On December 13, outside the Federal Express Arena, a huge poster of Link and Harden staring at each other was hung.

This type of poster is usually only used in boxing or other combat sports matches.

But today, NBA officials use such posters for basketball games.

The original picture is very simple, in addition to the strong dialogue between the Rockets and the Grizzlies, this game is also a direct matchup between the first and second in the MVP prediction leaderboard!

So far this season, Link has naturally returned to the top of the MVP rankings with his outstanding individual performance and unparalleled team record.

And Harden occupied a place in the top five of the MVP list last season, and after the data explosion this season, he surpassed Curry and Durant and directly ranked second in the MVP list!

Harden's performance this season is obvious to all, and it can be said that in terms of individual performance, he is indeed better than the Warriors players!

Some people even think that if it weren't for the Grizzlies' 24-game winning streak, even Link would have to rank behind Harden!

To put it bluntly, they feel that Link's ability to occupy the first position in the MVP rankings is stained with the team's record.

In terms of individual performance, Harden is even better than Link!

Therefore, this direct confrontation between Harden and Link has also become the biggest attraction today.

Even, the question of who is stronger Harden or Link is more talked about than the opening winning streak.

"This season's James. Harden undoubtedly ushered in the first peak of his career, second in the MVP list, and Harden deserves it! This season, his destructive power doesn't need to be overstated. I also really want to know if Harden's explosive stats can be continued at the Federal Express Arena! ”

Before the start of the game, Kevin. Haaland warmed up the fans in line with today's theme.

Speaking of which, the Grizzlies' December game was really more exciting than one game at a time.

First the Warriors, now the Rockets. There are knights at Christmas and thunder after Christmas.

For the Grizzlies, this period of time is really a hurdle to test their true strength.

Of course, if the Grizzlies can beat all four of these opponents, then they will be the only team that can kill the Cavaliers, Warriors, Rockets and Thunder so far this season!

This is quite an honour in the context of this season.

In other words, if the Grizzlies win against these four teams, they will be cleaning up the biggest spoilers on their way to the championship!

Of course, that's just the ideal state. The game against the Rockets means that the Grizzlies' challenge this month has just begun. Four strong opponents, they have just met the second one.

James. By the time Harden and his teammates stepped onto the court, Link and the Grizzlies were already warming up.

Harden looked at Link's back, and scenes of the past came back to his mind.

Among them, the most impressive for Harden was November 8, 14.

That day, Link scored a career-high 63 points on the Rockets!

At the Toyota Center at the time, Harden had done everything he could to push the Grizzlies into a corner. As a result, Link played like a god, and cut off the rocket that was about to take off.

In that game, Link's every shot, every goal, seemed to beat Harden's heart.

It was the worst game of his career!

And what about the memory of the victory of the rocket over the grizzly bears? Harden found that he couldn't find it at all!

Today, though, Harden believes that memory will be born.

If he can stop the Grizzlies from winning the opening 25 straight games, he believes Link will remember it for the rest of his life.

Before the start of the game, Mike. D'Antoni laid out his tactics in a serious manner. He wants the team to have the upper hand from the start, hoping to be the first to crack the threat of the Grizzlies' twin towers.

Jokic and Gasol are really good, but both of them are slow.

And Rockets center Clint. Capela is different, that guy's extremely fast movement speed has earned him the title of "Cake King" in the "pie eating world".

He doesn't have much of an independent offensive ability, but he has repeatedly scored high points this season, relying on a one-move block and a pick-and-roll inside cut.

In terms of eating cakes, little Jordan has to be half a stop short in front of Capela.

D'Antoni's plan is for that Harden to find Capela first and force the Grizzlies to remove the twin towers with a powerful impact. As long as the twin towers go down, the difficulty of the game will be reduced by half in an instant!

At that time, Harden will be much easier whether it is a sudden or a pass, and he can master the game as he wants.

Why are Harden so many assists this season? Most of them are fed with bread in this way.

Compared to the previous Howard, Capela is more obedient. Of course, the ability to eat cakes is also stronger than Howard's after his state decline.

D'Antoni was confident in putting his players on the pitch and he was confident that he could control the whole situation from the first minute of the game!

However, when D'Antoni saw the Grizzlies' starting five, he was dumbfounded.

From the start, it was not what he expected!

"Oh? The Grizzlies suddenly changed their lineup today! Coach Jogle didn't go up to the Twin Towers and didn't let Tobias. Harris is back in the starting line-up. He sent Monterrez. Harrell, Harrell's first start of the season! ”

Hubi. Brown pondered with interest, knowing that Joggle wasn't a coach who liked to change formations.

Once, he was ridiculed by fans as "a set of lineups used to death".

But this season, this is already the third set of starts that Joggle has made!

As it turns out, every time Jogger adjusts the starting lineup, it has an immediate effect. If it wasn't particularly necessary, Jogger wouldn't change the formation at will.

Harrell started the game, which made Grizzlies fans look forward to it.

But D'Antoni, after the shock, quickly regained his composure and didn't take it too seriously.

He thought to himself that Georger might just be trying to confuse himself. Harrell's guy should be just a fake starter, just a cover!

A No. 4 position with no range, no technique, and no height, playing as a substitute is the maximum ceiling.

Putting this kind of person in the starting line will not make any practical difference at all. D'Antoni still doesn't believe that the mighty Rockets will be cornered by a blue-collar short forward.

Link looked at Harrell beside him and patted him on the back.

With this long-haired brutalist striker, it's time to show his worth.

"Focus, boy. If you can't keep up with the attack, I won't spare you. ”

"Don't worry, boss, I'm ready! If I can't catch your ball, I'll cut my hair. Harrell smiled and moved his arms.

"Keep your hair, Monterrey. If you mess up, stay and practice with me every night for a month. ”

"Uh......" Harrell's smile disappeared instantly, as he believed that Link could do such a thing.

The game is about to begin, and the starting five of both sides are ready.

On the Grizzlies' side, nothing has changed except for Harrell as the starter.

On the Rockets' side, it's still Beverley, Harden, Ariza, and Ryan. The starting combination of Anderson and Capela.

The Rockets' starting team is excellent from defense to offense, and the Rockets have Eric on the bench. Gordon and Corey. Brewer and other bench bandits.

In terms of the lineup on paper, although the Rockets are not a star-studded multi-giant team, they are definitely not weak.

What's more, their real strength is stronger than on paper.

Link found that Harden was staring at him. This is completely different from the previous state of his frequent hangover on the first day and foggy eyes on the second day.

The West, which is already "monster-rampant", now has Harden as a strong rival.

But in order to make Draymond. Green knows how pathetic he is, and this one is going to be won no matter what!

finally passed the level of the Lakers and "Daddy Road", but he couldn't stop there.

The more the Warriors can't do it, the more the Grizzlies have to do it!

At the beginning of the game, Capela relied on the bounce advantage to fight for the Rockets to attack the ball first.

Harden slowly walked across the half court with the ball, and he played with Capela according to D'Antoni's tactics.

Capela set up cover for Harden, and Harden honestly moved to the side of the cover.

After the pick-and-roll was completed, Capela immediately cut inside, and Harden immediately passed the ball.

However, Harden regretted it as soon as he got the ball out of his hands, because he found that Link didn't chase him after the pick-and-roll, but went straight across the passing route.

He had long expected that this cooperation would be like this!

Harden's assists per game average this season is very exaggerated, but it can't be ignored that he is also averaging 5.3 turnovers per game.

Often he distributes fourteen or fifteen assists in a game, which seems to be very powerful. But if you look closely, there are also seven or eight mistakes.

That's the difference between Harden and a traditional playmaking guard.

Harden's organization is driven by offense, and his passing judgment is not as accurate as a true traditional point guard.

This ball, Harden passed a little too much. Link cut off the ball from Harden's hand as soon as he came up, which was undoubtedly a blow to the Rockets and poured cold water on the Rockets' high morale.

But fortunately, the Rockets' retreat speed was fast enough, which did not allow Link to easily counterattack.

Link was on the edge of the three-point line, and Ariza was on the lookout. But Link didn't play alone, but waved his hand like Harden and called for cover!

Harrell immediately got rid of Anderson, who was entangled with him, and mentioned setting up a pick-and-roll in the high post.

D'Antoni frowned, the Grizzlies' tactics are exactly the same as the Rockets?

Harrell may only be the height of a small forward, but his strong body guarantees the quality of his coverage.

Link passes past Harrell, and Ariza immediately pushes Harrell away and pounces on Link.

But just then, Link hit the ground and sent the ball between Ariza and Anderson.

Compared to passing accuracy and playmaking, Link doesn't think he's below Harden! After all, organizational skills are not something that can be explained by just looking at the number of assists.

On the other side, Harrell had already cut into the basket quickly. Ryan. Anderson couldn't keep up with Harrell's pace at all, and his mobility was better than Capela's!

A simple pick-and-roll, and Anderson was left behind.

And what about Capella? This elite of the Rockets' rim is being nailed outside the three-point line by Gasol at this time!

That is, the Rockets' basket is unguarded at this time.

Harrell didn't pause after receiving the ball, and immediately staged a powerful slam from the Fauvists!

His powerful dunks and wild styling gave the frame a sense of power.

Harrell eats cake successfully!

"Beautiful pick-and-roll coordination, Link's pass and Harrell's cut were just right! They played an almost identical tactic to the rockets, but one side did not succeed, and the other became! ”

After assisting Harrell's goal, Link applauded with joy.

Off the field, D'Antoni was completely self-contained.

Originally, he wanted to use the trick of eating cakes to take the lead in attacking the grizzly bears, and he was quite proud of this plan.

Now it's good, the grizzly bear eats away on the rocket instead!

He hadn't thought Harrell would make much of a difference, but now he knew he was wrong!

Link's passing and Harrell's movement both seem to be better than the combination of Harden and Capela.

As soon as it came up, the Grizzlies took the rockets into the army.

Capella's ability to eat is top-notch?

No, Harrell has something to say.

The title of "Cake Emperor" is estimated to be replaced.