The game between the Lakers and the Mavericks started late, just 3 minutes into the second quarter.
The Lakers currently lead the Mavericks by 8 points at 35:27.
When Shen Fei first saw this score, he was still a little surprised.
After all, in the original time and space, the Mavericks easily defeated the Lakers 4:1.
In the five games, the Lakers only had an advantage in two games, and they were passive in the other games.
[Sure enough, when Kobe is healthy, the Lakers are a different team...]
Shen Fei thought so.
Just watching the score wasn't enough, so he turned on the live video broadcast.
The first scene that caught Shen Fei's eyes was Kobe Bryant beating Jason Kidd at the top of the key.
I saw Kobe posing as a triple threat, and after several consecutive tentative steps, he directly made a three-pointer...
"Shua~"
The basketball hit the net.
38:27.
The Lakers' lead reached double digits!
At the critical moment, Nowitzki did his part and stepped forward.
He first hit Pau Gasol in the low post, turned over and succeeded in a fadeaway jumper.
Then, he took advantage of the opportunity to counterattack and suddenly shot a cold arrow from outside the three-point line...
The basketball hits the net again!
38:32
After King Nuo scored 5 points in a row, the Mavericks closed the point difference to 6 points.
In addition to offense, the team's perimeter gatekeeper, Marion, has also begun to show his excellent single defense capabilities.
When defending Kobe Bryant's post-up, he accurately predicted Mamba's next move and jumped to block the shot in advance.
Kobe had no choice but to increase the arc of his shot in the air.
And his difficult shot ended in a blacksmith.
Chandler jumped high, grabbed the rebound, and handed the ball to Kidd next to him immediately.
Kidd didn't stop, and he sent a long pass across the half court to Terry who was about to leave.
At this time, only Ci Shiping was in position to defend in the Lakers half.
Terry did not force a breakthrough to the basket, but chose to make a mid-range pull-up jump shot...
bingo!
38:34.
The difference between the two teams is only 4 points!
After witnessing Maverick's small orgasm, Shen Fei couldn't help but shake his head.
Although the Mavericks are strong, their counterattack this time is a bit too easy...
[It seems that the reason why the Lakers were easily eliminated that year was not just because of Kobe's injury.]
Shen Fei thought to himself.
Some people may think, isn't this just relaxing when you are far ahead?
An aristocratic team like the Lakers has this kind of behavior.
But if you look closely, you will find that although the Lakers are making waves, they are only in the regular season.
In every series since 2008, the Purple and Gold Army, under the "supervision" of Kobe Bryant, played very seriously.
His mental outlook was completely different from today!
The reason for this change is simply that the players are no longer so "hungry" after winning two consecutive championships.
They are no longer so desperate to win the championship.
The arrogant mentality also grows more or less in the hearts of players.
Like the ball just now, if other Lakers players could quickly return to defense, Terry would never have scored so easily.
[It seems...it is not easy to build a dynasty team.]
Shen Fei sighed in his heart.
As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to defend it.
If the Lakers players, who hold two championship rings, cannot adjust their mentality in time, it will be difficult for them to defeat the Mavericks in the series.
............
When Shen Fei was thinking wildly, the Mavericks had already overtaken the score!
After the Lakers began to double-team Nowitzki, the German tank used two consecutive assists to help Kidd and Terry hit three-pointers respectively.
After scoring 6 points in a row, the score reached 38:40.
What’s even more amazing is that in just three minutes, the Mavericks launched a 13:0 shock wave!
Even a Buddhist coach like Zen Master couldn't sit still at this time.
He suddenly stood up from the coaching bench and gestured towards the technical table to indicate a timeout.
This was the first time Shen Fei saw Phil Jackson angry.
However, after the timeout ended, the Lakers generals became obviously more active.
First, Gasol hit a mid-range shot, and then Shark Bynum successfully blocked Terry's layup on the defensive end.
After successfully defending, the Lakers launched a counterattack!
During the fast break, Kobe advanced with the ball and once again met Marion's defense.
This time, the Black Mamba suddenly paused while traveling and made a fake move of "worshiping to Buddha".
This shooting fake was extremely realistic and successfully knocked Marion away.
Then, Kobe drove straight in, took a small step in front of the penalty area, and then took off with both feet facing the help of Chandler...
In the air, Naoya reproduces her unparalleled waist!
I saw him gently tightening his abdomen, pulling his right hand to the side, and at the same time flying through Chandler's blockade by staying in the air...
"bang!"
A powerful one-arm dunk on the lever caused the American Airlines Center to fall silent for an instant.
42:45.
The Lakers took the lead again!
Facing the Purple and Gold Army who were just waking up from a dream, the Mavericks generals responded immediately.
Kidd made a wonderful pass to Chandler, helping the latter complete an alley-oop dunk.
44:45!
For the next period of time, the two teams were in a deadlock.
Strangely enough, as long as one side can score a goal, the other side will respond quickly. But if one side's offense ends in failure, the other side's offense will basically end in vain...
Therefore, until the end of the second quarter, the score between the two teams was still tight.
After watching the second quarter of the Lakers and Mavericks, the second half of the Rockets and Thunder was about to begin.
Shen Fei calmed down and returned his attention to the scene.
............
Back in the second half, the Thunder made changes.
Head coach Brooks replaced center Perkins with Harden and moved Ibaka to the 5th position.
Five small lineups!
Obviously, the Thunder are planning to give it a try!
The game starts again.
Thunder offense.
In the first round, Westbrook used the screen to break through Curry's defense.
Griffin quickly recovered the inside line and protected the basket.
Westbrook did not force the ball, but flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Harden on the outside.
After Deng received the ball, he made a fake shot and successfully missed Tracy McGrady.
Then he took two steps forward, collected the ball again and prepared to shoot.
In the first half, Harden's shooting percentage was extremely high and he scored a lot of points for the Thunder.
For this reason, Mark Jackson specifically asked his players to pay attention to this during halftime.
Because of this, Yao Ming decisively defended the ball.
Who knows, this is Harden's fake move again!
After hitting Yao Ming, Deng noticed Durant cutting inside and passed the ball with a hit.
The next moment, Durant soared into the sky, swinging his thunder hammer like the God of Thunder coming to earth!
"bang!"
This shocking one-handed dunk was a good start for the Thunder in the second half of the game!
And it can be seen from this goal that after the halftime break, the third young master's physical strength has basically recovered.
However, before the Thunder players had time to celebrate, the Rockets had already quickly launched a baseline kick and launched a counterattack.
During the fast break, George received a pass from his teammate and went straight to the Thunder's hinterland.
The Thunder's last line of defense is point guard Westbrook!
At the same time, Ibaka is also returning to defense at full speed.
The two moved in tandem, sandwiching George in the middle.
In the flash of lightning, Pickled Pepper noticed Curry following with his peripheral vision.
He thought carefully, kicked the ground hard with his right foot, and leaped high into the air.
Westbrook and Ibaka also took off at the same time.
But the next moment, George passed the ball behind his back to Curry who was following up in the middle.
[Oh oh, it’s finished...]
Westbrook knew something was wrong while he was in the air, so he immediately wanted to turn around and defend after landing.
But before he could return to his position, he was staggered by Ibaka, who landed late.
"Bang..."
After a muffled sound, both of them fell to the ground...
Curry saw this scene while catching the ball and was ecstatic.
[Can it be deducted again?]
So he took three steps and two steps at a time, and took off with all his strength...
"bang!"
Rockets No. 30 once again presented a gorgeous dunk to the fans at the scene!
74:52, the Rockets continue to lead.
Curry's dunk was far from brilliant, but it caused a big mental blow to the Thunder generals.
A thin guard who is good at shooting, once again easily dunked in their penalty area!
This is simply an "insult" to the Thunder's defense!
After Westbrook got up from the ground, he grabbed the basketball and slammed it on the ground to vent his unhappiness.
Offense and defense transition.
Westbrook used his speed to beat Curry.
This move worked well in the first half, but this time, Curry made a predictable lateral move and firmly blocked Westbrook's path.
"Beep!"
The whistle sounded, the Thunder committed an offensive foul!
"yes!"
Curry, who fell to the ground, raised his arms and shouted excitedly after hearing the referee's decision.
Westbrook, on the other hand, looked helpless.
When the Rockets attacked, Yao Ming asked for the ball in the low post, and Ibaka, who was guarding him, decisively adopted a forward defense.
This is one of the most effective methods used by other teams to defend Dayao in the past.
But today is different from the past. The technical and tactical level of today's Rockets is not comparable to that of the past!
In response to Yao Ming's forward defense, Mark Jackson designed a variety of tactics to deal with it as early as the second half of the season.
Now, Griffin mentioned free throw line support as one of the tactics.
Curry first handed the ball to Griffin, who then lobbed the ball to Yao Ming from the center.
After such a "middleman" change of hands, the passing angle instantly became much wider.
After Yao Ming caught the ball, he put his toes lightly and dunked easily!
76:52.
The game is already showing signs of taking its toll.
At this critical moment, the Thunder can only pin their hopes on Durant.
KD didn't refuse. He signaled his teammates to pull away at a 45-degree angle and once again challenged Paul George!
This time, Pickle's defensive aggressiveness improved a lot compared to the first half.
When Durant tried to dribble the ball from his hip and switch it to his left hand, George grabbed the ball and reached out to take it away.
But basketball still hasn't escaped Durant's control.
kd adjusted his pace and resumed his attack.
He made a huge crossover, slightly shifting George's center of gravity.
But when Durant was about to speed up the breakthrough, Pickle had already returned to the defensive position and stuck the former's shoulder with his chest.
Durant didn't give in and pushed hard on the ground with his right foot, trying to overpower George.
But during the march, kd was gradually pushed away from the layup route, and was eventually forced to use a difficult "horseback archery" to complete the shot...
"Duang!"
The ball hit the front edge of the basket and bounced out.
Griffin jumped up and grabbed the rebound.
Seeing that there was no suitable passing target around him, he immediately decided to dribble the ball across half court.
After sprinting all the way to the three-point line in the enemy half, Griffin handed the ball to McGrady on the right, and then pointed his right hand to the sky.
t-mac understood it and threw the ball high...
The next moment, the white monster comes out of the cage!
He opened his body completely in the air, like a fully drawn bow, then caught the basketball with his right hand and slammed the ball into the basket...
"bang!"
After a visually impactful dunk, the Toyota Center entered a boiling state again!
The fans spontaneously organized a "human wave", and soon, uniform slogans rang out from all corners of the stands:
"let's.go.rocktes!!!"
"let's.go.rocktes!!!"
"let's.go.rocktes!!!"
...
In such an atmosphere, the morale of the Rockets generals skyrocketed.
In the next few minutes, they fought more and more courageously, and soon the point difference expanded to as much as 30 points!
The game also lost its suspense.
After three quarters, the Thunder coach saw that there was no way he could make a comeback, so he simply raised the white flag and surrendered.
In the fourth quarter of the game, the three young men sat on the bench together, with sad looks on their faces.
"They are...much better than the Spurs!"
"Why do you think Yao Ming's offensive ability in the low post is better than Tim (Duncan)?"
Ibaka was a little confused.
It stands to reason that Yao Ming is somewhere between a star and a super giant, while Duncan is a real super giant.
But when Ibaka was defending Dayao, he felt a lot more pressure than when he was defending Duncan!
"One is because of your body shape. Yao's height and wingspan are too much stronger than yours. You and Tim will be similar in body shape."
"Another...I think Duncan was not in very good condition during the series against us. I guess he might have been injured, but we didn't find out at the time."
Durant said.
After Ibaka heard this, he felt it made sense and nodded repeatedly.
"The question now is, what about the next game?"
"Their firepower is too strong, I can't stand it!"
Westbrook asked helplessly.
"With our current defensive configuration, it is difficult to restrict the Rockets."
"So, if we want to defeat the Rockets, we need to... attack with attack!"
"If we can score more points, the victory will naturally belong to us."
Harden gave his thoughts.
Although his last sentence sounds like nonsense, if you think about it carefully, it still makes sense.
After Harden finished speaking, Durant and Westbrook quickly exchanged looks and then nodded at the same time.
At this point, the three young masters have reached a consensus - even if one person swings one in the next game, they must use firepower to extinguish the rocket!
............
The game was uneventful in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets' third lineup is strong and steadily expanding their lead.
When the red light on the timer came on and the game came to an end, the score was fixed at 132:98.
The Rockets sat at home and defeated the Thunder with a huge advantage of 34 points, winning their first victory in the series!
After the game, Shen Fei did not leave the game immediately, but continued to watch the game between the Lakers and the Mavericks in the box.
In the first three quarters, the two sides fought to a tie of 80, returning to the same starting line.