start with scouting

Chapter 542 The strongest form is so terrifying

The Kings prepare for the game as usual, and the four days will soon end. On the night of May 20th, they will sit at home against the Rockets.

Accompanied by the cheers of more than 7000 fans, Su Yang waved his hands, the pre-match introduction ceremony was over, and the lights of the audience were turned on.

The long whistle sounded immediately, and the Kings players made final preparations, and Covington started the game instead of Antetokounmpo.

That arrangement, on the one hand, is to strengthen the defense against Harden, and on the other hand, it is to improve the King's three-point shooting ability and prevent the Rockets from double-teaming Curry.In short, self-confidence is self-confidence, and there are still some operations that should be done. The Rockets are not fools to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Su Yang clapped his hands and called the whole team together: "The Rockets, like the Thunder, have a challenger mentality. They will definitely work harder on offense and defense after the start. We don't need to match the rhythm and intensity. We can just play normally. We can catch their mistakes and push back to score easily. .”

Several people in Curry nodded to express their understanding, then turned around and stepped into the court, and the central big screen simultaneously showed the Rockets' side's starting lineup.

Terry, Harden, Ariza, Josh, Howard.

The Tornado Five looks menacing.

In the ESPN live broadcast seat, Van Gundy said: "We interviewed coach Mike Malone before the game. He revealed that Harden's positioning in this game will be different from before. He has already made preparations for the King to focus on Harden, which may surprise the fans. .”

Jackson said: "Coincidentally! We interviewed coach Su Yang before the game, and he also revealed that the Rockets are ready to target Curry, but Curry's positioning will not change, and Curry will destroy the Rockets' backcourt defense. play at a stronger level.”

During the conversation, the Rockets won the jump ball and launched the first attack. Harden put away the jumping action and ran to the front court bouncing.

The five-out formation started, Harden received the pass from Terry on the right side, passed it to Ariza who used Howard's screen to circle the top of the arc, and Terry cut into the baseline, used Josh's screen to circle to the left corner, and then Howard screened, and the left wing caught the ball and hit the basket.

Under continuous cover, Curry had no time to catch up.

Cousins' lateral movement speed can't keep up.

Green quickly retracted his defense, and Terry raised his hand and threw the ball to the short corner on the right. Josh caught the ball and scored two long points.

The basketball slammed into the net hollowly, and the name of CIC's handsome boy came true.

"Awesome, Mike Malone's tactics are guaranteed!" Assistant coach Mike Brown chuckled, probably because he was the head coach of Malone in the Cavaliers and recalled the past, but it is difficult to explain why the Cavaliers' tactics were so rigid and full of routines.

Su Yang nodded in agreement. The Rockets played a LOOP series just now. Before using Howard to cover, Ariza first used Josh to cover to escape, and Josh finished the screen on the left, quickly ran across the paint area to the left, and then gave the ball to the left. Terry screens.

With that kind of movement, all five of the Rockets are moving.

The Kings didn't have a defensive focus for a while, and it was unpredictable. Cousins ​​didn't have time to help Curry delay Terry.

While thinking about it, the king counterattacked.

Terry interfered with Curry directly from the backcourt.

The defensive strategy is quite clear and consumes the whole process.

The basketball was brought to the right wing, and Covington used Cousins ​​to cover and lift up, and received the ball with his back against the defender Harden.

Harden is very aggressive, pushing his legs hard, digging his hands hard, full of defensive attitude, and he is not lazy at all.

At the same time, with the help of Cousins, LaVine moved from left to right to the right wing, received a pass from Covington, twisted his hips to the free throw line, and forced a jump to pull the bar against Howard. Unfortunately, the basketball suffered a big cap. Fortunately, Cousins ​​grabbed an offensive rebound.

The King reorganized the offense, Covington received the ball at the top of the arc, and seeing Harden quickly return to the defense, he threw the ball 45 degrees to the left.

Compared with Harden returning to defense so quickly, Josh's pace is slightly slower.

Maybe his attitude is lazy, maybe he thinks that Green is three-pointed.

The sound of smashing the basket and hitting the iron sounded, and the basketball rebounded and flew upside down. Harden and Ariza took off at the same time to try to grab it, but they just couldn't grab it.

Harden was not upset either, and immediately turned around and rushed forward, catching the ball from the center line, as if to hit Covington, but actually hit the ground and then split.

Howard bent over to catch the ball, turned around and hit hard, rushed two big strides to stop and pull the ball, turned around, faked and flew Cousins, and then took off to release the basket, causing Cousins ​​to foul, but the layup failed to hit, only After two free throws, boos broke out in the arena.

The first free throw hit the basket and hit the iron.

The second free throw also smashed the basket and hit the iron.

Green grabbed the rebound and counterattacked, went all the way to the frontcourt penalty area, and faced Harden and Ariza for a layup.The basketball slammed into the net.

Su Yang was a little surprised. The Rockets retreated the fastest was Harden. His attitude was like an undrafted pick trying to fight for a 10-day contract. He couldn't help but wonder what made Harden so big, from a defensive black hole to a defensive big. The gate is comparable to changing a person.

Easy side Rockets attack, one inside and four outside formation.

Ariza used Howard's screen to get rid of Covington, received a pass from Harden at 45 degrees on the left, reversed and entered the paint area, ignoring Cousins ​​and Green's interception, forced a three-step layup, and handed the ball to York in the air. Varied.However, Josh failed to score, but Josh grabbed the offensive rebound by himself, squeezed out of the encirclement with a roar, forced the ball into the net, and acted like a super tough guy.

Curry caught the ball from the baseline, glanced ahead, and threw the ball to the center line. Covington caught the ball with his back and turned to prepare for a fast break.

That thought, Harden quickly returned to the center line.

He also pressed close to the body strongly and poked the ball away directly.

Covington quickly bent down to pick up the ball, then turned his back and pouted his butt to open the way, carrying Harden with difficulty to bring the ball to the left wing.

Su Yang was dumbfounded.

Although I have seen Harden work hard on defense, I didn't expect to be able to work hard to such an extent, what a fucking defensive maniac.

The strongest Harden is so terrifying.

Perhaps shaken by King Harden's domineering momentum, the King's generals shifted their strengths in a hurry, and LaVine used the cover to catch the ball and rush to shoot.

A three-pointer strikes iron.

The Rockets grabbed a rebound and counterattacked.

Harden didn't get the ball, but Josh pushed forward with the ball, ran to the top of the arc, and used Howard's cover to break through, but actually retreated to the outside of the three-point line, successfully attracting the defensive attention of Cousins ​​and Green Force, and then put the ball straight into the penalty area.

Howard caught the ball and took off, scoring dunks with both hands.

Seeing the basketball hit the net, Terry got close to Curry and continued to implement the defensive strategy of full-court interference, with full execution.

Covington stayed in the backcourt to respond, took the ball slowly across the center line, and seeing that Harden had already set up his defensive posture, he passed the ball in a hurry.

But the tactical cooperation did not come out.

The basketball returned to Covington's hands, and it was difficult for others to respond for the time being, so they could only bite the bullet and attack to find opportunities.

It was thought that Harden's defensive power was maximized instantly.

While gliding to catch up with the anti-breakthrough, he raised his hand to compress the anti-pass, and heeled firmly to withstand the impact, giving a super rebound.

In a hurry, Covington dropped the basketball.

Seeing this, Ariza flew out, grabbed the basketball, rushed three steps to the center line, raised his hand and passed it to Josh who followed up. Ariza hit the layup with ease.

The Rockets started 8-2.

Su Yang looked calm. Except for Harden's super defense, everything else was expected, and there was no need to pause and adjust.

The main task right now is to let the Rockets play their cards, and wait until the Rockets do not change, and then try the ace one-hit lore.

In short, there is no gap of fifteen or six points, so there is no need to worry.

Between you and me, as Harden assisted Josh for a layup, the game reached 9 minutes and 15 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Rockets lead the Kings 47 to 33.

Su Yang got up and asked for a timeout.

Time to fight back.

(End of this chapter)