Chapter 940 Little Clever D’Antoni

The third game between the Pelicans and Rockets will not be played until three days later.

During this period, the second games of the other two Western Conference semifinals also ended one after another.

Lowry recovered and scored 20+10, helping the Raptors regain a victory and draw 1-1 with the Knicks.

After losing Leonard, the Spurs were completely unable to withstand the Warriors' offense and defeated their opponents 91 to 121.

Whether Pachulia deliberately stepped on the ball is still controversial, but what is not controversial is that his kick already caused the Spurs to be eliminated early.

At the same time, the league announced the third batch of season awards, this time announcing the Sixth Man of the Season.

Eric Gordon of the Rockets was elected Sixth Man of the Season with 39% of the vote, beating out Iguodala of the Warriors and Lou Williams of the Pelicans.

After the award was announced, Tang Tian also immediately sent congratulations to Gordon.

This player who was originally selected by the Los Angeles Clippers and was expected to become the new future player, due to injuries, moved to New Orleans, Brooklyn, New York, and then to Houston, where he finally found his niche.

This honor is recognition of his best performance this season and is also a great encouragement.

On the same day, the entire Pelicans team flew to Houston.

On the day of the resistance, the whole team continued training, and the content was similar to the previous two days, dealing with the tactical response to Jokic being singled out.

D'Antoni's statement after the second game of the series gave Rockets fans confidence, and also gave the Pelicans an early vaccination.

Stevens and Tang Tian are both masters of tactics, and they will definitely not sit still and wait for death.

The Rockets are still conducting closed training throughout the entire process. Although D'Antoni said there would be tactical adjustments before the game, there was no news at all before the game.

It can be felt that they are obviously holding back their energy and want to start a desperate counterattack at home.

That night, the Toyota Center in Houston was filled to capacity.

For Toyota Center, which has never been known for its attendance, this is very rare.

It's just that many Chinese spectators came to the scene to support Tang Tian, ​​which gave the game a slightly different flavor.

No matter how strong the Rockets are and how many stars there are, as long as there is Tang Tian, ​​this city, which was originally opened to the Chinese market by Yao Ming, will not be a complete home stadium.

This can be felt from the moment Tang Tian appeared in the arena and was cheered by a considerable number of fans.

After the pre-match warm-up of the two teams, the Best Sixth Man Awarding Ceremony was held first.

"...I want to thank every one of my past and present teammates, and everyone in this city. Your support has allowed me to get to where I am today. I love this city and I am willing to play for the Rockets forever. "

Gordon's speech was very emotional. It is not easy for a player who was once given high hopes but has wandered around to find a second spring to regain his value in the NBA.

Gordon's speech made the fans cheer and inspired the Rockets players.

They really gave it their all tonight.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of the two teams came on stage one after another.

The Rockets have made adjustments to the starting lineup, Paul, Harden, Gordon, Tucker, and Cousins.

They started with Gordon instead of Morris!

When Gordon started, the crowd cheered constantly and the Toyota Center was filled with momentum.

When this starting lineup came out, both Tang Tian and Stevens were surprised.

If the Pelicans continue to use Tang Tian to beat Cousins, Tucker's role in assisting defense will come into play.

But if Davis plays Tucker on his back, the Pelicans' offensive efficiency will decrease.

D'Antoni's starting adjustments this time are quite spiritual.

Moreover, they did not reveal any news before the game, which can be regarded as catching the Pelicans off guard.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of the two teams came on stage one after another.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Cousins ​​jumped past Davis and gave the Rockets the opportunity to take the lead.

Harden dribbled to the frontcourt and met Cousins' pick-and-roll.

Cousins ​​blocked Ariza, Harden hit Jokic in a misplaced position, and the breakthrough after continuous changes accelerated the stop and step back.

Jokic couldn't keep up with the rhythm, and because of Gordon's three-pointer, the Rockets' help defense didn't dare to attack at will.

"Uh-huh!"

This time the Rockets came out on top.

The Toyota Center is cheering, it’s a good start!

In the Pelicans' offense, Holiday went to the frontcourt to signal the distance, and then gave the ball to Davis in the low post.

Although Tucker has excellent defense, he mainly plays small forward this season, and his disadvantage in defending Davis is too obvious.

This is a natural dislocation, and it would be inappropriate not to fight it.

Davis caught the ball and hit it hard, but Tucker couldn't handle it.

However, Gordon on the weak side has already assisted in defense in advance, and the Rockets were obviously prepared before the game.

Davis turned around and made a layup, taking the shot before the defense could help.

Although Tucker couldn't withstand it, he was given enough physical confrontation, and Davis' shot slipped out of the basket.

However, Davis reacted quickly, grabbed the offensive rebound with his long arms, and quickly scored a dunk.

This matchup is indeed a bit difficult for Tucker.

Bzdelik exchanged a few words with D'Antoni at this time. D'Antoni nodded, stood up and shouted a few words to Cousins. It seemed that he had made defensive adjustments.

In the Rockets' frontcourt offense, Harden continued to find Jokic in misplaced positions.

The Pelicans did not change, and Harden stepped back from the outside and shot a three-pointer.

"Uh-huh!"

The ball hit the net.

Harden's hands are a little hot tonight!

The cheers started again.

Stevens held his chin in thought on the sidelines, which is obviously not good news for the Pelicans.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt again, and with the same idea, Davis continued to fall low.

However, the Rockets' defense has changed. They used Tucker to defend Jokic at the top of the arc, and Cousins ​​hid under the basket and couldn't get out!

If Davis wants to play hard in the low post, he can only play Cousins. If he doesn't play hard, with Tucker's help defense speed, they can also deal with it in the mid-range position.

And the certainty of the mid-range attack is definitely not as good as that of the basket attack.

D'Antoni, this smart little guy, was really smart tonight!

Holiday looked for Davis to play a pick-and-roll, and after breaking it up, he broke in and passed to Davis.

This ball gave Davis a good mid-range opportunity.

However, Paul kept making hidden little moves. Davis's rhythm was not very good when he was dodging his moves, and the ball hit the frame.

Cousins ​​​​collected the defensive rebound under the basket.

With this attack and defense, the Rockets have the upper hand!

"The Rockets really have a chance tonight!"

In the commentary box, Jeff Van Gundy exclaimed.

"They are much better than last year and they should come back."

Brin also echoed.

If the Rockets lose again this time, it will be 0-3. The strength gap between this Rockets team and the Pelicans is not that big.

The guest commentator for this game was Tracy McGrady, who smiled and nodded after hearing the words of Van Gundy and Breen.

But while he was laughing, he unconsciously cast his eyes towards the Pelicans' half, towards Tang Tian.

From the opening scene to the scene, it seems that Tang Tian hasn’t made a move yet?