The Moda Center, the most populated place in all of Portland, wasn't much of Paul's favorite.

Chris Paul, as the league's top point guard, has fallen in the Moda Center in the playoffs time and time again. As long as Anjie is in front of him, the Western Conference Finals can only seem like a dream for Paul.

The Clippers' previous experience of the Clippers' previous crushing defeat at the Moda Center is still vivid and unbearable. This damn place, just walking in, made Paul feel very depressed.

"What's wrong?" James Harden's voice broke Paul's thoughts, and Paul looked back at his bearded teammate, smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing, hehe. I just think, why did I come here again? ”

"This place, is a nightmare for all. But this year, we're going to change all that!" said Harden, whose face was resolute, as the Rockets had lost here. At one time, he James Harden could only be the burial object of the Trail Blazers.

But those are already in the past. The current Rocket team has become very different!

The mature Harden is no longer the kid he used to score by cheating fouls, and Chris Paul is no longer the lone hero who can only stand up on his own at that critical moment. And D'Antoni, the head coach of the Rockets, also brought his former running and roaring style to Houston.

Although the Rockets' record in the regular season this season is only eighth, even the Trail Blazers themselves dare not take them lightly.

The Rockets slipped in the regular season standings, thanks to a damn injury. But the Rockets, who now have a full roster, are by no means an easy opponent for the Trail Blazers to beat.

"Let's go Chris, it's time to warm up!" Seeing that Paul's equipment was almost changed, Harden got up from his seat and jumped twice.

"Let this damn place be history!" Paul clenched his fists and pushed open the locker room door. The rest of the Rockets players were following the two guards, Portland, here we go!

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Anjie looked at Harden and Paul, who were warming up opposite, and then looked back at Shabazz Napier, who was nervously warming up and thin. Although Napier, a former NCAA Championship MOP winner, did not play badly during Lillard's absence, Anjie couldn't help but worry about Napier when facing the menacing Paul and Harden.

"Hey, relax man, there's nothing to be nervous about. An Jie walked behind Napier and pressed the shoulder of the post-90s young defender.

"Whew, don't be nervous, don't ......be nervous," Napier took two deep breaths, although he was not the team's main scorer, and he would not be the target of the opponent's defense. But Napier knew that once he became a breakthrough for Harden and Paul's offense, it would be very bad for the team.

Napier is tough and not afraid of physical confrontation, but against two top defenders, Napier still doesn't know if he can get it right. If the team gets into trouble because of themselves, Napier will feel quite guilty.

"It's okay, we're looking behind you. As long as you do your best, you will definitely be able to!" Anjie seemed to see through Napier's thoughts, after all, who didn't have any worries when they were young?

Napier smiled slightly, although it was only a few simple words of conversation, Anjie made Napier bolder and more relaxed than before.

After adjusting Napier's mood, Anjie also threw himself into the warm-up. It's been a long time since I've felt the atmosphere of a big war......

Before the start of the game, Zhou Qi, a Chinese player of the Rockets, stepped forward to hug An Jie. Nearly all the Chinese in the room cheered as two Chinese players met in the playoffs for the first time ever.

When Zhou Qi returned to his own half, Anjie saw that James Harden was also cheering Zhou Qi on. It seems that the leaders of both sides want their young players not to be affected by nervousness.

Although Zhou Qi will not be the team's starter like Napier, as a member of the rotation players, Zhou Qi's performance will also be directly linked to the result of the game.

After Harden finished speaking, Zhou Qi unconsciously set his eyes on An Jie. When training together in the national team, Zhou Qi knew very well how terrifying An Jie's strength was. He couldn't believe that he was about to compete with such a passing guy as an opponent on the stage of the NBA playoffs.

An Jie could see that Zhou Qi, this kid, was not completely relaxed. So under the eyes of fans all over the world, An Jie gave a thumbs up to the tall and green yellow-skinned guy on the Rockets bench.

"It's a rare sight on a basketball court, where one team's star gives a thumbs up to another team's players. But in the NBA league, where Chinese are scarce, it makes sense for An to do so. "Jeff Van Gundy likes An Jie's general demeanor very much, just now An Jie raised his thumb, he must find Wu Hua to take a photo for collection.

"Now I am also looking forward to Zhou Qi's performance, and in the regular season, Zhou Qi has not played a highlight moment. Although it is only an occasional flash in the pan, who can guarantee that this Chinese will not shine in the playoffs? After all, the playoffs themselves are a stage for breeding stars!" After Anjie's experience, Mike Brin is also full of expectations for Zhou Qi, who is also from China.

Although Zhou Qi can't be compared with An Jie in the rookie period at present, who can say clearly what will happen in the future?

All this foreshadowing has brought the fans' anticipation for this game to the peak.

By the time Anjie and the Rockets' starting center, Clint Capela, stepped into the center circle, the cheers of the fans at the Moda Center were at their peak.

Capela looked at An Jie calmly, the strong center forward from Switzerland is much calmer than Zhou Qi.

However, in front of An Jie, who is 2.19 meters tall, Capella, who is only 2.08 meters tall, looks so "small". Sure enough, the referee had just thrown the ball out when Anjie slapped it into Napier's hands. In the jump ball stage, Capela didn't have the slightest chance at all!

As soon as Napier received the ball, he ran into Chris Paul, who came to entangle. Paul's defense is unequivocal, even when he's not facing a top-tier guard like Lillard.

Napier didn't expect Paul to take such "good care" of himself, and in order to keep the ball from being taken away by Paul, Napier had already spent all his energy.

Paul's quick hand doesn't know when it will suddenly pop out. Napier had to dribble with full concentration to ensure that possession was not lost.

"Iguodala ran out of gaps!Hey, Napier didn't notice that, he's still dribbling the ball. Chris Paul put a lot of pressure on Napier, and from the beginning, the Rockets intended to lock up the Trail Blazers' offense!" Seeing that Napier missed another opportunity, even Jeff Van Gundy sweated for the Trail Blazers. If the Trail Blazers' offense starts to unravel from the No. 1 position, it's going to be in big trouble!

Paul's desperate entanglement forced Napier to give up possession, and when Paul George received the basketball in a hand-to-hand from beyond the three-point line, the Trail Blazers' tactics were completely disrupted and could not be executed.

There was no way, George beckoned, and in the last ten seconds, he only had himself alone!

"Pulling away from the singles, James Harden personally defended Paul George! George changed direction directly under his crotch! Harden's reaction was very fast, he blocked George's offensive line!" After years of experience, Harden's defense is no longer the state of "eye defense" back then.

While you can't expect Harden to suddenly become an outside defensive gatekeeper, at least for now, it won't be so easy for George to get through.

Seeing that he hadn't shaken Harden in the first shot, George immediately planned to make a second breakout.

George took a step back, a little distance between him and Harden, and then suddenly accelerated towards Harden's right hand.

George had just wiped Harden and before he could rejoice, he crashed into Ariza.

"Tevor's defense was very timely! he boldly dropped Iguodala but managed to stop Paul George!"

With little time left to attack, George now has only two options. Either force a shot under the bag or barely pass the ball and give your teammates a last-second shot.

George glanced directly in front of him and immediately decided to use the second way of handling the ball.

I saw George pass casually under the tight wrap of Harden and Ariza, and the basketball flew inside.

The ball was passed so high that Anjie had to leap high and stretch his arms as far as he could to barely get the basketball.

When An Jie received the basketball, there was only one second left in the 24-second offensive time. If you wait for the landing and then go to attack the frame, I'm afraid it will be too late!

So An Jie, who received George's pass with his back to the basket, was stunned and forced to turn around with his waist and abdomen strength in the air.

An Jie's body was suddenly twisted into a "twist", the lower half of his body was still facing backwards, but his upper body was twisted towards the basket.

It was in this situation that An Jie made a shot. All of this adds up to less than a second.

However, An Jie was stunned to throw the ball in this unbelievable way. It was undoubtedly a brilliant goal, but at this time, no one was going to cheer for it.

"It's really a good shot, the Rockets almost defended it for 24 seconds! Although it must have been a morale blow to Anjie in this unconventional way at the last moment, the Rockets' defense at least gave people hope! They are on the right path!"

"Don't hesitate next time, pass faster!" An Jie reminded Napier loudly when he retreated. It was nice to have that goal just now, but the Trail Blazers couldn't rely on that kind of unbelievable ball every time to score points.

Napier nodded after hearing Angel's words and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was only the first round and he was sweating profusely from Chris Paul's pressing.

Before he could catch his breath when Napier found Paul controlling the ball and rushing through the half at breakneck speed. I almost forgot that the current Rockets are a fast-paced team that plays and runs!

Napier had to jump right into defending Paul, even if the guy hadn't even had time to breathe.

Paul didn't break through the flawed Napier, but suddenly braked outside the three-point line!

After that, Paul made a powerful pass, and the basketball crossed most of the court and flew into the hands of Harden, who ran to the bottom corner at some point.

At this point, George has been stopped by Ryan Anderson's pick-and-roll. What Harden got was a near-open shot! That's the benefit of Chris Paul joining the Rockets, as long as Harden can get out of space, no matter where he is, Paul's pass can be delivered in time. This is something that Beverly and others in the past could never do.

This bearded guard did not hesitate after receiving the basketball, the nightmare of the Moda Center, he must destroy it with his own hands!

Bending the knees, jumping, shooting, shooting, flicking...... Harden's shooting moves were done in one go, without any dragging his feet.

And the orange-red basketball also fell into the net under the attention of everyone on the scene!

"Three-point hit, the Rockets overtook the score! This offense, the Rockets only took less than seven seconds to score! For the Trail Blazers, the relatively fast pace of offense and defense will definitely become a huge challenge!" Mike Brin excitedly analyzed the situation on the court to the fans, this is destined to be a wonderful game, it is really getting more and more interesting......

Harden high-fived Paul cordially after scoring the goal, and when these two guys, both unhappy with the Moda Center, joined forces, Angel had to be careful.

Paul and Harden, the Rockets' gorgeous guard line, there are countless other possibilities. What An Jie sees now is just the tip of the iceberg.

Such a Houston Rocket, it seems that it is really different. If you want to defeat them, I'm afraid it won't be as easy as before.