After the last collapsed and lackluster game, the Rockets faced the Lakers back-to-back, and it was also the third matchup between the two sides this season, and the first two meetings of the Lakers won by two points.
After four quarters of battle, the Rockets lost 123:132. Although "Hiti" lost 5 consecutive games, it does not mean that the Rockets are vulnerable to this game, on the contrary, there are frequent bright spots.
Before the game, Green and Porter Jr. came back together, Silas lined up a large four-small lineup of Green, Porter, Gordon, Nuwaba, and Wood to compete, and the Lakers directly pushed James to the center position, arranged the 19th starting lineup of the season, and continued the long lineup test.
As in the last game, the Rockets came on the outside line as a breakthrough point, the first 12 points came from outside the three-point line, and the team shot 65% in the first quarter, establishing a one-point lead. Every indispensable "pit digging link" came in the second quarter, and the Lakers played a 33:24 offensive wave in a single quarter, which suddenly increased the burden of the second half.
The Rockets' offensive feeling gradually recovered in the third quarter, but helplessly the defensive end was too outrageous, and the Lakers sometimes only needed a no-ball block, running, incision, or even two simple running balls to make the Rockets' defensive formation collapse, and there were frequent empty positions under the basket. The two sides are pulling at a stalemate with a high hit rate.
Shen Jing, who received 3 fouls in less than 5 minutes in the first half, re-appeared, and in the blink of an eye, the fourth foul was also in hand, and then he used his footsteps to hit melon 2+1, full of spring breeze, which was also a bad breath.
The most exciting moment came in the fourth quarter, and the rookie lineup dominated by Christopher and Green played an incredibly wonderful showdown with the Lakers, which made reporters sigh. In particular, Green once again showed his explosive talent for scoring, scoring 3 consecutive difficult 3-pointers plus 2+1 consecutive 12 points, while achieving the first two consecutive 20+ achievements in his career, and the last time he faced AD's super retreat step three-pointer is still vivid.
It is reported that Lucas made targeted adjustments to his shooting speed and shooting stability during Green's recovery, and from the small sample after his comeback, the effect was temporarily good. In fact, before the injury, Green has a trend of slow progress, the last 7 games, Green averaged 16.6 points per game, shooting 48.8%, three-point shooting rate of 40.9%, true shooting rate of 63.3%, in the offensive end is extremely good data.
However, the defensive end and the strengthening of physical confrontation ability have a long way to go.
In the last two minutes of the showdown, Green's key layup has touched the rebound, and James touched the basket from the front slow motion, but finally awarded a non-interference ball, which became the point of controversy in this game, and the specific situation may be given tomorrow in the referee's report. Then, Center Wood, the league's fourth-to-last defensive center, missed three-pointers in the bottom corner again, completely changing the situation of the game.
Although Porter Jr. created a glimmer of life by hitting consecutive life-saving balls in the end, he was still powerless to return to the sky and lost the game.
As the first game after returning from injury, Porter Jr. had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists, which was not bad, but in terms of organizational control, compared to before the injury, there was some decline, but a game was not informative. Coupled with Green's 24 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, the young double gun combined to cut 46 + 13 + 7, the overall performance is excellent.
Rookies play well and make progress, and the team loses the game to secure a position, which is relatively acceptable loss.