NBA Old Age Star System

Chapter 392: The Clippers dual-core has no cooperation, and the Rockets dual-core Harden is the substitute
After the halftime break, the starting lineups of both sides took the field again.

At the beginning of the second half, the Lakers took the lead, with James and Leonard taking turns holding the ball to attack the inside.

Although the Nuggets have Jokic sitting inside, Jokic is better at offense than defense.

So the Clippers completed the overtake against the Nuggets in just 3 minutes.

However, although the Clippers took the lead at this time, no one thought that the Clippers would always lead, because the two teams had gone ahead countless times in the first half.

Sure enough, in the second half of the third quarter, when James and Leonard slumped, the Nuggets once again showed their tenacity and began to catch up.

Even Barkley in the commentary box couldn't help but admire: "The Nuggets' game really showed the qualities that a team that intends to compete for the championship should possess!"

"Even if the Nuggets don't win this game, even if the Nuggets don't win this series, as long as the Nuggets retain this quality, they will be able to win the championship sooner or later!"

I have to say that Barkley is much more accurate at reading people than Jordan.

At the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets successfully completed the lead and led the Clippers by 3 points.

During the break, James found head coach Rivers.

"Coach, I'm going to play as soon as the fourth quarter starts."

James' tone seemed to be questioning, but in fact it was unquestionable.

"LeBron, don't worry, you will have a chance to play in the fourth quarter, but not at the beginning." Rivers said.

When James heard that he was about to say something more, Rivers immediately spoke again.

"Don't worry, LeBron. No one knows how to play anxious games better than me. I led the Celtics and the Lakers in 7 games."

After speaking, Rivers patted James on the shoulder and asked James to sit back and rest.

James had no choice but to sit back on the bench.

At this time, Leonard next to James suddenly spoke.

"But the Lakers won the seven-game series between the Celtics and the Lakers."

"Huh? Kawhi, are you serious?" James was startled by Leonard's sudden words.

"Yes, in the 09-10 season, the Celtics and Lakers fought in 7 games, and the Lakers won the championship."

"The Celtics won the championship in the 07-08 season, but they only played 6 games, not 7."

James was sitting next to Leonard at this time. It seemed that the two were very close, but James felt that he was so far away from Leonard.

"Kawhi, do you remember all these data?" James asked.

"Of course, isn't that known to all?" Leonard replied with a shrug.

"Then why don't you usually talk about this kind of stuff?"

"Is it necessary? Doesn't everyone know this? Since everyone knows it, what else can I say?"

What Leonard said was reasonable, and James had no chance to refute.

At this time, James was not only surprised by Leonard's abnormal performance, but also surprised by why Rivers was so confident?
He is obviously so ordinary, but why is he so confident?

Soon, the intermission ended and the fourth quarter began.

Unlike the Clippers, the Nuggets took the main lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

As a result, the Nuggets had the upper hand from the beginning. Jokic scored continuously, not only at the basket and in mid-range shots, but also scored three-pointers.

As for the Clippers, although Leonard is also strong, he is fighting alone after all, and it is difficult for him to defeat four hands with two fists.

Seeing that the score difference was about to reach 10 points, James couldn't help but step forward to remind Rivers again.

"Coach, the Nuggets are about to open the point difference to double digits. Let me play."

"Be patient, LeBron, you have to learn to trust your teammates!"

As soon as Rivers finished saying this, Murray hit a three-pointer, and the point difference came to 12 points.

Rivers' expression immediately changed when he saw this, and he stretched out his hand to call a timeout.

Then he turned to look at James and said: "Okay LeBron, your chance has come, go on the court."

James looked at Rivers speechlessly.

During the timeout, Rivers didn't make any special arrangements. He just poured chicken soup after substitutions and adjustments.

But the effect is mediocre. Just look at the calm expressions of James and Leonard.

After James and Leonard both played, the Clippers' situation was indeed stabilized, but if they want to chase points, they still need a scoring point.

Leonard looked at James, and James looked at Leonard.

There was a tacit understanding between the two of them.

"He will help me, we have already confirmed it!"

"It seems that he understands what I mean and just plays with me as the core."

These words came up in their hearts respectively.

So in the next few rounds, Clippers fans found that their two cores had no coordination at all, and they just hit whoever got the ball.

Although the Nuggets don't know what happened to the Clippers at this time, it is obviously beneficial to the Nuggets.

So Murray and Jokic cooperated with each other and worked hard one after another to stabilize the hard-won point difference.

In the end, the game ended and the Nuggets won the game 110-101.

The point difference was not big, only 9 points. After James came on the court, the score difference was even caught up to 3 points.

But this did not affect the Nuggets winning this game.

The Nuggets lead the Clippers 2-1.

Su Tian also watched the entire game.

In Su Tian's view, the Clippers did not lose unjustly. Not only did the core lack coordination, but the head coach did not know the players well enough. At the same time, the positions of Leonard and James were not clear.

The Clippers now have two "kings", but as we all know, a team can only have one "king".

Well, this scene seems familiar.

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

When the Rockets' starting lineup was announced, Su Tian had an unexpected but reasonable feeling.

Harden returned to the team's starting lineup again.

The Rockets also returned to their previous starting lineup, Westbrook, Harden, Gordon, Covington, and Tucker.

The Lakers' starting lineup is still the same as before, Brunson, Su Tian, ​​George, Big Eyebrow, and McGee.

When Su Tian and others walked into the Rockets' home arena, the fans at the scene did not mock the Lakers, but instead encouraged the Rockets and supported Harden.

"James, you are the best!!"

"Refuse to sweep! Refuse to sweep! Refuse to sweep!"

"Rocket! Go, go, go!!!!"

"Harden! MVP! Harden! MVP!"

Before the game started, Su Tian walked to the midfield position and hugged Harden.

"James, what's going on? Can your legs bear it? Don't be brave!"

"Don't worry Su, I'll have no problem beating you up." Su Tian knew that Harden's legs must not have returned to normal, but he just felt like he was holding on.

So after the game started, Su Tian was not polite at all.

Brothers are brothers, and a game is a game.

In the first round, Su Tian held the ball and hit hard, easily breaking through Harden's defense with a burst. Harden wanted to turn around and chase, but his movements were extremely slow compared to Su Tian.

So Su Tian easily reached the basket and scored a layup before the help defense arrived.

2-0
"It seems that Su is not merciful at all. He knew that Harden's leg was uncomfortable, but he went out of his way to beat Harden in isolation." Kenny Smith said.

"That's for sure, the playoffs are the battlefield! There is absolutely no problem with Su doing this! Only by doing this does he show that he is a qualified professional player!" Barkley said sternly.

The ball possession changed and it was the Rockets' turn to attack. Westbrook came to the frontcourt with the ball.

Facing Brunson's defense, Westbrook did not call for a pick-and-roll, but directly shifted into gear and accelerated towards the basket.

Harden is injured, coupled with the impact of Su Tian's defense, his strength is definitely weak. If he wants to win, it still depends on how well Westbrook and others perform.

Westbrook rushed all the way to the basket. At this time, the defense of Big Eyebrow and McGee was also in place.

Westbrook collected the ball and took off. He wanted to find a space to shoot, but couldn't find it at all, so he could only twist and look for his teammates.

But it's a pity that this time Westbrook couldn't even find a suitable passing space. In desperation, Westbrook could only force the shot.

boom--

boom--

The basketball hit the backboard and bounced off the rim.

The thick eyebrow turned around to collect the rebound and passed a long pass to Su Tian who was making a fast break.

Su Tian received the ball and went straight to the front basket. With no one around him, Su Tian dunked with both hands.

4-0
"It seems that the Lakers' advantage has become more obvious. If the Rockets want to break the game, they have to find another way." Barkley said.

The Rockets organized an offense again. This time Harden reached out for the ball. After getting the ball, Harden reached out and called his teammates for a pick-and-roll.

With the help of the pick-and-roll, Harden directly shot a three-pointer.

However, the quality of this pick-and-roll was average and failed to block Su Tian's defense.

boom--

Basketball is playing iron, Nong Mei and McGee are directly in position, ready to receive this rebound.

But just when the basketball was about to fall into the hands of the two, Westbrook suddenly jumped out from the side, jumped up suddenly to grab the rebound, and jumped again for a layup.

Westbrook's bounce was very fast. Before either Nong Mei or McGee could react, the basketball had already entered the net.

4-2
The Rockets finally scored zero points.

"Yes, that's it, run! Motivation!"

D'Antoni on the sidelines couldn't help but stand up and applaud in celebration when he saw Westbrook's performance.

D'Antoni is actually extremely uneasy at this time, because these are the only people he can count on now.

In the next few rounds, Westbrook led the Rockets to stage some effective resistance, but the point difference became wider and wider.

At the end of the first quarter, the point difference had reached 9 points.

"Judging from the current first quarter, James Harden has completely degenerated into a three-point shooter and is completely afraid to hold the ball and hit the inside." Barkley commented sharply.

Kenny Smith received: "That's true. We don't know to what extent Harden's injury has recovered, but we still don't dare to make any big moves. We probably haven't fully recovered yet."

"I just don't know if Harden wants to play or if the Rockets' management forces him to play." Kenny Smith said suddenly.

"Kenny, you mean, Durant reappears?"

"Hey, I didn't say that. Don't talk nonsense!"

In the second quarter, both sides made substitutions and adjustments before fighting again.

Su Tian took a rest as usual, while for the Rockets, Westbrook took a rest, and Harden stayed to lead the team.

If there were no injuries and Su Tian, ​​this would definitely be Harden's highlight moment, but unfortunately, the impact of the leg injury was still too great. Harden only led the Rockets to a tie with the Lakers' bench lineup.

Halfway through the second quarter, Su Tian came on the court again, and Harden took over with Westbrook.

After Harden returned to the bench, he covered his head with a towel and looked down at the floor, wondering what he was thinking.

After Westbrook came on the court, Su Tian took the initiative to come to Westbrook to defend.

With Su Tian's restrictions, Westbrook's performance was greatly reduced, and the point difference was heading towards 20 points.

At the end of the first half, the score difference was already 16 points.

The game entered halftime, and the Rockets' locker room was silent.

James sat in his seat and looked at the statistics sheet in his hand in a daze.

"It's been a long time since I've performed like this."

In the first half, he scored 9 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds, and shot 27% from three-point range. Facing Su Tian's defense, he scored 1 point, which was 2 of 1 free throws.

Westbrook sat next to Harden, looking at Harden in a daze, feeling very uncomfortable.

"James, it's okay, come back in the second half." Westbrook patted Harden on the shoulder and said.

At this time Harden suddenly turned his head and looked at Westbrook.

"Brother, I will be a substitute in the second half."

Hearing Harden's words, Westbrook was also stunned for a moment.

"James, you performed very well. Why did you suddenly think of being a substitute?"

"Brother, my current condition is not suitable for starting. Let me be a substitute."

Seeing Harden's resolute attitude, Westbrook couldn't refuse again, and the two fell into silence for a few seconds.

In the end, Westbrook said: "Then I will ask the coach. If he agrees, he will let you substitute."

"Okay, I'll go find the coach with you."

D'Antoni looked at the two core players of Westbrook and Harden coming together, feeling confused in his heart.

After listening to Westbrook's explanation and Harden's request, D'Antoni also fell into silence for a while.

"Actually, having James as a substitute is also a good idea. However, Russell, the pressure on you will increase. Su Ji is very likely to help defend you, or even directly switch to defend in front of you."

D'Antoni considered it relatively comprehensively. At this time, Westbrook also frowned and thought about it.

"It's okay coach, let me try."

D'Antoni looked at Westbrook, then looked back at Harden, and said, "Okay."

Soon, the intermission ended and the two sides returned to the field again.

"Eh? Why didn't Harden start? Is there any injury?" Barkley observed carefully and saw Harden sitting off the court at a glance.

"No, no, if there is an injury, Harden should go directly to the hospital instead of on the bench. It seems that D'Antoni changed the starting lineup in the second half, leaving Harden to lead the bench." Kenny - Smith said.

After Kenny's explanation, Barkley finally reacted.

"That's it, it's fine. But this D'Antoni is so bold. He changed his formation temporarily at this time. I don't know if the Rockets can withstand it! Or are the Rockets hiding some killer move??"

(End of this chapter)