Harden comforted.
"I was careless with this goal. It was my first top ten goal this season and I didn't expect it to become a backdrop."
Patterson smiled bitterly, but he was in a good mood.
The baseline ball was issued, Jeremy Lin dribbled past half court, and Harden actively came out to get the ball.
After receiving the ball, observing the defense, Harris is not far away.
When Harden saw that he was being defended by the leader of the Hobbit trio, he stopped being polite and dribbled straight through, eating Harris alive. After the confrontation, Harris staggered, giving Harden more room to break through.
Smith did not immediately come up to help defend. He hesitated for half a second, worried that Harden would play the same ball and pass it to his opposite Patterson.
This half second gave Harden time to take a step further. Seeing that the situation was not good, Smith quickly rushed to protect the frame.
But the time was too short, Smith did not take off sufficiently, and his height was obviously not enough.
Harden's take-off was too sufficient. He fought with Smith in the air to avoid losing ground. He rounded his left arm and performed a powerful and heavy tomahawk chop.
"state!"
5:2.
The basketball was slammed into the basket, and Smith was dunked to the ground.
The poor Eagle King, in order to help Harris wipe his butt, once again appeared on the top ten ball candidate list.
Harden glanced at Smith coldly, turned and ran back to his own half, high-fiving Patterson.
The ball hit Smith successfully.
He was a bit on the court and eager to respond, but unfortunately, whether he was rushing to the basket or shooting from long range, the effect was not ideal.
On the Rockets' side, Jeremy Lin organized the team's offense, while Harden and Morris Jr. took turns relying on their physical advantages to bully Harris and Korver.
As Smith faced the defensive three-pointer on a semi-fast break and missed a strong shot, Harden received a long pass from the rebound and found Patterson in the frontcourt for a dunk, and the score reached 23:12.
Horford couldn't bear it anymore, spread his hands and sprayed directly.
For the ball just now, he ran to the three-point line. Before he could get in position to grab the rebound, Smith shot the ball.
Even though he had a good temper, he couldn't bear to run back and forth.
Eagles head coach Larry Drew saw that the situation was not good and called the first timeout.
To be honest, this timeout was called a bit late. Coach Drew chose to believe that the players could adjust themselves on the court. Obviously he was wrong.
Horford was still arguing with Smith when he walked to the bench. As the boss of the team, Smith would not show weakness, although most of the bosses of this team are self-proclaimed.
The assistant coach on the side quickly came up to smooth things over and pulled the two away.
On the Rockets bench, McHale used his eloquence as always. Loudly encourage the team members to roll up their sleeves and work hard.
Pause and come back,
Coach Drew replaced Smith and kept him on the court. The other players were so angry that they almost went on strike.
Horford served a baseline kick, Jeff Teague dribbled to the frontcourt, and the corner kick was given to Horford who followed up.
After Horford got the ball outside the three-point line, he observed the defense and found that Asik gave him a lot of space. Then he no longer hesitated and raised his hand to try a three-pointer.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball went hollow into the net, and at 23:15, the point difference returned to double digits.
Harden took the initiative to ask for the ball and advanced past half court. Facing the Hawks' weak perimeter defense, he simply stopped pretending.
He raised his arms and rushed forward, but this time Coach Drew obviously took countermeasures. Anthony Tolliver came up to double-team Harden and consciously blocked Harden's passing route.
Harden was forced to stop the ball and wanted to find Patterson on the far end, but underestimated Tolliver's long arms. The moment Harden passed the ball, Tolliver's fingertips almost touched the basketball, disturbing the trajectory of the basketball.
Jeff Teague had quick eyes and quick hands. He jumped up, grabbed the missing basketball, and headed towards the Rockets' backcourt.
Jeremy Lin started half a second late. Although Jeremy Lin was very fast, Jeff Teague was not far behind. The two were evenly matched in this speed competition, and the distance did not shorten.
In the end, Teague succeeded in a layup with one position ahead of Shuhao.
At 23:17, after returning from the timeout, the Eagles had a 5-0 spurt.
McHale was very calm and did not rush to call a timeout, choosing to watch another round.
This time, it was Jeremy Lin who advanced with the ball. Harden ran empty-handed to 45 degrees outside the three-point line. After receiving a pass from Jeremy Lin, he continued to beat Harris.
Tolliver was also determined to double attack. Harden learned his lesson and suddenly braked. Before the double attack was formed, he passed the ball to Jeremy Lin at the top of the arc. Jeremy passed the ball to Patterson who was left open in the bottom corner without looking at anyone.
Patterson had been preparing for a long time. He didn't need to adjust after catching the ball, he opened his bow and arrow, and hit a three-pointer.
26:17.
Xu Xin smiled slightly while sitting in the box. He was not surprised that Patterson and Morris were so accurate in three-pointers.
In the past few days, he specially arranged for head coach McHale to let the two practice three-pointers from the corner.
In fact, the distance between the three-point lines is not exactly the same. The two bottom corners are closest to the basket, and the difficulty of shooting is relatively low.
The two got the starting position and were in high spirits. They have been practicing three-pointers crazily in the past few days, and they only practiced three-pointers from the corner. They have become more and more familiar with the distance.
Therefore, in the game, the two of them can shoot open three-pointers from the bottom corner with such high certainty.
For the Eagles, the same tactics were used again.
Horford caught the ball at the top of the arc and observed the Rockets' defensive position.
This time, Asik came up closely, leaving Horford only half a step away.
In fact, Asik's choice was not a big mistake. The last time Horford got the ball at the top of the arc, he chose to shrink to the basket to prevent the opponent from making a layup without the ball.
After all, Harris is still very fast, and Harden has a little difficulty keeping up.
During this period, Horford's passing threat at the top of the arc is greater than his shooting threat.
But Horford was in great shape today, as if he was eager to prove himself after a fruitless argument with the team's self-proclaimed boss. I made my first three-pointer very confidently.
This round, Asik didn't dare to let go.
If Horford's touch is developed tonight, the Rockets will be in trouble.
Horford saw Asik coming up to defend him, dribbled sideways along the three-point line, and handed the ball to Harris who was running empty-handed. He stayed on the spot and collided with Harden who was following up, successfully delaying the delay. Harden's pursuit of defense was stopped.
After receiving the pass from the opponent, Harris faced Asik who had switched defenses. A small bow kept Asik in place and took three steps near the free throw line.
Facing Morris, who was on defense, he threw the ball with his right hand. The basketball drew a beautiful arc, bypassed Morris's fingertips, and entered the net hollowly.
A beautiful floater, Harris' signature move.
26:19.
In the following rounds, both sides increased their investment in defense, and neither side got a good shot.
It wasn't until the substitutes came on stage at this stage, and Parsons and Jeremy Lin performed two classic 2-on-2s that cleared one side, that the Rockets continued to score.
The Hawks were not to be outdone and created three very good shooting opportunities for pitcher Korver. Korver was also unrelenting and made 2 of 3 shots, helping the team close the score.
At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led by 4 points at 32:28.
