At the end of the game, James Harden got up and walked towards the player's passage.

This is his first time leading the team to play the playoffs as a core, but this first experience has left Harden in vain.

11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. James Harden's data today is far from the average game in the regular season.

Link didn't get into garbage time, but Harden only scored 2 points against Tony Allen and Jimmy Butler.

After all, the score was in double digits. But Harden's performance was definitely not what fans want to see.

Harden originally had a lot of hope for this game, after all, he was the one who played in the finals. After all, last year, it was his brave performance that helped the Thunder stand opposite the Heat.

He also thought that he might become famous in this round of series.

But playing the playoffs as the sixth man is a completely different concept. When you have to face the best defensive player directly, you know what the playoffs are going on.

What Harden faced today is not only the Grizzlies' best defensive player, but also the Grizzlies' most shattered defensive player.

121 to 98, the score difference was 23 points, and the Rockets suffered a crushing defeat. This year's first in the West and eighth in the West are simply a huge difference.

After Harden avoided the reporter and walked into the player channel, he silently calculated the calculations. Today he only scored 11 points, and wanted to tie Link's 43 points, but there was still a 32-point gap!

Can he score 32 points in the next game? Harden really can't guarantee it. Today's game has already allowed Harden to see what the Grizzlies' defense is when they reach the extreme. Thank God for being able to score 20 points on Link.

32 points? This seems to be an out of reach.

Therefore, even if Link gives Harden another chance to play, Harden is likely to not be able to catch up with Link's score.

The scores of the two games were not as good as those of others. Thinking of this, Harden was even more lonely.

At the post-match press conference, Harden was listless. He actually prepared very well for this game and endured that he had not gone to the nightclub for two days!

You know, during the finals last season, Harden never forgot to go to nightclubs for casual sex. But this year, Harden forced himself to hold back in order to play this first round well.

However, it turns out that Harden's efforts are futile. If he can beat the Grizzlies by simply not going to nightclubs, the Grizzlies will not be the league's number one, and they will not be a 70-win team.

McHale was obviously disappointed with this result, but in order to appease the players and fans, McHale still made a guarantee.

"We strive to win at home, the playoffs are not a sure win. Everything is not over yet, we still have a chance."

However, the media did not buy McHale's words. The next day, in a t.nt TV program, the host commented on McHale's speech.

"When Coach Kevin McHale said those words, he probably didn't even believe it himself. The gap between the two teams was 23 points, and Link scored 43 points like cutting melons and vegetables! This gap cannot be filled by fighting at home!"

The Rockets had just played one game and were already included in the "elimination to be determined" list. With the data of 43 points and double-double, Link was also selected by espn as the best player in the first round of the first game.

Now, the whole world is waiting for the Grizzlies to kill the Rockets as soon as possible. This round of the series has lost its appeal to fans.

Just two years ago, the Grizzlies were working hard for their first playoff victory. But now, the Grizzlies are disdainful to waste time in the first round.

The playoffs were very fast and didn't give anyone a breathing time. Just two days later, the second game between the Grizzlies and the Rockets officially started.

Although it was very shameful to chase the score of others in two games, Harden decided to try it out. He thought he had adapted to the intensity of the playoffs and at least he would not be defended as badly as in the last game.

However, the result of the game was very different from what Harden thought. The bearded man found that this was not a problem of adaptation or not, but a problem of hard strength!

Under Link's defense, you can only get these points!

Harden's performance improved in this game, with 15 points and 6 assists and a shooting percentage of 44.6%, which is considered to be a pretty good performance.

However, this is more than double the difference from Harden's goal of 32 points.

As for Link, he was not as irritable as in the last game today, but he was still merciless. When he was at the end of the third quarter, Link had scored 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Link did not play again in the fourth quarter. But even so, his data was enough to make him rated as the best in the game.

106 to 91, the Rockets' score was even 5 points less than the previous game. The Federal Express Arena lost a game after a whole season. The Rockets' chances of winning here are naturally slim.

To make matters worse, Jeremy Lin suffered a shoulder injury in this game, and it has become a mystery whether he can play in the next game. Although Jeremy Lin, who played in the playoffs for the first time, performed poorly in both games, at least he would not panic and could organize the offense calmly.

Once Jeremy Lin was injured, the Rockets were left with Beverly, the second-round point guard. For the Rockets, even if they were about to return to their home court, there was no hope.

After the second game of the series, Link said that he was already watching videos of the Nuggets and the Clippers.

If other players were so crazy, they would definitely be bombarded by reporters. Just like McGrady, his words "I am already considering the next round of opponents" became the biggest black spot in his career.

But when Link said this, the reporters felt it was completely reasonable.

Is it possible for Link to slap himself in the face? To borrow a sentence from Charles Barkley, "There are many possibilities in this world, but it is impossible for the Rockets to defeat the Grizzlies."

※※※

On April 27, 2013, the third game of the series. Since 2009, the Rockets have finally ushered in the playoffs at home.

But at the scene, the Rockets fans were not in high spirits. Everyone was neither wearing a uniform red T-shirt nor creating a warm home atmosphere.

The Rockets fans really don’t have confidence in the first two games.

Rockets general manager Darrell Morey sat in a luxurious private room, very serious. At this time, his boss Leslie Alexander was sitting next to Morey.

Alexander had no expression on his face, which made Morey even more nervous. He knew that Alexander would not ask himself to come to the game for no reason. Unless there was something to discuss.

However, before the game began, the two said nothing. In this way, the third match between the Rockets and the Grizzlies started at the Toyota Center.

Without Jeremy Lin, the Rockets' offense is even more messy. Although Beverly was the second round pick in 2009, he has been wandering in Europe and did not start his rookie year until this year in the NBA.

He has more than ferocity, but his experience is limited. Especially in the playoffs, Beverly is not ready to be the head controller at all.

The Grizzlies were still in a good way. Link played very vigorously and scored 18 points in the first half, and the Rockets' defense was useless in front of him.

Reggie Miller, who commented on the game, yelled more than once, "The Toyota Center is being destroyed by Link, what does the Rockets have to do at least!"

During the halftime break, the Rockets fell behind by 14 points. Judging from this situation, it is unlikely that the Rockets will want to defend their home court.

Just as the cheerleader girls appeared, Alexander, who had been silent, spoke.

"Link is such a terrible player. He also happens to be yellow-skinned, which reminds me of Yao."

"Yes." Morey didn't know what Alexander meant, so he could only nod and agree.

"And this terrible player used to wear the Rockets jersey. But unfortunately, he only played in Houston for 10 days. If he stayed, we wouldn't be in this situation now." After Alexander said that, he looked at Morey, "I think the reason why Link left was probably not because Houston did not have a subway."

"Relice, I was then"

"Look at the two championship pennants on the dome, look at them, that is the last glory of the Rockets and Olajuwon. When we first selected Yao, we thought the Rockets were going to welcome the second Olajuwon. As a result, until now, twenty years have passed, we still only have those two pennants. We had excellent players and had the opportunity to start over, but we actually missed it. We not only missed it, but we also had to turn back and anger him." Alexander strongly snatched the right to speak before Morey finished speaking.

There is no doubt that he was very disappointed with Morey's release of Link. Although it has been three years, under the current context, Alexander has begun to settle accounts in the fall.

Morey didn't say anything anymore. He knew very well why Link kept so little room for every time he played the Rockets. He knew that Alexander was also very clear.

"Darell, after the season is over, you can submit your resignation yourself. Thank you for your contribution to the Rockets, but it's time for us to make a change."

After Alexander finished speaking, the second half of the game officially began.
Chapter completed!