222 Laughing
Harden's wild laughter in the locker room after the G3 game actually worked.
"The MVP has to be led by a rookie." This is by no means to say that Yang Yiming's two waves of point-grabbing actions occupy the limelight. Because he then said: "Except for that rookie Yang, aren't we all just pursuing these pursuits!" In the third game of the Western Finals, Harden had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and Yang Yiming relied on two singles skills to get 19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. Harden certainly needs help, and he just hates that there are too few assistants in this game. Harden has already led the team with 9 assists, maybe he just secretly blamed himself for not scoring more!
"We've just been beaten up, and we can't wait to go fishing and sunbathing in the nightclub early!" After a 41-point defeat, Harden pointed out that the whole team had no fighting spirit. Who the hell wants to go on vacation and give up struggling? "I don't know where I got the confidence, but I booked my ticket to Hawaii early this year." It's not Harden who wants to take a vacation, he wants to taste the Finals more than anyone else. When he said this, he obviously wanted to wake up his sleeping teammates!
So, G4 this time, the rocket has finally woken up!
1/
In the opening five-and-a-half minutes, the Rockets were tied 12-0. Will the tragedy be repeated? Harden, who laughed wildly, was the first to refuse.
Harden made a fast-break layup to steal the Rockets' first point.
Facing Green and Durant, Harden was tough enough to score two points again.
Deng Ge wants to attack strongly, and the warriors have to tighten up! But Harden, who is no longer allowed to lose, can be easily restricted. After Harden got past Curry in one step, Thompson made up for the defense, and Harden quickly distributed the ball to Ariza in the bottom corner and sent a three-point assist. Assists and breakthroughs are open, and Harden still has room for three-point shooting! He singled out Curry, didn't hesitate, and hit the shot.
Three-pointers, assists, breakaways. Harden's arsenal is on fire!
His next offensive options? … The Warriors called a timeout, set it up, and shouted "defend" all over the court, but while everyone was still guessing the next move, Harden had already stepped forward, leaned on his body to push Livingston, and easily picked up a basket in the face of the unguarded restricted area!
God is back in place!
The Rockets trailed by 12 points at the beginning, but thanks to Harden's consecutive nine points and one assist, they actually chased the margin to single digits at the end of the first quarter.
Then as long as you fall behind, as long as you lose, the mission of Rocket G4 is considered a complete failure.
So Brother Beard is still killing.
In the second quarter, Yang Yiming also played, and the Rockets used him and Tucker to pair the interior line to reduce the height and speed up again. The Warriors' Green responded from outside the three-point line, and his lateral pass through the box made a big mistake, which was spotted by Yang Yiming, who waved his hand and knocked the pass away. Paul had a quick eye and was the first to control the floor ball and push forward quickly. Paul hit the front court and braked sharply at the three-point line, and immediately threw everyone away from the Warriors' retreat, but unfortunately he hesitated and didn't make a move, and the Warriors quickly retreated, and he could only give the ball to Harden to reorganize.
I thought that Harden would press down the rhythm one-on-one, but I didn't expect that he didn't intend to give the Warriors defense a moment of respite, he ate Curry in one step and hit the unguarded restricted area - Draymond Green came to make up for it, but Harden has spread his wings and fly high!
Face Green, tomahawk split!
Two points are effective, causing Green to foul and add free throws!
After this ball, Harden's 2+1 closed the score to 34-36, officially sounding the horn of counterattack.
Chris Paul has finally stepped up as well. He got to the basket and rolled over to hook two points under the pressure of the two longs. The three-point shot, which had been bad in the first three games, was also shot! The ball that Harden dunked just now, in fact, if Paul chooses to shoot by himself, he also has a good chance, but he may not have enough confidence, so he handed it back to Harden and almost delayed the fight. But this time, when Harden's burst found CP3 again, Paul didn't hesitate to make a move.
Hollow into the net! The Rockets overtook the score!
Faith comes, and St. Paul is truly unstoppable. He played small, singled out Livingston, pulled out without losing his position at all, and hit another three-pointer!
2/
When the leader of the team has set an example, the "role player" is of course even more obligatory. The ball that Harden dunked violently was initiated by Yang Yiming's steal. The Rockets took the lead, and the Warriors had to hand over the ball to Durant as usual, starting from the point where the most offensive grasp was made, and Durant's defender was naturally Yang Yiming, who had defended him for three games!
I saw Durant change direction in front of his body, and after pulling out a gap outside the three-point line, he was ready to go straight to the basket to cause damage. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to collect the ball and start, Yang Yiming's hand bypassed Durant's body and clicked off the basketball! Floor balls! Yang Yiming made a horizontal pounce, lay down on the ground first, and used his body to block Durant's opportunity to counterattack. At the same time, he saw that Harden had started, and he took advantage of the gap between the Warriors' defense and pushed it directly, and the ball was sent to Harden, who dunked directly!
But this is by no means the end of Yang Yiming's successful defense! The Warriors continued to rely on Durant, but this time Yang Yiming was more confident, he gave a step to let the latter break through, and it was also at the moment of receiving the ball that Yang Yiming directly slapped Durant's basketball that was about to dunk and return to color. The referee thinks it's good defense! Paul immediately launched a two-man fast run with Harden, and Harden didn't do anything in the face of Green's blocking. He half-turned to block Green and hit the ground to pass to Paul, who threw a shot.
The Rockets, who were still 9 points behind in the first quarter, suddenly surpassed by as many as 10 points before halftime!
However, the Warriors will never throw in the towel.
In the third quarter, which they are best at, it was G3 Stephen Curry who stepped up: beat Harden strongly, scored a layup to create 2+1, and made an empty three-pointer to give away points. The Rockets called a timeout. But Curry's feel continues: two steps outside the three-point line missed, Durant grabbed the rebound in the frontcourt, handed Curry a second shot, and hit! When the Rockets attacked, Ariza dribbled out of bounds and had to rely on defense again. They pressed the Warriors to the last second, and in the corner of the ball. But Curry survived to the death, completely ignoring PJ Tucker's block and hitting the ground with a super difficult back.
The Rockets called a second timeout!
Although Paul and Ariza stepped up to stop the bleeding, the Rockets still lost by 17 points in the quarter and entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point disadvantage.
Losing situation?
No! Isn't this the situation in the third game, where Yang Yiming is looking forward to releasing his skills in the fourth quarter?!
At that time, the Rockets had closed the gap to nearly 20 points at the end of the third quarter, and Yang Yiming expected his teammates to score more points to further narrow the difference, and then rely on his second release of player skills to regain lost ground in one fell swoop. It's a pity that the perfect situation he was waiting for didn't appear in the third Western Finals, and this time, he couldn't wait any longer!
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Yang Yiming appeared on the court.
He didn't hesitate to take Paul's pass and shoot a three-pointer straight away, kicking off the scoring.
Deliberately dribbling to the bottom corner to attract the Warriors to a double wrap, he jumped into the air to split the ball to Ariza, who hit a layup.
Gerald Green intercepted, Yang Yiming took the lead on the counterattack, and the European step layup caused Jordan Bell to foul. He hit both free throws.
Falling into the positional battle, Paul, who was misplaced to the low post, saw the timing and passed the ball behind his backhand, just as Yang Yiming cut into the basket and made an easy layup.
In the last attack in the three minutes of the skill release, the whole team had already pulled away for Yang Yiming, who felt hot, and he singled at the top of the arc. He shook and shot a basket with a shot that smashed into the front of the front. But Tucker came out of the spur, and he withstood the pressure of the defender and pointed the frontcourt rebound in front of Paul, who feinted and shook off the Warriors' defense. Yang Yiming had already circled to the bottom line at this time, Paul glanced at it, turned his wrist, and the ball was sent to the former, and he reflexively dunked!
The ball is in!
In less than three minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rockets started with an 11-0 run!
With this wave of offense, the Rockets re-established their lead and won Game 4 of the series! This time, Yang Yiming's skills were finally not released!
In the arena of the Golden State Warriors, watch and listen again at this time, who is laughing wildly!