Lowry watched Rondo running toward him, opening his arms and concentrating on defense.
Since joining the alliance, he has never been the focus of his opponents.
It's not that no team has tried it. After all, Lowry is only a little over 1.8 meters tall, so he is basically at a disadvantage in terms of size.
But his small cannon-like figure and excellent defensive awareness have kept many offensive players at bay.
In terms of defensive ability, although Lowry is not as good as Paul, who defended nine times, he is definitely above the league average.
Especially this year, under Shen Fei's guidance, he developed a unique skill of drawing fouls, and his defensive level has reached a higher level.
But having said that, Lowry is definitely not monolithic and has no loopholes.
For example, the current Rondo is very confident that he can "cut him off the horse."
I saw Long directing a left-handed in&out to shake Lowry half a step away, then cut to the basket, reached forward with his right hand, and shot.
The next moment, Griffin, who was guarding the basket, and Lowry, who was trying to catch up, both flew out in order to block the shot.
Who knows, this is just Rondo's fake shot.
Coach Long took the ball back, turned around, and then scored the ball with a light throw.
5:2, the Celtics continue to lead.
"Rondo was unable to gain a firm foothold against the Rockets this time. Although Yao Ming succeeded in attacking in the low post, his slow return to defense also gave his opponents opportunities."
Yang Yi commented.
"It can be seen from this round that the Celtics came well prepared today."
Yu Jia added.
As soon as the two finished speaking, the Rockets' attack came as expected.
Yao Ming repeated his old trick and once again played singles in the low post.
This time, O'Neal tried his best, but in the end he had to pay a foul to stop Dayao's attack.
Yao Ming was pulled hard on his arm, but his expression remained calm and he was not angry at all.
After standing on the free throw line, he faced the boos in the North Shore Garden and made the ball steadily.
5:4!
After changing sides, Pierce challenged George's defense in the elbow area.
Nicknamed "Truth," he is a veritable offensive kaleidoscope.
In this area near the free throw line, Pierce has countless ways to get rid of the defense and shoot the ball.
However, George, who defends him, is not a vegetarian.
The Rockets have played a total of 22 games so far this season.
After 22 games of testing, many professionals believe that George's defense is already around the level of a second defense.
ESPN's famous commentator A-Smith even said in a live broadcast: "With George's talent, within two years, he will have the strength to compete for DPOY. Wing players in the league, in the near future,
You will have the same nightmare!"
Coincidentally, NBA star and former best defensive player - "Glove" Payton said in an interview: "Don't dribble in front of Paul (George)."
From the evaluations of these two people, we can get a glimpse of how strong George's defensive ability is!
Moreover, during the Rockets' training yesterday, Mark Jackson specifically asked Tracy McGrady to imitate Pierce's style of play and play a one-on-one match with George with live ammunition.
Although Pickle failed to win the Bullfight in the end, during the game, he also had a preliminary impression of Pierce's attacking methods (McGy's imitation has a strong learning ability. In the original time and space, McGrady was training with the Spurs team.
Imitated James' style of play).
The defensive ability is sufficient and prepared. With the combination of the two, George has enough confidence to defend Pierce.
that's the truth.
In the first confrontation between the two, George predicted that Pierce would finish with a step-back shot.
So, he kicked the ground violently, lunged forward, raised his long arms high, and grabbed the basketball in the hands of Truth.
Although George did not block the ball in the end, it greatly interfered with Pierce's shooting.
"Duang!"
Truth's shot hit the edge of the basket hard and bounced out of the frame.
Yao Ming jumped high and grabbed the rebound.
However, at this moment, a pair of thick and powerful black hands suddenly appeared and pressed down on the basketball in Yao Ming's hand.
The owner of these black hands is O'Neal, who has been severely suppressed by Dayao since the beginning of the game!
His big hands were like pliers, pressing firmly on the ball.
No matter how Yao Ming twisted his waist and exerted his strength, he could not move even an inch.
In this league, in a single comparison of strength, O'Neal really has no one to fear except the Mongolian warrior.
He gritted his teeth and exerted force, and the basketball was instantly out of Yao's control...
Steal!
After grabbing the basketball from Yao Ming's hand, O'Neal turned sideways, separated the basketball from his opponent with his shoulder, and then hit it...
Dayao snorted and took half a step back.
In this gap, O'Neal shot up from the ground and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.
"bang!"
7:4!
After dunking, the shark did not land immediately. Instead, he grabbed the frame with both hands and swayed back and forth.
The entire basket shook violently in an instant.
"Ho~~~"
O'Neal roared passionately, and the fans at North Shore Garden responded with fiery cheers.
As soon as the goal was scored, the morale of the Celtics instantly rose.
You know, Yao Ming has gradually gained the capital to compete with Howard for the number one center by relying on his stable and efficient performance this season.
And the old Shark was able to snatch the ball player from Yao Ming's hands and then violently abuse the basket after the confrontation!
This performance undoubtedly helped the Celtics reveal a signal - your Rockets' strengths may not necessarily have an advantage against us!
Soon, the powerful Celtics suppressed the scene.
In about 4 minutes, they launched a 15:5 shock wave, establishing a double-digit lead in one fell swoop.
22:9, the Rockets are already 13 points behind!
On the sidelines, Mark Jackson frowned and was thinking about whether to call a timeout to interrupt his opponent's momentum.
Halfway through the first quarter, the Rockets have already exposed many problems.
The first thing to bear the brunt is to underestimate the enemy.
Obviously the opponent is a championship team and is now ranked among the best in the Eastern Conference. However, at the beginning, the Rockets players still acted like "I am much stronger than you."
This results in a difference in energy between the two sides on the field.
The Celtics are obviously the stronger team, while the Rockets are like a sleeping tiger with no ability to resist.
Another obvious problem is the performance of starting point guard Lowry.
Perhaps because of Curry's appearance, Xiaogangpao obviously wanted to show off his abilities today, taking many more shots than in any previous game.
In just half a quarter, he had already shot three chasing three-pointers, and because he was forced to take them, none of these shots were successful.
And this also means that the Rockets wasted three fast break opportunities.
In addition, the Celtics designed a lot of offensive tactics today to target Lowry.
Both Ray Allen and Pierce have taken advantage of their height to shoot directly on the head of the small steel cannon.
Unable to attack and defend, Lori became increasingly anxious.
The point guard is the brain of a team. If the brain is anxious, the team will naturally not be able to operate normally. This is one of the reasons why the Rockets are currently lagging behind.
At this thought, Mark Jackson turned around and set his sights on the bench!