NBA Old Age Star System

In the first quarter of the game between the Rockets and the Lakers, the Lakers had an obvious advantage. In addition, this is the Lakers' home court, and the overall morale is all on the Lakers' side.

In the first few rounds, the Lakers were obviously taking advantage of their inside position to attack the Rockets.

In the next few rounds, the Lakers continued to implement this strategy.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers led the Rockets by 32 points 24-8.

In the second quarter, both sides began to make substitutions and adjustments. Su Tian came off the court to rest, while only Westbrook came off the court for the Rockets.

D'Antoni is famous for his lack of rotation. He doesn't like to put too many people on the court and likes to always use the main force.

In this case, the Rockets began to chase points in the second quarter.

With the continuous performance of Gordon and Harden, they did catch up with some scores, but George struggled to maintain the lead.

Walton watches the form on the field while keeping an eye out for dead-ball opportunities.

Finally, taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, Walton took Su Tian up again.

As soon as Su Tian came on the court, he held the ball to the basket and hit a layup, immediately stabilizing the situation.

Upon seeing this, D'Antoni also made a substitution, asking Westbrook to replace Harden and giving Harden a short rest for a few minutes.

Harden played again before the end of the second quarter, but the point difference was already very stable at this time, and it was very difficult for Harden to chase points.

At the end of the first half, 61-50, the Lakers led the Rockets by 11 points to end the first half.

"Guys, we have to work harder in the third quarter and try to catch up with the score. The third quarter is our last chance. I think everyone doesn't want to face SU in the fourth quarter with a lagging score!"

In the Rockets locker room, D'Antoni was arranging tactics while pouring chicken soup to his players.

However, although D'Antoni's wave of chicken soup was not very good, it also made Harden and others understand the importance of the third quarter.

Soon, the halftime break ended and the two sides took the field again.

"To be honest Kenny, I don't think the Rockets have much chance in the second half." Barkley said.

"Why? The Rockets' three-pointers are so powerful. If the three-pointers are opened in the second half, it is normal for the Lakers to be unable to withstand it." Kenny Smith said.

"Of course I know that the Rockets' three-pointers are great, but you have to know that the Rockets' defense is basically useless against the Lakers' Big Three. No matter whether the Rockets can make three-pointers or not, the Lakers' offense cannot be stopped."

"If the Rockets want to chase points, they still have to find a way to contain the Lakers' offense, and they have to start from the defensive end."

At this time, the players from both sides took the field again, and as expected, they were all starting players.

The first possession of the third quarter was given to the Rockets, and Westbrook came to the frontcourt with the ball.

Westbrook passed the ball directly to Harden on the side.

Harden caught the ball and faced Su Tian's defense.

In the first half, whenever Harden faced Su Tian with the ball, the singles effect was not good, and sometimes he could not break through Su Tian's defense even with the help of pick-and-rolls.

Harden wanted to try again in the second half.

Harden first dribbled the ball from his hips, then made a breakthrough fake move with an explosion, and then retreated to the three-point line.

Su Tian was not shaken by Harden's fake move and was still in front of Harden, so Harden used his strength again, this time to break through from the left.

Seeing this, Su Tian quickly followed. As expected, this time it was a real breakthrough.

Su Tian followed up very quickly, and Harden could only hold up Su Tian's defense while holding the ball towards the basket.

After coming to the basket, Harden used a European step that he hadn't used for a long time.

One step, two steps. At this time, Harden still did not have a suitable shooting space.

But at this time Harden had to take action again, so he could only raise the angle of the shot in order to hit the ball.

boom--

boom--

Unfortunately, the basketball bounced out of the frame after two consecutive bangs.

Thick Eyebrow collected the rebound and passed the ball directly to George at the three-point line.

George caught the ball and turned around to start the fast break mode. The Rockets returned to defense very quickly, and George's fast break was blocked.

Therefore, fast attack can only fall into positional warfare.

George passed the ball to Su Tian, ​​who faced Harden.

Su Tian made the same move as Harden at this time, first dribbling from the hip, then breaking through from the right side with an explosion, and then connected with a step back to return to the three-point line.

Although Su Tian's offensive moves are exactly the same as Harden's, Harden cannot keep up with the defense like Su Tian.

So Su Tian got enough space on the three-point line to shoot directly.

Swah——

Hit a three-pointer steadily.

"Actually, it can be seen from this goal that there is still a big gap between James Harden and Su, especially on the defensive end." Barkley said.

"Charles, what you said seems to be nonsense, Su was the dpoy last season!" Kenny Smith said.

After Su Tian hit the three-pointer, the point difference between the Lakers and Rockets became wider and wider, and the pressure on the Rockets to chase points also increased.

Halfway through the third quarter, the point difference had reached 18 points. Walton took advantage of the dead ball to take Su Tian to rest.

The Rockets still maintain a point-chasing lineup, even though several main players are sweating.

After Su Tian left the field, Harden's eyes lit up. Harden knew that this was the right time for the Rockets to chase points, but unfortunately, there was not much time.

The Rockets had the ball. Gordon came to the frontcourt with the ball and passed it to Harden.

Harden got the ball and faced Nunn's defense. He dribbled the ball from his hip and shot a three-pointer directly.

bang - swish -

The basketball bounces off the rim and into the net.

"Oh? Harden hit a three-pointer, are the Rockets going to start chasing points?" Kenny Smith said.

"Time is running out, but this is indeed a suitable time. It depends on whether the Rockets can seize it." Barkley responded.

At this time, the Lakers are led by George and Brunson. Compared with the combination of Su Tian and Nongmei, the combat effectiveness has indeed declined, but it still cannot be underestimated.

George came to the frontcourt with the ball, changed direction and went directly to the inside.

Upon seeing this, Tucker immediately double-teamed. George did not pass the ball, but forced a layup against the double-team of the two.

boom--

drop--

The basketball shot missed, but it also caused Tucker's defensive foul.

George stepped to the free throw line and made two free throws.

Thanks to George's performance, although the Rockets still maintained the momentum of chasing points, they were also well contained.

But just as the third quarter was about to end, the Rockets' three-pointers suddenly exploded.

Gordon, Tucker, and Covington each hit a three-pointer.

At the end of the third quarter, the score difference was chased to 12 points.

Although the Rockets' momentum was strong at this time, the fans at Staples still had full confidence in the Lakers.

Soon the fourth quarter started, and Su Tian led the substitute lineup.

A double-digit point difference was an insurance policy for Su Tian in the fourth quarter.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the ball was given to the Lakers, and Su Tian came to the frontcourt with the ball.After arriving in the frontcourt, Su Tian didn't care at all who was the defender in front of him. He broke through and rushed to the basket, easily hitting the basket.

When Su Tianzhong looked back, he realized that it was Westbrook who was defending him.

"Hey Russell, are you guarding behind me?"

After Su Tian said that, he turned around and left without giving Westbrook a chance to talk back.

Westbrook didn't react until Su Tian turned around and walked two steps away. Su Tian was saying that his defense was too slow and he couldn't keep up.

The ball was transferred and Westbrook came to the frontcourt with the ball.

At this time, Harden was resting off the court, and Westbrook was naturally the main force of the Rockets' output, so Su Tian also consciously defended in front of Westbrook.

Seeing Su Tianlai defending him, Westbrook also became more vigilant.

So Westbrook called his teammates to come up and cooperate with the pick-and-roll. With the help of the pick-and-roll, Westbrook directly broke through and rushed to the basket.

Su Tian moved quickly, bypassing the pick-and-roll and wrapping up again. Westbrook's breakthrough was blocked by Su Tian just as it started.

In panic, Westbrook's dribbling showed a loophole, and Su Tian quickly attacked and directly completed the steal.

"Steal! Sue stole Russell!"

After stealing the ball, Su Tian went straight to the basket with the ball.

Westbrook's reaction speed was still very fast, and he immediately turned around to chase Su Tian. Su Tian was very fast, and Westbrook gritted his teeth and followed behind Su Tian.

The two of them came to the front basket one after another. Su Tian glanced behind him when collecting the ball.

He found that Westbrook was still some distance away from him, so he took off and dunked successfully.

Seeing Su Tian choose to finish with a dunk, Westbrook had no choice but to stop and give up the opportunity to chase the big block.

In the next few rounds, the fans at the scene could clearly see that there was an irreversible gap between the Rockets led by Westbrook and the Lakers led by Su Tian.

So D'Antoni had to call a timeout.

"James, how are you feeling? Can you play?"

James Harden nodded as he wiped his body with a towel.

"I'm a good coach and can play."

So taking advantage of the timeout, D'Antoni rearranged the lineup and arranged corresponding tactics.

The timeout soon ended and both sides took the field again.

At this time, Harden came on the court, and the Rockets' combat effectiveness increased, but due to Harden's physical strength, the increase was limited.

The Rockets had the ball, and Westbrook came to the frontcourt with the ball. He found that Su Tian ran to defend Harden, so he started to attack with the ball.

This time without Su Tian's interference, Westbrook used the pick-and-roll to directly break through and rush to the basket for a layup.

"Okay, although Harden has not contributed much at present, he has attracted Su Tian's defense, which can release Westbrook's offense." Barkley said.

"Yes, and no matter how much strength Harden has left, I don't think the Lakers will let him go easily. I guess Su Tian thinks the same way." Kenny Smith said.

The ball rights changed, the Lakers had the ball, and Su Tian came to the frontcourt with the ball.

After arriving in the frontcourt, Su Tian and Nongmei cooperated to assist Nongmei for a dunk.

The Lakers' offense seemed very relaxed, and the Rockets' defense didn't seem to have any impact on the Lakers.

After a few rounds, the double-digit point difference did not change much, and the Rockets' three-pointers were suppressed by the Lakers and failed to surge.

Four minutes before the end of the game, D'Antoni changed into the entire starting lineup and wanted to give it a try.

So at D'Antoni's signal, the Rockets began to shoot three points without limit.

A large number of shots did allow the Rockets to hit a few, but the overall hit rate was not high.

On the defensive end, the Rockets still can't solve the Lakers' Big Three.

In the end, the game ended and the Lakers won the game 122-108.

Su Tian scored 44 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals and was named the best player in the game.

Thick Eyebrow had a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds, while George had a regular 20+ figure.

For the Rockets, Harden scored 22 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. The data seemed pretty good, but due to the impact of Su Tian's defense, the shooting rate was barely over 30%.
Westbrook had a near-triple-double with 23 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, but the problem was the same as Harden's, his shooting percentage was not high.

At this point, the first game of the series between the two teams ended, with the Lakers leading 1-0.

After the game, Su Tian and Harden hugged and greeted each other.

"Su, wait, I will definitely win the next game."

"James, why do I feel that you have said this sentence several times, please let me say this sentence anytime."

"roll!"

On the other side, Westbrook and George also hugged each other.

"Hey, Russell, I'm sorry, but this year's championship is probably mine."

"Paul, don't be too happy. We've just played one game, and we still don't know who will advance in the end!"

"Okay, the next one is waiting for you!"

The day after the first game between the Rockets and the Lakers ended, the game between the Nuggets and the Clippers also started on time.

It's still Staples Arena, but the difference is that the home court is the Clippers.

This matchup between the Nuggets and Clippers is more interesting than the showdown between the Rockets and the Lakers.

The Nuggets have an obvious advantage inside, while the Clippers have an obvious advantage on the front line. Both teams have their own strengths. It just depends on who can seize this opportunity better.

Naturally, Su Tian was also paying attention to this game, watching the live broadcast at home.

At the beginning of the game, the Clippers' offense came very fiercely. James and Leonard made repeated attacks, and the Nuggets' forward line was unable to stop them.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led the Nuggets by 11 points thanks to the performance of their two superstars.

In the second quarter, the situation was reversed. Jokic frequently hit the basket, but Zubac could not stop Jokic at all.

After the first half, the Nuggets had overtaken the Clippers, and the Nuggets took the lead.

In the third quarter, the starting lineups of both sides battled again.

This time the two sides played a close match. The Nuggets could not stop the impact of James and Leonard, and the Clippers could not stop Jokic's inside performance.

However, after the fourth quarter, a gap began to appear between the two sides, and the Nuggets began to decline.

Jokic is still unable to defeat two super giants on his own.

Murray on the outside was entangled by Beverley and failed to provide effective help to Jokic.

Su Tian knows that Murray's potential has not yet been fully explored. After Murray fully grows up, it is still unclear who will win against the Clippers.

At the end of the game, the Clippers won the game 116-108.

The 8-point difference appeared halfway through the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets failed to catch up.

The Clippers relied on this 8-point difference to persist until the end of the game.

The Clippers and Nuggets have a big score of 1-0, with the Clippers temporarily taking the lead.

Although both teams in Los Angeles led 1-0, the Clippers did not show the same absolute suppression as the Lakers.

It's still not clear who will advance in this matchup between the Clippers and Nuggets. (End of chapter)