The Warriors easily beat the Lakers and the Thunder narrowly beat the Rockets: the slightest chance of success or failure

The Rockets almost ruined the championship ceremony of the old club Thunder for Durant.

Thunder escaped death by a hair's breadth.

Double overtime. Three people committed six crimes. Only 1 point difference.

The Rockets lost, but 31 free throws, 16 offensive rebounds, and the Thunder's twin towers were punished: the four-tower formation solidly defeated the Thunder.

The Rockets released today the second-highest starter in history: Amen, who is 201 centimeters tall, and the four towers of Shen Jing, Durant, Jabari and Adams, which are 211 centimeters tall, totaling 411 inches.

In 1999, Dallas had 414-inch starters - Bradley at 229 centimeters, Dirk and Ernst at 213 centimeters, Finley at 201 centimeters and Hubert Davis at 196 centimeters. But that lineup is mainly composed of Bradley who is too tall, and there is no Rockets, a four-tower collective that towers into the sky.

The starting point of the Thunder Twin Towers is considered high - Dortmund and Carson Wallace are 193 centimeters, Alexander is 198 centimeters, Harten is 213 centimeters, and Chet is 216 centimeters - but the total is only 399 inches.

The Rockets' four towers suppressed the Thunder's rhythm and had an immediate effect:

The Rockets flanked Alexander: Don't be afraid of a long man coming out, anyway, other long men can quickly fill the position. Alexander only made one shot in the first 5 minutes and failed to break through twice. The Thunder relied on Chet's clever changes to cover 11 of the Thunder's 13 points.

The two scoring leaders - Durant and Alexander - were targeted in the half. The Rockets themselves did not go smoothly, but the unconventional four-man formation did make the Thunder uncomfortable.

Afterwards, the Rockets had the upper hand: lack of defenders, Durant was blocked by Dortmund, and the offensive end was not smooth. Shen Jing, Durant and Amen could only take turns to attack, but it was still effective: Amen only made one long shot, but the most explosive body in the world, two 2+1s in the half quarter, and then received Shen Jing's inward cut - and then paused, a perfect fit defense, allowing Alexander to once again break out of the baseline and find it difficult to find a shot.

Relying only on the defensive end, the Rockets led the Thunder 30 to 27 in the first quarter: Alexander was caught in the first quarter and made 1 of 3 shots and 3 turnovers. Amen's attack (10 points in half a quarter), Shen Jing's ball (4 assists in a single quarter), and the Rockets' four towers overwhelmed the Thunder. The Thunder's defense was forced to move towards the ball-handlers of Eason, Jabari and Sheppard: after all, the Rockets were too high, and even Capela could get the ball if the ball passed in.

Off topic: Dortmund really had a long ball, the defensive end carried Durant, and the offensive end was able to turn around on the weak side and break through - although it may have been forced out by Jay Wei's absence...

The Rockets offense was still sluggish in the second quarter, but the Thunder had to rely on Mitchell's 3+1 to save themselves from being pulled into double digits. Alexander was flanked to 2 points and 0 assists in the second quarter; the Thunder could only repeatedly gamble on Jaylin's three-pointers.

Durant was isolated in the first quarter, but silently made all 3 shots in the second quarter and scored 14 points in the half: The Rockets system is piecemeal, but as the Thunder's defensive strength goes down, no one can interfere with Durant's shooting.

The Rockets' pressure in the first half forced the Thunder to change their formation at halftime: Caruso replaced Harten. The Thunder were forced to play small and big.

It was the Rockets' rhythm that won.

Caruso put pressure on Shen Jing in the half, Carson attacked from the outside, Alexander made a sudden score, the whole team chased Shepard, and the Thunder maintained a balance of power.

When the Rockets led by 8 points, Alexander pulled the ball away from Amen and made a layup to catch up to 6 points. However, at the end of the third quarter, Amen returned Alexander's chasing cover.

So much so that at the buzzer of the third quarter, Alexander forced a long shot against Amen instead of a breakthrough: Amen and the Rocket Towers were still destroying the Thunder's rhythm.

In the last 3 minutes, the Thunder fell behind 95 to 97. Amen broke through and rolled into the basket, 99 to 95.

The Rockets switched defenses infinitely, and Chet threw in, 99 to 97.

Amen was unable to pass the ball, and rushed in to face Chet, 101 to 97; but in the next round, he broke through and dropped the ball.

Alexander took advantage of Jabari alone, stepped back and made a mid-range shot, leading 102 to 101, and then defended Amen.

Shen Jing took a shot from Caruso behind his back, 103 to 102. It could have been a winning goal, but Durant made 1 of 2 free throws, leaving a gap for the Thunder.

Alexander chased Amen and made a steady mid-range shot, 104-level:

The Rockets' four-tower formation suppressed the Thunder for 46 minutes, and was finally dragged into overtime by Alexander's two MVP-level mid-range shots. ​

In overtime, Chet and Alexander each scored a three-pointer to open up 6 points, but Shen Jing continued to be invincible inside.

After Amen left the game, the Rockets' shortcomings were exposed: no one had the ball, and they could only rely on Durant and Shen Jing to fight hard.

Durant suddenly scored a long shot to Jabari, 112 to 110, and the Rockets successfully flanked Alexander.

Durant connected with Shen Jing and made 1 of 2 free throws. Chet's long shot opened up 4 points, and then Chet was sent off.

In the last two attacks, Caruso missed a dunk attempt, but Shen Jing made up the dunk to tie the score at 115, and the second overtime was reached.

In the second overtime, both sides were embarrassed:

The Thunder lost Chet and Jaywe, and Alexander was flanked again, relying on Carson and Caruso to hold the ball; the Rockets used zone defense to force Caruso to take action.

The Rockets also had a headache: Amen struggled to the point of cramping. Shen Jing and Durant, both 211 centimeters tall, took turns to get the ball. The offense was so obvious that Caruso could even cover Shen Jing from the bottom corner.

Carson took Shen Jing’s long shot alone, leading 120 to 119. Durant returned Dortmund with a 2+1, and Harten was sent off.

The most critical moment: Rocket Shepard made a mistake, Alexander made a mid-range shot to tie 122, and then made 1 of 2 free throws, 123-122.

Durant missed a long shot, but attracted Caruso's double attack and fed Shenjing for a layup to lead 124 to 123. However, at the last moment, Durant came up inexplicably:

Durant, the Thunder's first MVP, faced off against Alexander, the Thunder's first FMVP. As a result, Alexander deceived Durant into fouling and making free throws to win: Durant was sent off and watched the team lose..

The Thunder do not have Jaywee, but the Rockets do not have VanVleet, and they are in the running-in period.

The Rockets' four-tower group forced the Thunder to change formations in the second half; even without the ball and relying on hard work, they still knocked down the Thunder's twin towers.

Durant failed to integrate and could barely touch the ball in his comfort zone in the second half, still scoring 23 points.

Shen Jing surpassed Chet in the Dirk imitation show and was close to Markkanen: last season's highest 38 points, 21 three-pointers in 76 games, 39 points today, 5 three-pointers in a single game. 39 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Chet and Hatten were beaten down. Caruso - the go-getter who dogged Jokic last season - couldn't cover him either.

If not for Alexander's bravery in the last two mid-range shots in regular time and the first overtime, and if the Rockets were not so short of defenders that Sheppard had to be on the court - he missed 2 of 3 of 11 shots, was repeatedly called out by the Thunder, and made key mistakes at the last moment - the Rockets would have suppressed the Thunder. Only in the end Durant was jumped by Alexander, that's all.

Of course, after Jay Wei returns, the Thunder will still be stronger, but from another perspective:

The Thunder are the defending champions who have been tempered for a long time.

And this is just the first game where the Rockets have neglected to adapt.

The Warriors easily defeated the Lakers in the opening game - only winning by 10 points, but the scene was relaxed and comfortable.

Luka reached the sky with one arm and scored the second-highest 43 points in his Lakers career. However, Jimmy Butler smiled and responded with a Warriors career-high 31 points in the regular season - 14 field goals and 16 free throws.

LeBron is not here, and the Lakers really have no chemistry.

Luka worked hard, scoring 22 points in the first half, and scored three extra penalties in the third and half of the third quarter. But when he scored his 41st point in the fourth quarter, instead of cheering, he said "Oh, the shot was made," and then lowered his head and ran back - the Lakers were still 10 points behind at the time.

Ayton's performance today reminded me of Kwame when he was playing with Kobe. Smart - relying on various overt or covert actions - seems to be the Lakers' second defensive stickiness, second only to Van Der Biao, but Van Der Biao basically disappears on the offensive end under high pressure.

Under the Warriors' tight rotation defense, the Lakers' pick-and-rolls were extremely easy to predict. The result was that Luka himself went in and out seven times, Reeves attacked from the weak side, and others stumbled offensively.

The best thing about the Warriors today is Kuminga's positioning: Kuminga had 5 assists in the first half, and was able to find open Curry and Podger in the breakthrough, but he made 1 of 6 shots. In the third quarter, his offense started, scoring 11 points in the half.

But scoring and assists are not the key yet: his offensive and defensive ends are beginning to have a role beyond personal statistics.

The Warriors start today: Curry + Podger + Jimmy + Dream Chaser + Kuminga. Kuminga's offensive attack against the basket was average - 1 of 5 2-pointers - but 3 offensive rebounds and 4 three-pointers: he did what TJD couldn't do last season and Post could only do half of it: shoot three-pointers, open up the space, and give Payton and Curry the opportunity to cut inside.

On the defensive end, he couldn't be a center, so Chai Meng (and Horford) were responsible for protecting the basket and filling in, while Kuminga was responsible for single-defense against Luka and Reeves. The effect is not always good. For example, Luka played two 2+1s in one minute of the third quarter, but it is enough.

Offense to open up space + online support + face-to-basket assault, defense and rebounding: Kuming has become the Warriors' own Gordon, PJ Washington or Jabari Smith.

The result is that today the Warriors don't need to use Post (bet on his long-range shots) and TJD (no long-range shots at all), the space is also opened, and Curry also cuts inside to the basket: teaming up with Jimmy to get 24 free throws.

Jimmy scored a career-high 31 points in the regular season for the Warriors today, and he played extremely cunningly.

Luca scored 22 points in the first half, and Jimmy responded with 17 points. At the end of the first half, Luka teamed up with Hachimura to lead a wave of chasing points, but Jimmy cunningly forced a mistake and asked Luka to guard Curry. He had to get the offensive rebounds and scored 17 points on 10 of 10 free throws in the half.

When Curry took a break in the fourth quarter, Jimmy took over as usual: he took the ball to Dream Chaser on one side, and Dream Chaser hit Hield on the weak side to take a long shot. Curry laughed and waved on the sidelines: a perfect contrast to Luka's helpless bow.

When the Lakers finally caught up to 99 to 105, Jimmy took over calmly:

——Breaking through Luka, attracting a flanker, feeding Dream Chaser's long shot, and opening up by 9 points.

——Curry rotated, and after blocking Vincent's long shot, Jimmy broke through for a layup, opening up 10 points.

——Jimmy and Curry turned around again, broke through Luka, and reached a free throw, 31 points. Luka was probably angry: Why are you chasing me? !

——Jimmy himself and Curry cut inside and fed Payton for a layup, opening up the score by 9 points.

Then Curry made a good night three-pointer, and the game was over.

The most interesting shot in my opinion:

In the third quarter, when Curry went down, Reeves fed Ayton a mid-range shot first, and he seemed to be getting ready for a free throw.

So Jimmy broke through, and Reeves was about to commit his fifth foul. Reeves jumped to find the referee, but it was useless, so he had to end the game: Jimmy turned around and smiled.

Reeves' career free throw shooting ratio is 37% - he is very good at free throws.

Luka's career free throw shooting ratio is 40% - he is also very good at free throws.

Jimmy’s career free throw shooting ratio: 54%.

At the end of the first half and the end of the second half, whenever the Lakers wanted to gain momentum, Jimmy would find a way to chase Reeves and Luka, and play together with Curry.

Today, he responded with air cuts, made up for Curry's missed shots or made free throws, took advantage of Curry's off-ball threat, and exercised his ball-holding ability. Chasing Luka and playing with Reeves, 16 free throws. Every free throw was killing the Lakers' momentum and wiping out Luka's efforts.

The embodiment of cunning and ruthlessness, steady and ruthless.

Speaking of which...

Ayton's career free throw shooting ratio: 19%.