Rockets head coach McHale stared at James Harden and Tall and Strong with a gloomy face, but to everyone's surprise, Coach McHale didn't say much, just put forward a few specific requirements for the team's defensive problems.

And then on the court, neither Harden nor Tall Zhuang seemed to have had the conflict just now, but the two had no intersection on the court with a very "tacit understanding".

Rao is like this, Harden's breakthrough and foul making and tall and strong perimeter point shooting still allow the Rockets to slowly recover the difference.

"Brush" with a fixed-point jumper near the free throw line, 54:46, before halftime, the Rockets chased the score to within 10 points for the first time.

In the cheers of the home fans at the Toyota Center, at the beginning of the third quarter, James Harden, the core of the Rockets, scored 5 points in a row to lead the Rockets to chase the score closer.

However, at this time, the star of the Trail Blazers, power forward Aldridge, broke out, and he scored 10 points in a row under the rotation of Asik and Patterson to pull the score away again.

Aldridge was the second overall pick in the 2006 Draft and the most talented interior player in the '06 Draft.

Aldridge's arm span is about 7-foot-5, his movements are extremely agile, his jump rate is quite amazing, he has a complete set of offensive pace with a basket on his back, his basic skills are solid, his attack under the basket is very threatening, and he can also pull up to the outside to shoot, and he has a very soft touch, which is a natural scoring machine.

However, due to his humble personality, lack of ball **, and lack of physical strength, many scouts suspected that he would never be able to become the leader of the team, but in this game, he proved himself to be a qualified leader.

"Lillard's birth has given us a glimpse of the Trail Blazers' future two-star combination, Lillard and Aldridge's inside-outside combination is bound to shock the entire league" Bill Warrell said with relief, but he suddenly changed his words "In fact, the Rockets also have double stars, James Harden got rid of the problem of cold starts, and now he keeps breaking into the interior to score points, and Gao has given the opponent a heavy blow on the outside, they are all very good SG, but the Rockets' double stars not only overlap in position, And there is no cooperation at all, not even basic trust"

In the next game, the two sides played offensive basketball, and due to the lack of hardness in the Rockets' defense, the difference in points remained around 10.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, another important player of the Rockets, point guard Jeremy Lin, reappeared, and he replaced small forward Parsons.

In this way, Jeremy Lin, Harden, Gao Dazhuang, and Asik, who joined this summer, appeared on the court together, and the current Rockets are a completely new Rockets team compared to last season.

Jeremy Lin, who had rested for nearly 2 quarters, just came on the court and assisted Asik to dunk with a wonderful pass, and then broke through to score an inside layup.

Although Aldridge and Lillard made mid-range shots to help the Trail Blazers take the lead, Harden barely hit a 3-pointer when he was forced to 24 seconds on an offense, and then the Rockets' interior Asik sent two hot pots in succession, and Gao Dazhuang scored two consecutive fast-break baskets.

……

At 107:102, less than 2 minutes before the end of the game, the Rockets playing at home were still five points behind the Trail Blazers.

With a "dang", Harden missed a dry three-pointer, but Asik grabbed the key rebound and threw the ball to the outside tower.

After receiving the ball, Gao Dazhuang rushed to the basket with one step, but while the Trail Blazers defender Batum also retreated sharply, Gao Dazhuang suddenly made an emergency stop.

"Pap", "Pap" after the emergency stop of the tall and strong dribble under the crotch two in a row, while dribbling the whole person also retreated outside the three-point line, and faced Batum who flew in, and shot very decisively.

After the ball was thrown, the other players on the court and the audience held their breath, and the tall and strong stared intently at the basketball gliding in the air.

"Brush", and finally the basketball passed through the net very accurately, three points!

After the goal, "YEAH" raised his hands in excitement and proudly turned around and ran back to the half, while the fans at the Toyota Center did not hesitate to give him a huge call.

"Defensive, defensive" At this point, Harden interrupted the tall and strong celebration and began to direct his teammates to deploy.

"Well done," Patterson ran to the tall and smiling tree and gave a thumbs up.

At 107:105, the Rockets trailed the Trail Blazers by just one goal.

The Trail Blazers launched an offense, and after advancing the ball to the frontcourt, Lillard hoisted the ball to Aldridge on the inside.

Aldridge began to single Patterson with his back, "Peng", "Peng", and with every collision, Patterson was forced to take a small step back.

"Not good" At this time, the tall and strong faced a dilemma, or temporarily gave up Batum, who was marking his defense, and shrank to the inside line in time, ready to help defend Aldridge at any time.

However, after two collisions, Aldridge did not force the inside, but opted for a turnaround jumper.

"Don't enter, don't enter, don't enter" In the incessant chanting of the tall and strong, "dang", Aldridge's jump-throwing bomb came out.

"Counterattack" Rockets center Asik grabbed the defensive rebound, and Asik, who grabbed the rebound, was ready to throw the ball to Harden, who had already rushed forward, but the Trail Blazers' Lillard and Matthews followed Harden closely, and Asik passed the ball to the tall man who asked for the ball on the wing.

After receiving the ball, the tall man immediately advanced with the ball at high speed, and soon burst into the Trail Blazers restricted area.

"Here", "pass" Harden pressed Matthews with his body on the baseline to take the initiative, and Jeremy Lin also ran to the outside of the three-point line on the wing and shouted at the tall man.

However, in the face of Batum's defense, Gao Dazhuang continued to cross and sway, deceiving the opponent to keep retreating, and at this time, Gao Dazhuang suddenly accelerated near the free throw line, and a beautiful "European step" flashed directly past Batum, and made a sideways layup in the surprised eyes of Harden, Matthews, Lillard and others.

With a "brush", Gao Dazhuang used a quick counterattack to score another goal.

At 107:107, the Rockets equalized the score in the final minute of the game.

"Oh" All the home fans in the Toyota Center stood up and chanted the tall and strong name rhythmically: "High, high, high......"

Compared to the cheering crowd, Harden returned to the half with a grim face.

The Trail Blazers quickly went on offense, with less than 30 seconds left before the end of the game.

Lillard controlled the ball, he looked up at the timer from time to time, wasting game time, and when the offensive time was about to end, Lillard suddenly accelerated, consecutive crotch dribbles and changed direction to break through.

Jeremy Lin was not slow to react, quickly adjusting his bearings and taking a step forward to cling to Lillard.

With a "Peng", Alrich suddenly appeared on Jeremy Lin's flank, blocking his pursuit of defense, "Block and dismantle, pay attention to the defense" Jeremy Lin couldn't help but shout loudly.

But just as Patterson was about to block Lillard, Trail Blazers center J.J. Hickson suddenly pulled out and played another block with Lillard.

Through two consecutive pick-and-rolls from his teammates, Lillard completely got rid of the defense, quickly inserted himself to the basket, jumped, flashed Asik, the last defender of the Rockets, in the air, and switched to a layup to score 2 points.

109：107

Lillard's goal sent a sigh of relief from the Toyota Center, but with 10 seconds left before the end of the game, the Rockets still had a chance.

"Offense, offense, offense" The fans all stood up and cheered for the Rockets.

Jeremy Lin drove the ball forward, Matthews clinged to Harden, and Batum stuck to the tall and strong.

"Hey" At this time, Harden, who was entangled with Matthews, began to ask Jeremy Lin for the ball, but apparently Harden had not gotten rid of the opponent's defense, but the tall and strong man turned around and ran back to pull out some gaps, but I don't know if Jeremy Lin didn't see it or for some reason, and the ball didn't pass out.

7, 6, 5, 4, the clock ticked by, and the ball was still in Jeremy Lin's hands.

"Passing" at this time, I don't know who shouted angrily, and Jeremy Lin, who had lost his attention, suddenly jumped up and threw the ball to the inside of the Trail Blazers.

"Huh?" Seeing the ball flying towards him, Gao Dazhuang immediately took a step forward and prepared to catch the ball with both hands.

"Peng" Ke a figure slanted out from the side at the same time, colliding with the tall and strong one, and the ball was also bounced away in the collision between the two.

"Damn" Gao Dazhuang looked back, but found that the person who had just collided with him was his teammate James Harden, and Harden was also glaring at him at this time, swearing and swearing.

The referee's whistle blew, and the game ended, 109:107, in the final moments of the game, Jeremy Lin made a simulated pass, which allowed Gao Dazhuang and Harden to collide, and the Rockets missed the last chance.

"Boy, do you know what you did?" At this time, Harden walked straight to the tall man and scolded angrily.

"I just want to win," the tall and strong shot back without showing weakness.

"I'm the one who made the last shot," Harden said through gritted teeth.

"But I was in a better position than you just now," the tall man replied, leaning into Harden's face.

The heated argument between the two immediately attracted the attention of fans and reporters in the stadium, and in the surprised eyes of the Trail Blazers team, the Rockets players immediately rushed forward and pushed the two away.

And Rockets head coach McHale walked into the locker room without looking back.