I really play basketball

Chapter 214 The Final Christmas War

Dameng turned over and shot a jumper, hitting the frame and going out.

This time there was Mourning card, and Lin Xing grabbed the rebound.

As soon as the rebound was in hand, Lin Xing pushed the counterattack.

Although the Rockets have always paid attention to the prevention of the Warriors' counterattack.

But today is different from the past. The glider, which was originally the best at turning back and forth, is gone, and the rocket's overall retreat has slowed down.

Lin Xing's speed was too fast. In an instant, a three-on-two situation was formed in the frontcourt.

Madman and Byron Russell are on the side, and Lin Xing is in the middle.

The only two backs were Kenny Smith and Sam Mark, and Chucky Brown and Horry didn't keep up.

On the contrary, it was Dameng who followed the counterattack and retreat five people and became the sixth person.

Sam Mark defends the center and Kenny Smith keeps up with the madman.

It stands to reason that Lin Xing should pass the ball to Russell who is wide open, but when he looked at Sam Mark from the front, he made a cross step in an instant, shaking Sam Mark away with one step.

That's all, let me spread the word, I did it myself!
"Stalwart passed Sam Mark, counter-slam dunk..."

With a bang, Lin Xing had already pushed the ball into the basket heavily.

"4 to 0, the score is not that bad, but Sam Mark's defense has indeed become a problem."

After two consecutive rounds, Tang Shuai also realized that Sam Mark couldn't guard Lin Xing at all.

What he was thinking about now was not the absence of the glider due to injury, what he was thinking about was: Vernon should not have been let go.

Vernon Maxwell, the starting shooting guard before the Rocket Glider, this guy is still a bit capable, the reason why he was abandoned was because of an accident outside the court.

In a regular season in 95, I don't know if it was because of the dissatisfaction that the glider was about to be traded to join the Rockets to replace him. Maxwell staged a scene of beating fans at the Blazers' home court.

As Taizi's predecessor, Maxwell also suffered a suspension and was quickly waived by the Rockets.

But in terms of differences from Taizi, there are still some——

After Maxwell beat the fans, the industry was full of support and solidarity.

Steve Kerr, who is currently playing for the Grizzlies, feels that this is a stupid behavior, but if it were him, he would do it too.

Reggie Miller used this to attack the NBA's dirty fan culture, as well as Payton and Madman, who also supported Maxwell.

Even so, the Rockets gave up Maxwell after the suspension expired.

Tang Shuai regretted it a bit. If Maxwell was still there, the Rockets' bench depth would not be so bad this season.

But it's useless to regret. All Tang Shuai thinks about now is: Who should I use to keep an eye on Lin Xing?
Horry and Chucky Brown are too slow, and their strength is actually not enough. Kenny Smith, substitute Sam Cassell, and Mario Elli are too weak in strength, and they will definitely not work.

After sweeping around on the bench, Tang Shuai finally looked at Chucky Brown.

"A blind cat hits a dead mouse, give it a try..."

Although Chucky Brown's speed and strength are not dominant.

But at least the body is there, and the basic skills of defense are not bad. Tang Shuai is already satisfied with being able to do a little restriction.

In just a few seconds, Tang Shuai confirmed the alignment adjustment on the defensive end.

But soon, the problem on the offensive end came again.

Kenny Smith was looking for a way to pass the ball to Dameng, but in this wave of defense, the Warriors blocked the ball very fiercely.

Lin Xing and Madman have been stuck in key positions, and Kenny Smith dare not pass at all.

He was afraid that a pass would be a steal, so he has been hesitating.

After hesitating to the end, Kenny Smith still couldn't find an opportunity. As a last resort, Kenny Smith could only do it by himself.

Outside the three-point line, he scored a three-pointer.

Bang!

In this way, the Rockets' offense returned in vain.

After two consecutive championships, the Rockets' decline is also related to the decline of this group of role players.

In the two years of winning the championship, Kenny Smith averaged over 10 points per game, and his three-point shooting percentage was over [-]%.

In the current season, his scoring average is only a little over 8 points per game, and his three-point shooting percentage has also dropped to 38.6%.

Therefore, when Lin Xing watched Kenny Smith miss a three-pointer, he felt: The Rockets this season have indeed declined a bit.

Kenny Smith's three-pointer hit the frame, and after rebounding, it formed a long rebound. The rebound happened to land next to the madman. He reached out to pick it up, turned around and launched another wave of counterattacks.

"Counterattack, another warrior's counterattack!"

"Latrell Sprewell advanced with the ball, and Sda directly inserted in the middle..."

Lin Xing's speed was too fast, approaching this wave of counterattack, he once again became the terminator of the counterattack.

The madman threw a lob to him, and Lin Xing rushed to the basket and jumped up, grabbing the basketball and at the same time he sent a flat-frame dunk.

Bang!

"boom!"

In an instant, the Oakland Coliseum erupted.

Cheers, screams, and shouts resounded all over the world. Lin Xing clenched his fist and waved it.

"It's 6-0. Although the game has just started, the situation is already very bad for the Rockets."

The offense is unfavorable and the defense is weak. This is the true portrayal of the Rockets during the opening period.

On the court, it was the Rockets' turn to attack again.

Tang Shuai was already a little anxious, he directed the rocket's attack.

The short summary is: "Give the ball to Hakeem, give the ball to Hakeem!"

Kenny Smith bit the bullet and passed a pass to Dameng. Lin Xing wanted to steal the ball, but he missed it a little bit.

It doesn't matter if the steal fails, Lin Xing immediately cooperated with Mourning to clamp the big dream.

The two stood in front of each other, leaving no room for Dameng.

There is no space, and the big dream has no room to play at all.

He struggled for a while, and when he got the timing right, he turned around and made a layup.

But Mourning kept guarding the basket. The moment Dameng made a layup, he stretched his right arm and went straight to the cap.

Dameng dodged for a while, avoiding Mourning's big hat, but the layup just shot went wide of the basket with a bang.

"It didn't go in again, Hakim seemed to be restricted, Alonzo Mourningas' big defense combination is really too tough."

For Tang Shuai, his heart couldn't take it anymore when Dameng hit the iron.

"Hakim can't even tear through the defense of this Warrior..."

The defensive combination of Lin Xing and Mourning is indeed too tough. Everyone thinks that Mourning is the main defense and Lin Xing is the auxiliary defense.

But after the actual application, it was Lin Xing who defended and Mourning who defended.

In this way, Lin Xing, who is better at single defense, can lock the front of Dameng very well.

And once the big dream wants to use fake moves to break through from the side, then Mourning's outstanding defense can play a role.

This is why the old Nelson wants Lin Xing to defend Dameng. Although Rodman is also excellent in single defense and co-defense, Rodman's single defense is still a bit worse than Lin Xing.

For the Rockets, the current situation is indeed a bit difficult.

Big dreams can't tear apart the Warriors' defense, who else can the Rockets rely on?

Tang Shuai scanned the bench and saw Sam Cassell.

If most of the Rockets' role players are declining this season, then Sam Cassell is the only exception.

He has been improving and has become a super sixth man averaging 14.5 points per game this season.

As for why he is a substitute instead of starting, on the one hand, Tang Shuai must ensure the defensive strength of the starting lineup.

On the other hand, Tang Shuai also needs to ensure the offensive firepower of the bench.

For other teams, the starters have big dreams, and the offense will not cause problems.

But against the Warriors, two Dpoy-level defenders surrounded Dameng, and Dameng's offense went wrong.

"Sam, get ready to go!"

On the court, the Warriors have advanced to the frontcourt.

In the long-lost positional battle, Lin Xing faced Chucky Brown's defense.

Chucky Brown, a power forward with a height of 2 meters, averaged 01 points and 8 rebounds per game this season.

Compared with the average power forward, he is more flexible, but correspondingly, his strength confrontation is also worse.

The reason why the Rockets reuse him is because of his blue-collar attributes.

But at this time, his defense against Lin Xing can only be said to be slightly better than Sam Mark.

He is also not dominant in speed and strength confrontation.

The only outstanding thing is that his basic defensive skills are not bad.

When Lin Xing broke through for the first time, he could still block it.

At the second step, he couldn't stop it.

Lin Xing took a cross step, and still galloped past Chucky Brown at a fast speed.

Dameng immediately came up to defend, but Lin Xing passed the ball, bypassing Dameng and giving it to Mourning.

At the basket, Mourning pushed Horry, who was defending, and sent the ball into the basket.

8 to 0, the score continued to widen.

Tang Shuai couldn't wait any longer and directly called a timeout.

"Although Rudy called a timeout in time, this game is still dangerous."

Matt Gudica was a Rockets fan first, then Lin Chue.

So at this moment, he is standing on the side of the Rockets and saying this.

For the Rockets, a timeout only solves the problem of offense, and it may not necessarily solve it.

The problem of defense cannot be completely solved.

The entire rocket, except for the damaged glider, they didn't even have a flank that could face Lin Xing.

This defense is no longer possible.

For the Rockets and Tang Shuai, what they are doing now is looking for a possibility in the impossible.

After Sam Cassell came on the court, the Rockets' offense did pick up.

At the very least, the outside Rockets had an extra hot spot, and the existence of this hot spot also directly caused Lin Xing to dare not unscrupulously defend the big dream.

The Rockets' offense survived, chasing wildly in the second half of the first quarter.

But in the end, the score of 29 to 20 still dealt a heavy blow to the Rockets.

In the second quarter, the two sides rotated their lineups.

On the Warriors side, the madman led the fight for a while.

On the Rockets side, Sam Cassell continued to output.

After playing for a while, the two sides were evenly divided.

"This alien is quite strong. Why didn't I find out that he was so strong during the NCAA?"

On the sidelines, it was Byron Russell who raised the question.

It was only then that Lin Xing remembered that the two of them played against Sam Cassell's Florida State University during the NCAA.

Sam Cassell played tepidly that time, but Lin Xing understood what was going on.

He reminded Russell: "Don't forget who guarded him in that game?"

Byron Russell slapped his head: "You, that makes sense."

In the second half of the second quarter, Lin Xing reappeared.

He led the team to another wave.

At halftime, the Warriors took a 56-point lead 42-14.

In fact, there is not much suspense in the game.

For the Rockets, it is a matter of losing more and losing less.

Of course, for the Warriors, they haven't locked the victory yet.

Therefore, in the second half, the Rockets still wanted to chase points, but the Warriors still went all out.

In the third quarter, Lin Xing saw that the Rockets' defense could not restrain himself, so he opened fire with all his strength.

This season, his statistics are indeed a bit unsatisfactory.

emmm, it is unsatisfactory for himself.

The opponent's defense couldn't stop his game at all, so of course he had to seize the opportunity to make a move.

In particular, this game is going to be played, and it is very likely that the three quarters will be clocked.

于是，第三节，林星独砍16分，把自己的数据提升到了34分10个篮板8个助攻2个抢断2个盖帽。

The Warriors led 85 to 66 in three quarters, leading by 19 points, and almost clocked out of get off work.

But as soon as the fourth quarter came up, the Rockets did not surrender.

They continue to fight with all their main force, and the Warriors can only choose to keep up.

In the fourth quarter, Lin Xing played more than four minutes more, but nothing else was gained, except that he scored two more assists.

就这样，34分11个篮板10个助攻3个抢断2个盖帽，林星刷出了本赛季的第5次三双。

"Last season's triple-double king has only had five triple-doubles this season. This is the sacrifice made by Star University for the team..."

Seeing that the suspense of the game was over, Matt Gudica took advantage of the situation and blew a wave of Lin stars.

Marv Albert scratched his head: "Only 5 triple-doubles? What you said, it seems that 5 times are very few..."

"Five triple-doubles is indeed a lot, but for Stalin, compared to last season, 5 triple-doubles in two months of the regular season is too little..."

"Then you should compare the Rockets this season with the Rockets last season."

As soon as groom Albert said this, Matt Gudica was a little speechless.

If we say, before this game, public opinion’s evaluation of the Rockets this season is——

Take it slow, and the Rockets will get better when the season goes on longer.

Then after this game, people with a discerning eye should be able to see:

The Rockets this season are really failing.

Compared with last season, Dameng did not decline, but he did not improve either.

In contrast to the Warriors, Lin Xing has made some progress visible to the naked eye.

"Sta's defense has become better, especially the help defense, which has laid a solid foundation for the Warriors' defense this season."

In addition to the core, role players are also very important.

The role players of the Warriors are as good as ever, Rodman and Madman aside.

Russell and the substitute Charlie Ward have excellent defense and three-pointers. Mullin and Dale Ellis are also outstanding three-pointers. Marshall is now a bit of a top-level space four. In terms of performance alone, he is not worse than Horry.

Looking at the Rockets again, Kenny Smith and Mario Elli have both declined. Thorpe left at the fourth position and has not been able to find a qualified replacement.

Horry can certainly play the four, but the problem is, Horry's defense is not that good.

"No matter how far the Rockets have fallen, at least one thing is certain, this season, they can't beat the Warriors."

"This is a surefire Christmas battle!"

(End of this chapter)