Chapter 279: You thug

As a young team, the Rockets do not have much playoff experience, from players to coaches.
Only Harden and Asik have playoff experience in the starting five. Jeremy Lin, Parsons and Smith are all playing for the first time.
Even their head coach, McHale, led the team for the first time in the playoffs.
So in the first game, their offense and defense are in the tentative.
The Rockets in the regular season are blindly fast, with various 7-second offenses and quick shots outside the three-point line.
In this game, McHale seems to want to play some cooperation, play some tactics and success rate.
But obviously, this made the Rockets lose their style.
Mike Brown was good at tuning defense, and the Lakers arranged the pick-and-roll screen for the Rockets' outside line so that they couldn't play the chance.
After the timeout, the Rockets resumed the regular-season style of play. Whenever there was a chance on the outside, they scored three points to give them a feel.
But Parsons missed a three-pointer and the Lakers fought back.
The Rockets withdrew their defense quickly, but they were in chaos.
Nash first passed the ball to the inside. After the Howard took the ball, the Rockets contracted.
As a result, outside Kobe leaked.
How dare you miss Kobe? Who defends Kobe? stand out!
Howard immediately passed the ball to Kobe, Kobe Bryant hit the ball three-pointer shot.
The Lakers opened all four offensively in excellent condition.
The Rockets need to score, otherwise they will be beaten in the first quarter.
James Harden grabbed the ball from the perimeter and forced Kobe to foul and hit the free throw line.
Both penalties were met, which relieved the urgent need.
Sure enough, the scoring on the free throw line is the most stable, which Harden was very impressed.
The Lakers' most stable scoring point is undoubtedly Kobe.
Kobe has undergone injury and recuperation, after the comeback adjustment, has improved the state to the best.
After Harden made Kobe's foul, Kobe must of course return the color.
Li Liang held the ball from the perimeter, Kobe had a back-to-back card and Li Liang dropped the ball to Kobe.
Kobe received the ball to observe the Rockets' defense, there was no double-team, and there were people in the basket.
Asik moved to the strong side and would hit the wall if he walked the bottom line.
The attention of Parsons on the line came, there should be a pinch.
Bryant quickly judged the situation and then pushed Harden on his back.
Don't look at Harden's weight, but for Kobe, LeBron James can beat him back, let alone Harden.
Kobe still went to the bottom line, but instead of turning inside, he took a step back and made a mid-range jump shot!
The posture is quite beautiful, just not entered.
The judgment was interpreted for a long time, and a blacksmith came.
This is Kobe.
Jeremy Lin grabbed this backcourt rebound and directly launched a quick counterattack.
This is the familiar rhythm of the Rockets. Jeremy Lin has passed to the basket after half time, and Parsons has already been killed.
It is also an air relay!
But Parsons didn't expect Li Liang to catch up from behind and take the ball away from his hand!
The ball flew out of the bottom line, or the rocket ball right.
The Rockets' chance for a simple score was destroyed.
This Lakers player feels that he is going to make the move, but Li Liang could not destroy it.
On the sidelines, Mike Brown couldn't help but applaud. Before the game, Li Liang said that his defense has improved, is it true?
Attacking the position, the Rockets have no more options and still give Harden the ball.
The Lakers' defensive strategy is very clear, Kobe Bryant one-on-one against Harden, he can play and let him play, but absolutely does not give him the opportunity to pass the teammates.
Mike Brown's strategy is correct, Harden is the Rocket's real reliable engine.
Jeremy Lin and Parsons are also very good, but if Harden doesn’t open this point, the Rockets will not survive.
Harden faced Kobe and walked left after consecutive dribbles, breaking through Kobe's defense and making a layup!
Harden has scored 7 points, and the Rockets have 7 points from him.
Li Liang couldn't look at it and said: "Boss, can you do it, can I defend it?"
Of course, Kobe will not let Li Liang go to the defense. After all, he could be killed by Harden for so long.
Kobe, who was deflated on Harden, immediately returned one on the offensive end.
He catches the ball from a high position, uses the cover to take a step to the edge of the three-second zone, and then stops with a jumper.
The Rockets' defense lacks stickiness. Kobe's position between the three-point line and the three-second zone is easy.
And their offense was pushed down by the Lakers.
Li Liang will press the Rockets' ball holder in the backcourt for the first time and will not speed him up.
Change defense after halftime to reduce Nash's defensive pressure.
Anyway, Greg Smith doesn't need much effort to defend Li Liang, he can naturally spare time to help.
His [basic outside defense] reached 81 points and entered a new level.
[Follow-up/post-prevention] At 71, Jeremy Lin found it difficult to get rid of Li Liang regardless of speed or strength.
In the first quarter, the Lakers hit a 28:19 Rockets, leading 9 points.
If it weren’t for Kobe’s bad feeling in the first quarter, this difference would be even greater.
Li Liang scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in the first quarter.
His performance is quite perfect, the offensive team is reasonable, the defensive end is crucial, and it is not as rash as a rookie.
At the beginning of the second quarter, he sat off the field to rest, and Mike Brown next to him couldn't help but boast: "Play well, Bruce, I want to continue to play in the first playoff."
Li Liangdao: "Brother, do you use dim sum on offense? You see what you arranged and let you play from the inside. Have you learned enough lessons from the regular season?"
Brown spread his hand: "The playoffs, this is a bit more safe, starting from three points, there will be risks, you see we control the rhythm."
However, Li Liang said: "If you don't open the game in three, you think you can open it later? We control the rhythm by defense, not offense. But other teams will not be as defensive as the Rockets."
Li Liang added a glance to Brown. His postseason ideas are obviously old ideas, but also the ideas of the eastern team.
No matter 3, 21, 21, seek stability, attack success rate, and then fight defense.
Rockets are no problem, because the difference in strength between the two sides is too large, there will not be too much chance to play rockets normally.
But there will be a semi-final in the back. In the final, the opponent will become stronger and stronger.
The end of the regular season doesn't mean that the team's play has been changed, and it's all tested.
On the contrary, the playoffs are an ever-changing, growing and running process.
Many teams have evolved in the playoffs to reach their best.
Li Liang's words made Mike Brown think, maybe he should really think of ways to attack.
...
In the second quarter, the second team of both sides, Gasol took the bench on the field, the Rockets replaced Beverly, Garcia, Delfino.
The Rockets' bench has been very powerful in the regular season. They often use the second team to pull points and chase points.
Gasol missed a shot from the outside and the Rockets quickly counterattacked. After continuously transmitting the ball, Garcia missed a three-pointer from the corner.
After Gasol recovered from his injury, his condition remained normal, and he needed time to find his feelings again.
The Lakers are also testing players and lineups, and Blake and Meeks come off the bench at the same time.
The two made a cross-screening match, Minsk caught the ball and went straight to the basket!
Layup!
Three non-stick...
This short hand, layup three times, not once or twice.
The Rockets counterattacked, and the ball passed into Terrence Jones's hand, making a three-step layup after receiving the ball!
Walking...
The bench lineups on both sides are at the bottom of the show.
"Soak the ball! Soak the ball!"
Li Liang couldn't help shouting while sitting on the bench. What are you doing?
The two defenders will be able to attack, or will Gasol go to the CIC in the end?
Meeks felt Li Liang's anger, and next time the offensive monster gave Gasol a low post.
This is Gasol's position. After squeezing in two steps, he scored a goal to Jamison, Jamison hit a three-pointer!
The second quarter finally scored.
The Lakers substitute slowly found the offensive rules, and the Rockets played faster and faster, feeling like they were fighting.
Garcia made a foul on the free throw line and made two free throws.
Gasol scored Jones in a low post and scored two points.
The playoffs are aimed at, and your weaknesses will be magnified infinitely.
The Rockets' second team weakness is that no one can play Gasol in the post.
Jones is simply giving up.
Jones's defensive ability in the post was not clear to Li Liang.
The two sides played for another two minutes, and the referee's whistle began to sound frequently.
The score came to 35:24 and the Lakers led 11 points.
The game enters the official suspension, the main force will re-enter.
In the playoffs, the rotation will be shortened, Kobe, Nash will start to adapt to a longer playing time.
The Rockets also re-deployed the main force.
But McHale made an adjustment, replaced Beverly, and replaced Greg Smith, playing a big four.
Because of the existence of Li Liang, Smith could hardly play a role.
At the same time, Beverly will defend Kobe to liberate Harden's attack.
Harden touched his beard~EbookFREE.me~ seemed to be touching his seal.
Returning to the first attack on the court, the Rockets no longer do meaningless transmission of the ball, directly to Harden.
Harden took the ball and suddenly accelerated to the left to break through the middle and Kobe kept up.
Harden opened Kobe with his shoulder, and Kobe started, cutting off the ball in Harden's hand!
"Beep!"
The referee whistle.
Kobe looked at the referee, the referee signaled, Kobe fouled.
"I fouled? Where did I foul?"
"You thug."
"Then why did he take free throws?"
"He raised his hand and counted the layup."