Jiang Hao's super hot pot against Harden shocked many people, including Popovich. They didn't expect Jiang Hao to have such a calm judgment when facing a superstar like Harden.
"This is a completely anticipatory defense, you can say it is a bit bold, but you have to say, it is simply awesome."
Popovich sighed.
"Yeah, maybe it was wrong from the beginning. He is no longer a rookie."
Messina also felt a little emotional. Regarding Jiang Hao, he couldn't keep up with the rhythm from beginning to end. Every time you think he has reached his limit, he suddenly bursts out with new energy. This is definitely not a rookie.
It can be done.
"He is a star player. He is no longer the first-year rookie in everyone's mind. Old man, if he can perform like this against superstars in the playoffs, he is a star."
Messina was obviously a little emotional, but it was undeniable that both Popovich and England agreed with him.
"If Jiang continues to be powerful on the defensive end, it may not be that easy for the Houston Rockets to win back tonight."
Suddenly, Popovich became extremely heroic. He felt like he had returned to the era when he first came to the Spurs 20 years ago, scolding Fang Qiu and guiding the country.
On the court, as Jiang Hao completed a super hot pot against Harden, the entire situation suddenly changed.
As many people expected, Harden was indeed angry. He completely fell into rampage mode and completely entered the Harden rhythm that Rockets fans are familiar with.
But the Houston Rockets have not benefited from this. On the contrary, the advantages they have accumulated before are being eroded little by little.
Why?
Because Harden, who is obsessed with singles, cannot get all his teammates to participate in the offense, nor can he keep the team ahead.
Regarding this point, many people have made suggestions to the Rockets during the regular season.
But neither Harden nor D'Antoni took this seriously.
Chris Paul has always had this idea, but as the "second boss of Houston", he actually can't say anything much of the time.
In the regular season, when the game intensity is low, the Rockets' style of play is indeed very effective. In many cases, they rely on Harden's singles to win.
But now it's the playoffs, and their opponent is an old fox like Popovich.
During this period, Popovich didn't actually give much tactical guidance. He just said one thing, which was to consume Harden's physical strength as much as possible.
When the game time came to the fourth quarter, Harden had already scored 33 points, which broke his personal scoring record in the first three quarters of the playoffs, but at the same time, his physical strength was basically exhausted.
Other than that, the Rockets only maintained a 1-point lead over the Spurs.
D'Antoni finally became anxious and immediately replaced Harden to rest. However, what he didn't know was that it was already too late.
How old is Popovich in making a living?
The moment he saw Harden being replaced, he immediately sent out all his main players, and Shenzhen waved and put together a very offensive lineup.
Jiang Hao certainly belongs to one of this lineup.
In the first three quarters, he basically had no presence on the offensive end.
However, he did a very good job on the defensive end. Although defending Harden consumed a lot of energy, he was at least stronger than Harden. Harden had been replaced and had a rest, but he was different. As a defender, he let Harden go.
Although it was difficult, they were switching defenses with several people, not one-on-one from beginning to end.
Therefore, at this time, he has the energy to impact on the offensive end.
The Rockets could only declare bankruptcy by double-teaming him at this time.
When Harden takes a rest, more people need to step up on the offensive end of the court. They cannot continue to double-team Jiang Hao. After all, everyone around the world knows that the Houston Rockets are not good at defense.
Like a wild horse running wild, as soon as the game started in the fourth quarter, Jiang Hao hit a three-pointer in front of Chris Paul.
The entire Toyota Center was silent.
They couldn't say anything to the Chinese players who were making exaggerated celebrations at this moment. They knew that in terms of score, the Spurs had officially surpassed the Rockets at this moment.
Frankly speaking, this kind of scene was even unimaginable in the first half.
God, are you kidding me?
In the stands, a fan hugged his head and cried. The team led by up to 18 points in the first half.
What's going on here?
Why were the Rockets overtaken in the blink of an eye? Does this mean they will lose the game again tonight?
Jiang Hao's fangs continued to stick out. After hitting Paul for a three-pointer, he then broke through and assisted Danny Green for a three-pointer.
The score difference instantly expanded to 5 points.
Whether it was James Harden or D'Antoni, they couldn't sit still at this time. Harden took the initiative to request to return to the court. He could not sit back and watch the team be reversed like this.
As for D'Antoni, he regretted it at this time. Maybe he shouldn't have let Harden continue to play alone like before.
Now it's good, the cooked duck will fly away, how can he explain to the city?
D'Antoni suddenly had a very strong sense of crisis. He was sure that if this series ended with the Rockets being eliminated, then his Houston Rockets career would also end, because no NBA boss has ever been able to tolerate the ball.
The team lost the game when its physical strength was dominant.
After Harden returned to the court, the Rockets' offense did improve to a certain extent, but it was just that. He no longer had much physical strength, and his deterrence was reduced many times.
Take one of the attacks as an example. Jiang Hao was still defending Harden.
But this time, Jiang Hao didn't even defend Harden too much, but still easily completed the steal from Harden.
Steals and dunks all in one go.
Rockets home commentator Blake closed his eyes in pain. He felt like he had received a 10,000-point critical hit.
What's going on?
Hollywood movie?
Isn't this just a Hollywood movie?
"God, are you kidding this city? Please bless this team," Blake prayed in his heart.
However, his prayers had not yet finished. Jiang Hao hit another shot on the court.
11 points!
The leading side is the Spurs.
With less than 2 minutes left in the game, the outcome of this game was actually decided.
0:2!
This means that there are only 2 more minutes before the regular season champion Houston Rockets will achieve such an impressive result.
This also means that they became the Golden State Warriors in 2016, won 73 games in the regular season, and were reversed in the finals...
Chapter completed!