Here comes the Eagles offense.

Liu Mang continued to catch Nash in singles. Liu Mang, who became more and more familiar with sudden shots and combinations, once again passed Nash and rushed to the basket, causing LaFrentz's foul.

After standing on the free throw line, Liu Mang made two free throws.

During the transition between offense and defense and returning to defense, Liu Mang allowed Ratliff to stay under the basket and the opponent might not pass the ball.

Sure enough, Nash was still in the mentality of wanting to prove it to the fans, team owners, and head coaches, holding the ball and doing it by himself.

There seems to be nothing wrong with it. One of the main tactics of the Mavericks is for the star to hold the ball and go it alone.

But this time Nash was affected by Liu Mang's continuous trash talk and became very dissatisfied with the status quo. He continued to work with the ball. Although Nash's personal offensive ability is very strong, he is physically limited after all. His combination of one-on-one sudden shots,

He may be one of the strongest players in the league, but when faced with a double-team, if he doesn't pass the ball, he is one-on-one, which is much worse than the top stars at the same level.

This time, Nash was closely followed by Liu Mang outside the three-point line, and he chose to break through. Liu Mang relied on his slight advantage in speed to closely follow Nash when he broke through, giving Ratliff a chance to cover up.

Under Leaf's interference, Nash finally missed the shot!

rebound!

Rahim and Mohammed were stuck with the big white bear LaFrentz, and Liu Mang swung his arms to get the rebound. His posture was really like a mad dog desperate for his life.

In fact, Liu Mang's action was extremely exaggerated to grab a rebound that had already been blocked by his teammates, but it did reflect his current momentum!

After Nash and Liu Mang started to use the help of Ratliff or Muhammad to defend against Nash in isolation, they were able to defend relatively well.

Next, Nash had several consecutive singles, but he missed in double teams!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Mang used himself to break through the defense attracted by Nash and distributed the ball to Raheem and Jason Terry. The former went to the basket and the latter received the ball from the outside and made a mid-range shot. In the first few seconds of the fourth quarter,

Minutes later, a wave of counterattack was launched.

After more than four minutes of play, the Eagles scored a 14-6 run!

Nash only scored 6 points by making a three-pointer and 3 of 4 free throws!

109 to 108, the Eagles lead by 1 point!

Nelson couldn't stand it anymore. Yes, he had no objection to players choosing to play singles independently. He was probably the coach who gave players the most freedom in the entire NBA, even more than what Zen Master gave Kobe Bryant.

But that requires you to have a high success rate in singles, have good touch, and be able to score consecutive points!

Nash has always been the most obedient and tactical player in the Mavericks lineup. In addition, he played extremely well in the first three quarters, with 24 points and 5 assists in the three quarters, with a shooting percentage of 63%, so Nash did not pass the ball at first.

, Nelson believes that Nash is sure to have his own ideas.

Unexpectedly, Nash became a solo player!

Finally, after being overtaken, Nelson saw that Nash was still sullen and wanted to fight 1v2 or even 1v3, so he couldn't help but call a timeout and replace Nash!

Liu Mang's plan succeeded!

Trash talk doesn't cost money. I was just giving it a try. I didn't expect that Nash, who has not yet reached the peak of his life and is even undervalued and dormant, has such a fragile heart!

Liu Mang, who has always been smooth sailing, probably cannot understand the frustration of a player who may be the strongest in the league at the same position but has never been reused. Therefore, even Nash, a calm person, was made mentally unbalanced.

.

It's not just Liu Mang's words. Nash's mental imbalance was caused by Liu Mang's ridicule from the beginning, then his counterattack, and then Liu Mang's "compliment" after he came back. It was mainly due to Nash's experience in the previous five seasons.

collective effect.

This is the first time the Eagles have taken the lead in this game since they were beaten by the Mavericks in the first quarter! The Eagles players played really well in this counterattack.

However, I was even more "fearful" of Liu Mang, a rookie teammate. Seeing Nash being completely different from usual and playing so abnormally, the Hawks players looked at each other with eyes that said they must not mess with this rookie!

…

On the Mavericks side, Nelson replaced Nash and LaFrentz. Nash made Nelson angry, and LaFrentz had physical problems.

The Mavericks replaced Tim Hardaway and Sean Bradley.

Coach Kruger also replaced Ratliff and replaced him with Newbell first, hoping to take this opportunity to launch a counterattack!

However, after returning from the timeout, the Eagles did not get a chance to open the score in one fell swoop.

Although Nash is missing, the Mavericks' substitute Tim Hardaway is still very good. Tim Hardaway did not do well in playing bad teams before. The main reason is that the strategy of playing bad teams is to play bad, but if he is strong,

Team, Tim Hardaway came on as a substitute for a few minutes, and you can still see the power of one of the former double Hardaways.

Tim Hardaway's goal at this stage is to assist Nowitzki and Finley to win the championship. His goal is to dribble the ball across the half court and make 33% of his career's stable three-pointers.

Just shoot the ball.

This brings us to the saddest thing about Nash in the Mavericks. Nash has absolutely no chance to fully demonstrate his strength in the Mavericks, because the Mavericks do not need an open man who is so versatile and can promote offense.

It's enough to give the ball to someone who can catch the ball and shoot open three-pointers. Giving them a super point guard who is extremely comprehensive on the offensive end is not as good as a guy who can shoot stably and defend well.

With Nash gone, the Mavericks' strength has not been weakened too much. On the contrary, because no one has the ball, Finley and Nowitzki's singles abilities have been fully utilized.

Back to the unpreventable situation in the first half!

However, the Hawks have already anticipated this, so no matter whether the Mavericks are in isolation or passing the ball or not, as soon as the opponent takes a shot, three people grab rebounds and two people counterattack!

When Nash is away, no one on the Mavericks can keep up with the speed of Liu Mang and Jason Terry!

Although Nash's defense is poor at preventing breakthroughs, he is still very good at defending quick three-pointers on counterattacks. He can keep up with the speed and is active. However, the combination of Griffin and Tim Hardaway is not good. They can defend against breakthroughs.

, the shooting defense really can’t keep up.

The two teams returned to the competition mode, and started a terrifying continuous scoring state between the two teams.

At the critical moment with two minutes left, Rahim made a crucial turn and hit a layup. The Eagles led 133 to 131 by two points in the away game!

Nelson called a timeout!

This game was going to be so anxious. Old Nelson had already expected it, but he didn't expect that the process would be like this. First, the opponent's main point guard was brain-dead, and then his own main point guard was also brain-dead. Anyway, the ending was almost the same, so Old Nelson didn't expect it to be so.

care.

The Mavericks are not afraid of the way they play at critical moments!

There is Finley, Nowitzki, and Nash... Old Nelson is still a little angry when he sees Nash. If Nash didn't have crazy singles in the fourth quarter and didn't pass the ball when he was not double-teamed, the Mavericks would now

The advantage is still stable. Even though the Hawks played well throughout the game except for the three-plus minutes in the first quarter, the Mavericks' offense was also very strong except for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

Nelson has always been a childish head coach, otherwise he would not have resigned after a quarrel with Cuban and hired a group of people to work for the Warriors to defeat his old team, and then returned to the Mavericks to continue to be the general manager.

Nash was angry for a while, and Nelson was also angry not to replace Nash at the critical moment, and continued to send out Tim Hardaway, Griffin, Finley, Nowitzki and LaFrentz who came back from a break.

.

…

For the Eagles, coach Kruger replaced Ratliff again at the critical moment and played in the regular lineup.

Seek stability!

Leading by two points with two minutes left, the Eagles tried to play it safe.

After the timeout, the Mavericks attack.

Liu Mang stepped forward to defend Tim Hardaway and did not give Tim Hardaway any room to change direction.

The last time he played against Tim Hardaway, Liu Mang still vividly remembered the image of him being knocked down and sitting on the ground. It was still early in the season. As a veteran, Tim Hardaway was very stable and needed to be physically fit.

, you need to have good footwork, but now at the end of the season, the disadvantage of the veteran has appeared. When he breaks out, he can be extraordinary, but when his physical fitness is exhausted, he can usually be extraordinary.

Liu Mang resisted Tim Hardaway and didn't give the opponent any room to change direction and break through. Tim Hardaway quickly passed the ball to Finley who ran back. Finley received the ball and beat Rahim in singles. It's so tiring!

Like many players who entered the NBA at the same time as Raheem, it was really difficult to adapt to playing against Raheem for the first time this year. This guy became surprisingly active in defense, which was completely different from before!

At the critical moment, Finley gave the ball to Nowitzki, who had the best chance in the matchup situation.

Nowitzki caught the ball and hit Muhammad alone. Today, Muhammad was tortured by Nowitzki. He scored 33 points and 7 rebounds. Nowitzki shot Muhammad to the point of despair.

Liu Mang decisively let go of Tim Hardaway and double-teamed Nowitzki.

Nowitzki did not choose to pass the ball. At critical moments these days, superstars are more willing to choose to do it themselves. Facing Muhammad and Liu Mang who rushed towards him, Nowitzki made a two-point fadeaway jumper!

With this height and back, even if Nowitzki hasn't developed the golden chicken independence to kick his penis, no one can block the shot from the front!

Liu Mang knew this very well, so... when Liu Mang rushed forward, the left hand he used to block the shot was not directed towards the ball, but stretched out his fingers to poke Nowitzki in the face!

Just asking you if you are afraid!

Nowitzki was double-teamed by Liu Mang for the first time. In the previous three quarters, except for the few minutes when he was guarding Nash, most of the time Nowitzki was double-teamed by the inside. At most, Rahim came up to help defend.

So this is the first time Nowitzki has faced Liu Mang's help defense.

This wretched defensive move made Nowitzki tilt his head!

Just because of this little interference, Nowitzki missed the mid-range shot!

rebound!

Liu Mang, who landed first, rushed inside and the Mavericks were also rushing for rebounds!

Ratliff's huge body and big arms pressed the big white soft LaFrentz behind him, Rahim blocked Finley, and Liu Mang rushed in and picked off the rebound!

Liu Mang immediately counterattacked after grabbing the rebound, and Jason Terry rushed forward.

The Mavericks took precautions against the Hawks' counterattack during the timeout, so they used Nowitzki as the main player to mobilize one of the opponent's inside players. As a result, Ratliff had no ability to make long passes or get rebounds.
To be continued...