After the ball passed half court, Zhao Feiyang organized an attack at the top of the arc.
He gave the ball to Zach LaVine who came up from the wing. LaVine was competing with James Harden while making catches. It seemed that he wanted to compete with the league's top star.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang gave the ball to LaVine.
LaVine held the ball and beat Harden one-on-one.
The two faced each other, and LaVine swung the ball from the left to the right. Harden was not deceived, and LaVine took advantage of the situation to continue dribbling the basketball. In the next confrontation, he feinted with the ball and then rushed out from the left.
His dribbling was already very deceptive, but Harden still took advantage of his loopholes.
Snapped.
Harden reached out and slapped away LaVine's dribble.
The scene was filled with exclamations of surprise.
Not only the fans in Houston were surprised, but even the Knicks bench was surprised.
"Oh! No! I always said that James' defense was terrible, but why did he guard Zach this time?"
"James' defense is indeed not very good! But as long as he defends seriously, he is still good! He has never been serious about defense before..."
"Damn! Am I dazzled? I actually saw James, who was defending with air and eyes, steal LaVine? Come on! Shouldn't this be the other way around?"
His eyes returned to the court.
After stealing LaVine, Harden took the ball and sprinted towards the half court.
He was extremely fast, and just as he was about to rush to the basket, Zhao Feiyang and LaVine rushed to double-team Harden at the same time. However, at such a critical moment, Harden did not choose to lay up by himself. He threw the ball out with a back throw, and the basketball was given to Anthony who followed up.
Anthony didn't make any extra moves. He received the basketball and jumped directly into a two-handed dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
Fans at Toyota Center cheered.
The Knicks continued to serve.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball again, but he encountered interference from Paul after halftime. Unlike the players he has encountered before, Paul's defense does not have the pressure of a tall man, but he has so many movements on his hands that it makes people feel very headache.
Dribbling from one side of the half court to the top of the key, Paul reached out his hand no less than three times to actively interfere with Zhao Feiyang's dribbling, and continued to make small moves when the two sides came into contact.
This style of play also made Zhao Feiyang feel a little unhappy!
"No wonder people say Paul is a dirty player... He makes too many small moves! Although it is within the rules, this guy is really annoying..."
Perhaps because he was annoyed by Paul's defense, Zhao Feiyang did not hesitate after halftime and made two direct changes of direction in front of Paul.
The sudden movement immediately caused Paul's body center of gravity to shift. The moment Zhao Feiyang was about to rush to the right, Zhao Feiyang seized the opportunity to change direction and pull the ball to the left.
Paul was easily shaken off by him.
After Zhao Feiyang entered the two zones with the ball, he decisively broke into the basket. He made a jump ball to avoid Tucker who was approaching him, and then pulled the ball under the basket and threw the ball high.
Snapped.
The basketball hits the backboard and bounces into the basket.
The ball went in.
The Rockets serve.
Paul advanced with the ball.
Zhao Feiyang, like Paul before, directly stuck to him and took various interfering actions, and even returned Paul's small moves to him.
After halftime, Paul did not force himself and gave the ball to Harden on the side.
"Please! Chris, why don't you hit me alone?"
"You're so boring..."
Zhao Feiyang deliberately provoked Paul.
However, Paul was very able to keep his composure. When faced with Zhao Feiyang's provocation, he just chuckled and responded, "Zhao, I know you want to defeat me! But I won't give you such a chance... My Defending makes you uncomfortable! Then I will continue to do so..."
Zhao Feiyang was not to be outdone.
"It's not uncomfortable, but your defense always makes me feel like I'm on a street court... It's hard for me to believe that every move of a player like you is filled with those little tricks on the street... This makes me very disappointed in you..."
The bickering between the two was not over.
The ball came to Harden, and when he got the ball, he hit LaVine one-on-one.
Harden kept dribbling and testing his crotch, and LaVine put on a defensive posture and waited for Harden to attack. After shaking many times, Harden suddenly dribbled the ball in a different direction and swayed away. LaVine had clearly followed Harden's footsteps, but he was still thrown away by Harden and entered the two zones.
Harden, who broke into the basket, reacted quickly and threw the ball for a layup with the help of Capela's screen.
Snapped.
The basketball hitting board fell steadily into the basket.
The performances of the stars on both sides were very strong, and the offense and defense between each other attracted the fans in the audience to cheer. After one quarter of the game, the Knicks and Rockets were tied at 30-31, with the Knicks trailing by 1 point.
Harden scored most of the points in the first quarter. As the Rockets' super core, he has unlimited firing rights. Today, he did not disappoint Rockets fans, constantly beating LaVine and scoring in the confrontation.
This also made LaVine, who was passed many times, very frustrated.
He originally thought that he could be regarded as a quasi-first-line star, but now when he compared it with a star like Harden, LaVine suddenly discovered the gap in himself!
"Zach, don't think too much! James may not have performed as well as you when he first entered the league...Everyone needs to grow. Now you still have more time to grow. James has reached his peak. Period, he walks faster than you, but you have a chance to go farther than him..."
When LaVine walked onto the court to rest, Zhao Feiyang comforted him.
He also patted LaVine on the shoulder and told him not to be frustrated because his performance on the court was not perfect.
Compared with Harden, Zhao Feiyang also assumes most of the team's ball rights, but he does not increase the number of shots too much, but shares the ball while taking shots.
This allowed him to lead the entire Knicks team into form.
Although they are lagging behind the Rockets, every player on the Knicks is playing a role. Compared to the single-core mode, there is no doubt that this style of play can last longer.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded, the break ended, and the second quarter came.
This time the Knicks temporarily replaced Zach and continued to let Zhao Feiyang play. Coach Thomas sent Zhao Feiyang to the second position, and Jeremy Lin took the first position to organize the team's offense.
The wing position continues to be taken up by Adrian.
The fourth and fifth positions were replaced by Porzingis and DeAndre Jordan.
The Rockets' lineup is obviously not as good as the Knicks. James Harden continues to be on the court, but Eric Gordon is replaced at the first position. Anthony is replaced on the wing and substitute striker James Ennis comes up.
The inside line is still left to Clint Capelin.
The Knicks serve.
The moment the basketball was thrown into Jeremy Lin's hand, the entire scene suddenly became tense.
Everyone knows that the Knicks relied on a broken lineup to reach second place in the Eastern Conference, and now that the main insiders have returned, what terrible changes will happen to their overall strength?
