One Guard

Troy Murphy may never have imagined that his most popular moment in the playoffs would actually be due to his injury. If not for this damn concussion, Murphy would never have appeared in the headlines of major media outlets in Dallas. Although Murphy is not a strong player, losing him means that the Mavericks now have only one center available.

For these reasons, Murphy became the focus of attention in the playoffs for the first time in his career. However, Murphy now would rather not get these useless heat and wish he had never been injured. His playoff journey has ended early, and all this guy can do now is pray that the Mavericks' playoff journey can continue.

Things didn't get much easier when the game returned to Dallas. Although the Mavericks won a hearty victory in the last game, the 1-1 total score at most brought the two sides back to the same starting line and did not allow the Mavericks to gain any substantial advantage.

And Carlisle knows that Popovich will definitely not be indifferent to the news of Murphy's injury. In the first two games, the Spurs focused on the outside. In the next game, Popovich is likely to put the key to the victory inside.

What makes Carlisle feel very helpless now is that although he can guess what Popovich is going to do, he can't do anything about it. Kaman, Nowitzki, Brand and Yi Jianlian, when you only have these four inside players available for use, it is really difficult for you to do anything.

How to defend Tim Duncan? This is a question that countless coaches have struggled to figure out over the past 15 seasons.

Chris Webber, Shaquille O'Neal, the Pistons' Double Wallace, Kevin Garnett and even the Rockets' Yao Ming... these bright names have all been defeated by Duncan without exception. . But now, Carlisle took Carman and others to try to contain Duncan, which was as ridiculous as asking him to buy a villa with one hundred dollars.

Although the game changed, NBA officials gave the players of both teams three days of rest. But during these three days, Carlisle did not have a comfortable moment. He studied Spurs game tapes day and night and studied Duncan's game habits. The final conclusion is that there is no way. With the current lineup, he has no way to curb Duncan's performance. At most, he can only prevent Duncan from exploding.

This feeling of knowing what the opponent was going to do but being unable to do anything about it made Carlisle spend another three sleepless nights.

Where is Yiyang? On the first day after returning to Dallas, he invited Stevens, Hayward and Vignali to have dinner together, and then spent the day and night in the training gym again.

The biggest characteristic of Yiyang as a player is that the better his performance, the more he wants to train more. Because, Yiyang is afraid that his excellent condition will pass away due to neglect of training.

If O.J. Mayo scored 30+10 in the playoffs,

Then he will definitely play and sing every night during these three days. After all, I am already so good, is there any need for training?

But Yiyang was different. He was not thinking about himself who was so awesome last night, but how to continue this awesome state. This may be the biggest difference between him and others.

According to Carlisle's instructions, the Mavericks' chief physician Fleming made a comprehensive assessment of Yiyang's physical condition after returning to Dallas. Surprisingly, although Yiyang has almost single-handedly carried the Mavericks in all the games so far this season, his physical condition is very good.

This news also made Carlisle breathe a sigh of relief. At least for the rest of the season, he no longer has to worry about Yiyang's health.

As the match day approaches, Carlisle and Yiyang are not the only ones who are anxious. O'Neal, who lost to Barkley in the gambling game, has also been looking sad these days.

On the show, he had to accept Barkley's cynicism without any room for retort. Moreover, in the third game of the series, he had to take off his suit and shirt and commentate for an entire 12-minute game while wearing a Chinese flag!

Even O'Neal, who was having fun, thought this was really crazy. Presumably the image of me covering the Chinese flag and explaining the game will definitely become popular all over the world.

"What's the matter, Shaq? Why are you looking so sad? Is your tom cat messing with you outside again?" Barkley is a guy who doesn't open and lift any pot. You'd better not make a bet with this kind of person. lose. Because once he loses, he can tease you for the rest of his life.

"I don't want to talk to you Charles, I don't even know why I accepted that stupid bet in the first place. But don't worry, I do what I say and I am willing to admit defeat. Although the Mavericks won the last game beautifully, I still To say, looking at the entire series, the Spurs still have the advantage." O'Neal quickly changed the subject and returned all attention to the series they were talking about.

"Are you talking about Troy Murphy's injury? I admit that he is a respectable player, but to be honest, Murphy is really not that important to the Mavericks. His injury will not affect the Mavericks. Bull play.”

"Are you sure, Charles? Who will the Mavericks use to defend Duncan and Diaw in the next game? Yi Jianlian? Or Brand, who is so old that he can hardly walk? Murphy still has a height of 2.11 meters after all. There, his threat from beyond the three-point line can also help Yi win space for breakthroughs. Although Murphy may be just a small screw in the precision instrument of the Mavericks, sometimes, a slight glitch can be very important. It could cause a major accident."

After losing the bet, O'Neal was surprisingly serious on the show today. Every word he said now was spoken after careful consideration.

Buckley moved his lips, as if he wanted to refute. But in the end, he said nothing. Yes, the Spurs' advantage is too obvious. No matter how good Yiyang is, as a point guard, he can't even defend the penalty area.

It's already very difficult for the Mavericks' dilapidated lineup to reach this point. Do you still want them to reach the finals and compete with Miami for the O'Brien Trophy? It is indeed a bit overwhelming.

How long can Yiyang's miraculous light continue to shine? Barkley shook his head, Mark Cuban, Mark Cuban, I hope you can sign some players who are really helpful to the team this summer...

※※※

The three-day truce passed in the blink of an eye, and on May 25, the playoff battle finally rekindled at the American Airlines Center Arena. Since the Mavericks swept the Thunder 4-0 in the last round of the playoffs, this is the first time fans have watched the Mavericks game at home.

Before the game started, reporters asked Popovich bluntly: "Coach, will the Mavericks' inside line be your key target today?"

Popovich looked seriously at the camera, then put his mouth close to the microphone. "Before the game starts, you don't want to know anything related to tactics from me."

Although Popovich didn't say it, everyone knew it. Unless the old man who loves to make up jokes in front of reporters suffers from Alzheimer's disease, it is impossible for him to turn a blind eye to such an obvious insider advantage.

Nowitzki and Kaman are also mentally prepared. What will greet them tonight will definitely be a violent storm.

In fact, Popovich did not intend to be secretive. From the first second of this game, he planned to establish an advantage in the interior.

Today, Popovich made a temporary change. He did not continue to use Brazilian center Split to start, but used Duncan to play the fifth position and Frenchman Diaw to start the fourth position.

This is a very aggressive inside combination. Both Duncan and Diaw have strong scoring abilities. And Diona's shooting range that can extend beyond the three-point line can help Duncan gain more offensive space.

The effect of this change was highlighted in the first round. Parker passed the ball to Duncan who was about to reach the position, and Duncan singled out Kaman in the low post. Nowitzki had no choice and stepped forward to double-team. "Stone Buddha" calmly distributed the ball, Diaw took an open shot from the mid-range position, and the basketball went hollow into the net.

The Spurs' tactics are simple and unpretentious. But the efficiency is very high. This is Spurs basketball, and this is the inside advantage that Popovich holds.

Although just 15 seconds later, Yiyang used his explosive breakthrough to blast a big hole in the Spurs' aging lineup. He succeeded in a layup in the gap between Duncan and Diaw, and also drew a foul. Get a chance to hit three points. But Popovich is not worried. The last game was the ultimate expression of Yiyang's personal ability. Today, with a huge advantage in hand, even if Yiyang has great abilities, there is no way to change the outcome.

In the subsequent games, the Spurs repeatedly made achievements in the paint. Not only Duncan and Diaw, but also Parker, Ginobili and Leonard are playing hard on the Mavericks' inside.

Kaman and Nowitzki, the German national team-level inside combination, are exhausted. Once they are tired, Carlisle must use Yi Jianlian and Brand to top up. As a result, the Mavericks' interior defense has become a big colander.

It's not that Yi Jianlian and Brand don't work hard enough, but in this jungle of jungles, some things can't be accomplished just by working hard. Limited by their own abilities, Yi Jianlian and Brand were somewhat powerless when facing the Spurs' concentrated firepower.

Duncan is as stable as a machine that can make no mistakes in the paint. After his mediocre performance in the first two games, he reminded everyone that he is a historical power forward!

Yiyang is still attacking tirelessly. He knows very well that if he wants to bite the score, all he can do is break through. If you shoot from the outside, your efficiency cannot compete with the Spurs' stable inside offense.

After three quarters, the Mavericks still clung to the score thanks to Yiyang's efforts and did not let the Spurs widen the point difference to double digits. But as Yiyang's physical energy was consumed a lot, his breakthroughs were no longer so sharp, and his shooting began to become weaker.

Seeing that Yiyang was about to collapse, Nowitzki, the former leader of the Mavericks, stepped forward in time. He hit three consecutive shots on Duncan's head, and seemed to want to have a battle of the century with Duncan.

However, Nowitzki's performance only delayed the Mavericks' death. Ginobili, the Argentinian monster, had a convulsive performance in the fourth quarter, allowing the Spurs to completely end the game.

Ginobi used various unconventional postures and shot selections to magically score the ball again and again. One of the most typical goals was when Ginobili wanted to play an alley-oop with Duncan, but the Argentine actually threw the ball directly into the basket from beyond the three-point line.

Seeing that this kind of pass can be turned into a three-pointer, even Popovich's eyes widened on the sidelines. When one team has the upper hand in strength and luck, it is difficult for the weaker side to come back.

In the end, with the GDP trio scoring 69 points, the Spurs once again took a big lead in the away game, 104-95. The three old guys under Popovich once again showed their talents. They are not old yet, and they can continue to dominate the league!

The exhausted Yiyang slumped to the floor the moment the game ended, as if he had played extremely hard in every playoff game since last year. But if you don't support it, who can help you support this team?

Yiyang looked at O'Neal, who was shirtless and wearing a Chinese flag on the commentary table, but he couldn't help but laugh. What else is there to say about this game? Everyone has played to their own level, but the gap in strength is there.

"It seems that my Chinese flag did not bring good luck to the Mavericks." O'Neal finally got relief after 12 painful minutes. He simply wasn't in a hurry to take off the Chinese flag. Anyway, he now looked like Barkley with a sad look on his face.

Barkley didn't laugh at O'Neal, he couldn't laugh. With 28 points, 12 assists and 3 steals, Yiyang performed at an MVP level. But without victory, it all seemed meaningless.

Seeing Yiyang sitting on the floor, he must be very unwilling. Barkley liked Yiyang from the bottom of his heart. This guy worked hard enough, didn't talk much, and dared to challenge authority just like himself.

Seeing Yiyang have to accept failure after trying his best, Buckley felt uncomfortable.

2-1, the Spurs took another step ahead. But after that, it may be very difficult for the Mavericks to fight back.

From being barely eighth in the Western Conference predicted before the season to the current Western Conference Finals, Yiyang has actually done well enough. It's just that for a player like him, there is nothing that can satisfy him except the O'Brien Cup.