As a young team, the Rockets don't have a lot of playoff experience, from players to coaches.

Only Harden and Asik have playoff experience in the starting five, while Jeremy Lin, Parsons and Smith are all playing in the playoffs for the first time.

Even their head coach, McHale, led the team to the playoffs for the first time.

So in the first game, they were testing both offensively and defensively.

In the regular season, the Rockets blindly played fast, with a variety of 7-second offenses and quick shots outside the three-point line.

In this match, McHale seems to want to play some coordination, play some tactics and success rate.

But apparently, this made the rockets lose their style.

Mike Brown is already good at adjusting the defense, and the Lakers have arranged the Rockets' outside blocking and dismantling screens, so that they can't play opportunities.

After the timeout, the Rockets returned to the regular season style of play, scoring three-pointers at every opportunity from the outside.

But Parsons missed a three-point shot, and the Lakers fought back.

The rocket's retreat was fast, but it was chaotic in the fast.

Nash first passed the ball to the inside, and after Howard got the ball, the Rockets three shrunk.

As a result, the outside line Kobe Bryant leaked.

Do you dare to leak Kobe? Who defended Kobe? Stand out!

Howard immediately passed the ball to Kobe, who caught the ball at the top of the arc and hit a three-point shot.

The Lakers hit all four of their opening shots and were in excellent shape.

The Rockets need to score or they will be broken in the first quarter.

James Harden held the ball from the outside and forced the basket to make a foul on Kobe Bryant and go to the free throw line.

The two penalties were all hit, and the urgent need was solved.

Sure enough, the free-throw line is the most consistent in scoring, and Harden has a deep sense of that.

And the Lakers' most stable scoring point is undoubtedly Kobe.

Kobe Bryant has improved his condition to the best after recuperating from injuries and returning to adjust.

After Harden made Kobe Bryant's foul, Kobe Bryant of course had to return the color.

Li Liang holds the ball on the outside, Kobe Bryant is stuck in the waist position, and Li Liang hangs the ball to Kobe.

Kobe Bryant receives the ball and observes the Rockets' defense, there is no bag, there is someone under the basket.

Asik moves to the strong side, and if he goes to the baseline, he will hit the wall.

Parsons' attention is focused, and there should be a pinch.

Bryant quickly judged the situation, and then turned his back to Harden.

Don't look at Harden's weight, but for Kobe, LeBron James can play with his back open, let alone Harden.

Kobe Bryant still walked the bottom line, but instead of turning inside, he took a step outside and made a mid-range turnover jumper!

The posture is quite beautiful, but I didn't enter.

After judging and interpreting for a long time, an iron came.

It's very Kobe.

Jeremy Lin grabbed this backcourt rebound and launched a quick counterattack directly.

This is the familiar rhythm of the Rockets, Jeremy Lin has already hit the basket as soon as he passes half the court and passes to the basket too long.

Also an air relay!

But Parsons didn't expect that Li Liang followed from behind and slapped the ball off his hand with one palm!

The ball flew off the baseline, and it was still the Rocket's possession.

The Rockets' chance to score a simple point was ruined.

The Lakers players felt that it was imperative to score, but they didn't expect Li Liang to destroy it.

Mike Brown couldn't help but applaud on the sidelines, Li Liang said before the game that his defense had improved, is it true?

Positional offense, the Rockets don't have many options, or give the ball to Harden.

The Lakers' defensive strategy is very clear, Kobe Bryant defends Harden one-on-one, he lets him play if he can, but never gives him a chance to pass the ball to drive his teammates.

Mike Brown's strategy is correct, and Harden is the real reliable engine for the Rockets.

Jeremy Lin and Parsons are also very good, but if Harden doesn't open this point, the Rockets' offense won't come alive.

Harden faced Kobe Bryant, walked on the left side after continuous dribbling, broke through Kobe's defense, and made a layup!

Harden has scored seven points, and the Rockets' seven points have come from him.

Li Liang couldn't look at it, and said, "Boss, can you do it, if you can't do it, I'll defend it?" ”

Of course, Kobe Bryant won't let Li Liang defend, he is so good for a while, can he be killed by Harden?

Kobe, who was deflated on Harden, immediately returned one on the offensive end.

He received the ball high post, took a step to the edge of the three-second zone with the help of a screen, and then hit a pull-up jumper.

The Rockets' defense lacks stickiness, and Bryant's position between the three-point line and the three-second zone is free to come and go.

And their offense was suppressed by the Lakers.

Li Liang will press the ball carrier of the Rockets in the backcourt for the first time and do not speed him up.

After halftime, he changed the guard to relieve Nash of defensive pressure.

Anyway, Greg Smith doesn't need Li Liang to spend much energy on defense, he can naturally be free to help.

His [basic defense on the outside] reached 81 points and entered a new level.

[Follow Defense/Stick Defense] also reached 71 points, and Jeremy Lin found that it was difficult to get rid of Li Liang whether it was speed or strength.

In the first quarter, the Lakers beat the Rockets 28-19 and led by nine points.

If it weren't for Kobe's bad hand in the first quarter, the point difference would definitely be even greater.

Li Liang scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in the first quarter.

He's playing perfectly, a reasonable team on the offensive end, vital on the defensive end, and not at all as reckless as a rookie.

At the beginning of the second quarter, he sat on the sidelines to rest, and Mike Brown next to him couldn't help but boast: "Playing well Bruce, the first playoffs, to keep up." ”

Li Liang said: "Big brother, are you good at using dim sum on offense, look at what you arranged, and let you play from the inside, you haven't learned enough lessons from the regular season?" ”

Brown spread his hands: "The playoffs, it's a little safer, starting with three points, there will be risks, you see we have the rhythm under control." ”

Li Liang said: "You don't open the three-way game, and then you think you can open it if you want to?" We controlled the tempo defensively, not offensively. But other teams won't be as easy to defend as the Rockets. ”

Li Liang gave Brown a roll of the eye, his playoff thinking this time is obviously the old idea, and it is the thinking of the Eastern team.

Regardless of thirty-seven twenty-one, seek stability, attack the success rate, and then fight defense.

It's no problem to play rockets, because the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, and there won't be much chance of playing rockets normally.

But there are still semi-finals and finals later, and the opponents will get stronger and stronger.

At the end of the regular season, it doesn't mean that the team's play is finalized, and it is all tested.

On the contrary, the playoffs are a process of constant change, growth and grinding.

Many teams have evolved in the playoffs to reach their best.

Li Liang's words made Mike Brown think that maybe he should really think of something on offense.

……

In the second quarter, the two sides teamed up, Gasol brought a bench on the court, and the Rockets replaced Beverley, Garcia, and Delfino.

The Rockets' bench has been very good in the regular season, and they often use the second team to pull points and chase points.

Gasol missed his opening outside shot, the Rockets quickly counterattacked, and after successive passes, Garcia missed a three-point shot from the bottom corner.

Gasol has been in average form since returning from injury and will need time to regain his senses.

The Lakers, for their part, are also experimenting with players and rosters, with Blake and Meeks coming off the bench at the same time.

The two made a cross-cover cooperation on the outside, and Misque received the ball and went straight to the basket!

Layups!

Three do not stick......

This little short hand, the layup is not once or twice.

The Rockets counterattacked, the ball went to Terrence Jones's hands, and after receiving the ball, he made a layup in three steps!

Walking......

The bench lineups on both sides show off the lower limit here.

"Soak the balls! Soak the balls! ”

Li Liang sat on the bench and couldn't help yelling, what are you playing blindly?

The two guards will either attack themselves or let Gasol go to the mid-range shot at the end?

Meeks felt Li Liang's anger, and the next attack monster gave the ball to Gasol in the low post.

This is Gasol's position, and after squeezing two steps inside, he distributed the ball to Jamison on the outside, and Jamison hit a three-point shot!

The second quarter was finally scored.

The Lakers bench slowly found a way to play on the offensive end, and the Rockets played faster and faster, and they felt like they were playing.

Garcia made a foul on the free throw line and hit both free throws.

Gasol singled Jones in the low post and scored two points.

The playoffs are all about targeting, and your weaknesses will be infinitely magnified.

The weakness of the Rockets' second team is that there is no one on the inside who can play against Gasol in the low post.

Jones went up for nothing.

Jones's low-post defensive ability, Li Liang couldn't be clearer.

The two sides fought for another two minutes, and the referee's whistle began to sound frequently.

The score came to 35-24, and the Lakers led by 11 points.

The game entered an official pause, and the main force had to be reintroduced.

In the playoffs, the rotation will be shortened, and Kobe Bryant and Nash will have to start to adjust to longer playing time.

The Rockets are also back in the workforce.

However, McHale made a change, replacing Beverley and replacing Greg Smith to play one big and four small.

Because of Li Liang's existence, Smith can hardly play a role.

At the same time, Beverley will defend Kobe Bryant to free up Harden's offense.

Harden touched his beard and seemed to touch his seal.

Back on the first offense on the court, the Rockets no longer do meaningless passing, and directly give the ball to Harden.

Harden took the ball, and the left side suddenly accelerated to break through the middle, and Kobe Bryant followed.

Harden pushed Kobe Bryant with his shoulder, Kobe Bryant stepped down and cut the ball off Harden's hand!

"Beep!"

The referee blew the whistle.

Kobe Bryant looked at the referee, and the referee signaled that Kobe had fouled.

"I fouled? Where did I foul? “

"You're a hitter."

"Then why did he make free throws?"

"He raised his hand, counted as a layup."