The Mavericks were rejoicing, but the Rockets generals were naturally unhappy.
Especially Ben Wallace.
After Kidd made a three-pointer, he immediately ran to Curry and said seriously:
"Stephen, just leave Dirk to me. Your attention must not be attracted by the basketball, but keep an eye on the opposing players!"
Curry nodded repeatedly.
He also saw that in the round just now, Ben almost succeeded in defending alone.
"It's okay, at least we found a way to restrain the Mavericks' offense."
Dayao said with relief.
The other Rockets players also nodded.
Wallace's tough performance also gave them more confidence.
In the next few minutes, everyone felt comfortable letting Big Ben carry out single defense.
Sure enough, Nowitzki failed to succeed in several subsequent attacks.
The Rockets once again launched a tidal wave of counterattacks for the first time in a long time.
At this point, the score difference that the Mavericks had finally narrowed was once again widened.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was fixed at 80:60, and the Rockets once again led by as many as 20 points!
In the broadcast booth, Yang Yi couldn't help but sigh:
"Ben's performance completely changed the situation of the game!"
"Originally, the Mavericks were already gaining momentum, but after Nowitzki was restricted, their offense stagnated and the point difference was once again widened."
"With only the last quarter left, it seems the Rockets are about to win their 21st consecutive victory!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Jia immediately expressed a different view.
"I think there is still some suspense in the game."
"First of all, Curry inexplicably committed another foul at the end of the third quarter. He has now committed four fouls! This is likely to affect his playing time in the fourth quarter."
"Secondly, the Mavericks are the team that has completed the most comebacks in the fourth quarter this season. Nowitzki is the league's leading scorer in the final quarter!"
"I feel that the German tank will definitely find a way to deal with the big boss in the last quarter."
"They won't give up so easily!"
............
At the same time, Shen Fei, who was far away in Houston, was also thinking about the game.
So far, the Rockets have an absolute advantage.
But the problem of refereeing appeared again.
Shen Fei had a hunch that if he didn't warn the league, such whistles would continue until the finals.
Although they are very confident in their players, Asian youth still hope that they can have a more comfortable playing environment.
At least... the punishment is fair!
"Speaking of which, after being the boss for so long, I haven't even had a face-to-face communication with Stern."
Shen Fei murmured to himself.
After he took over the Rockets from Alexander, Stern called him once.
However, Shen Fei was busy with official duties at the time, so the conversation between the two was only superficial.
But he vaguely remembered that the phone call was quite pleasant, and Stern still welcomed him as the Rockets owner.
Combined with the memories from his previous life, Shen Fei had a pretty good impression of the alliance president.
No matter how bad he is, Stern is still much better than the next Adam Silver.
The latter openly cooperated with gambling companies and manipulated countless games after taking office as NBA president.
Compared with him, Stern can be regarded as a "great good man".
Therefore, the alliance's targeting during this period made Shen Fei have to suspect that someone was behind it.
[Stern will definitely attend the All-Star Game. Let’s talk to him then...]
Shen Fei thought to himself.
After thinking about this, the Asian young people returned their attention to TV.
At this time, the fourth quarter of the game has begun.
"Come on, let me see if the champions can still launch a counterattack."
"It would be a bit boring if we just gave up..."
Shen Fei murmured to himself.
............
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, both sides sent in substitute lineups.
For the Rockets, Curry leads the team and leads the lineup.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, are led by Marion and Caron Butler.
Both of these two are extremely talented wing players. In the first three quarters of the game, they did not have many opportunities to perform.
During the break, Mavericks coach Carlisle put forward strict requirements for them:
"From the beginning of the fourth quarter, you two play boldly! Give me every ball and rush inside!"
"There is only one goal, within five minutes, try to reduce the score difference to about 10 points!"
Naturally, the two of them did not dare to refuse the coach's request.
With such a mission, they set foot on the court.
In the first round, the Rockets attack first.
Curry advanced with the ball, and when he reached the top of the arc, he handed the ball to Roy and started running without the ball.
Unlike ordinary shooters, Curry will not only try to seek pick-and-rolls from his teammates while running.
He himself will seize every opportunity to set up a cover for his teammates.
Therefore, fans often see the "skinny" Rockets No. 30 squatting down and trying desperately to block the opponent's tall players!
The same is true for today's game.
Curry suddenly made a reverse run at the baseline.
Stevenson, who was responsible for following him, and Butler on the side reacted at the same time, blocking Curry's possible receiving route.
Unexpectedly, the cute god turned around, then sank his center of gravity, setting up a cover for Roy.
Curry not only blocked Stevenson in this position, but also blocked Butler who was defending Roy!
Huang Mamba smelled danger and immediately accelerated and reached outside the three-point line.
"Good opportunity, I ran out of space!"
"Curry's pick-and-roll may not be reflected in the data sheet, but it is the most important part of this offense!"
Yang Yi explained in a timely manner.
However, just as Roy received the ball, the referee blew the whistle...
"Rockets No. 30 - Stephen Curry, moving screen foul!"
"My fifth personal foul in total!"
The referee said loudly to the technical table.
When he heard that he had committed a foul, Curry immediately held his head in his hands.
Then, he accelerated and ran towards the referee.
This scared the teammates!
You know, Curry has already received a technical foul.
If you go to trouble the referee again, I'm afraid you will be expelled directly!
Oden and A-Lian, who had just come on the court, ran towards Curry together, trying to stop him.
Unexpectedly, the cute god ran so fast that he passed directly between the two of them.
[Finished...]
Both Oden and Arab League were helpless.
The referee was also startled by Curry and couldn't help but take a step back and put the whistle in his mouth again.
Just when he was about to blow the whistle, Curry accelerated again and ran away from the referee...
It turns out that the cute god’s destination is the Rockets’ bench.
What he did just now was just to scare the referee and vent his anger.
After the fuss, Curry reluctantly spit out his braces, lowered his head, and walked lonely to his seat.
The fourth quarter had just begun and he received his fifth foul.
This means that, to be on the safe side, Curry will have to wait until the last three minutes to return to the court.
Teammates on the bench offered words of comfort.
Big brother Yao Ming even reached out and touched the back of Curry's head.
Fortunately, Meng Shen's face didn't look as angry or frustrated as in the first half.
But...peace!
"Wait and see..."
Curry said in a very low voice.
.............
After Curry left the game, Lowry replaced him and became the Rockets' point guard.
Mark Jackson wasn't too worried at first.
After all, the little steel cannon is also very strong, no worse than the Mavericks' backup point guard.
But...it backfired.
Every player will have bad moments.
Unfortunately, Lowry is inexplicably sluggish today.
As soon as he came on the court, Barea broke through and scored 21.
After the transition between offense and defense, Lowry's pass was too taken for granted and was directly intercepted by Marion.
The Mavericks rarely played a transition offense.
During the fast break, Caron Butler hit the Rockets and made a sudden shot from beyond the three-point line.
6:0!
After Curry came off the court, the Mavericks quickly sent a shock wave.
On the sidelines, Mark Jackson frowned.
He was thinking whether he needed to call a timeout.
But considering that the Rockets still held a 15-point lead, Mark Jackson decided to let the players solve the problem on their own.
So, after 3 minutes...
The score on the court became 85:95, and the Mavericks were only 10 points behind!
In 5 minutes, they had a 13:2 climax...
The morale of the Mavericks generals is high, and everyone’s eyes are shining brightly!
The fans at the American Airlines Center also regained the excitement at the start of the game and began to cheer for the team.
Only then did Mark Jackson take a timeout.
............
"Good guy, the Rockets led the whole game, but in the last quarter, they seemed to be overturned!"
"Curry's sudden exit completely disrupted their tactical arrangements."
"In such a high-intensity game, the UAE has too many problems on the defensive end..."
"Lori was a little abnormal today. This is definitely not the level he should be!"
...
The two commentators from CCTV analyzed the reasons for the sudden "collapse" of the Rockets from various aspects.
"Another point..."
"The Mavericks were chasing 11 points during this period, but Nowitzki sat down and rested the whole time!"
"It is very likely that after this timeout, he will return to the court."
"Nowitzki is the scoring leader in the final quarter of this season. Once he comes on the court, it means that the Mavericks will have a decisive battle with the Rockets!"
Yang Yi analyzed.
"Yes."
"Now we have to see if anyone from the Rockets can step forward."
"Is it Tracy McGrady, or Yao Ming, or someone else."
"Big Ben is likely to return to the court. In the remaining half of the game, whether he can restrain Nowitzki like he did in the third quarter will also be an important factor affecting the outcome of the game!"
Yu Jia added.
"Oh...I didn't expect that."
"The Rockets were forced into such a situation by the Mavericks."
"I suddenly remembered that Shen Fei said in an interview a few months ago that he believed the Mavericks were the biggest opponent for the Rockets to win the championship this year."
"I have always been reluctant to agree with Shen Fei's point of view, but now it seems that he knows football better..."