NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 413 A dog's mouth can't produce ivory.

Harden dribbled the ball across half-court, Beverley aggressively pressed the defense, forcing Harden into a turnover...

Beverley clapped loudly in front of Harden, talking to himself and displaying a crazy, arrogant attitude.

The Rockets fans at the Toyota Center naturally couldn't stand it and booed in unison... It used to look endearing when the "Dog Brother" did this, but now he's no longer the mad dog of Houston.

Harden smiled. He never imagined that Beverley, who fawned over him last season, would now be Jia Fei's loyal dog. This was the price. The team gained a playmaker like 58, but lost a tenacious defender like Beverley. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

Round-faced Deng couldn't stand Beverley's arrogant attitude towards Harden, so he launched into a barrage of trash talk at Beverley. Beverley, not one to back down, immediately retorted, escalating the tension on the scene.

The Clippers inbound the ball in the frontcourt. Jia Fei receives the ball and, facing Tieza's defense, continues to signal for a pick-and-roll with Harris.

Even Tieza was exasperated and couldn't help but complain, "Can't you just play one-on-one against me? Be a man like James Harden!"

Jia Fei smiled slightly: "Don't rush me, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to see how manly I am! Also, don't use him as an example in the future, I don't like it!"

Harris's pick and roll forced another switch!

Jia Fei, dribbling the ball, soloed Ryan Anderson, suddenly accelerating and breaking through with a step!

Ryan Anderson tried his best to keep up, but in just a moment, Jia Fei dribbled the ball between his legs!

Ryan Anderson completely lost his balance, his feet got stuck together, and he fell straight to the ground on his butt!

Wow--

Jia Fei calmly sank an open three-pointer!

The Clippers have tied the game at 7-7! It's also a 7-0 run!

"My God, Jia Fei is amazing! He completely stunned Ryan Anderson!" Wang Meng exclaimed excitedly.

"Ryan Anderson guarding Jia Fei is practically giving away points; he can't stop him!" Yang Yi added.

58 looked terrible on the sidelines. He really wanted to get back on the court and fight, but his body just wouldn't cooperate. Of all times, he got injured playing against his former team in a series. Fortunately, the injury isn't serious, and he should be able to play in the next game.

Ryan Anderson got up from the ground, but Beverley ran up to him and teased, "I thought you were wearing ice skates instead of basketball shoes. You fall down so easily, you're so bad!"

Ryan Anderson was so angry he almost vomited blood. How could that damn dog have such a foul mouth?! Ughhhhhh!

Harden dribbled over and passed the ball to the round-faced Harden.

Round-faced Deng dribbled the ball and attacked Jia Fei, bursting in like a meatball. He pulled up for a jump shot, but Jia Fei blocked it!

Beverley cleverly intercepted the ball and passed it to Jia Fei!

Jia Fei led the fast break, making a solo run down the court. Sam Gold turned and got past Tieza, and amidst gasps from the crowd, he scored with an mid-air layup, putting Jia Fei ahead!

9-7, the Clippers forced the Rockets to call a timeout!

Beverley was even happier than Jia Fei. He berated the round-faced guy, "Did you enjoy getting blocked?"

The Rockets fans in the arena were booing Beverley wildly; they'd never hated him as much as they did now. But the truth is, when Beverley broke Westbrook's leg, many fans were cheering!

"Mr. Yang, Jia Fei's defense is absolutely explosive, and his offense is even more explosive. I'm impressed!" Wang Meng exclaimed.

Yang Yi twirled his pen, appearing quite calm: "I said it before, without Paul, Harden can't lead the team as well as Jia Fei. Harden is also very good, extremely good. His dribbling and passing ability is second only to James and Jia Fei in this league, but his defense is lacking. Jia Fei's defense is truly amazing, I feel he's even stronger than Leonard. There are very few players he can't guard!"

After the timeout, the Rockets made adjustments, starting to double-team Jia Fei on defense. Whenever he ran a pick-and-roll with Harris, they would double-team him relentlessly. After the double-team, they would immediately rotate to help, leaving Wesley Johnson open for three-pointers and occasionally leaving Beverley open. They didn't leave Harris open for mid-range or three-point shots. Compared to Wesley Johnson and Beverley, Harris was a much greater offensive threat.

The Rockets' challenge has been effective. Compared to Harris, who has some ball-handling and offensive capabilities, Wesley Johnson is truly useless. This is why, as the fourth overall pick, he's already taking a minimum salary at this stage of his career. It also highlights how desperately the Clippers lack 3-and-D players; a player like Wesley Johnson is starting, which sometimes seems absurd.

However, the Rockets' offense struggled to maintain consistency. The Clippers weren't foolish either, double-teaming Harden and forcing his teammates to take his place. Harden's situation is somewhat similar to Harris's; he's capable as a secondary scorer, but his ability to carry the offense as the primary scorer is lacking. Furthermore, with Jia Fei's defense, it's extremely difficult for Harden to deliver a truly explosive offensive performance.

In this matchup of the two teams' second units, the Clippers' offensive core revolved around the pick-and-roll duo of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, both of whom came from the Rockets. As part of the $58 trade package, Williams, Harrell, and Beverley all became key rotation players for the Clippers, making significant contributions to the team's franchise-best record this season.

The Rockets have a short bench, and it's well known that their head coach, Mike D'Antoni, prefers a short rotation in the playoffs. An 8-man or even 7-man rotation is common in the playoffs. With 58 out of the lineup, he doesn't plan to add many more players to the rotation; the starting five—Nene, Bobby Brown, and those seven—will likely continue playing.

The Rockets' second unit was led by the round-faced Harden, who was resting at this time.

Neither side was easy to attack, and Lou Williams and Harrell's pick-and-roll was difficult to execute. The opponent's switching and double-teaming were very effective, leaving few good opportunities to attack the basket.

D'Antoni is indeed not good at coaching defense, but the Rockets' defense was not coached by him; he was only responsible for offense.

The score remained close throughout the first half, with neither team able to pull away.

At halftime, the Clippers trailed by one point, 51-52.

贾飞半场得到21分5个篮板3次助攻2个抢断1个盖帽，表现无可挑剔。可以这么说，整支球队的进攻都被他扛在了肩上。

Harden had 16 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 block in the first half. Even with the Clippers double-teaming him, they couldn't completely contain him. He contributed significantly in both scoring and assists. You could say he's a bad player who likes to flop, but his skill is undeniable, and defending him can be really difficult. Even a strong defender like Beverley couldn't truly limit him.

After halftime, Jia Fei couldn't help but think that even without 58 (a nickname for a player), the Rockets were still a more dangerous team than the Thunder. The Rockets had far better offensive spacing, and although they lacked a dominant center, their players were quick on defense, which greatly limited the Clippers' offense. The deciding factor in this game might really be the outside shooting of the role players on both sides.