Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was not Yang Yiming's first NBA game start, nor was he the first time he played against a league superstar, but because it was placed on Christmas Day, this appearance was given a special meaning.

Carmelo Anthony, Thunder's No. 7.

The man who had a summer scandal with the Rockets was standing on the other side of the court at this time. An Asian who was silent in the offseason and was called up at the last minute, he will be in charge of guarding today.

The basketball is thrown into the air.

The focus of the spotlight.

Giant arms are staggered, and the flames of war are burning.

1/

Coach D'Antoni's emergency meeting at the airport was really targeted, and the Thunder opened the game, starting with reigning regular season MVP Russell Westbrook. Wei Shao held the ball and faced the Rockets defender for several rounds in a row to force a mid-range jumper, but unfortunately maybe the opening style was slightly tight, and Wei Shao's mid-range shot continued to hit the iron. Even though the team sent a 7-0 attack wave, the output was weak and was soon slightly overtaken by the Rockets.

MVP really has excellent basketball wisdom, and when he saw that he couldn't do it, he immediately changed his strategy, first blocking and dismantling frequently with Adams. The Rockets' Capela was ordered at the last moment and insisted on starting the game. Executing Coach D'Antoni's pre-game arrangement, he guarded the basket and didn't lift it up when blocking and forced Adams to shoot from mid-range. Helplessly, the opponent felt quite smooth today, and hit all the shots several times, and the Thunder team gradually caught up with the score.

Seeing that the blocking and dismantling tactics worked, Wei Shao's offensive options were even more unrestrained, and the ball flowed to the hands of "melon" Carmelo Anthony several times, and the-for-tat confrontation between him and Yang Yiming in this game was officially kicked off.

2/

In the first quarter, Anthony and Yang Yiming were one-on-one four times, three offenses and one defense.

At the five-minute mark, Anthony was the first to attack. Willis held the ball from beyond the three-point line and blocked with Adams high post, and just when everyone was still afraid of a long and fast connection, Anthony bypassed Paul George's off-ball block at the baseline and received the ball at a 45-degree angle. Although Yang Yiming was engrossed and kept following closely, George's high-quality off-ball blocking and dismantling happened to be stuck in a position. Anthony received the ball and threw it, Yang Yiming was a step late, even if he made a blocking action, it was useless, and he hollowed into the net.

The two faced off, and Melon led 1-0.

In the next round, Melon, who had just hit a three-point shot, really received Wei Shao's feed again, this time it was a positional battle with a middle distance on the left side, and it was also Anthony's most comfortable offensive starting point.

Widely praised by contemporary basketball commentators as the most offensive small forward, Anthony can get the ball in this position, and can shoot on the spot after shaking with a tentative step, or shoot after dribbling from the front to shake off the angle, or he can play with his back to the single, using his physical advantage to sit and play inside. All in all, according to Anthony's good friend Chris Paul before the game, "You have to defend against every offense, but you can fail to defend every offense." ”

For Anthony's kaleidoscopic arsenal, Yang Yiming has also been mentally prepared. Yu Xiaochun found a comment on the historic scorer in the "Blocking Cheats": Cameron's diverse offensive options often make defenders in a dilemma and very confused. But what many people don't know is that this 2.03 meter 03 weighing 109 kg 03 Tanhua Xiu, after entering the league's 14th season, is no longer in the same state as in the past - at least not every weapon he once pinched is still shining with the sharp light of the year.

According to the advice of the cheats, in fact, Anthony is best suited to use the top soft touch to be a catch-and-shoot shooter, and the success rate of his dribbling singles and physical strong shots has the sense of yesterday's yellow flower. So correspondingly, the defender should do the opposite as much as possible and force Anthony to choose a method with a low success rate!

But it's always easier said than done!

Anthony, who made a three-point shot in the last round, was obviously full of confidence, and this time he only made a probing step to catch the ball and hit it directly. Although Yang Yiming was also prepared, he reached out in time to cover it, but was avoided by Anthony's leaning, and the basketball swept over Yang Yiming's fingers, and his fingertips could almost feel the wind drawn by the shooting trajectory. The ball hit the basket and rebound twice in a row, and finally landed!

This terrible feel!

Anthony 2 points, Yang Yiming hung zero.

3/

But fortunately, the battle between the two in the first quarter was not over.

China's Dr. Yang suffered defensively, but he remembered D'Antoni's pre-match arrangement about Wei Shao, "using offense to contain defense", and he immediately had a countermeasure.

When it was the Rockets' turn to attack, the ball was transmitted outside the three-point line, Yang Yiming stood at a 45-degree angle, according to the usual tactical arrangement, he only played the role of connecting point guard Harden and the bottom corner projection point, and would not rashly choose to attack. However, Yang Yiming saw that Anthony also had the same idea, took a step sideways and wanted to intercept the ball, but gave way to the basket, so he calculated and passed the ball to Ariza in the bottom corner of the ambush, deceived Anthony's center of gravity, and actually dribbled a step and dribbled the ball straight to the basket!

Melon was left behind, and only teammate Capela and Thunder center Adams were left in the basket!

How to end?

Everyone is watching.

Everyone held their breath.

Yang Yiming didn't panic, he was ready to continue to calculate! Adams stuck Capella behind him and faced the advancing Chinese. Yang Yiming met his eyes, and he didn't dodge, and his tenacious eyes saw that the seven-foot giant man was also a little hesitant. may be shocked by Yang's eyes, and more likely to be worried that he will pass the ball to Capela, who is threatening behind him, Adams did not move in the face of Yang Yiming's breakthrough with the ball, and let him dunk it violently!

Anthony can only be the background board, receive the Thunder baseline ball, and reorganize the attack.

The rocket took the lead again, and Yang Yiming pulled back one percent in the duel between the two!

Turning around, the melon that didn't show weakness really wanted to go deeper, leaning on Yang Yiming with his back, and asked for the ball to prepare to work alone. The ball arrived just in time, and he took turns arching his hip and shoulders to open his way to the paint.

Unexpectedly, Anthony's move was the one he should avoid the most after the decline in physical fitness and confrontation ability mentioned in the cheats, and he did not achieve the slightest advantage in the face of opponents who were not inferior in height and weight at all. Seeing that Anthony couldn't make a strong shot, he half-turned around and was ready to confuse the opponent with his pace and seek a shooting opportunity, Yang Yiming saw the opportunity to act again, deliberately giving up half of his position. Anthony thought that the footsteps were confused and worked, and shot with his low hand, but he didn't want to be in the middle of the shot, he stretched out an arm, like a dark cloud of pressure, and held down the melon's shot!

Although Anthony finally reluctantly pushed the ball out with the strength of his upper limbs, he completely lost his crosshairs, and the ball only smashed heavily on the lower edge of the basket and was properly accepted by Yang Yiming!

The offensive and defensive battle between the two sides, the score was a draw!