Harden held the ball and launched Pick-and-Roll at the Top of the Key position, allowing Gordon to separate Butler who deliberately switched defense in front of him, and called Wade in front of him.
Compared with the strong Butler and the good-looking and fast Chen Xi, the now old and frail Wade is obviously a better choice.
After Harden's consecutive Crossover Dribble, a breakthrough fake move was followed by Step-back's Three-Pointer jump shot.
Easily hit outside shots.
Wade put his hands on his hips, feeling a little helpless.
Now he really can't keep up with the rhythm.
If this had happened eight or nine years ago, someone like Wei would have shown him what the Three-Pointer defense in history was like!!
Back to Offensive End, Butler controls the ball to the wing, and then passes the ball to Chen Xi who is Top of the Key.
Chen holding the ball Isolation Harden.
If I can't guard you, then I will consume you on both offense and defense. Anyway, Chen Xi has no physical strength. Thunder also has Butler and Westbrook. If you Harden are exhausted, Paul alone cannot support the production.
It doesn't matter even if you lose this game.
Thunder is mentally prepared to play seven more games and is always ready to play.
After dropping the ball, Chen Xi started a continuous rhythm Dribble, shaking left and right, guiding Harden's defensive attention. Through the change of rhythm, Harden's footsteps gradually became disordered, and then he accelerated with one step and quickly passed by his side.
Harden has never been a player who always stays focused on the defensive end.
After seeing Chen Xi rush from the side, Hart also stopped directly and left the next defense to Teammates.
When Chen Xi comes to the Mid-range position, it goes directly to Domain Expansion.
A Sam Good shakes away Tucker, then another Side Step-Back, collects the ball, takes off, and takes a two-point shot.
Basketball fell into the net obediently.
Easily scored two points.
Rockets resumed the attack. After returning to the defensive end, Thunder obviously made some adjustments. Once Harden started to execute Pick-and-Roll, Thunder directly attacked from the flank.
Even if Ariza and Tucker hit the open Three-Pointer one after another, they still resolutely executed the strategy.
The results are also clear.
Ariza and Tucker were not able to support the output of Three-Pointer. The subsequent Three-Point Shot began to be intermittent, and the hit rate declined, unable to maintain sufficient efficiency to support Harden.
Except for the two Wing, Rockets's Sixth Man of the Year, and Eric Gordon were stared at by Chen Xi, completely unable to get an open position.
Harden's lack of the ball for a period of time caused Touch's decline on the outside.
At this time, Harden misses the existence of Paul very much.
If Paul was here, Thunder would naturally not dare to attack so unscrupulously.
Paul can perfectly seize Thunder's gap after he releases the ball, and use his excellent ball handling ability to tear apart Thunder's Rotation defense.
But Gordon obviously cannot do this.
After the established strategy achieved results, Thunder's game became much easier to play.
At the end of the first quarter, Thunder was still tied with Rockets at 35-35.
But wait until the second quarter is over and halftime is over.
However, Thunder is already eight points ahead of Rockets, 68 to 60.
Moreover, as time goes by, the score difference is gradually widening.
At this time, D'Antoni also had to admit that Thunder may have restrained Rockets even more thoroughly than Warriors.
Warriors's advantage over Rockets lies only in the number of stars and the team's space advantage.
Thunder, on the other hand, directly suppresses the counterpoint.
Westbrook restrains Paul, Butler restrains Harden, and Chen Xi can also match Offensive End and Harden.
Even Bench depth and Thunder are stronger than Rockets.
In addition, tonight, Harden's Touch is not that good, and the result becomes very clear.
At the end of the game, Thunder defeated Rockets 121 to 114 and won G1.
James·Harden, made 10 of 21 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 4 of 10 shots, Free Throw scored 8 of 8 and scored 32 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
Chris·Paul, made 7 of 15 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 1 of 3 goals, and Free Throw made 3 of 3, scoring 18 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists.
The performance of CP3-Harden Combination cannot be said to be bad, but it is obviously not enough.
On the other hand, look at Thunder.
Westbrook made 13 of 25 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 2 of 5, and Free Throw made 9 of 9, scoring 37 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
Chen Xi made 11 of 17 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 3 of 4, and Free Throw made 3 of 3, scoring 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Butler made 7 of 14 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 1 of 3, and Free Throw made 6 of 6, scoring 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
The three giants played steadily, and Chen Xi's Touch tonight was also very good. However, due to Thunder's firing strategy, Westbrook took up a lot of shots, so Chen Xi did not perform particularly conspicuously.
Similarly, in terms of role player performance, Thunder is even better.
Rockets Team In addition to CP3-Harden Combination, there are only 16+4 of Ariza, 17+3 of Gordon, and 13+7 of Tucker which are pretty decent.
As for Thunder, Wade 15+6, and Harris 12+6, the stable fire support of these two people alone, combined with the three giants, is enough to defeat Rockets.
Just Deron, Grant, and McDermott haven't shown much use yet.
Although it is Western Conference first, after the first game, there were almost not many people left, and they were still optimistic that Rockets could advance to Finals.
May 19th.
Cavaliers, who has returned to Cleveland's home court, will continue his G3 showdown with Celtics.
They were already 2-0 and already standing on the edge of the cliff.
When people thought that LeBron·James would descend from the gods and lead the team to kill randomly, the situation of the game was completely different from what people expected before the game.
James took only 12 shots in the game, hit 8 goals, and scored 27 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists.
And these 12 assists are the key to Cavaliers's victory in this game.
Love 13+14, George·Hill 13+3, JR11+5, TT10+7, Korver 14+2.
I have to say that the role players of Cavaliers are very considerate.
In this game, Touch is pretty good. Except for Clarkson, whose hit rate of 3 in 11 is not very good, everyone else can be called extraordinary.
James is naturally happy to do so, and frequently relies on his huge defensive attraction to create opportunities for Teammates.
In the end, Cavaliers beat Celtics 116 to 89, and won G3, regaining a victory in the series and regaining the suspense of this round of Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, in the end it is the outcome, and Celtics himself has to bear a certain amount of responsibility.
Third Overall Pick Twin Stars, the two of them worked together and only scored 28 points in total, and Rozier only scored 13 points. Coupled with the sluggish performance of the role players, it was also the reason for the loss.