On December 19, U.S. time, the Houston Rockets did not play and could rest for another day.

However, due to the team's external publicity needs, even on non-game days, the Rockets were arranged to visit NASA's Johnson Space Center on this day to send holiday condolences to the American astronauts.

Although NASA is a subordinate agency of the U.S. federal government, its personnel composition is very much like a microcosm of American society, with cutting-edge scientific talents from all over the world being recruited to contribute to the U.S. space industry. So this visit of the Rockets specially arranged a group of international players on the team, led by Chris Paul, to play an exhibition game with the basketball team of NASA.

Yang Yiming, as a representative of Chinese players, is also among them.

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On this day, Houston was cloudless and the sky was clear. The Johnson Space Center is located about 35 kilometers southeast of downtown Houston, next to Clear Lake, and because it is far from the city, even the surrounding air is more refreshing and airy. After about half an hour on the highway, the group of Rockets players arrived at the base.

Although it is a local team in Houston, many of the players are visiting the space agency for the first time because of the distance from the city. It is rare that there are no competitions and training arrangements, and the weather is pleasant, and everyone is in a good mood, as if students are traveling.

Perhaps influenced by Hollywood blockbusters, Yang Yiming always thought that NASA would be heavily guarded and a top-secret agency of gods and gods, but when he arrived, he found that it was not the case at all. The Johnson Space Center is like an open, high-tech corporate park, with no checks and sentry posts, but many low-rise office buildings scattered among the green grass, and some aircraft such as space return capsules, carrier aircraft, supersonic planes and retired landing vehicles are dotted like props in the theme park, as if they could be restarted at any time. A group of children who saw the Rockets players get off the bus were so excited that they saw Santa Claus take a group photo with the spacecraft as the background.

"Play the game first, then visit the base." Team assistant Meritis took an early Christmas break, and today Amy, the team's social media reporter, took on a temporary role as the team's tour guide.

"Roger, Miss Amy." Chris Paul, as the well-deserved leader of this group, took the lead in all seriousness.

"Hey, Chris, play an exhibition game with NASA's own basketball team, don't be so serious." Luke Bamot, known to fans as the Prince of Cameroon, jumped out first to quip. It is true that although NASA is a top scientific research institution and should be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it still has no chance of winning against a group of professional players on the basketball court.

"Entertainment, don't get hurt." From the end of the group came Trevor Ariza's deep voice.

"So you can't play an air relay?" Clint Capela seems to be still thinking about the cake feast in the first few games, pretending to be sorry.

"It's not that you can't dunk, it's just that you pay attention to safety..."Paul is still a very serious captain, "just a few dunks, just help the fun." ”

"What Chris means is, Capela you dunk less and put more threes on the outside." Ryan Anderson, the only white man on the trip, was already on the sightseeing bus alone. He wore a peaked cap with the logo of the old Rockets, and looked very cool: "You guys can't get in the car yet?" ”

"Ryan, it's better for you to show off a dunk when the time comes." Yang Yiming also joined in this nonsensical pre-game discussion.

"Wearing a few hats is the right thing." As soon as he finished speaking, head coach Mike D'Antoni walked up and patted Yang Yiming on the shoulder and explained: "Remember to leave some opportunities for the opponent, I still want to play activities." ”

"You're going to play?!" Everyone spoke in unison.

"What's wrong? It's not like we just want to see you show your hand. Hurry up and get in the car and go to the pedaling field! ”

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NASA's basketball arena really amazed the Rockets.

This arena, the area of the arena is only the size of the Rockets training hall, there is a basketball court in the center, and there are several rows of seating on each side of the two long sides, which at first glance looks no different from an ordinary American high school arena. But upon closer inspection, I found that it was full of all kinds of high-tech parts, just like the space agency, which was really cool.

First of all, the giant curved screen directly above the arena is not inferior to the NBA team's court screen. Despite having only two sides, back-to-back facing seats on either side, their size and clarity are second to none in the entire league, and with the curved screen shape on the front, it is clear that the most cutting-edge LED display technology is applied. In addition to the screen hanging on the dome to play the role of playing the game picture, it also integrates a holographic projector and a high-speed video recorder, not only can project any hot field animation to the entire stadium floor, the high-speed video recorder can also record the movement of the player and the ball at any time, once any similar goals, out of bounds, unclear penalties, high-speed video recorder at any time to support the "Eagle Eye" review, all the controversy has become clear at a glance!

High-speed Wifi coverage throughout the stadium, each audience seat has a USB interface, and even spectators can connect to the stadium's dedicated channel, if the dome screen is not enjoyable enough to watch the synchronous broadcast, you can also view the instant replay on your mobile phone!

And the most surprising thing for the Rockets players is the layout of the arena. When I first arrived, there was a human-high net in the middle of the arena, and the lines on the ground were obviously also the layout of the volleyball game, but Yang Yiming and the others were still suspicious, and a window was opened on the wall of the two sections of the arena, and a pair of full-size basketball hoops stretched out from it. A group of field robots came out one after another, while putting away the volleyball net in the center, and circling the court on the other hand, the volleyball sticker was replaced with a basketball court in a regular manner!

This scene made all the Rockets players stunned.

Although the scene of the court layout was a small shock to the visiting Rockets, after the game started, the "visiting team" with professional players as the team quickly and unsurprisingly gained the upper hand. NASA's basketball team is also carefully selected, with an average height of more than 1.90 meters, and many people look like well-trained astronauts and pilots with outstanding bodies, but against the rocket team, it is indeed slightly inferior. Chris Paul and Clint Capela played their own games after a couple of aerial relays as agreed before the game. Paul showed off his fancy dribbling, faked fax passes behind his crotch, and worshiped Buddha to change speed and various skills, like flying flowers through butterflies, causing the remaining nine people on the court to stop like stakes to enjoy his one-man performance. Capela and Anderson played black and white, standing at two 45 degrees, two steps away from the three-point line, and did not break inside, throwing the ball open. Yang Yiming, Bamot, and Ariza took turns to play, and when attacking, they also hid in the bottom corner of the three-point line to secretly release cold arrows, and the defense sat on the inside, and they didn't really defend, just stretched out their hands to put on a posture. According to FIBA's 10-minute rule in the first quarter, the Rockets had a 32-14 lead over NASA at the end of the first quarter, and even D'Antoni had a chance to show off his skills in the second quarter, recreating the style of the best scoring guard who swept the Europa League that year.

At the end of 20 minutes of the half, the Rockets led 60-29.

Sure enough, it was just a light exhibition match today.

Still is...

It's not that simple?