Their lack of height and athletic ability generally limits their ability to rebound and protect the rim on the defensive end.
This is why the Jazz seem to be very strong inside, but they are one of the teams that lose the most points in the league.
The Rockets attack, this time it's Jeremy Lin's turn to perform.
He first challenged Xiao Mo one-on-one, broke through from the right, then turned around and made a jumper to score two points.
Then on the defensive end, he faced Xiao Mo and made a fast break counterattack with an alley-oop connection to Harden. The latter understood the idea, stepped into the air and dunked hard with both hands.
At 13:2, the Rockets had a dream start. In less than four minutes, the point difference had reached double digits.
The Jazz suspended adjustments, but the effect was average.
The offensive end tried to create low post opportunities for Jefferson, but Asik had just fought hand-to-hand with Lopez in the last game, and his defensive experience was still fresh in his memory. Facing Jefferson in this game, all the existing experience was used on him. It was very difficult to defend Jefferson, and the offense was frequently blocked.
Offensively, Harden began to take over the game.
He wanted to get off work early. He first dribbled the ball from his hip and took a hesitant step, then stepped back and easily hit a three-pointer.
Then he pushed Ronnie Brewer across the board and drove to the basket from the left to tie two plus one.
"James (Harden) is stronger than you were back then. It was not so easy for you to face Ronnie (Brewer) back then."
Yao Ming smiled.
"I was no longer in my prime at that time. It's better to compare to the Magic period."
Maddie pouted.
Seeing that Harden was in good condition, McHale replaced him two minutes later than the expected rotation time.
Harden also lived up to expectations, hitting 6 of 6 in the first quarter and scoring 16 points.
McHale saw that the Rockets had a terrifying score difference of 30:15 in 8 minutes, and with a wave of his hand, he went up and down five times.
The team has an intensive schedule during this period. Since the opponents in this game are not strong, it does not hurt to let the main players rest for a while.
Iverson led O'Neal Jr., Tucker, Ariza and Gerald Green on the field. Facing the Jazz's entire starting lineup, he still had the advantage on the court.
Iverson continued his good form. Facing his own Xiao Mo, he discovered how big the gap between the buyer's show and the seller's show was. He scored consecutive mid-range shots on Xiao Mo's head. Xiao Mo had nothing to do about it. , your uncle is still your uncle, you have been out of the league for three years, and you can still be in such a state when you come back, it is really infuriating that people are more popular than others.
At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led the Jazz 42:22, leading the Jazz by 20 points.
"It doesn't matter, our team is relatively slow to start, and it has always been like this. We will get back some points in the second quarter."
In the stands, there were fans comforting each other.
They never thought that their home team would pull off an upset and overturn the Western Conference leader. They just thought that no matter how bad the home team was, it would not be a big problem to persist for three quarters.
But tonight, they couldn't do it.
Because Harden returned to the game within a limited time, he entered the battle after more than two minutes of play in the second quarter, and he was full of firepower from the beginning.
Mid-range shots, breakthrough layups, counterattack dunks, and three-pointers were all available. The Jazz replaced three defensive players in a row, but it was of no use at all.
In the end, they could only flank, but after the flanking, the rest of the Rockets were able to seize the open opportunities very well. Ariza, Tucker, Green, Butler, and Jeremy Lin all scored three-pointers.
Before halftime, Harden singled out Brewer, stepped back continuously, ignored the defense and raised his hand to shoot, with a cloud-piercing arrow, three plus one.
After landing, he covered his face with his hands, looking in disbelief. Today's emoticon was successfully checked in.
At 90:45, the Rockets scored 48 points in the second quarter, and their halftime score reached 90, setting a new league record for halftime scoring.
Harden is the best one. He scored 36 points in the half, which is nearly 8 points higher than his average score per game. He is very close to leading the team to victory.
Jazz fans are desperate. When have they ever seen their home team lose so miserably? 45 points at halftime is considered the team's normal level.
But what the hell is 45 points behind?
The half-time score was as much as the point difference, and they were afraid they would be laughed to death.
With such a huge point difference, the game quickly lost its suspense.
Back in the second half, the Jazz wanted to struggle again, but Garnett showed no mercy at all, scoring consecutive points to bring the point difference to 50 points, and the Jazz surrendered.
McHale also called it quits and clocked in at halftime, which was the first time I saw him.
In the end, the Rockets defeated the Jazz by 25 points 133:108, consolidating their first place in the Western Conference.
The team rested for one night in Salt Lake City and flew non-stop to Denver early the next morning. Flying from one plateau to another, the Rockets generals were really overwhelmed.
Another back-to-back, this time the difficulty is much higher than the back-to-back between the Hornets and Nets a few days ago.
The Nuggets are not a weak team. Although they, like the Jazz, have sold their top star and second-tier players, Ujiri's level is obviously higher.
Rather than the Jazz selling Deron and Boozer to rebuild the team, Ujiri traded Melo Anthony and Billups to the Big Apple in exchange for Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. Le and other young talents.
He also participated in the four-way trade between the Lakers and the Magic regarding Warcraft, exchanging their star player Iguodala from the Digital People, and then less than half way through the season, he exchanged Iguodala for a four-way trade in the summer. The grand prize - World of Warcraft, there is a certain element of luck, but Ujiri's strength cannot be ignored.
Coupled with the draft picks Ty Lawson and brutal power forward Faried, the team's starting lineup is among the top five in the entire Western Conference.
The substitutes are also not weak. The veteran point guard Andre Miller is experienced and strategizing.
Young white wing Evan Fournier has superb shooting skills, and small forward Corey Brewer is active in defense and good at counterattacks. There are also two behemoths in Koufos and Mozgov inside.
Less than half a month ago, the two teams played against each other at the Rockets' home court, and they were inseparable for a time.
In this game, the Nuggets came for revenge. The Pepsi Center is known as the devil's home stadium. The team still has two days of rest to wait for work, which can be said to be an advantage.
Coupled with the fact that the team itself is full of fighting spirit, it is currently ranked fifth in the Western Conference, only one game behind the fourth-placed Clippers. It just so happens that the Clippers just lost to the Spurs last night in this round. If the Nuggets win this game, they will get back to the starting line.
According to the record, the Rockets, Thunder and Spurs are the first echelon, far ahead. The Clippers are also 4.5 games behind the third-placed Spurs, making it difficult to catch up.
The Clippers and Nuggets are the second tier. The two teams have similar records. In January, the rankings of both sides changed several times.
The sixth-ranked Grizzlies are 2.5 games behind the fifth-ranked Nuggets, and are even closer to the seventh-ranked Mavericks and eighth-ranked Warriors.
It can be said that the opponents of the Rockets, Thunder and Spurs in the first round of the playoffs are still unclear, but the matchup between the Clippers and the Nuggets is basically determined.
The two teams are close in strength and each has a win or loss. No one is absolutely sure of winning, so the home court advantage becomes even more important. It can be said that the Nuggets fought hard tonight.
