The older superstars of the NBA

Toyota Center.

Game [-] of the series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets.

This game determines the life and death of the Rockets. Therefore, many fans entered the arena before the game to help the home team.

Even though the Rockets' performance disappointed many people, they still did not choose to give up at such a critical moment.

Before the official start of the game, the Rockets players also gathered in the locker room. As the leader of the team, James Harden changed his previous decadent attitude and became very positive.

He took the initiative to call his teammates together and expressed his apology to them very seriously.

"Guys, I'm so sorry...I haven't been able to give my all to the game and my role as the leader of the team since the series..."

"But I assure you, it won't happen in the future. I will lead the team to continue to play and beat the Timberwolves. We will go to the Western Conference Finals like last season..."

"Victory must be ours!"

The match points have already been won by the opponent, it is somewhat late to fight again at this time!However, the teammates still had some reactions. For example, Trevor Ariza and Clint Capela all stood up to support Harden.

"James, welcome back!"

"It's not too late! We still have a chance to beat the Timberwolves, this is our home field, we will never let them sweep..."

Seeing this, other people can only show cooperation.

Under the leadership of Harden, everyone stretched out their hands together, and then cheered a few times, and then walked into the player tunnel to the infield.

At the same time, the Timberwolves locker room was a completely different scene.

The team beat the opponent and won the opponent with a big score of 3 to 0. This has undoubtedly proved that the strength gap between the two sides is obvious.

Because of this, the players were very relaxed and even played mahjong in the locker room.

It is not uncommon for NBA players to play mahjong. There have been rumors that Lakers players have played mahjong in the locker room, including Dwight Howard, who also likes this recreational activity from China.

"Hey, guys, I'm drawing! Be careful..."

"Dwight, are you guys stealing cards? Why do you draw cards so quickly every time?"

"You guys, playing mahjong is more professional than me, a Chinese person... I would have known that I wouldn't have played this kind of game with you..."

Everyone started to play with each other.

Head coach Norman Thomas saw this scene and didn't say anything when he entered the locker room. He even walked behind Zhao Feiyang with great interest and asked him how he was playing!

When the game time approached, the players put down mahjong wisely and gathered around the head coach Norman.

After coach Norman simply arranged the tactics, everyone followed him and walked towards the infield.

beep.

The on-site timer sounded, the game was about to start, and the starting players of both sides stepped onto the court.Howard, who has won three games in a row, is very happy now. He walks in the Rockets' arena with a look of being overwhelmed.

After meeting Capela on the court, he deliberately teased his former teammate, "Hey, Clint, why do you look so haggard?"

"Oh! I see! You must be too sad to lose the game... No, man, look at it, isn't it just a game? It's nothing special! After this game is over, you can rest......"

"I really envy you all! You can go back to rest early, unlike me, I can only continue to play with the team... I am too tired to play so many games, and I have no money for the playoffs , it’s better to go back and rest early!”

Howard's eccentric words made Capela's face change again and again. However, after all, the Rockets lost three games in a row, and they were indeed not as confident as the opponent. Therefore, Capela did not refute aloud, but chose to remain silent. response.

On the other hand, Patrick Beverly was very unconvinced, watching Howard responded unhappily, "Dwight, don't worry! You can go back to rest in a few games!"

Snapped.

The referee tosses the basketball high.

Howard and Capela jumped at the same time, and this time Howard took the basketball first.

The basketball flew out and fell into the hands of teammate Zach LaVine.

The game officially started.

LaVine pushed forward with the ball, and Beverly went up to mark.Harden and Zhao Feiyang were still the same as before, the two kept sticking to each other, even though they didn't make any moves on the surface, they also made a lot of small moves in private, and they were constantly competing with each other.

The ball passed halfway, and Zhao Feiyang tried to go up to catch it. He just got rid of Harden and was about to get the ball, but without thinking about it, Harden suddenly came up to defend, almost intercepting LaVine's pass to him.

boom.

After getting the basketball, Zhao Feiyang faced Harden with the ball in singles.

He didn't rush to attack, but observed the situation on the field.After noticing that Howard was stuck inside, Zhao Feiyang suddenly launched an attack. He used a cross step to shake Harden away, and then rushed into the two divisions from the left.

Harden stepped up to defend in time, but as soon as he got to Zhao Feiyang's side, Howard suddenly stepped up to help Zhao Feiyang pick and roll.

Zhao Feiyang took advantage of the situation and entered the basket. Capela reacted quickly and went up to block Zhao Feiyang, but when he retreated, Zhao Feiyang immediately threw the ball into the air with a high toss.

Howard, who followed up from the side, jumped high, and under the witness of Harden and Capela, he made a two-handed dunk and smashed the ball into the basket.

boom.

The ball is in.

Zhao Feiyang clapped hands with Howard to celebrate.

The Rockets fans on the sidelines were silent, obviously a little disappointed with this defense.Instead, the Timberwolves players kept shouting and applauding to cheer for their teammates on the field.

It's the Rockets' turn to fight back.

Beverly took the ball across the half, and Harden took the initiative to run this time looking for opportunities.He didn't catch the ball and play singles like before, but deliberately pulled out to the outside to attract the Timberwolves' defensive attention.

After Harden made a posture to catch the ball on the left, sure enough, there was a loophole in the defense on the right, and Ariza, who was standing in the bottom corner, found a chance.

Snapped.

Beverly gave the ball to Ariza, and Ariza quickly dribbled the ball to the basket.

When approaching Howard, Capela squeezed up to help Ariza block, and Ariza made a layup and sent the ball into the basket.

The ball is in.

The performance of the Rockets surprised the Timberwolves, including the team's head coach Norman, who had a bad feeling.

"Has this guy James changed? Before he played, he was unwilling to share the ball. Why did he take the initiative to create opportunities for his teammates this time?"

Zhao Feiyang was also a little surprised by Harden's performance.

At first, he really thought that Harden was going up to catch the ball and play singles. After Ariza made a sneak attack and scored, Zhao Feiyang realized that Harden didn't seem to want to play singles, but used himself to deliberately attract others. help defense.

The Timberwolves continued to attack.

This time after halftime, LaVine gave the ball to Andrew Wiggins on the wing.

Wiggins has performed fairly well in these games.Although there is no particularly eye-catching place, the data can be considered stable. As the third position of the Timberwolves, it is still passing.

When he got the ball, he went into the basket. Seeing that he was about to find a chance to make a shot, Capela slammed at him. Wiggins forcibly shot under the interference, and the basketball hit the rim and bounced out.

Adrian took off the rebound.

After getting the ball, Adrian jumped up again and tried to solve the battle with dunks, but the opponent's big man Terrence held Adrian with his body.

Adrian failed to dunk and the basketball bounced out.

At the critical moment, Howard jumped up and took off the basketball again. His dunk was different from Adrian's. This time Terrence made another defense. The two met in mid-air, and Howard insisted on being blocked by the opponent. Ji dunked the ball hard with both hands.

Terrence was almost knocked out by him.

boom.

The ball is in.

There were bursts of applause outside the court. Although it was not enthusiastic, such applause was extremely rare when the audience was full of Rockets fans.

"No! It's all the damn management's fault. If Dwight doesn't leave, this dunk is our score..."

"Man, don't think too much. How was Dwight's performance last season? Have you all forgotten? He also has a lot of conflicts with the team. If he doesn't leave, he may not be reused at all.. ...."

"Be sober, it's just a slam dunk! Don't forget, this guy's damage to the Rockets is higher than his value, otherwise how could the team trade him... It can only be said that the Timberwolves Great, it can make this guy wake up in time..."

The fans on the sidelines sighed.

On the field, the game continued.

After the Timberwolves successfully counterattacked, the Rockets were not depressed.

Harden didn't always cover for his teammates. When the game reached 3 minutes and 24 seconds, the Timberwolves had just scored a goal. Harden found that the opponent hadn't reacted yet, so he immediately stood under the basket and served.

He threw the ball across half court with a long pass, and Beverley, who was standing near the halfway line, sprinted toward the Minnesota basket.

boom.

Beverly's sneak attack scored smoothly, and he ended the battle with a dunk.

Not long after the ball was played, Harden found a loophole in the offense again.

He deliberately cooperated with Beverly to block Zhao Feiyang, and then took the pass to a 45-degree angle on the wing and opened the shot with a three-pointer.

Swish.

The crisp three-pointer fell steadily into the basket.

Harden's fiery touch surprised the Timberwolves. His continuous scoring also made the Rockets score more and more, especially the positive performance on the defensive end, which successfully made up for the Rockets' defensive loopholes in the second position.

As a result, the Rockets took the lead because of his efficiency. When the first quarter officially ended, the Rockets and the Timberwolves scored 31 to 26.

The difference of 5 points is not much, but the fans in the Toyota Center Arena cheered unceasingly.

They saw the hope they had been looking forward to in Harden.