Back in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' offense exceeded the Mavericks' expectations.
After the timeout, Nowitzki volunteered to fight again.
Really speaking, when it comes to the Mavericks' most stable offensive point in the playoffs, it depends on Nowitzki.
Dragic was on the court with him. As for Parsons, he went off to rest first.
Dragic, Ellis Nowitzki, the Mavericks have put together their strongest offensive trident.
Carlisle also saw that the defense couldn't guard No. 36 on the opposite side anyway. In this case, it was better to go on offense. Then maybe the Mavericks would still have hope of winning.
As mentioned before, some people are destined to belong to the big stage!
Since entering the new century, the Mavericks, led by Nowitzki, have made the playoffs a total of 13 times, making them a strong team in the Western Conference.
In the previous 12 playoffs, only in the 2004-05 and 2006-07 seasons, Nowitzki's scoring average in the playoffs was lower than during the regular season. In the remaining 10 seasons, without exception, he
His scoring average in the playoffs exceeded that of the regular season.
During these 12 regular seasons in which he made it to the playoffs, he averaged 23.4 points per game, and in the playoffs he averaged more than 25 points per game!
This also further highlights Nowitzki's gold content as a league superstar during his peak period. He undoubtedly has the attributes of a "playoff player".
And this kind of attribute is quite rare even among superstars. Because there are too many superstars who act like gods of war in the regular season and attack with all kinds of punches, but they are greatly reduced in the playoffs.
For superstars, scoring ability in the playoffs is more convincing!
Nowitzki returned to the court and used his signature Golden Rooster independent jump shot to continuously score points for the team.
After only scoring 4 points in the first quarter, he actually made 4 of 4 shots in the second quarter, scoring 8 points with a 100% shooting rate, plus 2 rebounds and 1 assist, helping the Mavericks build a lead at the end of the first half.
Advantage.
However, the most commendable thing is actually not Nowitzki, but the Mavericks' new aid Dragic. When Nowitzki was double-teamed, he could always find an open space and hit 71.4% of 5 of 7 shots.
rate, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, scoring the highest 11 points in a single quarter, and also sent 2 assists and 1 steal.
Only then did the Mavericks lead the Trail Blazers at home by 6 points, 57:51, at halftime.
The development of this situation obviously exceeded many people's pre-game expectations. Logically speaking, when playing against the Mavericks, shouldn't the Trail Blazers kill like they did in the regular season?
What's going on today?
It doesn't matter if we hold off for half the game, but don't lose to the Mavericks in the first game!
You know, from the 1999 to 2000 seasons into the Millennium Legend, there were 16 seasons in total, temporarily excluding the Trail Blazers who won 70 games this season and the Warriors who won 65 games. There had been a total of 6 teams with 65 wins in a single season before.
Except for the Mavericks in the 2006-07 season, the other five teams all broke through the first round without exception, and in the first game of the first round, they all continued their dominance during the regular season, with g1 easily crushing their opponents.
If you really lose, it will be a lot of fun!
Presumably after this game, the Trail Blazers will 100% be happy to mention the major hot search lists first, then book the historical shame list in advance, and finally match the Mavericks who lost in G1 in the first round of the 2006-07 playoffs.
In the home team's locker room, the Trail Blazers made adjustments.
First of all, Nowitzki will no longer be double-teamed, but will be defended alone!
Besides Wang Zelin, who else can be responsible for individual defense?
Secondly, against the Mavericks, a team whose core style of play is obviously focused on offense, it is obviously impossible to kill the opponent for the entire game.
Then, let’s attack each other to the end and see who is the real attacking team!
Of course, there is also a premise, that is, the Trail Blazers must maintain a defense above their own level. Strength should be used when strength is needed, and physical strength should be used when physical strength is needed.
Anyway, they have many young people and compete for endurance on the court. The Mavericks cannot be their opponent.
The other end.
In the visiting team's locker room, the Mavericks also made adjustments.
It reduces meaningless passes and running cuts and increases the proportion of singles.
To put it bluntly, it’s about playing superstar ball!
When a team has a top rim protector like Howard at the peak, and Wang Zelin at this stage, who has terrifying help defense ability in the three-point line, and still wants to play air cuts, what is the difference between giving away a cap?
Not to mention, after the second half came back, the two teams played much more concisely. The unstructured attacks, passing and running disappeared, and all that was left was the stars relying on their personal abilities.
Historically, except for a very small number of teams who had no choice but to play team basketball, the key factor for the teams that won the championship in most years was still the personal ability of the stars.
The civilian Pistons are legendary precisely because they are non-replicable.
Of course, it also has something to do with the fact that the background of their championship is the famous F4 Galaxy Battleship in history.
The script of a poor boy counterattacking a rich, handsome man is very refreshing. In fact, people in any country like to watch such dramas of small people counterattacking!
It's just that most of the time it's just fantasy, and there are only a handful of events that actually appear in reality.
Back to the game.
The Mavericks attack first.
When Nowitzki once again scored through a high post to help the team gain an 8-point lead, he never imagined that his subsequent points would be more difficult to score!
frontcourt.
When Lillard handed the ball to Wang Zelin, the fans became extremely excited. They were depressed because they were lagging behind a weaker opponent, and they were extremely eager to be released at this moment.
Wang Zelin hit Tyson in the low post, hit him again and again, turned around neatly, and hit Tyson with a flying dunk.
At 59:53, the score difference returned to 6 points.
Mavericks offense.
When Nowitzki took over the ball again, he found that the defender in front of him had become Wang Zelin, which suddenly made his heart tighten!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As the current insider who ranks first in various defensive end efficiency values, no matter who encounters Wang Zelin's defense, it will be a headache.
Even Nowitzki is like this.
On this shot, Nowitzki hit Wang Zelin near the free throw line, and still hit the target with a difficult fadeaway shot, continuing to widen the point difference for the Mavericks.
After he scored, he roared and pumped his fists, and the Mavericks bench also burst into excited shouts.
We are not a vegetarian in the playoffs!
The Mavericks players stared at Wang Zelin with provocative eyes.
However, Wang Zelin, who failed to defend the ball, did not have any frustration on his face. If he could have dealt with Nowitzki so easily, the latter would have been in vain all these years.
His current request is also very simple, which is to increase the difficulty of Nowitzki's shots and constantly engage in physical confrontation to wear down the opponent's physical fitness.
No matter how powerful an offensive master is, without physical fitness, he is like some heroes in LoL who have lost their blue bars and can no longer use their skills.
He didn't believe that Nowitzki could hit the fairy ball all the time.
After receiving the ball on the spot, Wang Zelin was double-teamed.
But at this moment, Aldridge suddenly turned around in the corner and cut into the three-point line. Wang Zelin, with eyes in the back of his head, raised his head high and passed the ball behind his back. After assisting Aldridge, he caught the ball at the basket and immediately dunked.
"boom!"
The score difference is back to that damn 6 points.
"It's on fire! Both sides came back in the second half and reworked their offensive tactics, choosing to let the stars dominate the game! I don't know how long Dirk can continue like this, but I want to say that everyone underestimated this Mavericks.
!They were championships too!”
Kenny Smith, who was in the commentary box, saw that the Mavericks were able to take the lead despite the fact that the time, location, and people were all unfavorable to them. The experienced commentator couldn't hide his excitement in his words.
As a veteran who will turn 37 in two months, Nowitzki actually scored 12 points in the first half. Not long after the second half started, his scoring data reached 16 points, ranking first in the game!
This performance is simply incredible and extremely moving!
"Snapped!"
Nowitzki caught the ball again.
This time it was in the low post, and the defender was still Wang Zelin.
In the auditorium, the voices of nearly 20,000 Trail Blazers fans suddenly stopped, and everyone was watching the duel between the two.
To be honest, Nowitzki's performance has already made his opponents, the Trail Blazers fans, in awe.
However, this is their home court after all!
"King, come on!"
Suddenly, a middle-aged white man wearing Trail Blazers jersey No. 36 stood up, excitedly waved the sign in his hand, and loudly cheered for Wang Zelin.
The next moment, led by the white uncle, countless fans stood up one after another and began to make noises.
On the field.
Nowitzki couldn't help but tremble suddenly in his heart, and there was a hint of nervousness in his expression, but it quickly disappeared.
It's not that he was afraid, it was just human instinct when under stress.
What's even more frightening is that he can suppress this instinct and force himself to score various difficult goals.
"Peng!"
Nowitzki began to change direction and collided with Wang Zelin's shoulder. The latter was as motionless as a boulder on a mountain peak, which made him deeply moved.
However, now is not the time to lament, the team needs me to score!
"Peng!"
The second time came one after another. Wang Zelin kept guarding from the side just to prevent Nowitzki from suddenly making a golden rooster.
It's too late to say it, but it's soon.
At this moment, Nowitzki came up with one of his classic moves, dribbling, turning around, stepping back, lifting one foot, and shooting a fadeaway jumper!
The wonderful independent figure of the golden rooster appeared again.
Many Mavericks fans in front of the TV were very excited when they saw this scene.
This is a killer move that has saved the Mavericks from fire and water countless times, and I believe this time will be no exception...
Even Nowitzki felt the same way. The moment he successfully turned around and raised the ball over his head, he felt that the ball must be scored. Never doubt the premonition of a historical scorer!
But at this moment, Wang Zelin in front of him suddenly made a move, lowered his body, bent his knees slightly, and quickly jumped into the air.
Does this guy really think he can cover it???
Even though he knew it was impossible, Nowitzki was still frightened by Wang Zelin's take-off height. Before taking action, he made final adjustments and leaned back slightly larger than the original.
But it was this small adjustment that led him to take action...
"Clang!"
Finally struck the iron.
"Rebound!"
Coach Terry roared from the sidelines.
Wang Zelin quickly turned around and grabbed the rebound with one hand when Aldridge got help in advance.
The moment he landed, he immediately turned sideways to avoid the boxing champion's entanglement, dribbled the ball and ran towards the court.
Arriving at the front basket, he suddenly leaned back, knocked away Parsons who was chasing him, and put the ball into the basket against the defense.
61:57!
Dragic dribbled to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Nowitzki.
The Trail Blazers still rely on Wang Zelin's one-on-one defense!
It was just a miss. Carlisle still has full confidence in Nowitzki. He firmly believes that Nowitzki's independent offensive ability is still the top in the league.
Nowitzki leaned low against Wang Zelin and reached out to catch the ball.
Did Wang Zelin go around inside, but at the moment Nowitzki accepted it, he suddenly used force and pushed Nowitzki out, half a meter away from the basket.
In every subsequent confrontation between the two, Wang Zelin would hit him more and more arrogantly, making Nowitzki very uncomfortable.
After several twists and turns, Nowitzki made a strong fallback shot. Although it was not blocked, he did encounter great interference from Wang Zelin, and the Mavericks' offense once again failed.
Lillard controls the ball and gives it to Wang Zelin.
The Mavericks used a double-team and the ball was given to Lillard. Ellis followed quickly, but what he didn't expect was that Lillard's shot was extremely decisive.
"Whoosh!"
Lillard met Ellis's dry three-pointer.
This shows that Ellis's defensive habits are really poor, and he doesn't even have time to reach out to interfere.
61:60!
In just a few rounds, the Trail Blazers went on a 7-0 spurt, chasing the point difference to one point.
The next attack.
Nowitzki no longer obsessed with singles and began to cooperate with teammates.
But their coordination throughout the game was completely incompetent, and the Blazers' defense was no worse than the Grizzlies, who mainly play defense in the league.
Lillard, who was relatively the worst in the lineup at the time, now has a defense above the same level as his position, and he is working hard.
The Mavericks were unable to coordinate for a long time, and in the end they had to give the ball to Nowitzki in the low post.
This time, Nowitzki turned and walked toward the basket.
"Snapped!"
What greeted him was Wang Zelin's big hat covering his head and face, and his fan flew out of bounds.
He was angry, but time no longer allowed him to vent his anger. In this attack, the Mavericks had little time left. Dragic received the ball from the sideline, two steps away from the three-point line, and forced a three-pointer.
Dip.
The Mavericks' offense continues to fail.
frontcourt.
Wang Zelin received the ball at the free throw line. His original intention was just to make a transition. As a result, the Mavericks continued to double-team and the ball was given to Batum.
Batum followed suit and took a comfortable shot against the defender!
However, his shooting speed was much slower than Lillard's, and he was greatly interfered by Parsons.
"Clang!"
The Trail Blazers hit the ground running with three-point shots this time.
However, Wang Zelin flew into the penalty area, pointed at the ball that popped out, and directly tipped the ball into the basket.
At 61:62, the Trail Blazers completed the lead.
Carlisle reached out and called a timeout.
Only a few minutes into the second half, the opponent was beaten 11:4, and the 6-point advantage that had been accumulated so hard was wiped out in an instant.
He felt it was necessary to call a timeout to curb the Blazers' raging momentum!
After the timeout, the boxing champion caught Aldridge under the basket and made a tip-in after missing the shot, finally regaining some face for the Mavericks.
Looking back, Wang Zelin caught the ball on the right side of the free throw line. Seeing that no one from the Mavericks was double-teaming this time, he fired directly from the high post.
After seeing this, the boxing champion rushed over and failed to control his body, hitting Wang Zelin's hand.
"Beep!"
"Whoosh!"
The ball hit the net only after the referee's whistle blew.
A 2 1!
61:65, the Trail Blazers' lead is getting bigger and bigger.
At this time, cheers of "mvp" could be heard on the scene.
Wang Zelin made a solid free throw, and before he knew it, his score for the game had reached 17 points, surpassing Nowitzki, who was in hot form before, and ranking first in the game.
No one expected that after returning from the timeout, the Mavericks still could not stop the Trail Blazers from scoring.
In less than 5 minutes after returning from the second half, the Trail Blazers exploded with a 14:4 burst, directly beating the Mavericks!