no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 307 2020~2021 Season

The Mavericks' opponent in the opening game of the new season is the Bulls.

The Mavericks won the championship in the park, and this season they also went to the park to receive their championship rings.

Although there is no championship parade, coupled with outside doubts, this championship seems to lack a little bit of gold, but a championship is a championship after all, especially for most members of the Mavericks team, this is their first championship, and excitement is natural of.

Moreover, Ballmer is obsessed with comparison. The ring he made this time not only cost more than one million US dollars, but also customized a low-end version for all the staff in the park. The total investment in the ring exceeded more than 30 million. The U.S. dollar mainly focuses on inhumanity.

He even gave himself a ring that was the same as the players. When he handed out the rings, he was so excited when he hugged the players, and his love for basketball was obvious.

With this kind of boss, it's really hard not to have a good team atmosphere when playing in his team.

The members of the Mavericks were very excited, but the intensity of this opening game was beyond many people's imagination.

The Bulls' lineup this season has not changed much compared to last season, but in terms of game scenes, their competitiveness has improved greatly.

It's not just that Thibodeau promoted Murray to the starting lineup, but more importantly, it's a familiar state, just like the Mavericks in the park last season. What can be guessed is that they should be with the Mavericks this summer. The team also conducted high-intensity training.

The two teams were inseparable until the final moment.

During this period, Butler and Xu Yong started fighting with each other.

Xu Yong faced Butler's defense and hit a quasi-winner before the end, but looking back, Butler used Aldridge's screen to drift and hit a perfect mid-range shot, directly dragging the score into overtime.

This game was soul-stirring, and Butler once again refreshed the fans' understanding of him.

However, in overtime, Xu Yong showed a dominant performance and scored 10 points to help the Mavericks win the game with difficulty.

After the game, Xu Yong gave Butler a big hug.

The Bulls have failed in the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive seasons. If it had been anyone else, they would have run away to join forces. But Butler not only did not do this, he did not even ask the management to strengthen him. He just continued to improve himself, and even It may force teammates to improve, and ultimately make further progress every year.

At the press conference after the game, Xu Yong also gave birth to a classic saying.

"Jimmy is the most like me in this league."

When these words came out of Xu Yong's mouth, they were the highest honor.

After all, Xu Yong's historical status is already here.

But after the game, those fans who originally questioned the Mavericks started to question it again.

It was so difficult to beat the Bulls, but the Mavericks last season was just an accident.

Although neither the management nor the players of the Mavericks made any substantive response to such remarks, they immediately went on to win ten games in a row.

Then, those fans suddenly disappeared.

Actions are always the most convincing thing compared to words.

However, when the time came to the end of January, the Mavericks encountered some injuries and their record began to have some ups and downs.

Not only was Rose injured, but DeRozan also suffered some hand injuries.

This is not an accident, but is obviously a sequelae of the high-intensity training and competition last season.

However, when it entered early February, the Mavericks started their winning streak again. It was not that the team suddenly got rid of injuries, but that someone stepped up.

The man who stepped up to fill the pressure on the back line was Jordan Poole.

Poole didn't have many opportunities in his rookie season and struggled.

But his performance this season has proven one thing: his ability to seize opportunities is very strong.

This also made the outside world sigh. Xu Yong joining the Mavericks not only strengthened the strength of the Mavericks, but also improved their luck.

This statement is very appropriate.

Because unlike the Bulls period, Xu Yong did not participate in the management's decision-making in the Mavericks.

Poole was selected in last year's draft, and Bane was selected in this year's draft. Basically, the best choice at that pick is that person.

So when it comes to things like luck, it seems illusory, but sometimes you really have to admit it.

It was at this time that an episode occurred in the alliance.

This episode originated from the first meeting of the season between the Mavericks and the Lakers.

This should have been the most anticipated showdown by the outside world. Whether the enhanced Lakers can challenge the Mavericks is a question that many people are curious about.

But this issue could not be confirmed in the end because James chose to rest in this game.

When the outside world questioned James' behavior and believed that he did not dare to play against Xu Yong, James' team came up with a brand-new concept: [Load Management], as the name suggests, choose to take turns in some games to avoid injuries. 's appearance.

This is very reasonable. You see, there is a wave of injuries on the Mavericks. The Lakers have many veteran players, so they should take appropriate breaks. James is a 36-year-old veteran, so it is even more reasonable.

This behavior of James has naturally attracted complaints from many fans. Following [intelligent injuries] and [intelligent basketball], James has invented a new vocabulary that combines the two: [intelligent basketball].

Of course, these complaints were not taken seriously by James. After all, you said this was inappropriate. Go find Popovich, who started this thing.

But this time, after losing the support of Nike and even the league president was no longer Xiao Hua, he was quickly slapped in the face.

The league introduced a new rule just days later: Teams would be penalized if they did not rest injured players during national broadcasts and back-to-back games.

The speed of this new rule is exactly the same as that of the [Vertical Jump Rule] back then, but this time James has directly changed from the beneficiary to the victim.

As expected, things turn around, and the bargains once obtained must be paid back in the end.

The Mavericks eventually entered the All-Star Game as the No. 1 player in the Western Conference. Although Malone was unable to continue as head coach due to rules, Xu Yong and Jokic were still selected into the All-Star starting lineup.

The most eye-catching performance in this year's All-Star Game is Antetokounmpo.

Don't tell me, Xu Yong's words last season that should be considered trash talk in a strict sense really inspired him.

But this is normal, after all, this is a trash talk that spans time and space.

Antetokounmpo eventually won the All-Star Game MVP, but unfortunately, he was not the one who attracted the most attention in this year's All-Star Game.

The person who gets the most limelight belongs to this year's dunk contest judge... Wade.

Aaron Gordon made a comeback this year after losing to LaVine in the last dunk contest and is considered the favorite to win the championship.

But in the end, because of Wade's 9 points, Gordon unfortunately lost again.

Wade was nicknamed the "Nine-Point Man" by fans because of this.

What is coming will always come. Some history has changed, but some history is destined to be unchangeable. When the time comes to May, the 5~2020 season also comes to an end.

The Mavericks ended with a record of 58 wins and 14 losses.

Although this record is not as good as last season, it is still the best record in the league.

And just at the end of the season, the league received good news.

The NBA will unblock all games in the first round of the playoffs and allow fans to enter the arenas of all teams to watch the games. However, the NBA will determine the team based on the epidemic situation in each city in each state. Open number of fans.

This means that after more than a year, the NBA is finally open to outside fans again.

This is also a historic moment.

American Airlines fans, home of the Mavericks, also welcomed the reopening to outside fans.

On this day, 15,000 fans got the chance to re-enter the arena.

The Mavericks' opponent in the first round is the Warriors.

The Warriors have experienced a lot of setbacks this season. Their star Curry only played 5 games before being reimbursed for the season, which greatly damaged the team's strength.

It is this season that fans can really be sure that the true core of the Warriors is Curry. Because Curry fell, the rest of the Warriors performed very badly.

Green, in particular, is almost a comic relief.

But although he is a comedian on the court, Green is still very smart off the court.

He directly used the villain on the court to win his suspension. As time goes by, the fans seem to have gradually forgotten that he can't do it without Curry.

Although the Warriors barely made it to the play-offs in the end, they were obviously no match for the Mavericks without Curry.

In the end, witnessed by 30 fans from Dallas and the Lone Star Republic of Texas, the Mavericks conducted a -point massacre against the Warriors.

Dallas was so excited about the ball. They had been holding it in for more than a year, but the first time it came out, they were so happy.

The Mavericks then performed a round of four for their fans.

After bidding farewell to the Warriors with a sweep, Xu Yong also ushered in the seventh MVP trophy of his career, and it was also his second consecutive MVP trophy.

Riding on this momentum, in the semifinals against the Clippers, Xu Yong played like a new MVP for two consecutive years. He averaged 42.6 points per game and basically destroyed the opposing Clippers' defense by himself. .

He also led the Mavericks to a 4-1 sweep of the Clippers and successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

And their opponent in the Western Conference Finals is still the old rival Thunder.

The Thunder are definitely better than the Thunder Seo Yong knew, but they are also like the Knicks in the 90s. If this was a movie, they would never win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. prize.

This year is no exception.

Durant's desire to compete is particularly strong this year, and Brooks also adopted the Jordan Law defense method against Xu Yong this year, but the Mavericks team is in great shape.

Or to put it another way, Xu Yong's crazy output in the last round gave the rest of the Mavericks team ample physical reserves, and then they all used them when they beat the Thunder.

And after Poole's condition came out, the scoring firepower of the Mavericks' bench even overflowed a little.

4-2, the Mavericks gave the Thunder the same score and entered the finals again for the second consecutive year.

Only this time, their opponent in the finals was no longer the Raptors, but the Bulls.

The Bulls' performance this season has been nothing short of legendary.

After a magical performance in the opening game, their regular season performance has been smooth sailing.

But at the end of the season, they encountered bad news. Aldridge suffered a heart problem and had to temporarily withdraw from NBA games due to heart rate problems.

This is equivalent to saying that the Bulls suddenly lost their starting power forward.

Because it's already the end of the season, the Bulls can't even make reinforcements. This is definitely one of the worst unlucky things.

This also caused the Bulls, who were originally optimistic, to be looked down upon. After all, no matter how strong the team was, it suddenly lost a main force, and its strength was not reduced to a bit.

But when the playoffs really started, almost everyone was slapped in the face.

Because of Kyle Anderson, the Bulls' sixth man stepped up very well to fill Aldridge's position.

Although his ability is definitely not as good as Aldridge, he can't stand up to the Bulls' excellent state and high morale.

They made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, and then once again encountered the Raptors, who had eliminated them two years in a row.

Before the Eastern Conference Finals started, the Bulls were still the underdogs, but this time, they won.

Butler averaged 32.5 points per game and led the team to kill the Raptors 4-2 with an avenger mentality.

At this time, the fans recalled what Xu Yong said at the beginning, and it was indeed very accurate. Butler's performance really resembled Xu Yong the most.

The Mavericks and the Bulls finally faced off at the top of the Forbidden City.

The battle between the two sides was just as shown in the season opener.

The Mavericks came up and won two games in a row, proving that they are the better team.

But then the Bulls, led by Butler, showed their invincible resilience. After winning two games in a row, they dragged the finals into Tianwangshan.

They were also the only team that forced the Mavericks to the top of Tianwang Mountain. During the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks led the Thunder 3-1.

After seeing this scene, fans also expected the Bulls to go one step further and force the Mavericks into a tiebreaker, or even overturn the team.

But the next two games completely became Xu Yong's performance time.

With 48 points in one game and 53 points in the other, Xu Yong used two extreme personal performances to defend the Mavericks' title.

When the game ended, the Dallas fans thousands of miles away were in a state of excitement.

The Mavericks used the same method this time as they did during the season. When they encountered doubts, they responded with real actions.

When the game ended, the Mavericks players could finally celebrate in front of the fans.

Xu Yong finally showed his long-lost smile at this time.

This time, they can have a championship parade.

(End of this chapter)