In the rest of the third quarter, Zhao Feiyang targeted Chris Paul.
As Zach LaVine's best friend, Zhao Feiyang has been trying to find a place for his brother. His style of play was indeed effective, and it once made Paul feel extremely uncomfortable.
Relying on his skills and shooting percentage, Zhao Feiyang scored 16 points under Paul's guard.
Such a score was recorded in just one quarter. There is no doubt that for the Houston Rockets, their restriction on Zhao Feiyang was a failure.
Also because of Zhao Feiyang's strong counterattack, the New York Knicks opened the point difference to 9 points at the end of the third quarter.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and both sides took a break.
The last section is coming.
On the Knicks team bench, LaVine had already recovered. After feeling that nothing serious happened to him, LaVine also expressed his gratitude to Zhao Feiyang.
"Zhao, did you go too far?"
"Um?"
"You just made Chris so angry! Didn't you see? He hit the seat several times after returning to the team bench..."
"You can't blame me for this! I didn't make any small moves, I bullied him purely based on my strength..."
After Zhao Feiyang said this, the two looked at each other and smiled.
In fact, he and LaVine both like Paul, but they like him, and they will never be soft when it's time to take action. The understanding that comes from liking, in this case, also turned into targeted defense, all handed over to Paul.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
The last section is coming.
Both sides sent out their core lineups. The Rockets brought out James Harden, while the Knicks continued to let Zhao Feiyang lead the team, and at the same time sent the recovered LaVine to the court.
Dwight Howard and DeMarcus Cousins were also temporarily replaced, while Porzingis and DeAndre Jordan continued to appear in the main lineup.
With a 9-point lead, the Knicks continued to attack after entering the game.
This time their offense was much smoother than before.
The Rockets originally hoped that Harden would step up and take the lead, but the further they went, the more they found that Harden could not handle it alone.
Paul wanted to step forward and help, but Zhao Feiyang and LaVine have been interfering with him. The two have a tacit defensive cooperation and will always pick Paul to double-team when he is attacking with the ball. This makes Paul's state always fluctuate. middle.
The game time passed minute by minute, and as the two sides entered the final moment, the score was 114 to 104. There were only 50 seconds left before the end of the game. The 10-point gap made the Rockets seem unable to recover at all.
The Rockets still didn't choose to give up.
Snapped.
The ball was issued and Paul advanced with the ball.
The ball was given to Harden before halftime. Harden was covered by his teammates and moved to a 45-degree position on the right side. After he swayed continuously, Harden raised the basketball. At the moment when he seemed to be throwing the basketball, he made a feint to deceive LaVine who was flying up. After avoiding LaVine, Harden seized the opportunity to take action.
Uh-huh.
A three-pointer fell firmly into the basket.
Harden's goal made the audience cheer.
The Knicks obviously didn't expect that Harden would be able to hit a key three-pointer at the last moment!
107 to 114.
7 points left.
The Knicks serve.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball, and Paul and Harden directly double-teamed him. Zhao Feiyang gave the ball to LaVine, but Carmelo Anthony directly switched defense.
The two met each other, LaVine dribbled the ball into the two zones and threw the ball. Anthony stuck to him and stretched out his hand to interfere.
boom.
The basketball hit the rim and bounced out.
Both sides jumped up at the same time inside, and Rockets big man Clint Capela jumped up to compete with DeAndre Jordan for the rebound. Both of them touched the basketball, but unfortunately it popped out again in the chaos.
This time Porzingis reacted quickly and snatched the basketball away. He didn't hesitate at all when he got the ball. He raised the basketball and dunked directly into the basket.
boom.
The ball went in.
Capella was quite helpless when faced with this situation!
Even though he has occupied a favorable position under the basket, facing the Knicks' two core insiders, he still cannot resist the opponent at the same time.
116 to 107.
There are only 13 seconds left.
By this time, the Rockets finally showed the idea of giving up. Even Harden, the core of the team, is no longer in a hurry to go up and hold the ball. The other Rockets players also slowed down, and it seemed that they were planning to wait for the time to run out.
But no one expected that in a situation where most people chose to give up, Paul still dribbled the ball through half-court.
Zhao Feiyang knew that the veteran was a little unwilling, so he did not follow up, but allowed Paul to advance the ball. After halftime, Paul also took the time to take action decisively.
Uh-huh.
His three-pointer hit the basket steadily.
There are only 3.9 seconds left in the game.
The ball is in the Knicks' court.
Paul still refused to give up and shouted fouls to other teammates, but the other Rockets players didn't want to listen to him at all. After all, even the team's super core Harden just stood there and didn't move. What could ordinary players like them do?
Snapped.
The Knicks gave the ball away.
Zhao Feiyang, who got the ball, stood still and didn't move at all. The time on the timer passed quickly. The on-site timer beep sounded soon, and the battle between the two sides finally ended.
Beep.
116 to 110.
The Knicks defeated the Rockets on the road by 6 points.
Zhao Feiyang scored 37 points in this game, LaVine scored 14 points, and Adrian scored 17 points and 10 rebounds. Porzingis and DeAndre Jordan teamed up to score 31 points and grab 23 rebounds.
For the Rockets, Harden scored 36 points, Paul sent 11 assists, but only scored 12 points individually.
Clint Capela scored 18 points, but unfortunately his rebounding data was not very good, and his shooting percentage inside was not very good either.
Carmelo Anthony played 30 minutes and scored a total of 16 points.
Originally he was supposed to be another firepower point for the Rockets, but unfortunately, his condition was relatively sluggish in this game. Although there are occasional wonderful moments in singles, for the most part, he is marked by young and motivated players like Adrian.
And because Harden is on the court, Anthony's ball possession rate is naturally not comparable to that of him in the Knicks era.
Therefore, Anthony only handed in an answer sheet of 16 points.
As a main player, he is not bad, but as a former "little melon", such statistics are not very good!
At least, he failed to show his value to the Rockets in this game! It also failed to help James Harden share some pressure at critical moments.
In any case, the game between the two sides is over, and the All-Star Weekend has arrived successfully with the expectations of countless fans.
