The Rockets defeated the Pelicans 106-104 on the road to win two in a row, and the last game was a hanging game against the Mavericks, and the Rockets finally won the game against a strong Pelicans. This is similar to the last time the two teams met, with the Pelicans leading the way, but the Rockets came from behind and completed the comeback in the final quarter. In the first quarter, the Pelicans had the advantage, but Smith Jr. broke out, he cut and dunked and hit a three-point shot, Shen Jing killed all sides under the basket, and the Rockets quickly completed the overtake, and the Pelicans fell behind 24-26 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Jalen Green made free throws, Smith Jr. and Van Jordan hit another three-pointer, and the Rockets took a three-point advantage. But Fat Tiger Zion is still powerful, he continued to hit the Rockets basket and no one could stop him, and the Pelicans overtook 51-47 at halftime. In the second half, the two sides had their own offense and defense, the Pelicans relied more on Wallan and Fat Tiger to rush to the frame, as well as Ingram's mid-range shot, and the Rockets were three-point rain, Van Jordan, Dillon and Smith made 4 three-pointers, and the Pelicans led by 5 points 84-79 in the third quarter.
It is worth mentioning that in order to win the Pelicans, Udoka once again sacrificed the king bomb tactic, which is to hide Jalen Green. In fact, halfway through the third quarter, the Rockets didn't let Green play. He played 22 minutes and was an inefficient 2-of-8 shooting from the field to score nine points from the free-throw line. But the six turnovers accounted for more than half of the Rockets' turnovers, also because of the snow hiding Jalen Green. The Rockets fought back at the end of the third quarter and the final quarter with a six-point deficit.
Eason came on in the final quarter, and the Rockets came off the bench to play a 9-0 climax. Although Murphy quickly hit two three-pointers and free throws to score nine straight points to lead the team back to a three-point lead. But the Rockets Van Jordan broke out in full swing on the court, Shen Jing dunked in 4 of 4 free throws under the basket, and finally made a layup, and the Rockets overtook the Pelicans by 1 point. At the critical moment, the Rockets showed a suffocating defense, and Smith Jr. and Shin Jing completed a perfect duo, and under the impact of this pair of twin towers, the Pelicans surrendered after trailing by four points in the final 37 seconds.
Zion was still great on the Pelicans' side in the whole game, he scored 28 points, 8 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals on 11-of-16 shooting, Ingram 19 points, Varland 10 points and 11 boards, McCollum 13 points, and Murphy 14 points. But the Rockets' twin stars shine Smith and Shen Jing hit 63+22+8, Shen Jing (21 years old) and Smith Jr. (20 years old) are the second youngest combination in history to score 25+ points in the same game, Shen Jing 37 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Smith scored 26 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting, VanVleet scored 10 points, Eason 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Dillon 5 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and 1 steal. The youngest 25+ group in history is Durant and Jeff Green during the Thunder.
For Udoka, he should have given Jalen Green all the opportunities, but he just didn't fight. To put it mildly, Rockets fans should still take Ah Q, just sign Shen Jing for the 21st year, and Jalen Green for the 16th. Because Jalen Green is now negative, as long as Jalen Green is hidden in the final quarter of this season, the Rockets have a winning rate of 90%. At least four of the games were lost by Green in the final quarter, and when a player doesn't deserve to start and still force the use of development, it's really not worth it. Also in the third year, Shen Jing's average data and shooting percentage per game have increased significantly, and this season he averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 32 minutes per game, shooting 53.3%. Smith Jr. averaged 14 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30 minutes per game, shooting 50% from the field and 38.7% from three-point range.
Especially in the past three games, Smith has averaged 27 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, shooting 63% from the field, 60% from three-point range and 90% from the free throw line. It can be said that Shin Kyung has fulfilled Jokic's talent, and Smith Jr. is worthy of the scout's template: Bosh, the dragon king at the ceiling, and Klay Thompson at the fourth at the bottom. And Jalen Green has the upper limit Jordan and the lower limit Kobe, and at present, the ceiling is Kobe White, and the Rockets would have chosen Barnes in 21. Up to now, Shen Jing, Smith, and Ethan have all developed, and only the Internet celebrity Green has stood still and regressed. Again, the draft is as good as possible to choose colleges and universities, and the NCAA is much stronger than the development league.