One Guard

Trailing by 13 points at halftime, Stevens had anticipated many difficult situations before the game began. But he never expected that the Mavericks would take a double-digit lead in just half a game.

The Celtics' defense almost collapsed in the middle of the second quarter. If Carlisle is willing to beat the main force to death, the Mavericks might be able to widen the point difference to 20 points!

The Mavericks offense has no focus because everyone has the potential to be a focus. Even Mudiay, the much-maligned guy, did a good job of scoring and defending in the rotation today.

The Dallas Mavericks actually had many shortcomings at the beginning of the season, but by now, many of them have disappeared.

This is the scary thing about the Dallas Mavericks. They are already strong, but they are still evolving.

"Strictly implement man-to-man tactics, switch defenses as soon as there is a screen, don't hesitate! Pass the ball more on the offensive end, and take action when the opportunity comes! There is still half a game, we still have a chance! This is not the first time we have faced this situation, but every time we got through it! So don’t be discouraged, it’s not time for the Mavericks to celebrate yet!”

When Stevens spoke, the locker room was quiet, and no one said a word.

Trailing by 13 points at halftime, compared to trailing the Warriors by 17 points in the third quarter, trailing the Rockets by 18 points at halftime, etc., today is really not the most difficult game they have ever encountered.

In half of the Celtics' 15-game winning streak, they fell behind by a big margin and eventually evened the score.

The reason is simple, because the Celtics do not have a pure point guard. Kelly guard is an offensive point guard, his style is more like Allen Iverson. You can let him score, but if you let him organize the offense as rigidly as Yiyang or Kidd, it will be a bit overwhelming.

Without a pure point guard, it will take time for the Celtics' young players to integrate into the offense.

People usually see the Celtics playing poorly in the first half but turning the tide in the second half, and that's why. Irving can often perform incredible offense in the second half of the game, and Jaylen Brown, Tatum and others will also start to find their offensive feel in the second half of the game.

But today, the Celtics' opponent is the Dallas Mavericks, who are known for their stability. That's why Stevens is extremely worried.

I wonder if the second half, which the Celtics have always relied on for survival, will save the team again today?

The halftime break was not long, and before the players could catch their breath, they had to step into the arena of the American Airlines Center Arena again. Playing in this arena, every minute will not be easy. The Mavericks give people a sense of oppression that no other team has.

In the third quarter of the game, the Celtics still attacked first. In the first half, in order to let his teammates get into the state, Irving had to hold back more or less. But in the second half of the game, he had almost unlimited firing rights.

Irving's dominance of the offense in the second half was the key to the Celtics' frequent comebacks. However, when encountering the defender Yiyang today, it is unclear whether Irving can still dominate the offensive end.

Irving did not stick to the ball, but let Brown handle the ball and ran without the ball. Next to LeBron, Irving has already developed good off-ball offensive skills.

But Yiyang knows Irving very well. In the past four years, the Mavericks beat the Cavaliers in the finals for three consecutive years, and Yiyang's opponent was Irving for three consecutive years. Yiyang has long remembered how Owen likes to run and when he might suddenly accelerate.

Owen felt as if he was meeting his own shadow, because besides himself, Owen couldn't believe that anyone could understand him so well.

Seeing that Irving couldn't escape for a long time, Jaylen Brown had to solve the problem by himself. However, Brown is not an outside shooter who is good at shooting. If he wants to attack, he must get close to the basket.

Although there was a screen with Horford, Mitchell didn't have to go around it at all, but turned around and ran back. Because Mitchell knows that Jaylen Brown will not shoot immediately after taking advantage of the screen.

Of course, as a rookie, Mitchell cannot be so smart. These were all things Yiyang told him in his ear one minute before the start of the second half.

"I'm responsible for taking care of Kelly, and you're responsible for keeping an eye on Brown. His shooting is very unstable, so let him shoot. If there's a pick-and-roll, don't let Rudy cover the defense, just shrink the penalty area. Do it well, and we'll almost win!"

It was this simple sentence that finally allowed Jaylen Brown to make a layup despite Mitchell's interference. As soon as the game started in the third quarter, the Celtics failed to attack, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to the team's morale.

This time, Yiyang did not slowly advance and grind against the Celtics. As soon as Gobert grabbed the rebound, Yiyang immediately clapped his hands for the ball. The Mavericks are going to speed up, and Stevens' worst fear is coming.

At this time, Jaylen Brown was still in the Mavericks penalty area and had no time to react, but Yiyang had already crossed the midfield line. There was no choice but to let Owen go up and block Yiyang. This is also the first time in this game that Owen has faced off against Yiyang on the defensive end.

Yiyang did not slow down during the confrontation. This is thanks to the special training given to Yiyang by Mike Bibby. I don't say how strong Yiyang is now, but at least it's impossible for a defender like Irving to stop him directly.

But even so, Irving did not give up. He stayed close to Yiyang, constantly confronting him, and would rather force Yiyang to pass the ball than let him get close to the basket.

Just when Yiyang reached the three-point line, Dallas No. 1 suddenly pulled back and stopped suddenly!

Due to inertia, Owen rushed over. He must press forward again immediately. Yiyang's pull-up jump shot has caused headaches for all defenders since his rookie season.

However, what Yiyang was waiting for was Owen's pounce. Taking advantage of Owen's center of gravity to pounce forward, Yiyang, who had originally pulled back to stop suddenly, started to speed again!

Owen knew in his mind that he had been deceived, but his body could not fight against the inertia. He could only watch Yiyang pass by him.

At this time, Horford had already rushed back to the basket. But Yiyang easily made a throw and scored the basketball without even confronting Horford.

Stevens was sweating profusely, not because of the heat, but because of nerves!

He could see that Carlisle's thoughts were almost exactly the same as his own! After the first half of the game had successfully mobilized everyone's enthusiasm, in the second half, the bald man planned to let Yiyang dominate the offensive end!

This is definitely not good news for the Celtics! Once this guy Yiyang turns on the scoring mode...

Stevens didn't dare to continue thinking. He just hoped that Irving could respond as soon as possible!

The Celtics made their second offense in the third quarter. Irving made a crisp three-pointer from beyond the three-point line against Yiyang's defense, stopping the team's bleeding in time.

"Kelly can score one or two goals like this, but he can never win the game this way. If they want to come back, the Celtics must play more patiently!"

However, Irving's goal did not make Kenny Smith optimistic about the Celtics. How many of these superstar shots can Irving make in the second half against the defense?

Yiyang did not interrupt his rhythm because of Irving's goal. The last time he attacked with the ball, he taught Irving, a master of dribbling, a lesson. This time, Yiyang showed Owen what it means to attack without the ball.

Hayward reached the top of the three-point arc and received Yiyang's pass. Stevens frowned. He was too familiar with this position and passing.

In the past at Butler University, Yiyang and Hayward used this trick to kill many strong teams! ?

After Yiyang handed over the ball, he didn't just stand there stupidly, but quickly cut in! As soon as he entered the three-second zone, he immediately braked suddenly and ran back to the mid-range position! As soon as Jaylen Brown came up, Yiyang moved again. This time, he cut along the baseline. Brown just turned around and was about to chase back, but he collided with Gobert solidly, covering without the ball!

At this point, Yiyang ran out of space. Although Hayward can't organize offense, his passing ability is very good. He pushed hard with one hand from outside the three-point line, and the basketball flew into Yiyang's hands dragging the afterimage with great accuracy!

At this time, Horford followed Yiyang as much as possible. Jaylen Brown was blocked, and Horford had to pursue the defense himself.

However, Yiyang did not regard Horford as a threat at all. It was not that he looked down on Horford's ability, but that when the offensive player broke through along the baseline, it was useless to simply pursue defense without blocking.

Yiyang used a beautiful pull-up layup, using the basket to block Horford, and the basketball missed the board and entered the net. Across the basket, even if O'Neal comes, he can only choose to foul.

After two consecutive successful attacks, Yiyang's performance in the first half was tepid. But in the second half of the game, he had allowed the Celtics' defense to be broken repeatedly.

On the next attack, Jayson Tatum's three-pointer was also crooked. The No. 1 pick in 2017 didn't seem to have a very good touch today. He fired from the bottom corner three times today, but none of them hit. Compared with Tatum, the performance of two low-ranking rookies, Mitchell and Kuzma, was actually better.

The basketball knocked out of the frame, and before the Celtics players had time to regret it, the Mavericks' surging offense struck again.

Yiyang was as powerful as a thousand, and he had already entered the penalty area before the Celtics' defense could get out of the way. The Celtics were in a bit of a mess, and their proud defense looked extremely fragile at this time.

Yiyang held the basketball like a bag of explosives and went to the basket. Jaylen Brown was anxious and directly used his strong body to knock down Yiyang who had just taken off.

Yiyang's body had completely lost his balance in the air, and it looked like he just threw the ball to the basket casually. However, even when his body was almost parallel to the ground, the basketball thrown by Yiyang managed to crash into the net!

"Hit three points! Hit three points! You can score all these points, which fully demonstrates to us what true personal ability is!"

After Yiyang scored, Carlisle sat back on the bench with peace of mind.

"I went completely crazy in the second half." Armstrong laughed.

"Yes, so there should be no problem in this game." Carlisle stretched.

The extra free throw was made, and the 17-point difference weighed heavily on the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is still too immature in front of Yiyang. No, it's not Brown's fault. Is there anyone in this alliance who can really contain Yiyang?

Stevens was stopped again, by his most proud student.

In the first half of the game, everyone worked together to reduce the pressure on Yiyang. In the second half of the game, Yiyang, who did not consume much, ended the game. The Dallas Mavericks' tactics are to hit the key points.

Stevens now just feels lucky that Boston is not on the West Coast.