After the timeout, the Rockets were still looking for their first points of the game.
D'Antoni did not believe the situation would necessarily develop the way Link wanted.
The Rockets' offense ranked among the best in the league. There was no way they would simply be suppressed by the Grizzlies like this.
Of course, the game would not develop in Link's desired direction on its own, because everything happening now had been fought for by Link himself!
During the timeout, D'Antoni had made everything clear to his players. He told everyone about Link's plan and hoped they would stop Link no matter what.
However, the first team to be stopped was the Rockets themselves.
This time, Ryan Anderson finally got an opportunity to shoot a three.
The moment Jokic collapsed inward, Harden delivered the ball precisely into Anderson's hands.
But just as Anderson raised the basketball over his head, he saw Jokic already lunging at him.
Watching a massive slab of "pork belly" charge toward him was pressure not everyone could handle.
Of course, not every big man dared to fly out like that to contest an opponent's shot.
After all, a guy built like Jokic did not have momentum that could be checked as easily as Link and the others.
Once they got going, they practically became uncontrollable semi-trucks.
Jokic's ferocious charge startled Anderson. The stretch four rushed his release, tossing the ball before he had even completed his shooting motion.
A shot thrown up in fright naturally had no accuracy whatsoever.
And Jokic? He charged straight into the Grizzlies' bench. The Grizzlies players saw him coming and cleared out completely in a single second!
Jokic was like an underwater bomb, blasting the bench into ruins.
"Nikola Jokic's contest was way too aggressive. Seeing the Grizzlies players clear out