"Hey, rookie, who told you to defend me?"

Under the basket, Howard seemed to be very kind, and he was talking to Whiteside very casually.

"Dude, you have to know that I'm not a rookie anymore. I'm here today to get you. ”

Undeterred, Whiteside replied confidently.

"Really? I'm so worried I'm going to send you to the hospital, your bones are really broken. Howard grinned, his eyes a little lowered.

Whiteside chuckled and said, "You can try." Man, all I can say is that you still think too highly of yourself. Your time is slowly passing. ”

"Oh, yes. Actually, it's smart for you to leave L.A., otherwise I'm really worried that you'll be playing as a substitute for me. ”

For Howard, his short time in Los Angeles was an indelible wound in his heart, and he was criticized and criticized for it, which made his position in the league a little awkward. And after that incident, his status in the alliance also declined somewhat.

Moreover, his bad partner experience with Kobe Bryant is also the most unbearable past for him. Especially after the two of them parted ways, when many people described him as a "traitor", he was a little angry in his heart.

Therefore, at this time, when Whiteside mentioned this matter in front of him, and deliberately belittled his strength, Howard was immediately furious in his heart.

"You're going to pay for your stupidity, I'm going to tear you apart." Howard's eyes erupted with fire, as if he could eat Whiteside.

However, Whiteside still did not change his face, and responded to Howard without fear.

*******

Seeing the two people with words in their mouths, Chu Xuan couldn't help but shake his head slightly, there is no doubt that these two guys are not fuel-efficient lamps, and now that the two of them are on the bar, it will definitely be an interesting thing.

And, most importantly, Whiteside was in very good shape today, which made Chu Xuan can't help but look forward to what kind of sparks he can create in the battle with Howard.

Just as Chu Xuan was stunned and thinking, a burst of excited shouts suddenly sounded in the arena.

Chu Xuan raised his head and couldn't help but smile again, it turned out that these two guys had already matched.

The Rockets attacked, Howard stuck Whiteside to get to the position, and then after getting the ball, he began to choose to attack the inside.

Howard's body was still stronger than Whiteside's after all. However, Whiteside also has his strength, which is close to two meters and three meters of reach, which makes him a great defensive threat under the basket.

In anticipation of the full court, Howard forced Whiteside, and when he got to the basket, he rolled over and came with a hook hand.

However, what is surprising is that Howard's shot was almost blocked by Whiteside.

And under the interference, the basketball naturally popped out of the frame.

At the first moment, Howard grabbed the rebound, then got up again without hesitation, and this time, he chose to dunk directly from Whiteside.

And so, an amazing scene appeared.

Whiteside blocks Howard.

Throughout the Toyota Center, the silence was suddenly audible, and all the fans were full of disbelief on their faces, and the strongest man they admired was actually taken care of.

After Chu Xuan saw this scene, he immediately jumped up from his seat.

"Good job, Hassan, you're a hero." Chu Xuan waved his fist in celebration.

After taking a big hit, Howard suddenly turned into a bitter gourd face. He was very depressed, and this was the second time he had been blocked. In the first half, Knoll also gave him a hot pot.

Being grounded on the head by two rookie people in a row, Howard's heart is of course uncomfortable.

And when he is depressed, he will naturally have a time to break out.

With three minutes played, Howard finally exploded, snarling at the referee after an offensive miss.

He thought it was a foul, but the referee didn't give it that way. As a result, Howard opened his mouth full of doubts and complaints.

However, in today's league, even if you are a superstar, you do not have the right to provoke the referee.

As a result, Howard received a technical foul.

In the end, Bryant executed the free throw, and the basketball went into the bag, adding another 1 point to the Lakers' side.

The Warcraft couldn't control its emotions, and the whole person's mentality couldn't help but become very bad. And the most intuitive embodiment is that he is extremely sloppy and bad in handling the offensive ball.

As for the other of the twin stars, James Harden. Nightclub Deng also had a hard time in this game, he was lost in the whole first half, but in the second half, he still did not find his form.

Harden feels that the Lakers' defense is aimed at him, and his best touches and step-back shots are also extremely inefficient.

In this way, the modern combination is all lost, and only Parsons is left who can contribute to the Rockets.

However, Parsons is not a superstar after all, not even a star. And how can he carry the Rockets on his shoulders to compete with the Lakers on his shoulders?

Soon, the third quarter of the game ended, and the Lakers relied on Whiteside's eye-catching performance on the inside and Kobe Bryant's play, and finally they played a single quarter of 29:18, expanding the difference to 18 points.

******

'Victory is already beckoning for us and the chances of us winning today's game are very high. However, we can't relax and keep defending to keep our lead. ”

Now that the Lakers are 18 points ahead, it can be said that the hope of winning is very high. However, Chu Xuan was still reminding the players to pay attention to not to underestimate the enemy. After all, in the history of the NBA, there are still many cases where a 20-point lead is overturned in the final quarter.

"Kobe Bryant, in the final quarter, you don't go to the opposite of James Harden. There's only one task left for you, and that's to score. I want to be able to see you explode on the score. Chu Xuan made the final arrangement according to his own thoughts: "Giannis, you go to defend James." ”

"Me?" Brother Alphabet couldn't help but be stunned, let him defend a two-way guard?

"Yes, you go and defend him. It's perfectly fine to defend him with your flexibility, and more importantly, your height is a huge advantage. Of course, you need to pay attention to your actions on defense. Giannis, you know what James Harden was thinking, right? Beware of his attacks. I know you'll be able to do this defensive mission. ”

Brother Alphabet knows Chu Xuan's position for his future, obviously, as long as he plays guard, he will definitely have to fight against people like James Harden. So it's just a matter of time before he has to face it.

"Okay, Chu, don't worry. I'm not going to let him get my foul easily. ”

*******

As the game entered the final quarter, the atmosphere on the court was noticeably more tense.

McHale has clearly made a tactical change, starting to deploy players to block James Harden and then strengthen the high-low post between Modern.

That did pay off, with James Harden making a couple of good passes to Howard.

However, one Howard alone obviously can't make up for the 20-point difference.

Therefore, for the Rockets, if they want to fill the point gap, the first thing to ensure is the outside offense, and then the defense of the Lakers.

In fact, the Rockets' defense did a lot better than the first three quarters. However, on the outside offense, the Rockets have few trustworthy people other than Parsons.

Just like Harden, the Lakers are putting a lot of pressure on him defensively. And almost all of his outside shots are extremely oppressed. In this case, Harden's offense is obviously unstoppable.

Soon, the game entered the final four minutes, and the Lakers still maintained a 20-point lead.

In the end, McHale waved his hand and replaced a group of main players who seemed a little lost. The game ended up in garbage time.

For James Harden, it was arguably his worst game of the season. Throughout the game, his hand was cold. In this regard, it can be seen from his shot data.

In this game, Harden played 38 minutes, contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and hit 5 of 20 shots, including 0 of 9 from beyond the three-point line.

As for the other protagonist of the battle between the old and the new, Kobe Bryant played 37 minutes in this game, 11 of 22, and contributed 31 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.