One day later, the Rockets will board a special plane and fly to Oklahoma.
It is worth mentioning that on the plane, Mark Jackson announced that all five starters would be resting.
The two veterans, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, have become accustomed to this arrangement and did not show much surprise.
The three young men - Curry, Griffin and Paul George - looked helpless.
Although they are very capable, they are still in a state of being "outnumbered" in the team.
Mark Jackson pretended not to see the expressions of the three of them and continued:
"Then let me announce now the starting lineup for the game against the Thunder."
"Lowry, Roy, Danny Green, PJ Tucker, Greg Oden."
"You five must prepare well. Tomorrow's game will definitely be a tough battle."
"Moreover, this game is broadcast live across the United States. Your performance will be seen by fans all over the world."
"Don't make a fool of yourself haha."
Mark Jackson said with a smile, and the raised corners of his mouth revealed a hint of cunning.
"Don't worry, coach! We will be ready."
Lori responded confidently, her smile still warm and innocent.
In this lineup, he and Roy are the absolute core, and Lowry is more familiar with his teammates than Huang Mamba.
In other words, if you want to defeat the Thunder, the performance of the small steel cannon in this game is crucial!
And in the game, he will face off against Westbrook, who has a fierce playing style.
In recent games, Westbrook averaged 28.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game.
Although this data is not as gorgeous as the triple-double he averaged in the MVP season, it is still considered the top level in the league!
Lowry's head was a little big when he thought about facing off against such a monster.
"Why don't we study the tactics now! Anyway, it's still a long time before we get to Oklahoma."
Xiaogangpao suggested.
Everyone agreed one after another.
The team's assistant coach immediately took out his laptop and started playing the video.
Then, the Rockets generals watched the game between the Thunder and the Warriors two days ago.
Interestingly, the perception of this game is very similar to the previous game between the Rockets and the Warriors——
The Thunder did not gain an advantage quickly at the beginning, but relied on their absolute talent in the mid-term to gain an advantage of more than 20 points.
After seeing this, the expressions of the Rockets generals gradually became serious.
"The Thunder seem to have improved a lot compared to the last time they played us."
The big brother of the team - Sean Battier said.
This season, he spent most of his time observing the game from a spectator's perspective.
Now that the season is halfway through, there are not many teams that can impress Battier, and the Thunder is one of them.
"Durant, Westruk, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, and Jeff Green, these five people are all very talented."
"I even think...the Thunder are the only team with enough talent to challenge us!"
Shane said in a serious tone.
This statement is very bold.
After all, there are three giants like the Heat in the league today.
Many Rockets players present were shocked by Battier's statement.
Led by Lowry, the five people who will start the game tomorrow all have very solemn expressions.
Just when everyone was silent because of surprise, McGrady suddenly raised his right hand and said: "I agree with Sean. If these kids in the Thunder can develop steadily, they may be able to establish a dynasty belonging to the Thunder in the future."
As the first-level talent in NBA history, T-Mac is very aware of the terrifying potential of this Thunder team.
"Kevin, Russell (Westbrook), and James (Harden) all have the talent to become superstars."
"They may not be able to compete with us this year, but in one or two years, as long as the Thunder management can maintain the core lineup, they will definitely be our biggest opponent on the road to the championship."
Maddie continued.
Hearing the team boss give such a high evaluation to their opponent, Lowry and the other five people became even more nervous.
At this time, Yao Ming, who had been silent, found that the atmosphere was a bit solemn, so he spoke:
"Don't be so stressed."
"In China, there is an old saying - when soldiers come, they will block it; when water comes, the soil will cover it up."
"The opponents are very strong, but as long as we do our best and go all out on the field, that's enough."
As Yao Ming spoke, he turned his attention to Lowry, Roy and others.
"Besides...the opponent's talent is high, wouldn't our talent be high too?"
"The star of the Thunder is undoubtedly Kevin Durant. But back then, he was only the second overall pick in the draft."
"Who was the No. 1 pick that year? It was Oden from our team!"
After listening to Yao Ming's words, everyone looked at Oden in unison.
"Don't worry, everyone, I'll do my best!"
The Emperor was not as shy as before this time, and he mustered up the courage to speak confidently.
"Whether we can win this game or not, Greg's performance is indeed crucial."
Head coach Mark Jackson also spoke at this time.
"One of the important reasons why the Thunder have been able to win consecutive games recently is that Ibaka was mentioned in the starting lineup."
"His sudden emergence instantly raised the Thunder's interior defense to a higher level."
"So, if Greg can suppress Albaka, the game will be much easier."
Mark Jackson continued his analysis.
Everyone nodded.
In the video of the game just now, Ibaka made a huge move in the paint, almost creating a no-fly zone on his own!
His emergence has really helped the team a lot.
Coupled with Jeff Green, who is both inside and outside, the Thunder's inside line is definitely lacking in height, but it excels in its mobility and dynamic talent.
This also means that Oden and Tucker will face huge challenges!
"Okay, everyone doesn't need to be too stressed."
"We are number one in the league, it's the Thunder that should be nervous."
"The plane will land in a while. Let's take a rest."
Mark Jackson said with a smile.
............
The next day, the game between the Thunder and Rockets came as scheduled.
CCTV will naturally not miss such an important game.
Moreover, before the game, Shen Fei revealed to CCTV that Jeremy Lin's playing time will be greatly increased in this game.
This made the leaders of CCTV very excited.
You know, if nothing else happens, Jeremy Lin will be the future main point guard of the Chinese men's basketball team.
Domestic media are all looking for an opportunity to help Shuhao build momentum.
But after the press conference announcing his naturalization, Brother Hao didn't get many playing opportunities with the Rockets. One game only lasted about ten minutes.
With such a short playing time, Shuhao naturally cannot get good data.
Therefore, the media has been waiting for Brother Hao to play a representative game.
And today’s game is an excellent opportunity!
In order to better cover this game, CCTV specially sent a broadcast team headed by Zhang Weiping to the scene for live broadcast.
"Hello, viewers! Welcome to watch the NBA live broadcast brought to you by cctv-5!"
"I am Yu Jia!"
"Today we will bring you the highlight game - the Houston Rockets' away game against the Thunder."
"Now, Director Zhang Weiping is already at the game! Let's connect together and chat with him about the situation at the game."
"Director Zhang, can you hear what I say?"
In the Huaxia broadcast room, Yu Jia asked.
"OK!"
"Hello, dear viewers, my name is Zhang Weiping."
Weiping-Bryant replied with a smile.
"Director Zhang, can you share with us the situation at the scene?"
Yu Jia continued.
"No problem. Let's see..."
As he spoke, Zhang Weiping turned sideways so that the camera could capture the court.
"Athletes from both sides are now doing their final warm-ups."
"Then, everyone focused their attention on the Rockets' bench... Did you see it? Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Curry and others are all wearing suits and ties."
Zhang Weiping introduced.
"Oh my God, what is going on?"
Yu Jia asked in surprise.
"Without exception, they all chose to take turns today."
"I just got the starting lineups for both sides."
"The Rockets have fielded a jaw-dropping lineup. I think this starting lineup can be called the Rockets' second team!"
After that, Zhang Weiping read through the Rockets' starting lineup.
Five people, all former substitutes, are really jaw-dropping.
"Looking at the Thunder, they obviously take this game very seriously."
"All the core players are on the roster, and no one is injured or chooses to rest."
Zhang Weiping continued to introduce.
"Both teams are on a winning streak right now."
"But now it seems more likely that the Thunder will continue their winning streak."
Yu Jia sighed.
"indeed so."
"However, the Rockets' lineup is still very competitive, and everyone can also look forward to Jeremy Lin's performance today."
"Curry takes a rest. I believe that Brother Hao will get more playing time in this game!"
Zhang Weiping said with a smile.
"Okay, let's look forward to the performance of the Rockets and Shuhao today."
Yu Jia nodded in agreement.
After the connection ended, Yu Jia briefly introduced the Rockets' starting lineup.
Soon, the game will begin.
Yu Jia waved his hand, and the screen cut to the Thunder's home court - Chesapeake Energy Arena!
............
As the referee threw the ball high, the game officially began.
Oden and Ibaka jumped high at the same time.
Both of them have very strong physical fitness, but one has better static talent, while the other has better dynamic talent.
In the end, Oden, who is tall and has long arms, made a superior move and won the ball.
Rockets attack first!
Lowry held the ball and advanced through half the court and came to the top of the arc to organize.
Roy passed the screen, came out from a 45-degree angle, and successfully caught the ball.
But soon, Sefolosha, the Thunder's defensive hero and Swiss Army Knife, rushed over and stood in front of him.
Roy didn't panic at all.
I saw him assuming a three-threat posture, and then stretched out his right foot to break through.
But Sefolosha remained unmoved and always maintained a defensive position.
Unexpectedly, Roy was unreasonable. When he saw that the opponent was standing behind, he directly pulled up on the spot and shot...
"Shua~"
Basketball goes hollow into the net.
Since Roy's toe touched the three-point line when shooting, the ball was only a two-pointer.
2:0, the Rockets took the lead!
In transition between offense and defense, the Thunder quickly served the baseline ball.
Westbrook holds the ball and advances at high speed.
While traveling, he didn't slow down and change direction, leaving Lori behind.
Upon seeing this, Tucker quickly moved sideways to fill his position.
Seeing that he was about to defend, Westbrook suddenly turned his head to look to the right, shook his right hand to the left, and passed the ball to Ibaka, who was following up, with a freehand one-handed no-look-pass.
"woo~"
The scene was filled with exclamations, and the fans couldn't help but applaud this most exciting pass.
After Ibaka got the ball, he pushed his feet on the ground and took off fully...
Seeing that the basket abuse performance was about to take place, a figure suddenly appeared in mid-air, shrouding 28 Ka.
"Snapped!"
There was a crisp sound, and Ibaka's dunk was directly hit on the backboard!
The person coming is none other than Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in 2007!
"woo..."
The scene was once again filled with amazement.
However, the tone was rising last time, but this time it was falling.
After completing the big block, Oden did not celebrate, but immediately controlled the rebound and passed the ball to Lowry beside him.
At the same time, Thunder general Kevin Durant, who was not far away, looked at Oden with a complicated look.
He knew that the man who once competed with him for the top spot was really back with full blood!