Chapter 562: 3:0 (1/5)
In the end, the Rockets won the first game of the Western Conference finals with 110:87.
"Yao Ming had 28 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks, Dwayne Wade had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists, Gary Payton had 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, Ron Artest had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Cato had 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Chris Anderson had 6 points and 8 rebounds."
"For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant had 24 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points and 8 rebounds, Karl Malone had 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Derrick Fisher had 10 points."
"The Rockets completely crushed the Lakers at home, and it was a hearty victory!"
With the Rockets winning their first win at home, the Lakers and Rick Carlisle were completely in crisis, and their problems are now very obvious.
"Kobe Bryant grabbed the shot, Shaquille O'Neal was hard to catch the ball in the Rockets' pinch, Karl Malone was old, and he didn't have much tactical position with the Lakers, if Rick Carlisle couldn't break the game, the Lakers would most likely be swept by the Rockets in four games."
……
After the first game, Rick Carlisle stayed up all night, and then, in the second game, the Lakers made adjustments, and Shaquille O'Neal kept pulling near the free throw line and then receiving the ball nearby.
This move solved O'Neal's problem of receiving the ball, but the Rockets still had the advantage in such a game.
The reason is that Dwyane Wade's breakthrough with the ball is still a point that the Lakers can't solve, and Derrick Fisher can't prevent Wade at all.
In the first half, Wade was in control, scoring 16 points and seven assists by himself.
The Rockets led the Lakers by seven points at 46-39.
In the second half, Rick Carlisle began to use Kobe Bryant to replace Wade, which had some effect for the time being.
But the Rockets began to focus on high-post offense and defense with Yao Ming as the core, and Wade was no longer very important.
In the second half, the Rockets continued their suppression of the Lakers in the first half, leading by seven points at halftime, and the second half was further expanded.
In the end, the Rockets defeated the Lakers again 98-90.
"Yao Ming 26 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Dwyane Wade 28 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists, Ron Artest 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals, Gary Payton 13 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, the Rockets won another victory."
"On the Lakers side, Shaquille O'Neal finally received the ball, and he scored 36 points, 20 rebounds and 2 assists in this game, which proved himself to a certain extent, but the Lakers did not win because of it."
"Kobe Bryant shot 8-of-25, only got 20 points, 2 assists and 1 steal, and perhaps, he was the main reason for the Lakers' loss."
……
In the third game, the game moved to Los Angeles.
At the Staples Center, in front of the home fans, Rick Carlisle continued the second half of the second game.
Because in terms of score, the Lakers only lost by one point in the second half of the second game, and after returning to the home court, coupled with the advantage of the home court, the Lakers still have hope of winning.
Rick Carlisle believes that in the first two games, the most important thing for the Rockets is to kill Wade, who has exploded in two games, so it is important for Kobe to change Wade.
Although Kobe's offense has the problem of indiscriminate shooting, his defense has no problems, so at the beginning, Kobe Bryant switched to Wade and achieved certain results.
In the first quarter of the game, the two teams played 26:28, and the Rockets still trailed by 2 points.
In the second quarter, the Rockets rotated the lineup, playing a wave of 9:2 in the opening quarter, and the Rockets in turn led the Lakers by 5 points.
Then, the Lakers went to the main force, and the Rockets also went to the main force, and the two teams fought against each other and fought evenly.
At halftime, the Rockets led the Lakers by only 2 points at 56-54.
Such a half-time result is obviously acceptable for the Lakers, after all, they see the hope of winning this game.
ESPN's commentator Stephen Smith even said: "Rick Carlisle's adjustment was a success, and in this game, he even suppressed Qiao Hai to a certain extent, and the Lakers only trailed by 2 points at halftime, and they had a chance to take a win after returning home." ”
The Rockets failed to gain an advantage at halftime, and in the eyes of many, the Lakers had hope and the Rockets were dangerous.
At halftime, Qiao Hai also found that if it was only around Yao Ming to play offense and defense near the high post, the Rockets could only do it like this game at most, leading the Lakers by only 2 points at halftime.
Then, whether Wade's breakthrough can be opened or not will determine the outcome of this game.
So, Qiao Hai thought for a while, and then made adjustments.
In the second half, the Rockets once again began to focus on Wade on the outside, but the style of play changed, and Wade began to cooperate with Gary Payton, opening a small block and pick-and-roll cooperation on the outside.
After the pick-and-roll, the Lakers were forced to switch defenses.
Wade faced Derek Fisher again.
Then, Wade once again broke up Derek Fisher one-on-one, and Rick Carlisle was already desperate, and he had no way to limit Wade at all.
Wade exploded, scoring 16 points and two assists in a single quarter.
In the third quarter, the Rockets beat the Lakers by a 30-point, and the lead extended to double digits.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Wade rested for a few minutes, and after returning to the court, through various blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation, Wade was still a point that the Lakers could not solve.
In the end, the Rockets defeated the Lakers again 111-99, easily won the series point, and led the Lakers with a total score of 3:0.
With only one game left, the Rockets will sweep the Lakers to the Finals!
"Dwayne Wade had 27 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, Yao Ming had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks, Ron Artest had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, Gary Payton had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals, and the Rockets took the series point."
"On the other side, on the Lakers' side, Kobe Bryant had 33 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, and after returning to the home court, Kobe Bryant finally began to pass."
"Shaquille O'Neal had 29 points and 7 rebounds, Karl Malone had 9 points and 9 rebounds, and although the OK combination played well, they still couldn't win......"
……
After Game 3, the Lakers fell behind 0-3, and the rest of the series was more like a battle of honor for them.
The Los Angeles Times said very helplessly: "It is impossible for the Lakers to advance, 0:3 behind the comeback, no team in the history of the NBA has done this, and this Lakers team can't do it either." ”
"In the next game, all the Lakers guys can do is refuse to sweep."
After three games, the Lakers started to divide the pot again, the first two losses in the pot, the offense in Kobe, the defense in Derrick Fisher.
And in the third game, Kobe Bryant threw off the pot on his body.
The defensive pot is still in Derek Fisher, and the biggest pot on the offensive end is directly buckled to Karl Malone.
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