Chapter 726 Weaknesses of the Magic Ball Theory (Fourth Update!)

After a brief warm-up, the scene quickly entered the opening ceremony.

The Rockets' starter was the first to be introduced.

Paul, Harden, and Cousins ​​all started, and the remaining two were P.J. Tucker and Luke Richard Mbah a Moute.

At the beginning of the season, the Rockets asked Capela and Cousins ​​to play in the twin towers, but the effect was not good.

In particular, D'Antoni is a head coach who advocates offense, and the slow-paced offense is intolerable to him.

After playing just two games, he put Capela on the bench and started trying various lineups.

Brewer + David West, Brewer + Tucker, Tucker + West, Brewer + Mbah a Moute...

After various experiments, he finally got the lineup he wanted.

Tucker was a 3D player with outstanding combat ability during his time with the Suns. After arriving with the Rockets, his exposure increased, and his advantages were further amplified.

Although he is short in height, he is particularly good in confrontation, especially in the small ball era. The average No. 4 position cannot hold up against him in the low post.

And his corner three-pointer is also seriously underestimated. He can allow Cousins ​​​​in the corner to get enough offensive space in the interior.

Mbah a Moute was a defensive engineer before he came to the Rockets. When he played on the team, it was basically a four-on-five scene.

The Rockets also used him this way at first, but D'Antoni experimented with the lineup and frantically encouraged three-pointers on the wings.

In this process, Mbah a Moute showed a completely different stability in outside shooting than in his previous career.

Everyone, even himself, discovered that he could score.

In the end, he successfully squeezed out Brewer and entered the starting lineup. He and Tucker also supported most of the Rockets' defensive system.

After introducing the players, head coach D'Antoni was introduced next.

When his name was read out, the crowd booed.

D'Antoni had reached a preliminary agreement with the Pelicans, but in the end he chose the Rockets instead of the Pelicans.

The contract offered by the Rockets is higher than that of the Pelicans. It is understandable that people will die for money and birds will die for food.

However, this approach of suddenly leaving after an agreement is reached still makes Pelicans fans unhappy. Although they will not attack on social media, boos at home are unavoidable.

The Pelicans had a regular lineup, and when Stevens came on the field, there were deafening cheers.

The comparison between the two coaches one after another showed that the fans intended to embarrass D'Antoni.

Sure enough, D'Antoni's face looked very ugly. He was also a famous coach. He must be unhappy when being suppressed by a young head coach like Stevens.

The warm-up was over and the starting players from both teams came on stage one after another.

Davis beat Cousins ​​in a jump, officially kicking off the Christmas Day war.

Jokic went to the frontcourt to organize with the ball. Tang Tian cut in and ran back and was double-teamed, passing the ball to Ariza in the bottom corner.

The ball was scored in time, but the Rockets defended very quickly. Ariza shook Tucker and broke through, but Cousins ​​interfered with the layup and missed it.

Cousins ​​turned around and grabbed a defensive rebound. The Rockets counterattacked and Paul passed a long pass to Harden from the backcourt.

But the Pelicans retreated quickly, and Harden's layup was blocked by Tang Tian.

The Pelicans reached the frontcourt, Tang Tiansan threatened to hit Mbah a Moute, and after the breakthrough, he made an emergency stop and hit the ball.

Looking back, Harden made a three-pointer while running in position, catching the ball, and then stepped back.

These opening rounds became a microcosm of the first quarter of the game between the two teams.

The Pelicans' current offensive capabilities have reached 70 to 80% of what Stevens wants, and they can do whatever they want against ordinary teams.

But this Rockets team, because of Bzdelik's presence, is different from the Knicks and Lakers teams coached by D'Antoni in the past few seasons.

He is defensive, and after the lineup is completed, he is a first-class defender.

The same is true in reverse. The Rockets' three giants have completed their integration and their offensive strength has greatly increased.

But facing the Pelicans, who have basically been fully adjusted on the defensive end, they also did not play so smoothly.

After the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 27.

This situation is stressful for both teams, but the home fans are very excited.

This evenly matched high-level competition, just like the previous U-Yong battle, is addictive.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Harden led the Rockets on the court.

The Rockets traded for Paul this season, but D'Antoni is very ambitious, and he also tried to let Harden play the role of organization.

This is in line with his personal characteristics. He is good at training point guards. Now he has two super giant guards, and he hopes they can all be used as point guards.

And it worked, so he could use Paul and Harden separately.

After Harden came in, he first passed West for a layup, and then he made a signature step-back 2+1, leading the team to a 5-0 run.

The Rockets had very poor substitutes last season, but now Harden is allowed to play the lead role in this substitute transition period, which can not only train Harden, but also greatly increase their substitute strength.

Stevens called a timeout at this time.

After the timeout, Bojan hit a key three-pointer through tactical movement, setting the New Orleans Arena on fire.

This summer, the Pelicans sent away Gordon, the team's sixth man, which aroused reluctance and doubts from fans.

But with Bojan's outstanding performance in the Pelicans, they have begun to forget about Gordon.

This three-pointer helped the Pelicans narrow the point difference to 2 points. When they returned to the defensive end, the Pelicans made tactical adjustments.

Stevens has studied the Rockets' magic ball theory before and already has a way to deal with it.

It's just that because this is the first time the two sides have played against each other this season, he needs more on-the-spot observations to decide whether to use countermeasures.

He already knew how long this section would last.

The Rockets have taken 20 shots so far, 14 of which were from the three-point line, 6 of which were in the penalty area, and none from mid-range.

This includes positional warfare and defensive counterattacks, and shots in the mid-range area have been completely abandoned by them.

The Pelicans defense set up a 2-1-2 zone defense.

This is a defensive formation that is rarely used in zone defense, because it basically means opening up space in the air.

This zone defense was used by Popovich when the Spurs played the Pelicans last season, but in the end Tang Tian forced it out and stopped using it.

Now Stevens has targeted the Magic Ball's weakness and used the same method.

Harden was tightly guarded from beyond the three-point line, West was also targeted at the basket, and the Rockets' offense was restricted.

But just as Stevens expected, they didn't take the shot from the neutral mid-range area!

Terry's final three-pointer after receiving the ball was interfered with and missed the basket!

McGee's defensive position has improved greatly. The ball blocked Capela and collected the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans took advantage of the situation to counterattack. Dinwiddie got rid of Old Terry in the fast break and confidently flew for a layup.

The Pelicans tied the score!