"Uh-huh!"
Three-pointer, 112:113.
After the ball was scored, Butler roared. This was his first three-pointer of the game. He had missed all four previous shots.
"As expected of Butler, his shots at critical moments are absolutely trustworthy."
Xu Xin smiled.
As Butler hit a three-pointer, the game entered the last 4 minutes, and the offensive and defensive levels of both sides improved to a higher level, giving it a playoff feel.
The Clippers attacked, Paul called for a pick-and-roll again, and Jordan stepped up to cooperate with Paul. Paul got rid of Jeremy Lin through the screen and came to the free throw line again.
This time Asik moved up and intentionally blocked Paul's shot.
Paul saw the trick, jumped high, faked a pass, and the basketball passed Asik's fingertips, and completed an alley-oop dunk with DeAndre Jordan, who was coming down after the pick-and-roll.
The dunk was so powerful that Jordan was very excited. After dunking, he hung his hands on the basket and slapped the backboard.
Asik was about to serve a quick baseline kick, but Jordan was unbiased and just rode on Asik's neck when he fell.
Naturally, the referee would not let Jordan's "arrogant celebration" go. The whistle blew and it was a technical foul.
After Jordan came down, he spread his hands with an innocent look on his face and wanted to argue with the referee.
"What do you have to be wronged about? You dunked and hung in the basket, and you rode on your neck. If I don't give you a penalty, you can just have fun."
Harden said angrily.
Jordan smiled coquettishly, scratched his head and apologized to Asik. Although he was tall and thick, he was still very friendly.
Harden executed a free throw and added another point.
Jeremy Lin fired a sideline ball from the frontcourt. Asik and Tucker stood side by side, providing solid off-ball coverage. Crawford "hit the wall" again, and Harden came out to catch the ball, but there was no one two steps in front of him.
There was a loophole in the Clippers' defense this time. Harden didn't hesitate and shot a long three-pointer.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net, 116:115, and the Rockets took the lead.
After the shot, Harden seemed very excited and took out his newly developed "sprinkling salt" celebration move. The fans at the scene roared and shouted MVP.
There is nothing wrong with this. In the new round of MVP selection, with his outstanding performance during this period and the team's impressive record, Harden has jumped to third place, second only to James and Anthony.
"Jeremy, next time you come off a screen, don't let him go to the middle."
Taking advantage of the moment of retreat, McHale said to Jeremy Lin who was passing by him.
Jeremy Lin nodded, that was exactly what he meant. Paul moves through the middle of the pick-and-roll and has too many choices. He can attack by himself, pass to the inside, or pass to the two corners, making it difficult to guard.
If he is driven to one sideline, the Rockets' defensive pressure will be much less.
This time Paul called a pick-and-roll, and Jeremy Lin squeezed through the screen as soon as the pick-and-roll occurred, but still allowed Paul to take the lead.
Seeing that Jeremy Lin was following closely, Paul slowed down and used his body to block him firmly behind him. He stopped and started suddenly, and used speed changes and disguises to hit the middle again.
Griffin's ball was a little slow on the downswing, and Asik quickly lifted it up and attacked Shuhao back and forth.
Seeing this, Paul jumped and moved a step laterally. Before the attack was formed, he threw the ball into the basket with his right hand.
At 116:117, the Clippers turned over again.
"Actually, this ball scholar is very defensive. If Asik can move faster, a pincer attack will be formed."
Xu Xin could see clearly, and McHale felt the same way. He called a timeout after Paul scored, firstly to let the players take a breath, and secondly, to make substitution adjustments, replacing the slightly bulky Asik and replacing him with the experienced Faster Garnett.
At the same time, Jeremy Lin was replaced and Ariza was replaced.
McHale wanted Butler to guard Paul. During this period, Butler not only grew rapidly on the offensive end, but also retained his old defensive skills and improved.
During this period of training with Iverson, Butler also gained some insights when defending small guards.
The Rockets have the ball, and Harden dribbles slowly across half court.
"Jamal (Crawford), I'll guard him."
Paul said from behind, and Crawford ran to one side to confront Ariza.
Harden continued to dribble and sway, and Paul adjusted in small steps to always occupy the best defensive position.
Harden didn't dare to rush forward rashly. Paul's center of gravity was very low. As long as he broke through with the ball, Paul would have a chance to take the ball away.
With 8 seconds left in the attack time, Harden chose to pass a safety ball to Butler.
Butler caught the ball and signaled his teammates to pull away. He swayed with his probing step, gained space to break through, and strode into the paint.
After waiting for a long time, Jordan stretched out his arms and jumped vertically, preparing to block the shot.
Butler hovered in the air, holding the ball in his right hand, passing around Jordan's waist and passing it to Garnett behind him.
The latter caught the ball and pulled onions on the dry ground, jumped on the spot and dunked with both hands. This cake was quite comfortable to eat.
118:117.
The Clippers attack, and Paul has the power.
Seeing that the Rockets had a substitution at position 5, I had a plan in mind.
This time he chose to initiate a pick-and-roll near the center circle. After passing the screen, he made a one-hand hip fake while moving, pretending to pass the ball to Griffin, who was passing down the line. Even the experienced Wolf King was completely deceived. The center of gravity moves downward toward Griffin.
Paul made an easy layup.
"mine."
Garnett raised his hand to indicate that it was his problem, feeling a little annoyed.
"There's really no solution for Paul to start the pick-and-roll."
Xu Xin lamented that in fact, the Clippers had Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in those years, and they were quite powerful.
If Paul hadn't been injured in key playoff games, the Clippers might have reached the finals.
In the last minute and a half, 118:119, the Rockets fell behind again.
The game was very exciting, both sides almost hit the target in the past few rounds.
All the fans stood up, and the next few rounds will determine who has the last laugh tonight.
Harden holds the ball, and Paul is still the one guarding him personally.
This time Harden also chose to call a pick-and-roll tactic. Garnett and Tucker both moved up, and the double screen controlled Paul.
Harden hesitated and changed direction, walked to the left to face Griffin, broke through the armband and committed another foul.
The referee's whistle blew and the fans cheered. Finally, Griffin was sent off.
Griffin shook his head and sighed, and the sixth offender left the field.
Harden felt stable and once again made two free throws. He made 13 of 15 free throws at the free throw line tonight.
On the sidelines, Negron looked at the bench and thought for a while, wandering between Odom and Green, and finally decided to replace Willie Green to increase the outside threat.
Xu Xin frowned slightly. In fact, Griffin was on the court. At least this period of time was a good thing for the Rockets.
Griffin was not particularly excited tonight, and there were not many ways to defend against Tucker.
Except for a few wonderful dunks in the first quarter, there was no particularly outstanding performance after that. Especially in the fourth quarter, the presence is very low.
