In the first half of the game, Zhao Chen completely turned Staples Arena into his home venue.
Those fans who had doubts about Zhao Chen's strength completely lost their doubts.
Zhao Chen is still the same Zhao Chen in the playoffs last season, the very awesome Zhao Chen who conquered the world.
The Rockets are considered stronger than the Lakers in public opinion, but now it seems that they are more like a weak team.
The Lakers' rookies are not as bad as they imagined. On the contrary, each player has some characteristics.
Jokic's golf IQ, Randall's physical talent, Clarkson's scrambling ability, Joe Harris' three-pointers...
Almost all of these rookies exceeded the expectations of the fans themselves, which also helped the Lakers take the lead.
In the away locker room, the overall mood of the Rockets was not good.
No one could have imagined that the Lakers could play so well. In the first half of the game, it was difficult for them to defend even one of the Lakers' attacks.
The Lakers' efficiency is too high, and their scoring efficiency is terrifying.
Harden's expression looked very calm. He had experienced many games and did not think that he could not play after being so many points behind.
Harden always believed that the Lakers' strong point was Zhao Chen, and the Lakers relied on Zhao Chen's massive consumption to take the lead.
When the Thunder had Durant and Westbrook, they could help Zhao Chen reduce his consumption, but the Lakers don't have those two people.
Zhao Chen wouldn't be able to hold on for too long if he fought like this.
"Continue to fight Zhao and don't lower the pressure on him. He won't be able to hold on for too long." Harden proactively suggested during the tactical arrangement.
After all, it is the beginning of the new season, and Harden still has a sense of leadership.
"Yes, give him a fight, don't let him take it easy. The game is still long and we still have a chance." Howard also shouted.
Howard now has a lot of motivation.
Howard stopped looking down on the Lakers and his eyes gradually became serious.
Soon, McHale also laid out his tactics, continuing Ariza's one-on-one defense against Zhao Chen, forcing Zhao Chen to play singles, and cutting off Zhao Chen's connection with his teammates.
McHale believes that as long as Zhao Chen is tired, the Rockets' opportunity will come.
Here in the Lakers locker room.
Head coach Scott is also planning the tactics for the second half.
In the first half of the game, the Lakers played very well driven by Zhao Chen, but they did consume too much of Zhao Chen.
Many of Zhao Chen's shots are forced shots, which makes it even more tiring to play like this.
It's not that Zhao Chen's physical fitness is poor, but that Zhao Chen attacks too hard.
The Rockets' offense will not be worse than that of the Lakers. If he wants to get the lead, Zhao Chen has to attack with all his life.
Otherwise, where would the Lakers' huge advantage come from?
Scott said to Zhao Chen: "Zhao, you don't need to hold the ball every round. It's too tiring to play like this. Our advantage lies in our vitality. We can organize and pass the ball as much as possible to bring our teammates together and win." The opponent needs everyone to work together.”
Zhao Chen nodded and said: "Yes, I understand."
Zhao Chen exerted too much force in this game and also wanted to play well in front of the home fans.
As a result, Zhao Chen consumed a lot of money.
Scott is still clear about his coaching responsibilities, and reminds him when he needs to.
Zhao Chen doesn't know everything, he also needs help from the coach.
In the second half, Zhao Chen rested on the bench for 4 minutes.
During this period, Harden and Howard led the Rockets to recover a few points, but the Lakers' offense did not stall.
Dinwiddie and Clarkson performed very steadily. The two passed through the initial discomfort period, and they would stand up and score for the team from time to time.
Jeremy Grant also showed his athletic ability. When he rotated to defend Harden, he even completed a three-pointer block against Harden.
The Rockets head coach was happy for a while when he saw Zhao Chen not on the court, but when he saw the Lakers rookie playing very high, his face darkened on the spot.
73 to 86, the Rockets led by Harden only recovered 3 points.
With 7 minutes and 55 seconds left in the third quarter, Zhao Chen and Jokic appeared on the court together.
When everyone thought that Zhao Chen would continue to play in the first half, Zhao Chen chose to paddle.
Jokic and Dinwiddie were organizing, and Zhao Chen stood on one side as a containment point to play without the ball.
Dinwiddie and Jokic are both smart, and they will use Zhao Chen's containment power to make a fuss.
In the third quarter, all Lakers players on the court shared the ball, and the entire team passed the ball extremely smoothly.
The Rockets' defense seems to always be slow.
"Damn it, these rookies in the Lakers are playing like veterans. At first glance, I thought Jokic was the best, but now I see that Dinwiddie is not bad either. He actually dared to send an alley-oop to Zhao Chen."
"Haha, Jokic is playing a back pass in the paint. Is this really his first time playing in the NBA?"
"The Rockets' defenders look more like rookies. Apart from Harden's isolation, they don't seem to have any other tactics."
"Haha, the Lakers rookie is awesome!!"
"The Lakers are definitely not as weak as imagined."
"Zhao Chen didn't score much in the third quarter, but when he stood on the court, he was the anchor of the sea."
After the third quarter, the score was 80 to 100, and the Rockets were even further behind.
In terms of tactical arrangements, McHale lost to Scott. Although the Lakers are a team that has undergone a major overhaul, their ability to move the ball on the court is much better than that of the Rockets.
In terms of on-the-spot command, Scott was also superior in this game.
No one could have imagined that the crazy offense in the first half and Zhao Chen holding the ball would suddenly transform into a role without the ball in this quarter.
This left the Rockets' defense a bit at a loss.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Scott continued to let Zhao Chen rest, but Harden used the first two minutes of Zhao Chen's absence to score a three-plus-one and two breakthroughs to lead the Rockets to an 8-0 run.
"Scott's use of Zhao Chen is still too conservative. He should learn from McHale in this aspect. Zhao Chen is younger than Harden and needs more playing time." Zhang Weiping said.
Director Zhang was preparing to watch Zhao Chen score a high score, but he didn't expect that Zhao Chen didn't exert much effort in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets abruptly brought back the suspense.
88 to 100, the Lakers' lead is not secure.
Indeed, as Zhang Weiping said, Scott also regretted why he did not play Zhao Chen from the beginning of the fourth quarter.
It wouldn't be like this with Zhao Chen. The outstanding performance of the Lakers rookies in the third quarter caused Scott to make some misjudgments, which resulted in the Rockets playing a rough game.
After returning from the timeout, Jokic, who was lacking in physical fitness, made a mistake. When passing the ball to Zhao Chen, he passed the ball too wide.
Scott could only replace Jokic when there was a foul ball, and Hill replaced Jokic.
Knowing that he might not have a chance to play next, Jokic was a little frustrated. Zhao Chen went over to encourage him: "You played well tonight, keep it up."
"Yeah." Jokic nodded.
In just 20 minutes of playing time, he scored 8 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds, which is already very comprehensive for a rookie.
Rockets offense.
The rise of Harden's 8-0 kill.
Covington defends Harden.
Zhao Chen kept an eye on Beverley.
After continuous changes of direction, Harden passed Covington and leaned on Hill to complete a layup.
Hill made a foul!
Harden scored two plus one! !
90 to 100.
If you add in free throws, the point difference will be only single digits.
Looking at Harden falling to the ground in celebration, Zhao Chen smelled a danger signal!
It's time for him to stand up again.
