One Guard

After his wife passed away, Popovich was silent when facing the camera, unable to say anything. All he wants now is to go home, back to San Antonio, and back to his wife.

At this time, the San Antonio Spurs were already 2-0 behind. They had lost all two away games, and the situation was already very difficult for them.

But having said that, before the series started, not many people thought that the Spurs could get past the Mavericks.

"That guy was still on the basketball court until the end." What shocked Yiyang the most was Popovich. If even the death of a relative could not defeat him, then this old man would be almost impossible to defeat.

What the Mavericks have to do now is to end the series cleanly in San Antonio, allowing Popovich to spend time with his wife in peace.

So in the two games in San Antonio, the Mavericks played at a high level. If the Mavericks choose mercy at this time, it will be a humiliation for Popovich.

In this year's playoffs in San Antonio, Yiyang received the smallest boos. This public enemy of San Antonio suddenly stopped being booed at the ATT Center, and even Yiyang himself was not used to it.

Maybe it was because Yiyang didn't celebrate his victory after the last game and told his teammates not to celebrate their victory that he won some reputation among Spurs fans.

This is the world, you respect others. In turn, others will respect you.

In the two games in San Antonio, Yiyang still performed well. 35 points and 11 assists in one game, 39 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in one game. Yiyang's outstanding performance also helped the Mavericks successfully win two consecutive games, sweeping the Spurs with a total score of 4-0 and easily advancing.

The reason why Yiyang did this was to hope that the Spurs and Popovich could lose to a truly strong player. And what Yiyang is doing is to prove that he is indeed a strong man.

Because there is no shame in losing to the strong. Even if people talk about this season in the future, they will be emotional. "Ah, the Spurs lost to the best team in the league that year, that's normal."

After the series, Yiyang also hugged Manu Ginobili tightly. Because both Yiyang and the fans know that after this game ends, it may not only end the first round of the series, but it may also end an era, an era belonging to the Pampas Eagles.

Will Manu play another season? Maybe, it really won't happen this time.

After this series, half of the league's stars publicly mourned Popovich's wife Erin on the Internet and offered their most sincere respect.

In the bloody battlefield of the playoffs,

The alliance also showed a rare scene of human warmth.

The matter between Popovich and the Spurs has come to an end for the time being. Now, the best respect for the gray-haired old man is not to disturb him anymore. Therefore, the media quickly shifted their attention in an attempt to draw the fans' attention away from Popovich.

Therefore, other teams must shoulder the "heavy task" of diverting attention.

The San Antonio Spurs unfortunately became the first team to leave the playoff stage this season, and the Dallas Mavericks were also the first team to book a spot in the Western Conference semifinals.

The other games in the first round of the Western Conference were much more intense than the Texas Civil War between the Mavericks and the Spurs. Especially in the series between the Thunder and Trail Blazers, the two sides have always been inseparable.

With the Big Three, the Thunder were originally one of the championship contenders this season, but when they encountered the Trail Blazers, who had won 13 consecutive games in the final regular season, they struggled even in the first round.

The two teams played for 6 games before finally deciding the winner. Portland's backcourt killed all the Big Three of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 4-2, the Trail Blazers successfully defeated the Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder have naturally become the most disappointing team this season, bar none.

Won the series with the Thunder, plus the Trail Blazers' 13-game winning streak in the final stages of the regular season. People can't help but imagine that Portland's double backcourt can stop the Dallas Mavericks from entering the Western Conference Finals?

Lillard's performance this season is very inspiring. With his own efforts, he has made the All-Star team in the Western Conference where excellent defenders are gathered. His big-hearted kills have also stimulated the fans' nerves. Although Lillard had a history of humiliation when he was zero-blocked by Yiyang, that was a long time ago after all. It is impossible for Lillard to do nothing in front of Yiyang now.

And Portland's other gun McCollum has also proven his scoring ability, scoring skills and scoring talent. The backcourt composed of these two guys makes the Trail Blazers expected to become the biggest dark horse this season.

"The Mavericks may win, but it will most likely take six or even seven games to win. The Trail Blazers are in good shape this season and they will cause a lot of trouble!"

"It is not impossible for the Trail Blazers to advance. As long as Lillard and McCollum can grasp the key goals, they will still have a chance!"

"The absence of Rudy Gobert has created conditions for the Trail Blazers to counterattack. If Lillard and McCollum perform stably, it is not impossible for them to win."

Before the start of the Western Conference semifinals, ESPN experts are predicting the outcome. This year, the situation in the West is really tense. The Mavericks encountered a difficult Trail Blazers, while the Warriors encountered the Rockets in advance. This may be the most unpredictable situation in the Western Conference in many years.

Half of ESPN's experts think the Mavericks will win, and half think the Trail Blazers can counterattack. But no one among the 22 experts dared to predict that the Mavericks would sweep the Trail Blazers 4-0.

As a result, this group of ESPN experts who are famous for being slapped in the face were once again slapped in the face by the Mavericks.

On May 8, when Yiyang led the Mavericks to defeat the Trail Blazers 112-101 at the Moda Center, all Trail Blazers fans covered their heads in disbelief.

4-0, after sweeping the San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Mavericks once again swept the highly anticipated Portland Trail Blazers!

Portland's double backcourt performed very poorly in the Western Conference semifinals. Lillard even failed to score in double figures in one game! It is true that he will not be blocked by Yiyang now, but he will also not be able to perform well.

Under the guidance of Carlisle, the Trail Blazers' biggest advantage, the two-man backcourt, was exhausted by the Mavericks' double-teaming tactics. The Mavericks resolutely double-teamed the ball carrier after the pick-and-roll, which caused both guns to get lost on the offensive end. While they were unable to rely on offense to solve the problem, Lillard and McCollum were also unable to connect the team's overall offense in time, causing the Trail Blazers to struggle very much in these games.

The Trail Blazers want to take advantage of the Mavericks' inside disadvantage, but the Mavericks don't give you a chance to take advantage of this disadvantage.

Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts was an assistant coach of the Mavericks and Carlisle's assistant, and he has a good relationship with Yiyang and others. And this series has once again highlighted the truth that old age is still hot. Carlisle, the master, has not yet starved to death.

In terms of the team's overall offense, the Trail Blazers can be said to be one of the worst teams in the league. During the regular season, they ranked last in the league in assists per game. On the offensive end, they relied heavily on the personal talents of Lillard and McCollum. , and this shortcoming was also severely magnified in the series. Throughout the series, the two-guns were unable to score or connect the team. They did not have more assists than the Mavericks in any game. Even in the first game of the series, Yiyang alone sent out all the assists with the Trail Blazers. A team-worthy 17 assists!

As the star player of the Trail Blazers, Lillard averaged only 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 4 games. He averaged 3.4 turnovers per game and his shooting percentage was limited to as low as 35.2%, all data dropped significantly compared to the regular season. These statistics are Lillard's worst performance in the six-year playoffs.

What's worse is that despite his own poor performance, Lillard allowed Yiyang to average 32.3 points and 10.8 assists per game, and averaged a god-level performance of 65.8% from the field. Although Lillard finally became an All-Star this year, the gap between him and Yiyang does not seem to be getting smaller.

In this way, the Trail Blazers were swept with almost no power to fight back. Fans even feel that the trouble the Trail Blazers have brought to the Mavericks is not even as big as the trouble the Spurs have brought to the Mavericks.

At least that guy Aldridge scored a full 41 points in the low post for the Mavericks in the first game at home. And what about Portland's two-gun backcourt? Lillard's highest scoring game was only 21 points.

After the series, ESPN experts all laughed at themselves and said: We did not underestimate the Mavericks, but underestimated the huge gap between Lillard and Yi.

This series not only allowed people to see the strength of the Mavericks, but also allowed everyone to experience the horror of being ruled by Yiyang again. A guard who dominated the regular season, averaging 26 points and 6 assists per game, was guarded by Yiyang in the playoffs and his average score dropped by 10 points per game!

In this league, there may not be many defenders who can compare with Yiyang.

However, at this time, the series between the Rockets and the Warriors is still in full swing. People are extremely looking forward to the outcome of this series, because no matter whether James Harden or Stephen Curry is promoted, these two guys should be able to cause trouble to Yiyang when they face him.

The Dallas Mavericks have successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell last season. This represents the real challenge and pressure, and this is where it begins.

The Rockets and Warriors, Harden and Curry are not easy enemies to deal with.

No matter who advances between the Rockets and the Warriors, what fans will see is destined to be a series of magical battles between backcourt players!