Chapter 188 Tony Allen vs Curry! A bargaining chip!
What they didn't know was that the Rockets had also quietly made changes to their formation.
Lawson was temporarily substituted, and his replacement was another Rockets defensive anchor - Tony Allen.
Teacher Tony walked onto the court with a relaxed expression, twisted his neck and wrists, and looked eager to try.
Before going on the court, head coach Mark Jackson specifically told him that he only had one goal when he came on the field - to keep an eye on Curry!
Teacher Tony readily agreed to such a request without any hesitation.
In this time and space, after he left the Celtics, he did not join the Grizzlies, but directly came to the Rockets.
In other words, people know that Tony Allen is good at defense, but they don't have a deep understanding of his defensive skills.
After all, in the original time and space, Teacher Tony's two masterpieces - the one-on-one defense against Durant against the Thunder; and the battle against the "Splash" brothers against the Warriors, were both completed with the Grizzlies.
After these two series, Tony Allen became recognized as the top three perimeter defenders.
Facing him is a headache for every outside player!
But now, Mr. Tony, who has joined the Rockets, has not yet made a name for himself.
He has always been a substitute player, playing when the team needs it and performing conscientiously.
This time the coach suddenly assigned tasks with serious words, and Tony Allen suddenly became motivated.
[I have to perform well and let the coach see my value!]
After thinking about this, Teacher Tony cast his sights on Curry, who was not far away.
Curry, who is in the second grade, is fair and fair, has good facial features, and his appearance is comparable to that of a bunch of tough NBA guys. (Of course, that doesn't mean he is the most handsome.)
After Tony Allen looked at it for a while, he shook his head and thought to himself: "How good can he be with this kind of appearance?"
With this mentality, he soon ushered in his first matchup with Curry.
As soon as the cute god passed half court with the ball, Tony Allen got close to him and began to use physical confrontation to interfere with the former's rhythm.
At this period, Curry has not yet gained weight, and his ability to fight is not the same as at his peak.
Facing Tony Allen's aggressive defense, he didn't react and was almost intercepted.
But Curry quickly calmed down, turned sideways, used his body to separate Allen from the basketball, and at the same time opened his hands to signal his teammates to come over for a pick-and-roll.
Troy Murphy jogged all the way, rushed over, and stepped down to cover Curry.
However, his body is too thin and his pick-and-roll quality is not up to par.
In addition, the defender is Tony Allen, who is known for squeezing through pick-and-rolls, so Murphy's screen is useless.
What's even worse is that he also brought over Tucker, another defensive star of the Rockets.
As a result, as soon as Curry got around the screen, he was staggered by Allen who was squeezing past him. Before he could adjust, another pair of big hands came towards him.
For a time, Tucker and Tony Allen formed a pincer attack on him.
Curry immediately collected the ball and tried to pass it out.
But before he even lifted the ball, two pairs of big hands were already pressing on it.
Immediately, the three people got entangled.
Because Curry was surrounded by two big men, the referee on the side was blocked from sight. He quickly adjusted his position to see if he should call for a challenge.
But in the moment when the referee moved, Meng Shen failed to protect the ball, and the basketball was ruthlessly taken away by Teacher Tony.
The Rockets launched a counterattack!
With a look of despair on his face, Curry spread his hands to signal to the referee that the opponent had committed a foul while grabbing the ball.
The referee shook his head.
His line of sight was blocked just now and he was unable to make a judgment, and now he is even less likely to help Curry make the decision.
Tony Allen advanced with the ball at high speed. When he reached the penalty area, he suddenly flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Tucker who had just run to the bottom corner.
The latter drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting a three-pointer...
bingo!
Three-pointer! The Rockets continue to expand their lead.
At this time, Curry had just run back to his own half.
Seeing that the Rockets' offense had been completed, he raised his right hand and signaled to his teammates that it was his problem.
Teacher Tony on the side saw it, and couldn't help but reveal a cruel smile on his lips.
In the next round, he directly pressed Curry full court after the Warriors served.
Meng Shen relied on his solid basic skills to dribble the ball through half the court under high-intensity confrontation, but this also consumed his physical strength to a large extent.
Ellis discovered Curry's dilemma, ignored the coach's arrangement, and started asking for the ball.
Meng Shen was worried about making a mistake, so he had to pass the ball.
Ellis faced Martin and passed the latter with a single acceleration.
When he came to the free throw line, he was afraid of Yao Ming guarding the penalty area, so he chose to make a pull-up jumper.
"Shua~"
The basketball hits the net!
18:7, this goal is crucial.
And this goal also became a microcosm of the game in the next few minutes.
Curry was unable to launch an effective offense under the defense of Tony Allen, and in the end the ball had to be handed over to Ellis.
In addition, Curry was restricted, which directly caused Murphy to not even be able to touch the ball.
Under Tucker's defense, the latter became invisible and had no sense of presence on the court.
However, Ellis got everything he wanted from Martin.
The Warriors relied on his outstanding performance to barely maintain the point difference.
At the end of the first quarter, the two sides were tied at 35:25, with the Rockets leading by 10 points.
............
During the break, the two general managers in the box started discussing again.
"Larry, let me tell you the truth...this Troy Murphy is really not good."
"He played a full game in the first quarter, taking five shots and scoring a total of two points. This kind of efficiency is simply not worth mentioning."
Shen Fei shook his head and said.
"But..."
Larry Riley wanted to refute, but the reasons he could think of, such as being out of action for a long time and having a bad hand... were difficult to explain Murphy's performance in the first quarter.
"He has negative value now."
Shen Fei continued.
This sentence is equivalent to giving Murphy a "death sentence".
"Murphy's strength lies in offense, so I deliberately started Tucker just to see how much he weighs."
"You may think that I am deliberately targeting him, but as I said before, if I continue to start Griffin, I am really targeting Murphy."
"Think about it, with Blake's firepower, how can Murphy defend himself? I'm afraid the situation will be worse than it is now, right?"
Shen Fei worked hard without giving Larry Riley any chance to breathe.
The Warriors general manager was silent for a long time and finally sighed slowly.
"well..."
"However, if Murphy is not included in the deal, the salaries of both parties will not be equal at all!"
Larry Riley said helplessly.
"Salary is not the most important issue."
"The current situation is that Curry showed a sense of powerlessness when facing a high-pressure defense in the first quarter..."
"I would say that the combined trade value of Lawson and Kevin Martin is higher than him."
Shen Fei looked into the eyes of the Warriors general manager and said seriously.
At this time, the buff of [Voice of Enchantment] began to take effect, silently affecting Larry Riley's thinking.