On the Mavericks side, the situation is not so optimistic.
In the second quarter, they were like experiencing a roller coaster. After once narrowing the point difference to 3 points, they were suppressed by the Rockets again.
To make matters worse, the Mavericks actually overused Nowitzki in the first half.
Although King Nuo is at his peak, he is still a heavy insider.
Throughout the first half, he rested for a total of five minutes, and basically served as the main offensive point on the court, enjoying the Rockets' various defenses.
Frequently dealing with double-teams made Nowitzki's physical fitness inevitably decline.
For example, now, the players have returned to the locker room to rest for five minutes, and he is still breathing heavily in his position.
Beads of sweat kept flowing down from King Nuo's forehead, and anyone could see how much the game took on him.
Carlisle naturally noticed the fatigue of his beloved general, so he looked around at the Mavericks generals and said: "In the second half, we need people other than Dirk to step up."
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Among them, Terry and Caron Butler had hot eyes, obviously having something on their mind.
"Coach, give me a chance!"
Butler raised his right hand and recommended himself.
He didn't play much time in the first half, so he was very physically fit.
In addition, Butler is originally the Mavericks' third scorer on the team after Nowitzki and Terry this season, so his teammates still trust him.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you, Canon."
Carlisle said with a smile.
Terry pursed his lips and wanted to say something, but finally chose to remain silent.
As a veteran who has played in the NBA for 11 years, he knows himself very well.
Besides Butler, he has stronger offensive ability with the ball.
When the team needs someone to step up as the main offensive point, the opponent is indeed the better choice.
The reason why Terry had objections to the coach's arrangement was not because of who should be the main attack point, but whether the Mavericks should use their strong points to explode.
It is true that in the middle of the second quarter, Nowitzki did use his personal ability to lead the Mavericks to regain the score, but by now in the game, the Rockets' talent advantage has been very obvious.
Now that Nowitzki is restricted, is it feasible to switch to Butler's singles-based tactics...?
"Why do I feel that we should move the ball more and play team basketball to be able to reverse the situation?"
Terry said to Kidd who was sitting next to him.
"I feel the same way. But since the coach has arranged it this way, let's give it a try first."
"At the end of the day, this is just a regular season game."
"In the end, even if we lose, we can verify a wrong answer from the game and make a lot of money."
Kidd said with a relaxed expression.
At his age, he no longer attaches much importance to the outcome of the regular season.
In Kidd's view, the current games are all preparation for the playoffs.
To put it simply...it's all about that O'Brien Trophy!
"You already regard the Rockets as our imaginary enemy to win the championship?"
Terry asked curiously.
"Um."
"I even think that their talent is higher than that of the Miami Heat, and they may become a dark horse to kill all the way."
Kidd nodded and answered seriously.
At this time, Nowitzki, who had been wearing a towel and lowering his head to recover his strength, suddenly raised his head and said:
"So, we must win the championship this year, otherwise the Rockets will dominate the world in two years."
"Let's fight harder in the second half and try to win this game so that we can have some psychological advantage when we meet in the playoffs in the future."
............
After a short break, the game resumed.
As soon as the game started in the third quarter, the two sides started to attack each other.
The aces of the two teams, McGrady and Nowitzki, were the protagonists of the first five minutes.
The two of them went back and forth, both showing the level of superstars.
During this period, the Mavericks narrowed the point difference to 6 points.
But soon, Nowitzki's physical fitness reached a bottleneck again.
As soon as the Mavericks gathered together, they immediately began to implement the arrangement during the halftime break - Butler was changed to the main attack.
In the next round, under Kidd's organization, the ball came to Butler's hands smoothly.
And the person guarding him is naturally the Rockets' first-year draft pick - Paul George.
The other players on the court moved to the left side of the court, leaving the right side entirely to these two.
"Rookie, you can't guard against me."
Butler was talking trash while dribbling the ball back and forth and observing the defense.
"Then...who was the person I guarded in the first half?"
The corners of George's mouth raised slightly, and he started a verbal spat with the other party.
"That's just me underestimating the enemy. If you don't believe me, just look at this time."
With that said, Butler moved!
I saw him dribbling the ball under his right hand and to his left hand. At the same time, his center of gravity sank suddenly, as if he was about to cross-step and break through in the next second.
George immediately moved in small steps.
Unexpectedly, Butler suddenly changed his move and immediately changed direction with his left hand, switching the ball to his right hand again.
"Beautiful! This move is called killer crossover! It is the killer's change of direction. It was the signature move of 'Beatle' Tim Hardaway."
Yang Yi explained in a timely manner.
Butler relied on this move to successfully pass George, which greatly boosted his confidence!
[In the first quarter, I really underestimated the enemy!]
With this joyful mood, he accelerated and rushed towards the basket.
But... Butler just took a step and found that the basketball in his hand was missing!
"???"
He was confused when he saw a basketball flying past him.
It turned out that George did not give up defense after being passed over, but stretched out a hand behind Butler and poked the ball away!
Yao Ming bent down and quickly controlled the ball, and the Rockets immediately launched a counterattack.
During the fast break, Griffin, who had been suppressed in this game, finally found a chance to vent.
He received a pass from Lowry, appeared out of the air like a demon, knocked Nowitzki away in the air, and slammed the ball into the basket.
Poor King Nuotian, who was wise all his life, has now been reduced to a background.
"Roar!!!"
After dunking, Griffin roared toward the stands behind Nowitzki.
He played too hard today. No matter how hard he tried to defend, he could not stop the pace of the German tank.
Now I finally let go of my bad breath!
During the transition between offense and defense, the Mavericks were not discouraged and chose to continue to believe in Butler.
But this time, he couldn't even pass George.
Butler's change of direction was seen through by Paojiao, and he was directly facing the stranger. The Rockets took advantage of the situation and launched another counterattack.
McGrady advanced with the ball at high speed, attracting a lot of defensive attention from the Mavericks.
At this time, he saw with his peripheral vision that George on the left and Lowry on the right were both open.
After thinking about it for a while, t-mac decided to reward Paojiao for successfully defending twice in a row, so he looked to the right and flicked his wrist to the left...
no-look-pass!
George made an easy shot after catching the ball...
The basketball left his fingertips and spun at high speed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air...
"Shua~"
Hollow into the net!
With this goal, the Rockets' lead reached 13 points!
Moreover, these two counterattacks severely damaged the Mavericks' self-confidence.
Since then, they have been unable to organize a decent counterattack.
At the end of the third quarter, the score between the two teams reached 90:70, and the Rockets had led by as many as 20 points!
"Who would have thought that the turning point in this game would be that first-year George continuously defended former All-Star player Canon Butler!"
"Heroes come out of young boys! I think George already has the feeling of being a defensive gate."
Yu Jia couldn't help but sigh.
At the same time, Mavericks coach Carlisle saw that the momentum of the players was low and the balance of victory had completely tilted towards the Rockets, so he simply retreated and withdrew all the main players.
At this point, the game completely lost its suspense.
............
On the bench, Butler's eyes were blank and he didn't know what he was thinking.
He never dreamed that he would be completely suppressed by the Rockets' rookie in a one-on-one match.
"Am I already old?"
Butler asked himself in his mind.
Carlisle also paid attention to his situation, but did not offer any words of comfort.
The nba is a competitive league, and it relies on strength to speak for itself.
Talent comes from generation to generation, and every player will experience the moment when he is defeated by the rising star.
For a borderline All-Star player like Butler, it is even more difficult to escape.
After all, his talent is not top-notch, and once it declines due to age, he may be surpassed by newcomers at any time.
[It seems that if you want to compete with the Rockets in the future, you can't give Cannon too much playing time.]
Carlisle secretly made up his mind.
"Let me just say that you can't defeat the Rockets by relying on a standing stick."
Terry shook his head and said.
Kidd nodded: "At most, it can be used in the last few minutes of the game when Dirk takes over. The rest of the time, we still have to rely on team basketball."
Amid their discussions, the game entered the garbage time of the fourth quarter.
Lawson, who has been sitting on the bench for a long time, makes his debut!