One Thousand One Hundred and Fifty Six: I Was Struck by a Rocket.

Link also found that his shooting today felt a bit stretched.

This phenomenon has been very rare throughout his career.

Link's greatness lies not only in his personal ability, but also in his excellent stability.

He will never score more than 30 points one day and then feel crazy the next day.

Link can maintain a stable state in all 82 games. For others, the highest ability value in the stability column is only 99.

Link's state stability value has definitely reached 200.

People have marveled at Link's ability to maintain his condition more than once. After all, it is normal to have ups and downs on the basketball court.

Even Michael Jordan had a night where he hit 9 of 35 and hit 26 irons.

The abnormally accurate Stephen Curry has had twenty games with a shooting percentage below 25% in his career.

However, this kind of thing rarely happens to Link, which seems very abnormal.

Therefore, Link's stability has always been a hotly discussed topic.

Today, Link finally felt "normal" for a while, but he couldn't be happy at all.

Right now, the Houston Rockets and Harden are trying their best to kill themselves. This situation is so ups and downs, it’s not the right time!

So, staying up late is really bad! Not sleeping well for two consecutive nights had such a huge impact on my shooting state.

Of course, the Rockets players don't know this yet. They are still aggressive and look like they are going to fight to the death.

Link also shook his head and didn't think more about it. Maybe once the game starts and the sense of urgency rises, the feeling of shooting will come back naturally?

He no longer worried about his feel and began to focus on the game.

The Houston Rockets are indeed the Grizzlies' old rival.

After 82 regular season games, Link dare not say that he was impressed by every game.

In fact, for most games in the regular season, Link would not be able to remember the details of the game three days after the game. After a week, you may even completely forget about it.

But in the four games he played against the Rockets, Link was deeply impressed.

In the regular season, the Rockets did cause too much trouble for the Grizzlies. And now, the Rockets' lineup has been upgraded again.

Their starting lineup has not changed, still Beverley, Harden, Ariza, Anderson and Capela.

But at this time, in addition to Gordon, the Rockets bench also had Lou Williams, a nuclear warhead that could explode at any time.

You know, Lu Wei and Link have competed against each other this season. In the game against the Lakers last December, Link scored 48 points in the end before he evened out Lou Williams.

His addition will undoubtedly make the Rockets' already terrifying firepower even more intense.

It's no wonder that the Houston media and fans believe that the Rockets can challenge the Grizzlies. After all, their lineup is really not bad.

While thinking, the referee threw the ball high.

Capela easily won the first offensive ball from Gasol, and the Rockets got the opportunity to take the initiative.

Since it is the playoffs, there is no need to be secretive. Link directly faced Harden as soon as he came up, which was exactly the same as the last time the two sides met in the regular season.

If we don't do anything serious in the playoffs, then when will we have to wait?

In the last regular season meeting between the two sides, the Rockets suffered a disastrous defeat and were beaten into garbage time by the Grizzlies.

That game was because Link defended Harden from the moment he came up, which caused him to be a little unprepared.

But today, Harden came prepared.

He knows what the playoffs are like, so he has long been prepared to face Link's defense.

The bearded man was not nervous. He calmly called Capela to come and cover him.

Taking advantage of Capela's high-quality screen, Harden accelerated his breakthrough.

However, as soon as he took a step forward, he suddenly retreated and stepped outside the three-point line!

"Damn, it's coming!" Link hurriedly jumped out. In his impression, Harden's step-back three-pointer will become truly superb next season.

It seems that his own oppression has forced Harden to speed up his progress.

Link's interference was very timely, but he knew that it was not enough for Harden.

Sure enough, the basketball finally hit the net, and the Rockets got off to a good start!

"Going in, Harden hit a ball over Link's head as soon as he came up. Don't blink, this game is exciting!"

Kevin Harlan couldn't help but applaud Harden. This kind of scene of scoring a goal under Link's defense is not seen everywhere.

After the goal, the live camera gave Harden a close-up of his face.

Harden's brows were furrowed, and there was a strong murderous intent between his brows.

This time, Harden really wants to lead the team to win! And as soon as he came up, he set a good example.

After Harden scored, the cheers in FedEx Arena became even louder. Because at this time, everyone wants to see Link respond.

Link is always able to respond after the opponent scores a goal. He is the well-deserved king of response goals.

Link himself has never deliberately pursued a response ball, but he knows that he must not let the Rockets play confidently from the beginning.

For an opponent like the Rockets, whose entire team has convulsive attributes, once they are given confidence, their touch will accumulate crazily.

And letting a team like the Rockets feel overwhelmed is a very dangerous thing.

So, be sure to respond no matter what!

Conley was entangled with Beverley as always, and the Rockets had no intention of making things easier for the Grizzlies. They raised their defensive intensity to the highest level from the start.

However, the skilled Conley managed to safely control the ball beyond the three-point line and start organizing the offense.

Link is always looking for opportunities, and he crazily dives into every opening and crevice.

However, Conley's attack gave the ball to Wade.

After Wade came out of the inside pocket to catch the basketball, he broke through to the left, but in the next step he plunged to Harden's right side!

Harden didn't react in time and was instantly surpassed by Wade!

Wade is indeed in very good shape in the playoffs. He averaged 18.8 points per game against the Trail Blazers in the last round.

Once the playoffs arrive, former superstars like Wade will always perform like a comeback.

Today is no exception. Wade's running without the ball and breakthrough with the ball are both very good.

If you want to give him a score, you can give it a 9.

Seeing that Harden was completely out of position, Capela had to help defend and prepare for a head-on confrontation with Wade.

But as soon as Wade stepped into the penalty area, he suddenly flicked his wrist and quickly passed the ball to the left corner!

"Link is already in position for the breakthrough goal! The connection between Link and Wade is really tacit!" Kevin Harlan shouted, and Bill Simmons beside him laughed happily.

Now, Houstonians should know what it means to stop daydreaming!

Link used Jokic's off-ball screen to get rid of Ariza, and Wade's pass was also delivered in time. He got almost all open shooting opportunities.

All the fans at the scene raised their arms and were ready to celebrate the goal. Link almost never missed in the open space!

However, this time, Link wasted Wade's previous series of gorgeous performances.

Link's shot was very timely and seemed to be completed before Ariza interfered.

But in the end the basketball failed to hit, and Link failed to seize this excellent opportunity!

"Hold!"

Seeing the basketball bounce out of the frame, Link himself cursed loudly.

His shot feels just as bad as it did in warmups.

Seeing Link miss the shot, D'Antoni, the mustache on the sidelines, lit up.

Yes, even Michael Jordan had a night where he shot 9 for 35. Could it be that today, the Rockets just caught up? ?

D'Antoni became excited instantly. God helped me!

Of course, just an ordinary missed shot is not enough to explain Link's state.

But I don't know why, D'Antoni is very confident.

Bill Simmons curled his lips and dismissed Link's miss just now: "The game has just begun. It is normal to take some time to find the feel."

Simmons knows Link too well. Throughout his entire career, poor shooting touch may have occurred less than five times.

Simmons still couldn't believe that the Rockets were so lucky that they just happened to encounter one of them.

However, in the next few rounds, Link made two consecutive shots!

One time, Link's best sudden-stop mid-range shot actually hit the neck of the basket. One was a three-pointer after receiving a pass from Jokic, but he still failed to hit.

On the other hand, Harden seems to be in exactly the same state as Link today.

As soon as he came up, he scored a step-back jumper under Link's defense, which already showed Harden's good offensive feeling today.

After that, he was even more out of control and hit two goals in a row!

Until the end of the first quarter, Link still had not made a shot.

"29 to 23, the Houston Rockets led the Grizzlies by 6 points! Link only made 1 of 5 shots in the first quarter and only scored 5 points! On the other hand, Harden scored 11 points on 3 of 4 shots in the first quarter! I had to! In terms of performance in the first quarter, Harden completely defeated Link!"

At the end of the first quarter, Kevin Harlan couldn't help but use all his praise for Harden.

This may be the most perfect first quarter Harden has played this season!

D'Antoni was dancing with excitement. If he could win his first victory at FedEx Arena, just think about it and you'd know what a boost it would be to the team's morale!

The camera showed Link on the bench, with a serious expression and clenched teeth.

Throughout the first quarter, Link did not hit a single shot. The only goal scored in a sports game was obtained by breaking through the basket.

The Memphis fans at the scene were stunned. They had never encountered Link's inaccurate shooting in the playoffs!

"It seems that the game situation is not going in the direction you expected, Bill. Now, the momentum is all on the Rockets. Do you think Link can still find his shooting feeling?"

After Kevin Harlan praised Harden, he launched a "soul torture" on Simmons.

"I don't know, the shooting feel is so mysterious. But..."

Many Houston fans and media are looking forward to embarrassing Simmons, who is against them, and want to see him embarrassed on TV. But mid-sentence, Simmons chuckled.

"...But I believe that in addition to shooting, Link has many ways to affect the game. Believe me, it is not that simple to knock down a superstar!"

Simmons' words were interpreted by many people as "a tough talk", but he himself is still full of confidence.

If Link could be defeated so easily, he wouldn't have had his head shaved on the spot.

How does a superstar impact the game when his shots aren't accurate?

Now, it's time for Link to hand in his answer sheet.