The Warriors sent a baseline kick, and Ellis received the pass and quickly dribbled forward.
Sun Yi immediately ran forward to coordinate the pick-and-roll.
At this stage, Sun Yi's pick-and-roll quality can only be regarded as elite level, but coupled with his historical level of shoulder width, the pick-and-roll quality immediately improved to a higher level.
After Kidd was blocked, Ellis bypassed the screen and broke into the three-point line to face Nowitzki, who was changing defense.
Xiao Gongju was very aggressive, he accelerated and sprinted past King Nuo Tianwang in one step, and then rushed into the penalty area.
Upon seeing this, Dampier wanted to rush back to the basket to cover, but his lateral speed was too slow. By the time he returned to the basket, Ellis had already scored a layup.
On the Mavericks bench, head coach Carlisle saw the scene on the court and shook his head helplessly.
The Mavericks are indeed weak inside. If they want to go further, they must strengthen their inside line in the offseason.
On the court, Kidd stood outside the three-point line and patiently directed his teammates' movements.
Seeing Kidd's leisurely look, the young man couldn't bear it anymore and immediately rushed forward to steal the ball in a gambling style.
Kidd is considered one of the stronger players among the defenders. When he saw Ellis rushing forward, he reacted immediately, put his arm against the young man's chest, and then firmly protected the ball.
Seeing that Ellis failed to steal the ball successfully, he immediately retreated to prevent Kidd from breaking through.
At the same time, Nowitzki ran to the free throw line, received Kidd's pass, responded from the high post, and immediately passed the ball to the right.
Sun Yi waved his arms to intercept, but failed.
Butler, who cut from the right side of the penalty area, received the pass, rushed into the penalty area and flew for a layup.
The Warriors served quickly, and Ellis received the pass and increased his speed.
Sun Yi, who was sprinting towards the penalty area, received the pass and took three steps directly. With the help of the layup package effect, he knocked away Nowitzki who was defending and rushed to the basket to hit the basket.
In the next few offensive and defensive rounds, the two sides fought inextricably and the score could not be opened.
Just like that, the first quarter ended, and the score displayed on the big screen was 27 to 22, with the Mavericks leading by 5 points.
Not long after, the inter-section break ended and the second quarter began.
The Warriors' lineup is: Curry, Moreau, Maggette, Sun Yi, Tolliver.
The Mavericks sent a lineup of Barea, Stevenson, Marion, Nowitzki, and Haywood.
When Sun Yi saw the Mavericks' lineup, he knew that the opponent wanted to pass the rotation smoothly through strong defense.
In the previous two games, the Mavericks were completely suppressed by the Warriors during the rotation phase, resulting in losses.
"The opponent is well prepared!"
After Sun Yi sighed, he looked away and ran towards the front court.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Warriors attacked first.
Curry quickly dribbled the ball forward, passed the ball to Sun Yi just after halftime, and then ran towards the bottom corner.
In the high post area on the right, Sun Yi received the pass, looked at Marion who was waiting in front of him, made a triple threat action, and took a tentative step.
Marion, who has rich experience in the game, did not act rashly and waited for Sun Yi's next move.
Sun Yi immediately retracted his probing foot, raised his hand to fake a shot, and then suddenly started to accelerate towards the penalty area.
Marion's defensive prediction ability is very good, and he quickly moves laterally to block Sun Yi's breakthrough space.
At the same time, Tolliver ran up out of nowhere and set up an off-ball screen to block Marion.
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
After blocking, Toliver immediately ran towards the three-point line.
Marion and Haywood made mistakes in cooperation and both ran towards the inside.
Seeing this, Sun Yi grabbed the basketball and passed it behind his head.
Tolliver, who just ran outside the three-point line, received the pass. Seeing no one in front of him, he adjusted and hit the three-pointer.
27:25!
The ball is in transition and the Mavericks attack.
Barea dribbled outside the three-point line and passed the ball to Nowitzki near the free throw line.
King Nuo received the pass and immediately raised it to prevent Sun Yi from cutting the ball, and then coordinated the attack.
Other Mavericks players moved quickly without the ball, tearing apart the Warriors' defense.
Barea accelerated past Nowitzki, caught the basketball hand-in-hand, and ran quickly to one side.
After King Nuo passed the ball, he took a step forward and blocked the pursuing Curry.
On the other side, Barea dribbled the ball to the mid-range area on the left and was about to take off for a shot when he saw Sun Yi coming quickly.
"This defense change is so fast!"
Barea didn't have the courage to challenge Sun Yi's defense and immediately passed the ball.
Nowitzki received the pass at the front of the penalty area, pushed away the defensive Curry, and hit a mid-range jumper.
29:25!
Nowitzki in this game was not as decadent as in the previous two games, as if he had been reborn and was in excellent condition.
In Nowitzki's career, it was smooth sailing in the early stage, until he encountered the miracle of Black Eight in 2007, which made his basketball career lackluster.
In the next two seasons, although the Mavericks made the playoffs, their best record was only a second-round trip.
This year's playoffs are another major setback in Nowitzki's life. It's like a repeat of the 2007 playoffs. This is really an unbearable pain for him.
Therefore, Nowitzki made some changes to overcome the psychological shadow and want to get rid of the label of "playoff softie".
The game continues and the Warriors attack.
Curry dribbled to the top of the arc, passed the ball to Sun Yi, and then quickly ran without the ball.
Morrow came to the right corner to ambush, bringing out his defender and opening up space.
Tolliver and Maggette ran to the designated position and used the "elevator door" tactic.
The elementary school students quickly passed through the crowd and ran towards the top of the arc.
The Mavericks were well prepared, and Barea went around the screen to quickly pursue the defense.
Curry received Sun Yi's pass, saw Barea rushing over, faked a real pass, and passed the ball.
On the other side, Sun Yi, who cut toward the basket from the left, received the pass, rushed into the penalty area, and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand.
The audience burst into applause, and cheers and shouts resounded throughout the arena.
Looking back, Nowitzki came to the low post on the right, received Barea's pass, turned over and made a fadeaway jumper, which was very decisive.
Sun Yi immediately pounced on him and stretched out his arms to interfere.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net and made a steady hit!
31:27!
Sun Yi frowned as he looked at Nowitzki who turned around quickly and left.
Nowitzki shot the ball very decisively, and did not pause due to psychological shadow like before. It can be said that he overcame his psychological shadow and gradually returned to his peak state.
"Desperate situations can inspire people's greatest potential and allow them to break through their shackles."
Sun Yi was both happy and worried about Nowitzki's changes.
He was excited to play against a strong opponent and worried about whether the Warriors could beat the Mavericks in their heyday.
Without thinking much, Sun Yi swept away the distracting thoughts in his mind, then ran to the baseline to catch the ball and advance forward.
Other Warriors players followed the tactical requirements and ran to the designated positions.
Sun Yi dribbled the ball to the top of the arc. When he saw his teammates opening up the space, he was not polite and quickly made a large crossover, and then broke through to the right.
Marion relied on his rich experience to predict in advance and moved laterally to block Sun Yi's breakthrough route.
Sun Yi, who was dribbling the ball, did not stop. With his huge strength, he pressed Marion with his horizontal elbow and rushed to the mid-range area on the right side. Then he leaned on Marion and threw the ball to the basket using horseback archery.
The basketball bounced off the rim and fell straight into the net.
Looking back, Barea and Nowitzki completed the pick-and-roll.
After blocking the pass, King Nuo immediately moved forward, received Barea's ground pass, rushed into the penalty area and made a layup.
"Sun and Dirk started to compete. This game was great to watch." Mike Breen commented excitedly.
Who wouldn’t love to watch such an exciting game!
On the court, Sun Yi and Curry played a pick-and-roll, mismatched against Barea.
Barea is only 183 centimeters tall and weighs 79 kilograms, making him look weak and helpless in front of Sun Yi.
Sun Yi was not merciful, he directly released the ball and broke through into the penalty area.
Barea couldn't guard Sun Yi and could only gamble and chip the ball.
Snap!
Barea hit Sun Yi hard on the hand.
At the same time, Sun Yi did not stop, took a step and threw the ball towards the basket.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net and made a steady hit!
"Beep! The Mavericks' No. 11 hitter fouled, the goal is valid, and there is an additional penalty."
The referee blew his whistle and gestured towards the technical table.
Amid the cheers and shouts of the fans in the audience, Sun Yi stood on the free throw line, took the basketball from the referee, and made two free throws steadily.
After that, both sides scored points, and the score kept rising.
When the game lasted about 4 minutes in the second quarter, the head coaches of both sides made substitution adjustments and replaced the main players on the field one after another.
After substitutions and adjustments, the Warriors used the "elevator door" tactic, and Curry hit a three-pointer to tie the point difference.
The Mavericks responded immediately. Nowitzki supported him from the high post and found Haywood on the inside pass. The latter received the ball and completed a two-handed dunk.
Randolph was a little depressed, picked up the basketball on the floor, quickly exited the baseline, and served the ball.
Sun Yi received the pass and advanced toward the frontcourt as quickly as possible.
Curry, Ellis and others quickly started a fast break and went outside the three-point line to perform cross-running runs.
When Sun Yi saw his teammates running out of opportunities, he immediately passed the ball over.
Ellis received the pass, faced Stevenson who rushed to interfere, and shot a three-pointer.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
The Mavericks protected the backcourt rebounds, and Kidd took his time dribbling forward.
Haywood immediately stepped forward to cooperate with the pick-and-roll.
At the same time, Nowitzki ran to the right side of the three-point line to provide Marion with an off-ball screen.
Kidd bypassed the screen and immediately hit the ball to the ground and passed it out.
On the other side, Marion used the cover of King Notre Dame to cut to the basket from the right, received Kidd's pass, took a step forward, and flew for a layup.
At this moment, Sun Yi quickly rushed back, jumped into the air, stretched out his arms to hit the rising basketball.
Snap!
Nailboard hat!
The basketball was slapped by Sun Yi and bounced off the backboard.
Randolph, who rushed back to the penalty area, grabbed the rebound, found Curry immediately, passed the ball, and then quickly ran towards the frontcourt.
Curry received the pass, quickly dribbled forward, came outside the three-point line to attract the defense, and hit the ball to the ground.
Randolph, who came from behind, received the pass, rushed into the penalty area, and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand.
The ball is in transition and the Mavericks attack.
Nowitzki came to the mid-range area on the right side and leaned on Sun Yi to reach for the ball.
Kidd, who was in control of the ball at the top of the arc, immediately passed the ball.
After receiving the pass, King Nuo immediately turned around and raised his hand to shoot.
Sun Yi immediately pounced on him and stretched his arms to interfere, but he didn't see Nowitzki shoot and knew he had been fooled.
Nuo Tianwang shook Sun Yi away, immediately turned back, then released the ball to break through the penalty area, rushed to the basket and flew for a layup.
In the next round, other Warriors players opened up space and created conditions for Sun Yi to play singles.
Sun Yi immediately started, made a change of direction in front of his body, and then broke through to the right.
He did not use skills to shake Marion away, but engaged in the roughest head-on confrontation.
Marion had passed his prime, and his body functions had declined across the board. He was unable to stop the young and strong Sun Yi, and was ruthlessly squeezed out of the way to make way for him.
In the mid-range area on the right, Haywood saw this situation and immediately retreated into the penalty area to defend.
Randolph took this opportunity to cut towards the basket.
Sun Yi, who was walking, saw Haywood running forward to cover the defense and immediately threw the ball out of the basket.
At the same time, Nowitzki quickly rushed to the basket. When he saw Randolph rushing to the basket, he stopped immediately without continuing to rush forward to serve as a backdrop.
Randolph came to the basket, jumped into the air, grabbed the basketball in the air, and dunked it into the basket.
It was the Mavericks' turn to attack, and through Kidd's command, they created a single opportunity for Nowitzki.
At this stage, Nuo Tianwang has overcome his psychological shadow and is no longer afraid of Sun Yi's defense. His offensive effect has been greatly improved, and his fadeaway jumper is basically unsolvable.
In this round, Nowitzki shook his shoulders and made a fake move, then immediately turned forward and hit a mid-range jumper.
Sun Yi was a little helpless. He couldn't predict Nowitzki's next move and couldn't interfere with the shooting at all.
Although they couldn't stop Nowitzki from scoring, the Mavericks couldn't stop the Warriors' offense.
In this round, Curry, Ellis and others contained the Mavericks' defense on the outside.
Sun Yi took the opportunity to cut along the baseline toward the basket. After receiving the pass, he rushed to the basket and completed a one-handed dunk.
In this way, Sun Yi and Nowitzki led the team forward in their own ways.
The Warriors' offensive tactics revolve around Sun Yi.
The Mavericks built their offense around Nowitzki.
Sun Yi's offensive method is a combination of sudden points. When the Mavericks shrink the interior defense, he will distribute the ball to assist his teammates to score.
If his teammates still don't have a chance, he will catch the ball and score by cutting in without the ball.
The Mavericks adopted a four-guarantee-one tactic, allowing Nowitzki to just score, while other Mavericks players created scoring opportunities for him.
Just like that, the second quarter ended with the score 55-57, and the Mavericks led by 2 points heading into the second half.
Sun Yi scored 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in a single quarter.
Nowitzki scored 18 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
In the second quarter of the game, Sun Yi and Nowitzki really started to compete!
During the halftime break, the head coaches of both teams quickly walked towards the tunnel with their players and rushed back to the locker room to arrange the offensive and defensive tactics for the second half.
