Then the team went to San Antonio to challenge the evergreen Spurs in the league, which has a GDP.
This game is still where the young Rockets pay their tuition.
Facing the experienced Spurs, the Rockets were at a disadvantage from the start and were always beaten by the Spurs.
Ginobili and Leonard restricted Harden and Butler very well, but no one in the Rockets could guard Duncan who was at the tail end of his peak.
Duncan dominated the interior in this game, and it can be said that he got everything he asked for.
In the end, the Rockets had no choice but to accept this result and suffered a three-game losing streak.
For a time, the league's first three-game losing streak made headlines, and doubts about the Rockets were rampant.
Xu Xin didn't take it seriously.
A few losses mean nothing. Furthermore, objectively speaking, the Rockets' current strength is not at the level of the league's best.
The winning or losing of many games depends on the players' on-the-spot state, and the state of these games is generally normal. In a long season, it is impossible to expect players to perform stably as the game data indicates.
However, interior defense is indeed a problem. Asik has no problem standing up to defend, but dynamic defense is not good. His steps are still a bit slow.
Fortunately, there is only a week before the trade door opens. The problem of interior defense will be greatly improved after Garnett arrives. At least there are 30 minutes in a game, and the interior will not be blown up.
The next week, the Rockets returned to their home court to face the Mavericks, the other top three player in Texas, back-to-back.
The current lineup of last season's championship has changed a lot compared to two years ago.
Kidd's departure caused them to lose their offensive organizer and outside defensive core. The departure of "Boxing Champion" Tyson Chandler caused them to lose their internal defensive barrier.
On the bench, "Jet" Jason Terry and "Puerto Rico Mountain" JJ Barea also left the team one after another. The absence of these two sharp knives also had a great impact on the team's performance in the transition period.
Although the boss Cuban and the entire team management tried their best to strengthen and introduced many excellent players.
Including OJ Mayo, who is known as the best "No. 1 high school student in the United States" after James, "demigod" Vince Carter, Nowitzki's fellow countryman Chris Kaman, Queen Bee stand-in Darren Coe Leeson, old captain Elton Brand.
But these people either have too single attributes and cannot provide help to the team in sorting out the offense and leading the defense.
Either the peak is no longer there and the career is approaching the end.
The same goes for Barnes' good brother, "Old Fish" Fisher, who just signed with the team.
Only the "German Tank" and "King of Nowitzki" Dirk Nowitzki and "The Hacker" Shawn Marion still hold on to the core framework of the championship that year, but they are also two years older.
The team's current problem is mainly that its defensive synergy is too poor and it is unable to form quick defensive rotations and assist defense protection.
On the offensive end, Nowitzki is here, and the basics can be maintained.
But when he went down to rest, with Old Carter and Collison leading the team, the team's offense would sometimes be unable to open up the situation, especially when facing a team with many top perimeter defenders.
That was the case tonight against the Rockets.
From the beginning of the first quarter, the two sides fought hard to separate each other, and the score was tight.
But at the end of the first quarter, after Nowitzki took a break, the Rockets bench led by Butler and Livingston crushed Carter, Collison and others in all directions.
The Rockets hit a 15:6 spurt to quickly open the score.
By the time Nowitzki came back on the court in the middle of the second quarter, the Mavericks were already 15 points behind.
Nowitzki takes the team's offense on his shoulders. He is independent, stable in the mid-range shot, strong inside, and three-pointers after the pick-and-roll. Nowitzki uses all his strength to help the team chase points.
But the results were minimal, because the Rockets' Harlem combination was also working hard, and Parsons and Ariza also gained from the outside.
At the end of the half, Nowitzki looked at the scoreboard sweating and panting, 66:49, good guy, instead of narrowing the point difference, it actually expanded by 2 points.
He was helpless about this, he was old after all.
The difference in data is not huge, but the impact on the game is visible to the naked eye.
In the second half of the game, the Mavericks took a breath and continued to chase points. The whole team was united and once the point difference was close to single digits.
But on the Rockets' side, Harden took over the offensive banner, made a sudden shot and a step-back, and a set of combination punches, blasting a wave of 22:9, and the score difference was 20 points.
In the transition period of the third quarter, Nowitzki came off the court to take a rest. Butler and Livingston came up to speed up the offensive and defensive rhythm, and beat the old masters with a flurry of punches.
At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets led by 25 points.
Seeing this, Mavericks head coach Carlisle did not choose to continue to let the veterans work hard, surrendered, and sent young players, and the game entered garbage time.
In the end, the Rockets defeated the Mavericks 125:105, ending their three-game losing streak.
Xu Xin also gained 50 points after being deducted 75 points, and the system account now has 700 points.
However, before the points were obtained, they were deducted again.
Less than a week after the Spurs beat the Rockets on their own soil in San Antonio, they came to Houston to continue teaching the Rockets.
In this game, Duncan still had plenty to eat and drink in the paint, and was relaxed and happy. At the end of the game, Duncan didn't forget to hug the disappointed Harden and send him a famous quote that seemed to be comforting but actually ridiculing: "The future is yours."
Harden smiled bitterly. He had already performed very well in this game, scoring 38 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. However, the Spurs' defensive choice was to cut off the connection between him and his teammates.
Butler and Jeremy Lin both performed poorly in this game. As a result, the Rockets did not have a second ball-handling threat besides Harden, and ultimately lost the game.
"Don't go back yet, let's practice more together."
In the locker room, Harden changed his usual cheerful image and sat in his seat and said seriously.
"necessary!"
Butler did not hesitate and raised his hands in agreement.
"OK!"
Jeremy Lin made the OK gesture.
"Count me in!"
"And I!"
"Me too."
Ariza, Parsons, Livingston, Asik, Motiejunas and many other players have joined in, and all the players have to practice extra.
After deciding, they turned their attention to the team's coaching staff and trainers.
"Ahem, I'm getting older. I have to go back to sleep. So, you can lead everyone in training. That's it. Good night, good night. See you tomorrow."
McHale was a little embarrassed. After speaking awkwardly, he made a tactical retreat without looking back.
The players laughed at the "refrigerator's" embarrassment.
Harden hugged the assistant coach and joked:
"Lao Mai sold you to us, you can't run away."
Everyone laughed.
In the training hall, the players trained in full swing and did not leave until they were exhausted.
Harden, Jeremy Lin and Butler were the last to leave.
