After Westbrook missed several mid- and long-range shots in the first half, he stopped shooting in this quarter. Almost every ball had to go to the basket and he frequently stood on the free throw line.
Although the free throw shooting rate is not very high, the damage to Asik was done well.
Halfway through the third quarter, Asik picked up 4 fouls and went off to rest.
The same was true for Motiejunas, who was replaced, and soon accumulated 4 fouls.
Motel could only make small defensive moves, which gave Westbrook more opportunities to easily attack the frame, and he staged several breakthroughs and dunks.
Jeremy Lin and Westbrook competed against each other. It was obvious that Jeremy Lin was at a disadvantage.
However, Jeremy Lin is not the only one on the Rockets side.
In the transition period, Butler replaced Harden, and the Rockets' second king came on the scene. If they couldn't beat one, they would have two.
The Rockets' offense, led by the two kings, is getting better and better.
Fortunately, Kevin Martin found his touch at the end of the third quarter and hit two consecutive three-pointers, so the score was not further opened.
At the end of the three quarters, the Rockets still led the Thunder by 12 points at 88:76.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets had the advantage in the first three minutes of the battle between the two substitutes. Butler led the team to an 8:2 spurt that widened the point difference to 18 points.
Coach Brooks couldn't sit still and took Durant back in advance.
There is no way, if this continues, the game will be wasted before the last five minutes, and it will be meaningless to get back the double master by then.
After Durant came on the court, the situation on the court immediately improved.
McHale was only half a beat slow, and without making any substitution adjustments in the two rounds, Durant hit two consecutive three-pointers, narrowing the point difference back to 12 points.
McHale quickly called a timeout and got Ariza back.
However, Durant in the fourth quarter was unstoppable by ordinary people. Even if the defensive hero Ariza came up, it would not have much effect.
Durant continued to score, and the Thunder continued to chase points.
The Rockets couldn't guard Durant, and their offense fell into a scoring drought again. McHale stood in front of the technical table and paced back and forth. If there was no good way, then continue to adjust people.
With seven minutes left in the game, McHale brought on Harden and Jeremy Lin, replacing Butler and Livingston.
The Thunder also got back all their main players.
Let Butler take a break and catch his breath. He will still need to play in the final battle later.
With Harlem's dual-core drive, the Rockets' offense improved, but they still couldn't guard against the Thunder's second youngster.
With Durant's super long three-pointer, the score between the two sides reached 100:95, and the Rockets only led by 5 points.
McHale called another timeout. He had to go to the fifth floor for unlimited defense changes. No matter what, he couldn't give Durant an easy shot after the pick-and-roll.
The timeout ends, and the Rockets five players appear: Harden, Jeremy Lin, Butler, Ariza, and Parsons.
In the last 5 minutes, the decisive battle began.
The Rockets attack and Harden controls the ball. At the decisive moment, McHale is more willing to give the ball to Harden.
After all, Harden's threat with the ball in hand is definitely greater than without the ball. The forbearance in the front is to save enough energy for these five minutes.
Harden was dribbling while observing the movements of his teammates. Parsons ran over to screen Harden, and Harden waved him over.
"No need to come, I want to play alone."
Harden said loudly.
Sefolosha, who was guarding him, couldn't help but tense up when he heard this and became more focused.
Harden cross-stepped to test, and seeing Sefolosha blocking his left hand, he immediately dribbled the ball with his right hand and accelerated to break through from the right.
Sefolosha turned sideways and kept retreating, always blocking Harden, waiting for the moment Harden took a shot to block it.
Ibaka behind him also retreated to the penalty area, ready to make up for the protective frame at any time.
Unexpectedly, Harden made a throwing motion with one hand, and Sefolosha subconsciously blocked the shot.
I found that the ball was thrown too high. When I looked back, the basketball passed Ibaka's huge palm. Butler behind him caught the ball in the air and dunked with both hands.
Alley-oop!
102:95.
"You old man, aren't you talking about singles?"
Sefolosha looked at Harden and said.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War, soldiers never tire of deceit, our manager Xu taught me this."
Harden was eloquent and confident.
"I don't know if the Art of War is the real Art of War, but you are the real Sun Tzu."
Sefolosha laughed and cursed.
The two have a good relationship, and there is no sense of tension between them when they talk.
The Thunder attacked, Westbrook dribbled to the frontcourt, Durant ran out from the wing to ask for the ball, Westbrook waved his hand and asked him to take off.
Durant was a little helpless, spread his hands and walked towards the bottom line.
Facing Jeremy Lin, Westbrook dropped the ball and dribbled to shake the opponent's center of gravity. He suddenly took off and made a pull-up three-pointer. The arc of the ball was very flat and there was no spin.
Coach Brooks, who was so angry that he was standing on the sidelines, yelled,
"Playing tactics, what are you doing? You are so smart..."
Brooks didn't finish his sentence. The basketball was impartial and he hit the ball head-on.
"You are a smart... brave guy."
Brooks cursed, his volume gradually decreasing, his tone gradually softening.
Because the ball went in.
102:98.
Harden slowly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt. There were more than four minutes left in the game and the Rockets were 4 points ahead. The most important thing now was the success rate. There was no need to speed up.
The Rockets have 5 small players, all stretched out to the outside, creating a huge breakthrough space for Harden.
Harden called Parsons over to play the pick-and-roll, and Perkins, who was opposite Parsons, hurriedly followed.
Harden got rid of Sefolosha through a pick-and-roll, but Sefolosha squeezed through, still half a body behind Harden.
Parsons moved forward, and Perkins positioned himself further back to prevent Harden from passing another alley-oop.
Seeing this, Harden dribbled the ball to the free throw line, flicked it with his left hand, a weird little floater, and the basketball bounced on the rim twice, but still went in.
104:98.
The Thunder attacked and Westbrook advanced with the ball. Durant came out to ask for the ball again. This time Westbrook passed the ball and then ran away voluntarily.
If he doesn't pass the ball, Durant will scold him in the trumpet after the game.
After Durant received the ball, he did not rush to the next step, but observed the defense.
Seeing that the opponent was still using man-to-man defense, Durant took two consecutive shuffling steps, shaking Ariza's defensive focus. Then he made a signature change and made a long two-point jump shot.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net.
104:100.
Ariza shook his head. He didn't miss the ball. If he took another half step forward, Durant easily passed him.
"Ariza defended to the extreme. His body was stretched as far as he could in the air, but he still didn't interfere with Durant."
Su Qi and Ariza have similar views on heroes.
The Rockets attack and Harden continues to control the ball.
Right now, Butler's offensive ability with the ball is not that strong, but if you give him another three weeks or so, it will be different.
According to the instructions of the system's "Talent Cashing", after using it, within one month, players will quickly and steadily improve to the level they will be in four years.
Four years later, Butler was in his last season with the Bulls. He was already the core of the team, and singles with the ball was a regular weapon.
