Chapter 788 Houston Totem Shows Its Power

After Yao Ming's jersey retirement ceremony, players from both sides took the field to warm up.

Yao Ming and the guests who were present all stayed and sat in the front row to support the Rockets.

After the opening ceremony, the starters from both sides came on stage one after another.

The Rockets have not adjusted their starting lineup, and Morris is still the starting power forward.

It was previously reported that Morris had to shoot 500 three-pointers every day in these three days.

It seems to be working now.

Perhaps because of the exchange with Yao Ming, Cousins ​​seemed very excited. When he jumped the ball, he took off faster than Davis and moved the ball back to the Rockets half.

Paul took the ball to the frontcourt and organized the offense from the outside.

Different from the previous two games, the Rockets did not attack Harden in the opening game, but focused their offense on the inside.

After giving Harden a fake screen, Cousins ​​followed Paul's pass and squeezed Jokic away for a layup.

The entire technical movement was completed very smoothly.

In the position battle on the Pelicans' side, Tang Tian singled out Tucker's backside and scored points for the Pelicans.

Both sides scored in the first attack.

In the Rockets' offense, Cousins ​​repeated his old tricks, but this time Davis' shrinking defense was in place and he had no chance to take a shot.

He turned around in the double team and hooked against the right side of Davis' body.

Davis stretched out his hand and jumped to block the shot, but Cousins' hook curve was very high.

"Uh-huh!"

After the ball passed Davis's fingertips, it fell straight into the net bag.

Cousins ​​scored two goals in the opening game!

The scene suddenly burst into cheers from the fans.

The Rockets were defeated in the past two games. Harden's performance was disastrous and he was the number one target of Rockets fans.

But the other two giants, Paul and Cousins, performed mediocrely and were also the targets of crazy complaints from fans.

After all, the Rockets are the three giants. If one giant fails to play well, the other two should step up.

They waited for two games, and Cousins ​​finally stepped forward first!

Tang Tian's sudden score, Davis turned around and hit the board after catching the ball under the basket.

The Pelicans' offense is in good shape.

Looking back, Cousins ​​directly asked for the ball from the high post.

Jokic half-circled forward to defend. After seeing it, Cousins ​​turned around and ran towards the basket without the ball.

His reactions and judgments were astonishingly fast.

When Paul saw it, he hit the ball directly through the crowd.

Cousins ​​jumped up with the ball, and Davis came to help defend and flew to block the shot.

Cousins ​​actually dodged a small lever in the air!

"Bang!"

A powerful two-handed slam dunk after Cousins ​​dodges.

He scored 6 points in a row in the opening game!

The cheers continued.

Yao Ming in the audience also smiled and applauded Cousins.

The Rockets have a tradition of centers, and Cousins' performance in this period can be considered a bit like a Houston center!

Cousins ​​roared after dunking, then turned to look at Yao Ming in the audience.

Obviously, his opening explosion was directly related to Yao Ming's jersey retirement ceremony.

He met Olajuwon and Yao Ming, the legendary centers of the two teams, especially Yao Ming, who talked so much to him. He was inspired like never before.

Morey in the auditorium box finally smiled.

The disastrous defeats in the first two games put the Rockets under unprecedented pressure, and even caused him, the general manager, to lose a lot of hair.

Fortunately, Yao Ming is there, and Yao Ming is easy to talk to. This early jersey retirement ceremony really worked!

Ariza missed the three-pointer after catching the ball, but Harden broke through with the ball.

The Pelicans' defensive tactics are the same as in the game, putting Harden in the mid-range.

Cousins ​​​​took the initiative to approach the basket at this time, and Jokic did not dare to pounce too far.

Davis on the weak side came to help defend, and Harden passed the ball directly to Morris in the bottom corner.

The Rockets did not change their starting lineup, but there were changes in their playing style. Morris squatted in the bottom corner.

Morris caught the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

"Uh-huh!"

The basketball hit the net.

After the Rockets opened the game, they scored in all four consecutive attacks!

There were endless cheers.

The Rockets are in amazing form tonight!

Some fans are even shouting Yao.

Yao Ming is really Houston's baby!

But for the Pelicans, Tang Tian immediately broke through for a layup and scored a goal.

6 to 9.

The Pelicans failed to defend, but their offense was also very stable and they were not widened.

The Rockets' offense was Harden's breakthrough again.

Morris made his first three-point shot, showing the effect of his training in the past few days.

Davis didn't dare to shrink so completely. Harden saw Jokic save and throw the ball high.

Pulling Cousins ​​down, he jumped up and scored with an alley-oop dunk!

Houston is really taking off tonight!

The excellent offense also drove the team's defense. The Pelicans failed to execute consecutive offensive tactics and were almost blocked for 24 seconds.

The ball finally reached Tang Tian with only two seconds left. He dribbled and took a dribble to meet Tucker's three-pointer.

This shot was very difficult, but the ball hit the back edge of the basket and still entered the net pocket.

Tang Tian’s big heart scored three points!

The Pelicans bench was abuzz.

The Rockets looked unstoppable tonight, but they have Tang Tian on their side!

Harden missed a three-point shot from the outside. Cousins ​​​​picked off the offensive rebound over Jokic's head and forced it up, causing the latter to foul.

In the previous two games, Jokic did not fall behind in the matchup with Cousins, but tonight Cousins ​​was in such good shape that Jokic was obviously suppressed.

Cousins ​​made two free throws and scored 8 points within five minutes of the opening game.

Stevens held his chin on the sidelines.

Cousins' sudden outburst is by no means good news for the Pelicans.

In the following time, he tried many methods to restrict Cousins, but none of them worked.

Cousins ​​was in really good shape tonight.

Tang Tian also realized this. Cousins ​​​​is technically versatile. Once he opens up, it is no more difficult to restrict him than to restrict Harden.

Just like in the regular season, he used words to stimulate Cousins, hoping to awaken another violent personality in the latter.

But this time, it didn't work.

Cousins ​​is not sensible like Cousins!

This guy is really scary when he is rational, he is truly the number one center in the league!

Throughout the first half, Cousins ​​was killing everyone in the paint. He scored 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the half, completely dominating the paint.

His performance also allowed the Rockets to score 60 points at halftime.

Fortunately, Tang Tian on the Pelicans side has a strong ability to fight tough. He also had 12 points and 6 assists in the half quarter. Under his leadership, the Pelicans also scored 56 points in the half.

60 to 56. Although the lead was not much, it was the first time in the series that the Rockets had an advantage at halftime!

At halftime, there were loud cheers.

I don’t know who started it first, but the familiar Yao Zhi song was sung during halftime.

"Yao Ming~Yao Ming is life-threatening~Yao Ming~is life-threatening~"

Olajuwon is the soul of Houston, and Yao Ming is the totem of Houston.

Under his totem halo tonight, the Rockets played a perfect half.

ps: The operation was completed today. It took more than three hours. Now I am awake. Thank you everyone.