At this time, there is still half an hour before the game between the Rockets and Spurs starts.
But when Shen Fei entered the arena, it was already packed with guests.
It is reported that all tickets for today's game were sold out within five minutes of going on sale.
Last night, scalpers even raised the ticket price to 10 times the original price!
From this we can see how interesting this game is.
After sitting down comfortably in the box, look towards the stadium.
At this time, players from both sides were warming up.
Shen Fei looked at it for a while and discovered some interesting phenomena.
Curry ran to the players' tunnel and practiced super long three-pointers.
After five consecutive long-distance shots, he actually scored 3 goals.
Well-deserved of Ku Ritian’s reputation!
Among a group of Rockets players, there was actually a big man wearing a black and white training uniform.
He has integrated into the Rockets very naturally and is enjoying the ball-picking and passing services of the Rockets assistant coaches.
This man is the soul player of the Spurs-Tim Duncan.
Dayao and others were surprised by Shi Buddha's behavior.
The originally tense atmosphere of the game became a lot more relaxed because of his behavior.
Yao Ming stepped forward with a smile and said hello to Duncan.
Then the two of them chatted and practiced shooting.
It wasn't until Mark Jackson on the sidelines signaled that he wanted to practice tactics that Duncan walked back to the Spurs half in a hurry.
Shen Fei retracted his gaze and turned to look at the other side of the stand.
Two familiar figures came into view - Zhang Weiping and Su Qun.
Yes, CCTV will naturally not miss such an important game.
They sent Zhang Weiping and Su Qun on a special trip to Beautiful Country.
Today, the two will commentate on the game live!
............
"Hello, viewers! Welcome everyone to watch the NBA live broadcast brought to you by cctv5."
"I'm Su Qun."
"Hello everyone, I am Zhang Weiping!"
"Today, Director Zhang and I came to the Toyota Center Arena to broadcast the game live for everyone."
As he spoke, Su Qun turned sideways and let the camera capture the scene.
"As you can see, the arena is packed with seats today! Rockets fans dressed in uniform red clothes turned the scene into a sea of red!"
"Director Zhang, can you analyze this game for us?"
Su Qun asked.
"OK."
"As we all know, today's game will determine whether the Rockets can break the regular season winning streak that has been sealed for decades!"
"The Spurs, as a powerful team that has dominated the Western Conference for many years, naturally do not want to become the background of historical records."
"So, this game will definitely be very fierce. The Spurs will definitely show their strongest strength without reservation!"
Zhang Weiping analyzed.
"That's true. Okay, I just got the starting lineups of both sides and I'll read them to you."
"The Rockets still have the regular starting lineup: Curry, McGrady, George, Griffin and Yao Ming."
"The Spurs sent: Parker, Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, and Splitter."
Su Qun introduced.
"Although the Rockets have used this starter for a long time, every time I see it, I still can't help but sigh - it's so perfect!"
"Three rookies in their early twenties, plus two stars in their prime... Such a young lineup can actually reach the top spot in the Western Conference!"
"What is certain is that in the next few years, they will be the best in the league!"
Zhang Weiping sighed.
"Yes, this Rockets team, under Shen Fei's leadership, has indeed shown the potential of a dynasty team."
"After talking about the Rockets, let's talk about the Spurs. Director Zhang, do you think it is possible for them to prevent the Rockets from breaking the record today?"
Su Qun asked.
"Of course it's possible."
"You can always trust Tim Duncan!"
"Every time people thought the Spurs were failing, he would step up."
"I believe that today we will see the omnipotent stone Buddha."
Zhang Weiping said firmly.
"What you said reminds me of the three illusions fans often say about Texas - the Mavericks are strong, the Rockets are weak, and the Spurs are old."
"No one will think the Rockets are weak this season."
"The Mavericks are strong, it's no longer an illusion."
"Whether the Spurs are old or not, we will find out today."
Su Qun was excited and started talking about the jingle.
"The average age of the Spurs' lineup is much older than that of the Rockets."
"This means they have more experience, but it also means their athletic ability and physical fitness may not be as good as the Rockets."
Zhang Weiping commented.
"Yes, it depends on how the Spurs deal with the young Rockets!"
"Now the game is about to start, let's hand the camera to the front!"
After saying that, Su Qun turned sideways, waved his hand, and let the camera shoot straight onto the court.
.............
At this time, players from both sides had already stepped onto the court one after another.
Maddie still looked sleepy.
Curry raised his hands to the sky in a prayer gesture.
As the referee throws the ball high, the game officially begins!
Yao Ming jumped up hard and successfully won the ball.
Rockets attack first!
Curry held the ball through half the court and came to the top of the arc to organize the offense.
Yao Ming quickly positioned himself and started asking for the ball in the low post.
Soon, Curry saw the right moment and passed the ball into the penalty area with a hit.
After Dayao received the ball, he started playing with his back.
Facing Split, who was not as tall or as heavy as himself, Yao Ming played simply and directly.
There is no extra movement, just use tonnage and power to crush!
However, Split has advantages unique to white players.
His static physical talents are extremely outstanding, especially his strength, which is much stronger than that of ordinary black players!
Therefore, although Yao Ming was able to push inside, the process was not easy.
Fortunately, Dayao is not the kind of insider who only has brute strength.
Seeing that it was difficult to advance, he immediately turned around and shot backward with great difficulty.
Now Split has no choice.
Even though he jumped up hard and tried to block shots, it was still difficult to interfere with Yao Ming's shooting.
After all, it is really difficult to stop a seven-foot-long man who finishes with a fadeaway jumper!
"Shua~"
The basketball hit the net.
2:0, the Rockets take the lead!
In transition between offense and defense, Parker advances with the ball.
Duncan followed suit and came to the low post to ask for the ball.
Parker hit the ground and handed the ball to Shi Buddha.
Griffin, who was responsible for the defense, stood down and concentrated on defense.
After getting the ball, Duncan hit his back twice, then suddenly accelerated and came to a position one step inside the free throw line.
Griffin followed him like a shadow, following him every step of the way.
But in this position, his disadvantages in size and wingspan are very obvious.
Duncan made a master's throw while walking and finished the shot on Griffin's head!
The arc of this throw was very flat, but after bouncing on the rim twice, it luckily rolled into the net.
2:2!
Rockets offense.
Curry plays pick-and-roll with Griffin in the high post.
With the help of the screen, Rockets No. 30 successfully got rid of Parker's defense.
Then, he suddenly took a step back and bounced outside the three-point line.
Duncan reacted quickly, stepped forward, and immediately stood in front of Curry.
Obviously, the Spurs did a lot of research on Meng Shen's game before the game, knowing that the latter likes to take sudden shots from long distances.
However, Duncan made the move and gave Griffin a chance!
The latter immediately turned around after covering the screen, stuck Parker behind him, and then quickly went down.
Curry flicked his wrist and made a free hit pass, successfully passing the ball to Griffin from between Duncan and Parker.
The next moment, the white monster comes out of the cage!
Griffin jumped up from the ground before Split was in place and flew towards the basket...
"bang!"
A powerful tomahawk chop directly set the Toyota Center Arena on fire!
"Oh, what a great shot! Curry passed the ball beautifully, and Griffin dunked wonderfully. The cooperation from the two second-year rookies directly penetrated the Spurs' defense!"
Zhang Weiping commented timely.
After changing sides, Ginobili also started a pick-and-roll with Duncan at a 45-degree angle on the right side.
In exactly the same way, Ginobili also wanted to use a hit pass to hand the ball to Duncan down the road.
But just when Shi Fo had already figured out how to finish the ball, a figure suddenly appeared on the passing route...
It's Paul George!
He anticipated Ginobili's passing route, started immediately after Ginobili took the shot, and then completed the steal!
Since the Spurs launched their tactics from beyond the three-point line, there was no one in front of George after he stole the ball.
He immediately accelerated and ran towards the Spurs' hinterland.
Ginobili struggled to catch up behind Pickle.
But young George is obviously the faster one.
He rushed to the free throw line, took off with both feet, and completed a 360-degree turn in the air...
"bang!"
Another stunning dunk!
The emotions of the Rockets fans at the scene also reached their peak:
"wow~"
"pg!!!"
"What did I say?! Team Rocket is unstoppable!"
.......
It wasn't until George dunked the ball into the basket that Ginobili belatedly rushed to the basket.
He shook his head in annoyance and raised his hand to indicate to his teammates that the mistake just now was his problem.
Being judged by a first-year rookie on the passing route is unacceptable to the passing master Ginobili.
After the transition between offense and defense, Manu called for a pick-and-roll at the top of the key.
Obviously, he wanted to make up for it with a personal attack!
McGrady, who was in charge of defense, put his hands behind his back and made a gesture.
Griffin immediately responded that he was going to adopt a defense switching strategy.
Ever since, after a pick-and-roll, Ginobili faced Griffin.
Manu immediately signaled his teammates to pull away.
Naturally, he would not miss such a small opportunity to win a big one!
I saw Ginobili dribbling from his hip, switching the ball to his left hand, and then dragging the ball towards Griffin.
Then, Manu suddenly accelerated, trying to use his speed to catch him!
However, although Griffin is a power forward, the frequency of his feet is no slower than that of outside players.
He turned sideways, used the lateral steps he had practiced countless times in daily training, and tried hard to keep up with the opponent's pace.
In the end, due to Griffin's interference, Ginobili's layup missed.
Yao Ming relaxed his arms, grabbed the rebound, and handed the ball to Curry beside him.
The Rockets launched a counterattack!
The Spurs responded very quickly. All five players returned to defense immediately and quickly returned to their defensive positions.
Among them, Parker began to press Curry near the center circle.
Obviously, the Spurs are very afraid of the latter's long three-pointers.
In the pre-game video analysis meeting, Popovich specifically pointed out that the Rockets have often played poorly in recent games.
And most of these waves start with Curry's three-pointer!
This is why Parker is so vigilant now and will intercept Curry just after halftime.
Curry, on the other hand, acted very calmly in the face of the sudden attack.
He first dribbled the ball with his hips to avoid Parker's cutting hand, and then turned back to pass it.
The French sports car felt bad, quickly adjusted its pace, and pounced on Curry again.
But Rockets No. 30 seemed to have anticipated his move. With just a light dribble from behind, he passed Parker again.
The first line of defense was breached, and the Spurs generals immediately panicked.
They saw in the video more than once that after Curry passed someone near the center circle, he shot directly from a long distance.
As the saying goes, "Excellence adds to success."
In this state, Curry has almost no misses!
Ginobili gritted his teeth, gave up on defending Tracy McGrady, and ran towards Curry.
Curry was stunned for a moment and quickly passed the ball to McGrady.
t-mac didn't hesitate after catching the ball, he raised the knife and hit a three-pointer!
7:2, the Rockets expanded their lead.
On the sidelines, the Spurs' legendary coach Popovich frowned, turned around and signaled a timeout to the technical table.
"Wow, less than two minutes into the game, the Spurs called the first timeout."
"This is quite rare!"
Su Qun wondered.
"Yes, but it can be seen from this detail that Popovich attaches great importance to this game."
"He didn't want the Rockets to gain momentum, so he called a timeout to interrupt the Rockets' momentum."
Zhang Weiping explained.
............
Spurs bench.
Popovich is like an angry lion at this time.
With fire in his eyes and spittle flying around, he mentioned all the things that the players had not done well in the first few rounds of the game.
"Tony! Don't be so aggressive on the defensive end. Stephen's dribbling is very good, it is difficult to steal the ball directly from his hands!"
"If you want to better restrict him, you have to attack him on the offensive end and consume his physical energy. Do you understand?"
Popovich asked.
Parker nodded.
"Thiago, I know it is very difficult to defend Yao, but I need you to give him more physical confrontation."
"He leaned back in the opening shot and it was so comfortable. I would rather you have stopped him with a foul."
Popovich turned to Split and said.
The latter nodded repeatedly, indicating that he would do his best.
Immediately afterwards, Popovich emphasized some tactical details.
Soon, the timeout ends and the game continues!
Once back, Parker became more determined on the offensive end.
In the first round, he used a sudden change of speed to successfully pass Curry.
After getting to the basket, Parker faced left, hand facing right, and passed the ball to Duncan with a no-look-pass.
The stone Buddha raised fire to the sky and succeeded in a one-arm dunk!
In the next round, Parker made a comeback.
This time, he used the pick-and-roll to drive towards the basket.
Facing Griffin, who was on defense, Parker made a quick turn while running, passed the latter cleanly, and easily completed a layup.
"Hey, Parker's attack this time is really crisp and clean."
"His trick of turning around without slowing down has been tried and tested over the past few years. It is a unique trick that combines beauty and practicality!"
Zhang Weiping sighed.
After Parker scored 4 points in a row, the score reached 7:6, and the Spurs were only 1 point behind!
Their strong counterattack also caused some ups and downs in the mentality of the Rockets' three rookies.
Young people can't hide things, and their nervousness shows up on their faces.
McGrady saw this, stretched out his hands, made a downward gesture, and immediately took the serve from Yao Ming.
"I'll hit one."
t-mac said calmly, and then dribbled the ball alone through the half court.
Not far away, Jefferson had lowered his center of gravity, opened his hands, and was concentrating on welcoming McGrady's arrival!