Bad jokes aside, what observers need to understand is this year’s Houston squad might just be the real deal. General Manager Daryl Morey and D’Antoni seem to have finally added the right ingredients to add pop to the Rockets superstar stew, which features James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who sat out of Thursday's 111-98 victory due to a quadriceps injury.
On an afternoon in which Houston launched an NBA playoff-record 56 shots from 3-point range -- missing 66.1% of them -- with Harden struggling offensively, the Rockets toppled the Thunder through suffocating defense and a magical fourth-quarter run, one engineered with the 2018 MVP cheering from the bench.
Harden had shot just 2-for-12 from the field in through the first three quarters and 1-for-9 from 3-point range, with eight assists. So, for a minute, you thought this cheering sequence might serve as Harden’s most significant contribution in this contest.
But please believe Harden had plenty of reasons for all the yelling and clapping.
With Harden on the bench and Houston trailing 78-77 to start the fourth quarter, the Rockets embarked on a game-changing frenzy that transformed the deficit into a 12-point lead by the time he checked back into the game.
“Unbelievable, man. That was the game right there,” said Harden, who scored a team-high 21 points. “The guys just took it upon themselves to guard, and we felt a sense that Oklahoma City was getting tired. We just kept pressing the gas on them. That was the game-changer right there for us. Huge shoutout to D-House [Danuel House Jr.], Jeff [Green], Tuck [P.J. Tucker], all the guys that were in in that fourth quarter. [Eric] Gordon made some big plays and then made some big shots.”
【Locking in? 锁定】相关文章:
★ How to Learn English Well 英语学习经验
★ 小学三年级英语Unit3 My birthday教学案例
★ 美容英语口语
最新
2020-09-15
2020-08-28
2020-08-21
2020-08-19
2020-08-14
2020-08-12