When asked who is the hottest star this season, James Harden, the new core of the Rockets, is undoubtedly the favorite.

Two consecutive 40+ crazy performances have made people impressed by James Harden's strength, and after two consecutive wins, "Hoop World" has made a full coverage of this rising "superstar", and even found Scott Pera, the basketball coach of Lakewood Adessia High School in the southwest suburbs of Los Angeles where Harden attended high school.

"I never thought that this hairy kid would one day evolve to become a dominant star," says Scott Pera.

Even Harden's high school coach didn't expect the 23-year-old Harden to become the youngest player in NBA history to win Sixth Man of the Year, the 2012 U.S. national men's basketball team and the gold medal at the London Olympics, and Harden was an All-Star candidate for the All-Star Game at the Toyota Center in February.

And the Rockets' Harden is getting better and better, both on and off the court, and in an exclusive interview with reporters, Harden modestly attributed these achievements to the support of his teammates on the court.

"I'm just trying to do some offense," Harden said when asked why he was doing so well, "and my teammates are always watching where I'm standing, and what I'm going to do is try to score points." ”

Harden averaged 42.5 points per game in the first two games of the new season, leading the league with 6.5 rebounds and seven assists, and the traditional shooting guard has adapted to the Rockets' offensive routine, at least for now.

With the Thunder, Harden is the team's No. 3 scorer, while with the Rockets he's the team's signature player. Harden has adapted quickly to the change in his role, and he is happy to accept it.

"It's different now," Harden said with a little excitement, "because all the team's offense has to go through you, but that's my job, and I'm happy to accept it." ”

"Of course, it's not just for me, but also for my teammates who stepped up in key moments, which is a good thing for the team," said Harden, who said very modestly, "My teammates did a fantastic job of assisting me and putting me in the perfect place to score."

"It feels great and it's easy to play" Despite Lin's poor performance in the first two games, Harden said of his partnership with Jeremy Lin: "He created good scoring opportunities for me and my teammates, he scored, but he still made good passes, and that's what made us work together so well, and I was able to do the same thing."

"Then who do you think Jeremy Lin or Tall and Strong is the right partner for you?" Bill Ingram, a well-known reporter for Hoop World, asked Harden a poignant question.

"Oh, they're all very good, they're both the best players in the Asian crowd, but they don't have the same style, Lin is our starting point guard, he has a good vision and can create good offensive opportunities for his teammates, and Gao is a fighter" Harden continued with a pretended exclamation "He's a lot better than when I first came into the league, Gao is very lethal on the offensive end, I like to play with him, we're the same type of player"

"It's because you're similar in style, do you think you're compatible on the pitch? Are you friends in life? Or a competitor? Bill Ingram asked nonchalantly.

"We have a good relationship, we have no problem being on the court at the same time, we all have the ability to score and play the offense" Harden replied very decisively, "And I have already told Gao that we will shoot when we need to, and we don't have to be scrupulous, which is why we keep winning."

……

Before Harden joined the Rockets, the Youth Army Rockets seemed to be far from the playoffs, but after the "beard" came, the space for reverie was completely opened, and the tall and strong who is currently at the top of the rookie list made the Rockets' backcourt the sharpest offensive in the league.

Even if Asik's interior offensive ability is mediocre, his defensive ability is still obvious to all, offensively, the potential Parsons has shown his explosive momentum, the power forward position, Patterson after a dull season, there are signs of rejuvenation, in short, the sand table deduction, as far as the Rockets' current lineup on paper, has the strength to impact the playoffs in the West.

With a two-game winning streak, the young Rockets will make their home debut this season against the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Rockets can't wait.

Plenty of preparation time, familiar venues, large lounges, enthusiastic fans...... That's the benefit of playing at home, with the Rockets' home of more than 18,000 seats at the Toyota Center already occupied by passionate fans.

"This is Houston ~ Team Rockets! ~~~~~Now welcome our super young bird - from China Gao ~ Da Zhuang" The opening ceremony of the Rockets' home stadium was extremely shocking, when the lights went out in the dark, a spotlight directly hit Gao Dazhuang, "Tanhua Show" Gao Dazhuang as the first player of the Rocket team, won the enthusiastic screams of the fans in the very incendiary voice of the DJ on the spot.

Gao Dazhuang waved his hand and walked to the center of the stadium, receiving the baptism of the eyes of more than 18,000 fans now, there was no nervousness, on the contrary, Gao Dazhuang's blood was full of blood at the moment, and he was extremely excited.

Immediately after introducing the Rockets players one by one, Asik and Jeremy Lin, the last finale was "Please have our superstar - beard - James Harden below", and the fans at the scene gave the warmest applause and cheers to the new core of the Rockets.

"Okay, the game is about to start, let's take a look at the Rockets' lineup, no change from the last game, Asik, Patterson, Parsons, Harden, Jeremy Lin" This game is the Rockets' first national broadcast of the season, and the live commentary is well-known broadcasters Bill Worrell and Russ Peterson.

Bill Worrell has been a commentator for at least 20 years and has a strong bias when it comes to commentary, while another commentator, Lars Peterson, has been commenting on the ball for more than 50 years.

"The Trail Blazers' starters are J.J. Hickson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicholas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Damian Lillard," Russ Peterson commented.

"In addition to whether the core player of the Rockets Harden can continue to be hot in this game, another important point to watch is the direct dialogue between the two rookies" Bill Warrell said as he flipped through the data: "Before the draft, the Portland Trail Blazers have always been a potential owner of the tall and strong, but in the draft, the Rockets successfully intercepted the tall and strong through a trade, and the Portland Trail Blazers had to change their strategy and finally selected Lillard from Webb State University with the sixth pick."

"In the first two games of the season, the tall and strong team scored 30 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, but the Trail Blazers' rookie starter Lillard was no slouch, scoring 23 points, 11 assists and 3 rebounds and 21 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds," Bill Vorrell continued.

"Yes, in the current rookie rankings, Tall and Strong and Lillard are in the top two spots of the rookie list, and although the two are not in the same position, the direct confrontation in this game still attracts a lot of fans," Russ Peterson explained with a smile.

"This season, both teams have changed very much, James Harden has changed from the Thunder's sixth man to the Rockets' big man, judging from the results of the first two games, Rockets owner Morey must be happy, although Jeremy Lin is not as radiant as last season, but he can seamlessly link with Harden, and the rookie is tall and strong has also shown his strong offensive power, from the current point of view, the Rockets' current backcourt combination is more powerful than last season's Lowry Gadrakic" Bill Warrell commented: "Similar to the Rockets, The Trail Blazers have also accelerated the pace of rejuvenation this summer, sending away a group of veterans, Aldridge and Frenchman Batum have become the backbone of the team, and rookie Lillard has also unexpectedly occupied a main position, and has also proved his strength in the first two games.

"Judging from the historical data, the Rockets have a 7-3 advantage, and the Rockets won all 3 games against the Trail Blazers last season, but in this team, Jeremy Lin has always struggled against speed guards, and among the Trail Blazers' forward guards, Batum and Lillard are both masters of fast breaking" Bill Warrell pointed out the problems of the Rockets.

"But this Rockets' offensive firepower is extremely ferocious, and the Trail Blazers may not be able to defend against the Rockets, especially in terms of anti-fast break, the Rockets' offensive and defensive transitions rank second in the league, and Harden and Tall Strong both have strong single-player ability, the Trail Blazers' defense will be tested in the game, and this game is bound to be a head-to-head battle," Russ Peterson commented.

In the fierce debate between the two commentators, the game officially began.