Superstar Athletes’ Black Tech Systems

The last time the Rockets made the playoffs was in 2009.

After Yao Ming was reimbursed that year, the Rockets entered a rebuilding period.

With McGrady being traded, Yao Ming retiring, and Artest leaving, the Rockets won the lottery for three consecutive years.

They're trying to stay competitive trying to make the playoffs, while developing low-draft potential players, and then keep trading, hoping for a dime for real money.

James Harden was the result of their three-year wait.

This season, James Harden has progressed from a sixth man who averaged 16.8 points per game to a core guard who averaged 25 points per game.

His points, assists, rebounds, steals, and turnovers all set career highs.

And not a little bit higher, but a substantial increase.

He was selected as an All-Star, proving that he is indeed a superstar embryo and can become the core player of the team.

This is his fourth season in the NBA, he is only 23 years old, and he still has unlimited possibilities.

Just like the Rockets team, the starting players are all young people, Jeremy Lin, Parsons, Asik.

They'll have huge cap space to sign a naked All-Star this summer.

So, for the Rockets, they reached the playoffs in eighth place, and the mission has been completed.

Against the Lakers, they don't have much chance of winning.

If you can win the next game, you will earn money, if you win two games, you will earn money, if you win three games, you can win four games?

It is estimated that the forum in China will explode directly, and then the NASDAQ will be listed.

After the Rockets played the last regular season game against the Lakers, they played directly in Los Angeles for three days.

Players practiced during the day and flocked to the sensual places in Los Angeles to relax in the evening.

Although Houston is also a big city, and its strip clubs are well-known throughout the United States, it is still not as colorful as Los Angeles in comparison.

In short, the spirit of the two teams was not the same before the start of the game.

The Lakers players all had serious faces, and the purple lights hit their faces, each one like a sculpture.

The Rockets players relaxed a lot, feeling that they were not here to play the playoffs, but to play an exhibition game.

Of course, this does not mean that the Rockets will release water during the game.

The playoffs are the playoffs, and everyone will work hard on the court.

After the opening ceremony, players from both sides stood on the bright yellow floor of Staples.

For Li Lianglai, it really feels no different from the regular season.

The opening ceremony did not become more grand, and the stars invited to sing the national anthem were not very famous, and the audience in Los Angeles never made any gimmicks such as uniform clothing and waving towels.

Everything looks like a normal regular season.

If there's a difference, it's that there's a lot more pregame nagging from Mike Brown than in the regular season.

In some regular season games, Mike Brown didn't do much preparation, anyway, let the players play by themselves.

The playoffs are different. Mike Brown has been meeting with the coaching staff these days, watching videos, and formulating tactics.

Although it is the first round, the opponent is the eighth-ranked Rockets, so it should not be underestimated.

The Rockets' starters are Harden, Asik, Jeremy Lin, Parsons and Smith.

This is a very young starter, the oldest Asik 26 years old, the youngest Greg - Smith is 22 years old.

On the Rockets' bench, the oldest is Garcia, who is only 31 years old.

Another 30-year-old player is Delfino. In addition, the Rockets players are all young people in their 20s.

In comparison, the Lakers are like nursing homes.

But in the playoffs, it's the veterans.

The game officially begins at 2:30 p.m. PT.

The first game of the playoffs is always scheduled for the afternoon of the rest day.

Because the United States has a large time zone span, especially Los Angeles, which is on the Pacific coast.

If the game is normally scheduled to be played at night, then the audience in the eastern region will watch the game in the early morning.

Therefore, in order to broadcast live across the United States, in order to allow audiences from all over the United States to watch the playoffs premiere, the game will be scheduled in the afternoon.

The result of such a game schedule is that the Chinese fans are relatively miserable, depending on the first game of the playoffs and need to wait until the early morning.

The Rockets and the Lakers are the two most popular teams in China. I don’t know how many night owl fans stayed up late to watch the playoffs.

Howard and Asik stand in the center circle, jumping the ball.

Howard got the ball first, Nash got the ball, and the game started.

The 2013 playoffs kicked off.

For the first ball in the opening game, Howard went to the corner to respond, and Nash passed the ball to Howard.

Howard received the ball sideways, suddenly turned around and accelerated, cut to the basket from the middle, and forced a layup!

Li Liang stood at the bottom corner and stared blankly.

Um? How did Howard get the ball by himself?

Where have you seen this scene?

Mike Brown, are you a student of Carlisle?

Anyway, Li Liang didn't listen much to his tactics. Howard started the game with a single.

Howard hit the inside with the ball and made a forced one-handed throw, but he didn't even touch the basket.

Asik stood straight in front of Howard. The Turk's height of 2.18 meters and strong figure were not for nothing.

The ball was missed, the two scrambled together, and the ball flew straight to the corner.

Li Liang stood still, and the ball flew to his side, and with a light jump, he took the ball down.

People stand in the bottom corner, and the ball comes from the sky.

In the regular season, Li Liang could shoot this ball.

In the playoffs, Greg Smith rushed over to defend.

Li Liang faked a shot, and Smith flew out.

Li Liang dribbled the ball to the bottom line to break through, and both Asik and Parsons came to help defend.

Li Liang hit the ground and passed the ball to the inside, Howard caught the ball from the basket and dunked it vigorously with both hands!

The Staples Center erupted with the first cheers of the afternoon!

Li Liang played the ball extremely calmly, because Howard's throw did not touch the basket, so the attack time did not return to the watch.

In this case, Li Liang made a fake move, and he could actually make a shot by taking a step in.

But he didn't shoot. Instead, after attracting more defenses, he made a clever hit to the inside, allowing Howard, who had a greater grasp, to attack the basket and scored the first point in the playoffs.

The attack time has passed 20 seconds, and it will time out after a while.

Li Liang's calmness was really unexpected.

Mike Brown on the sidelines was also worried about fluctuations in Li Liang's first playoff game.

After all, they are rookies. Many rookies have finally adapted to the regular season, and they are taught how to behave as soon as they hit the playoffs.

Judging from the first ball, Li Liang did a good job. Mike Brown arranged for Howard to play more to improve his success rate.

Li Liang must have listened to his arrangement before passing the ball.

In fact, Li Liang didn't listen to it at all. He just passed it on when he saw Howard had an opportunity.

And he feels that the defensive strength of the Rockets seems to be inferior to the Magic.

When it was the Rockets' turn to attack, Jeremy Lin quickly crossed halftime, Asik covered in the middle, Jeremy Lin passed the ball and broke through, without a chance, he returned the ball to Parsons on the outside.

Smith covered Parsons, Li Liang came out to delay, and then recovered.

Parsons didn't have much of a chance either.

The Rockets had two pick-and-rolls outside, which did not pose a threat to the Lakers' defense.

Because the two screeners, Asik and Smith, have no back hands at all.

Their cover was really just a cover, just like Big Ben.

The ball was finally passed to Harden. If the tactics can't be played, it's up to Harden.

Harden faced Kobe at 45 degrees on the right side. After continuous dribbles under the crotch, he shot directly from outside the three-point line!

Hit!

It seems that Harden has a good touch, not being sucked dry by the nightclubs in Los Angeles.

Li Liang walked up to Kobe and said, "What are you defending against? You don't pounce? Just let him shoot?"

Li Liang had just had a fight with McGrady, and he tried his best to catch any of McGrady's shots.

Kobe defended well just now and didn't give Harden a chance to go in.

But Harden suddenly made a jumper, and he just stretched out his hand and ignored it, so he would be scolded.

When it comes to the playoffs, Li Liang won't be polite to anyone anymore.

Of course, in the regular season he wasn't too polite.

Both sides felt good at the beginning, and both scored on the first attack.

Then, Li Liang began to screen and cooperate with Nash on the outside.

The Rockets' defense in the first game was still tentative. They let Greg Smith face Li Liang, which was undoubtedly a mistake.

Although Smith is tall and has long arms, it seems that he can effectively interfere with Li Liang.

But his footwork and defensive judgment are an issue.

After Li Liang and Nash picked and rolled, Smith hesitated whether to delay Nash.

As a result, Nash took the ball directly into the three-second zone, and Parsons on the flank had to come over to help defend.

Nash immediately sent the ball to Ci Shiping who was free.

Ci Shiping catches the ball and hits a three-pointer.

5:3, the Lakers are in good condition.

The young Rockets are undoubtedly a little nervous. In the next attack, they cooperated in a circle, and finally gave Asik a low single against Howard?

The Lakers watched Asik play singles, and then ate a cap from Howard.

Nash got the ball and launched a quick counterattack, Li Liang took the lead and rushed to the front.

Seeing that Li Liang rushed to the ground so fast, Nash threw a long pass high and high.

As soon as the pass was made, Nash felt that it was wrong, did it go too far?

This is Bruce Lee, not Marion.

As a result, Li Liang jumped high, received the ball in the air, and under the interference of Parsons, he dunked the ball into the basket with both hands!

It also caused a foul by Parsons!

Alley-oop from Li Liang!

Nash laughed at the ball, unexpectedly Li Liang caught it and dunked it in.

Because Li Liang's bounce has improved, and bounce is not only useful for defense.

Standing on the free throw line, Li Liang made a free throw and the Lakers beat the Rockets 8:3 in the opening game.

McHale immediately called a timeout, and the game had just started in less than 3 minutes.

Li Liang thought, the playoffs, that's it.

Also, stewardesses are so much fun.