Ethan was accidentally injured, Uduka s dual point guard lineup worked wonders, and Shen Jing made zero mistakes on offense and defense!

On November 15th, the NBA ushered in another mid-season championship game day. The Houston Rockets faced the Portland Trail Blazers at home. The Trail Blazers, who had experienced a coaching change at the beginning of the season, have performed well recently and ranked among the top eight in the Western Conference. After losing to the Spurs in the first cup game, the Rockets quickly adjusted their state and regained their defense. They have also defeated their opponents in recent games. This time they still have an overall advantage against the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers played very well in the first three quarters of this game. After being blasted by the Rockets for 41 points in the first quarter, they withstood the pressure in the second and third quarters without being widened by too much, leaving the suspense of the game until the fourth quarter.

However, this year’s Rockets do possess the hard power to easily control the situation on the court and harvest the game. When the team wanted to seal the victory in the last quarter, Shen Jing not only assisted his teammates to score, but also played a strong "2+1" personally; Du On the offensive end, Lent scored consecutive singles in the mid-range. Adams protected the frame and scored a basket to promote a quick counterattack. Okogie almost completed two man-to-man dunks in excitement. The score was instantly stretched to close to 30 points. The Rockets only took half a quarter to defeat the game.

Durant scored 30 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists with a flick of the sickle, and Smith Jr. also scored 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Shen Jing played at a super level on both offense and defense. He made 9 of 13 shots from the field and 4 of 6 three-pointers from outside. He scored 25 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks without any mistakes. He was called a god.

In the end, the Rockets defeated the Trail Blazers 140:116 at home to get the tournament off to a good start and also gained a 3-game winning streak. The only regret in this game is that substitute general Ethan was accidentally injured during an offensive and defensive round in the first half. The condition of the injury is currently unknown.

Head coach Uduka did not use the two forward rotations of Tate and Green. Instead, he sent Holiday and tried to have him and Shepard on the court at the same time to partner in the twin-tower lineup. Holiday is also very competitive. He can score on sudden outside shots during regular time. He scored 10 points, 1 assist and 1 steal in 13 minutes of play. Sheppard continued his previous good form, scoring 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. The defensive end is no longer the team's "slugger"