Among these people, only "General" Patton has a certain ability to attack independently.
But this is only the third game of Patton's career. As this year's No. 40 pick, he still has a lot to improve.
Facing the Rockets' already well-established defensive system, Button seemed very uncomfortable. The offensive performance was lackluster.
In less than half a quarter, the score difference has reached 25 points.
Trail Blazers head coach Stotts couldn't sit still and quickly replaced Lillard and Aldridge, who played the entire first quarter, hoping that the two could help the team stop the decline through offensive scoring.
Stotts is also a clever woman who can't make a meal without rice. He saw Patterson's weakness, that is, his inability to play in the low post.
As long as the team reduces the lineup to a smaller size and does not give Harden the opportunity to play big or small, then Wesley will not have to chase and recover, and Patterson will not get open shooting opportunities, and everything will be solved.
However, apart from Matthews, no one on the team can limit Harden in one-on-one defense.
Batum?
Stotts also wanted to replace him, but Batum received three fouls in the first quarter.
Originally, Stotts should have replaced him after his second foul, but he hesitated for a round. In this round, Batum received another foul.
There is no way to replace it now.
Except for these two, Harden gives everything he wants from everyone else.
Stotts was also very helpless about this. In the final analysis, the team's strength was insufficient and its defensive resources were too poor.
Then just focus on offense. Aldridge and Lillard echo each other internally and externally, and they are also the rising offensive duo in the league.
Stotts was worried, and he still didn't believe it. How could this unknown Patterson be accurate for a whole game?
However, by halftime, Stotts was 80% convinced. . .
Patterson was so accurate tonight. Whenever he got a chance, he basically got it.
After all, they missed 2 shots in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they missed no shots at all. They were all three-pointers. This is really terrible.
Played 18 minutes, made 11 of 13 shots, 9 of 11 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 33 points.
For the Trail Blazers, Aldridge and Lillard have started the fourth quarter mode, but they are still unable to do anything about the score.
75:45, the score difference came to 30 points.
More importantly, Harden and Jeremy Lin, the Rockets' two most capable players on paper, have not yet started to show off.
But Stotts still wants to give it a try. He is indeed one of the leading coaches in the league, and his ability to adjust is still very strong.
Back in the third quarter, Stotts arranged for Batum to play against Patterson and Aldridge to play against Morris.
In this way, after the Rockets pick-and-roll at positions 2 and 4, a matchup between Batum and Harden is formed, and Matthews can safely make outside shots.
After a few rounds, the Rockets missed several shots and the offense came to a standstill.
Lillard seized the counterattack opportunity and made two chasing three-pointers in succession. Aldridge also played steadily in the paint. The Trail Blazers played a 10:0 wave, and the score reached 75:55.
The game became suspense again.
McHale was half a beat slow to react, but he was able to respond.
After another timeout, he replaced Morris, who was not feeling well, and replaced him with Chandler Parsons.
The team's two wings, Patterson and Parsons, are both excellent at three-point shooting, and Harden continues to seize Aldridge's pick-and-roll mismatch opportunities.
The game has returned to an endless loop where Ade cannot limit Harden.
With Batum committing two consecutive defensive fouls, the Trail Blazers worsened their situation and were no longer able to limit the Rockets' offense.
At the end of the three quarters, the Rockets were 100:70. The game completely lost its suspense and entered garbage time.
The main players took off the field to rest.
Although Patterson missed two shots in the third quarter.
But after McHale made adjustments, he successfully continued his excellent form in the first half.
In the three quarters, he made 15 of 20 shots, 12 of 16 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored a career-high 44 points and 6 rebounds. It was a career night.
And in this game, in his confrontation with Aldridge, he did not fight each other, but achieved a big victory.
Ade spent too much on the defensive end, and his shooting hand felt affected.
As the core of the team, he faced much greater defensive pressure than Patterson, and only scored 22 points and 8 rebounds.
Patterson became famous in one battle, but media reporters did not care about these objective reasons. They evaluated the player's performance more based on data and wins and losses.
That night, every major website touted Patterson's performance.
"Patterson will become a strong contender for the best improved player in the new season."
"The third big man outside the Harlem group is in the team, Patrick Patterson",
"The man who broke Aldridge, Patterson, a rising star",
Just from these titles, you can see how good Patterson is.
Of course, only Xu Xin knows the truth.
But it has to be said that after this battle, Patterson seemed to have opened up the two channels of Ren and Du, and his self-confidence was through the roof.
The next three opponents the Rockets faced, the Nuggets, Grizzlies and Pistons, could not match Harden's flank defensive resources.
After all, this is not the era of strikers yet, and most teams pay more attention to inside strength.
Harden has taken turns naming the opponent's power forward in these games, and then created shooting opportunities for Patterson. This is of course Xu Xin's instruction.
Patterson is becoming more and more accustomed to this offensive method. Although his accuracy in open shots is not as exaggerated as when he faced the Trail Blazers, he still ensures a shooting rate of more than 50%.
Coupled with the active fighting on the defensive end, it will not become a loophole on the Rockets' defensive end. He has contributed on both offense and defense, helping the Rockets win six consecutive games and has not lost since the start of the game.
His praise remains high, and he has become more and more popular among Rockets fans and coveted by other teams in the league.
Everyone's eyes are also on November 13th, when the Rockets face the Heat at home.
Facing the powerful Heat, how Patterson can perform has become something that most fans are curious about.
Xu Xin also knows the value of this game. If Patterson does not fall behind in the duel with Bosh, Patterson's trade value will be further enhanced.
The defending champion Heat are still strong this season, and James just won his first championship.
At the time when he was high-spirited, he had already replaced Kobe, who was at the end of his peak period, and became the face of the league.
Wade and Bosh have been in excellent form recently. After establishing James as the core, the two have also found their own positions and become more and more comfortable in Spoelstra's system.
The Heat's signings in the summer were also outstanding. The team added three generals.
Gentleman Ray Allen, Birdman Chris Anderson, former Magic star player Rashad Lewis.
The team's lineup is the deepest in the league. Although its internal strength is in the middle and lower reaches of the league, its strong external strength is unique.
The team used aggressive defense to force their opponents to make mistakes, thus gaining a lot of opportunities to counterattack.
In positional battles, the team will choose to arrange at least one elite breakthrough player (James, Wade) and at least three 3Ds most of the time to clear the inside and improve the stability of outside shooting.
This kind of tactical arrangement allows the Heat to suddenly exert force in the game and take away the game in one wave.
