super small forward

Chapter 295.

The offensive battle between the Lakers and the Rockets was very fierce. It seemed that the Rockets had better firepower. They had maintained a weak lead from the beginning and gradually expanded their advantage. By the halfway point of the third quarter, the Rockets had already led the Lakers by 82 to 70. 12 points.

"They are really not good at team defense, and McHale is well aware of this, but he really came up with such a trick." Bickerstaff laughed.

"Yeah, Howard still feels that he is the same as he was four years ago. He is unwilling to cooperate with his teammates. On the defensive end, he can't return to the level where one inside guards the opponent's two. But McHale still has One-handed, this method is really good." D'Antoni responded.

"I saw that we didn't have many three-pointers, so the five players we sent were all moving very fast, including the center. They put our outside line into the inside shot, and Howard interfered inside, giving Kobe a chance to play mid-range singles and consuming Kobe. After Kobe gets tired and gets off the court, we will double-team the inside line. If our outside line feels cold at that time, they will be able to completely win the victory, not to mention they are so accurate today." Bickerstaff accurately analyzed the Rockets tactical strategy.

Just as Bickerstaff said, the Rockets have begun to tentatively shrink inside.

The Rockets have been training continuously since the beginning of the training camp. The offensive end is mainly based on three-pointers. If they can’t shoot three-pointers, Harden will be hit.

The defensive end is the same as Bickerstaff’s analysis, put the inside first, and Howard can just hit it. If Howard just wins, then he can easily win the victory. Leading, after all, three points is one point more than two points, and if the hand feels bad, there is a chance to win even if the player shrinks at the last moment.

After playing for a period of time this season, this tactic was nicknamed the "blind-a few-hit-hit" tactic by fans.

"I have to say that McHale's tactics are good this time. With a lineup like the Rockets, it's quite easy to make it to the playoffs with this style of play. No, we've been falling behind today. Kobe and Nash are here to rest. It's time, what should we do next? Mike." Bickerstaff laughed.

D'Antoni did not answer, but called a timeout for substitutions.

Nash played a full first quarter, and played more than 6 minutes in the third quarter. It was time to rest. Kobe played too many singles today. With a lot of physical contact, Kobe scored 29 points in less than three quarters, but at the same time he began to breathe heavily.

Gasol, like a real veteran, picks and rolls and shoots when there is an open shot, but it's time to rest.

The lineup sent by D'Antoni is Jeremy Lin, Nick Young, Liu Ren, Green, and Whiteside.

"Liu, next you will take Kobe's position and score from mid-to-long range. They will definitely shrink the inside line, and they will probably defend one and three-pointers, but there will definitely be no defense in the mid-range! Everyone except Liu will play according to tactics. , Jeremy, you run back to the basket at any time to force the opponent to shrink..." D'Antoni arranged the offensive strategy and then began to arrange the defense: "When defending, Jeremy, Nick, Liu, and Drummond mainly defend the three-pointer. To Hassan!"

The Rockets' lineup is Beverly, Harden, Brewer, Ariza, Howard.

Obviously the Rockets' lineup is for quick double-teaming!

One of the most successful but least useful defensive methods in the NBA is to retaliate against the opponent. When a team builds its own defensive system, it will not deliberately study how to deal with its own defense.

Because the defensive system is mainly used to defend most of the non-superstar players. The real superstars cannot be defended. The ring boomed.

If Kobe was in his 20s, he would definitely seize this opportunity to score [-] or [-] points today.

D'Antoni's idea is very simple. Since the opponent's defensive strategy is surprisingly effective, then use the opponent's defensive strategy to deal with the opponent. It happens that the opponent's strongest is the three-pointer, and the defense is also the main defense of the three-pointer.

If the opponent finds a way to deal with their own defense, it will also help the Lakers solve the problem that the opponent's defense is difficult to solve.

In other words, the Lakers' current lineup is really deep, and there are many versatile players. It is basically impossible for other teams to imitate their opponents' defensive methods!

D'Antoni did this once last season, and he did it again this year!
After a timeout, the Rockets have hit 20 three-pointers before the three quarters are over. Obviously, they are trying to break the single-team three-pointer record in a single game!
Liu Ren tried to shoot a three-pointer after he came on the court, but he missed it due to Ariza's interference.

Now this lineup is much faster than Thackeray and McCollum led by the three old men. The moment Liu Ren hit the iron, the four outsiders immediately turned and returned to defense.

As in the first quarter, Howard and Whiteside are equally divided in terms of rebounds, and it is difficult for both of them to grab the rebounds protected by the other side.

The Lakers returned to defense quickly, but the Rockets failed to counterattack.

In the positional battle, the Rockets are going to keep passing the ball as before, to see who feels good, or whoever does not have a good defense in front of him will shoot.

What makes the Rockets feel very uncomfortable is that the four short men of the Lakers all threw themselves outside the three-point line to defend closely. The Lakers used to defend in rotation. A lot of mobile phone opportunities.

The Lakers are now sticking to the Rockets' offensive players outside the three-point line like sticky dogs.

After a few passes, the three role players Beverly, Ariza, and Brewer didn't have a good shot, and it was time for Harden to play singles.

To Harden's surprise, it was not Liu Ren who defended him, but Nick Young!Nick Young is very tight. Although Nick Young has poor defensive skills, he has a good defensive attitude. In addition, Nick Young is tall enough and not bad in physical fitness. Harden is under great pressure to continue shooting three-pointers.

So Harden's choice is to force the inside line!
Very smoothly, very easily Harden broke through to the basket, which was even smoother than he expected. At least he thought that someone would come to defend him.

The team under Morey's data control team naturally has as few mid-range shots as possible. According to data analysis, mid-range shots are the lowest in all scoring areas in terms of shooting percentage and scoring efficiency.

But Harden, who entered the basket, was dumbfounded. The huge body of the big man in front of him completely blocked him and Howard, and he couldn't see where Howard was at all!

Shot?Come on, Harden is not stupid. The guy in front of him didn't even jump when he saw him rushing in. With such a big body and such long arms, Harden is sure that as long as he takes a shot, he will be capped!

A dead friend does not die a poor man, Harden makes a lob!
The ball is thrown really high!Whiteside struggled to take off and stretched his long arms without touching the ball.

Howard, who was behind Whiteside, also jumped up with the strength of breastfeeding, but also failed to touch it.

Coincidentally, the falling direction was the direction of Brewer, who was defended by Liu Ren. Liu Ren easily accepted the missed ball, and quickly made a three-pointer.

It didn't affect my confidence because of the trial shot before, but after making some adjustments this time, I made a decisive hit.

"Hahahaha, James, are you the undercover agent we sent to the Rockets? You know that no one on your team will catch the ball, and it was passed to the boss on purpose, right?" Nick Young laughed.

(End of this chapter)