Jeremy Lin advanced to the frontcourt, and Harden took the initiative to cover. The Lakers did not choose to switch defense. Jeremy Lin did not hesitate when he saw this, and accelerated to pass Nash again.
Faced with Gasol who came to defend again, Jeremy Lin followed suit and broke through to the bottom corner.
Parsons catches the ball, takes off, shoots, and hits!
Completed in one go, 94:90.
Bickerstaff quickly called a timeout and deployed defense.
The Rockets' position outside the 5th position made the Lakers veterans a little overwhelmed.
"Change the defensive matchup. Paul (Gasol) goes to Jimmy (Butler) and Antoine (Jamieson). You go to Chandler (Parsons) and don't give him an open shot."
"The opponent is playing a pick-and-roll. We switch defense this time and cannot let Jeremy (Jeremy Lin) break through easily."
Although Bickerstaff is a firefighting head coach, he still has basic qualities and quickly made targeted adjustments.
In the Rockets' set of five players, Butler was the most inaccurate, so he asked Gasol to match up with Butler. In theory, this would minimize the threat of the Rockets' breakthrough ball.
The timeout ends, Kobe holds the ball and observes the defense.
The Rockets still adopted a man-to-man defense without double-teaming. When Kobe saw this, he no longer held back and used his full strength.
He broke through with the ball in his right hand, accelerated past Ariza, and passed the ball from behind to Gasol who was one step inside the free throw line before Parsons and Ariza formed a double attack.
Gasol caught the ball and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand.
94:92.
"What a ball. Kobe passed the ball beautifully. He used his personal ability to attract the defense and find Gasol. The Rockets' lineup is very weak in interior defense. It is the right choice to play more inside."
Yang Yi said.
Jeremy Lin dribbled to the frontcourt and played a pick-and-roll with Harden again. This time the Lakers chose to switch defense.
After the pick-and-roll, Jeremy Lin faced Kobe and then returned the ball to Harden.
Targeting Nash was the tactic set by head coach McHale.
In fact, very good results were obtained.
Harden caught the ball and the other Rockets players pulled away, not giving the Lakers a chance to change defense again.
Harden continuously dribbled the ball from his hips, found a rhythm, dug a step to break through, exploded in an instant, and passed Nash again from the left.
Gasol shrank quickly and gave up on Butler decisively. Harden did not choose to force forward and also found an open space in the bottom corner.
Butler raised his hand and hit a three-pointer.
"Bang!"
The trajectory was a little crooked. Gasol protected the defensive rebound and handed it to Nash.
Nash didn't give it to Kobe this time. If Kobe personally took care of every round, Kobe's physical tank would soon be at its bottom.
Furthermore, Nash was bullied in various ways on the defensive end. After Jeremy Lin beat Jeremy Lin, he then beat Jeremy Lin, and Jeremy Lin then beat Harden. The clay figure was still angry!
He wanted to play his role on the offensive end, and this time Nash took the initiative to attack.
He dribbled the ball with his right hand, called on his teammates to pull away, and signaled Gasol to put up the screen.
Nash tried to use the pick-and-roll to get rid of Jeremy Lin, but Jeremy Lin quickly squeezed past him. Compared with Howard's screen quality, "Sister-in-law" was still inferior.
Seeing that Nash failed to escape successfully, he pulled the ball back. Gasol understood it and made another screen in the opposite direction.
Jeremy Lin reacted quickly and squeezed through again. When he squeezed over, he discovered that Nash had just done an in&out dribble (one-handed change of direction in front of the body) and was still on the other side of the screen.
It's too late to go back.
Nash seizes this second of opportunity, combines the ball, jumps up, and shoots.
"Uh-huh!"
Three points into the net!
94:95.
"Good goal! This goal reflects Nash's role on the offensive end, helping Kobe to share the pressure. He showed no mercy at the critical moment and successfully overtook the score. There are still 3 minutes left in the game, and it is still unclear who will win and who will lose."
Yu Jia's mood was high. He had not seen such a wonderful battle between lake and fire for several years.
Harden dribbled to the frontcourt, Jeremy Lin brought Nash over to play a pick-and-roll, the Lakers switched defense, and Harden faced Nash again.
Without any surprise, Nash was passed by Harden again, and Gasol once again appeared in the defensive position. Harden found Butler in the bottom corner.
This time, Butler seized the opportunity and made this precious three-pointer.
answer ball!
At 97:95, the Rockets regained the lead.
Bickerstaff was very helpless and called a timeout to make personnel adjustments. Nash was beaten to pieces on the defensive end. This cannot continue.
Bickerstaff thought about it and finally chose to replace Meeks. He is strong, fast in lateral movement, and has a good three-pointer on the offensive end.
On the Rockets bench, McHale came up with a killer move that he had been preparing for a long time:
"Next, we switch to one-and-four zone defense, with Ariza keeping an eye on Kobe, and the other four players guarding a 22-zone defense. Chandler and Jimmy guard the bottom line, and James and Jeremy guard the top line."
Everyone nodded. They had practiced this defensive system before the game.
After the timeout, the burden of organizing the offense once again fell on Kobe's shoulders.
There is no way, if Nash goes down, only Kobe has the ability to control the ball.
Kobe dribbled the ball at the top of the arc to observe the defense, and was surprised to find that the Rockets' defensive method had changed!
Instead of guarding against people, he switched to guarding against the ball. He was positioned in a box. Gasol wanted to catch the ball in a position on the inside, but there were people on and off the line. The ball would most likely be missed if passed.
Kobe gave up the idea of passing the ball and decided to do it alone.
Then he accelerated and passed Ariza through rhythm changes and explosive power. After rushing in, he found that he seemed to have fallen into a pocket woven by the Rockets generals, with people in all directions.
Kobe subconsciously glanced at the bottom corners on both sides. One was Ci Shiping, whose three-point shooting rate dropped significantly at the beginning of the season, less than 30%. The other is Meeks, who has just been substituted and has not touched the ball.
These two guys are bad at shooting, Kobe thought to himself.
In the blink of an eye, he decided to end it on his own. The butterfly passed through the middle of the Harlem combination, and he shot the ball with an arrow on horseback.
The basketball bounced on the rim twice, but still fell into the net.
At 97:97, the two sides were tied again.
Harden dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and Meeks never left. This is what he came on the court to do.
Harden continued to dribble under his hips and changed direction in front of his body. Meeks defended tenaciously and always stood in front of Harden. Seeing that there was not much time left, Harden chose to step back and take a three-pointer.
This skill was something he had figured out in the past few days and was not yet mature. He used it at such a critical time simply because he had a good feel during training this morning, which gave him a lot of confidence.
"Bang!"
The basketball hit the front line and missed the three-pointer.
Harden's eyes were hot, and his left hand still kept following the shooting motion. Although the ball did not go in, the trajectory was very positive, but the power was small, and the arc and angle were very suitable.
Next time he just needs to increase his strength, and he believes he will make it.
Jamison protected the rebound.
Kobe advanced with the ball and once again faced the Rockets' box defense.
Ariza opened his arms and lowered his center of gravity to prepare for the attack. This time, even Kobe could not escape.
