new lord of the rings

Chapter 254
The second half of the game begins.

The Rockets' starters are James Harden, Dwight Howard, Motiejunas, Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza.

The Warriors' starters are Zhang Xin, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, David Lee and Harrison Barnes.

Both sides are the original class starters.

After the tentative fight in the first half, both sides were fully fired in the third quarter.

Under the leadership of Harden, the Rockets continue to play wonderful high-post pick-and-rolls and personal offenses. The starting lineup has Harden, Beverly and Ariza three-pointers. The offense he wanted.

Under the leadership of Zhang Xin, the Warriors lead the team in a different way from Harden. Harden can only play with the ball, while Zhang Xin takes the initiative to play off the ball based on the consideration of saving energy, constantly cutting through screens and air cuts. The Rockets' defense is efficient and not tiring.

Harden and Zhang Xin chose different methods, but the offense of both sides was like flowing water, which made the fans of Toyota Center very addicted. Both teams, which are famous for their offense, showed their offensive talents vividly.

After the three quarters, the scores of the two sides are still not widened, and they have been in a state of rising alternately. The score was 96:97, and the Warriors only led by 1 point.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Rockets were on the starting lineup. McHale knew that Zhang Xin’s key shots were too powerful. If the game was dragged into the last few minutes, McHale did not have the confidence to beat the Warriors, so he might as well take advantage of the Warriors’ rotation Fight for the main lineup at the time of the game. If you can open up the score in these few minutes, it will have a great advantage in the last few minutes of the game.

Cole has another consideration. As long as the rotation lineup can delay the time and prevent the Rockets from pulling the score, then the Warriors' physical strength will prevail in the decisive battle, so Cole still follows today's rotation.

The Warriors played Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Festus Azeri, and put Zhang Xin off the court to rest. Cole needed Zhang Xin in the key Take over the game at all times, so Zhang Xin must be given enough physical reserves.

After the start of the game, there is a difference between a team with a leader and a team without a leader. Although the Warriors have three-pointers like Barnes and Thompson on the court, none of them have enough ability to hold the ball.

Because of the arrival of Zhang Xin, Barnes has become more accurate in three-pointers, but he has fewer opportunities to hold the ball. Now only Barnes can really attack with the ball on the court, but his ability is weak.

Therefore, the Warriors' offense is not smooth, but the Warriors' lineup is top-notch defensively. The four striker gates and Azeri, who started as a defender, make the lineup airtight.

But Harden is Harden after all. Harden used Ariza and Beverly to open up the space, and then used Howard's dominance under the basket to continuously pass lobs to Howard.

Although Howard at this time gradually faded from the team's core demeanor due to changes in the league's tactical trends, his physical fitness and dominance under the basket have not faded.

上赛季的霍华德场均出手11.3次，能够拿下18.3分1.8助攻12.2篮板加上1.8盖帽，他依然还是联盟的顶尖中锋！
Although the modern combination has been criticized, it does not mean that their combination is not strong enough. They are actually criticized because of the problem of ball possession.

Harden is a pure ball-handler, and Howard, after all, was the core of the team not long ago. Now he is at his peak, and he is not willing to be a pie-eating center.

Howard once went straight to Rockets general manager Morey, asking to increase his possession of the ball and the proportion of offense.

This request was rejected by Morey.

This season, Harden was second only to Zhang Xin and Curry in the MVP selection, and the Rockets ranked second in the Western Conference, reaching the Western Conference Finals just around the corner.

It is already a reality on the table to let the bearded Harden fire unlimitedly and absolutely control the ball.

This led to the subsequent disintegration of the Modeng combination, which made people sigh.

But once the Modden combination exerts its strength, the top pick-and-roll player is partnered with the top pie-eating center, this power is not something that Green and Ezeli can resist.

Harden saw the need and kept making balls for Howard, making Ezeli so tortured that he wanted to die.

The Warriors' offense was stagnant, and without a single sharp-edged player, Thompson couldn't get a good chance. Barnes was also trying his best to break through and score the ball, but he was not as threatening as Curry and Zhang Xin, and he could not create many opportunities.

So the score was gradually opened by the Rockets. By the 6th minute, the Warriors trailed by eight points.

When the rotation time came, Cole replaced Zhang Xin.

In 6 minutes, the Warriors trailed by 8 points!
There is still plenty of time, but the Rockets' offense must be restricted. If the Rockets' offense cannot be restrained, it will be difficult to catch up with the score.

The Warriors were sad, and Azeri was replaced. At the critical moment, the Warriors went to the five small lineups!

Andre Iguodala, Zhang Xin, Klay Thompson, Drummond Green, and Harrison Barnes, a lineup of strikers!
The Warriors had the ball, Zhang Xin held the ball across half court, and handed the ball to Green. He and Thompson made a screen, took Beverly to the low post, and Green lobbed the ball to Zhang Xin.

This is Zhang Xin's strategy, which is to beat Beverly's misplacement!
Beverly is 185cm tall and weighs 84KG, which is too far behind Zhang Xin. Zhang Xin knocked Beverly away with a seat back. Ariza on the flank quickly let go of Thompson to help defend, and Zhang Xin gave the ball to Thompson.

Thompson hit a three-pointer with his bow and arrow!
McHale frowned, and now Beverly is a misplaced face on the court.

Harden held the ball across half court and observed the Warriors' lineup. Now the Warriors' lineup is all about two meters forward, and the pick-and-roll is not very easy to use.

Anyway, whoever comes up can face Harden, they just switch defenses.

Harden had an idea and signaled to make room for Howard in the low post, then Harden gave the ball to Howard, and Green pushed Howard out hard.

Howard didn't have an outside shot, so he could only go inside. Howard was able to overwhelm the inside before because Harden saw the needle and fed the ball to the basket.

Now it is time for Howard to dig Green himself hard, and Howard discovered just how tough Drummond Green is!
Howard chiseled hard a few times without moving, and threw a discus to throw the ball, but unfortunately, the distance was a bit far after all, and the iron was hit.

Zhang Xin stubbornly carried Motaiyunas, who was 213cm long and weighed 101kg. Although Motaiyunas was taller than Zhang Xin, his speed, weight and strength were not as good as Zhang Xin's, so he was stuck behind Zhang Xin and couldn't move.

Zhang Xin grabs the rebound and starts the conversion immediately!

(End of this chapter)