As soon as the Rockets called a timeout, Kenny Smith said:

"The Rockets were in trouble today, and they had a counterattack from the Pelicans inside. ←, Gasol and Al Jefferson both played very well today, and their kind of play must have been unexpected by the Rockets, who now need to solve the problem of the interior first. ”

In the final analysis, the Rockets still despise the opponent, they only see the threat of Li Feng, just like their own Harden is to other teams, but the difference between the Pelicans and the Rockets is that Li Feng is better than Harden, and other teammates are no worse than other teams of the Rockets. If the Pelicans were not given a chance inside from the beginning of the game, the Pelicans would not have played so lightly. In terms of strength, the rocket has an advantage. ”

Reggie Miller was still critical of the Rockets at this time, the Rockets called a timeout, and the Refrigerator immediately removed Morty Yunas, and then used Asik as center and Josh Smith as the No. 4 position. At the same time, the tactical focus has been further shifted to Harden and Asik.

When the Rockets made substitutions, the Pelicans did not make substitutions, Van Gundy saw that Gasol was in good shape today, and Al Jefferson was also completely excited, at this time, since the two of them were in good shape, they should be used more.

After the timeout, the Rockets attacked, Terry dribbled over at this time, and the experienced waited outside for Asik to take advantage of his teammates to get stuck under the basket before he sent the basketball to Asik's hands.

Asik was also depressed today, he was beaten by Jefferson, and he couldn't figure it out, and he also had a strong desire to retaliate with the ball at this time. Hope. He took the ball and forced Gasol down, dribbled a step towards the basket, and then got up and threw a hook hand.

Asik has no advantage in size against Gasol, but he has an advantage in footwork and reach, and right on Gasol's head, Asik's hook is an easy shot.

Just as Asik was shooting, the Rockets fans at Center Court in New Orleans finally erupted in cheers, and their interior had not scored this kind of decent score for a long time. So the Rockets fans in the center of New Orleans had to cheer twice when they saw such a simple interior offense.

Asik's ability is still there, and he can still score points when he comes to the inside to score.

The Rockets finally eased up a little, and at this time the Pelicans quickly caught up, and the Pelicans' thoughts at this time were very clear, since the inside line played well, they continued to play for the inside, and the basketball advanced.

Gasol's side was not good at receiving the ball, and the basketball went directly to the hands of Al Jefferson in the right waist position, and Al Jefferson still had some size advantage in playing Josh Smith at this time.

He takes the ball and goes hard to the back, but he's not a power type of interior power that doesn't have an absolute advantage over Josh Smith. The pace is also not faster than Josh Smith, so he has a bit of a hard time hitting Josh Smith, pulling away a big hook to take advantage of the height on Josh Smith's head.

But just as Al Jefferson was making a move, Asik came over and made a mess, and he jumped up in the back to block Al Jefferson's hook hand, so that Al Jefferson missed the shot.

The basketball rolled out directly, Asik got the basketball under the basket, and the Rockets' interior line defended seriously. Al Jefferson really can't take points lightly.

The rocket finally held one, which is not easy for the rocket.

The Rockets finally held on and came back quickly, but Terry still passed the basketball to Asik on the right side of the waist.

Asik hit Gasol with his back at this time. Arching two steps did not squeeze Gasol, Gasol's strength is still top-notch. The strength was strong and couldn't beat it, so Asik could only turn over and try to pass Gasol from the bottom line.

Gasol was smart enough to return a foul to hold Asik back, and both teams had fewer fouls at this time.

The Rockets, on their side, can only re-attack. As a result, the Rockets re-attacked, and the old player also made a mistake, and actually stepped on the line when he controlled the ball.

The ball was transferred to the Pelicans' side, and the game was entangled. The scoring was not enjoyable, but the intensity of the game was finally coming out. And the inside behemoths of both teams also began to bite bloodily.

It's a bloody feeling, and that's what a playoff game should be. At this point, the Pelicans still started playing from the inside, and the ball came directly into Gasol's hands.

As soon as the fourth quarter began, the game became the world of the inside.

The Pelicans and the Rockets fought to the inside, which was originally the Rocket's forte, but the Pelicans actually took advantage of it.

The main reason is that at the beginning, the Rockets still didn't take the Pelicans' two interior lines as one thing.

In the fifth minute of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans still led the Rockets by 5 points, 99-94, and at this time the Rockets were the first to be anxious.

Harden is a very competitive player, and he really wants to win a championship of his own to prove that he doesn't rely on O'Neal to win the championship. At this time, he saw that the team was failing, and he was immediately very eager to turn the score back.

Therefore, Harden's side immediately took the ball and singled Li Feng, and Harden had a certain success rate in singles Li Feng before.

But Li Feng also gradually figured out some tricks to defend Harden, and if he wanted to defend Harden well, he had to destroy his rhythm, so Li Feng immediately put a soft nail on Harden and made Harden unable to make a move.

Li Feng's body is not as bad as Harden, he comes up and pesters Harden.

Harden forced his shot at a critical moment, but he didn't shoot, Harden felt very good in the first three quarters, and in the last quarter, his state was a little bad, after all, he was much more tired than Li Feng, the Pelicans' overall defense is not comparable to the Rockets, look at who Van Gundy is, just know that the Pelicans don't have Battier, but there are Li Feng, Thornton, Granger and others.

On the Rockets' side, Harden didn't hit a single shot, and the Pelicans immediately counterattacked back, and Li Feng quickly ran over and passed the basketball to Corey on the wing.

Corey took the ball and used Li Feng's body to make a cover, and suddenly hit the Rockets' basket, and actually played an aerial pull-up layup, scoring two points on Asik's head.

Corey, who had just returned from injury, actually had this kind of table, and Corey was also very excited after scoring.

The Rockets can now be broken through by Corey, at this time the fans of the Rockets are very disappointed, and the Rockets themselves are also feeling a little unhappy, from the beginning of the game to the present today. The feeling that the Pelicans give the Rockets is particularly unpleasant.

When the rocket hits the pelican, it seems that it can't exert its power at all, but the pelican can hit the soft underbelly of the rocket again and again.

The Rockets can't catch up at the last moment now, and when they hit again, they still fell into individual singles.

This time Asik went to the low post to ask for the ball again, Gasol defended desperately behind him, Asik's physical fitness and endurance are not as good as Harden, he weighs so much, he has fought all over the court in a row, and now he is fighting a group of young people. It's not as good as when he first came on the court, he took the ball and resisted Gasol a step, and then got up and threw a hook hand, and the ball was light as soon as he shot.

fell to the hoop and was directly picked up by the Pelicans for the rebound. The pelicans picked up the basketball and chased it quickly.

Compared with the rockets, the Pelicans have too much physical energy reserves, and they are also young, so they definitely can't run to death. In the past, the Rockets could delay the Pelicans, but now that they are not physically fit, they have not delayed the Pelicans.

The Pelicans came running, but they played a very smooth fast attack. Li Feng took the ball and passed it to Luo Teng, who broke through to the bottom line and hit the ground to pass to Al Jefferson, who followed up behind, and Al Jefferson threw a high throw from behind.

The basketball easily fell into the Rockets' basket, and the Rockets missed two consecutive offensive shots. The Pelicans used these two rounds to rewrite the score to 103-94, and the Pelicans suddenly led by 9 points.

9 points of difference in the first half. Or the third quarter is nothing, but it's the fourth quarter, and there are more than six points left before the end of the game, and the margin is a bit fatal.

At this time, the rocket needs a violent twist, a desperate twist, to reverse the current situation that cannot be played.

And the Rockets who can achieve this twist, or have the ability to open a gap first, are destined to be Harden.

So after the Pelicans scored, the Rockets chased after him, and Harden immediately hit the ball in the low post.

Li Feng went over to defend and desperately squeezed Harden out, but Harden's back-to-back offense was not to force you to the basket, but to follow the rhythm of Li Feng's strength. Shaking from side to side, not completely overwhelmed, it also made Li Feng not know his next move.

Just when Li Feng was chasing Harden to defend here, Harden suddenly dodged to the right, Li Feng chased over, but Harden made a step-back jumper to the left.

As far as Harden's rhythm control, as well as the backward step of shooting, Dù is also the peak. Harden's shot of the basketball went over Li Feng's head and easily fell into the basket.

"Huh!"

Harden only countered with a ball, and the Pelicans immediately called a timeout.

The Pelicans' timeout was extremely strange, Harden only hit a single on his side, and the Pelicans immediately called a timeout.

But just when Van Gundy called a timeout, Director Zhang said on the side:

"The Pelicans are calling this timeout, and the Pelicans should be serious at this time."

The Yu family immediately asked:

"What to say."

At this time, Director Zhang said:

"The Pelicans led by nine points just now, which is a big difference. Then Harden hit two points, which shows that Harden has developed a personal scoring pattern, and now the Pelicans want to win, or to curb the Rockets' individual scoring pattern. So the Pelicans are calling at the right time, and it's just right now. ”

Van Gundy called a timeout at this time, and it was indeed focused on arranging the defense against Harden, Van Gundy did not adopt an earth-shattering defensive approach against Harden, but copied the Spurs' cohesive defense against James last season.

Van Gundy asked his players to defend Harden to be consistent and dynamic.

What an old and spicy character McHale, as soon as he saw Van Gundy call a timeout, he knew that Van Gundy would definitely target Harden, and at this time he laid out his tactics to make the other players of the Rockets step up.

At the end of the timeout, the Pelicans played again, and the play was still very simple, and Corey controlled the ball and came over to Li Feng, who ran out on the wing. Li Feng took the ball here, used a little cover in the face of the Rockets' defense, and stepped up to shoot a mid-range jumper.

With Li Feng's shot, the basketball simply entered the basket. In the last quarter, Li Feng's hand felt good.

The Pelicans stretched the difference to 9 points again, and at this time the Rockets came up and played more urgently, they were Rockets. It's the Texas overlords, it's the playoffs, and they're going to fall behind in the first game. The Rockets were naturally anxious, and in this situation, Ariza took the ball and tried to hit Roteng.

He was constantly under the crotch, shaking continuously, and wanted to show off his skills, but he missed the basketball as soon as he shot it.

Ariza looks energetic as a role player, tough defensively, and steady shooting. But once he was allowed to play with the ball. Ariza's poor physical coordination, mental and technical weaknesses are revealed.

Ariza wasted a very critical shot here, and McHale was also angry here, he asked others to work harder, but he didn't let them shoot in waves, and Ariza's shooting choice and singles level simply made the Rockets worse.

Just when the Rockets missed the shot, Kelly on the Pelicans' side was not polite, and Kelly threw a powerful pass directly from the backcourt.

Li Feng takes the ball in the middle. rushed directly to the Rockets' basket, and at this time Ariza and Harden came over to wrap Li Feng together.

The physical condition of the two of them was not bad, and they immediately squeezed Li Feng and staggered, but even so, Li Feng still resisted the two of them like a yak. Carrying Ariza on his shoulders and blocking Harden with his arms, he took a few steps to the Rockets' basket and got up a low-handed layup far from the basket.

Li Feng hung up like this and went to the basket. Ariza and Harden can't jump up and are prone to fouls.

Sure enough, when Li Feng shot, Harden was whistled for a defensive foul. Then the ball thrown by Li Feng with a low hand was also hit.

At this time, the Pelicans players were excited, so that they were ahead of the opponent by more than ten points. Harden, who was whistled for a foul, yelled at the referee excitedly.

Harden was really anxious at this time, and he also yelled too much. Referees now have zero tolerance for players.

Harden lost control of his emotions on such an important occasion, and the referee immediately added a technical foul to Harden without mercy.

In this way, Li Feng had a chance to score 4 points on an offense, and Li Feng went to the free throw line in the faint interference of Rockets fans in the center of New Orleans, and steadily hit both free throws.

As a result, the Pelicans led the Rockets by 13 points in one breath, 109-96, and there were five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

This time the rocket was really a bit of trouble, and at this time Kenny Smith still couldn't believe it and said:

"Are the Rockets really going to lose today?"

Webb was very proud at this point:

"If the rockets didn't have a table against the sky, today they would have lost. In other words, Harden can't play at the MVP level, and today the Rockets have no hope. This is the first game, and the Pelicans' defense is not bad at all, and it will not be easy for them to chase 13 points in five minutes. ”

The rocket was hit by this kind of course, which was caused by a variety of reasons. At this time, the Rockets' New Orleans Center Court is full of mourning.

The fans sighed for a long time, and Harden was also angry at this time, and this game made him unacceptable.

Harden is arrogant, he thinks that the Spurs are not very strong this year, they are destined to win the championship, but he didn't expect to capsize in the gutter today, which is too embarrassing, so at this time Harden suppressed the anger in his heart and was ready to kill on the offensive end.

McHale could feel Harden's feelings at this time, but he wasn't prepared to stop Harden. The current situation is indeed that there is no way to solve it except for Harden, and if the Rockets want to win today, they need Harden to play an extraordinary table.

The Rockets hit again at this time, and Harden took the ball and wanted to forcibly eat Li Feng, but it was just when he took the ball and controlled the ball.

The Pelicans' defense reacted suddenly, with several players coming together to help defend Harden, Li Feng blocking in front and teammates echoing on the side, forming a defensive link.

This defense made Harden very unhappy in the face of the Spurs, and now that Li Feng has been replaced as the hub of this defensive tactic, Harden is even more unhappy, his stubborn temper has come up, and he still forced a shot on the heads of several Pelicans.

The Pelicans still couldn't stop Harden from making a shot, but Harden couldn't make a shot efficiently.

The basketball smashed into the hoop all of a sudden, rebounded back and was caught by Kelly, Kelly grabbed the basketball and quickly passed it to Li Feng's hands again.

Li Feng quickly chased after him with the ball, and at this time, the rocket did not dare to make a tactical foul, so he could only run with Li Feng first.

However, Li Feng was too fast, and it took a few hits to reach the Rocket's half, and at this time the Rocket wanted to defend Li Feng again.

Li Feng took advantage of Luo Teng's cover and stepped into the Rocket's penalty area. When you get to this position, you can see Li Feng dodge Josh Smith with a fold in the air, and then pull you to push the rebound with his right hand.

The basketball wiped the board into the Rocket's basket, and once the Rocket missed it, he was immediately chased by someone quickly.

At this time, the score became 111-96, and the Pelicans led the Rockets by 15 points, which was the last few minutes of the final quarter.

Barkley also closed his eyes and sighed:

"Defend, defend."

Today's Rockets' defense has been emphasized many times. But it has not been done well, especially when retreating, and the defense is always not in place at the moment of the transition between attack and defense.

This situation has made the Pelicans already grab a lot of light points, and the Rockets are still losing points like this in the final quarter, which is simply panicking.

McHale also closed his eyes at this time, and now the only thing the Rockets can count on is Harden.

Harden was also red-eyed at this time, and his Rockets were forced to such a point by the Pelicans, which is unjustifiable anyway.

Harden took the ball in the backcourt at this time, and once he rushed up. The Pelicans immediately connected to the defense, and the whole team was taking care of him. Li Feng even stuck it to prevent Harden from being comfortable, but even so, Harden leaned on Li Feng all of a sudden. It was still a jump that jumped out of the Pelicans' defensive circle, and he jumped out to break through the baseline, flew to the back of the rebound, reached out and made a layup to score two points.

Harden's scoring ability is really strong, and he can do it with such a difficult score. One person beats several pelicans.

But just after Harden scored, the Pelicans kicked off the baseline and Al Jefferson drove the basketball. Corey got the ball up and gave Terry over at once, and Terry became a hole for the Rockets at this critical moment.

Corey passed Terry and changed the opponent's defense in one fell swoop, and then he slammed into the Rockets' restricted area, and when a crowd on the Rockets' side beat him, he passed the basketball to Kelly, who was dragging behind.

When Kelly received the ball here, he was still a big step away from the basket, but in this case, Kelly took the ball and threw out a three-pointer "Wow!" "It smashed into the rocket's basket with a bang.

Harden struggled to score 2 points, and the Pelicans immediately chased a 3-pointer. Seeing this scene, Barkley also shook his head on the sidelines.

This time the Rockets are finished, their scores are behind, they can't prevent it, they can't play, and in the next game, the Rockets are really defeated, and Harden's side often struggles to score two points, but when he turns around, he is beaten back and counterattacked, or he is fouled by Li Feng. At this time, the rocket did not have enough time, the body was not enough, and the preparation was not sufficient, and the score of more than ten points just couldn't catch up.

Finally, when the full-time whistle blew, the Rockets lost, and the Rockets actually lost on the road, in the first game of the playoffs.

Losing such a game, the Rockets themselves didn't believe it, and at the end of the game, Harden also dropped the towel, and today's game was as embarrassing as bedwetting according to Harden's words.

At the end of the game, the reporter first interviewed Li Feng:

"Tyrannosaurus Rex, you got a playoff win today. How it feels. ”

"It's very exciting, it's perfect to beat the Rockets. The Rockets are a very strong team, and there is even greater joy in beating such a team. I'm very excited right now. ”

Li Feng did not hide his excitement at all, and the reporter immediately asked:

"Can you tell us why you won today?"

Li Feng also said calmly at this time:

"We won in the rhythm, and the Rockets couldn't adapt to our rhythm yet. We played fast today, faster than usual, but the Rockets were a little bit slower, so we had a lot of chances. ”

"So what do you think of Harden, who scored 33 points today?"

The reporter finally asked about this matter, but Li Feng didn't say anything good, because he was fighting with Harden before the game.

"Thankfully, he didn't take 66 shots, and Harden shot beautifully."

In this game, Harden made 41 shots and scored 12 goals, Li Feng was so sarcastic about his former younger brother Harden, of course the reporter was very happy, but Harden heard Li Feng's words in the player tunnel, and almost smoked angrily. (To be continued......)