Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The game entered the second half.

Originally, fans thought that the second half would be another superstar showdown between Zhuang Yu and Harden, but the result was not the case.

Harden continued to fire at full steam on the offensive end in the second half, but Zhuang Yu did not confront him head-on.

The Lakers started to double-team Harden, making it difficult for Harden to play. He wanted to help the team by scoring like he did in the first half, but facing the double-team and the Lakers' strong overall defense, his offensive efficiency dropped significantly.

But the other Rockets players were unable to step up.

On the other hand, on the Lakers side, Zhuang Yu did not start scoring mode like he did in the second quarter. He was more focused on attracting defense and creating opportunities for his teammates.

Except for Zhuang Yu, the performance of other players on the Lakers was much better than that of the Rockets. Holiday, Lopez, Korver and Anderson all scored.

The Rockets' Harden kept shooting, but his shooting percentage was not high.

The Lakers scored from multiple points. It seemed that each player did not score many points, and no one scored consecutively, but their efficiency was very high.

As time went by, the gap widened further.

Coach D'Antoni shook his head helplessly, called a timeout, and made some adjustments.

After the timeout, Harden changed his playing style and began to create opportunities for his teammates. They were still throwing three-pointers crazily from the outside.

However, the Lakers had already replaced Cunningham and started to switch defense endlessly. Except for Lopez, several players all rushed outside the three-point line and switched defense endlessly, just to not give the Rockets a chance to shoot three-pointers, and would rather let them break through.

At least after the breakthrough, there is Lopez in the interior.

"boom!"

With a dull thud, Tucker's three-pointer missed.

Coach D'Antoni frowned and couldn't help sighing in his heart that the Lakers' defense was indeed too good.

Both the players' individual defensive abilities and their overall defensive abilities are too outstanding, and even somewhat restrain the Rockets.

The Rockets' strengths lie in their three-point shooting and their backcourt combination, while the Lakers' sharpest defense is the backcourt line composed of Zhuang Yu and Holiday.

The Lakers usually play a lineup of one big and four small players. Except for Lopez, the other four players can defend outside the three-point line. After replacing Korver with Cunningham, the defensive disadvantage at the 4rd position is gone.

In this way, the Rockets' backcourt combination will be restricted by the opponent's backcourt defense, and the Rockets' three-pointers will also be restrained by the Lakers' unlimited switching defense.

Unfortunately, the Rockets cannot play a five-small lineup like the Warriors, so they still need Capela to sit on the court to defend in the interior and fight for rebounds.

But Capela is not a space-type inside player.

The Rockets don't have a strong power forward. Tucker played well today, but he is a blue-collar player after all, and it is not realistic to expect him to beat the Lakers.

As for the bench, the Rockets have Eric Gordon, Carmelo Anthony, and Gerald Green, which looks OK, but the Lakers also have Rose, Clarkson and others, and Anthony is not in good shape, and Green's performance is also average, otherwise he would not leave the Lakers.

In short, the Rockets were restrained by the Lakers in terms of lineup.

Make bricks without straw.

The lineup disadvantage made coach D'Antoni very helpless. He did not expect the Rockets to be able to compete with the Lakers in all aspects. He only hoped that the team could compete with the Lakers on offense, but obviously they were unable to do so.

"Maybe we still need time, or further reinforcement..."

Coach D'Antoni thought to himself.

He has already regarded the Lakers as his imaginary enemy, or the biggest competitor, and even ranked them ahead of the Warriors. Because although the Warriors are strong, they are not good at both offense and defense. The Warriors' sharpness is still their offense.

The Rockets are not afraid of this kind of team.

"Bang!"

Just as I was thinking about it, there was another loud noise on the field.

Coach D'Antoni subconsciously turned his head and saw Lopez with both hands on the frame, obviously making another dunk.

Looking at the score again, the gap has been widened to 16 points.

"Hey......"

With a wry smile, Coach D'Antoni called a timeout and began to replace the starting players, gradually replacing them with the substitute players.

Soon, the Rockets replaced their substitute lineup.

Harden and others were sitting on the sidelines, looking a little unhappy.

They were in high spirits and determined to win today's game, but after three quarters they fell behind by 16 points. How could this happen?

What can Coach D'Antoni say?

He could only comfort the players.

......

In a blink of an eye, the third quarter was over.

In the next few minutes, Gordon played well and Anthony's outside shooting also improved. Led by the two of them, the Rockets caught up a little.

But they are still 12 points behind.

Entering the final quarter, the Rockets first sent out a rotation lineup, but this time they failed to gain any advantage.

The two sides fought to a draw.

Coach D'Antoni felt it was acceptable. He looked at the game time and started replacing Harden, Paul, Capela and others.

Even though their lineup was restrained and even though they were behind in the score, they had no intention of giving up as there was still more than half a quarter left.

As soon as he returned to the court, Harden entered the scoring mode, first hitting a three-pointer from the outside, and then throwing the ball after a breakthrough, assisting Capela to dunk. Then Paul also began to exert his strength, switching defense after a pick-and-roll, performing a textbook small-on-big play, and hitting a mid-range jump shot.

But in just a moment, the Rockets narrowed the gap to single digits.

This excited the home fans. Their eyes lit up and they saw hope again. They shouted towards the court and cheered for the Rockets.

"Requesting a substitution."

Coach Scott narrowed his eyes and began to replace the main players.

When he came on the court, Zhuang Yu used the pick-and-roll to switch defense and then played against Harden alone. He took a step-back three-pointer, and it was a fade away, and he made it steadily.

Seeing this situation, Coach D'Antoni rushed to the court and made a gesture.

Several Rockets players nodded in understanding and began to double-team Zhuang Yu.

Since Zhuang Yu's touch is still good, the Rockets have no choice but to go all out.

On one side, he double-teamed Zhuang Yu, while on the other side, he continued to shoot three-pointers on the offensive end.

After a few minutes, the Rockets actually narrowed the gap to only 3 points.

At this time, Coach Scott called a timeout. After the players came off the court, he made some new arrangements and then looked at Zhuang Yu: "I leave it to you."

Zhuang Yu nodded.

......

There was only a little over a minute left in the game and the Lakers were only leading by three points.

After coming onto the court, Holiday advanced with the ball. When he reached the frontcourt, he immediately looked for Zhuang Yu and passed the ball to him.

As soon as they saw Zhuang Yu getting the ball, the Rockets immediately double-teamed him, forcing Zhuang Yu to pass the ball.

Zhuang Yu passed the ball, but then he ran back and cut directly into the inside.

"Hurry up and chase."

"Don't miss anyone, keep a close eye on him..."

The home fans shouted to warn the Rockets players on the field, and several Rockets players quickly took action and chased after Zhuang Yu.

Zhuang Yu circled the inside line, quickly moved to the bottom corner, and stretched out his hand to ask for the ball. His teammate immediately passed the ball to him. Zhuang Yu did not pause after receiving the ball, and adjusted himself in an instant, jumping up with both feet facing the basket. The defender had already caught up with him and pounced fiercely.

However, he was ultimately unable to block the shot because Zhuang Yu's shot was too fast.

The moment he caught the ball, he adjusted his jump, flicked his wrist, and the basketball flew out from his fingertips, drew a beautiful arc, and finally went through the net with a swish.

"Hey......"

There was a groan from the audience.

There is really no way to do this. We have tried our best to defend ourselves, but still failed.

......

Turn around.

The Rockets attacked and the ball was given to Harden.

As a result, the Lakers also double-teamed Harden, who couldn't help but frown. He hesitated for a moment and passed the ball. He planned to learn from Zhuang Yu, passing the ball first, and then using his running position and the cover of his teammates to get rid of it and catch the ball again.

However, Harden is not a player without the ball. He is used to attacking with the ball. After running a lap, he catches the ball and shoots, but it is not in his rhythm point.

boom!

The basketball bounced out of the frame.

Harden was upset. He felt that he had done something stupid. Why did he have to imitate Zhuang Yu? Zhuang Yu was Zhuang Yu and he was himself. Why did he have to be like him?

Now the Rockets are trailing by 5 points, and the Lakers still have the ball.

The Lakers began to waste time. The ball was not given to Zhuang Yu, but passed among Holiday, Anderson and Lopez. It was not given to Zhuang Yu until the last few seconds.

Zhuang Yu raised the ball.

The Rockets players immediately rushed towards Zhuang Yu like frightened birds.

However, this time Zhuang Yu did not shoot the ball himself. Instead, he raised the corner of his mouth and smiled. He made a ground pass with a very tricky angle. The basketball passed through the defenders and flew straight into the inside, and was stuffed into the hands of Lopez.

Bang!

With a loud bang, Lopez dunked with both hands.

"It's over."

"There's no hope now."

The home fans lamented.

Now the score difference became 7 points, and there were only a few dozen seconds left in the game, which was not enough time for the Rockets.

In the last few seconds, the Rockets called a timeout to arrange tactics.

After the timeout, the Rockets successfully scored a goal, but it was only a two-point goal. The Lakers would not give them a three-point chance. The difference between the two sides narrowed to 5 points, but the Rockets could only use the foul tactics and send Holiday to the free throw line.

With Holiday making both free throws, the game completely lost its suspense...

"drop!"

The whole game is over.

The score was 121:117. The Rockets finally made a three-pointer, but it was useless. In the end, they still lost the game by 4 points.

In this game, Harden scored 32 points, plus 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Paul scored 18 points, Gordon scored 19 points, Tucker scored 15 points...

For the Lakers, Zhuang Yu scored 33 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Holiday scored 18 points and 7 assists, Lopez scored 19 points and 10 rebounds, Anderson, Clarkson, Rose, Korver, Kuzma... everyone scored points.