One Guard

The wonderful Christmas game has feasted the fans' eyes on the most important festival of the year, but the Dallas Mavericks, which are now ranked first by ESPN in the power rankings, are happy and leisurely, and the Mavericks players also spent a rare relaxation Holiday.

The day after Christmas, the Mavericks still didn't play. But the team training has returned to normal.

After training in the morning, the Mavericks have to take Cuban's private plane for the players this afternoon and fly to Oklahoma after Christmas to prepare for their first opponent after Christmas.

Today, Terry appeared in the dressing room wearing the leather jacket Yiyang gave him. Although everyone is an adult, when they receive Christmas presents, these old men are still as happy as children.

"Merry Christmas guys, I hope the one-and-a-half-day holiday didn't make your body lazy. Jeter, did you drink a lot of bars yesterday?" Carlisle also warmly greeted the players after pushing the door of the locker room. He looked at Terry, who was a little short-sighted, and continued to tease. "Or, you were kicked out of bed by your wife again?"

"Ah? Of course not! No! How dare she kick..." Terry realized that he was being played in the middle of the sentence. ?, the surrounding teammates had long laughed. "Rick, you're kidding me again!"

"Hahaha, well, guys. As soon as Christmas is over, we're going to have a tough rivalry. The Thunder did a great job on Christmas, especially Durant, the guy who slashed on Christmas Day. Scored 44 points. Durant and the Thunder are in good shape and it's hard to deal with, I hope the Christmas holiday has recharged your energy." Carlisle waved his fist, this guy turned out to be holding a mobilization meeting after returning from the holiday .

"I haven't played a game for five days, and I feel itchy all over." Nowitzki echoed Carlisle's mobilization, and then looked at Yiyang.

"Me too." Yiyang clenched his fists, the fierce competition in the NBA has struck again.

For this game between the Mavericks and the Thunder, Westbrook himself also attaches great importance to it. The last time he met Yiyang, he could be said to have lost face. This time, by taking advantage of the victory in the Christmas War, he has to justify his name no matter what.

And the Thunder's real head star, Kevin Durant, naturally hopes to let the team go to the "highway" of winning streak.

Players from both teams are very interested in this game. On the night of December 17th, the Chesapeake Energy Arena was indeed full of attendance.

The best team in the league and a team that killed all sides in the Christmas game, such a matchup is even as luxurious as the Christmas game.

Before the game even started, the smell of gunpowder was already spreading over Oklahoma City.

When interviewed by reporters, Westbrook choked that this time he would not let Yiyang take advantage of him again. He dared to say this in front of the reporters, which naturally showed that this extremely impactful No. 0 was ready for everything today.

Of course Yiyang would not respond to Westbrook's remarks, but Terry would not sit still and wait for his teammates to be choked.

"We can win whoever we meet. If you don't believe me, you can ask LeBron. No one dares to fight us. That kid is just bluffing." Terry also did not save face for Westbrook in front of reporters. Don't look at this Guy can be considered a veteran, but in some things, Terry may be more excited than the young people.

The game has not yet started, the war of words between the two sides has already made the fans and commentators full of infinite expectations for this game. T.NT TV even sent Jeff Van Gundy and Kevin Harlan to Oklahoma as commentators, which is enough to see how much T.NT attaches importance to this game.

As soon as the game started, the two sides got serious. Marion put so much defensive pressure on Durant that the tall and long-armed No. 3 missed two consecutive shots from beyond the three-point line.

And Westbrook, eager to perform in front of Yiyang,

Then take Kidd directly. Although Kidd can easily judge the breakthrough direction of this immature No. 0, but even if he guesses what Westbrook is going to do next, it is too late to block it immediately.

Kidd can indeed handle most of the guards in this league, but a type of impact like Westbrook is really Kidd's current weakness.

Halfway through the first quarter, Carlisle finally replaced Yiyang. When the No. 1 guard entered the field, there was a huge booing in the Chesapeake Energy Arena. It seems that not only Westbrook, but even the Thunder fans have not forgotten what Yiyang did in this field last time.

After Yiyang came on the court, Westbrook's offense was obviously not so easy. Yiyang can not only judge the direction of Westbrook's breakthrough, but also react immediately with a speed that Kidd does not have.

On the other hand, Westbrook can always rely on his strong body to stop Yiyang's breakthrough.

The war between the two sides on the back line temporarily stalled, and Nowitzki and Durant once again carried the banner of the team's offense.

In the last few minutes of the first quarter, both starters ended. Thunder coach Brooks replaced last year's No. 3 pick, James Harden, who was also a guard.

The latter showed little performance in the last duel between the two sides, as if it had become transparent. But today, Harden scored consecutively as soon as he came on the court, allowing the fierce game to continue after both sides' starters were all off the court.

In the end, after the first quarter, the Mavericks entered the intermission with a 5-point difference of 34 to 29.

Although the game was very difficult, the performance of the Mavericks made Carlisle full of confidence in this battle.

"Serge, you go to the second quarter. I only give you one task, to interfere with the German's offense as much as possible! Stay close, I want you to stick to him on the defensive end! How uncomfortable, you Interfere as much as you want. From the time the Mavericks hit the baseline, I want you to press close to him!" On the side of the Thunder bench, Brooks was yelling at Congo forward Serge Ibaka.

The Thunder's disadvantage on the inside made Nowitzki play extremely easily today. Brooks looked around and saw that the second-year forward was the only one with the strongest defensive ability in the entire Thunder team.

Although in experience, Nowitzki will win a lot over Ibaka. But Ibaka is also Brooks' only chance to limit the German.

After the start of the second quarter, the Mavericks replaced Stevenson, who was originally starting, with Yiyang. Coach Brooks replaced Jeff Green, who performed well on the offensive end today, with the Congolese.

"Although Jeff Green played well offensively against Dirk today, it is obvious that Coach Brooks is now planning to rely on defense to win. He would rather sacrifice the Thunder's offensive firepower and use Ibaka Come and fight Dirk. But it is not easy for Ibaka to limit Dirk." Jeff Van Gundy in the commentary agreed with Brooks' idea, after all, when Van Gundy was coaching himself , I really like to emphasize defense.

But Ibaka is still only a low-ranking sophomore. Whether he can take on this important task is still unknown.

Nowitzki was not intimidated by the strong and strong body of the Congolese. In the first attack of the second quarter, "North King" took the initiative to lean on Ibaka, and then raised his right hand to ask for the ball at Yiyang.

Without hesitation, Yiyang hit the ball inside with a precise lob.

Under Ibaka's tough top defense, Nowitzki knew that he could not push in with his back. So the German simply turned around and shot a jumper. Ibaka's reaction was very timely. It seemed that his hands were completely covered in front of Nowitzki's face.

However, as a superstar, how could Nowitzki be stumped by such a defense? Although Ibaka defended well, Nowitzki's goal was even more unreasonable. The basketball went into the net, Yiyang got his third assist of the game, and the Mavericks continued to widen the point difference.

Brooks, who was walking back and forth on the court, shook his head. If even Ibaka can't do it, then no one in the Thunder team can restrain Nowitzki. Is it possible that there is really only a confrontation with the Mavericks?

The second quarter of the game went on like this for 4 minutes. The two sides came and went, attacking and defending each other. But the difference has never been narrowed. What the Thunder need is a wave of offensive climax, and if they continue to grind with the Mavericks like this, it will only make this young team waste their efforts.

This time, Nowitzki, who was playing upright, was about to get a position near the baseline. Ibaka didn't dare to go forward, he knew how terrifying the passing level of the Chinese defender was. If you defend around the front, it is no different from directly giving the German a chance to dunk. Without stepping into the three-second zone, the position near the baseline is the closest to the basket. If Yiyang succeeds in passing the ball and goes around the front, Nowitzki can easily threaten the basket as long as he takes his big strides.

Seeing that Dirk was about to arrive, Yiyang played a trick with his eyes again. He stared at Marion, who was standing at the right corner, but suddenly flicked his wrist, and sent the ball to Nowitzki, who was near the baseline on the left side of the court.

Nowitzki gritted his teeth after getting the ball, turned over and shot! His fiery touch today almost plunged the Oklahoma fans into an abyss.

Ibaka was not to be outdone, he tried hard to block, but Nowitzki's shot point was too high, even if he raised his arm high, he couldn't block the basketball.

Diving in front of Ibaka's right, Nowitzki was off balance in the air. He insisted on shooting the ball calmly, but when it landed, Dirk, who was unstable, suddenly felt a sharp pain from his feet!

"what!"

The German gave a heart-piercing big foot, and then fell to the ground! Seeing Dirk's painful expression, Yiyang was the first to rush forward and asked about Nowitzki's situation.

Ibaka was obviously also frightened by this scene, and he quickly raised his hands to indicate that he did not touch Nowitzki. The replay on the big screen at the scene immediately gave the answer. Under the technology of modern technology, no player can escape the French Open.

Through slow motion playback, people can see clearly. Nowitzki landed with an unstable center of gravity, did not step on his footing firmly, and held back his left foot, which really had nothing to do with Ibaka.

The injury didn't look serious, but Nowitzki walked two steps after getting up, but waved to Carlisle. "German Chariot" can't continue to hold on to the game!

"How do you feel?" Carlisle thought there was nothing serious, but Dirk waved his hand unexpectedly. He rushed up suddenly and asked in detail.

"It's okay that this foot doesn't touch the ground, but it hurts very much when it touches the ground. I can't run in this situation at all. I think I'd better go back and check the subtleties." As an experienced player, Nowitzki naturally knows that health How important it is for a player. Roy and Oden are great, right? But once they lose their health, they are nothing.

Nowitzki doesn't dare to joke about his health now, let alone this year when the Mavericks are gaining momentum.

Carlisle respected Nowitzki's opinion, and with the support of Yiyang and Kidd, the German limped off the court. On the side of the bench, the team doctor took Dirk and helped him to the player tunnel.

After Dirk left, Carlisle re-examined the situation on the field. This sudden injury disrupted all of Carlisle's plans.

The beautiful situation suddenly became difficult because of Dirk's injury and retirement...

For the Mavericks who just finished Christmas, this is really not a good sign.