basketball player

308 Chapter 306: Are you still taking a nap?
McHale hasn't touched the bench since the Pacers' 7-0 run.After competing with the Pacers for a quarter and a half, the Houston Rockets began to fall as if they were running out of fuel.

By the end of halftime, the Rockets were 11 points behind from being evenly matched at the beginning.Harden broke into Henson's defensive trap again and again, while the Pacers took advantage of the opponent's missed shots and made several beautiful counterattacks.

At halftime, Sager found McHale.In fact, he wanted to talk to Henson, but interviewing Henson for the whole game didn't seem too good.That's why Sager "reluctantly" walked in front of Sager.

Facing the camera, McHale, the former Celtic legend, still held his head, still looking calm and composed.But in fact, "refrigerator" was already panicking at this time.

"Our offense has encountered some troubles and made some unnecessary mistakes. But this situation cannot last the entire game. In the second half, we will make a comeback." McHale nodded slightly with a calm expression. He didn't know that he thought the Rockets were leading by 11 points.

"That said, you think the team still has a chance to win, right?" Sager pressed.

"Of course, we just took a nap, and when we woke up, it was time for the game to get back on track." After McHale finished speaking, he turned and left in a hurry.His hasty pace has already betrayed his heart.

Bird, who was sitting in the luxury box, laughed out loud after hearing McHale's answer.

"McHale used to be pretentious too, but do you know the difference between me and him?" Byrd picked up a cigar and turned to look at Pritchard.

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that I can always get back my pretense with actions, but he can't!"

※※※

After returning to the locker room, Henson didn't talk nonsense. After the players rested for a few minutes, he arranged the strategy for the second half of the game.The process from 0 to 1 may be difficult, but as long as you find a breakthrough, from 1 to 2, from 2 to 3 will be very fast.

After finding a way to defend Harden, Henson was able to quickly make many variant strategies based on this method.And these are enough for the Rockets to drink a pot in the second half.

McHale has underestimated Henson from the beginning to the end. He thinks that no one can deal with Harden who is full of firepower.But he seems to have forgotten that the Chinese-American coach is a role that convinced Bird, the "king of the king".

After the start of the second half, McHale stood on the sidelines from the beginning, and the composure of the first half of the game was completely gone.

Facing the flat road ahead, Harden hesitated to make a breakthrough.Seeing this scene, Henson don't talk too much!The opposing star's hesitation on the offensive end shows that he lacks confidence in this attack!
Now it's George who let Harden rush, and he doesn't dare to rush!
As a result, Harden "dumped the pot" to Jeremy Lin, and Jeremy Lin and Asik played a pick-and-roll and went to the inside line for a layup.

However, David West's timely protection of the frame caused Jeremy Lin, who was slightly weaker in confrontation, to miss a layup. The layup in confrontation has always been a relatively weak link in Jeremy Lin's ability.

After that, the Pacers' offensive strategy also changed.Henson has regained Leonard, and now it's David West's "assassination time".

West set up a screen for Paul as soon as he came up, forcing a dislocation to form.Everyone thought that Paul was going to attack Morris in a small way, but he didn't know that Paul was hanging lightly. Henson's real purpose was to let West beat Harden!
"Find the misalignment accurately, hit him on the back, and consume him!" This is what Henson said to the players in the locker room 5 minutes ago.

So, West leaned on Harden and pushed hard twice.The Rockets dare not double-team at all, after all, West's passing ability is not weak at all.

How can this stand up? Harden retreated steadily, allowing West to easily arch into the three-second zone, and turned around with a small hook to end the battle.

West played with ease, but Harden consumed a lot of energy in this defense.Byrd shook his head, McHale is really over now.

When Harden could no longer find a foul, no easy drive and no chance from beyond the three-point line, McHale exposed their tactical oneness.

After the head star was locked, the Rockets fell into a state of being at a loss.

Not only defending Harden, Henson also used McHale's little brain on the rotation.Isn't the Rockets an 8-man rotation?Then Henson will take George early, and when Harden is off the court, he will send George and Ray Allen to beat the Rockets as substitutes!
Throughout the second half, the Houston Rockets seemed to be showing their true colors.They can fight the defending champion for half a game, but it's only half a game.That's why the Pacers are now 25-3, while the Rockets are 14-12.

At the end of the third quarter, Chandler Parsons suddenly showed his power and succeeded in consecutive singles.But helplessly, the Rockets are gone.After three quarters, they were still 12 points behind.

In the fourth quarter, Harden was exhausted.The offensive end has to be consumed by defensive traps, and the defensive end has to be consumed by West. Exhausted, he began to look for opportunities to score easily outside the three-point line. However, exhaustion also caused Harden's shooting percentage to plummet.

The camera pans over to McHale from time to time, and "Refrigerator" has his head in his hands most of the time.Maybe this guy is thinking about how to deal with the reporters' questions later.

McHale said the Rockets just took a nap, but Henson made the Houstonians sleep forever!

When the game was about half a quarter away, the Rockets looked deflated.Their offense was sloppy and their defense was full of holes.In the dead ball stage, T.NT TV selected George, who scored 25 points and 6 rebounds, as the best player in the game.But everyone knows that the best player in the game today is Henson who is very timely on the spot.

"James Harden seemed to be back half a year ago. He was completely lost. He didn't know whether to break through or shoot. After the breakthrough, he didn't know whether to shoot or pass. James made 9 turnovers in the game, all thanks to Coach Henson's defensive traps. At least 10 times, Harden broke through and didn't know how to pass the ball." Kenny Smith shook his head.

Pacers fans have been singing the praises of Henson in the stands, from the first quarter of confusion to double-team failure to finally find a breakthrough meal slam.Henson's on-the-spot scheduling ability was fully demonstrated through this Christmas battle.

In the end, the Rockets lost 97-120 in Indianapolis!

The Rockets' weak defense allowed the Pacers to score 48 points in 120 minutes.The Pacers' defense prevented the Rockets, who are good at offense, from even scoring triple digits.

Harden scored 24 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds in the game, and it seemed that he was no different from usual.But as long as you have watched the game, you will know that the difference is huge.

Throughout the game, Harden scored only one three-pointer and made 6 of 1 three-pointers.In addition, there were 9 turnovers.The number of turnovers he made alone has been equal to that of the Pacers team.

In contrast to the Pacers, 4 of the team scored 20 and 5 scored in double figures.Henson played a career masterpiece this Christmas Eve.

The Pacers are like a rock, no matter how indiscriminately bombed by rockets or how Harden touches porcelain, there is no way to knock a crack in this rock.

The moment the game ended, McHale left quickly with a dark face.He knew very well that if he stayed, he would only be surrounded by embarrassing questions.Once again, McHale failed to pull himself back.

On the other hand, Henson has become a much-anticipated star.

"Take a nap? Did McHale really say that at halftime? No, of course it's impossible. The Rockets can't take a nap. I took off their underwear. How can they sleep in such cold weather?"

After laughing, Henson took An Jiali's hand and walked into the player tunnel.Victory and Beauty, Henson got it all.

Sager shook his head with a smile, and Henson once again managed to save himself from danger.On the way to the Pacers' title defense, Sager seems to see no one who can really stop them, except themselves.
(End of this chapter)