The Way of the Center

It was nine points behind halftime, which is not good news for the Rockets. Although the Rockets are a team that advocates offense and likes to shoot from the three-point line very much. But facing the Blazers' defense, trying to recover nine points is not as simple as making three three-pointers.

This is the first time James Harden has felt the deterrence brought to him by a center on the basketball court. This guy was born in an era when guards were rampant and centers were declining. From high school to college, and now become the head of the Rockets, Harden has always been the role of playing center, and has never been knocked down by a center.

Even his former teammate Marc Gasol has never made Harden feel such pressure.

Harden didn't know what happened to him just now, but he didn't dare to step into the restricted area. This is an indisputable fact.

The Rockets coach McHale’s layout is nothing new. The best way to crack the close man-to-man defense is to keep running, conducting, and pushing faster and faster. With this order, the Rockets players began their struggle in the second half of the game nervously. The mentality of this group of guys is totally different from that of the first half.

"The Rockets have no other choice. They can do nothing but offense! Continue to guard strictly. When the Rockets can't make a shot, our victory will come!" This was during the intermission, Ricard gave An Jie's thoughts instilled by them. However, the second half of the game had just begun, and Ricard's words were fulfilled.

The Rockets rushed into the Blazers' halftime like a mad, and the pace was pushed extremely fast by them. Often in a blink of an eye, Jeremy Lin had the ball and passed the center line. In the next second, Harden launched an offense with the ball.

Faced with this sudden acceleration, the Trail Blazers are somewhat underprepared. They were quickly recovered by the Rockets by five points, and the nine-point lead was instantly scarce.

However, at this time, it was An Jie who stood up again. He caught the ball and drove Asik in the three-second zone to complete a rock-shattering in-situ jump dunk, which immediately stopped the scene.

Asik is not clean, he did his best in the defense process. But even so, he still couldn't stop Anjie from completing the offense.

The momentum the Rockets had just played was all gone with An Jie's dunk. Exquisite tactics are indeed the basis for a team to win, but the morale of the players is also an important part of determining the outcome of the game.

After that, the Trail Blazers stabilized the situation. The point difference between the two sides remained within the range of 5-7 points. The Rockets are still relying on peripheral shooting to score, while the Blazers frequently attack the Rockets' weak inside line.

During the period, the Rockets and Trail Blazers have made substitutions and adjustments, but the situation has not changed at all. It wasn't until the last four minutes of the third quarter that Anjie and the exhausted Rockets started the five Tigers, which became the turning point of the game.

Jeremy Lin kept the ball advancing as always, but at this moment, it was very difficult for him to get rid of Fischer in front of him.

Although Fischer is old, his body is still strong at the point guard position. Jeremy Lin tried to get rid of, but they all gave up under Fischer's close defense.

As a last resort, Jeremy Lin had to pass the ball to Patrick Patterson. In this first half, J.J. Hickson could not find North's shooting power forward, but now he has been taken care of by Hickson in every possible way. He has no chance to shoot at all now, and Hickson has overcome his problem of unconsciously shrinking the basket when he is defensive.

Patterson had no chance, and the ball passed back to Harden's hands. After all, Patterson really doesn't have the ability to attack the basket guarded by An Jie.

Harden called for Asik to pick and roll, but Anjie did not follow Asik out. Don't be fooled by Asik's appearance, this looking very soft white insider has a poor shooting percentage. An Jie dared to put him in the middle of the shot, which also shows how "good" he is at shooting from another side.

Harden saw that An Jie was not fooled, so he didn't dare to make a shot in the three-second zone. But he used a very ornamental pass without watching people to assign the basketball to Parsons, who was standing outside the three-point line.

"What!?" The Frenchman Batum decided to complete the encirclement with Courtney Lee after seeing Harden's breakthrough. He felt that Parsons's position was not good, and the ball could not hit his hands. However, Harden's passing vision still exceeded Batum's expectations.

Parsons feels very good today, so far his three-point shooting percentage and total shooting percentage are above 50%. It is almost impossible for Parsons to miss this open three-pointer.

Batum has raised his head in regret, but the shooting action of "Gao Fu Shuai" is not as complete as before.

"Boom!" With a crisp sound, Parsons' open three-pointer shot out. Asik pushed hard to the bottom of the basket hoping to catch a rebound, but An Jie gave in deliberately and retreated behind Asik.

Just when Asik wondered why An Jie did this, he discovered that the ball was a long rebound, and An Jie had already judged this by relying on his experience. Therefore, he deliberately let Asik go to the basket.

After grabbing the rebound firmly, the Rockets were afraid of the Blazers' counterattack, so they went back to the defense like crazy. But Anjie just handed the ball over to Fischer without hurriedly, and Fischer naturally gesticulated like a stroll in the courtyard.

Seeing this, Ricard couldn't help but smile.

"The Trail Blazers have completely controlled the pace of the game." Yao Ming shook his head and strolled in the courtyard. This is exactly the offensive style of the Trail Blazers.

Sure enough, after the Rockets started to miss the shots, the second team of the Trail Blazers led by Anjie still maintained a very high offensive efficiency. Ricard waited for the whole game, but finally waited until this moment.

The shooting that the Rockets depend on has been unavailable, and Ricard wants to see it. McHale, what more cards can he play.

86 to 76, after the third quarter, the gap between the Rockets and the Blazers finally came to double digits. McHale looked at his panting players and couldn't think of a good way.

The Rockets' lineup is like this. Unlike the Trail Blazers, they can score a lot of people. If Jeremy Lin and Parsons both lose the threat, no one but Harden can save the team.

"In the fourth quarter of the game, James, you should rest here first. When appropriate, I will send you on the court. When he comes on the court, the ball will all hit his hands! And everyone, try their best to make room for him! "McHale's arrangement is very clear, that is, Harden singles with the ball! To be honest, this former legend of the Green Army may be very successful in the player era. But his tactical background is still a bit worse.

At this time, if it was Ricard, if it was Jeff Van Gundy, if it was Popovich, it would be George Carr. Then they will definitely deploy a lot of tactics to help the team play a better offensive and defensive performance and get out of the predicament. But the only thing McHale can think of at the moment is to give the ball to the stars for singles.

So as soon as the fourth quarter came up and found that Harden was not playing, Ricard also guessed McHale's tactics.

He immediately ordered Iguodala to mark Harden later, and Anjie was ready to help defend in the penalty area at any time. The other insiders of the Rockets? Let them go. Even if An Jie focuses on Harden, the Rockets, a group of very limited centers, can't do much.

Only three minutes into the fourth quarter, McHale had to take Harden up. Because his team is still struggling with iron, the point difference is still continuing to be widened.

After Harden came on the court, Ricard first sent Iguodala, but motioned for Anjie to continue to rest. Let the star of a team continue to rest at critical moments, which reflects Ricard's great confidence to some extent.

However, what Ricard did not expect was. Under Iguodala's desperate entanglement, James Harden actually completed his mission and led the Rockets closer to the score!

"Come on, come on!" Sam Smith, who was watching TV at home, yelled. James Harden is now the last straw he can grasp and the biggest obstacle to preventing Anjie from winning 22 consecutive victories.

Seeing Harden once again used a beautiful European layup under Iguodala's defense and got a three-pointer, Sam Smith was ecstatic. At that moment, in addition to Jordan, Harden was the player he looked up to the most!

"I didn't touch him!" Iguodala tried to explain to the referee, but the referee turned a deaf ear. He doesn't care whether a player's foul is intentional or not, as long as he breaks the rules, it will be blown. Of course, except for those with "privileged" people.

Iguodala's mentality began to become irritable, the more he wanted to block Harden, the easier it was to eat Harden's fake moves.

"Nice forward change, Harden's dribbling rhythm is very good. Iguodala dare not foul again, because he has just received his fourth foul. Harden's speed allows Meyers Lun Nader didn't have time to make up the defense, he was ready to dunk! With a good shot, a wonderful cut, Harden abruptly pulled the game back! 2 points, the gap between the Rockets and the Trail Blazers, only two points left! "Mike Brin's passionate commentary, coupled with James Harden's incredible performance, made the game that had not had much suspense once again become exciting.

The reporters of various TV stations have pointed the camera at the Blazers bench countless times, but the faces of Ricard and Anjie are still as calm as water.

It wasn't until Harden finished the dunk that Ricard finally called a timeout. Now there is only 3 minutes and 20 seconds before the end of the game, and before that, Anjie has not appeared in the fourth quarter!

Ricard's brain short-circuited? of course not. Even if Harden's performance was so good, Ricard knew that victory still did not run.

"Except for Andre, everyone else should come down and rest. Fischer replaces Damien, Lee replaces Matthews, Jared Jeffries replaces JJ Hickson, Ann, you replace Leonard! "When Ricard finished setting up, almost everyone looked at him in disbelief. In this battle, is it necessary for An Jie to play the final moments with three substitutes?

"Listen, I don't need more attack points, it will only make you more impatient at the last moment. One attack point is enough, and it has to be the most stable one. Therefore, I will be apart from Iguodala. All of his starting lines have changed. Others, give me their full support to Anjie! I want him to re-dominate the game and take away the victory! "Although Ricard's decision is bold, it is not unreasonable.

Fisher's organization will make the Blazers play more calmly, and after Lillard and Matthews are off the field, Anjie's shots will also be guaranteed. At least Fischer doesn't know how to make a long-range three-pointer when his head is hot.

The timeout was over and the two sides reappeared. On the Rockets' side, all the starting five are back on the court, and James Harden is even more murderous. Just now, he used his personal ability to hit the offensive climax, allowing the Rockets to escape.

But when the Blazers players came on the court, everyone was stunned. A semi-substitute lineup? What do the Blazers think! ?

"Is this guy's head burnt out?" Even Sam Smith found it incredible. Now that the situation is so tense, where does the Blazers play?

"You seem to be a little too bold~www.readwn.com~ Divac looked at Fischer, who was advancing with the ball, and said to Ricard.

"No, to beat the Rockets, one person is enough. His efficiency alone may be even higher." Ricard's eyes were firm, and Harden's performance was all in his eyes just now. So he also knew that Anjie would be the guy who interrupted Harden's momentum.

A small number of passes means a small number of errors, and Anjie’s offense is synonymous with high efficiency. Ricard decided to use his own star to defeat the Rockets star.

Yao Ming watched the court nervously, and An Jie was the only focus in his eyes.

The final battle, whether the record of 22 consecutive victories will come true, depends on An Jie.

　　 Please remember the domain name of the book’s first publication:. Mobile version reading URL: