the ball and slowly find your touch. You can only wait for others to pass the ball to you, and then you have to shoot when you receive the ball, and you have to make it.

PJ Tucker is a very good blue-collar player.

He doesn't need the ball, has a good three-point shot, and is also very good on the defensive end. He has enough size and defensive aggressiveness to not only defend the 3rd position, but even the 4th position.

Anthony may not be inferior to Tucker on the offensive end, but he is obviously not as good as Tucker on the defensive end. He is not good at defense, and his age is there. His movement speed, reaction speed, physical fitness, etc. are not as good as when he was young.

After this substitution, Harden of the Rockets attacked more resolutely.

Coach D'Antoni had just told him that the Lakers are very strong, extremely strong, especially the Lakers' defense.

This limits the performance of other players on the Rockets side. It may not be easy for them to perform well and rain three-pointers like they did against other teams.

So it's up to Harden to step up and use his personal abilities to open up the situation.

"Pick and roll."

Harden called for a pick-and-roll, and when Capela came up for the screen, Harden immediately got rid of him, then broke through decisively, holding the ball and rushing towards the basket.

At this time, Lopez, Anderson and Zhuang Yu all returned to the court. Anderson went up to defend and subconsciously reached out to cut the ball, but Harden took the opportunity to lift it up.

beep!

The referee blew the whistle and gave Anderson a foul.

Anderson was a little depressed. It was obvious that Harden was trying to scam him, but there was no point in being depressed because the referee would not change the decision.

Zhuang Yu came over and patted Anderson on the shoulder: "Let's shrink our defense later. Be careful not to attack. Put your hands up."

Anderson smiled bitterly and said, "It would be very passive to defend like that."

Zhuang Yu smiled: "It's okay."

......

Harden made both free throws.

In the next round, when the Rockets attacked, Harden still broke through with the pick-and-roll, but the Lakers quickly shrank their defense. Lopez came to help defend, with his hands raised high, standing just outside the three-second zone, neither blocking nor rushing forward.

Harden smiled coldly and threw it with one hand.

Swish!

There was a soft sound and the ball was scored.

The ball looked like a pass and also like a lob, which was really hard to judge. Lopez didn't dare to rush into it for fear of being scammed again.

But before the home fans had time to be happy, the Lakers launched a counterattack.

After reaching the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu received the ball and called for a pick-and-roll, and after the defense switched, Harden became the one defending him.

Harden looked serious and frowned.

Zhuang Yu smiled coldly and said, "I just want to fight you alone. If you have the guts, don't hide. Fight me alone later."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a cross step, then suddenly retreated, back to a position one meter outside the three-point line, and took a three-point shot directly.