During the banquet, the Grizzlies players hung their heads and remained silent.
In stark contrast, is the fiery atmosphere at Toyota Center.
The fans seemed to have foreseen the victory and started celebrating early in the first quarter.
The noise was so loud that it made the Grizzlies players feel extremely annoyed.
"The game lasted less than three minutes, are you already discouraged?"
Hollins asked loudly.
"Coach, it's not that we don't work hard. But it seems that no matter how hard we try, we can't affect their offense."
"There is no possibility of winning at all, so how can we fight..."
oj-Mayo said helplessly.
When he said the first sentence, several Grizzlies players nodded in agreement.
But when Mayo said the second sentence, everyone frowned.
This... is so discouraging!
If it doesn't affect the Rockets' offense, then among the Grizzlies' starting lineup, Mayo has the worst defense.
Several of the Rockets' fast breaks used him as a breakthrough point.
Hollins couldn't help but shook his head: "OJ, please go out and calm down first, and get your mentality right first."
Immediately, he solemnly said to the other team members:
"Guys, we struggled for more than half a year before we entered the playoffs."
"The series has only reached its second game now, and the game lasted less than three minutes. Are you willing to just give up?"
"I would rather everyone defend, fight, and show the Grizzlies' toughness like we did in the first two rounds!"
"Even if we lose, we have to let the Rockets shed a layer of skin!"
By the end, Hollins was almost roaring.
The Grizzly Bear generals were also a little moved.
"Give me the ball and I'll go in."
Big black bear - Randolph said calmly.
"Focus on defending Curry and McGrady, and be ready to flank them at any time."
Gasol, as the core of the defense, also spoke.
"I will definitely stick to Curry!"
Conley said confidently.
"To deal with him, we must not only strengthen the defense, but also consume him on the offensive end."
Xiaojia suggested.
Conley nodded.
Just like that, the Grizzlies regained their strength and returned to the court.
"Hey, Mayo has been replaced. His replacement is this year's No. 28 pick - Vasquez."
"This person is six feet six inches tall and 1.98 meters tall. He is a shooting guard with a relatively balanced offense and defense."
"It seems that the Grizzlies want to continue to strengthen their defense. After all, in the game just now, basically no one could guard Mayo."
Zhang Weiping explained.
The timeout is over and the game continues!
Grizzlies attack.
Conley hit the ground and handed the ball inside.
Randolph half-turned after receiving the ball, turned to face the basket, and then assumed a triple threat posture.
After previous matches, the Black Bears already have a deep understanding of Griffin's defensive capabilities.
He knew that it would be difficult to defeat this young man with brute force alone.
Therefore, Randolph proactively adjusted his offensive strategy.
With this ball, he used a realistic tentative step to open up a bit of space, and then relied on his thick body to rely on Griffin to reach the inside.
Yao Ming stepped aside to help defend.
Randolph didn't hit hard, but flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Garfield.
After receiving the ball, White Bear made a small throw and sent the ball into the basket.
10:4.
This ball can be said to stop the bleeding for the Grizzlies!
Offensive and defensive transition.
Curry had just passed half court with the ball when he was faced with Conley's close pressing.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
As soon as they met, Conley punched Curry twice with his chest.
Curry quickly turned sideways, used his body to separate the ball from the opponent, and at the same time signaled to the referee that the opponent had committed a foul.
The referee didn't react.
When Conley saw this, he immediately rushed towards Curry even more fiercely.
Fortunately, Meng Shen has successfully gained muscle recently and his resistance ability has improved a lot.
Facing Conley's aggressive defense, Curry could protect the ball while observing the situation on the court.
Soon, he found the loopholes in the Grizzlies' defense.
The next moment, Curry suddenly dribbled the ball behind his back and passed Conley cleanly.
Then, he took two steps forward, came outside the three-point line, bent his knees to collect the ball, and prepared to take the shot.
At this moment, Vasquez, who had just come on as a substitute, approached Curry with a lunge and then jumped up high.
At the same time, Conley also took three steps and two steps at a time, and pounced on the cute god from behind.
"It's dangerous..."
George on the side couldn't help but feel worried for his teammates.
But the next second, Curry suddenly brought his raised hand back to his chest.
"boom!"
There was a muffled sound as Conley and Vasquez collided in the air.
The two fell to the ground in response, both looking very painful.
At this moment, Curry raised the ball again and shot a three-pointer...
"Shua~"
The basketball hits the net!
At 13:4, the Rockets continued to expand their lead.
After scoring the goal, Curry still bent down and took a look at the situation of the two people.
After seeing that the two of them were fine, he turned around and went to defense.
Conley climbed up from the ground with difficulty and put his hand on his forehead, his expression still painful.
After passing the half court with the ball, he came to a 45-degree angle on the right side.
At this time, Randolph was in the low post, and Curry was the only one in front of Conley.
When Conley was still hesitating whether to hit one, Randolph decisively stopped blocking and shouted to Conley: "Hit him alone!"
Conley immediately firmed up his mind, lowered his center of gravity, and prepared to attack.
Curry opened his arms and threw himself into defense.
"Snapped!"
"Pop!"
"Pah, pah, pah, pah..."
Conley's dribbling is full of rhythm, and during the change in speed, Curry's center of gravity also undergoes subtle changes.
However, his range of movements is small.
Although Curry was slightly out of position, overall, his body always remained in front of Conley.
Seeing the attack time passing second by second, Conley, who had never found an opportunity, gradually became anxious.
I saw him blasting the ball with his left hand (slapping the ball hard), making a large crossover, and then speeding up to the inside.
But Curry didn't take any chances. He moved sideways and got stuck in Conley's path.
"Bang~"
The two had physical contact.
At the same time, Curry's right hand suddenly reached out and actually cut the ball off during the collision.
Conley's eyes widened with disbelief on his face.
It's not that he never thought about failing in singles, but he really never thought that Curry would steal the ball one-on-one!
[Isn’t he the only defensive hole in the Rockets’ starting lineup?]
Conley thought to himself.
At this moment, his center of gravity is leaning forward, but the ball is behind him.
This means that Conley has completely lost control of the ball, and even counterattacking is extremely difficult.
After Curry adjusted his center of gravity, he caught the basketball and headed toward the Grizzlies' hinterland.
Conley just played in isolation from beyond the three-point line, and was already in a trailing position.
Therefore, other Grizzlies players are far away from Curry at this time.
In front of Rockets No. 30, there is only the basket!
He accelerated toward the grizzly bear's hinterland.
The fans at the scene stood up and prepared to cheer for Curry's showtime performance.
I don’t know who started it, but Toyota Center started shouting one sentence in unison:
"One deduction!!!"
"One deduction!!!"
"One deduction!!!"
...
Amid the roar of the sky, the young Curry secreted adrenaline like crazy.
So he accelerated again, collected the ball two steps inside the free throw line, kicked off the ground with both feet, jumped up... and so on!
Curry didn't jump up, he actually slipped and fell!
"woo..."
There was an exclamation of exclamation at the scene.
Curry threw the ball toward the basket just before he slipped.
At this time, the ball bounced off the backboard and fell into no man's land.
Curry was about to get up when two players, one red and one blue, came behind him-George and Conley.
George took the lead and took control of the ball.
At the same time, Curry quickly retreated to the left corner.
George waved his hand and passed the ball.
After receiving the ball, Curry dribbled and then shot a three-pointer...
airball!
"woo..."
The scene was filled with exclamations again.
Obviously, everyone was stunned by Curry's two consecutive "coquettish moves".
In the stands, Shen Fei couldn't help laughing.
He had seen something similar to this scene in his previous life.
At that time, Curry, during a fast break during the regular season game against the Lakers, first slipped for a dunk, and then "crossed the bridge" with a three-pointer.
That round was also named by O'Neal as one of the five most embarrassing moments of the year.
Since then, the name "Golden State La Verne" has spread throughout the world!
In this time and space, Curry brought this performance forward.
"This shot is not at Stephen's level..."
Sun Yue said doubtfully.
"He was embarrassed after he slipped during a dunk, so he shot hastily to regain face."
Shen Fei said with a smile.
............
After the brief interlude, the game continued.
On the offensive end, the Grizzlies still followed the coach's instructions, focusing on attacking the Rockets' inside line... and Curry.
However, both of these targets showed excellent defensive abilities.
Although Griffin is weaker than Randolph in terms of wingspan and strength, he is better than him in terms of youth and extremely explosive power.
On one shot, the big black bear hit the basket and used his body to push Griffin away, causing the latter to take a big step back.
If it were an ordinary player, in this situation he would have to watch his opponent lay up.
But Griffin relied on his terrifying bullet speed to quickly jump to the highest point and slapped Randolph's pass away with one palm.
Generally speaking, the Big Black Bear can only have a slight advantage in the one-on-one confrontation with Griffin.
When Conley plays Curry, the effect is even worse.
After gaining muscle, Curry did not fall behind in the confrontation.
Moreover, he is already taller than Conley, and his feet are half a point faster than Conley's.
Coupled with his good defensive awareness, Curry clearly had the advantage in several individual defenses.
In addition to causing Curry a foul, Conley's other singles attempts ended in failure!
In the process, the Rockets' lead further expanded.
Among them, the best performer is undoubtedly Curry.
After that wonderful fast break mistake, the cute god realized his "shame" and then acted bravely, with full firepower!
In the first quarter of the game, Curry made 4 of 5 three-pointers and scored a total of 18 points.
Tracy McGrady also scored 9 points.
After the first quarter, the Rockets led the Grizzlies by 36:20, leading by 16 points.
In the subsequent games, the Grizzlies still did not give up and always maintained high-intensity defense.
However, the point difference between the two teams remained at around 20 points from beginning to end.
After three quarters, the score was fixed at 102:81.
During the break, Grizzlies coach Hollins could only read four words from the body language of his players - the situation is over!
The strength of the Rockets overwhelmed the Grizzlies generals.
The feeling of powerlessness arose from unknown time and flooded into their hearts.
Not only that, long-term and high-intensity defense also greatly consumes the players' physical strength.
At this time, Gasol and Conley were panting and sweating profusely.
And they, inside and outside, are the core of the Grizzlies' entire defensive system.
The decline in physical strength of the two men also announced the collapse of the Grizzlies defense in a sense!
After hesitating for a moment, Hollins sighed and said: "That's it for this game. We will continue to fight when we return to the home court."
When the players heard this, they all looked up at their coach, but no one raised any objection.
Hollins smiled bitterly and shook his head.
[It seems that I have to give these kids some psychological massage when I get back so that they can play well in the next game...]
[Otherwise, if people’s hearts are scattered, it will be difficult to lead the team.]
Hollins thought to himself.
As a result, the Grizzlies withdrew all their main players at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
When Mark Jackson saw this, he directly signaled Curry to intentionally foul, and then also withdrew the main players.
CCTV commentator Zhang Weiping explained at the right time:
"There is an unwritten rule in the playoffs, which is that the leading team cannot replace the main player first."
"But after the lagging side replaces the substitute, the leading side should follow up in time and remove the main force to show respect for the other side."
Ever since, the next game has entered garbage time.
It is worth mentioning that the Rockets' third lineup is still luxurious - Lowry, Tony Allen, P.J. Tucker, Yi Jianlian, and Birdman Anderson.
With this configuration, it can even be used as a starter on some weaker teams.
But in the Rockets, these people are at the end of the rotation!
On the sidelines, Grizzlies coach Hollins was speechless.
[Luxury! Too luxurious!]
[This Tony Allen is perfect for our Grizzlies, why doesn’t he come to be our main force?!]
[If he were on our team, Curry and McGrady wouldn’t be playing so comfortably!]
Hollins roared in his heart.
During the offseason, the Grizzlies once offered an olive branch to Tony Allen.
Teacher Tony actually thinks that the Grizzlies' style of play suits him very well.
But by that time, Shen Fei had already personally spoken to Tony Allen on the phone.
After feeling the Rockets' sincerity, the latter gave a verbal commitment and decided to join the Rockets after the free agent market opened.
The Grizzlies were too late to get what they wanted.
............
The game restarts.
Although the last quarter was "garbage" time, the two teams still played seriously.
Especially for the Grizzlies, their bench lineup has average talent, but their level of hard work is no less than that of the main force.
Aggressive defense, active rotations, tireless running, and the referee's slightly loose standards...
Together, the Grizzlies once again showed their tenacity.
In the fourth quarter, when the overall strength was not as good as the Rockets, the Grizzlies substitute narrowed the point difference to 10 points!
Mark Jackson on the sidelines was so frightened that he almost wanted to substitute the main player.
Moreover, in addition to the pressure of the score, the Rockets coach is also worried about his own players...The Grizzlies' defensive actions are too big!
There were several moves that made Mark Jackson's heart beat with fear, and the Rockets fans at the scene booed!