Legendary star

Chapter 577 The calf on the edge of the cliff

"See you in Dallas!" Before the first game of the Finals, Mark Cuban, who had promised to take a victory away from Indiana, seemed very unhappy after the Mavericks lost two games in a row. After questioning, Mark Cuban left a sentence after blasting the referee, and then walked away.

After leaving the Bankers Arena, Mark Cuban did not have a round with the Mavericks, but went directly to New York on a special plane, but before leaving, Mark Cuban still had a phone call with Nelson. After some encouragement, Mark Cuban gave the old Nelson a death order. The Mavericks must win the next few home games, because only in this way can the Mavericks retain a glimmer of hope of winning the championship and even complete the reversal.

However, as the head coach of the Mavericks, the old Nelson was not as chic as Mark Cuban. At the press conference after the second game, the old Nelson was almost driven crazy by the reporters. He was rich in experience, and he was almost made to explode on the spot by these gangsters. The series only played two games, and these gangsters swept away one by one, which made old Nelson very annoyed.

"Are we really going to be swept away?" Old Nelson was tossing and turning on the bed after returning to the hotel, unable to sleep, his mind was full of the hateful faces of those reporters.After sitting up from the bed and sighing, Old Nelson picked up the book (Basketball Tactics Explained) on the bedside. Although the author of this book was Jean-Pierre, who was defeated by the US team, his This book is still very good, especially the detailed explanation of some international basketball rules and zone defenses, which deeply touched the old Nelson. Today, all kinds of zone defenses have been popularized in the NBA, how to break zone defenses has become the main task of all. A compulsory subject for coaches.

They lost to the Pacers in two consecutive away games, but it was undoubtedly the second game that made Nelson feel the most desperate. The Mavericks didn't even have a chance to lead in the whole game, and they were beaten by the Pacers from the beginning to the end. The old Nelson on the defensive end has no hope. Unless Steve Nash is not allowed to play, Nash's short board will be caught by the Pacers and kept playing.On the offensive end, facing the Pacers' defensive strategy, which is somewhat similar to zone defense, the Mavericks also played very aggrieved. They only scored 87 points in the last game, which was the lowest score for the Mavericks since entering the playoffs. up.It can be expected that the Pacers will continue to use this defensive tactic in the next game, so how to break the Pacers' defensive tactic has become the biggest problem facing Nelson now.

On June 2004, 6, after a three-day break, the Pacers team officially left for Dallas to prepare for an away game against the Mavericks. The current finals schedule is still 9-2-3. After the two home games , the Pacers will play three consecutive games with the Mavericks in Dallas, of course, if the Mavericks can last until the fifth game.

At 6:9 p.m. on June 8, the third game of the Finals began as scheduled at the Mavericks’ home stadium, the American Airlines Center. In today’s game, Nelson once again adjusted the Mavericks’ offensive tactics. Although Dirk Nowitz Kee still plays the 5th position today, but unlike the last game, the Mavericks are no longer simply pursuing outside-in-out passing, which is similar to a combination of inside and outside tactics.Nelson sent two point guards, Steve Nash and Tony Delk today, to strengthen the team's breakthrough, and use Steve Nash and Tony Delk's alternate breakthroughs to attract and force the Pacers to shrink , thus creating opportunities for outside players to make three-point shots.

It's just that in today's game, the Mavericks' outside lines obviously didn't feel very good, especially at the beginning of the game. With the breakthroughs of Steve Nash and Tony Delk in turn, the Pacers' outside lines appeared a large area. Neutral, but Michael Finley is like an iron god possessed, all 5 shots in the first quarter are iron, Tony Delk is slightly better than Antawn Jamison, but the two of them only hit 6 shots in total scored 2 goals.

At the end of the halftime game, the score between the two sides turned out to be 48 to 39, and the Mavericks only scored 39 points in the halftime game. If the Mavericks still have no improvement in the second half, then the Mavericks will definitely refresh their playoffs again today Lowest score recorded in a single game.

When you don’t have the touch, no matter how you shoot, you can miss it, let your posture be picturesque, it’s all kinds of strikes, and the Mavericks were in this situation in the first half.And once the feel comes up, it depends on how to shoot, even if it is a role player, once the feel is overwhelming, he looks like Jordan. Incarnate as a good pitcher, even if Rick Carlisle kept calling a timeout, there was no way to interrupt the Mavericks' touch. Michael Finley made 4 of 3 shots, Antawn Jamison and Steve Nash made 2 of 1 shots , Tony Decker even made two shots, Dirk Nowitzki made 11 of the shots, the Mavericks hit [-] three-pointers in the third quarter, and overtook the score with a counterattack .

Seeing how the Mavericks shot outside the three-point line on the court, and the more they shot, the more crazy the Mavericks, not to mention the Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, even the old Nelson standing on the sidelines. Stunned, starting from Michael Finley's first 4-pointer in the [-]th minute of the third quarter, all the Mavericks' offenses in the rest of the game ended with three-pointers. In the last few minutes, Dirk Nowitzki even left the basket and ran outside to shoot a three-pointer. Fortunately, the Mavericks team is very hot, otherwise the Mavericks would have been walked The person was beaten and climbed down.

As the saying goes, it comes fast and goes fast. After the timeout at the end of the third quarter and the rest at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Mavericks' up and down feel gradually became normal, but the wave in the third quarter While the three-point rain brought confidence to the Mavericks, it also brought them a very unfavorable factor, that is, their offensive range is getting more and more away from the basket. When they feel good, they can shoot by shooting. Deadly, but once the hand feels bad and you still insist on shooting outside, then you will be the one who gets shot.

Today's game was the first time in the entire series that the Pacers and Mavericks were in an inseparable situation. After overtaking the score in the third quarter, the Mavericks have always maintained a lead of about 3 points. And this advantage lasted until the first 3 minutes before the end of the game, but after the Mavericks made three consecutive offensive three-pointers, the Mavericks finally lost their lead.

Looking at the players on the field who became more and more anxious, and even shot three-pointers whenever they had the opportunity, Nelson finally realized the power of the double-edged sword of the three-pointer. At the time, they looked omnipotent, but when they suddenly lost their touch at the last minute of the game, the Mavericks didn't have the slightest chance.

As the whistle blew for the end of the game, looking at the final score of 112 to 107 on the scoreboard, the blood on Old Nelson's face was gone, and the pale old Nelson stood on the sidelines and couldn't say a word. Because the old Nelson knew very well that after losing this home game, his team was already 0 to 3 behind. In the 7-game four-win series, this almost means that his team has no There is a chance, because in the history of the NBA, there has never been a team that has finally completed a reversal after falling behind 0 to 3.

"No, we haven't lost yet, we won't be swept away!" Looking at the Pacers who were already celebrating wantonly on the court, and the Mavericks who walked to the sidelines with their faces depressed, Old Nelson suddenly said something harshly , I waited 30 years for this opportunity, not to be a stepping stone for others, let alone to be swept away by others!
(End of this chapter)