Shen Jing 22 + 3 Dillon 10 + 3, Hardaway 16 + 3 into a fig leaf, the Lakers have no way back
On December 23, Beijing time, the NBA regular season was in full swing, and the Rockets faced the Mavericks at home. The Rockets have been reborn this season, because they have strengthened their defensive capabilities, so this season's Rockets have achieved a good record, and the Rockets' defensive efficiency of 110.4 has ranked sixth in the league so far this season, but unfortunately the recent poor performance of the Rockets has suffered 3 consecutive defeats, in this case, the Rockets are ranked eighth in the West with a record of 13 wins and 12 losses, on the other hand, the Mavericks have had a good state since Irving's injury, but unfortunately the recent Mavericks have not performed well, and they have suffered 2 consecutive defeats and fell to the sixth place in the West.
The two teams also played a regular season game on November 29, and finally the Mavericks successfully defeated the Rockets on their home court, but this season's Rockets have an excellent record at home, and more importantly, Doncic missed the game due to injury, and Lively was also absent due to an ankle injury. Mavericks starters: Hardaway Jr., Hardy, Jones, Gwee and Morris Jr., and Rockets starters: VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillon, Smith and Shin Jing.
In the first quarter of the game, the Rockets played a wave of 10-3, and at the critical moment, Hardaway helped the Mavericks score to stop the bleeding, Dillon hit the iron after Smith scored a basket, and the next game The offensive state of the two teams was not good, Jones and Hardaway caused damage and went to the free throw line to help the Mavericks score, but unfortunately the Mavericks were in a bad three-point state, Shen Jing and VanVleet continued to help the Rockets expand their lead by attacking the inside, and at the critical moment, Jones and Hardaway scored a layup to stop the bleeding, and the Rockets led the Mavericks by 6 points. In the next game, the Mavericks fought back to tie the score, but Jalen Green hit a three-pointer in the final minute to give the Rockets a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter of the game, the Rockets opened the score with a wave of 8-2, and the Rockets should have continued to expand the lead, but unfortunately Jalen Green and VanVleet began to make mistakes after that, at this time Holmes and others helped the Mavericks chase the score, but the Mavericks' offense had no continuity, Shen Jing and others helped the team pull away the score again, and the Mavericks fell behind by 17 points at halftime.
In the third quarter of the game, the Mavericks continued to slump, the Rockets took the opportunity to play a wave of offensive climax, VanVleet hit a three-point lead after the Rockets were already leading to 27 points, the Mavericks still attacked after calling a timeout, Smith hit a three-point shot and Dillon also hit a three-pointer, after Shen Jing scored, Hardaway finally hit a three-point shot to stop the bleeding, but unfortunately after Jalen Green attacked the interior and caused kills and frequently walked to the free throw line, the Rockets had a lead of 38 points after Dillon scored a layup. Although the Mavericks were able to start scoring in the next game, it was a pity that the Rockets were able to respond, so the Rockets were still able to lead by 29 points at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter of the game also went straight to garbage time, and in the end, the Rockets defeated the Mavericks 122-96.
The Mavericks played quite badly in this game, and when the team needed Gwee and Hardy to step up to help the team, the two played quite badly in the game, and the other Mavericks players did not perform well, so Hardaway directly became a fig leaf for the Mavericks in this game. At the end of the game, Hardaway had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, Hardy had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists on 3-of-17 shooting, and Gervais had 0 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 0-of-5 shooting. On the other hand, the Rockets played quite easily in this game, facing the Mavericks' inside Shen Jing was very powerful, and Shen Jing was 22 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists at the end of the game.
Other Rockets players: VanVleet had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, Jalen Green had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Dillon had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and Smith had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist. After the Rockets won the game, the Lakers also have no way out, the current competition in the West is fierce, the recent performance of the Rockets, the Suns and the Lakers is not good, especially the Lakers have suffered 4 consecutive defeats and have fallen to the tenth position in the West, and now the Rockets are the first to get out of the quagmire, if the Lakers continue to lose in a row, then the Rockets will open the gap with the Lakers, so the current Lakers have no way to retreat and must win.