This has something to do with the next Rockets head coach D'Antoni.
But part of the reason is that Harden's off-ball play has been abandoned for a long time, as well as the mid-range that has been abandoned due to the magic ball theory.
As a result, even if Harden wants to be like the Thunder, taking care of both without and with the ball, and replenishing the saved energy on defense, his offensive efficiency is far less than that of singles.
It seems that we need to quickly change to a head coach with a stronger tactical level.
Xu Xin thought.
At the end of the timeout, Teague still had the ball. Harris and Korver used Horford's screen to make a baseline cross move.
Morris and Harden failed to communicate with the defense and made mistakes. They both chased Korver at the same time.
Teague observed the Rockets' defensive error and passed the ball before Harris ran outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right side.
When the ball came to the man, Harris faced such a good opportunity and did not hesitate to shoot a jumper.
"Uh-huh!"
Three-pointer, 87:93.
Harden patted his chest, signaled to his teammates, and pressed his hand down to tell his teammates not to panic.
Actively receive the baseline ball, dribble past half court, face Harris's defense, dribble with his left and right hands to find rhythm, and prepare to stand up for singles.
Korver on the side glanced at Morris, who was standing outside the 45-degree three-point line on the left. This guy only made three-pointers from the bottom corner today and had not made any shots from other positions.
Furthermore, the coach also said just now that he should find the right opportunity to flank Harden, and now is the time.
Korver made up his mind and took two sudden steps forward to attack.
There was no trace of panic on Harden's face. He saw the move and flicked his right wrist.
A pocket pass, the ball passed between Korver and Harris in the split second before the trap formed.
After Morris caught the ball, he saw Josh Smith coming to defend him from the corner of his eye. Instead of forcing the shot, he continued to distribute the ball to the bottom corner, where Smith was originally facing Patterson.
In the familiar corner, Patterson took a confident shot and hit a three-pointer.
90:93.
Seeing Smith's supplementary defense, Korver helplessly spread his hands. As the one with the least say in the starting lineup, it was hard to say anything.
But Horford was not used to Smith's bad habits and yelled:
"Are you stupid? Did Maurice ever score a three-pointer tonight except from the bottom corner? Why are you attacking him!"
Seeing that Smith was unconvinced and wanted to fight back, Larry Drew could only call another timeout and replace the "brainless" Eagle King.
Replaced the obedient and reliable Tolliver, and at the same time replaced Teague and replaced him with Lou Williams, who has a greater offensive threat.
In the first attack after the timeout, Harris still had a chance.
Harden has played 36 minutes tonight. As the team's first scoring point, the physical exertion is indeed too great and he can no longer keep up with Harris's devilish movement without the ball.
Harris raised his hand and made a three-pointer.
"Bang!", hitting the edge of the basket.
The trajectory of this ball was very positive, but unfortunately the power was low and Harris was tired.
Morris collected the rebound and gave it to Jeremy Lin who was about to start.
After Jeremy Lin received the ball, he dribbled past the delayed Korver and raced forward.
The Eagles players ran desperately to their own backcourt, but Jeremy Lin was faster.
Seeing that Teague was the only one in front of him, he broke through decisively, passed Teague in one step, turned around and made a backhand layup.
92:93, the score is close to 1 point.
In the next two rounds, both sides were a little nervous and failed to hit the target.
In the last minute of the game, Harris took control of the ball and used Horford's screen to break through to the basket, causing Asik to foul.
Harris made one of two free throws to help the Eagles stabilize their morale.
McHale did not call a timeout and chose to trust his players.
Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball forward and looked up at Harden. Harden was a little out of breath and then decided to do it himself.
What this ball needs is success rate.
Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball at the top of the arc, signaling Asik to come up to cover. At the same time, he stepped forward and dribbled with his left hand, misleading Lu Wei to break through the pick-and-roll to the left.
Lu Wei quickly adjusted his center of gravity. Jeremy Lin saw the opportunity, quickly lowered his center of gravity, and took an attacking step.
The left hand is floating and dribbling, and the body is swinging to the left, continuing to mislead Lu Wei to break through to the left.
Then he quickly changes direction in front of his body and cross-steps, attacking Lu Wei's front foot.
Lu Wei failed to adjust his center of gravity and was passed by Jeremy Lin by half a body. Korver, who was facing Morris on the right, stepped forward to interfere and swiped the defense.
Jeremy Lin saw everything and quickly dropped the ball forward to avoid the swipe. At the same time, he used his assist hand to get rid of Lu Wei's pursuit.
Lu Wei was full of energy and very fast. He blocked Jeremy Lin before he took three steps to attack the basket.
Jeremy Lin didn't panic at all, changed his moves smoothly, quickly stopped and turned around after hitting the ball, turned around to aim at the basket, and paused to observe Lu Wei's position.
Then before Lu Wei stepped forward to block it, he took off and shot, hitting the ball from mid-range!
94:94, with 32 seconds left in the game, both sides returned to the same starting line.
Larry Drew called the last timeout, arranged the final attack, and at the same time replaced Teague, who had a greater offensive threat, and replaced Tolliver.
The five people on the court, Teague, Lou Williams, Harris, Korver, and Horford, all have shooting abilities.
Harris holds the ball to press the game time. This attack must give the Rockets as little time as possible while maintaining the success rate.
With 10 seconds left in the offensive round, Harris started, breaking through on the right side to compress the defense.
Passed to Lu Wei who came out of the pocket. Facing Morris, Lu Wei changed direction in front of the continuum. The classic small hit the big one, passed Morris, and hit the throw.
At 94:96, the Rockets fell behind again with 9 seconds left in the game.
McHale called the last timeout. If the timeout was not called, the team could only serve the baseline ball, and the 9-second attack time was still very short.
After calling a timeout, the team can choose to serve the frontcourt sideline ball, and the tactical layout of the final attack will be much richer.
McHale arranged a very conventional final attack tactic. After Harden and Jeremy Lin listened, they discussed it and made additions.
When the timeout ended, more than 18,000 spectators in Phillips Arena stood up and shouted "Defense" in unison to cheer for the home team players.
The Eagles replaced Lu Wei and brought on Smith to strengthen defense.
Parsons replaced Asik and served a sideline ball. Harden was chased and intercepted and couldn't catch the ball. Parsons chose Plan B and sent it to Jeremy Lin.
Shu Hao successfully received the ball, and Parsons ran towards the bottom corner to open up space on the court.
Patterson and Morris provide double coverage for Harden on the other side, creating conditions for Harden to catch the ball.
But this time Harris pursued the defense desperately, Horford and Smith were also interfering, and Harden moved around, but he could not get rid of it.
Jeremy Lin couldn't get the ball to Harden, and with 3 seconds left in the game, Jeremy Lin held his breath and decided to go it alone.
Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball with his right hand and slowly advanced forward. Teague raised his right hand and covered it in front of Jeremy Lin's eyes.
Shu Hao no longer hesitated, faced Teague's defense, and made a 3-pointer.
In New York last season, he visited Toronto during the "Linsanity" period. In the last attack, he refused D'Antoni to call a timeout and chose to go it alone, making a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
But in fact, the detail behind this is that Jeremy Lin took 13 three-pointers from the top of the arc that season and only hit that one shot.
During the offseason, Jeremy Lin focused on practicing holding the ball and shooting three-pointers from the top of the arc, so he was very confident in this shot.
