Chapter 161 Change the strategy, the rocket's offensive!
A fierce battle between the two sides is about to break out!
In the next few minutes, the Rockets' side blossomed more.
Under the control of McGrady's firepower, Lowry, George, and Yao Ming all got scoring opportunities to varying degrees.
Several people fulfilled their mission and scored goals respectively.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, are very determined to focus on Nowitzki.
Because the Rockets adopted a double-teaming tactic, the Mavericks' shooters also had a place to play.
Among them, Kidd got the most opportunities due to everyone's stereotype of him as "basic but not offensive".
In the first half of the game, he hit three three-pointers and was a major contributor to the Mavericks' pursuit of points.
The two teams went back and forth, and the scores increased alternately, but no one could completely open the score.
Rockets coach Mark Jackson is a rookie coach after all, and his ability to adapt to situations is still a bit immature.
When he saw that the Mavericks' offensive tactics became unstoppable due to Nowitzki's containment, he did not make adjustments quickly.
What Mark Jackson did was just maintain the double-teaming tactics against the German tanks.
But this strategy did not have good results when the rest of the Mavericks were feeling hot.
Shen Fei in the VIP box did not have high expectations for Mark Jackson's handling, but he was still a little disappointed when he saw that halfway through the second quarter, the latter had not made adjustments.
Fortunately, when the game entered an official pause, the Rockets coach finally thought of a new approach!
"Chris, go up and try to defend against Dirk alone."
Mark Jackson looked at the Birdman deep on the bench and said.
"Nowitzki is in great shape now. If you let him catch the ball in a comfortable position, it will be difficult to block him. You try to defend forward and don't let him catch the ball easily."
"Also, the players on the wings must form a double attack as soon as Dirk catches the ball, and they must keep their bodies high to prevent him from easily observing his teammates."
"When one person goes to double-team, the people around him must have the awareness to make up for the situation and even predict Nowitzki's passing route and try to steal it."
"Do you understand, kids?!"
Mark Jackson asked seriously.
This is the result he has thought about for most of the quarter, but whether it can be effective will still have to be tested by the game.
"Understood!"
The Rockets generals responded in unison.
............
The timeout ends and the game continues.
It didn't take long for the Rockets to usher in a defensive round.
The Mavericks repeated their old trick, with Nowitzki asking for the ball in the low post.
But this time, Birdman, who had just replaced him, suddenly turned sideways and jumped in front of King Nuo. At the same time, he raised his hands to block the passing route.
The reason why Anderson can often perform wonderful blocks is not only his explosive jumping ability, but also his extraordinary wingspan.
When he opened his hands, it looked like a big bird spreading its wings, covering a very wide area!
This also caused Kidd, who was responsible for passing the ball, to have some difficulties. He hesitated for a long time and did not dare to hand the ball to the inside.
However, Kidd is, after all, the greatest passer in NBA history.
Since working at heights is difficult, find another way!
With a flick of his wrist, he successfully handed the ball into Nowitzki's hands with an inswinging pass.
When the basketball passed through Anderson's blocker, Birdman's fingertips even touched the basketball.
Such a freehand pass shocked the audience and couldn't help but exclaim "woo".
"Wow, this kind of pass can only be made by a passing master like Kidd."
Yang Yi couldn't help but sigh.
"Jason Kidd is indeed, as our Chinese netizens say, the older he gets, the more demonic he becomes."
"If this pass doesn't use the force of the wrist and gives the ball a little spin, even if it passes Anderson's defense, the driver can't catch it. It's too extreme!"
Yu Jia added, his tone full of surprise.
However, Nowitzki had no time to be happy after receiving the ball. Just as he was about to turn around and attack, a black shadow appeared in front of him.
The person coming is none other than George!
He rushed out of the diagonal stab, just trying to hit Nowitzki but failed.
But a driver is a driver after all!
He was at the peak of his career at this time, and his reaction speed was extremely fast. He immediately turned sideways and separated the ball from George with his shoulder.
But...that's all Nowitzki can do.
Because George's timing for the double attack was perfect, he could only collect the ball to protect the basketball. He had just turned halfway and could only retreat to where he was.
In other words, the driver is now trapped in a corner, attacked from both sides, and has no teammates in sight to pass the ball to.
Soon, Anderson stepped forward and thrust his hands directly into the basketball in Nowitzki's arms.
The two immediately fell into entanglement...
Two seconds later, the referee raised his thumbs up to the sky and blew the whistle at the same time: "Beep~"
Both sides compete for the ball.
"yes!"
Anderson was very excited and high-fived George in celebration.
This is the Rockets' most successful double-team defense this season.
This also shows that Mark Jackson’s adjustments are effective!
Then, the Birdman successfully won the duel by virtue of its bouncing advantage.
The Rockets launched a counterattack!
During the fast break, Lowry came two steps beyond the three-point line and suddenly collected the ball.
Kidd reacted quickly and immediately realized that the opponent was going to shoot a three-pointer, so he kicked off his feet and rushed out.
But boxing is afraid of young people, and his athletic ability is still much inferior to that of the young Lowry.
Lowry jumped high, raised his hand and hit a three-pointer...
bingo!
As soon as the goal was scored, the score between the two sides reached 50:43, with the Rockets leading by 7 points.
Kidd looked at the young man smiling and celebrating in front of him, shook his head helplessly, and thought to himself:
[Young people don’t respect martial ethics. They engage in sneak attacks like this and bully me, a 37-year-old man...]
Actually, this can't all be blamed on Kidd.
After all, in today's league, the technology of chasing three-pointers is not used much (far less than in the future small ball era).
The one who is better at this skill should be Billups of the Nuggets.
After this successful defense and perfect counterattack, the Rockets gradually gained momentum.
They were more decisive on the offensive end, with McGrady and George hitting three-pointers one after another.
On the other hand, for the Mavericks, Nowitzki's ability to catch the ball became a problem after he was surrounded by defenders.
The Mavericks' offensive efficiency also dropped rapidly, and there was a scoring drought that lasted 3 minutes.
Carlisle reluctantly called a timeout in the last two minutes, but it had little effect.
When the second quarter ended, the Rockets had a double-digit lead at 65:55.
............
Halftime, Rockets locker room.
"Victory is ahead! There is still half a game left. As long as we can maintain the restriction on Nowitzki in the second quarter, we can win the game!"