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

The Rockets' first start was introduced first.

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

At the beginning of the season, the Rockets asked Capella and Cousins ​​to play with the twin towers, but the results were not good.

Especially D'Antoni is an advocating head coach, and the slow-paced offense made him intolerable.

After playing just two games, he put Capella on the bench and started various trial lineups.

Brewer + David West, Brewer + Tucker, Tucker + West, Brewer + Bamort ...

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

Tucker was an outstanding 3D player in the sun, and his exposure increased after he got to the Rockets, and his advantages were further amplified.

Although he is short, his confrontation is particularly good, especially in the era of small balls. The general No. 4 can't stand him in the low post.

And his corner threes are also seriously underestimated. He can give Cousins ​​enough attack space in the bottom corner.

Before Bamoot came to the Rockets, he was a defensive engineer. The team he played on was basically four to five.

The Rockets used it for him in the beginning, but D'Antoni experimented with the lineup and encouraged three-pointers on the flanks.

In the process, Bamort showed a completely different perimeter shooting stability from his previous career.

Everyone, even himself, discovered that he could score.

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

After introducing the players, followed by the coach D'Antoni.

There was a hiss when his name was read.

D'Antoni had reached a preliminary agreement with the Pelicans, but in the end, instead of choosing the Pelicans, they went to the Rockets.

The Rockets have a higher contract than the Pelicans.

However, this kind of approach suddenly abruptly left the Pelicans fans unhappy, although not to attack on social media, but this home boo is inevitable.

The Pelicans side is the regular lineup. When Stevens played, now it was deafening cheers.

The comparison of the two coaches one after the other, fans intentionally embarrassed D'Antoni.

Sure enough, D'Antoni's face is not good-looking, he can also be regarded as a handsome, under the pressure of young head coach Stevens, must be unhappy.

After the warm-up, the starting players of both teams have appeared one after another.

Davis beat Cousins ​​and officially kicked off the Christmas War.

Jokic arrived at the frontcourt to hold the ball, Tang Tian cut into the back run and was double-tapped, giving the ball to Ariza in the bottom corner.

The goal was very timely, but the Rockets teamed up to defend quickly. Ariza shook Tucker and made a breakthrough. The layup was interrupted by Cousins.

Cousins ​​turned and took the defensive rebound. The Rockets fought back. Paul backcourt pass Harden.

But the Pelicans retreated quickly, Harden made a layup and was covered by Tang Tian.

The Pelicans hit the frontcourt, Tang Tiansan threatened to hit Ba Mote, and made an emergency stop after the breakthrough.

Looking back, Harden took a three-pointer and made a shot after receiving the ball in the position.

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

The Pelicans' offensive ability has now run into 70% or 80% of what Stevens wants. Playing the general team can be more arbitrary.

But this Rockets team is different from the Knicks and Lakers coached by D'Antoni in the past few seasons because of the presence of Boozdrick.

He is defensive, and is first-rate defensive after the line-up is complete.

The reverse is also true. The Rockets' big three have run through and their offensive strength has soared.

But in the face of the Pelicans, who have basically run in on the defensive end, they have not played so smoothly.

In the first quarter, the two teams tied for 27 draws.

Such a situation is not a small pressure for both teams, but the home fans are very excited.

This evenly matched high-level match is just like the previous battle of Yu Yong.

In the second quarter, Harden led the team over there.

The Rockets traded Paul this season, but D'Antoni was ambitious. He also tried to get Harden to play.

This is in line with his personal characteristics. He is good at manipulating point guards. Now he has two super guards, and he wants all of them to become point guards.

And it did work, so he could separate Paul from Harden.

After Harden came up, he first passed West's layup and then shot himself into the iconic back 2 + 1, leading the team to a wave of 5-0.

The Rockets had a poor bench last season, but now asking Harden to play this backup link can not only harden Harden, but also greatly increase their substitute strength.

Stevens called a timeout.

After returning from the timeout, Boyang hit a key three-pointer with a tactical run to ignite the New Orleans Arena.

When the Pelicans sent the sixth man Gordon away this summer, it also attracted fans' perseverance and doubt.

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

This three-pointer helped the Pelicans reduce the difference to two points, and when they returned to the defensive end, the Pelicans had a tactical adjustment.

Stevens had studied the magic ball theory of the rocket before, and already had a set of coping methods in his mind.

Just because this is the first time the two sides have played against each other, he needs more on-site observations to decide whether to use the coping method.

How much time has passed in this section, he already knows.

The Rockets have made 20 shots so far, 14 shots at the three-point line, 6 shots at the penalty area, and none at mid-range.

This includes positional battles and defensive counterattacks, and their shots in the middle distance have been completely abandoned by them.

The Pelicans defended a 2-1-2 defense. UC Reading www.uukanshu.com

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

This defense, when the Spurs hit the Pelicans last season, Vicki put it out, and finally Tang Tian stiffly voted against it.

Now Stevens has spotted the magic ball's weaknesses in the same way.

Harden was strictly guarded outside the three-point line, West was also shot dead at the rim, and the Rockets' offense was constrained.

However, as expected by Stevens, I didn't go to the mid-range zone without taking a shot!

Terry's last three-pointer was disturbed and missed the basket!

McKee's defensive position improved a lot, the ball stuck to Capella and received a defensive rebound.

The Pelicans counterattacked, Ding Weidi threw away Old Terry in a fast break, confidently flew to make a layup.

The Pelicans tied the score!