Chapter 99 The curtain falls, the strength of the Rockets!
Kevin Martin steps to the free throw line.
At this time, the Ford Center Arena was filled with boos. Thunder fans were obviously dissatisfied with Martin's intentional fouling.
"This ball was called a foul. Didn't the referee see that it was that damn Rockets No. 12 who deliberately put it on someone else?"
"Ugly! So ugly! This is not how basketball should be played!"
The fans said something to each other, and finally turned into a series of noises:
“referee.sucks(黑whistle)!”
“referee.sucks!”
“referee.sucks!”
........
Fortunately, Kevin Martin has been on the court for many years, and despite the boos from the sky, he steadily made the free throw.
Interestingly, just as he turned around to return to defense, he suddenly saw Harden's fiery eyes.
Martin was shocked and thought to himself: "This guy is not a big guy, we are a straight man", so he quickly avoided Brother Deng's eyes and threw himself into defense.
In the transition between offense and defense, Harden once again held the ball in singles.
Through the last round of matchups, he already had a general understanding of Martin's defensive ability.
So this time, Brother Deng did not call his teammates to play a pick-and-roll, but directly initiated a singles at the top of the arc.
I saw him dribbling the ball continuously with his hips while observing Martin's defensive position.
Seeing that the latter was standing to the right, Harden suddenly started and accelerated towards Martin's left side.
Martin quickly moved sideways, and then the two bodies collided.
Although Harden is just starting out, his strength is far stronger than the "thin" Martin.
After the confrontation, the latter staggered back a step.
Harden took advantage of the situation and turned around, then connected with the action of turning around and shooting.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Martin swooped over and jumped to block the shot.
But... if you go out and mess around, you will have to pay it back sooner or later.
Harden actually made a fake shot!
[Done...]
Martin thought to himself, but he was already in the air and could not be saved.
Harden saw the right moment and waved his hand at the visitor...
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded again, and the Rockets committed a defensive foul!
Harden smiled slightly and walked to the free throw line.
"Wow~ What a smart play! If you shoot this ball directly, you may not be able to score it."
"This way of making fouls is very old-school. People like Kobe and Wade like to make fouls like this, which is completely different from Martin's way of leaning on others!"
"Harden's learning ability is great! I have never seen him commit a foul in previous games. It seems that his arsenal has been updated again!"
...
Just like that, Harden made two free throws amidst the cheers of the audience.
And a minute later, a dramatic scene happened.
Yao Ming finished his break and returned to the court.
As soon as he came on the court, he took the initiative to pull to the outside and set up a pick-and-roll for Martin.
Just as the latter was about to pass the screen, Harden suddenly took a step laterally and squeezed through the pick-and-roll.
Ever since, the two had physical contact again.
When a gentleman fights against each other, he pays attention to one point.
After Harden and Martin realized that they were about to collide, they both pulled back.
But the next moment, the two of them fell backwards in unison, and then covered their faces in pain at the same time.
This confused Yao Ming.
He first glanced at his teammates on the ground, then turned to look at the rolling Harden.
At this moment, Yao Ming, who was slightly embarrassed, suddenly had a strange idea in his mind - should I... also pour it down?
Fortunately, even if the referee showed up, he would call Harden a foul and avoid Yao Ming's embarrassment.
But this time, the bearded golfer quit.
He excitedly asked the referee why it was not an offensive foul.
But... it had no effect, and the referee was not moved at all.
In addition, the Thunder's foul count in this quarter was already on the count, the Rockets entered bonus time, and Martin once again stepped to the free throw line.
This time, not only did the point difference continue to widen, Harden also received his second foul.
Less than 5 minutes after playing, he had to return to the bench, naturally feeling extremely depressed.
After the first quarter, the Rockets led the Thunder by 35:25, temporarily leading by 9 points.
In the second quarter of the game, Durant returned to the game.
Relying on the outside firepower of the Reaper, the Thunder gradually recovered some points.
But Yao Ming also stood up at this time, scoring consecutive points in singles in the paint, helping the Rockets stabilize the situation.
Between you and me, the two sides reached an impasse.
The time came to 5 minutes left in the second quarter.
The coaches of the two teams replaced all the main players at the same time.
Of course, Harden is still on the court.
He replaced Sefolosha in the second position.
In other words, both teams have fielded their strongest lineups at this time!
After the game restarted, McGrady, who had been silent for a quarter and a half, began to exert his strength!
He first faced Harden's defense and succeeded directly from outside the three-point line.
Then, T-Mac posted up Durant in the low post.
I saw him suddenly dribbling the ball behind his back, and at the same time his shoulders swayed slightly, and KD lost his center of gravity.
McGrady seized the right moment and turned over...
"Shua~"
Come in again!
In less than a minute, McGrady scored 5 points, once again helping the Rockets expand their advantage.
At the same time, this wonderful goal also attracted the sigh of CCTV commentator Yu Jia:
"T-Mac is worthy of being called the 'Basketball Poet' by domestic fans!"
"For the ball just now, he actually dribbled the ball behind his back with his back turned. This is equivalent to exposing the ball directly in front of the opponent."
"I can only describe this goal as a talented person and a bold one!"
The Rockets' morale has also risen rapidly with McGrady's two singles!
George, who was "beaten" by Durant in the first quarter, finally successfully prevented the former's offense on the defensive end.
Then, Paojiao seized the opportunity of the Thunder team's unstable defense, broke into the basket, and soared...
"bang!"
He used a powerful one-handed dunk that instantly silenced the noisy Ford Center Arena.
After this ball, the score difference between the two sides came to 20 points.
And this gap lasted until the end of the first half.
After the halftime break, the Thunder made a comeback and, led by Durant, launched another counterattack.
But no matter how hard they tried, the Rockets always maintained an advantage of about 20 points.
Whenever the Thunder hit a small climax and were about to see the light of day, one of the Yao-Mai team would stand up and respond.
After several unsuccessful attempts to counterattack, Thunder head coach Brooks called it quits and withdrew all his main players just 4 minutes into the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Rockets defeated the Thunder, also a member of the Young Guards, by 125 to 107 by 18 points!
............
After the game, Shen Fei asked Roy: "If you return to your peak, replace Martin and become our sixth man, what level will this Rockets team reach?"
"There is no team in the league that we cannot beat!"
"Whether it's the Spurs, Lakers, or the Heat in the Eastern Conference, we have the strength to compete with them."
Roy gave his own answer.
When Shen Fei heard this, he nodded and the corners of his mouth could not help but raise slightly.
Roy, who is calm and rational, has given such a high evaluation, which shows that the strength of the Rockets has indeed reached a good level.
This is the best reward for the Asian youth’s hard work over the past few months!
"Be prepared, the day is not far away when you will get rid of your injuries!"
Shen Fei patted Roy on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"I will train hard and be ready!"
Roy responded confidently.
............
After bidding farewell to Roy, Shen Fei looked through the window sill and watched the night in the office on the 22nd floor (NBA games usually start at night in the local area).
"Now we have to wait to play against the Mavericks and Heat to test our quality..."