After the Houston Rockets selected Yao, many Chinese fans regarded this team as their home team. Although the owner was stingy and the general manager was a bastard, the fans' enthusiasm remained undiminished.

This team made a lot of money immediately after drafting Dayao, but even with such money, the team has never been very good at strengthening its defenders.

Now, Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry, two little men, have taken over the Rockets' back line. What can I say, they are basically useless against strong teams.

Of course, the team still has good role players. Sean Battier can not only defend the opponent's core, but also hit 3-pointers from the outside. This is the puzzle that every team longs for.

Today's game, Sina Sports got the broadcast rights. This is also a mistake. With Yao gone, CCTV did not broadcast it. Unexpectedly, Li Ze appeared, and now the popularity of this game has exploded.

After all, everyone was excited to watch the last game between the Thunder and the Lakers, especially Li Ze and Artest who almost had a free fight. Netizens are still discussing it with great interest today.

In the Sina Sports studio, host Ke Xiaofan and guest Ma Jian were also chatting about Li Ze.

"Director Ma, did you watch the last game the Thunder played against the Lakers? What do you think of Li Ze's performance?"

Ke Xiaofan heard the prompt from the director team behind him and immediately started to guide the topic.

"I personally think Li Ze played perfectly, especially under Kobe's strict protection, without making any mistakes. This is very rare."

"In the third quarter, Artest was even more anxious, but we should also see some shortcomings in him. In terms of strength, there is still a big gap between him and Kobe."

Ma Jian is more reserved, but it is very rare for a rookie to be compared with Kobe.

"There is a certain gap. Li Ze is only 19 years old. This is his first rookie season. Kobe Bryant made 10 of 22 shots in the last game and scored 30 points. Li Ze did a good job defensively when he was on the court."

"Our community also translated a post-game interview with America. Kobe also spoke highly of Li Ze. I won't say more. Interested netizens can go and take a look."

"Let's talk about the Rockets again. Coach Ma, do you think the Rockets can still achieve the same results as last season this season?"

Ke Xiaofan raised the topic again.

"My personal opinion is that it's very difficult, because the competition in the Western Conference is too fierce now, the Thunder are slowly picking up, and the Rockets don't have Dayao, so we have to see if Ariza can shoulder the heavy responsibility."

Ma Jian actually said it very euphemistically, but the general meaning is that the Rockets are basically out of business this season.

"Speaking of Ariza, he played well with the Lakers last season, but his role has changed since he came to the Rockets, and the game started immediately. We will watch and chat, and look forward to the performance of both parties."

Li Ze is still the starter today, which is a reward for him and shows the coaching staff's trust in him.

The Thunder's starting lineup is: Turtle and Li Ze partner in the backcourt, Durant and Jeff Green form the front line, and Krstic is still the center.

The Rockets' starting backcourt today is Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza, with Shane Battier and Luis Scola on the forward line, and Chuck Hayes at center.

The Rockets' lineup is not tall enough and their athletic ability is average, but fortunately they are rich in experience. After all, there are many veterans.

At the beginning of the game, the Rockets gave up the jump ball, and Kostic succeeded with an easy jump ball.

After halftime, Guigui passed the ball to Li Ze. After carefully looking at the opponent's defense, Li Ze chose a safe tactic and gave his teammates an offensive gesture.

Kostic moved up to set up a pick-and-roll. Faced with Ariza's defense, Li Ze first pretended to dribble with his left hand to break through, then quickly dribbled behind his back and went directly to the right-hand side of the pick-and-roll.

Krstic's block was very strong, and after breaking it up, he went straight down. Hayes was in a position of neither up nor down, and he was a little hesitant on the defensive end.

But taking advantage of the opponent's moment of hesitation, Li Ze directly threw a high pass. Kostic took off and dunked hard with both hands!

"Bang" the ball was hit hard into the basket.

Li Ze glanced at Ariza while retreating. This guy kept confronting him when he was defending. Unfortunately, this was of no use to Li Ze.

Head coach Adelman shouted loudly on the sidelines, seemingly very dissatisfied with this defense.

The Rockets found Ariza on the first attack. Facing Li Ze's defense outside the three-point line, they kept dribbling under the hips, but they couldn't shake Li Ze away. To be honest, the opponent's dribbling was a bit lame.

When Ariza saw this situation, he immediately wanted to run over Li Ze to break through, but as soon as his body came into contact, he almost lost the ball. In desperation, he quickly handed the ball to Scola in the low post.

Facing Jeff Green's defense, the latter feinted continuously after a back-up shot, swayed away from the defense, and scored the ball under the basket.

"The defense of Lize faced by Ariza was a bit awkward. Fortunately, Scola used his beautiful footwork to complete the attack."

Ke Xiaofan also didn't expect that Ariza would be helpless when facing Li Ze.

This is the difference between role players and star players. There is an obvious gap from physical to technical. When Kobe beats rookie players like Li Ze, he can crush him all the way to his own shooting hot zone and complete the offense.

Ariza can't do it. After all, he doesn't have the back-up skills. The most important thing is that his physical fitness is not as good as Li Ze's, and his explosive power is a bit behind.

After Turtle quickly passed the half court, he saw Aaron Brooks defending him in front of him and directly made an offensive gesture. This was his exclusive singles tactic.

Jeff Green stepped forward and made a fake handoff. Turtle turned forward and backward, accelerated in a straight line, carried Aaron Brooks on his back, and went straight into the paint.

Facing Hayes, he wanted to come up to help defend, but was blocked by Krstic's big body. If he was too slow, he could only watch Turtle succeed in a layup.

After scoring, Turtle returned to defense with a smile and gave his teammates a thumbs up.

"Westbrook's physical fitness is so good. After the change, he accelerated immediately. Aaron Brooks' body is really not up to par."

Ma Jian couldn't help but sigh when he saw the little black bean being eaten alive by the turtle.

This time the Rockets offense was initiated by Aaron Brooks, who took advantage of his speed and went directly to the inside after the pick-and-roll. Facing the help of defense, he found Battier on the outside. The latter caught the ball and shot directly from the outside.

"Shua" the 3-pointer was scored steadily, and the fans at the scene began to cheer for the home team.

Li Ze looked at the other party's somewhat thin figure and couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

“If you’re 183cm tall, you’re really good at playing in the NBA!”

In the offensive round, the Thunder started to play a hand-off tactic on the outside. After receiving the ball, Li Ze made an In&Out with his left hand, and then quickly changed direction with his hips, directly blocking half of Ariza's body.

Hayes quickly stepped forward to delay. Li Ze glanced out of the corner of his eye, flicked his right wrist covertly, and Durant, who got rid of the defender through a ball-free screen, cut the ball and performed a one-arm dunk!

"Beautiful assist! Durant's jump height is really high, his head is almost flat!"

Ke Xiaofan couldn't help but praise Durant's physical talent.

This kind of no-ball screen cut is also an exclusive tactic designed by the coaching staff for Durant after Li Ze came to the team. Once he encounters a difficult defender, he will use a large number of no-ball screens to get rid of the defense.

At the same time, Li Ze's ability to control the ball is also very important. As long as there is a chance, the ball can be reached. This is a completely different style of play from Turtle.

Turtle presses the defense and uses offense to create opportunities. Li Ze observes the defense and tears apart the defense through precise passing.

Durant patted his chest to signal to Li Ze, then turned around and returned to defense. He has played much more easily this season. He no longer has to worry about organization. Now his task is to put the ball into the basket.

The Rockets' offense began to stagnate because Turtle's defensive enthusiasm increased. UCLA's Turtle is the defensive leader. With the arrival of Li Ze this season, he has gradually regained his original feeling.

There were no good opportunities for continuous ball transfers. Finally, the ball returned to Ariza's hands. Facing Li Ze's defense, he quickly released the ball after three threats, but the first step was too slow and he was blocked.

Seeing that the attack time was about to come, Ariza had no choice but to take a fadeaway jumper, but unfortunately the shot went crooked due to Li Ze's interference.

"Bang" turned his head and the rebound was collected by Jeff Green and quickly passed to Li Ze.

Ariza quickly stepped forward to delay, but Li Ze had already predicted his action, turned around and passed the opponent quickly, and then quickly passed the ball to Guigui's hands.

The latter caught the ball and immediately made another long-distance pass. Durant, who was quickly coming down, caught the ball with both hands and succeeded in an alley-oop dunk.

"Oh ah!!"

The audience at the scene also exclaimed. The ball was too fast. It was a continuous pass and finally an alley-oop dunk. It must be said that it was extremely enjoyable to watch!

Ariza looked at Li Ze in front of him and had some bad premonitions in his heart. This game seemed to be going bad because of his big contract!

The Rockets frequently fell into positional offense. When Ariza was a bit misfired, Scola stepped up and scored again from the basket.

This kind of technical power forward does have an advantage against jumping men, but Jeff Green is a little frustrated when he defends him.

But in the next six minutes or so, Ariza felt like he was being shown off, and everyone in the Rockets also felt what it means to be overwhelmed by talent.

Li Ze cross-stepped and dribbled away from Ariza. After breaking through the paint, he found Jeff Green in the bottom corner, who made a steady three-pointer.

After Li Ze dribbled the ball continuously, he suddenly changed the direction of his body, turned around with his left hand, and got rid of Ariza's defense. Facing Hayes, who was assisting in defense, he made a fake fax and succeeded in an easy layup.

Li Ze protected the ball with his back, and Ariza kept pressing with his body, trying to cause Li Ze to make mistakes. Unfortunately, he dribbled with a cross step and changed direction twice in succession, and Ariza was shaken away again.

While traveling, he suddenly hit the ground and passed the ball. The turtle, who was cutting in the air, pulled the stick with his backhand, dodged the defense and scored the ball.

The audience at the Toyota Center Arena kept exclaiming as they watched. This somewhat gorgeous passing and coquettish pass was indeed very nice to watch.

The Rockets' offense was extremely difficult, and they could only fight positional battles. After Arizabangbang's two goals, it was Scola and Battier's continuous scoring that barely managed to hold on to the score.

The Thunder team has obviously entered the downwind God of War mode again, playing extremely comfortably. Even if the iron is broken, everyone's enthusiasm remains undiminished.

The Rockets were also very tenacious. Aaron Brooks threw himself in the air and started causing damage.

But when Durant made two consecutive three-pointers based on his personal ability, the score was still open.

Rockets head coach Adelman didn't have any good ideas. With more than 2 minutes left in the first quarter, both sides began to substitute substitute lineups.

Now it all depends on the performance of the substitutes. If they lose again, the Rockets will most likely be in trouble in this game.

Li Ze was also substituted and sat on the bench, sipping a drink and wiping his sweat.

"Kayce, you should relax a little, Ariza is probably depressed to death right now." Durant said with a smirk on the side.

"No, I keep my word. I don't want to play cards with you anymore!" Li Ze shrugged and answered seriously.

"It's okay not to play cards. How about we shake the dice next time? I think this is a good idea!" Turtle also said casually.

Li Ze was speechless. How is this different from playing cards? It all depends on luck.

"This is not a good game."

While Li Ze was chatting with his teammates, the Rockets fans in China went crazy:

"Ariza, is this your level? Let's change our name to Tieza!"
Chapter completed!