Chapter 61 Lawson comes on the court, the ankle terminator!
After another two minutes, Tucker successfully defended Nene's singles.
The Rockets launched a counterattack.
Griffin took the lead and rushed to the front line.
Lowry waved his hand and made a long pass, finding his teammates in front.
After Griffin caught the ball, he found Jordan Hill next to him.
In an instant, Griffin was filled with murderous intentions!
I saw him dropping the ball with his shoulders lowered and speeding up to pass others.
This scene seemed familiar, but in a blink of an eye, Jordan Hill was fooled again.
He just felt that he saw a flaw, so he rushed forward with all his strength, trying to steal it.
But the next moment, Griffin used his right foot as the axis, turned around with great amplitude, passed Hill again, and then jumped into the air...
"bang!"
Another powerful one-handed dunk!
Jordan Hill, who had made a fierce lunge, staggered and fell to the ground.
Just as he was about to get up, his face met the falling basketball.
And then...the ball hit Hill hard in the face.
"woo..."
The fans at the scene couldn't help but exclaimed in exclamation.
Jordan Hill is a bit too miserable.
Not only was he dunked, he was also hit in the face with a ball.
The key is...he can't counterattack yet, after all, Griffin is doing normal basketball actions.
After being hit, Hill was not angry, but sat on the ground in confusion and did not get up for a long time.
The progress of today's game was completely different from what he imagined!
Before the game, Hill was very confident in himself and felt that dealing with a first-year rookie like Griffin shouldn't be a problem.
No matter how bad it is, it is acceptable to have a mutual explosion situation.
Who would have thought that he would be beaten up by Griffin as soon as he came up?
As for Shen Fei, who was watching the battle from the stands, he was not surprised at all by this scene.
In his eyes, Hill and Griffin have never been players of the same level.
The former is a passer-by in the NBA, while the latter is a person who once picked stars in the sky.
If it weren't for injuries, Griffin's talent would be ranked among the best in history, and it would be beyond Hill's reach.
In another corner of the beautiful country, Nuggets general manager Karnisovas was also watching the game on TV.
His expression was serious and his brows were furrowed.
Shortly after Hill reported to the Nuggets, Karnisovas went to the arena to observe training.
The feeling Hill gave him...
how to say...
It's okay, but it's nowhere near as impressive as it was in previous preseason games.
Hill does have a mid-range shot, but he can only maintain his shooting percentage when he is open.
This means that he can only "eat the cake".
If you let him hold the ball and play in isolation, it's basically for free.
To put it simply, what the Nuggets got was not a second Nowitzki, not even a second Jamison (one of the Wizards' Three Musketeers that year).
But Karnisovas sacrificed Anderson and Lawson for Jordan Hill, so naturally he couldn't give up easily.
In addition, Kenyon Martin sprained his ankle some time ago, and this is Hill's first appearance as a starter.
In fact, Karnisovas still had some extravagant hopes before the game - Hill might have been acclimated before and had not yet shown his talent. This game against the Rockets may become a turning point!
But things went against expectations, and Hill's performance at the start could only be described as a disaster.
In the duel with Griffin, he was in a state of being crushed one-sidedly!
At this moment, Karnisovas no longer took any chances.
He knew that with Hill's ability, it would be impossible to become a star.
Karnisovas could only comfort himself: [The transaction did not completely fail. The Anderson and Lawson we gave are just ordinary players.]
............
With Griffin's role play, the Rockets quickly established a double-digit lead.
With 5 minutes left in the first quarter, both sides began to send out substitutes one after another.
Mark Jackson followed Shen Fei's instructions and put Lawson and Courtney Lee into the rotation.
At this moment, the two men replaced Lowry and Tracy McGrady respectively.
Jeremy Lin was on the bench, watching everything calmly.
Last night, Mark Jackson had an angry meeting with him and told Shu Hao that his playing time has been shortened a lot during this period.
Brother Hao was surprised at first, but quickly accepted this arrangement.
He was just undrafted.
Being able to successfully enter the NBA has exceeded Shuhao's original expectations.
He was very grateful to Rocket and Shen Fei, and was determined to repay this kindness.
In other words, as long as it helps the team, Shuhao is willing to do anything, even if it is just cheering for his teammates on the bench.
Moreover, Mark Jackson also specifically explained:
"It's not that you're not doing well, it's just that I want to try every possibility at the beginning of the season."
"You have to continue to train well and let me see your progress!"
These words gave Brother Hao more confidence.
He immediately said that he would devote himself to training even harder in the future.
............
Focus back on the game.
Lawson and Courtney Lee both played for the Rockets for the first time this season.
In the previous two games, the two were eager to try, but they never got the favor of Mark Jackson.
They were all very excited to be able to appear this time.
At the same time, Karnisovas, who was in Denver, had a complicated expression when he saw Lawson play.
When Lawson first came to the team last year, he was very optimistic about this strong, explosive American point guard.
But after a failed season, Karnisovas was desperate and wanted to change, and reluctantly sent Lawson away.
Time passed and Ty Lawson appeared in front of him again, and Karnisovas had a vague premonition of ominousness.
Rocket serve.
Lawson advanced with the ball and came to the frontcourt.
Opposing him was none other than former Rockets player Ishmael Smith.
While dribbling the ball, Lawson signaled his teammates inside to come over for a pick-and-roll.
Ishmael Smith was very vigilant, quickly adjusted his pace, and kept watching the Rockets who stepped forward to pick and roll with his peripheral vision.
After all, with his defensive ability, once delayed, it will be difficult to return to the defensive position.
Lawson saw his teammates coming forward and tried to pass the pick-and-roll.
But just before going around the screen, he suddenly made a crossover and switched the ball to his right hand.
At this time, Smith's center of gravity had shifted and he could only watch Lawson leave from the other side.
"Nice dribbling! It's a fake pick-and-roll!"
Yu Jia commented timely.
After completing the pass, Lawson dribbled to near the service line, stopped and shot a jumper.
The basketball left his fingertips and spun at high speed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air...
"Shua~"
Hollow into the net!
A minute later, Lawson made a comeback.
This time, he didn't even use a screen, but held the ball at a 45° angle on the right side and played singles.
Facing Ismail Smith's defense, Lawson directly crushed him with his body and forced a breakthrough.
Smith struggled to block it, using all his strength to keep up with Lawson's pace.
But the next moment, Lawson suddenly stopped suddenly, dribbled the ball back with his crotch, and at the same time put his left hand on Smith's waist, exerting a slight force...
"龇~"
The sneakers made a sharp sound as they rubbed against the wooden floor.
Ishmael Smith's eyes widened with anger and he fell down unwillingly.
ankle.breaker(ankle terminator)!
Lawson glanced at Smith quietly, adjusted his breathing, and then slowly took action...
"Shua~"
Two more points!
At 30:16, the Rockets already led by 14 points.
Far away in Denver, Karnisovas angrily turned off the television.
He knew that in less than a month, Lawson had made a huge impact!