NBA: Being criticized for half a year at the beginning

That night, the Rockets faced the Thunder, and Durant met a group of old friends at the Dynasty Center.

Durant and Westbrook showed their brotherhood in a ‘friendly’ way before the game. The two hugged and joked and chatted passionately.

The Thunder fielded a double point guard combination in this game, with Westbrook and Beverley starting in the backcourt.

The forwards were Pierce, the second veteran of the Celtics who came in this season, and Garnett.

The center was also the old Celtics player Perkins.

The Rockets finally welcomed back the main power forward Serge Ibaka in the starting lineup, and Durant was still his partner in the front line.

Jeremy Lin and ‘Gentleman Sword’ Ray Allen were in the backcourt, and Yao Ming was in the center position.

The Rockets’ home court continued to be full of guests, and was not affected by the fight at all. Jeremy Lin is still a star player sought after by Rockets fans.

After the game started, the Thunder used the old Rockets player Beverley to tightly defend the Rockets engine Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin was not used to Beverley's dog-skin plaster-like defense, and his constant small movements made Jeremy Lin's performance very bad.

The Rockets could only rely on Durant and Ibaka to score.

Jeremy Lin made two mistakes in the three minutes after the start of the game, and the Rockets began to fall behind in the score.

The young master used his powerful breakthrough to continuously bombard the Rockets' inside line, and Pierce and Durant could also complete mutual explosions.

In the first official timeout, Tang Yu replaced Jeremy Lin first and replaced him with McGrady.

Although McGrady was not a traditional point guard when he came off the bench, he was still able to sort out the team's offense with his experience.

After McGrady came on the court, he used his height advantage to frequently deliver shells to his teammates in the high position.

The Thunder's offense was still smooth, and Westbrook's impact made the Rockets' defense line useless.

However, the Rockets did not give up. Under the leadership of Durant and Ibaka, they gradually narrowed the score gap.

At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets were one point behind the visiting Thunder at 25-26.

Jeremy Lin had a dismal performance, scoring only 4 points and 1 assist. He was a little lost in the defense of the black bet.

Originally, Tang Yu wanted to stagger the playing time of Jeremy Lin and Beverley, but after the start of the second quarter, the Thunder coach seemed to know and sent Beverley to the field.

Although it would cost some fouls, Beverley's defense against Jeremy Lin was still very successful.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Jeremy Lin could not find a breakthrough in the face of Beverley's strict defense.

At this time, Ray Allen signaled Jeremy Lin to change positions on the sidelines. Jeremy Lin understood and quickly ran to the other side.

Beverley hurried to defend, but Jeremy Lin suddenly changed direction, shook off Beverley, and rushed to the basket.

The basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air and went into the net!

This goal not only boosted the morale of the Rockets, but also helped Jeremy Lin regain his confidence.

In the following games, Jeremy Lin gradually adapted to Beverly's defensive rhythm, and made many exquisite passes to help his teammates score.

The game between the two teams was very intense. The Thunder's defense this season can be said to be the most iron-blooded defense in the entire league.

Pierce and Garnett brought the Celtics' defensive attitude to Oklahoma City. With the presence of two defensive stalwarts, Beverly and Perkins, the Thunder has become the new bad boy army in the league.

The trash talk of Beverly and Garnett has been lingering in the ears of the Rockets players since the beginning, as if they were two cicadas that never stop.

During the official timeout in the second quarter, Jeremy Lin muttered, "Is Patrit so annoying in the Rockets? His trash talk is so annoying."

Tang Yu's assistant coach Cassell laughed, "This is his way to gain a foothold in the league. He is not a bad guy. Jeremy, you have to learn to adapt to all kinds of defense!"

Jeremy Lin played very uncomfortably tonight, but he also knew that his continuous highlight performances could not continue. The Rockets would eventually lose and he would also usher in a low ebb.

The competition between Pierce and Durant continued, and Westbrook was still the unstoppable Megatron.

At 3 minutes and 11 seconds in the second quarter, Jeremy Lin dribbled past the opponent, but was double-teamed by Garnett and Beverley. He glanced at Ray Allen at the bottom line and decisively passed the ball.

After receiving the ball, Gentleman Ray jumped up and shot without hesitation, hitting a three-pointer steadily.

The audience cheered, and the score gap gradually narrowed.

This was Jeremy Lin's third assist tonight, which was much worse than his normal performance.

At the end of the first half, the Rockets were already 4 points behind the Thunder at 53-57.

Durant scored 19 points alone, but Jeremy Lin only scored 6 points and 3 assists.

On the contrary, the Thunder's Big Three all played steadily, with Westbrook scoring 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in the first half.

Pierce also had 12Garnett scored only 7 points, but he got 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. On the defensive end, Garnett was still the trustworthy wolf king.

After returning to the locker room, Tang Yu said to the Rockets players: "The opponent's defense is very tough. We need to respond and put enough pressure on them."

Then Tang Yu said to Jeremy Lin: "Put down the burden and don't let yourself get into a fight with Patrit."

Jeremy Lin nodded to show that he understood. He knew that he was struggling tonight and he needed to make changes.

Tang Yu also began to make changes in tactics, "Serge, you have to dispatch the team more online in the second half and help Jeremy organize the team's offense."

Ibaka said: "I understand, boss, I will do what you told me."

15 minutes later, both sides returned to the court to start the second half of the game.

The Rockets began to change their tactics. Jeremy Lin began to seek to play without the ball, and Ibaka was more involved in organizing the team's offense.

The Rockets' offense became much smoother.

Two minutes into the third quarter, Ibaka was on the line holding the ball and organizing. Durant and Jeremy Lin screened each other, and Durant attracted a double team.

Ibaka quickly passed the ball to Jeremy Lin in the bottom corner, who took the ball and shot decisively, and the basketball went into the net.

This shot greatly boosted the morale of the Rockets, and the cheers of the audience continued.

However, the Thunder did not panic, and Pierce responded with a fadeaway jumper.

The Rockets' tactical changes allowed the Thunder to adapt for a while, and Jeremy Lin began to turn from an organizer to a terminator.

Durant can handle the offense as the team's end point and the key point of the last pass.

The two teams played very fiercely. Yao Ming got fouled continuously in the third quarter against Westbrook's impact and got into foul trouble.

The game soon reached the critical moment of the fourth quarter, and there were still 3 minutes left.

The score of the two teams was 119-114, and the Rockets were 5 points behind at home.

Jeremy Lin found a little scoring feeling in the second half, but he was stuck in a fight with Blackbee most of the time tonight.

Durant first used his stick-up pull-up stunt to help the Rockets recover three points outside the three-point line.

Westbrook was not at all inferior. He wanted to prove himself in front of his former big brother. In the next round, he immediately forced the inside line to cause Yao Ming to foul.

Yao Ming happily got his sixth foul and graduated.

Westbrook and Durant exchanged trash talk during free throws.

Westbrook said: "You left us to fight for the championship, but this year you have no chance at all! We will beat you, you are a clown!"

"So what, at least I have a chance, and you are wasting your youth here, you will never win the championship!" Durant retorted.

The young master made two free throws, and the difference between the two teams remained at 4 points.

In the next round, Jeremy Lin forced a breakthrough but was interfered by Beverly and failed to score.

Tang Yu did not choose to replace Jeremy Lin, which would have dealt a heavy blow to his confidence.

Westbrook once again faced Jeremy Lin's defense and rushed past him to the Rockets' three-second zone. The ball did not go in due to Ibaka's interference.

However, Garnett made a successful tip-in to help the Thunder lead by 6 points.

There was only 1 minute and 29 seconds left, and the Rockets were already 6 points behind.

Tang Yu called a timeout, and he arranged a three-pointer tactic for Durant and Ray Allen.

Durant was the first choice. If the Thunder chose to double-team Durant, then the latter could pass the ball to Ray Allen.

After the timeout, Kawhi Leonard passed the sideline ball directly to Durant.

Durant held the ball, and all the Rockets players opened up their defense, leaving Pierce and Durant to single out.

Durant lowered his center of gravity, dribbled the ball constantly to find the rhythm, and tried to shake Pierce away with fake moves.

But the battle-hardened Pierce was not fooled. He kept a close eye on Durant's every move. He was very close to him and did not give Durant any chance to shoot a three-pointer.

At this moment, Durant suddenly started, took a step to the right, and then quickly changed direction and broke through to the left.

Pierce quickly blocked him sideways, but Durant was so fast that he passed Pierce in the blink of an eye.

There was no one in front of him, Durant jumped high and prepared to dunk with one hand.

However, Garnett came to defend in time and jumped high to try to block the shot.

Durant adjusted his posture in the air, threw the ball from the opponent's armpit, and hit the rebound into the net.

The audience on the sidelines exclaimed, Durant showed his super personal ability.

Garnett regretfully slapped the basketball and could only continue the game.

123-119, the Thunder still had a 4-point lead.

When the young master dribbled the ball across half court, the game time entered the last minute at the same time.

Westbrook TimeIt took 10 seconds before he was ready to start the attack.

Westbrook is now the boss of this team, even if Pierce and Garnett are here to help him win the championship.

With one hand raised, Garnett immediately picked up and played a pick-and-roll with the young master, and the young master successfully broke into the basket with Garnett's pick-and-roll.

Facing Ibaka who came to defend, he was not afraid and jumped directly to prepare for a layup.

Ibaka also jumped up, stretched out his arms, trying to stop the young master from scoring.

At this moment, the young master made a surprising move in the air.

He took the ball back and then passed it from behind at a very fast speed.

The ball flew to the bottom corner like a cannonball, where stood this season's super rookie, Klay Thompson.

He was ready to catch the ball, and after catching the ball steadily, he jumped up and shot, hitting a three-pointer!

The Thunder's bench was boiling.

This goal almost killed the game, and then Ray Allen missed a three-pointer from outside, and the Rockets could no longer catch up.

In the end, the Thunder defeated the Rockets 126-119 and won this crucial game.

Westbrook and his teammates hugged and celebrated. They defeated the defending champion and broke the undefeated miracle of Lin's madness.

The Rockets finally stepped down from the altar and suffered their fourth defeat of the season.

In this game, Jeremy Lin's brilliance was no longer there. He played 35 minutes and scored 15 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds with 6 of 18 shots.

Although Durant played well and scored an impressive 37 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, he could not beat four hands with two fists and could only become an empty-cut king.

The lost Rockets players bowed their heads and walked towards the player channel.

Tang Yu knew that the Rockets' players were too tired. The Rockets, who lacked rotation players, used a lot of playing time in each of the games where Jeremy Lin broke out to maintain the Rockets' winning rate.

At the post-match press conference, Tang Yu said: "The Rockets' players have performed well enough and they deserve respect. No team can guarantee to win forever, which is also the charm of competitive sports. I want to congratulate the Thunder, they are the better team tonight!"

......

After losing to the Thunder at home, the Rockets entered a trough.

The next day, facing the challenge of the Eastern Conference powerhouse Atlanta Hawks, who have been frequent visitors to the playoffs in recent years, the Rockets once again lost at home.

The 111-96 home defeat made Rockets fans a little upset. The last time the Rockets scored less than 100 points may be traced back to the game against the Spurs more than 400 days ago.

After Jeremy Lin was restricted by the defense of Black Bay, other teams in the league found a way to restrict Jeremy Lin's performance. The Chinese player's performance was abnormally affected by the defense and small moves throughout the game.

The Rockets also suffered two consecutive losses for the first time in the past two seasons!

But this is not over yet. Next, the Rockets will face a hellish journey of six consecutive away games in the East.

On January 10, they flew to Washington to challenge the Wizards. The Wizards are still the league's bottom team this season.

John Wall, the No. 1 pick in 2010, is the team's biggest star and the cornerstone of the Wizards.

However, facing such a bottom team, the Rockets did not take advantage at all. With 13 seconds left in the game, the Rockets only led by two points, 109-107.

But often people are unlucky and even drinking cold water will make their teeth ache. Facing the opportunity of a buzzer-beater, the Wizards actually seized it.

Nick Young, the second scoring point in the team, actually helped the Wizards complete a near buzzer-beater.

Even Tang Yu sighed, he is really strong, no matter how strong he is, I am Nick Young!

Durant failed to complete the counter-buster with only 1.4 seconds left, and the Rockets finally lost to the MCI Center 109-110.

At the same time, the Rockets also successfully got three consecutive losses!

After this losing streak, Tang Yu still blamed himself in front of the media.

Rockets fans are also very tolerant of the team's current situation, and no one cares about the current defeat.

Everyone knows that when all the players return, the Rockets will still be the defending champions that scare the league teams.

Under the guidance of Tang Yu and the coaching staff, the players are also relatively relaxed about the current losing streak, thinking that this is normal and every team will have its low period!