NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 114 Winning Two Home Games in a Row

Even after both teams' starting lineups returned, the Rockets still couldn't find an advantage. Durant and Westbrook were even more dominant in the playoffs than in the regular season. Even Perkins and Sefolosha, who were relatively weak in the regular season, displayed extremely strong defensive abilities, completely limiting Asik's easy baskets.

At halftime, the Thunder led their opponents by 13 points, 41-54.

贾飞上半场4投3中，罚球两罚全中得到8分5个篮板2个助攻2个抢断2个盖帽，表现极为全面。

The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first half, except that the Thunder had a better shooting touch in the second half, which turned the game into garbage time with half of the final quarter remaining.

Lamb was lucky to get his first appearance in the playoffs in his professional career.

Ultimately, the Thunder secured a resounding victory over the Rockets at home, achieving their first playoff win.

Jia Fei contributed 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks, delivering an outstanding performance as always. He was in a good mood because of his excellent performance, and what pleased him even more was that after he reminded Westbrook, the outcome of what he had inflicted on Westbrook in this game in his previous life did not occur.

If Westbrook is out for the season, it means the Thunder's championship aspirations are over. He has some flaws, but the team has no replacement for him.

The home team's locker room was peaceful after the game. Westbrook came over, put his arm around Jia Fei's neck, and laughed, "Jia, let me ask you something. What did you say to Patrick Beverley? Why does he look so angry?"

Jia Fei truthfully said, "I told him I'm much more handsome than him, and he couldn't argue with that!"

Westbrook kept laughing. Indeed, those words stung, but they were true. If Parsons, with his good looks, could compete with Jia Fei in terms of appearance, then Beverley shouldn't even bother joining the fray. In terms of looks, even Megatron is better than him.

Durant was glued to his phone, and Jia Fei couldn't tell if he was looking at pictures of pretty girls or chatting on a forum. Was this internet celebrity using his main account or a secondary account? Hopefully, he didn't switch to the wrong one…

Head coach Brooks entered the locker room and began his motivational speech in a refined manner. Jia Fei found this kind of talk utterly unappealing; he thought it was completely meaningless. Sometimes, he thought it wasn't even as exciting or stimulating as Old Li's "eon."

After the head coach finished speaking, reporters swarmed in and began conducting interviews.

Jia Fei also gave an interview, but it was just a few superficial questions. After the interview, he went to take a shower and then went to eat with Reggie and the others.

I casually scrolled through my phone and saw a ton of post-game reports. Many American media outlets are fickle. Before the series even started, a bunch of Rockets fans were saying the Rockets' "Moreyball" offense would destroy the Thunder's defense, that Harden would take down his former team, and defeat his former teammates, etc.

Goodness, after Game 1 of the series, the news was everywhere that the Thunder would sweep the Rockets and that the Rockets were already out of the playoffs. It was absolutely explosive.

Kemba Walker and Art Mayok had already eaten dinner, but they still joined Jia Fei and the others for a late-night snack. They talked about the game they'd just played; being NBA players themselves, they had no trouble chatting.

Upon returning home, Jia Fei immediately logged into the system to check his task completion status. In this game, he had completed one task: "Scoring in double figures in the playoffs."

Upon completing the task, Jia Fei received a reward of 1000 points. He then checked his anger level and was shocked to find that so many Rockets players were angry with him: Beverley had 11 points, Refrigerator had 5 points, Harden had 4 points, the "King of Stomping" had 4 points, Garcia had 1 point, and Parsons had 1 point.

Jia Fei never expected that he had done something so heinous that it would arouse such anger from the other side. But then again, if it weren't for the anger of the other side, he wouldn't have had the chance to receive so much wrath!

He counted them; there were 26 Furies in total, which were exchanged for 2600 points. Adding the 1000 points he got from completing the task, he earned a total of 3600 points in this match.

With the 1001 points in his account, he now has a total of 4601 points.

Jia Fei redeemed these points, raising his "Iverson Peak Technique Integration" from 33% to 34%!

Game 2 of the Thunder vs. Rockets series will be played in three days, and the game will continue at the Thunder's home arena, the Ford Center.

The Rockets made a lineup change for this game!

They dropped Greg Smith, who started in the previous game, and promoted Beverley to the starting lineup. This effectively makes them a small lineup with only Asik as their main player.

Clearly, the offense faltered in the last game, and the team's solution was to add a guard. Of course, this reduces the overall height in the paint, but it doesn't mean the defense has suffered. In today's league, simply having a taller overall team doesn't guarantee better defense. Starting Beverley also has the advantage of freeing up Harden and Lin, allowing him to focus on challenging Westbrook.

The Thunder's starting lineup remains unchanged. If you watched their playoff games last season, you'll understand that Coach Brooks doesn't easily change his lineup. This starting lineup remained the same until they lost four straight games to the Heat in the Finals, let alone when they won.

After the game started, the Rockets played their regular season style: constantly driving and dishing through wide offensive spaces, employing the "Moreyball" theory, and continuously speeding up their offense through fast breaks. Their offense was indeed effective, arguably far better than in the previous game.

However, they still couldn't contain the Thunder defensively. Beverley couldn't stop Westbrook, and Durant was unstoppable.

The starting lineups of the two teams were essentially even.

However, during the rotation phase, the combination of four perimeter players (Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Kevin Martin, and Derek Fisher) plus one interior player (Collison) thoroughly dominated the Rockets' second unit. The Rockets lost points during this phase, and both of their point losses occurred during their rotation periods.

Even if the refrigerator immediately brought Harden and the rich and handsome guy back, it wouldn't make a difference.

The Thunder ultimately defeated the Rockets at home, bringing the series score to 2-0.

The result of the game was not too surprising. Considering the strength of the two teams on paper, it was reasonable for the Thunder to win both home games.

After this game, Game 3 of the series will be held at the Toyota Center in Houston.

After the game, Jia Fei asked Kemba Walker if they would go to Houston together for the next game. Kemba Walker nodded, "Of course, Artest and I don't have anything else to do!"

Jia Fei was very happy that his two former teammates could continue to accompany them in their battles. Having them watch the game in person made him feel like he had family by his side.