After a brief warm-up, the scene soon entered the opening ceremony.

The Rockets' starting lineup was first introduced to the game.

Paul, Harden and Cousins ​​all started, and the remaining two were PJ Tucker and Luke Richard Barmott.

At the beginning of the season, the Rockets asked Capela and Cousins ​​to play in the Double Towers, but the effect was not good.

In particular, D'Antoni is the head coach who advocates offense, and his slow-paced offense makes him unbearable.

After playing for less than two games, he put Capela on the bench and began various tests.

Brewer + David West, Brewer + Tucker, Tucker + West, Brewer + Bamott...

After various trials, he finally got the lineup he wanted.

Tucker was a 3D player with excellent combat power during the Suns. After the Rockets, his exposure increased, and his advantages were further amplified.

Although he is short, his confrontation is particularly outstanding, especially when he entered the small ball era, and the average number four position could not even push him at the low post.

Moreover, his three-pointer in the bottom corner was seriously underestimated, and he could give Cousins ​​enough offensive space in the inside.

Before he came to the Rockets, Bamot was a defensive engineer. The team basically went on the court, and it was a four-on-five game.

The Rockets also used him like this at the beginning, but D'Antoni tried the lineup and crazily encouraged three-pointers to make a move on the wing.

It was also in this process that Bamot showed a completely different outside shooting stability from his previous career.

Everyone, even himself, realized that he could score points.

In the end, he successfully squeezed out Brewer and entered the starting lineup, and he and Tucker also supported most of the Rockets' defensive system.

After introducing the players, the person who was introduced was head coach D'Antoni.

When his name was pronounced, there were booing on the spot.

D'Antoni had reached a preliminary agreement with the Pelicans, but in the end he did not choose the Pelicans but went to the Rockets.

The Rockets have higher contracts than the Pelicans, and it is understandable that humans can die for money and birds can die for food.

However, this approach of suddenly leaving after the negotiations still made Pelicans fans unhappy. Although they would not attack on social media, the booing at home was inevitable.

The Pelicans have a regular lineup, and when Stevens appeared, there are now deafening cheers.

The comparison between these two coaches one after another is intended to embarrass D'Antoni.

Sure enough, D'Antoni's face looked very bad. He was also considered a famous coach. He must be unhappy when he was suppressed by a young head coach like Stevens.

After the warm-up, the starters of both teams appeared one after another.

Davis jumped to Cousins ​​and officially kicked off the Christmas battle.

Jokic was in the frontcourt with the ball organization, Tang Tian cut into the back and was double-teamed, and passed the ball to Ariza in the bottom corner.

The goal was scored very promptly, but the Rockets assisted the defense quickly. Ariza shook Tucker and broke through, but the layup was interfered by Cousins.

Cousins ​​turned around and took the defensive rebound, the Rockets fought back, and Paul made a long pass from Harden in the backcourt.

However, the Pelicans retreated quickly, and Harden's layup was blocked by Tang Tian.

The Pelicans played to the frontcourt, and Tang Tiansan threatened to beat Bamot, and after the breakthrough, he made a quick stop and hit.

Looking back, Harden also made a three-pointer in the positional battle.

The opening rounds became the epitome of the first quarter of the two teams.

The Pelicans' current offensive ability has reached 70% or 80% of what Stevens wants, and can play as much as you want.

But this Rockets, because of the existence of Buzderick, is different from the Knicks and Lakers coached by D'Antoni in the past few seasons.

He has defense, and after the lineup is completed, he is first-class defense.

The same goes for the other way around. After the three giants of the Rockets have finished running-in, their offensive strength has increased significantly.

However, facing the Pelicans, which have basically been fully running-in on the defensive end, they also did not play so smoothly.

After the first quarter, the two teams tied at 27.

Such a situation is quite stressful for both teams, but home fans are very excited.

This kind of high-level competition that is evenly matched is just like the previous Jue Yong battle, which makes people unable to stop.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Harden led the team on the court.

The Rockets traded Paul this season, but D'Antoni was very ambitious and he also tried to let Harden play the organization.

This is very consistent with his personal characteristics. He is good at coaching the guards of the organization. Now he is willing to turn them into point guards.

And it did work, so he could use Paul and Harden separately.

After Harden came up, he first passed West to a layup in seconds, and then he made a landmark retreat step of 2+1, leading the team to a 5-0 wave.

The Rockets' substitute was very poor last season, but now letting Harden play this substitute connection section can not only level up for Harden, but also greatly increase their substitute strength.

Stevens called a pause at this time.

After returning from the timeout, Boyon hit a key three-pointer through tactical running, igniting the New Orleans Arena.

This summer, the Pelicans sent Gordon, the team's sixth man, away, which also attracted fans' reluctance and doubts.

But with Boyan's outstanding performance with the Pelicans, they have begun to forget Gordon.

This three-pointer helped the Pelicans narrow the gap to 2 points, and when they return to the defensive end, the Pelicans have tactical adjustments.

Stevens had previously studied the Rockets' Magic Ball Theory and had a set of responses in his mind.

But because this is the first time the two sides have played against each other in the season, he needs more on-the-spot observation to decide whether to use the response method.

He already knew how long this section took.

The Rockets have made 20 moves so far, 14 of them at the three-point line, 6 of them in the penalty area, and no middle distance at one time.

This includes positional warfare and defensive counterattacks, and they have completely abandoned the attacks in the middle-range area.

The Pelicans defense put a 2-1-2 joint defense.

This is a defensive formation that is rarely used in joint defense, because it is basically equal to the mid-air distance.

This joint defense was played out when the Spurs played against the Pelicans last season, and in the end, Tang Tian was so desperate that he dared not use it again.

Now Stevens has seen the weakness of the magic ball and used the same method.

Harden was strictly guarded outside the three-point line, West was also stared at the basket, and the Rockets' offense was restrained.

However, as Stevens expected, they did not go to the mid-range area of ​​the neutral gear to take action!

Terry's last three-pointer was disturbed and went out of the basket!

McGee's defensive position improved a lot, and the ball stuck Capela and received the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and Dinwiddie threw away Old Terry in the fast break, and confidently flew on the layup to score.
Chapter completed!