With Yao Ming's jump ball, you never know where the bottom line is.

Yes, it is the bottom line. Others still have a lower limit, but Yao Ming lost the jump ball and lost the bottom line. Yao Ming and his big brother Battier met for the first time in the playoffs. Neither of them expected that it would be from the beginning.

When the jump ball started, Battier didn't expect that his jump ball was better than Yao Ming's... If he had known that he would jump the ball when he was a teammate, Yao Ming's jump ball winning rate was less than 30%...

Gasol received the ball from Battier and felt that life was hopeless. When he and Yao Ming jumped the ball, it was 50-50! Battier just swiped the ball away from Yao Ming's head...

I think Marc Gasol's vertical jump height is still okay. Anyway, during the physical test at the beginning of the season, he was higher than the point guard who asked for the ball towards him.

After Sun Ce advanced to the frontcourt, DeShawn Stevenson defended, Kidd guarded Conley, Nowitzki followed Battier, Marion guarded Randolph, and Yao Ming followed Gasol.

After observing, Sun Ce found that the Mavericks' defense had made clear adjustments. The opponent's head coach Carlisle tried his best to reduce the shortcomings of the twin towers' poor mobility. So Sun Ce started with Yao Ming and asked Battier to go to the right corner.

Pick and roll with Gasol to penetrate the baseline, use hook shots or attract Nowitzki, who is guarding Battier in the opponent's corner, to cover and then score the ball.

After the start of the game, the Grizzlies' offense was pretty good, but the Mavericks had already anticipated this situation. Within two rounds, Yao Ming took advantage of Gasol's single to cause Sun Ce, who was assisting the defense, to foul and enter the free throw.

Sen Terry came on.

The Mavericks start with a rush of offense!

The lineup of Kidd, Jason Terry, DeShawn Stevenson, Nowitzki, and Yao Ming came up to start the offensive mode, and sent out the lineup with the most offensive firepower.

Starting from the Mavericks' substitution, the Grizzlies couldn't defend themselves!

Yao Ming and Jason Terry were firing on all cylinders, Nowitzki was able to contain Battier's defense with mid- and long-range moves, Kidd and DeShawn Stevenson both had excellent open shots.

The three-point shooting percentage in the playoffs this season has exceeded 40%.

Yao Ming ravaged Gasol in the low post again and again. Gasol, who weighed 134 kilograms, could not bear it at all. Yao Ming was double-teamed and divided the ball with great concentration.

Every two or three times Yao Ming plays, he switches to Jason Terry in singles.

Jason Terry in the playoffs, in super shape!

In this year's playoffs, the Mavericks' Big Three in regular time do not include Nowitzki, but Kidd, Jason Terry, and Yao Ming!

Under Kidd's playing style of rationally distributing the ball according to the physical condition of his teammates and using his teammates' restraint to deliver cannonballs, Yao Ming and Jason Terry performed superbly in regular time.

Fortunately, the defensive formation of the Mavericks is not very good with this lineup. Especially when Yao Ming tried not to follow Gasol out during a defense, Sun Ce used Gasol to pick and roll and then distributed the ball to Gasol.

After hitting the mid-range shot, as long as Sun Ce plays pick-and-roll, the Mavericks' interior defense is empty.

Because the opponent's firepower is too strong, the Grizzlies really can't defend it. Although there are many opportunities on their own side, this lineup's ability to grasp open shots is indeed a bit poor, and its cutting ability is even worse. Randolph has not yet

If he dares to play in the low post, Yao Ming would rather let Gasol in the mid-range shot than guard the basket. Randolph has not had an easy time since the second round of this year's playoffs, and he continues to be sad now.

Therefore, Coach Hollins boldly sent out a lineup of Sun Ce, Morrow, Battier, Randolph, and Yi Jianlian. They couldn't guard Yao Ming anyway, so he might as well use a mid-range shot that would be better than the current Gasol.

And Yi Jianlian, who has cutting ability and secondary offensive ability, plays center.

After fighting, the two teams began to fight each other!

When Yao Ming was replaced by Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson was replaced by Marion, the Mavericks did not try to control the rhythm and continued to attack the Mavericks.

Kidd + Chandler's pick-and-roll offense coupled with Jason Terry's singles. Nowitzki has hardly played since the start of the game. If he has a chance to catch and shoot, he will shoot. If not, he will contain and defend.

If you can prevent it, you can prevent it. If you can't prevent it... there is nothing you can do.

The Mavericks played even more decisively than when they played the Spurs, so decisive that it was unbelievable to the TV commentators and the fans who knew the tactics and were not just watching the fun!

Carlisle actually used offense to force the Grizzlies to attack them. After the first quarter, the Grizzlies led the Mavericks by two points, 29-27, entering the second quarter.

If the Mavericks play defense well, it will be difficult for the Grizzlies to score 27 points in a single quarter, because neither Sun Ce nor Morrow, two players who performed amazingly in the second round, broke out.

But that's what Carlisle did.

Since using Nowitzki as a role player, the Mavericks head coach has let himself go. He finally understood how Jackson used Jordan and Kobe. As long as the two were not playing alone, Jackson used them as a defensive defense.

In the past, he always wanted to integrate Nowitzki's passing ability into the game, but found that it was not as good as Yao Ming, because Yao Ming did not need to conserve energy, and his role in replacing him was to play singles or support the ball.

.

Yao Ming's style of play can also be used by Nowitzki. If Nowitzki doesn't hesitate to play like that, he can still integrate into the teamwork. He is not the guy who only plays Avery Johnson in rotation as people thought in the past three years.

In isolation ball-sharing tactics, he can also average 3+ assists per game by relying on transfer passes like Yao Ming.

It’s just that the team and Nowitzki wanted too much. In the past two years, they both wanted Nowitzki to perform like Yao Ming in regular time, and also expected Nowitzki to be strong at critical moments. The results were completely different.

, Nowitzki, who is over 30 years old, no longer has that kind of physical strength. As a result, he did very badly in every event, and eventually it became singles or singles.

After Yao Ming came this year, it became even more obvious that Yao Ming didn't need to think so much. When he came on, he just played according to the coaching staff's needs for the inside core, allowing the Mavericks to play far beyond their original strength in regular time.

By the first round of the regular season, Nowitzki's position was still very awkward. If it weren't for the fact that all three of the best lineups only had one center position, Yao Ming's regular season performance would have been even better than Nowitzki's in terms of efficiency, and Yao Ming would have scored the most MVP points.

All in front of Nowitzki.

After the first round, Carlisle directly used Nowitzki as a role player and then ushered in Nowitzki's unexpected explosion in singles at critical moments. In the second round, Carlisle used the Spurs as a training team because this year's Spurs are not suitable for the playoffs.

After trying out the objects, when it came time to play the Grizzlies, Carlisle had a clearer way to use the twin towers of Yao Ming and Nowitzki.

How to play against the Grizzlies? Of course, you have to avoid the opponent's strongest defense.

After the start of the second quarter, the Mavericks continued to play like this without changing at all. After halftime, the Mavericks led by three points 57 to 54. However, after the third quarter, the Grizzlies were 84 to 80. If not

At the end of the Grizzlies' three quarters, Sun Ce took advantage of a pick-and-roll mismatch to hit Nowitzki with a back-up jump shot. The Grizzlies' lead expanded to more than 5 points after the three quarters.

Coach Hollins did a very good job in rotating players today. He saw that the Mavericks didn't want to fight a defensive battle with them, but he had to step into this conspiracy.

The opponent took advantage of the firepower of Yao Ming and Jason Terry, who were in very good form in the playoffs this year, with Nowitzki + Kidd (Barea) + Marion (DeShawn Stevenson) with three open threes.

The offense is divided into pitchers. The defense cannot handle this offensive firepower!

Even if a Zen master has this kind of capital, he would not dare to play like this. The Zen master would be worried that it would be difficult to play if the opponent misses the last shot.

But this is what Carlisle wants to do, and Coach Hollins has no choice but to challenge.

Entering the fourth quarter with a 4-point lead, Coach Hollins felt that the moment of advantage had arrived, but he felt very uneasy. The opponent's performance today was too puzzling.

On the opposite side, Yao Ming played 26 minutes in the three quarters and scored 25 points. Jason Terry also scored 22 points in the first three quarters, but Nowitzki only had 15 points, and they were basically all open shots.

On their side, Sun Ce played 24 minutes in the three quarters and made 9 of 21 shots, including 2 of 7 three-pointers. This means that Sun Ce shot 7 of 14 inside the three-point line, plus 8 of 9 free throws. He scored 28 points in the three quarters.

6 rebounds and 6 assists, an excellent performance.

Coupled with the scores of Yi Jianlian, DeAndre Jordan, Morrow, Paul George, Battier and others, the Grizzlies scored 30 to 24 points in the third quarter. It seemed that the Grizzlies had taken the initiative.

, but Coach Hollins just felt uneasy.

The players played very hard. In the third quarter, they felt good and had a chance to overtake the score. Everyone worked hard. Sun Ce concentrated on finding holes in the opponent's defense to score or pass the ball. Randolph tried his best to grab offensive rebounds. The two emperors alternated on the court.

During pick-and-rolls and cuts, Morrow, Conley and Paul George worked hard to put the ball in... and finally succeeded in establishing a 4-point lead. Entering the fourth quarter, the efforts of the players forced Coach Hollins to suppress the

Feel uneasy and make good adjustments.

Coach Hollins sent out Sun Ce, Conley, Battier, Randolph, and Gasol in the fourth quarter, trying to use the best way to play the fourth quarter with a lead.

Originally, Coach Hollins was worried that the opponent would not be able to defend them if they sent an offensive lineup, but in the last quarter the opponent sent out Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, Ma, who played 19 minutes in the first three quarters and scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The combination of Lyon, Nowitzki and Chandler.

In this situation... is Biao defensive?

Coach Hollins can’t understand!

Then, the Mavericks really went all out and started to defend. Their Grizzlies lineup was not strong offensively and was severely restricted.

And the defense that the Grizzlies are proud of... Nowitzki faced Battier's single defense + Sun Ce's assist defense and scored 3 goals in a row!

This forced Sun Ce to attack in advance, and then Kidd began to attack in series.

Sun Ce can play an offensive role without the ball in his hands. This is what makes him so attractive to fans. But Kidd is a real expert in this area. He has better ability and experience than Sun Ce, and he is a god that others can use.

The sublime Nowitzki!

At this time, Coach Hollins finally understood why the opponent played like that in the first three quarters of regular time, and why Yao Ming spent all his energy in the first three quarters, because they didn't want to waste energy on defense. They just didn't fall behind too much in the first three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the two veterans of the Mavericks, Kidd and Marion, Chandler, a second-level defense center with poor physical strength, and DeShawn Stevenson, who also has poor physical strength, can go all out to grind down the defense!

It was also to save energy for Nowitzki. Nowitzki played 29 minutes in the first three quarters and played the entire fourth quarter, scoring 12 points in a single quarter with full firepower.

Kidd relied on Nowitzki's terrifying performance of 5 of 7 shots and 2 of 2 free throws in the final quarter, and the Mavericks scored 28 points in the final quarter.

The Grizzlies only scored 20 points in the final quarter. In the end, the Grizzlies replaced pitchers and two emperors, but it was difficult to attack. The opponent was not afraid of running and gunning. Nowitzki played center on the defensive end, and Chandler

Le was everywhere assisting in defense, and the outside trio switched defenses at high speed...

108 to 104, the Mavericks relied on Nowitzki's superb performance in the final quarter and Kidd to drive the team's offense and complete the comeback!

…

On May 21, the Grizzlies ushered in their second home game of the Western Conference Finals.

This time, the Grizzlies tried to play defense. Sun Ce felt that this style of play was very inappropriate. In the first game, which was the fourth quarter, no one on their side could stand up. What if things go wrong tonight?

But he can't stop the head coach's rotation arrangement. He has unlimited command rights to direct his teammates on the field, but if he has to send out a defensive lineup, Sun Ce can't do anything.

Then, the sad thing happened. The Grizzlies, who insisted on playing defense, could not defend themselves against the pitching staff driven by the ferocious firepower of Yao Ming and Jason Terry!

Why did you switch to an offensive lineup in the first game? Wasn't it just because you couldn't defend? This time, coach Hollins insisted on using a defensive lineup. The Grizzlies didn't even have offensive firepower, and Sun Ce couldn't fight even if he wanted to.

Therefore, Nowitzki's side made an early effort in the third quarter. After only scoring 9 points in the first half, they scored 22 points in the third quarter and scored 31 points in the third quarter to lead a 36-21 quarter.

The score expanded the 7-point lead in the first half to 22 points. The Mavericks led the Grizzlies by 22 points 79 to 57 entering the final quarter, pushing the game into garbage time.
To be continued...