The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 349 No Miracle
Harden hit Butler in a single, continuously changing direction on the crotch and then stepping back for three-pointers. Although he took an extra step under his feet, it still looked so smooth that the referee didn't notice it.

The basketball bypassed Butler's finger and flew straight into the basket!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With this goal scored, 81:72, the Rockets narrowed the point difference to less than 10 points.

The second game of the two-team series is still held in the Golden One Arena, and the game is in the fourth quarter.

After the disastrous defeat in the first series, Harden was mobilized and attacked. All kinds of verbal criticism made people think that Harden could only play CBA!
In fact, it's no wonder that the fans complained. In such an important game, Harden made 17 of 3 shots and only scored 13 points.

Among them, the second and fourth quarters were 1 pointless.

Even if you send out 10 assists, but facing a strong opponent like the Kings, if you are the team's top scorer, who will be scolded if you are not scolded?

Could it be that you expect your teammates to come down to earth to save you?
However, Harden is not an ordinary star after all, and his strength does not allow him to stretch his hips for two consecutive games.

Sure enough, in the second game, Harden broke out!
Harden played like Jordan tonight, scoring all kinds of points, no matter how Butler defends, Harden will always have a way to put the ball into the basket.

It's a pity that, despite this, the Rockets are still behind.

In the fourth quarter, Harden's god-level performance is needed to ensure that the point difference will not expand!
When it was the Kings' turn to attack, I saw Giannis holding the ball to head off Anderson, rushing into the interior for a one-handed dunk. The goal was quite easy, just like the Rockets were undefended.

There is no way, the Rockets really tried their best, but their lineup has flaws, especially the fourth position. Anderson's defense is so poor that he can't match Giannis at all, and Giannis suddenly became a sieve.

But this is already the Rockets' best No. [-] position. Except for Anderson, other people have no way to defend. At least Anderson still has height.

Seeing that the point difference returned to 11 points, Harden dribbled the ball to the frontcourt again, ready to regain his strength and narrow the point difference again.

This time, he did not choose singles, but called Capela to pick and roll.

Harden, who is destined to play more than 40 minutes tonight, has already bottomed out at this time. If he expects him to play endless singles, it is better to start the game in advance!

Facing the pick-and-roll from Capela and Harden, Li Pu and Butler chose to switch defenses.

Although it is a misplacement, Capela, who can only go down, can't stand Butler at all.

Now Butler is a top defensive player, and his first defense this season is almost a certainty. Everyone thinks that he is definitely a DPOY-level defender. It's a pity that he met Li Pu, just like Pippen.

Harden also knows this very well, so he didn't choose to pass the ball, but let his teammates open up space, and he was going to use the dislocation to single out Li Pu.

Although Li Pu defends well, he is a center after all. This kind of misplacement has always been Harden's favorite.

However, when it comes to fighting, Harden doesn't have much of an advantage. After all, Li Pu's footwork is at the small forward level, not much slower than Harden after gaining weight.

So, when Harden saw that he couldn't get rid of Li Pu through continuous changes of direction, he chose to take a three-pointer step back again.

It's still a familiar recipe and a familiar taste, but this time, when Harden made a shot, he got a hard hit from the hot pot.

Li Pu's defensive area is really terrifying!

Whether it is breadth or height, it is beyond common sense.

After the block was completed, the basketball flew to the backcourt, and Li Pu ran away before Harden, chasing the basketball.

Although Harden also chased back immediately, he failed to catch up with Li Pu.

In this way, he watched Li Pu dunk easily after seeing the ball, and the point difference further widened!
No, this game is gone!

There is no hope anymore!

Although there are more than 4 minutes before the end of the game, and the point difference is only 13 points, Harden is very clear that this round did not bite the point difference, and the game is almost a foregone conclusion.

With the strength of the Kings, it is impossible to give the Rockets a chance to comeback!
Sure enough, the final score was fixed at 103:92, and the Kings beat the Rockets by 11 points at home.

Harden scored 28 points on 14 of 43 shots tonight, but unfortunately, he still couldn't lead the team to victory.

Not only that, the Rockets only had 8 people in rotation tonight. They played to the extreme what they could do, but they just couldn't win.

For a while, all Houston fans were desperate!
They really can't think of any other way for the team to beat the Kings?
On May 5, the two sides moved to Houston for the third contest.

The Rockets, who have fallen behind 0:2, are now in a last stand. If they lose this game again, there will be no chance in this round of the series, because no team in the NBA has ever been able to complete a comeback in the case of 0:3 !
Therefore, tonight's Rockets team is united, and the whole team has shown amazing momentum.

After Harden broke through, he gave the ball to Gordon on the outside. The latter directly chose to shoot one step away from the three-point line.

With a super long three-pointer, the Rockets once again overtook the score!

Tonight's Rockets are extremely accurate in three-pointers, and not just one, but everyone!

No matter how the Kings defend, even if they have to defend their faces with their hands, they still can't prevent the Rockets from hitting a three-pointer.

Although Lip then used a mid-range shot to help the Kings tie the score again, but immediately after, Anderson received a pass from Ariza and hit a three-pointer again!
The Rockets are actually expanding the point difference!
Of course, the Kings wouldn't just give up so easily, and then Middleton's three-pointer snatched the victory that the Rockets were about to get back.

But then, Harden broke through for a layup and caused a foul by Giannis while scoring. With a free throw, it became a "2+1".

After that, as Bledsoe missed a three-pointer, the Rockets finally won the game with difficulty.

At 125:124, the Rockets narrowly beat the Kings and won the victory with difficulty, tying the series to 2:1.

In this campaign, the Rockets were able to win entirely because of their three-pointers.

The Rockets made 43 of 19 three-pointers in the game, and their shooting percentage was as high as 44.2%.

Although they lost a game, the whole Kings team was very calm. After all, the Rockets couldn't be so accurate in every game.

Sure enough, in the ensuing game, the Rockets never made such a three-pointer again.

Especially in the fifth game, the Rockets made 40 three-pointers again, but only hit 13 of them. This performance allowed them to score only 75 points and lost 75:114.

The magic ball can not only kill the enemy, but also kill yourself!
In this way, the Kings finally eliminated the Rockets 4:1 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

And their opponent, no surprise, is Yu Yuyong!
(End of this chapter)