The King of the NBA

Houston, Toyota Center.

There were many people in the auditorium, most of them were Rockets fans, and some of them were Timberwolves fans.

Toyota Center Arena has had many Chinese fans since the Yaoming era. In the circle of Chinese fans, the Rockets are also a team that attracts a lot of attention, even though Yaoming has retired now.

But today, the Chinese fans in the Toyota Center Arena are a little hesitant. On one side are the Rockets, Harden, Howard, and Jeremy Lin; on the other side are the Timberwolves and Ning Yi.

Where should this be supported?

Some fans figured out a way, waving a "Support the Rockets" sign with one hand, and waving a small flag with "Ning Yi Come on" written on it with the other hand, which is a bit weird no matter how you look at it.

On the court, players from both sides have already played and warmed up on the court.

This is the playoffs, the atmosphere is very different from the regular season, it has become more dignified, but the warm-up players on both sides are extraordinarily quiet, this kind of quiet, like the calm before the storm.

After a while, the warm-up is over.

Players from both sides returned to the sidelines. On the side of the Rockets, a group of players surrounded Coach Kevin McHale. Coach McHale took out the tactical board, drew a few times on it, and said, "I have given you the It is very clear, and I believe you all know what everyone should do. In a word, the defense must be done well, and the offense must also be played well."

"Yes." Everyone responded.

Here, the Timberwolves formed a circle.

Adelman said: "Pekovic, Howard will be handed over to you, try to push him outside, don't let him press too deep. Outside, Rubio, Martin, you two keep an eye on Harden, Double-team me if necessary. One of the most important firepower points for the Rockets is Harden, as long as Harden is restrained, the game will be easy to play."

"On the offensive end, the three of you, Love, Ning, and Martin, form a triangle. According to my arrangement, Ning acts as a pivot linking Martin and Love. The three of you are the core of the offense."

"Remember, follow our rhythm." After Adelman finished speaking, he added: "This is the playoffs, and it will definitely be different from the regular season. The defensive intensity will be greater and the confrontation will be more intense. You guys What we have to do at the beginning is to follow our rhythm and adapt to the game as soon as possible.”

Everyone nodded.

This is the playoffs. Unlike the regular season, the confrontation will be more intense and the games will be more brutal. For the Timberwolves, the most important thing is to adapt to the playoffs.

"Go ahead." Adelman waved.

Ning Yi, Love, Martin, Rubio, Pekovic, five people walked onto the court.

Looking at the backs of several people, Adelman's expression also became dignified. He hadn't made the playoffs for several years, and the playoffs seemed a bit unfamiliar to the Timberwolves, lacking in experience.

"However, they are all very good, I believe they can adapt quickly." Adelman whispered to himself, his eyes became sharp and flashed.

"Snapped!"

The ball was patted by Howard into the backcourt, Harden took control of the ball, and instead of giving it to Beverly, he advanced it himself.

The Rockets' starters today are Howard, Terrence Jones, Parsons, Harden, and Beverly. Among them, Beverly plays the No. 1 position, but strictly speaking, it is Harden who is really responsible for the organization.

This season, Beverly averaged 2.7 assists per game, while Harden averaged 6.1 assists per game. It can be seen from the data that it is Harden who really controls the ball and organizes the team's offense.

The game had just started, Harden was not in a hurry, passed the ball to Beverly after crossing the center line, and then walked around the three-point line, Parsons ran back and pulled to the outside to receive the ball.

At this time, Howard asked for the ball in the low post, and Parsons quickly passed it.

At the beginning, the Rockets didn't play Harden, nor did they play outside, but planned to start from inside.

"On Howard's point, the Rockets have the upper hand." Adelman thought to himself, not worried, because he had already expected this and was prepared.

Howard took the ball, the Timberwolves quickly shrunk the line of defense, and Love went up to help defend.

Seeing someone coming to help defend, Howard quickly split the ball and re-passed to Parsons, while Harden came around from the other side. Jones set him a screen and let Harden get away from Martin.

"Whoosh" sound.

The man arrives, the ball arrives, Harden takes the ball, and it's a direct three-pointer.

"Shua!"

With a soft sound, the ball goes in.

The score became 3:0. Amid the excited cheers of the home fans, the Timberwolves launched a counterattack. Rubio quickly advanced to the frontcourt, then suppressed his speed, and passed the ball to Ning Yi with a flick of his hand.

The Rockets are double guards, and both Harden and Beverly can undertake organizational tasks.

The same is true for Timberwolves. Some time ago, when Love came back, Adelman had some headaches. It was not because Ning Yi and Love were compatible. Ning Yi and Love were very compatible, and the cooperation became more tacit. It's Ning Yi and Rubio. Ning Yi is somewhat similar to Harden, with excellent scoring ability and excellent passing. The two complement each other.

But in this way, Rubio's role is weakened when Ning Yi and Rubio are on the court at the same time.

Originally, Adelman planned to let Rubio play as a substitute, so that Ning Yi's role could be better played, and the second team could be thicker.

But in this way, it seems that Ning Yi is more prominent. If the opponent prevents Ning Yi at all costs, or the person who is against Ning Yi is too strong, such as James, it will be a bit troublesome.

In the end, Adelman still decided to let Rubio and Ning Yi learn the Rockets together, but not exactly the same as the Rockets. Both Ning Yi and Rubio can organize, but most of the organization tasks on the Timberwolves side still fall on Rubio. , After the ball passes the center line, give it to Ning Yi first, let Ning Yi attract the defense, and then distribute the ball to Rubio.

The advantage of this is that the offense is more varied.

"Pick and roll!"

Ning Yi made a gesture, Pekovic came up to pick and roll, Ning Yi rushed forward, took a step forward and then split the ball, and passed it to Pekovic who stayed on the line and did not go down. At the same time, Rubio came over and passed Pekovic close to him. Pekovic passed the ball to Rubio and helped Rubio block by the way.

Taking advantage of this, Rubio threw away Beverly, and Ning Yi made a circle around the inside after a previous breakthrough, pulling everyone on the right to the left, which was more conducive to Rubio's breakthrough.

In this way, Rubio took advantage of the breakthrough and made the Rockets anxious.

"careful."

People shouted, the Rockets' defense suddenly became chaotic, and the inside players had to go up to delay Rubio, and not one person, but both Howard and Jones went up.

In this way, the inner line is empty.

Rubio split the ball, made a covert pass to the inside, Love took the ball, and took advantage of the opportunity to dunk with both hands, powerful and imposing.