Buzdelik didn't have many ways to respond either, after all, Harden's technical characteristics were what they were.

He focused more on analyzing the Pelicans' defense, then having Harden drive and dish more often, and attack the basket more decisively.

After all, Jokic wasn't exactly a defensive powerhouse.

Timeout over.

The Rockets didn't continue to attack Harden, but Paul organized the offense.

The Pelicans' execution was also strong. When Harden didn't have the ball, they played normal man-to-man defense.

Cousins' post-up in the paint was met with Davis' help defense, and he passed the ball to Morris, whose mid-range jump shot hit, finally breaking the Rockets' scoring drought.

Tang Tian suddenly passed to Davis for a mid-range opportunity, but his shot was slightly off and missed.

Cousins secured the defensive rebound.

The Rockets' opportunity.

Paul continued to give the ball to Cousins.

This time, Cousins faced a double-team and passed the ball out again, but Davis anticipated and stole it.

The Pelicans launched a fast break, and Tang Tian assisted Ariza with a dunk.

10 to 2.

The Pelicans were off to a good start.

The Rockets still wanted to attack Cousins in the frontcourt, but Jokic fronted him, not giving him a chance.

Paul drove to the basket but didn't have a chance, and after circling around, he could only give the ball to Harden.

As soon as Harden got the ball, Ariza circled to the left to defend, forcing Harden to go to the right, and he had to be wary of Ariza behind him.

He drove to the basket and threw up a floater over Jokic.

Jokic stretched out his long arms to interfere.

"Clang!"

His floater was a little too far back, hitting the back of the rim and bouncing out!

0 for 4!

These opening possessions became a microcosm of the first quarter.

Harden and the Rockets couldn't find a way to break the Pelicans' defensive strategy.

In this quarter, Harden was 0 for 7, scoring only 4 points on two forced fouls against Jokic, playing his worst quarter of the season.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans led 28-18.

Fortunately, Morris and Paul played well, otherwise, with Harden's performance, the game would have been over in one quarter.

In the second quarter, Jokic led the Pelicans, while Paul led the Rockets.

Paul didn't rest in the first quarter, and his efficiency wasn't high at this point, while Jokic of the Pelicans came back refreshed after resting early.

After this stretch with the substitutes, the Pelicans led the Rockets by as many as 15 points, 37-22.

The Rockets' bench was still weak.

"Harden has to get into shape, they can't lose two games in a row so easily, man, this is your team!"

Barkley was very dissatisfied with the Rockets' performance. As a Rockets legend, this dissatisfaction was normal.

The best lineup in history was playing like this, and he really wished he could go out there himself.

When the starters returned in the second quarter, the Rockets' offensive focus shifted to the inside.

But Davis' defensive shrinking was very resolute, and Morris missed three consecutive three-pointers from the outside, and the point difference not only didn't shrink, but was further widened.

Harden took three more shots in this quarter, but without exception, they all ended in misses.

On the one hand, it was the Pelicans' defensive strategy, and on the other hand, his mentality fluctuated due to repeated misses, and he became less and less accurate.

At the end of the first half, the Pelicans led the Rockets by a full 20 points, 55-35.

Harden was 0 for 10 in the first half, 5 for 7 from the free throw line, with 5 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers.

With no field goals in ten attempts in the first half, Harden also set a new record for himself.

This was obviously not a good thing.

For Rockets fans on the hotline, they could only pray that Harden could regain his touch in the second half.

"If it were me, I would definitely find a hole to crawl into, man, this is the playoffs!"

Barkley slammed the table in the first half, he really couldn't stand Harden's performance.

"Tang hasn't even exerted his strength yet, and the Rockets have already fallen."

O'Neal said with a big laugh on the side.

"Stevens' tactical targeting is too accurate, we can only hope for the Rockets' halftime adjustment."

Smith didn't gloat like O'Neal, but analyzed it very professionally.

Back in the second half, the Rockets did make adjustments, with D'Antoni replacing Morris with Barmote, which was obviously to create space.

In the first possession, Harden broke through with the ball and passed to Tucker in the corner.

Davis' contraction was a little late, and Tucker's three-pointer hit.

Tang Tian reacted quickly. Before Stevens could speak, he signaled Davis not to contract again in the next possession.

Davis made a turnaround fadeaway in the low post against Tucker.

D'Antoni changed to a lineup with one big man and four small men, and the defense at the power forward position was a problem.

Harden continued to break through to the frontcourt, Davis didn't contract, and he directly used his ability to draw fouls to draw Jokic's third personal foul.

Two free throws made, the Rockets narrowed the point difference to 17 points.

From the effect on the offensive end, the Rockets' halftime adjustment was not bad.

After seeing this, Stevens called Biyombo up from the bench.

The Pelicans' power forward position was now a mismatch, and the offense wasn't a big problem, but Jokic's defense was a bit of a drag.

Davis continued to attack Tucker hard in the frontcourt, turning around and causing Tucker's defensive foul.

The game was dead, and Biyombo replaced Jokic.

Davis made both free throws, helping the team maintain a 19-point lead.

The Rockets still played Harden, Davis didn't help defend, and Harden threw up a floater against Biyombo's contest.

"Bang!"

Biyombo wasn't Jokic, his offense was miles behind Jokic, but his defense was a level better than Jokic.

He used his long arms to give Harden a big block right in the face.

0 for 11!

But Harden reacted quickly, leaning on him after catching the ball before shooting again.

Biyombo didn't block it, but his hand was really long and gave enough interference.

"Clang!"

The basketball hit the right edge and bounced out, still no score!

0 for 12!

Harden still didn't have a field goal!

D'Antoni reached out and grabbed his hair, going a little crazy.

Davis' fadeaway jumper didn't go in, Harden didn't believe it, and wanted to draw a foul against Tang Tian's defense during a defensive counterattack, but Tang Tian dodged it and failed.

"Clang!"

0 for 13!

Smith covered his face, unable to watch.

Barkley already had a "do whatever you want" expression.

Only O'Neal was laughing loudly on the side.

Harden was a little depressed from shooting, and didn't shoot again for a long time.

The Pelicans only used Ariza to defend him, and increased their defense against Cousins and Paul.

As a result, after this quarter, the point difference between the two sides was further widened, and was already approaching 30 points.

The Rockets lost even worse than the first game.

But the worst was Harden, who was 0 for 15 in three quarters, barely getting 10 points on free throws.

This was definitely the worst battle of his career.

In the last quarter, the main players of both sides didn't play anymore during garbage time, and the Pelicans finally defeated the Rockets again 101-80, rewriting the score to 2-0.

Harden had 10 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers in the game, with no field goals.

He also broke the 0 for 11 record previously set by Jordan, becoming the new record holder.

In the first game, D'Antoni's bad moves caused the Rockets to be crushed.

But in the second game, the two sides opened up and played, and as O'Neal said during the commentary, Tang hadn't even exerted his strength yet, and the Rockets had already fallen.