The Basketball Court Swordsman

Before the game began, James Harden stood in the Rockets halftime with his hands on his hips, staring at everyone on the Pacers.

No one knows what Harden is thinking about at this time. Maybe he is thinking of the humiliation in the Finals six months ago, maybe he is thinking about how to break through the Pacers' defense. In short, fans rarely see Harden have such a deep moment.

At the same time, on the side of the court, Henson also stared at James Harden. Last season, he could easily turn off the best sixth man. But this season, Henson is very dilemma about how to defend Harden. This guy has made a lot of progress. When he saw Harden at uCLA, Henson knew that this guy would not be a general in the future.

Until now, Henson's head is still running at high speed. While playing while thinking about the game strategy, Henson didn't have much experience like this.

"Henson." It wasn't until Vogel stabbed Henson with his elbow that the Chinese coach looked away from Harden.

"Yeah." Henson nodded, then clapped his hands to gather the group, and he was going to make the final arrangement.

"Listen, raise your arms as high as possible and try not to touch him! I would rather let him shoot than let him get the chance to score easily on the free throw line!" Henson finally emphasized to the players that it is natural to defend James. Harden's strategy, Henson does not think that this strategy will work, but this is his only way.

"The starting players of both sides will play, this will definitely be a fierce game! James Harden was completely lost when facing the Pacers in the finals of the season. I have reason to believe that he will do his best to break this nightmare!" Entering the stadium, the atmosphere immediately became lively, and the mood of the commentators was also very high.

The Rockets' starting center, Turk Asik stepped into the center circle. Although Al Horford was down in height, Henson was not worried. Since joining the Rockets, Asik's performance has been tepid and he has not been able to pose a threat to Horford.

But apart from Asik, Henson thinks all the Rockets' other starters are threats!

Jeremy Lin, the number one position, although he has not played the performance of the "Lin Madness" period this season, his performance has been very stable. No. 2 James Harden naturally needless to say, small forward Chandler Parsons also showed his potential last season. This season, Parsons, the second-year forward, has averaged 15.5 points per game, and he has become an important scoring point for the Rockets.

Finally, the Rockets' starting power forward Marcus Morris, although only a second-year player, only played 17 games last season. But this season, Morris showed versatility, so many teams have begun to play his attention. Morris can shoot, can attack the frame, can defend and have mobility, by no means a fuel-efficient lamp.

It is this lineup that has allowed the Rockets to hit 14 wins and 12 losses. This result is indeed not worth mentioning compared with the league's top teams, but compared to the past, the Rockets' progress is definitely visible to the naked eye.

The referee blew his whistle and threw the basketball into the air. Horford used his bounce and speed advantages to overcome the height gap, and successfully put the ball into Paul's hands! Henson was attentive from the first second of the game, he was about to "strip off" the Rockets' panties!

The Rockets' offense is very good, even comparable to many top teams. But the reason for their average record is defense.

Jeremy Lin and Parsons are conscientious on the defensive end, but due to physical fitness, they cannot be called strong. James Harden is an offensive knife, but he often loses his mind on the defensive end. Marcus Morris is slightly lacking in strength, and sometimes can't hold the opponent's shock. The same problem is also exposed to Rockets center Asik.

Therefore, Henson is not too worried about the Pacers' offense. As long as the players are not in a hurry, nothing will go wrong.

As soon as he came up, Paul played a classic pick-and-roll match with West. This time, Jeremy Lin used his active defense to get around Paul, but even this couldn't bring the Pacers' offense to a standstill.

After Paul broke into the middle distance, he made a pass and gave the ball to West! David West played singles with the ball, he pushed back two steps, Marcus Morris couldn't stand it at all. Seeing that the distance was right, West turned over to make a jumper and scored the first point for the Pacers with his soft touch!

"Very simple but efficient offense. It seems that the Pacers players are very well prepared for this game." Barkley clapped his hands. David West, a highly skilled retro forward, is already in the league. Not much to see.

As Henson thought, the Pacers had no problems with their offense. Paul organized the team in an orderly manner, but this does not mean that Henson can relax. He stood on the sidelines, holding his chin. The Rockets' offensive round, this is where the trouble begins!

Jeremy Lin was tightly pressed by Paul just after halftime, but the Chinese point guard did not rush, stabilized the rhythm of the ball and passed it to Chandler Parsons.

Parsons passed the ball directly to the top of the arc of the three-point line before he got the heat! Over there, James Harden, who has transformed from the sixth man to the star, is ready to end the Rockets' first offense!

Paul George, as Henson had hoped, raised one arm up and ready to interfere with the shot, while the other arm was placed below ready to steal. In the finals of last season, it was George's excellent performance that eclipsed Harden and made himself famous.

Harden held the ball for three threats and his eyes were full of anger!

With a flick of a shot, Harden suddenly speeded up and went straight to the restricted area!

Harden's confrontation ability is stronger than half a year ago, and now George can't easily stop him.

After reaching the three-second zone, Harden suddenly lifted the basketball to the left side. Just as George changed his center of gravity, he strode to the right again, then picked the basket and shot!

Harden's two large strides and strange rhythm made him get out of the way! Although George leaped and waved his arms, he only slammed into a cloud of air. James Harden’s layup step is too weird!

"Beautiful European step, James Harden's tempo changes when layup is always unpredictable." Kenny Smith nodded approvingly, European step, this is Harden's scoring skills this season.

Harden's European pace is not fast, but wins with a strange rhythm. When you thought he was going fast, he suddenly came three steps slower. When you think he is going to be slow, he can jump into the restricted area like a snake out of a hole.

Of course, the most frightening thing is Harden's ability to make fouls in the process of using the Europace. Fortunately, this time George's defense was relatively clean, and he didn't let Harden hit a 2+1 as soon as he started!

Although this season, due to the soaring degree of attention, Harden often broke the news of spending big money in nightclubs. But Henson believes that at least this summer, this bearded man has worked hard!

After that, the Pacers and Rockets' offenses are still progressive. With George, he took the ball and scored a mid-range shot with his height advantage. But soon, Jeremy Lin's breakthrough point made the "rich and handsome" Parsons shot from outside the three-point line.

Al Horford cut into a dunk, Marcus Morris received a pass from Harden and scored from the mid-range...

The offenses of the two sides went back and forth, and the fans watched it lively! But Henson couldn't get excited. Confrontation is not a good way to contain the rockets.

Finally, in the fourth minute of the first quarter, the whistle sounded.

This time Harden used his arm to clamp George's arm when he broke through. That's right, he took the initiative to clamp George, not George clamped him! But from the referee's point of view, he doesn't care who caught first, he only sees who is attacking and who is defending!

In this way, Harden raised his arm high after breaking through halfway, and then throw the basketball on the board.

"Dududu! Shooting foul, free throw twice!"

The referee yelled and pointed to the technical table. George didn't complain, but shook his head helplessly. You can say that Harden is using the rules, or you can say that he is playing rogue at all. But no matter what the evaluation is, Harden can always win scoring opportunities by this method. In competitive sports, scoring is a good offense!

Henson was on the sidelines with his hips akimbo, and the one who should have come is here. If Harden makes two free throws, the Pacers will be behind by 2 points. It seems that there is no chance of winning a single match.

So Henson sat back on the bench for the first time in this game and picked up the tactical board. He was about to try to take off the Rockets' **** for the first time.