NBA: Top 3D talents to start

Chapter 45 Continuing to widen the score gap

Wang Feng's move was, to some extent, a conspiracy.

Even if Harden knew that his long-range shooting percentage was not high today, facing Wang Feng who was defending with his backhand, he could only bite the bullet and keep shooting!
In the first quarter of the game, the Rockets' side was basically Harden's one-man show.

In this quarter of the game, Harden scored 16 points in a single quarter, but the price he paid was nearly 18 shots!

18 shots in a single quarter!Even in the regular season, it is extremely rare, and only 18 points were scored in 16 shots, which has absolutely nothing to do with efficiency!
In fact, except for Harden, the rest of the Rockets players had very few shots in the first quarter, and in most cases they could only grab offensive rebounds and score second offenses.

At the end of the first quarter, the score of the two teams was 36:22.The Warriors established a 14-point advantage in the first quarter!

"Unexpectedly, Wang Feng actually used this unprecedented defensive method to successfully limit Harden's performance, thereby helping the team establish an advantage in the first quarter."

Yang Yi shook his head, not knowing how to describe it. "This really opened my eyes. Wang Feng is really a very courageous player who dared to make such an attempt on such an important stage as the NBA Western Conference Finals."

"However, after suffering a loss in the first quarter, Harden probably should have woken up. He took 18 crazy shots in a single quarter. This is not a strong team in the league at all. What an MVP-level player should do. If Harden can do it in the second quarter If we adjust back to the state in time, the Rockets will not have no chance in this game, after all, the Rockets have an absolute advantage in the paint."

On the bench, Harden had a towel on his head, bowed his head and said nothing.

McHale shook his head helplessly and said: "James, you should also be aware of it? Your hand feeling is really bad today. If you continue like this, we will have to lose. Don't you want to beat Stephen Curry? You don't want to prove to the league that you Is he the more deserving MVP player?"

Harden was silent for a moment, and finally spoke.

"Coach, I know, it's my fault. I will calm down in the next game and help the team win!"

Hearing Harden's promise, McHale's expression softened slightly.

"That's good. I believe that with your ability, you will be able to adjust as soon as possible. Next, I will talk about the tactics of the second quarter. Now that we are in the backward stage, we must strengthen the perimeter defense to ensure the success rate of each attack. , to reduce the chance of the opponent forming a fast break counterattack due to missed shots..."

……

Soon, the second quarter began. Players from the two teams came on stage one after another, and made some adjustments to the lineup.

Bogut was replaced and Iguodala came off the bench.

Cole put on the death five small lineup at the beginning of the second quarter.

Wang Feng's defense against Harden was very successful, allowing the team to successfully establish an advantage.

In the second quarter, the Rockets will inevitably make adjustments, and even find ways to attack the Warriors' weak inside line!

In this case, Cole's choice is to replace Bogut with a more mobile Death Five lineup.

Although the presence of heavy center Bogut can increase the Warriors' ability to protect the frame, it also slows down the team to a certain extent.

Now this lineup maximizes speed at the expense of inside defensive capabilities.

Obviously, in terms of formation, Cole is more skilled than McHale.

The Rockets do have an advantage in the interior, especially after the lineup adjustment. Howard and Smith face Green and Iguodala respectively. They have an overall advantage in height and weight, but in terms of speed, the situation is different!
Although they are much more mobile than Gasol of the Grizzlies, Randolph's black and white double brakes are much more mobile, and they can often be pulled out to the outside for auxiliary defense.

But if this alone can limit the Warriors' small lineup, how can the Warriors win a record of 73 wins in the regular season next season?
Only 3 minutes into the second quarter, McHale had to call a timeout urgently, because if the timeout was not called, there would be no need to play the next game!

In just 3 minutes, the point difference between the two teams not only did not shrink because of McHale's lineup adjustment and tactics, but further widened!
44:25!The point difference is about to widen to more than 20 points!
"Is this the offensive ability of the Warriors' Death Five? It is too strong! The Rockets are completely overwhelmed. Howard and Smith are completely lost in the non-stop running back and forth. There is absolutely no chance to grasp the expected offensive rebounding advantage!"

"It is indeed a team that won 68 wins in the regular season. The Warriors are obviously better than the Rockets in terms of lineup depth and tactical rationality! Now the Rockets are in trouble. If McHale has nothing If there is a good countermeasure, this game may be dangerous!"

Good response?

In this case, what good countermeasures can be taken?
McHale is just a head coach, how can the gap in the lineup be so easy to solve?

In the face of the Warriors' dead five, all McHale can do is to replace the slow-moving inside line and deploy the same high-mobility lineup to consolidate the defense.

Howard and Josh Smith were replaced by Corey Brewer and Terrence Jones.

Although both Brewer and Jones are 2 meters tall, they are both athletic insiders with excellent mobility.

Relying on these two substitutions, the Rockets can finally keep up with the Warriors in terms of speed, but this is just drinking poison to quench their thirst.

Brewer and Jones do not have the dominance of Howard in the interior, and there is no way to attack the interior to establish an advantage like Howard.

The Rockets under this lineup can only continue to rely on outside offensive scoring... that is, continue to play around Harden!
At this time, Harden is no longer limited to fighting alone with Wang Feng, so Wang Feng is no longer defending Harden in a provocative way of defending with his backhand.

But the situation in the first quarter obviously caused a certain psychological shadow on Harden, and even made him wonder if his hand feeling in this game was really bad.

He began to deliberately reduce his shots, passing the ball frequently in an attempt to let his teammates score.

But the problem is that as the team's first scoring point, if Harden doesn't attack, who else can he count on?

The Rockets in the 14-15 season were far from the Rockets that won the Best Bravery Award later. Harden did not have the legendary point guard Chris Paul to share the pressure, and there was no Eric Gordon, PJ Tucker and other outstanding players. Players escort!

This Rockets team is not strong in the first place, and even Harden can't stand up, so how can there be hope?
(End of this chapter)