Chapter 1153 New Orleans’ Beautiful Team

Harden used Gordon's screen to hit Green out of position, causing the latter's thug to foul. After making two free throws, Harden finally scored for the Rockets.

But such scores are too few for them.

About nine minutes into the first quarter, the score on the field was 21 to 10.

The point difference was not huge, but the Rockets were very depressed on the scene.

The Pelicans have indeed become weaker, but even if they become weaker, they can still beat them as before.

Although the preseason is not a regular season, it hurts morale just like the Bucks last year.

The two sides entered rotations one after another. On the Pelicans side, Tang Tian, ​​Green, and Dedmon were replaced, and Parker, Kuzma, and Siakam came on.

For the Rockets, Paul, Gordon and Capela also took a break, and Reeves Jr., Ennis and Zhou Qi came on as substitutes.

D'Antoni walked from the bench to the sideline and reached out to Harden to make a tactical gesture.

This period is an opportunity for the Rockets to close the score.

Harden broke through Brogden for a layup, causing the latter to hit the basket, and made two free throws to narrow the point difference to 9 points.

Davis's strong attack under the basket was deflected by Zhou Qi's defense, and Tucker struggled to protect the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans' wave of offense failed to score.

Looking back, it was Harden again, and the breakthrough caused Harrell's thug.

With another two free throws, he scored 4 points in a row, narrowing the score to 7 points.

D'Antoni was relieved when he saw this.

Brogdon was the Pelicans' sixth man last season and is now mentioned as a starter. Coupled with Rose's departure, the strength of the Pelicans' substitutes, especially the outside substitutes, has declined significantly.

In this transition period, all you need to do is shrink your defense.

Parker and Davis were in a pick-and-roll, and Davis' shot from mid-range after the split was a bit wide.

He never came off the court to take a break, and his touch fluctuated as his physical fitness declined.

Fortunately, Harrell relied on his active fighting to grab the offensive rebound and gave it back to Parker on the outside.

Parker didn't hesitate to receive the ball and directly passed the ball to the bottom corner.

Kuzma got into position early and shot a three-pointer before the Rockets returned to defense.

After losing weight, his shooting speed has become much faster.

"Uh-huh!"

With a crisp sound, he hit a key three-pointer!

There was a burst of excited shouts from the fans at the scene.

Especially some young female fans were as excited as seeing Tang Tian score.

There is a very popular saying on the basketball court, an ugly guy will win a compliment if he scores ten goals, and a handsome guy will knock out a group of girls on the sidelines if a fan scores a goal.

This is the role of appearance. Although Kuzma is not as handsome as Tang Tian, ​​he is still a bit handsome.

Stevens also stood up and applauded Kuzma.

The Rockets have shrunk significantly during this period, and the performance of outside shooters is very critical.

Kuzma's goal is the best reward for his trust.

You must know that behind Kuzma are Jeff Green and Jae Crowder, both famous NBA players.

Harden broke through and recreated Davis' beater.

It has been two years since the penalty scale was changed, and he has adapted to the new rules and entered another level when it comes to making fouls.

Another two free throws, still an 8-point difference.

Parker and Davis play a pick-and-roll in the frontcourt. This is a replica of Woday's pick-and-roll.

However, Parker's technical shortcoming compared to Walker is that he has no outside shooting, and the Rockets' defense is still relatively tight.

Parker took the initiative to look for Kuzma this time and passed the ball.

Kuzma took the ball and made a three-pointer, but Ennis fought hard to save it.

With the experience of the previous ball, he extended the ball earlier and dived more thoroughly.

However, Kuzma feinted a shot and hit him, then took the ball and broke through the basket.

After seeing this, Davis blocked Zhou Qi and Tucker, and Kuzma scored with a dunk with both hands.

The cheers immediately erupted.

Kuzma, he is handsome and can play!

The reaction of the fans at the scene fit this sentence perfectly.

The Pelicans have produced another idol player who is both handsome and capable after Tang Tian.

There was also a burst of excitement from the Pelicans bench.

Tang Tian also smiled and applauded Kuzma.

These 5 points are crucial.

And the key is that Kuzma has defensive containment on the outside.

When the Rockets did not dare to shrink easily, Davis and Siakam broke through the basket and scored consecutively.

At the end of the first quarter, the score on the field was 30 to 18, and the Pelicans ended the quarter with a 12-point lead.

In this transition period between substitutes, Kuzma's performance was quite impressive.

His excellent form also continued into subsequent games.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Rockets 108-93 in their first preseason game.

The main players of both sides only played half of the game.

Kuzma played the entire second half, playing a total of 30 minutes and contributing a game-high 22 points. He made 3 of 7 shots from beyond the three-point line. His performance was very impressive.

After the game, fans were buzzing on social media after the game.

"What about the promised Pelicans becoming weaker? Although it's only a preseason game, the Rockets had no chance in the entire game. This is too true!"

"Actually, it has become weaker. Last season's Pelicans were the strongest team in history, and this season's Pelicans are the strongest team in the league!"

"Green and Brogdon are both underestimated. I think the Pelicans' starting lineup is better than the Lakers'!"

"Stop talking, I will shed tears if I talk too much. If Green were still stabbing me, Green George Leonard would be as strong as Tangtian Green Leonard a few years ago!"

"No shit, one preseason game is better than ours. Let's wait and see who gets beaten to tears!"

"That is, our Lakers will definitely win the championship this season. The Pelicans, Spurs, and Warriors are all stepping stones on the road to winning the championship!"

"Honestly, after this game, I am a fan of Kuzma. The good-looking Gemini of me, the Pelican, has completely blown away the league!"

"Yeah, let's not talk about the games we didn't play. Just because of your appearance, I, the Pelican, would be far behind you."

"This is a basketball game! Do you think it's a beauty pageant? And our emperor and Xiao Shuai will lose to you in appearance?!"

"???"

…

The first win over the Rockets in the preseason was just the beginning. Over the next week or so, the Pelicans successively defeated the Clippers, Jazz, Nuggets and other teams.

In 6 preseason games, they finished with a record of 6 wins and 0 losses.

As fans discussed on social media, the Pelicans' strength should have dropped significantly after losing Walker and Butler.

But judging from the game process, the reality seems to be somewhat different from the imagination.

Brogdon's performance has reached a new level since he entered the starting lineup;

Siakam also played more efficiently after getting more opportunities;

Green has regained his ability as a top role player. Although he didn't take many shots, his three-point shooting rate in the preseason reached an astonishing 49%;

Even rookies Alexander and Mitchell Robinson showed their respective abilities in the game, one can really break through and the other can really block;

Of course, the one who surprised and surprised everyone the most was Kuzma.

In sufficient time, he averaged 15.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 6 games, with an overall shooting rate of 45% and a three-point shooting rate of 40%.

This is the feeling of playing a replica of Klay Thompson on the preseason stage.