An important addition for the Rockets this season was the acquisition of Trevor Ariza.

The 3-and-D player, who was the Rockets boss for a season and almost knocked Houston's basket crooked, was still very good as a role player.

At a time when every team is in dire need of 3-and-D players, Ariza's arrival fills the last shortcoming of the Rockets' roster.

Rockets starters Al Jefferson and Josh Smith, small forward Ariza, guards Harden and Beverley.

It should be said that this is a very balanced starting configuration, and after last season's run-in, the team has been integrated quite well.

If there is any flaw, it may be that Smith's point projection ability is somewhat lacking.

Although Smith dared to vote, it was a pity that it was not accurate.

The guard line replaced Jeremy Lin with Beverley, making up for Harden's innate shortcomings in close defense.

The front line let go of Parsons, and Ariza proved to be better than Parsons.

Of course, this kind of behavior of letting go of the players he has cultivated in vain, and then going to the free market to buy and buy on the trading market, is also what Morey can do.

Because stupid?

No, just trying to save money.

As for whether you can win the championship, let's see if you can do it.

If you have the opportunity, you will rush it, and if you don't have the opportunity to save money.

So the Rockets' lineup, which looks good, can make the playoffs, can attract fans.

But it's not a small distance away from the championship, no matter how you look at it.

From the perspective of the lineup, the Pacers may be similar to the Rockets, the only difference is that the Pacers have Li Liang, and the Pacers are in the East.

The core of the Rockets is Harden, and the Rockets are in the West.

Before the game, this matchup was very hot, broadcast live in the United States, and a large number of fans watched it in China.

After all, the Rockets can be regarded as the home team of Chinese fans, although after Yao Ming retired, the Rockets have nothing to do with Chinese players.

But China has such a big market, whether you like it or not, the rocket has to be hung on China to suck some blood.

In fact, Texas, where Houston is located, may be one of the most racist regions in the United States.

If it weren't for Yao Ming, the rocket wouldn't have been associated with China.

If you want to talk about the number of Chinese, there are many more Chinese in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco on the east and west coasts.

It can only be said that the rocket is lucky.

Because of this, there are also many Chinese fans in Houston, and the Toyota Center is rarely full before the start of the game in the evening.

It's really not easy, the Toyota Center can fill the audience before the game starts, which is equivalent to Heat fans not leaving the stadium early.

After the opening ceremony of the dance of the hot cheerleaders, the game between the two sides will begin.

The navy blue striped away jersey with yellow trim worn by the Pacers tonight looked out of place in the red Toyota Center.

George Hill still didn't play tonight, and it was Donald Sloan who started in his place.

Fortunately, the Rockets are one of the few teams in the league where point guards basically don't have autonomous offensive power.

It can be said that a center with a shooting guard like the Rockets, which was once a classic combination in the league, has now become non-mainstream.

Now the mainstream of the league is super small forwards or super point guards with various shooters and meat shield centers.

The two sides jumped in the middle circle, and Li Liang walked to the middle circle reluctantly, and he jumped the ball again.

In the past, Li Liang could always get the ball without fighting, but now everyone has seen through his routine.

If you don't jump, your opponent won't make the wrong move.

So Li Liang still has to jump.

With a symbolic jump, without fighting Al Jefferson, Harden got the ball and the game began.

In the first ball of the opening game, Harden held the ball in the high post, Josh Smith came over to block and dismantle, Smith went down, and after receiving Harden's pass, Li Liang came to visit, and Smith made a short pass to Jefferson to the bottom line.

Jefferson received the ball, Li Liang turned back to make up for the defense, Jefferson pushed Li Liang to force a layup, but Li Liang nodded the ball from behind and missed.

Grabbed the rebound in the front court, and then went up, was disturbed, and still missed!

The referee bit the whistle on the side and did not blow Li Liang's foul.

Li Liang is a bit of a move in this ball, after all, his height suffers.

But the referee didn't want to be spit on by Li Liang as soon as he started, so he thought about it and put up with it.

After missing two layups, Li Liang grabbed the backcourt rebound and controlled the ball himself for half the court.

In Hill's absence, Li Liang wants to be a center and a point guard.

Give the ball to JR-Smith, who then transfers the ball to Granger.

Li Liang finally covered Granger, Granger broke through, hit a deep position under the basket, had no chance, and turned around to share the ball with Li Liang.

Li Liang was in front of the middle, shook off Josh Smith with a feint, and then ......

"Beep!"

The referee's whistle blows, needless to say, free throws.

This Smith was so careless that he jumped casually.

You play ball training with Brother Deng every day, don't know how to be careful?

Li Liang is also a thief, and he let Smith foul at the beginning, and then he will definitely shoot a mouse trap on defense.

With both free throws, the Pacers opened with a 2-0 lead over the Rockets.

However, the Rockets' opening three-point shot felt good.

Beverley was on offense, trying to shoot the first three-pointer of the opening game, and the result was hit.

Then the Pacers hit the basket, and West's hook that rolled over missed.

Harden countered with the ball, and then passed to Beverley on the right, Beverley made another three-point shot and hit it!

At 2:6, the Rockets successfully overtook him.

Li Liang served to Sloan on the bottom line, and scolded by the way: "Will you be able to defend?" Will it be a marker? Does the point guard want me to defend it too? ”

Sloane didn't speak.

When scolded, stand upright.

Then, Sloan held the ball and blocked with Li Liang, hitting the ground and passing the ball to Li Liang.

Li Liang received the ball, cut in 45 degrees on the left side, made a quick stop jump shot, hit the board from close range, and hit two points.

Li Liang is now playing more and more like a big forward, blocking and dismantling inward, blocking and dismantling down, and eating cakes under the basket.

I don't know, I thought he was a standard blue-collar insider.

If the defender thinks so, it will definitely suffer a big loss.

The Rockets started the game in good offensive form.

Harden immediately singled JR Smith one-on-one on the offensive end and hit a mid-range jumper from step back.

Fortunately, Harden did not return porcelain for porcelain in the face of Li Liang's provocation, and there was also a middle distance, and the retreat step was also very chic.

Then Granger received the ball in the middle, broke through and hit the ground to West, who made an easy layup.

Jefferson's defensive pace was still a little slower.

The offense on both sides felt good at the beginning, and the Pacers' defensive intensity didn't go up.

Then, Ariza burst into the basket with the ball and wanted to rush Li Liang's ten fingers.

The very reluctant throw missed, Li Liang grabbed the backcourt rebound, and the Pacers quickly counterattacked.

Granger dribbled in front, Li Liang followed, Granger gave the ball to Li Liang, and Li Liang received the ball at the top of the arc and shot directly at the top of the three-point shot.

Hit.

7:8, chasing a difference of 1 point.

At this time, Brother Deng's stunt is about to appear.

Without saying a word, he broke through in the middle and crashed into Li Liang!

Li Liang leaned over slightly, [Death Entanglement] made a move, and slapped the ball in Brother Deng's hand......

Li Liang used his skills so early, in order to knock the mountain and shock the tiger and make Harden rein in, your trick is useless to me.

Harden already leads the league in free throws this season, well ahead of second-place Westbrook.

The collision after his breakthrough is indeed very strong, if you don't defend it, he goes straight to the basket, if you defend it, you will be rubbed by his arms and shoulders, and it will be a foul if you are not careful.

Li Liang used his skills to steal Harden's layup, and the Pacers counterattacked.

Li Liang rushed to the front, received the ball outside the three-point line, paused, Josh Smith pounced from behind, and then rushed over the head.

Li Liang regained his speed, hit the basket straight from the middle, faced Jefferson, and hit a steady stop-and-go jumper.

It's too steady, and his close-range retro board jumper is really big for the whole league.

It's not easy to defend, because you have to pounce very far to defend, but this way the inside line is easy to leak a large piece.

It's better to let him shoot, after all, the shooting percentage is not as high as the layup.

But Li Liang is accurate, and he is really quite accurate.

Ariza was on offense, missing a three-point shot from the bottom right corner, and the Rockets' shooting percentage was rapidly declining.

The Pacers' man-to-man defense is very focused on mid-to-long-range shooting.

It's time for the Rockets to think about singles in the low post.

Li Liang accepted the rebound, and then on offense, Harden followed the baseline defense and made a steal.

It seems that Brother Deng will still defend, depending on whether he is willing or not.

It is estimated that he was just snatched by Li Liang, which made him a little angry.

Immediately, Harden rushed to the basket again on the counterattack, grabbed the ball with both arms like a big crab claw, and sent the ball up from the bottom up.

If you reach out, you hit him on the arm and commit a foul.

If you don't reach out, he'll get a layup.

If you want to block, it's basically hard to block because he's holding the ball in both hands, and the block will almost inevitably hit one of the arms.

Li Liang is very bad, why don't I jump up and block it, aren't you rubbing it up, I'll help you.

Li Liang directly pushed Harden in the back, Harden's center of gravity was too forward, and he rushed directly out of the bottom line......

"Beep!" The referee, of course, blew for a foul.

Although Li Liang's ball was quite hidden, it was still discovered.

Li Liang learned this trick from Paul, and in one season with the Clippers, he didn't learn the good ones, and he learned a lot of the bad ones.

Of course, Harden was very unhappy when he was pushed, but what he was even more unhappy about was that his tried and tested tricks seemed to be useless to Li Liang.

He had two free throws with the ball, but it wasn't the offended posture he was used to, and he didn't like it.

This led to Harden, who has always been accurate in free throws, missed the second free throw, and was picked up by Li Liang for a rebound.

The offense and defense on both sides began to heat up.

The Rockets, in general, are a team that doesn't have too many complicated tactics.

As a former teammate of Bird's, McHale didn't know much about tactics anyway.

The two hugged before the game started and didn't say anything.

They are good partners on the field, but they don't have a good relationship off the field.

The Pacers opted to let West force one in the low post.

West's low-post technique is still very good, hitting a jumper from behind his back and scoring two points.

The Pacers' offense is getting better and better, while the Rockets are a bit of a mess.

Harden broke through with the ball again, and still hit the basket, he doesn't believe in evil!

As a result, Li Liang stood straight in front of Harden, Harden hit Li Liang, Li Liang fell, Harden also fell, and the two fell together.

The referee doesn't care, blow the whistle first, there's a foul anyway, it's either him or you.

So who is it?

Li Liang pointed at Harden and shouted: "Offensive foul, offensive foul!" ”

Then the referee blew for an offensive foul on Harden.

Harden sat on the ground with wide-eyed eyes and spread his hands with an innocent look.

Li Liang got up and patted him, "Don't pretend, get up, there is a camera." ”