At 9 a.m. Beijing time on November 12, 2017, the Houston Rockets hosted the Memphis Grizzlies.

The bitter master of Team Rocket.

The Rockets have a 9-3 record so far this season, and two of those three losses have come to the Grizzlies. The Rockets took the lead, squandered their chances, and the Grizzlies forged ahead and came from behind, and the two games went almost identically. The Rockets, the owners of the Toyota Center, are united tonight, and this game cannot afford to lose.

1/

"We won't repeat the mistakes of the past." James Harden said after the game. He scored a high score of 38 points in this game, scoring more than 35 points in the third consecutive game.

"As long as we're consistent and clear about what our long-term goals are, we're going to get better and better." Harden also said in an interview.

This sentence seems to have been specially arranged to be heard by Yang Yiming, who had just met with head coach Mike D'Antoni alone the day before. D'Antoni set the goal of winning the Rookie of the Year award for the latter in a fake joke, and today's game is the first step in a long journey.

With more than five minutes left in the second quarter, the Rockets, who had led the way, were advanced by Harden with a dribble in an offensive and defensive transition. I saw him dribbling to the three-point line like a leisurely stroll, and observed that the Grizzlies players were in a hurry to withdraw to the three-point line, and then dribbled under the crotch, took a step back, shook off the opponent who was too deep in defense, and hit a three-point shot, 51-36, and the Rockets led by 15 points.

However, there was always a sudden change on the court, and the Grizzlies immediately turned over after the timeout, playing a wave of 12-2 offensive climax, closing the score to only 5 points, forcing the Rockets to become the side that shouted a timeout to the technical table!

Is the old script of the previous defeat going to be repeated?

In the wave of offense led by the Grizzlies just now, Yang Yiming contributed two points to the Rockets by making free throws, and he had been on the court for more than ten minutes before he opened his personal scoring account.

"Solid performance... Be clear about your goals..."

It's easier said than done.

2/

After the meeting with Coach D'Antoni, Yang Yiming, who had been away from the bus restaurant for a long time, was still stunned.

"The coach said he was going to make you fight for the best rookie, what do you think?" Jose, who came to pick them up, hadn't arrived yet, and Yu Xiaochun accompanied him to hang out in the parking lot outside the restaurant.

"To be honest, I'm a little confused." Yang Yiming lowered his head and kicked the gravel on the ground.

"Me too."

"Do you think there's a play?"

"With your current efficiency, I don't think it's impossible." Yu Xiaochun calculated Yang Yiming's playing time and statistics in his heart before answering his question and said, "The coach just said that he would give you more playing time, which will be increased to about 30 minutes per game." If you can be as productive as you are now in 30 minutes, I think it's fun..."

"But?" Hearing that his friend said it to the end, his tone changed, and Yang Yiming turned his head and asked.

"Yes, but..."Yu Xiaochun glanced at Yang Yiming, then looked away, looked in the direction where Jose's car was coming and said, "Every game is played for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and even 40 minutes, and the efficiency that can be maintained is different." If every player can maintain 40 minutes of efficiency, the coach can directly promote the best sixth man like Eric Gordon to the starting lineup and become a superstar. ”

"Well, I think so too."

"That's right, but I'm not saying that Eric doesn't have the quality to start."

"I know. Judging by his current performance, he is almost the best of his career. ”

"I'm kind of looking forward to Chris Paul coming back, and the chemistry of the Rockets' backcourt trident is there."

Well. Yang Yiming also followed Yu Xiaochun's gaze and looked into the distance together. The topic of conversation seemed to wander a little casually, he thought. But so what? To the east, the sun was rising at this time, and the sun was dazzling, shining on the faces of the two people full of imagination. "So what did the coach say besides the playing time?"

Looking in the direction, José's white Toyota van approached from the other side of the road, and he waved in the car to make a U-turn.

"He said to make you watch your diet and stop fried foods and carbonated drinks. No matter how delicate it is, you can consult the team's nutritionist. ”

"Hmm." Yang Yiming nodded, thanks to the habits he had developed since childhood, he has always been more particular about diet, "Is there anything else?" ”

"This..."Yu Xiaochun was still trying to recall the conversation just now, Jose's Toyota had already turned around in front, turned on the turn signal, and slowly turned out of the lane.

"Did he ask me if I had jumped higher?"

"Oh yes, yes."

"Did you jump higher?" Mike D'Antoni crossed his hands, squinted at Yang Yiming, and then shook his head in self-denial, muttering, "Impossible, I guess I'm dazzled, how can it be that the bounce has become better..."

What an old fox who makes good use of the agitation method! Thinking of this, Yang Yiming couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth, Jose's car was stable in front of them, and before the automatic door was fully opened, he jumped in first. "Are you going home?" Jose, who was in the front seat, grabbed the headrest of the passenger seat, turned around and asked.

"Let's go to the arena!"

"It's 11 o'clock, and it's only 8 o'clock." Yu Xiaochun, who followed the car, reminded him.

"Let's drive." Yang Yiming patted Jose on the shoulder, "Let's go to the stadium." ”

"—we still have a lot of work to do."

3/

Unexpectedly, in the training hall of the Rocket team, before Yang Yiming and Yu Xiaochun pushed open the door of the stadium, the sound of Bangbang's basketball had already come out.

8:17 a.m.

"Who will it be so early?" The two made eye contact tacitly.

Pushing open the door, the No. 10 Rockets basketball bag was thrown on the ground, towels, empty bottles of Gatorade after drinking, and the back of a round-headed man under the basketball hoop was wearing training clothes and a huge headset Bluetooth headset, sitting under the basketball hoop to rest. The sweat on the back dripped on the floor, and I didn't forget to practice dribbling in my hands to maintain the feel.

The guy who arrived earlier than Yang Yiming was the teammate he just talked about, Eric Gordon.

"Yang, are you here too?" The round-headed guy heard the movement, took off the headphones and greeted Yang Yiming warmly, smiling warmly.

"Hmm. How long have you been here? ”

"It arrived at 7 o'clock." Gordon looked up at the clock in the gym and replied lightly, "More than an hour." ”

Yang Yiming and Yu Xiaochun were shocked. Although the story of the NBA training maniac represented by Kobe Bryant's "Los Angeles at 4 a.m." has long been known to passers-by, it is still shocking to see it with my own eyes today. Perhaps this is the mystery of Eric Gordon's rise from the best sixth man to the level of the team's starter, and still maintain super efficiency.

"Hey, why are you still stunned there?" Gordon threw the basketball out as he spoke, and Yang Yiming caught it with both hands.

"Let's practice three-point shooting. Shoot 100 balls from 5 shooting points, Yu Xiaochun, you can help us pick up the ball and count it. Gordon walked back onto the pitch without looking back.

"Good!" Yang Yiming and Yu Xiaochun followed.

With such teammates, who can not be full of energy!

In the Toyota Center, the second half of the game began, and Yang Yiming, who scored 6 points, had a chance to continue to start in the third quarter. The Rockets, who have a double-digit advantage, finally stopped ups and downs, and their offense was unstoppable. On a counterattack, Yang Yiming crossed the half-court ground-hitting pass and successfully found Eric Gordon who was ambushed at 45 degrees on the left side, who was unguarded and hit a three-point shot.

71 to 56.

The two high-fived in celebration.

"Remember your training." After the high-five, Gordon whispered in Yang Yiming's ear.

Pointers?!

Well! He nodded vigorously.

In the three-point shooting competition that day, Gordon hit 53 of 100 shots to win 53-44.

is a service, the two Jin Cheng joined forces, and arrows rained down. Gordon shot 6-of-11 from three-point range and shot 54.5 percent, slightly exceeding the level of unguarded training. Yang Yiming made 4 of 6 three-point shots, all from the second half, and finally scored 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

111-96, the Grizzlies are weak, and the Rockets defeat the enemy.

The first step towards the long-term goal of being the best rookie is pretty solid!