A "Beijing" fell into the world, and the remnants of the Rocket team were upset for 10 consecutive victories!

Before boarding the plane and heading to the Russian City, Jalen Green, who faced the camera, said with a smile: "10-0, impact the play-offs." ”

If it had been a month ago, no one would have taken this seriously, after all, the Rockets are just a three-year team with no bottom line, and they can hardly compete for a play-in spot.

But this is not the case, since beating the Trail Blazers on March 9, the Rockets have slashed the East and West powerhouses, and have won the league's longest existing nine-game winning streak against the Thunder before the game.

Even so, the Rockets were still the underdog before the game, because the Thunder were indeed very strong this season.

Led by Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder became the biggest dark horse in the West, ranking second in the West before the game, just 0.5 wins away from the first-place Nuggets.

The Thunder also showed why they can be the dark horses of the West this season with a late tie.

The Rockets were even better, using an overtime victory to prove to all doubters that the Texas powerhouse who couldn't be killed in the past is back.

During the Rockets' 10-game winning streak, Shen Jing is undoubtedly the most embarrassing person, as the core of the team's interior, after his absence, the competitiveness and ranking of the Rockets have risen instead of falling.

After defeating the Thunder, in the 8 games that Shin Jing missed, the Rockets won a proud record of 8-0.

In the face of such a situation, fans are also brainstorming, ridiculing Shen Jing's embarrassing situation through various homophonic stalks.

Because after Shen Jing's absence, the state of many players has improved, and this situation has been ridiculed as: one "Jing" is born.

In addition, Jalen Green's state is too hot, and a large number of fans think that it was Shen Jing who delayed Green's growth before, and they have borrowed a hot stalk from the Internet to ridicule: "The wind and snow have pressed me for three or two years, and I laugh at the wind and snow as light as cotton!"

Since March, Jalen Green has averaged 28.5 points and 6 rebounds per game, hitting 4.2 three-pointers per game, shooting 50/43/81% from three, and the Rockets are 12-1, the best in the league for the same period.

After Amen Thompson transitioned to playing on the wing, he continued to deliver brilliant performances, scoring 25 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal on 10-of-18 from the field against the Thunder.

Jabari Smith Jr. and Landale Jr., who ate the rotation time of the No. 5 spot after Shin Kyung's absence, also played their best performances of the season.

So is it really as netizens ridiculed Shen Jing for delaying Green's growth, the Rockets' 10-game winning streak and the player's outburst were all because Shen Jing was injured and didn't play?

Shen Jing changed after his injury

The Rocket's tactical system quickly switched from focusing on 1-5 blocking and dismantling positional battles to relying on infinite defensive changes and rapid offensive and defensive conversions.

After the style adjustment, the Rockets improved to the top 10 in the league in many statistics: 8th in defensive efficiency (112.1), 6th in the league in fast-break scoring (15.6 points), 7th in frontcourt rebounds, 4th in backcourt rebounds, 3rd in total rebounds, 9th in steals, and 7th in free throws.

In addition, the number of rounds of the Rockets has increased significantly to 13th place, and it is not difficult to see through the data that the adjusted Rockets are very difficult to deal with and more in line with the latest version of the league.

Why the Rockets relied heavily on Shin Kyung's 1-5 pick-and-roll in the middle of the season

After bringing Udoka in the offseason, the Rockets have been committed to building a defensive system, bringing in "ruthless people" such as VanVleet, Dillon and Jeff Green in one go, and even sacrificing three-point shooting for this.

The good news is that the Rockets improved their defensive performance as they wished, and their defensive efficiency once ranked first in the league, but unfortunately the league's blowing penalty scale was tightened, resulting in the Rockets, who relied on confrontation and liked to cut the ball, were restricted everywhere and lost their roots.

Coupled with the decline in Shen Jing's defensive willingness and attitude, the Rockets, who did not have a stable three-point projection, lack defensive hardness and rebounding protection, could only rely on Shen Jing and VanVleet's 1-5 blocking.

Why did many players break out after Shen Jing's injury

The main reason is that after the All-Star break, the league clearly adjusted the scale of blowing penalties and relaxed the requirements for defensive players, and the Rockets became the son of the version.

Before Shen Jing's injury, the Rockets had defeated the Suns, Spurs, Trail Blazers and Kings four teams, losing only one game to the Clippers, and were unexpectedly staged by the opponent with a reversal of more than 20 points.

During this period, Jalen Green's performance was very good, 34+9 against the Suns, 23+3 against the Spurs, 15+3 against the Clippers, 27+5 against the Trail Blazers, and 19+3 against the Kings.

The second reason is that the team's space and rhythm have become better, Jabari Smith Jr. plays the No. 5 position, which makes the Rockets have better space, and a lot of offense relies on conversion, which covers up the shortcomings of three-point shooting to a certain extent.

The third reason is that rebounding protection and defense are tougher, which are the basis for the Rockets to increase rapid conversion, and Amen's entry into the starting line to play on the wing is the finishing touch to the Rockets' rebounding improvement.

Therefore, Shen Jing's absence is indeed the reason for the Rockets' transformation to a certain extent, and his injury and absence have allowed the Rockets to explore more possibilities for the distribution of lineups and balls.

But he and Jalen Green are definitely not black and white, you don't have me, but hopefully create more threatening and rhythmic combinations in the future.

After all, both are still very young, whether it is projection, defense, or tandem and playmaking, both of them have a lot of time to improve and adapt to each other better.

Rather than pitting the two against each other arbitrarily, give the young Rockets more time to explore lineup possibilities, knowing that this is their first year playing under Udoka.

It is believed that after Jalen Green plays such a brilliant performance, Shen Jing's mentality and positioning will change, and Udoka will also reassign roles to establish a more comprehensive, diverse and stable tactical system.