In the third game of the preseason, the Texas Civil War broke out at the Toyota Center Arena in Houston, and the Rockets sat at home to face the visiting old rival San Antonio Spurs, which was the last home court of the Houston Rockets preseason, so the Rockets fans filled the entire arena very early.

Although facing the veteran powerhouse Spurs, both the Rockets players and the Rockets fans firmly believe that the Rockets youth team can crush this twilight "carriage" at home.

But at the beginning of the game, the situation was very unexpected.

The Rockets have won two of their previous two games, and starting point guard Jeremy Lin has not been able to show the magic of last season, which has something to do with the fact that it was only a preseason game, and everyone is still looking for a feeling.

But Jeremy Lin's form today was still very bad, he missed 9 shots in the half, and he couldn't help his teammates much.

In the first quarter, Jeremy Lin missed all 4 shots, and the Rockets were completely at a disadvantage under the attack of the "GDP" combination of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili.

As soon as Duncan started the game, he made a series of hook attacks under the basket, and then Parker's pull-up jump shot and Ginobili's serpentine breakthrough instantly gave the Spurs a double-digit lead.

This is also the first time that Gao Dazhuang has faced the legendary super combination "GDP" on the court, and the first impression of GDP to Gao Dazhuang is "clever", no, it is the Spurs' first impression of Gao Dazhuang is "clever", and the Spurs' offense is very "clever".

All the players of the Spurs team run actively, move the ball very quickly, and the team's assist rate is quite high, even if there are not many big-name players like "GDP", there are not many strong players, and the tacit cooperation has created a lot of open shots, and the Spurs' multi-dimensional offense makes the Rockets unguardable.

For the purpose of training, the Spurs GDP did not play again after the first quarter.

After the opposing core players went off the court, the Rockets began to chase points, and Gao Dazhuang hit two shots after the start of the second quarter, including a three-pointer, and the Rockets chased the score to 23-29.

After the Rockets' starting point guard Jeremy Lin returned to the court, he still couldn't find his senses, he made two layups and was blocked by the opponent in a row, and in the first half, Jeremy Lin missed all 9 shots, only scored 2 points on free throws, and only had 1 assist, and the Rockets fell behind 42-54.

Gao Dazhuang hit another three-pointer at the start of the second half, scoring seven straight points and Parsons also scored a three-pointer, and they started the quarter on an 11-4 run to tie the score at 53-58 in one fell swoop.

But in the last three minutes of the third quarter, Spurs role player DeJuan Blair scored seven straight points to open the gap at 81-70.

Another role player for the Spurs, Gary Neal, scored four straight points at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Spurs a 15-point lead before the two sides were locked in a stalemate for the rest of the game, with the Spurs leading by 18 points at 93-75 at the top.

With 5 minutes left before the end of the game, Gao Dazhuang scored two consecutive aerial relay layups, and the Rockets scored all 7 points during this time, but they were still unable to turn the tables for the Rockets, and finally the Spurs who were playing away beat the Rockets 116-107.

The Rockets' best performance in this game is still the "Tanhua Show" tall and strong, tall and strong played 33 minutes, 9 of 15 shots, scored a game-high 27 points, the Rockets' starting center Asik hit a double-double again, contributing 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, while the other two rookies Lamb and Jones scored 16 and 13 points respectively.

However, the Rockets' highly-anticipated starting point guard Jeremy Lin had a very sluggish performance throughout the game, missing all 9 shots in the first half, only 1 of 14 shots in the whole game, and only scored 2 points and 1 assist.

For Jeremy Lin's 14-of-14 shooting, Rockets official website reporter Jason Friedman explained, he said that the main reason for this situation is that Jeremy Lin's physical condition has not returned to 100% level, so everyone should not rush to conclusions, and should give Jeremy Lin some time to improve.

Jeremy Lin also admitted in an interview that he needs to get back to his form and rhythm as soon as possible, and to overcome the interference of injuries.

Three days later, the Rockets embarked on a four-game tour in the preseason.

First, the Rockets played off against the Dallas Mavericks, another state-based powerhouse.

Because his physical condition did not return to his ideal level, and the back-to-back preseason games did not mean much to Jeremy Lin in itself, Lin was suspended for this game, and the Mavericks' core player Nowitzki was also exempted.

Halfway through the first quarter, the two sides began to change players, and the Rockets also replaced the rookie White who suffered from anxiety, but the biggest highlight of the game was still tall and strong.

Gao Dazhuang first used his signature breakthrough to rush to the basket to make the opponent's foul, and then hit another three-pointer from the outside.

At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks' concentration decreased, and the tall and strong took the opportunity to make another difficulty, using the air cut to complete the two-handed dunk under the basket, and then made a steal and assist Douglas, forcing Carlisle to call a timeout.

At the end of the first quarter, Gao Dazhuang cut 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and the Rockets led the Mavericks 29-25.

In the second quarter of the game, the tall and strong left the court to make the Rockets switch to the wolf pack tactics, and several rookies such as Lamb, Parsons and Jones were sent on the court at the same time, but the Mavericks' Vince Carter used his experience advantage to score a series of successes to gradually narrow the difference.

Fortunately, the Rockets' three-point shooting still maintained a good shooting percentage, Delfino and Parsons hit 3-pointers in succession, and Patterson and Motai Yunas also supported them inside.

At halftime, the Rockets led by just one point, 58-57.

At the beginning of the second half, it was still Gao Dazhuang who used the baseline to break through the layup to score first, and then he completed a steal, but Mayo, who was opposite Gao Dazhuang, immediately made a tough response: Mayo first made a layup, and then hit two three-pointers in a row, coupled with Marion's dunk, the Mavericks overtook the Rockets by 5 points with a wave of 10-0 attacks.

After the timeout, the Rockets' offense still did not improve, and only one mid-range shot was hit by Patterson in four minutes, and the Mavericks blossomed more, and the trio of Carman, Mayo and Marion combined to widen the gap between the two sides.

The Mavericks outscored the Rockets by 10 points in the first quarter and led 91-82 into the final quarter.

In the final quarter, the Rockets' state still failed to improve, and Rockets head coach McHale simply offered a rookie lineup again, but even in the rookie matchup, the Rockets still couldn't gain the upper hand.

Throughout the game, the Rockets, who lost the core of the organization, played very chaotically, although the "rookie" Gao Da Zhuang scored a game-high 29 points, but still could not recover the decline of the Rockets, and in the end, the score between the two sides was fixed at 104-123, and the Rockets also suffered two consecutive defeats in the preseason.

However, in the last three road games of the preseason, Jeremy Lin's form has recovered significantly, and the Rockets also defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic 109-102, 97-90, 108-92 successively, ending the preseason with a wave of three consecutive wins.

In the end, the Rockets' preseason record was locked in at 5-2, and the vitality shown by the youth team Houston Rockets also saw an opportunity for the Rockets to recover, and a large number of fans actively participated in the discussion of team building.

Jason Friedman, a columnist for the Rockets' official website, also published an opinion piece commenting on the preseason:

1. Asik may prove to be the most indispensable player for the Rockets:

On the current Rockets team, 26-year-old center Asik can do something for the Rockets that no other Rockets player can do.

Asik's size, basketball IQ, height and reach, and surprising speed make him a monster on the defensive end and rebounding, and he can also play good passes to teammates in open positions on offense.

Now for this Rockets team to succeed, Asik will be one of the key elements.

2. Tall and strong fully display their potential:

Forget Kevin Martin, from the first day of preseason, Tall and Strong has used his form to show everyone that he is the number one attacker for this Rockets team.

Ranked first in the team in scoring in 6 games in 7 games, "Tanhua Xiu" is tall and strong and constantly showing his ability, his breakthrough is eye-catching, and his shooting rate is as high as 61% in the preseason.

If he can maintain this form in the regular season, he will have a good chance to win the rookie of the year and have a chance to break into the top of the league.

3. Jeremy Lin found that feeding his teammates felt like he was gradually integrating into the Rockets:

After missing the game against the Mavericks, Jeremy Lin returned to the game against the Grizzlies and finally got back into shape, diching out 12 assists.

While there have been some ups and downs in form in the first few preseason games, Lin is getting used to the way his teammates play, and he's finding better ways to feed them.

After Jeremy Lin underwent knee surgery in the offseason, his physical ability has not yet returned to his peak condition, and his explosiveness and flexibility have not fully recovered, but he should be on the rise right now.

For now, all the Rockets need to do is be patient with Jeremy Lin and let him gradually return to 100 percent.

4. Excellent performance on the offensive end:

The Rockets should be proud of the offensive prowess they showed in the preseason, as they are among the top 5 teams in the entire league in points per game.

With most of the players in the squad young, they tend to want to run and shoot every attack, but surprisingly, as the chemistry between the players increases, they can still create plenty of chances even when switching to half-court attack.

While it's true that the preseason stats are of limited value, and the Rockets have only been the tallest and tallest figure in the scoring rankings so far, it's clear that the starters complement each other and that the second team has good chemistry.

5. McHale has found a reliable rotation lineup:

In the final two preseason games, the most impressive players on the Rockets' bench were four players: Delfino, Parsons, Lamb and Jones.

Coach McHale has decided to use a 9 to 10-man rotation lineup for the upcoming regular season to keep the team running at high speed, and the four mentioned above are clearly McShuai's trusted candidates.

Of course, there is much more to the Rockets bench than that, Tony Douglas may also be the Rockets' first backup point guard, and several players such as Motieyunas and Royce White have a chance to fight for a place in the rotation.

In short, the Rockets have passed the preseason surprise test as winners, and in the past two weeks or so, for a team full of newcomers and rookies, the 5-2 preseason record is indeed not bad, although there are many things to summarize during this period, but we are now more looking forward to the excitement that the Rockets will bring us in the new season.

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