There was not much time left in the first quarter, so Kevin Martin, who was replaced by Zhao Feiyang, naturally took on the task of defending James Harden.
Soon, the Houston Rockets were on offense again.
This time, after the ball reached half court, Harden continued to hold the ball at the top of the arc. Previously, he temporarily sent Zhao Feiyang to rest by committing two consecutive fouls. At this time, Harden's mentality was of course extremely confident.
When Martin came to him, Harden did not show any signs of vigilance. Instead, he took a stance and played one-on-one.
He dribbled the ball from his hips and started shaking. Martin's footsteps moved slightly, and Harden immediately changed direction and rushed to the basket.
His movements are extremely fast, but the Timberwolves' interior is not undefended. After Dwight Howard also took a break, Adrian Ennis and Gorgui Dieng temporarily shouldered the burden of the team's interior defense. .
After noticing that Harden broke into the penalty area with the ball, Adrian quickly stepped up to defend and stretched out his hand to block the shot.
His defensive actions were quite strict, forcing Harden to throw the ball away at the last moment.
Uh-huh.
What Adrian didn't expect was that Harden was still very capable. Even if he was being targeted, he would still send the ball into the basket.
His goal also made Rockets fans cheer on the sidelines.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to fight back.
Zach LaVine advanced with the ball, and Martin gave him a gesture early on. LaVine understood it and immediately cooperated with Martin on the screen after the ball passed half court.
Martin went around to catch the ball from the wing. LaVine pretended to pass the ball, but in fact, he suddenly rushed inside with the help of Martin's pick-and-roll.
He moved quickly, throwing away two defenders one after another, but just before taking action, he was blocked by Rockets inside man Clint Capela.
LaVine had no choice but to move the ball.
Snapped.
The basketball was given to Martin, who was standing outside the three-point line.
After getting the ball, Martin saw Harden right in front of him. He deliberately acted like he was anxious to take action to attract Harden to mark him.
Harden was indeed deceived, so when he actually reached out to interfere, Martin, who stood on tiptoes, ended his feint and threw the ball towards him.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Harden was fouled successfully.
There was an uproar.
Many old Rockets fans couldn't help but sigh. They had seen Martin's skill in drawing fouls back then, and the fans were quite emotional about a veteran like him taking the initiative to deal with his own star.
"James can no longer commit fouls! He and Kevin are both good at this way of scoring. If you continue to use this method, it will be over once James is sent off..."
"Yes, for the Rockets, James is the only core, but for the Timberwolves, Kevin is very important but far less valuable than Zhao's existence..."
"I like James' ball-handling rhythm very much! But I don't like the current style of play in the league. There are simply too many body hair whistles... It is of course a good thing to reduce injuries among players, but now the league It's a bit too much, and even the most basic confrontation is gone..."
"I don't like James's foul-making, just like I didn't like Kevin's foul-making style. Real basketball is never like this..."
"The games of our era were better to watch. Players at that time were never afraid of confrontation. Even players like Allen Iverson, who was only 1.83 meters tall, always gave people a sense of incompetence. The feeling of being afraid..."
Some old fans were obviously disappointed with what happened on the field.
On the court, Harden, who had received his second foul, was obviously a little depressed. After standing there shaking his head and sighing for a while, Harden stood outside the three-point line and watched Martin walk to the free throw line.
Uh-huh.
The first shot was a solid free throw.
When it was his turn for the second free throw, Martin turned around and glanced at Harden. Harden did not look at him, but deliberately turned his face elsewhere and responded with an indifferent expression.
Uh-huh.
The second free throw was also successfully scored.
There is not much time left in the first quarter, and there is less than 1 minute before the break.
Harden no longer had any extra patience, and quickly spoke to his teammate Patrick Beverley, asking him to give the ball directly to him.
"Beverley, let me dribble the ball over!"
"James, what are you going to do?"
"I want to give that guy some color! He is no match for me when it comes to calling a foul..."
Snapped.
The basketball was passed to Harden.
Harden dribbled the ball toward the half court. When he approached the three-point line, Martin immediately came up to guard him.
The two faced each other, and Harden did not act to draw a foul, but looked calm and ready to fight in singles.
Martin also stretched out his arms to block Harden's offensive line.
The next second, Harden suddenly launched an attack. He took the ball and pulled away from the right side. Martin's center of gravity immediately moved. Harden did not rush to get past him, but pulled the ball to the left and tried to rush. into two partitions.
Martin quickly adjusted his center of gravity. When Harden passed him and entered the two zones, he rushed in alongside Harden.
However, Martin did not expect that Harden had just entered the penalty area and suddenly stretched out his right hand and grabbed his left hand.
The action was so sudden that Martin was completely unprepared. By the time he reacted, Harden had already faked a forced shot and was pulled down.
His acting is perfect.
If Martin hadn't known that he was being dragged, he might even have misunderstood that someone really dragged Harden off.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Sure enough, Martin was whistled for a defensive foul, and Harden, who landed on the ground, deliberately looked aggrieved, and even went to the referee to argue, "No, referee, can this only be considered a common foul?"
"He grabbed my hand. I think it should be counted as a technical foul... Yes, he should be given a technical foul..."
Of course, the referee ignored Harden and was bypassed by his words.
"No, this ball is a common foul. There is no problem with my penalty! I don't need you to teach me how to do it..."
Harden pretended to be asking for trouble and walked away.
The most depressed person at this time is undoubtedly Martin.
He knew very well that if he went up in this situation, he might offend the referee. Penalties on the court are inherently subjective. Many times, whatever the referee says is what it is. Even if you can appeal, you have to wait until the end, and it will not have any impact on the result that has already occurred.
Therefore, Martin chose to suffer this embarrassing loss.
Uh-huh.
Harden's free throws were also very accurate, and both balls went into the basket smoothly.
The Timberwolves continue to serve.
At this time, there were only 20 seconds left in the game. LaVine was surrounded when he dribbled the ball across half court. He transferred the ball to Martin.
Martin once again stood up to face Harden. The two met each other. He suddenly broke through to the basket. Harden followed closely and stared at him. When Martin saw Harden following him, he quickly put the ball together and faked a shot. Action action.
Harden rushed towards him, and when he saw that Martin was not shooting, he quickly retracted his hand. Unexpectedly, Martin made another fake move, and Harden subconsciously rushed towards him after shaking continuously. The result was exactly what Martin wanted. He jumped again after Harden jumped up. Throw the ball towards the opponent.
call out.
The referee's whistle came on time.
