Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The Rockets still held the lead until both sides began to replace their rotation lineups.

However, after both sides replaced their rotation lineups, the Lakers quickly turned the situation around.

In order to ensure the competitiveness of the Rockets' rotation lineup, Coach D'Antoni kept Paul on the court, but he was still no match for the Lakers. The Lakers sent out Lopez to lead the bench lineup with Clarkson.

Capela was not on the court at that time, so Lopez basically had no opponent in the interior. He either scored in low-post singles or forced an attack to cause the opponent to foul and score points in the interior.

Coupled with Clarkson's occasional sneak attacks, the Rockets were at a disadvantage and their original leading advantage was quickly lost.

"Still the same..."

Coach D'Antoni shook his head, feeling somewhat helpless. In order to improve the competitiveness of the rotation lineup, he had already kept Paul on the court. It was impossible for him to keep Capela on the court as well and let both of them play the entire quarter, right?

What to do about physical fitness problems?

This is not something that can be solved by personnel adjustments or tactics. It is a problem of lineup depth, and Coach D'Antoni can't do anything about it.

Fortunately, the Rockets had the upper hand before, so even though they lost some points during rotation time, they were still leading by one point at the end of the first quarter.

“This quarter was a good one.”

"Yeah, the three-pointer was shot, that's how we should play, this is the Rockets' offense..."

Although the lead was only one point, the home fans were still excited.

In the last game, the Rockets were always behind, and only overtook once in the middle. They were suppressed almost the entire time, which was really frustrating.

So even if we are only leading by one point now, in the eyes of the fans, one point is still a lead, so it’s good to be leading.

......

Rest time between sessions.

Coach Scott called the players together and first made some arrangements for the rotation time and then emphasized the defense of three-pointers again.

When the second quarter started, the Lakers sent out Zhuang Yu and Clarkson to lead the bench lineup, while the Rockets sent out Harden to lead the rotation lineup with Eric Gordon.

Both sides have ace players and best sixth men, and they were tit-for-tat, staging a drama of a collision between Mars and the Earth, which was exciting to see the fans in the audience.

But after a few rounds, the score difference between the two sides remained in a tense state.

At this moment, Coach Scott made a gesture towards the court, signaling the players to double-team Harden.

Before, Zhuang Yu had been defending alone, but Harden played very smartly. He did not just play alone, but frequently used the screens and pick-and-rolls of his teammates to create a mismatch before attacking.

However, facing the double-team of the Lakers, Harden couldn't help but frown. He reduced his personal shots and began to create more opportunities for his teammates.

However, there have also been changes on the Lakers side. The person responsible for defending Harden is no longer Zhuang Yu.

Since they are going to double-team, there is no need for Zhuang Yu, the best defensive player.

Zhuang Yu's defensive advantage lies in one-on-one defense.

So if we want to double-team Harden at this time, Zhuang Yu is naturally not needed, and others can do it.

Zhuang Yu was responsible for coming in front of Eric Gordon and started defending Gordon.

When Harden passed the ball in the face of double-teaming, the Rockets' strong point in scoring became Eric Gordon, but at this time he was facing the defense of Zhuang Yu.

Harden's strength is there. He can break through, pass and shoot, and he is very comprehensive. His basketball IQ is also very high. He is definitely at the superstar level.

Therefore, even Zhuang Yu, the best defensive player, would find it difficult to defend Harden in a one-on-one match.

But Eric Gordon is not Harden. It is difficult for Zhuang Yu to limit Harden one-on-one, but he has no problem defending Eric Gordon.

For a moment, Harden was in trouble for scoring because of the double-team. When he passed the ball, Eric Gordon, who was supposed to be the second scoring point, had a hard time facing Zhuang Yu's defense and was unable to take on the scoring task at all.

"This defense... is too targeted."

"We need to change players. The Rockets must have more scoring points."

In the audience, fans were talking about it.

The Lakers' defense was very targeted and effective, causing the Rockets to fall into a scoring drought and unable to score for a long time.

On the other hand, the Lakers seized the opportunity and scored goals one after another, not only overtaking the score, but also quickly widening the gap to 5 points.

Coach D'Antoni frowned, called a timeout, and started making substitutions.

His eyes swept over his players one by one. He originally wanted to replace two pitchers. When Harden faced double-teaming and Eric Gordon was helpless against Zhuang Yu's defense, these two pitchers would be able to play a role.

But on second thought, the Lakers have always played unpredictably in these two games, so will they make some adjustments to the lineup later?

So Coach D'Antoni made up his mind and simply replaced both Paul and Capela.

It turned out that his concerns were justified.

When the timeout was over, both teams returned to the court. Not only did the Rockets make substitutions, but the Lakers also made substitutions. Holiday and Kyle Anderson both returned to the court.

Now the Lakers' lineup on the field becomes Holiday, Clarkson, Zhuang Yu, Kyle Anderson, and Nance Jr.

If the Rockets just replace two pitchers, they are obviously no match for the Lakers.

Fortunately, Paul and Capela are back on the court now. Together with Harden, Eric Gordon and PG Tucker, this lineup can still compete with the Lakers.

After a few minutes, the Lakers were still in the lead, but fortunately it was only by 4 points.

At this time, both sides sent out their main lineups, and the Rockets also began to use their three-point firepower again, trying to rain three-pointers on the Lakers.

First, Harden made a step-back three-pointer after a pick-and-roll, and then Paul also made a three-pointer with the help of a pick-and-roll. Two consecutive three-pointers directly reversed the score.

Just as the home fans were cheering excitedly, Zhuang Yu came to the frontcourt, took the basketball from Holiday, and without any pause, he shot a three-pointer directly against the defense.

This is totally unreasonable.

There was no space to shoot, so he just shot hard against the defender. If it weren't for Zhuang Yu's excellent height and wingspan, plus his quick shot, this ball might have been blocked.

Swish!

There was a soft sound, and the basketball hit the net.

"Damn it."

"He's lucky he can make the shot like this."

"It's okay, it's just a lucky shot..."

The home fans shouted angrily at the court. In their opinion, this was just a lucky shot, a forced shot against the defender.

However, only a few dozen seconds later, Zhuang Yu shot again from beyond the three-point line.

This time they used a three-point tactic. His teammates covered Zhuang Yu, allowing him to break free from the defense and return to the three-point line to receive the ball. He ignored the Rockets' players who came to switch defense and shot directly.

Swish!

Go in again.

Now the home fans were silent.

One ball is luck, what about two balls?

"Defend better and keep an eye on his three-point shot."

Coach D'Antoni shouted at the court that he didn't think these two goals were luck.

There is no doubt about Zhuang Yu’s three-point shooting ability. He can compete with Curry and not fall behind. How could it be just based on luck?

However, he does not think that the Lakers can compete with the Rockets' entire team's three-point shooting ability by relying on Zhuang Yu alone to make two or three three-pointers.

However, he was wrong too.

For a period of time afterwards, the Rockets continued to shoot three-pointers from the outside.

Their outside shooting was indeed good today, much better than the last game. Harden, Paul, Ariza, and Ryan Anderson all hit three-pointers.

But what frustrates the home fans and coach D'Antoni is that Zhuang Yu's three-point shooting is also very good.

No, it’s really great.

In a few minutes, Zhuang Yu made 7 of 5 three-pointers, with an incredibly high hit rate, almost offsetting the Rockets' three-point firepower by himself.

"Damn it, how can this guy be so accurate?"

"It's really weird. He was clearly on top of the defense, with Ariza's hand even on his face, but he still made the shot."

"There was another ball, and two people rushed at it at the same time, leaving him with no space to shoot. If he had been a little slower, he would have been blocked, but the ball still went in."

The home fans drooped their eyelids and their faces were full of depression.

The Rockets players on the court were even more depressed. There was a ball that Ariza and Ryan Anderson pounced on together, and Ryan Anderson's fingers even touched the basketball a little bit. Although it was only a little bit and the fans might not be able to see it, he knew that he did touch it.

Yet even so, the ball still went in.

This kind of shot has some element of luck, but it was a big blow to Ryan Anderson.

Even though he had already touched the basketball and was defending so hard, Zhuang Yu was still able to make the shot. It was truly unbelievable.

Zhuang Yu almost single-handedly competed with the entire Rockets team in three-point shooting and did not fall behind, allowing the Lakers to maintain the leading advantage which lasted until the end of the first half.

During the halftime break, the Rockets players lowered their heads and walked back to the player tunnel silently.

Coach D'Antoni glanced at Zhuang Yu and could only shake his head helplessly. They shot so poorly from three-point range in this quarter, but still couldn't gain the upper hand.

too difficult.

......

Over here, the Lakers locker room.

A group of teammates surrounded Zhuang Yu, excitedly discussing his three-point shooting performance in the previous quarter, which was really accurate.

Coach Scott was watching from the side and couldn't help but smile.

He had already been prepared. The Rockets shot so well from three-point range in this quarter that they might gain the advantage and overtake the score.

As a result, Zhuang Yu could return a goal for every one the opponent scored, and he managed to suppress the Rockets and maintain the lead until the end of the first half.

As for the second half...

"Heh, can the Rockets still shoot that kind of three-point percentage in the second half?"

Coach Scott smiled coldly. He didn't think so and would not let the Rockets make such a three-pointer again.

The Lakers' defense is not just hype.