One Guard
Chapter 865: Imperfect Return
Cavaliers VS Celtics, after so many years, the Eastern Conference finals finally have something to watch. This season, LeBron James is no longer a "walk" player in the Finals. Along the way in the playoffs, the Cavaliers have not played as smoothly as in previous years.
After all, the Cavaliers are not a super team now. They only have one superstar, LeBron James. Love? Kevin Love's performance this season is quite mediocre and cannot be of much help. Whether the Cavaliers can win or not depends entirely on whether "Old Man" James can continue to perform incredible performances.
Although this year's Eastern Conference finals are finally somewhat interesting to watch, the limelight is still suppressed by the Western Conference finals. The slogan "Winning the Western Conference Finals is equal to winning the championship" was once again mentioned by fans.
The Warriors faced off against the Super Mavericks, a confrontation between the two best teams in the league. Although the Warriors have played the Mavericks in the Western Conference finals in recent years, no one is tired of it. Because these two teams bring something different to everyone every year.
Last season, the Warriors introduced Kevin Durant and became a super team among super teams. This season, the Mavericks have also changed their appearance. They won a record-breaking 75 wins in the regular season and are eager to regain dominance of the league in one fell swoop.
In order to compete against each other, both teams are constantly evolving and becoming stronger. This season, both sides have almost reached their peak. This can be said to be a peak showdown between the two teams!
While the Mavericks were still playing Game 3 against the Trail Blazers, tickets for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals had already begun to be pre-sold at the American Airlines Center. In other words, before the Western Conference semifinals ended, the Mavericks Western Conference finals tickets had already been sold out. This practice of pre-selling tickets one round in advance has only been done by one team before, and that was the Los Angeles Lakers during Kobe Bryant's two consecutive championships.
The Mavericks now are just like the Lakers back then, they have absolute confidence. The Western Conference Finals is where the Mavericks' battle really begins.
Although the Mavericks entered the Western Conference Finals with an undefeated record of 8-0, the Warriors, who had just played a tiebreaker with the Rockets, were even more motivated.
"We've been through all the necessary hardships, and we know how to survive in tough times. So we're not afraid to play tough games. What about the Dallas Mavericks? IMHO, they've never had a challenge. I I don’t know if they are ready for the next game, but I am sure that my players are ready.” At the press conference the day before the game, Steve Kerr looked extremely confident in front of the camera.
After all, it was he who personally ended the Mavericks' dynasty last season and won the Warriors the first NBA championship trophy in team history.
Kerr believes that it is natural for the Mavericks' newcomers to play well when the ball is in their favor. But under high pressure and headwinds, Cole didn't think Mitchell and Kuzma could help.
Not to mention the sixth man Mudiay.
Just like what the media said when teasing the Mavericks before the start of the season: Is it possible that Coach Carlisle wants to use Kuzma to face Durant?
At the time, people didn’t know what Kuzma was capable of, so it seemed like a joke. Now, even though Kuzma has shown his worth, this still sounds like a joke.
Kuzma's performance is naturally good. He is definitely one of the best rookies this year. But he and Durant are never the same level of players.
Judging from the lineup on paper, the Warriors are unmatched. Even the Mavericks, who have won 75 games, have a slightly "shabby" lineup compared to the Warriors.
The outside world believes that as long as the Warriors can limit Yiyang's performance, the Mavericks will be completely doomed.
Various reports are emerging one after another, and various media have also come up with their predictions and analysis of the game. But among all these reports, it is difficult to find Rudy Gobert's name. The French big man, who has been absent from the game for two months, seems to have been forgotten...
On May 14, the NBA Western Conference Finals officially started at the American Airlines Center Arena in Dallas. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Western Conference Finals has been held here. In the past six years, the Mavericks have never missed this Western Conference game.
But it's clear that Mavericks players and fans won't be satisfied. Their goal is a championship, not just the Western Conference Finals.
Before the game started, Gobert conducted one-on-one offensive and defensive exercises in front of a trainer holding a crash pad, looking for a sense of confrontation and competition.
If it were the regular season now, Gobert could slowly adjust from the bench and slowly find a feeling. But now that we have reached the most critical Western Conference finals, Gobert is under much greater pressure. Because he didn't have time to adjust, after being away from the competition for two months, he had to give his best performance to deal with the most difficult competition as soon as he came back!
There is no doubt that this is very difficult to achieve. After not playing a game for two months, my game feeling will definitely deteriorate a lot. It is precisely because of this that Draymond Green was so rampant before the game. Of course he knows that Gobert has performed well this season, but after returning from injury, it is impossible for this guy to be 100% in shape immediately!
Before the game started, courtside reporter David Aldridge also found Gobert and asked him if he was ready for this game.
"Whether there is or not, I have no retreat. So I just want to do my best, and I don't think about other things so much for the time being." Gobert didn't finish his words, because even he didn't know how much power he could exert.
Amid the roaring cheers of the fans, the game finally started. It wasn't until the big man wearing jersey No. 27 stepped onto the court that people remembered that the Mavericks had such a defensive beast.
The Warriors are responsible for the jump ball. Although he is a small forward, he is the highest height on the court for the Warriors. During the scrimmage, Gobert won easily. But this jump ball doesn't mean anything. Green kept talking trash from the beginning of guarding Gobert. But the Frenchman remained expressionless, as if he couldn't hear anything.
Yiyang faced off against his "old friend" Klay Thompson. In the Warriors, the task of defending Yiyang was basically left to Thompson. Yiyang originally planned to look for Hayward after the game started, but Hayward was stared at by Iguodala, the hero of the Mavericks' three consecutive championships.
So Yiyang pretended to use the screen to break through, but in fact, after bypassing the screen, he immediately sent the ball to Mitchell who cut to the basket!
The two of them cooperated very well in passing and cutting without any interference. Seeing Mitchell receiving the basketball, all the fans at the scene held their breath. This athletic guard who can cover up dunks from behind the frame is bound to blow up the entire court every time he hits the basket.
Mitchell jumped up powerfully, and it looked like this would be another powerful dunk! However, Draymond Green rushed from the diagonal stab, caught up with Mitchell's height, and swatted the basketball out of Mitchell's hand!
"Draymond Green, blocked the dunk! He deserves to be the best defensive player last season and the Warriors' basket protector! It's so beautiful, the timing and height of the shot are perfect!" Mike Bu Lin didn't expect that there would be such an exciting scene right after the game started. The dunk and the blocking dunk were both equally exciting!
Mitchell fell awkwardly under the huge resistance. Green picked up the basketball and then advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.
Gobert retreats very quickly. Despite his height, his mobility is very impressive. A center who can run behind Yiyang all year round is not much slower.
After Green quickly passed the half court with the ball, he passed the ball to Durant. Durant made a sharp change of direction and passed Hayward, holding the basketball in two strides and reaching the basket. This guy's two steps might be considered someone else's three or four steps!
Gobert took off in a hurry, but did not interfere with Durant's layup. Instead, the referee blew the whistle. At the same time, the basketball rolled up the net, and Durant got a chance to hit a three-pointer as soon as the game started!
"Two points are valid, plus a penalty! The Mavericks are in trouble as soon as they come up." The commentators sat on the stage and joked.
"Are you calling a body hair foul?" Carlisle complained angrily to the referee. If Armstrong hadn't stopped him in time, he might have received a technical foul.
"Don't be angry, Rudy's defensive position is indeed not good, and his positional sense has not returned to its previous level." Armstrong was a little nervous. It seems that Gobert has not adapted to the real game.
"We have to let him take his time. I hope that kid can withstand it." Carlisle sat back on the bench. This time, even he was unsure.
In the Mavericks' second offense, Yiyang planned to use his superb running without the ball to get rid of Klay Thompson, and then shoot long distance from beyond the three-point line. But Gobert's off-ball screen was not done well. The guy's position was too short and he didn't catch Klay at all!
"The quality of the screen was not high, Klay Thompson put it up, and Yiyang took the shot! Alas, it didn't go in, the Mavericks missed a good opportunity!"
"Rudy seems to have not figured out where he should stand. I bet that if the person who screened the ball just now was Majori, Clay would never be able to catch up."
Yiyang missed the shot, and the Warriors quickly counterattacked. The Warriors are also good at scoring in transition.
Curry faked a real pass, giving Thompson a chance. Mitchell was still too young and didn't understand Curry's routine, so he let Thompson shoot one.
A guy like Thompson must not be allowed to have a smooth touch. Once he is allowed to have a smooth touch, he will not be able to score points at all. However, on his first shot today, Klay got an open shot and made it.
"How about we let Majori try it first? It's too dangerous to continue like this." Armstrong was nervous. One wrong step in the Western Conference finals would ruin a season's hard work!
"Give him some time, man, give him some time..." Carlisle put his chin in his hands. That guy Rudy can definitely do better.
"Rudy's performance in these two rounds was very poor. Sir, do you think he can get back to his form today?" In the stands, French TV also sent their commentary team, and today's guest commentator is... It's French national team coach Vincent Collet.
"The first time Rudy played with us in the World Cup was against Spain in 2014. At the beginning, he was beaten to death by the two Gasol brothers. But then, he gave the pair of Spanish towers a taste of their power. That game became Rudy's battle to become famous in the international arena, and it is still talked about by people today. Rudy may not be perfect from the beginning, but he is definitely trying to change himself at this time. .Rudy is a smart guy, so let’s not talk about this game. I guarantee that he will get back to his game shape in this quarter!”
The French coach looked very confident, and he didn't forget to add something later.
"Rudy Gobert is definitely the most amazing guy I have ever worked with."
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