Eight Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Need Space

Latest website: Good job, Dwight, James! We completely suppressed the opponent, and we played as smoothly today as in the previous 6 games! They have been exhausted and can do nothing. As long as we hold on in the second quarter, the balance of victory will be completely tilted! "

McHale was so excited that he almost danced on the spot. Since the beginning of the new season, the Grizzlies have won 6 games, and the point difference in 6 games has been double digits. No team has ever been able to suppress the Grizzlies in such a miserable state as today!

Even the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn't take advantage of the Grizzlies. But the Rockets did it, and they still have a chance to continue this suppression!

Of course McHale feels proud. Although the Grizzlies are playing with a broken lineup, as long as you can win, who cares if you are playing with a broken lineup?

In competitive sports, winning is the last word. People will only remember that the Celtics won the championship in 2008, but will not remember that the Lakers lost Bynum, an inside pillar.

People will only remember that the Lakers completed their revenge against the Celtics' Big Three in 2010 and achieved two consecutive championships, but they will not remember that the Celtics lost Perkins at that time.

Injuries are never an excuse for losing, and winners don't feel ashamed just because they beat a team with a weak lineup.

The Lakers' two consecutive championships are still praised, and the Celtics' Big Three championship is still full of gold.

Therefore, even if he faced the remnant Grizzlies, McHale was still proud of the team's performance.

In the second quarter, if Harden and Howard can bring more foul trouble to the Grizzlies, then the Rockets' victory will be a sure thing!

Winning against King of the World is incredibly exciting just thinking about it.

Soon, McHale's reverie was interrupted by the electronic buzzer that ended the interval. But he was not angry because he knew that after the second quarter started, all his fantasies would become reality!

"At the beginning of the second quarter, Harris played 12 minutes in the first quarter. I don't know if he will continue to play. If he does not play, who will the Grizzlies let play the fourth position? Send Gasol and Ezeli. A twin-tower lineup?" Before the game started, the local Houston commentator was somewhat gloating about the Grizzlies' starting lineup for the second quarter.

It seems that for him, it is very happy for the Grizzlies to be in a situation where no one can help them.

On the court, Joger couldn't help but feel worried when he looked at his lineup for the second quarter.

Link seemed to see through Jogel's doubts,

So he smiled and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, leave everything to me! Let's go!"

Link waved his hand and led four teammates back onto the court.

McHale craned his neck on the sidelines, beaming with joy after seeing the Grizzlies' starters in the second quarter.

"Conley, Tony Allen, Vince Carter, Link and Gasol, the Grizzlies sent out a large and four small lineup in the second quarter! Butler, Harris and Ezeli are not present! The Grizzlies The team is very passive now because this is a lineup that has never played together this season. This means that the Grizzlies are in a situation where no one is available."

Howard is gearing up to become one senior and four juniors, and the Grizzlies' interior defense is even weaker! He believes that after half the game is over, the Rockets will be able to embrace victory in advance!

The on-site camera also gave Link a close-up, but Link remained expressionless, seemingly not worried about the current situation.

However, everyone at the scene believed that in five minutes at most, Link would not be able to hold on any longer!

Conley, Tony Allen, Carter plus Gasol, Houston people don't think Link can achieve a climax to reverse the situation with this "semi-disabled" lineup.

Besides, among these people, Gasol has already committed two fouls. As long as he commits another foul, he will have to leave the game and rest.

The Grizzlies are doomed. Unless Link acts as a team leader alone, there is no hope for the Grizzlies!

The game restarted amidst the cheers of the Houston fans. On the first attack of the second quarter, Link took the ball.

Motiejunas did not defend Link. The Rockets are not stupid and will not let this mismatch easily form.

Ariza defended himself in front of Link as always, while Motiejunas guarded Carter, who was no longer as fast as before.

Link didn't want to pick and roll. He stared at Ariza, seemingly ready to make a move at any time.

Ariza was prepared to deal with the breakthrough, but when Link accelerated, Ariza's reaction was still half a beat too slow.

Link's first step was too fast, and Ariza couldn't intercept it immediately.

Although Link surpassed him by more than half, Ariza was not worried.

After all, Howard is on the inside!

"Come on, come on, come on..." Howard stood under the basket and muttered to himself.

He was ready to take down Link in the air at any time.

Link relied on Ariza to get inside and stared at the basket. Just when Howard was about to take off, Link threw the ball outside the three-point line.

At 45° on the right, Marc Gasol is already in place!

"What!?" Howard was stunned. He didn't expect Gasol to pull outside the three-point line.

Gasol did occasionally hit three-pointers during the regular season, but that was not Gasol's regular weapon. Generally speaking, no one will specifically guard against Gasol's three-pointers.

It was the same this time. Howard focused all his attention on Link but ignored Gasol.

After Gasol received the basketball, there were no defensive players around him. This was a truly wide open space.

The Spaniard knows that whether the subsequent games can proceed smoothly depends on today's three-point shooting percentage!

So Gasol withstood the pressure, took some time to aim at the basket, and then took off and shot!

Gasol takes a long time to prepare before shooting. After all, he doesn't often shoot three-pointers. But even so, no Rockets player stepped forward or even extended their hand.

They all seemed to be petrified, standing there watching Gasol slowly take action. Because the entire Rockets team believes that the Grizzlies are gambling!

"Have the Grizzlies reached the point where they have to rely on the center to bet on three-pointers? It's really sad!" McHale even shook his head slightly off the court.

Just when Howard was about to collect the rebound, Gasol's basketball went directly into the net and fell to the wooden floor!

"Marc Gasol's three-pointer hit the net...However, the Grizzlies can't rely on this to reverse the situation."

The Nets were shaking, even though Howard and local commentators tried their best to comfort themselves. But they all know that Marc Gasol's goal is no coincidence.

If you really let him have such a big gap, he can really score goals.

Howard turned his head and glanced at McHale. McHale was also a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Grizzlies actually won the bet! For safety reasons, he signaled Howard not to put Gasol as big as him next.

A three-pointer instantly gave the Rockets only a 5-point lead. Today, the Rockets don't want to give the Grizzlies any chance, any possibility of a comeback.

The Grizzlies want to use Gasol to move Howard? It doesn't matter, they still have Motiejunas who is 2.13 meters tall. Moreover, Howard doesn't really have to chase beyond the three-point line to defend.

To interfere with a player like Gasol's three-pointer, all he needs to do is reach out.

After the Rockets' attack, Howard retaliated in kind and succeeded in beating Gasol in the low post. Gasol's problem is the same as in the first quarter, because he doesn't want to foul so he doesn't defend aggressively enough. What Howard likes most is this kind of soft defense.

The score difference returned to 7 points, and all Houstonians breathed a sigh of relief. Can Marc Gasol kill the game with a three-pointer? Obviously that's impossible. But Howard can kill the game in the low post, and the Grizzlies still have no chance of winning!

After Howard retreated to the basket again, he discovered that Gasol was still on standby outside the three-point line!

Although reluctant, Howard left the basket and ran to the mid-range position.

He won't guard Gasol, but at least when Gasol is preparing to shoot a three-pointer, he must be able to immediately interfere. Therefore, Howard chose to set up a defense in the mid-range.

And in the mid-range, once Link breaks through, Howard can immediately return to the basket.

Howard instantly felt that he was simply the greatest defensive master in the world. He thought he had cracked the Grizzlies' conspiracy.

Link faced Ariza with the ball for the second time in a row. Howard was ready. If everything goes well, he might be able to steal Link's pass to Gasol.

Link looked at Howard standing in the middle distance and gritted his teeth.

Thanks to Gasol's three-point goal just now, the chance to counterattack is finally here!

Link took a step to the left of Ariza, and then quickly changed direction!

A beautiful Crossover, Link left Ariza behind for the second consecutive round.

"Fuck, it's useless!" Howard cursed in his mind when he saw Ariza being shaken away by Link like a stake. Then, he turned around and rushed to the basket.

Howard thought he could stop Link immediately, but Link was like a sports car speeding 200% on the highway. In the blink of an eye, he flashed past Howard!

It seems that Howard still knows nothing about Link's speed.

Howard had just taken two steps when he saw Link "floating" into the air as if he suddenly lost gravity, and smashed the ball into the frame with one hand!

This dunk was so powerful that the fans at Toyota Center felt as if they had been hit hard in the chest.

Link hung on the basket with one hand and yelled! All the pent-up frustration in the first quarter was released!

This dunk was not only a successful offense, but also represented a strategic success for the Grizzlies.

Today, the referee's whistle was very unfriendly to him, so confronting Howard was not an option.

So Link suggested that the team open up space for him during the break. As long as Gasol helps open up the space, even if it's just a trace of space, Link is confident that Howard can't touch him, thus successfully ending the offense!

What if Rockets sends someone else to help defend Link? does not matter. Because all five of the Grizzlies' current players on the court have three-point ability, this is why the Grizzlies play one big and four small!

Qiaogel was very worried at first, because this tactic, to put it bluntly, relies on Link's personal ability. With limited space, can Link score the ball? If it doesn't work, this lineup with almost no interior defensive capabilities is equivalent to giving it away.

But seeing Link hanging on the basket and roaring, Jogel was instantly relieved. As Link said himself, Howard couldn't touch him at all!

"Don't be complacent, we are still ahead!" On the court, Howard saw Link being so arrogant, so he couldn't help but started to spray when he went to the basket to pick up the ball.

"Don't be arrogant. I guarantee you and your bearded friend won't be laughing at the end of halftime!"

Link dealt with Howard with a relaxed expression, not at all offended by his clumsy trash talk.

Howard's veins popped out, he hated this feeling of being looked down upon the most! The purpose of trash talk is to irritate the other person. If the other person doesn't feel any pain, you will be the one who is irritated.

Link did not continue to struggle with Howard, but quickly turned around and retreated. He believed that as long as this attack could be fought once, there would be a second and third time!

Once Pandora's box is opened, it cannot be closed.

Test personal ability? What Link lacks most is personal ability! The defending champion's counterattack began here.