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When Kassel announced the news, there was no big change in his mood on Griffin's face. It seemed that the coaching staff had communicated with him before this.

When Tang Shuai saw this, he had to give Kassel a thumbs up. He put the team's main power forward in the first game of the playoffs. It obviously requires courage to do so. Once he loses the game, he may become the target of public criticism. Even if he wins the game, he will probably be saliva, let alone this may arouse the fighting spirit of the Rockets.

But in order to protect Griffin, Cassel did dare to do it.

On April 18, US time, at the Staples Center, the Clippers ushered in their first round of the playoffs opponent, the Rockets. This was the first round of the two sides' competition, and the Clippers held a home advantage.

Before the game started, two important things happened.

The first one has nothing to do with Tang Shuai, but it is very meaningful.

After the regular season, the NBA will not announce the ownership of major awards for a while. For example, the weight-heavy MVP and the best team will usually be announced after the second round of the playoffs, but some awards are announced relatively early.

Like on the 12th, the league officially announced the award that may be the lightest and fastest progression. The Trail Blazers' McCollum beat Kemba Walker, Antetokounmpo, Will Barton, Crowder and others to win this honor. In today's Trail Blazers' game against the Warriors, this award was also awarded before the game. Before this day's game, the league awarded Leonard the best defensive player trophy on the San Antonio field.

This award can be said to be historic. After Leonard won this award, he became the first non-center player to win this honor 2.01 meters since Dennis Rodman (1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons).

In fact, Rodman is a power forward, and Leonard is a small forward, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is unprecedented.

The second thing is that it has a lot to do with Tang Shuai.

When Tang Shuai changed his clothes in the locker room and was about to go on stage, he received encouragement messages from two celebrities, one of whom had just become a celebrity.

One was sent by Kobe, and the other was sent by Iverson.

Kobe's is relatively simple. The general content is to let him be brave enough to fight and not be frightened.

And Iverson's is moving.

"There was a young man who tried everything to win the game, but in the end he tried everything. He found that he couldn't get what he wanted. He thought that basketball partner was going to say goodbye to him like this, but in a game back to his hometown, a boy caught his attention, and in the subsequent game, he seemed to see his own yesterday, and that boy was going to usher in the first playoff game of his career tomorrow. Come on, boy."

After reading Iverson's text message, Tang Shuai felt a little touched. In a sense, the path he took was so similar to Iverson's original one, constantly being questioned, and then constantly responding to those doubts with his performance.

"Don, it's time to set off!" Just then, Smith shouted.

"Here you come!" Tang Shuai put his phone in the closet, took a deep breath, and then walked out of the locker room with his head raised.

NBA playoffs, a stage exclusive to strong teams, a series where real "Warriors" can only laugh to the end. In this series, you can see many things that cannot be seen in the regular season, coaches, players, and even referees will be placed under a large microscope without any hiding.

Just as a coach who fails to win the playoffs is difficult to gain the recognition of the general manager, a star who cannot perform in the playoffs will eventually be labeled as a fake star. This is a melting pot and a big stage. Only after his baptism can it be considered true growth.

The Clippers' home court was red. The home team put on red T-shirts on every seat before the game started. When the fans came to the scene to wear these customized clothes, the scene was already a sea of ​​red, and the home team's white home uniform looked even more imposing.

The players arrived at the scene not long after, and then the players introduced the game.

What's different from before is that because it was the first game of the playoffs, the home team introduced all the players.

At this time, the lineup of the scene had not been announced. When Griffin was introduced early, many fans were stunned. Bickstaff looked even more damn-like. It was obvious that the Clippers had done a good job in keeping confidentiality in the past. Such a platoon was obviously beyond the Rockets' expectations.

This is also part of the game between the two sides in the playoffs. Before the game started, the Clippers obviously took the lead.

The substitute was followed by, because Griffin became the substitute, Tang Shuai became the second-to-last player to be introduced.

"Ship Tang!!"

DJ shouted Tang Shuai's name on the spot, and the audience suddenly fell into a boiling state.

As a rookie, although Griffin's score has dropped after his comeback, his average score has remained at 19.2 points and 3.6 assists per game. His score is the highest among rookies. What's more rare is that his shooting percentage is 49%, an extremely efficient shooting percentage, and what's more terrifying is that his three-point shooting percentage is 53%! The league's number one! It's hard to imagine that this is just a rookie player, and a rookie player who is constantly improving.

Rumors broke out on the trade deadline, when Ballmer rejected the decision to sign Tang Shuai in the Celtics' top three picks, all kinds of doubts were overwhelming, but when Griffin was absent and Tang Shuai continued to help the team win with his super stable performance, the doubts disappeared. When the season ended, Tang Shuai became the only player who could compete with Towns at the best rookie, people realized how visionary Ballmer was.

Just as the Hornets traded Kobe to the Hornets when they selected him, Ballmer's vision and courage were far better than Bob Buss, the executive vice president of the Hornets.

Anyway, no matter what, Tang Shuai has already gained a lot of popularity in Los Angeles, and the deafening cheers when appearing is the best proof.

Tang Shuai took a deep breath and waved his hand to greet the audience.

The cheers at the scene suddenly went higher.

After the players were introduced, the players from both sides held the final warm-up before the game. When the referee walked to the sidelines with the basketball, the players on both sides also followed.

Tang Shuai's first playoff game of his career officially started!

The Rockets' inside line is led by Marcus Morris and "Warcraft" Howard, with Ariza on the front line and Harden and Beverly on the back line. This is also the lineup that helped them reach the fifth in the Western Conference in the final stage of the regular season.

On the Rockets, after putting Griffin on the bench, Jeff Green is still the one who replaced him, and the other positions are still unchanged as before.

The referee walked to the center of the scene with the ball. After signaling Howard and Jordan Jr. who were jumping the ball, he then threw the ball into the air after receiving the information that both sides had prepared.

There was a sudden burst of cheers at the scene. Amid the cheers, Jordan and Howard jumped up.

Although his condition has declined significantly this season, Howard's physical fitness is still outstanding and he successfully transferred the ball back to the Rockets' half.

Harden held the ball, said hello and advanced to the frontcourt, and then gave the ball to Beverly.

“deen color!deen color!”

The fans at the scene shouted, and even though the game had just begun, the atmosphere in the playoffs was already quite strong.

After Harden handed over the ball, he then started running back around the bottom line.

Brewer followed closely behind him. He had played for the Rockets for most of the season before, so he was naturally very familiar with Harden's offensive method.

Speaking of which, Brewer is the x-factor of this round of the series. Not only can he limit Harden. He also played for the Rockets for so long and had a very thorough understanding of the Rockets' tactics. This function is equivalent to having a "spy" who invades the enemy's internal situation.

When Harden was running, Morris and Ariza made pick-and-rolls for him, but Brewer could see it at a glance and all dodged. When he ran to the top of the arc and received the ball again, Brewer was still facing him.

When Harden received the ball, the Rockets' other four points stood there in a daze, without the next move.

This is equivalent to running down a lap. Apart from wasting some physical strength from both sides, it did not do anything else.

Kassel nodded on the sidelines. Judging from the content of Brewer's "sharing", the Rockets are indeed the same as what it showed. They are a team that relies heavily on three-pointers and rebounds. The tactical system is simple, Harden plays singles, and uses Harden to restrain defense, and then chooses to attack by himself or create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

So it is very simple to defend against the Rockets. If you pinch Harden's point, the Rockets' offensive firepower will basically be cut off. This can be said to be the biggest difference between the Rockets and the Warriors.

When Harden saw Brewer, he tried to get the ball away after trying to get rid of it, so he stretched out his hand and Morris ran out from the inside to do a pick-and-roll.

Morris' pick-and-roll quality is still good. Harden followed Morris' pick-and-roll and rushed directly into the ground, facing Green's defense, and directly chose to make a layup.

Green was very good at making fouls until Harden did not reach out, but just pressed Harden to prevent him from making a layup. However, when Harden made a layup, he sent it up and threw the ball up, and the whistle of the referee on the sidelines rang.

Harden's free throw.

The fans at the scene were booing.

Tang Shuai was standing outside the right wing three-point line to guard Ariza. When he heard the boo, he saw Green's innocent look and smiled bitterly.

This exclusive Harden game bag is still effective in the playoffs.

Harden's free throw was still very stable, and he made two free throws steadily, scoring the Rockets' opening two points.

The Clippers' offense.

"let'go!lippe!" The audience at the scene continued to shout under the leadership of DJ.

After Paul held the ball and arrived at the front court, he then reached out and made a "3" tactical gesture. Tang Shuai and Brewer ran around the three-point line directly.

The person on the pick-and-roll side of Tang Shuai is Green.

After Green traded to the Clippers, he had been training with Tang Shuai. The two formed a considerable tacit understanding. At this moment, a strong pick-and-roll blocked Ariza, who was defending him.

Shuai Tang ran to the 45th degree angle of the right wing, and Paul's pass followed.

If the Rockets' defense is really bad, Morris, who changed defense, failed to change it.

This is not at the same level as the Warriors. When they were fighting with the Warriors before, facing the step-by-step defense, in order to get an offensive opportunity, the Clippers' offensive cooperation speed was faster. If this tactic was the Warriors, Draymond Green's assisted defense would definitely have rushed. After Tang Shuai received the ball, he should consider the next tactic.

But now, after Paul's pass came, he directly got an open shot.

Tang Shuai raised his hand and threw in. There was no reason for him to miss such a simple offensive opportunity.

What's even more exaggerated is that just when Tang Shuai took action, Morris saw that he could not defend and did not interfere with it. He turned around and headed towards the gunboard at the basket.

"Swish!"

With a crisp sound, Tang Shuai made a steadily three-pointer. With Novak's three-pointer activated, he would definitely not waste the opportunity to open the space.

There was a sudden burst of cheers at the scene.

This is the first time Tang Shuai scored in the playoffs, and it came much simpler than expected.

Bickstaff shook his head helplessly, without saying blame the players, but shouted at the players: "Move, move!"

In the Rockets' offense, Harden took the ball to the frontcourt and saw that the Clippers' defense was slightly slower, so he broke through with a cross step.

Harden's breakthrough is very aggressive. In addition, he has his own exclusive bag of trouble, so Brewer did not dare to do anything, and he kept pressing him into it.

As he was about to reach the basket, Harden would score directly if he was not careful. Brewer stopped and used his body to beat Harden.

If you want to say that Brewer is a person from the Rockets, he knows how to avoid fouls when facing Harden. Now he holds his hands high and uses his body to block Harden's breakthrough route.

This move quickly worked, and Harden's breakthrough was pushed down. The referee on the sidelines did not whistle.

Harden had no choice but to turn around and step back and jump shot.

This was also one of his killer moves, and this move was as expected by Brewer. When Harden took a step back, he directly reached out and pressed him up.

Harden's interfered shot ended up in the basket, and the rebound was grabbed into his arms by Jordan Jr. under the basket.

Harden glanced helplessly, then turned around and retreated to the half.

There was a sudden burst of cheers at the scene.
To be continued...