A 7-point lead at halftime is already a good result for a strong matchup.
In midfield, Charles Barkley can finally laugh at Kenny Smith.
"The Knicks went 11:4 at the end of the second quarter. The Knicks were really amazing. They seemed to be using a certain moment of this game to show us their potential on both offense and defense!"
Then, he turned to look at Kenny Smith: "By the way, Kenny, what do you think of the Knicks' senior and fourth juniors now?"
Kenny Smith rolled his eyes: "The Rockets' ability to pass the ball inward is too poor. They have an inside dominance, but they can't get it to play. The Knicks also did a great job with their targeted tactics, leading by 7 points at halftime.
, has also given them a stable advantage, and they are not far away from a good start to the new season."
Although he was giving himself a reason, Kenny Smith had to admit that the Knicks had the advantage in this game, and there was a high probability that the Knicks would win the game.
Compared to Kenny Smith, who was less sure, Charles Barkley said with great certainty: "No, Kenny, if nothing else happens, the Knicks must win this game."
"What's the reason? Charles, you have to give me some reason."
Kenny Smith has some poor guidance.
Charles Barkley continued without realizing it: "It's very simple. The Knicks still have a lot of hidden cards, especially Lin. He obviously hasn't tried his best yet."
It is true that Lin Yu has not tried his best. For example, in the first half, he only took three three-pointers and hit one. Because the shooting rate was not good, he did not take more shots and hit more mid-range shots.
Compared with the unstable three-pointers and the inefficient offense at the basket, mid-range is the most lethal offensive method. Even Lin Yu had to say after many actual battles: The ancients do not deceive me.
At this time, he thought about the future Mosaic team's magic ball theory, and couldn't help but sigh: There is a reason why the Mosaic team always disappoints people. In theory, if they give up the mid-range shot, they have already lost.
In this game, the Rockets did not open the perimeter, Tracy McGrady was not on the court, and they did not have stable mid-range shooting.
In the second half, the two teams resumed the challenge with their full strength.
McGrady has become the only threat to the Rockets, and with McGrady present, Dayao is also a threat.
For a period of time, the Rockets were pestering the Knicks, and the score gap had been hovering around 7 points.
Until the end of the third quarter, Lin Yu, who Barkley said was not trying his best, immediately exploded.
He seemed to suddenly remember that he still had a long-range three-point offensive method. With more than 3 minutes left in the third quarter, he suddenly burst out and hit two long-range three-pointers in two consecutive rounds.
middle!
Just like that, the score, which had not moved for most of the quarter, was immediately widened again.
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks' lead reached double digits.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets launched a final counterattack, but the only one they could rely on was Tracy McGrady, who had suffered a serious decline.
Among the Big Three, Artest's decline is even greater, and he is basically a blue-collar worker.
As for Dayao, the Knicks responded very smartly.
They have a bunch of centers, Kwame Brown, Nazr Mohammed, DeAndre Jordan, and Steven Hunter. This game almost took turns, and everyone played.
Yao Kong has a lot of physical strength, but because he can't catch the ball, he is troubled and unable to perform.
Buzz!
The timer buzzed and the fourth quarter of the game came to an end quickly.
At 112:97, amidst Madison's cheers, the Knicks easily won the game.
"Congratulations to the Knicks, they won this game and got a perfect start!"
Kenny Smith's guidance to Barkley in the midfield was ineffective. Now, he can only follow Barkley and declare the Knicks' victory.
He pulled out the statistics of this game: "After one summer, Lin has a better understanding of how to dominate a game. In this game, he only played 31 minutes and scored 34 points and 5 rebounds.
All-round data of 8 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.”
"Moreover, his cooperation with Zach Randolph has become more and more proficient. With various pick-and-roll cooperation, he can always easily tear apart the Rockets' defense. In this game, Randolph also scored 24 points and 11 rebounds.
A double-double with 3 assists.”
"On the other hand, the Rockets' loss is not surprising. In this game, they exposed many problems, including how to pass the ball to Yao, who will hold the ball when T-mac is not on the court, etc...
"
"The performance of the Big Three, who were relied upon heavily before the game, is not difficult to satisfy in this game. Yao only took 13 shots and scored 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. The efficiency was good, but it killed the game.
T-mac was the Rockets' best player, with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. However, at the critical moment, he was surrounded by opponents and could not perform at all."
"New aid Ron Artest's performance was even worse. He made 7 of 17 shots and only scored 16 points. On the defensive end, he could not limit Lin Yu. On the offensive end, he took a lot of shots, but he hit 10 irons.
The efficiency is terrible."
"The trio only scored 59 points combined. It seems that Houston's new Big Three, who were highly valued before the season, are not as good as imagined. Perhaps the predictions for the Rockets should be lowered."
Kenny Smith's post-game comments sounded a bit alarmist. The Rockets were just in a bad mood after losing and did not think that after this game, they would fall from the ranks of the first-tier teams at a lightning speed.
After all, this is just a game, and the opponent is a strong team like the Knicks. Losing really doesn't mean anything.
"Brother Yao, I won't see you off anymore. See you next time in Houston."
At the end of the game, Lin Yu first went to Yao to say goodbye, because there was a game in New Jersey the next day and the Rockets had to leave New York overnight.
Dayao smiled reluctantly, and after a few simple replies, he found Zach Randolph and exchanged a few more words.
He was a little envious of Randolph, because in this game, Randolph could always easily receive Lin Yu's passes.
Dayao knew that he couldn't catch the ball because, on the one hand, the Rockets didn't have that many people who could pass the ball, and on the other hand, his own skills had shortcomings.
Therefore, he is just envious and has no extra thoughts for the time being.
On the other side, Lin Yu also accepted an interview with courtside host Walter Frazier after greeting Tracy McGrady and Artest.
"We have done a good job, we have brought out all our own characteristics, and the new teammates have integrated well. Perhaps, we can look forward to a winning streak at the beginning."
"My evaluation of the Rockets remains the same. Even if they lose this game, they will still be the best teams in the league and our most threatening opponents..."