The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 183
On April 4, the 28-2011 season playoffs officially started.

There were four games that day, but the battle of focus was undoubtedly the Thunder vs. Mavericks.

One is the defending champion, and the other is the favorite to win the championship this season. The two sides still have grievances, which is really eye-catching.

The grievances between the two teams are naturally due to last season's Western Conference finals. The Mavericks eliminated the Thunder to enter the finals and finally won the championship!

To be honest, the Thunder team was also unlucky. They made it to the playoffs for two consecutive years, but lost to the champions of the year!

If they meet later, or in the east, maybe they can get a runner-up or something, and the fans call it ruling the east!
Therefore, for the Thunder, this round of the series is their battle of revenge.

However, the strength of the Mavericks this year is not the same as last year. Not only is the core of the team one year older, but more importantly, the team's lineup has undergone tremendous changes.

Especially the loss of inside center Tyson Chandler caused the team's defensive system to almost collapse.

When Chandler was around, no one noticed him, they only thought he was a blue-collar center, but when he was really lost, did they realize how important he was?

His departure is not something Odom can fill.

Mavericks starting lineup tonight: Jason Kidd, Delonte West, Sean Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Brandon Haywood.

Haywood was only a backup center last season, but this season he has to assume the heavy responsibility of the starting center, which is really too difficult for him.

He's a typical black and hard guy with good size and good contact, but that's about it, you want him to do more than he can handle.

For example, right now, even though Heywood has tried his best to defend, he is still a bit short.

Li Pu turned around and hooked, Heywood tried his best to jump, but was still short, and could only watch the basketball go into the basket.

"Good shot! With Prince's hook, the Thunder finally overtook the score!"

Driven by the passion of the on-site commentary, the entire arena was boiling, and Wang Xing who was in it was even more passionate, which was an emotion that could not be experienced in front of the TV.

At this time, the score was 13:12, the Thunder led by one point, and the Mavericks called a timeout.

At the beginning, the Mavericks played very proactively, and Nowitzki even scored 7 points in a row, leading the ball to a good start of 9:2.

But soon, the Thunder team's counterattack followed. After some contests, Li Pu's hook finally succeeded in overtaking the score.

"Brandon, move around to defend that Prince next! Jason, when you are defending, take a step back and try to let Russell's left hand! Sean, you and..."

Although the team is in a bad situation, coach Carlisle has arranged tactics in an orderly manner.

He is worthy of being a master tactician. Although he has few cards in his hand, he can always play well.

"Dirk, Jason, on the offensive end, it's up to you two!"

After talking about defense, we talked about offense, but when Carlisle talked about offense, there was only this sentence left.

No way, the current Mavericks are seriously lacking in talent. On the defensive end, they can rely on tactics and hard work to improve, but when it comes to the offensive end, it really depends on talent.

Now with the departure of JJ Barea and the further aging of Kidd and Marion, the only thing the Mavericks can rely on is these two veterans.

The timeout ended and both teams returned to the court.

Although Carlisle said that he was relying on Nowitzki, he had long been entangled by Ibaka, let alone shooting, it was difficult to catch the ball.

Seeing this, Kidd looked at Terry again. At this time, Terry was also chased and intercepted by Sefolosha, and Terry was not given a chance to catch the ball easily.

Fortunately, Terry still relied on Marion's cover to get to the outside line, and Kidd quickly passed the ball to Terry.

Although Kidd has now degenerated to the point where he has almost no autonomous offensive ability, his passing is still stable, and he is still a passing master at that historical level.

As soon as Terry received the ball, Sefolosha followed him again, not giving him a chance to shoot.

After several consecutive attempts, Terry failed to get rid of it. In desperation, he winked at Heywood.

At this time, the tacit understanding of the veteran was revealed, and Heywood immediately understood. Instead of stepping forward to play a pick-and-roll with Terry, he went to the weak side and led Li Pu away.

Immediately afterwards, Nowitzki stepped forward and played a pick-and-roll with Terry.

This is by far the strongest offensive duo on this Mavericks team.

Both of them can play inside and out, and after the pick-and-roll, there are many tactical changes, which can be regarded as the last resort in the Mavericks' offense.

Sure enough, after the pick-and-roll, Terry broke through and Nowitzki bounced outside, which quickly caused chaos in the Thunder's defense.

Terry took the opportunity to distribute the ball to Nowitzki on the outside. Nowitzki feinted a shot, hit Ibaka, took a step forward, and then pulled up and made a jumper.

The score was overtaken again.

But the Thunder team's offense at this time has long lost the stagnation at the beginning of the game, and the game is extremely simple and efficient!
After Li Pu gave Westbrook a pick-and-roll, Westbrook went straight to the basket and then dunked, but unfortunately the dunk flew!

But it doesn't matter, the basketball was followed by Li Pu, and then he dunked with both hands!
The Mavericks may be able to prevent the Thunder from attacking once, but the loss of rebounds still makes it very difficult for them to play!
The Thunder won many second chances by grabbing offensive rebounds, which also made it difficult for the Heat to counterattack.

In this way, in the subsequent game, the two teams fought each other, until Kidd assisted Marion for a layup, causing Durant to foul, which allowed the Mavericks to continue to score.

In short, the two teams played inextricably in the first quarter. Until the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks seized a mistake made by the Thunder, scored a fast break, and successfully rewritten the score to 26:22. The Mavericks led by 4 points.

In the second quarter, the scores of the two teams were still deadlocked. The Thunder's several starts were all interrupted by Carlisle's several timeouts and tactical adjustments.

I have to say, but as far as this game is concerned, Carlisle's coaching ability has surpassed Brooks.

So at the end of the half, the score was 51:48, and the Mavericks tried every means to successfully maintain the lead until the end of the half.

However, the strength gap between the Mavericks and the Thunder is like a gap, which is difficult to bridge.

The start of the second half.

Durant first scored a three-pointer from the outside, which made a good start for the Thunder in the second half.

Afterwards, Li Pu grabbed the cap with a technique that shocked everyone, killing everyone.

Then Li Pu made a long pass to find Westbrook, who dunked and ignited the passion of the audience.

Then the Mavericks missed a three-pointer, and the already excited Thunder team received a rebound and another wave of fast breaks.

Westbrook passed the ball to Li Pu who followed up, and Li Pu dunked with one hand and scored another 2 points.

In just 2 minutes, the Thunder beat the Mavericks 7-0, not only overtaking the score, but even showing a tendency to completely widen the point difference.

Seeing this, Carlisle quickly called a timeout.

It can be seen that in the second half, the Thunder are finally about to start exerting their strength.

(End of this chapter)