Chapter 279: The Crisis of Division
Amid the cheers of the home fans at Staples Arena, the Lakers defeated the visiting Houston Rockets 119-108, and the team's star Kobe Bryant once again became the brightest star of the game.
Although the game is over, many Lakers fans are reluctant to leave the court, and they are constantly chanting "MVP, MVP......" to their idols
Of course, this glory belongs to Kobe, who scored 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists on 9-of-18 shooting, and the Lakers' star delivered his first triple-double of the season and the 18th triple-double of his 17-year NBA career, ranking second in team history, and the first was Magic Johnson, who had 138 triple-doubles for the Lakers.
The last time he had such stats was two years ago, when he beat the Kings on November 4, 2010, and Bryant had 30 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Although Flying Man is also known for his all-round, his triple-double times are not many, especially as he gets older, such a comprehensive performance is even more commendable.
Today's Lakers, Kobe and Howard have gradually found the shadow of the "OK combination" of the year, the Flyer can command a classic aerial relay with one look, and the Flyer and Gasol are a perfect match for many years, the former attracts defense, the latter can always appear in the high air, and the Spaniards rarely live up to Kobe's passes.
In this game, the Lakers' offense became more and more tacit, while the Rockets' defense was a little immature, and the combination of these two factors contributed to Kobe's slightly easy "triple-double".
Of course, in addition to Kobe, the Lakers won this game and the two pillars of the interior - Howard and Gasol: "Warcraft" Howard shot 12 of 19, 5 of 9 free throws, and scored 29 points and 20 rebounds with a super double double, and Gasol also had a good performance, contributing 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Ci Shiping also scored 15 points and 7 rebounds, and the Lakers can be said to be in full bloom.
Compared with the Lakers, the only thing the Rockets can get is the "Tanhua Show" tall and strong, tall and strong played 38 minutes, 9 of 17 shots, 9 of 10 free throws, scored a game-high 30 points plus 5 rebounds and 7 assists, although the Rockets lost the game, but Gao Dazhuang further consolidated his position at the top of the rookie list with his wonderful performance in this game, and he also wanted the world to prove his ability to lead the team alone.
Harden, the core of the Rockets, went off the court due to injury and played 23 minutes, shooting 5-of-12 and 8-of-11 free throws, scoring 19 points, and his performance was average.
Center Asik had 18 points and 10 rebounds, the only double-double of the day for the Rockets, and he was the best player other than the tall and strong.
In addition, Parsons, the team's starting small forward, played almost the whole game, scoring 17 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, and his performance was also excellent.
Compared with the previous 4 players, the Rockets' starting power forward Patterson faced the Lakers interior with Howard and Gasol, and had no sense of presence in the whole game, only 1 of 4 shots, 3 of 4 free throws, and scored 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
The point guard Jeremy Lin, who was heavily introduced by the Rockets in the new season, shot 1 of 7, made 2 of 4 free throws, and only scored 4 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 1 steal.
Although the loss to the Lakers was expected by most Rockets fans, the Houston Chronicle still issued an article after the game: In 23 minutes, 5 of 12 scored 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, Harden's performance cannot be said to be bad, but as the leader of the Rockets, this level of performance is by no means enough.
When the tall and strong bravely scored 30 points, when Asik fought to the corner of his eye, all we saw was Harden trembling and muddy.
If Harden doesn't have any hidden secrets, this game, combined with last season's performance in the Finals, may have explained why the Thunder let him go.
Next, the Houston Chronicle pointed the finger at the Rockets' starting power forward Patterson: Compared to Howard and Gasol, Patterson is like a hairy boy who has just entered the NCAA, he neither knows how to attack nor how to defend, in fact, when playing the Trail Blazers, Patterson has been blown up by Aldridge, but what can be done, Patterson's talent is limited, if the Rockets do not take any measures, the major defects in the No. 4 position will seriously affect the pace of this youth army.
After criticizing Harden and Patterson, the Houston Chronicle pointed two-thirds of its length to Jeremy Lin, who has been playing poorly since the season: from 38 points to 1 of 7, Jeremy Lin is no longer crazy, facing the Lakers, Jeremy Lin has very good memories, during his time with the Knicks last season, one of the most brilliant games he played was the battle with the Lakers, in that game Jeremy Lin scored 38 points in one breath, which was unbelievably strong, and also made Kobe Bryant explode after the game: "I give him advice? He's scored 38 points, what more advice can I give him? ”
It's just that the world is impermanent, after a season of baptism, Jeremy Lin, who has now switched to the Rockets, is obviously no longer as sharp as last season, "ESPN" previously wrote that after Jeremy Lin joined the Rockets, his personal offensive performance has greatly deteriorated, especially the success rate of solo is almost zero.
This game is particularly obvious, objectively speaking, Jeremy Lin's opponent is not particularly strong, and most of the time it is not Kobe Bryant who is opposite Jeremy Lin, but Morris, a rookie, he can only rank third in the ranking of Lakers point guards, but it is such an opponent, Jeremy Lin can't even handle it.
Jeremy Lin only made 1 of 7 shots in the whole game, except for a breakthrough layup, and the remaining 6 shots were all iron, which also made the legendary "Chinese combination" a one-man show for tall and strong, and at the same time, the Lakers could rest assured and boldly concentrate all their forces on the tall and strong.
After the game, a Chinese reporter asked the Rocket's "Chinese combination" how it performed, and the Rocket's assistant coach Sampson said meaningfully, "They are good, everyone has seen the high performance, he is the best rookie in recent years, he will become an influential league in the future, and Lin's words, his rhythm is much better, but his offense has not been opened, and the mistakes at the critical moment are very fatal and uncontrollable, which also makes us lose the opportunity to turn the tables, In fact, we didn't have the possibility of beating the Lakers today, and injuries and mistakes buried our ......"
Last season, Jeremy Lin put on a crazy performance for the Knicks, averaging 18.2 points per game, however, after his high-salary transfer to the Rockets this summer, his performance has been unsatisfactory from the preseason to the regular season, especially the shooting percentage is even more miserable.
In the preseason game against the Spurs, Jeremy Lin shot 1 of 10, and against the Hornets, Lin shot 1 of 8 and 1 of 7 against the Lakers.
Recently, a fan accused on the Rockets forum, "I was calm enough to compare Lin's stats with Lowry and Dragic, and now Jeremy Lin's performance really has no excuses, because he is now injury-free, and his performance proves that he is a joke"
Some fans also criticized Jeremy Lin's performance for being too inconsistent, "Jeremy Lin is probably the most inconsistent shooter I've ever seen, he doesn't have the quality to start the team, especially in the Rockets"
The Houston Chronicle followed up with a long article of criticism, followed by a report in the New York Post that Jeremy Lin had a mythical story last season, and that his explosion was due to D'Antoni and D'Antoni's system.
In fact, after the heavy defeat to the Lakers, Jeremy Lin said in an interview with the New York Post, "If D'Antoni is still coaching there, then honestly, I think I would have a better chance of staying in New York, but I think it was a management decision, and I don't know exactly why, but I really enjoyed playing for him, and it was the best time of my life."
As soon as Jeremy Lin's remarks came out, they immediately drew fierce criticism from local media and Rockets fans in Houston: "Please go back to New York", "We don't need a starting point guard who averages less than 10 points per game", "Trade Lin...... A variety of fan speeches filled the entire Rockets forum.
And these criticisms intensified as celebrities from all walks of life joined in, with "Big Mouth" Barkley saying: "Jeremy Lin? He's not even playing as a starting bench right now," Fagan wrote, "Jeremy Lin proved he's not the player the Rockets need," he wrote......
These comments also indirectly affected the Rockets' preparations, and when flying to Salt Lake City, the home of the Utah Jazz, the next opponent, the whole Rockets team atmosphere was very depressing, and despite the assistant coach's repeated emphasis on team spirit, the communication between the Rockets players was significantly reduced.
In fact, after losing to the Lakers, Harden didn't say a word to Gao Dazhuang, and the last time Jeremy Lin communicated with Gao Dazhuang was when he was training at the Toyota Center in Houston, and there were obvious small teams in the Rockets: Harden, Jeremy Lin, and Parsons often get together, while Gao Dazhuang, Patterson, and Delfino are inseparable, and Asik and a few players have become centrists.
The Rockets are facing their biggest crisis of the season.