Motelyounes laughed at himself and bumped fists with Parsons:
"Things have changed, man."
Parsons replied with a cheerful smile:
"Yes, brother, this is the business alliance."
. . .
On the field, the game starts immediately.
The Rockets arranged a starting five of Harden, Jeremy Lin, Butler, Ariza, and Asik, with Butler replacing Parsons as the starting small forward. This was also Butler's first starting appearance with the Rockets.
The crowd gave the Houston kid a standing ovation, and Butler was inspired and excited.
For the Celtics, "Lon coaches" Rajon Rondo, Courtney Lee, Paul Pierce, Brandon Bass, and Chris Wilcox.
Asik undoubtedly won the jump ball, and Wilcox, a power forward who jumped with him, came to the center position.
Courtney Lee kept an eye on Harden and defended him to within 25 points. This was the task assigned to him by head coach Doc Rivers tonight.
However, the Rockets' main point of attack was not Harden at first, but Butler, who was making his first start in Houston.
Butler faced the aging Paul Pierce and played as he pleased, including breakthrough layups, pull-up mid-range shots, half-turn hook shots, and pull-up three-pointers. Paul Pierce worked very hard, but after all, he was the old man. .
Old men come first, old legs come first. Faced with Butler's unreasonable first step, Pierce was completely unable to keep up. After two fouls, Paul Pierce left the game early. It seems that he will have to travel at off-peak hours most of the night. .
Embarrassingly, Jeff Green, who came on the bench, also couldn't guard Butler. Coach Rivers pouted and frowned on the sidelines. He thought for a long time and had no countermeasures.
Jeff Green is already their team's best forward defender, but Butler tonight seems to have taken the wrong medicine. He is completely different from the person he saw in the video class, okay?
What Rivers doesn't know is that Butler, who has the skill of "Talent Cashing", can be said to be very impressed after three days of separation. No, he said too much in three days. It's really the same thing every day.
It will be a month before Xu Xin uses this skill, and Butler is already infinitely close to who he will be four years later. That is a Butler with excellent ball-holding ability, the best defensive team, and an integrated offense and defense.
Looking at the entire league, there are not many strikers who can guard Butler.
As Butler made another mid-range shot, the first quarter ended with the Rockets leading the Celtics by 16 points, 38:22.
Coincidentally, Butler scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals by himself, which was the same as the Celtics team's score.
Xu Xin glanced at Anji. Anji's face was calm, as if everything was as expected.
Seeing Xu Xin looking at her, Anji said:
"This kid reminds me of someone."
"Michael Jordan?"
Xu Xin smiled.
"Yes, his technical moves are exactly the same as Jordan's when he was young. It is rumored that Jordan had a relationship in Houston. Could this be his illegitimate child?"
Xu Xin already knew the answer, but since he was not a party involved, he naturally had to keep it secret.
Seeing that Xu Xin was silent, Anji said to himself:
"I suddenly wondered what Butler would look like with his head shaved."
"Haha, I'm curious too."
Xu Xin couldn't hold himself any longer and said with a smile.
Butler has had many haircuts, basically any way he looks ugly, but he has never had a bald head. Xu Xin has only seen photos posted by netizens, but has never seen the real thing.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Jason Terry and Jordan Crawford, two super sixth men, led the team to chase points. The Celtics once narrowed the point difference to single digits.
At this time, Harden exerted his strength. Facing the Celtics' two super-six backcourts and no good frame protection inside, Harden played effortlessly. He broke through for layups, stepped back for three-pointers, and made emergency stops. There are everything from mid-range throws to breakout throws.
Under the leadership of Harden, the Rockets responded with a 16:5 victory, and the point difference was once again 20 points.
At halftime, the Rockets led the Celtics by 18 points, 68:50.
It can be seen that the Celtics played very hard in this quarter, but they still lost another 2 points. The morale of the whole team was a bit low. After all, they were united and played their best, but they still couldn't beat the opponent. , this thing is so shocking.
In the third quarter, the Celtics only lasted half a quarter and were unable to match the Rockets' offensive and defensive intensity, and the game became one-sided.
No one could restrain Butler, and Courtney Lee, who was guarding Harden, was also ravaged by Harden in various ways.
Only then did he realize that Harden didn't attack him much in the first half, not because of his defensive deterrence, but because Harden didn't really want to attack.
In this quarter, Harden and Butler teamed up to break out. It was obvious that they wanted to get off work, and the game went as they wished. At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets 106:76, the game completely lost its suspense.
Xu Xin was a little embarrassed. The general manager was sitting in his box, watching the game with him. It's not good to beat someone up in front of them.
Anji doesn't care. He has been in the industry for so many years. He has seen winning and even losing. In his opinion, losing by thirty points is no different from losing by one point. They are both not winning.
Since we know that tonight is a losing battle, why bother with the process.
Will people belittle the glorious history of the Celtics just because they lost by 30 points? Obviously not.
This is the pattern and confidence of a wealthy family.
Rivers frowned for three quarters, but relaxed in the fourth quarter. He couldn't win anyway, so there's no need to worry about it. Just think that he is here to watch Harden and Butler's three-quarter performance tonight.
Yes, he was also fascinated by Harden and Butler's play tonight.
The two have very different styles. Harden attacks more from the front, relying on rhythm changes and explosive power. After breaking through, he has various options for floaters, layups and mid-range, and he can maintain a shooting rate of more than 50%.
Coupled with his signature step-back three-pointer, he can step back, step back to mislead, and even 012 to step back. He even made a golden rooster independent step back when he was happy!
This unique technology is truly impressive.
Originally Harden liked the one-point play - drawing fouls, but Xu Xin earnestly told him that he must improve his skills. Drawing fouls can be used, but it cannot be used frequently. This will affect the viewing experience of Harden's offense and cause resentment among fans.
Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that at critical moments and in the playoffs, referees do not blow many whistles that may or may not be blown.
It is better to rely on ourselves than to rely on others. We cannot place our hopes of winning on the referee.
Harden also listened to the advice. He began to focus on polishing his offensive skills. The most intuitive thing is that in the past few games, Harden's number of free throws has decreased, but his true shooting percentage has not decreased. This is because the field goal percentage has not decreased. The rate has gone up.
Butler plays in a classical style, with almost all moves that ordinary people can do, but he has developed his core strength and body hardness to almost the extreme.
This allows his movements to remain stable and undeformed after high-intensity confrontations, which is something that most ordinary people cannot achieve.
If Harden's offensive skills are breathtaking, then Butler is unpretentious but admirable.
"Harden and Butler will become superstars sooner or later, but I don't know if the Rockets can keep them."
Angie said with a playful expression.
