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Chapter 222 Basketball Never Lies! (First Update!)

Leading his team to a draw against the Lakers, the defending champions, under Qin Yue's leadership, have made it to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year with unstoppable momentum.

And the other side.
The calf didn't keep them waiting long.

After battling the SuperSonics for six games, the Dallas team conquered KeyArena in Game 6, eliminating the SuperSonics 4-2 and setting up a Western Conference Finals matchup against the Warriors.

In terms of the course of the game, this was a fairly classic series.

With Yao Ming on the roster, the SuperSonics had an absolute advantage in the paint.

However, this season, the Mavericks, who rivaled the Warriors in the number of three-point attempts per game, ultimately prevailed thanks to their more accurate outside shooting.

"In the past, we all thought that you couldn't win a championship by shooting."

TNT's Barkley, while reviewing this year's Western Conference semifinals, said: "But it turns out that you can't win a championship by shooting, it's just that you're not shooting accurately enough."

Since entering the playoffs, the Mavericks have averaged 31 three-point attempts per game and made nearly 12 three-pointers per game.

Although in past encounters, Qin Yue had repeatedly complained that Mavericks head coach Mike Woodson was nothing like Larry Brown's disciple.

However, this season, under the positive influence of "three-point maniac" Woodson, the Mavericks have evolved into a standard small-ball team.

Of these, the changes in Dirk Nowitzki are the most noticeable.

It's worth noting that during this period, Dirk Nowitzki's average three-point attempts were roughly in the range of two to three.

But now.
Nowitzki's statistic, however, soared to more than seven times a night.

Woodson's insane use of Nowitzki.
Even former Mavericks head coach Don Nelson remarked, "I have no doubt that under Mike's guidance, Dirk is at the most efficient stage of his career."

As is well known, even in the early part of his career, Nowitzki had already proven himself to be a sharpshooter who could attempt nearly five three-pointers per night and maintain a three-point shooting percentage of nearly 40%.

However, influenced by many objective factors such as the prevailing social values ​​and the overall competition environment,
To avoid being labeled a "softie" for taking too many three-pointers, Nowitzki significantly reduced his three-point attempts after entering his prime.

Until Woodson took over the Mavericks.

Woodson began to instill in Nowitzki the idea that "it's not that 50% of two-point shots are bad, it's just that 40% of three-point shots are more cost-effective." Under Woodson's guidance, Nowitzki rediscovered his youthful self.

"I don't understand why Messiah, who takes about seven three-pointers a night, is seen as a symbol of toughness and grit," Woodson said. "While Dirk, who also takes seven three-pointers a night, is labeled a 'softie.' I love watching Dirk shoot threes on the court, and if I could, I'd even wish he could take more than ten three-pointers a game."

When the two three-point shooting powerhouses meet in this year's Western Conference Finals.

As three-point maestro Woodson drove this more efficient German machine toward the Bay Area.

When the Mavericks, having weathered many hardships, stood before the defending champions with their championship hearts.

The evening of July 5.

Auckland.

The highly anticipated first game of the Western Conference Finals took place as scheduled at Oracle Arena.

On the night of the game, Brown, who had returned to the Warriors' starting lineup, nearly got into a fight with Chandler when they were about to jump for the ball.

The reason was that Chandler, who had always looked down on Brown, immediately said, "I heard you only averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds in the last round? Is this the level of a Western Conference All-Star center?"

In the center of the court, faced with Chandler's objective statement of facts, Brown, who was instantly out of his element, shoved Chandler and then hid behind Nash.

This left Chandler, who was known for his fiery temper, speechless.

At that moment, the way Chandler looked at Brown was like Qiao Feng looking at Murong Fu on Shaoshi Mountain—how could someone like him be considered the best sweeping center in the West alongside me?

On the field, after this little incident, the big screen displayed the starting lineups for both teams in tonight's match.

Mavericks: Chandler, Nowitzki, Marion, Stevenson, Parker.

Warriors: Brown, Qin Yue, Wallace, Bell, Nash.

At the opening tip-off, Chandler, brimming with resentment, used his exaggerated wingspan to win possession for the Mavericks.

Parker dribbled the ball across half-court and completed a pick-and-roll with Nowitzki near the top of the key.

Although Nash's defense is unlikely to keep up with Parker, who is currently in his prime, the Warriors have assigned Bell to guard this French supercar tonight.
But when Parker dribbled and accelerated, Old Bell could only pray that Qin Yue could help him complete the delay immediately.

The next second, Qin Yue's delay was perfectly timed.

Nowitzki's ability to quickly bounce to the outside has given him space to shoot from beyond the arc.

This is precisely why, after being swept out of the playoffs by the Warriors last season, Woodson firmly believed that the Mavericks would only have a chance to defeat the Warriors if they found a top-tier explosive player.

It's true that Qin Yue's defense has been increasingly showing a gap-filling advantage in recent years, but even the strongest player like Qin Yue can't cover for his teammates' mistakes every single time.

For example, in this round.

On the perimeter, Nowitzki, receiving a pass from Parker, didn't hesitate and immediately scored the first points for the Mavericks with a precise high-arc three-pointer.

3:0.

On the Warriors' bench, after the two teams had traded several possessions at the start of the game, Lionel Hollins suggested to Mike Malone, "Mike, do we need to change our defensive strategy?"

As a defensive expert, Hollins, who noticed that the Mavericks had repeatedly moved Qin Yue away from the paint, clearly understood that the Mavericks were trying to reduce Qin Yue's defensive impact in their paint by using Nowitzki's shooting range.

Moreover, with the Mavericks' constant movement and distribution, Qin Yue's workload on defense was significantly greater than usual.

In Hollins' view, this was clearly not a good sign.

"Leon, what do you think we should do to adjust?" Malone asked Hollins for advice.

“We should have Kwame match up against Dirk, and have Messiah move back to center,” Hollins said.

Upon hearing this, Malone quickly made a decision: "Do as you say!" On the court, the Warriors' first defensive possession after adjustments.

Brown did an excellent job of helping Bell complete the delay on the perimeter and quickly retreated to Nowitzki's position.

but
The experienced Nowitzki still picked up Brown at the wing dribbling spot and made the shot after dribbling into the long two-point area.

That night, Nowitzki gave Qin Yue a noticeably different feeling than before.

It wasn't that his skills had become more refined, but rather that his mindset had been subtly forged in Nowitzki an unwavering, steely ambition that was second to none.

Furthermore, with Chandler and Marion providing protection both inside and outside, Qin Yue's tactics of using 4-5 and 3-4 pick-and-rolls to switch Nowitzki in front of him for one-on-one plays are far less effective than before.

Despite the fact that in order to ensure Nowitzki is not singled out by Qin Yue, the Mavericks will inevitably be forced to give other Warriors players some shooting opportunities during defensive rotations.

However, by providing the Warriors with plenty of physical contact off the ball and shortening their shot-taking window through rapid rotations, the Mavericks managed to keep their defensive losses within an acceptable range.

It must be said that this Mavericks team has a wealth of experience in fighting against the Warriors.

For the past few seasons, the Warriors, with Qin Yue, have been their natural nemesis.

So in today's league, if you had to ask which team understands the Warriors best, the Mavericks would undoubtedly be the answer.

At Oracle Arena, the visiting Mavericks led 16-12 when the game entered its first official timeout.

After the timeout, the Warriors made two personnel adjustments.

Jamison and Curry replaced Brown and Nash, respectively.

This was the Warriors' pre-game strategy.

Back when the two teams faced off for the last time in the regular season, Qin Yue and Ma Long had already fully experienced how ruthless this Mavericks team was in protecting their Dirk Nowitzki.

Therefore, if the Warriors want to exploit Nowitzki's weaknesses on offense, the best strategy is not for Qin Yue to force the Mavericks to switch defenses through pick-and-rolls, but rather to field a lineup that will inevitably expose Nowitzki to the Warriors' offensive strengths.

Such as now.

When Nowitzki had to choose one player from Qin Yue, Jamison, and Wallace to defend, he chose Jamison. Qin Yue immediately directed his teammates to clear Jamison's half of the court.

This is a tactical treatment Jamison hasn't received since leaving the Wizards.

Not to mention that at this very moment, Jamison's assistant is Qin Yue, who is widely recognized as the new GOAT.

Back in Cleveland
Jamison, who is either already in the blame or on his way to being in the blame, has never had the opportunity to control the ball for such a long time as he does now.
On the left wing, Jamison blew past Nowitzki and scored with a layup.

16:14.

On the court, listening to the cheers of the fans and watching the golden waves of light rising and falling in the stands, Jamison, who had been highly anticipated by Warriors fans in the early part of his career, almost instantly felt like he was coming home.

At this moment, Jamison had an unprecedented desire to redeem himself for the past, a man who had disappointed the Bay Area, by making a name for himself after returning to the Warriors.

On the other hand, Nowitzki's jump shot missed under Jamison's aggressive defense.

Qin Yue grabbed the rebound and immediately noticed Jamison sprinting toward the Mavericks' half of the court.

Seeing this, Qin Yue immediately launched a rapid attack with a long swing.

In the frontcourt, Jamison made another layup, scoring 4 points for the Warriors after coming off the bench.

Meanwhile, on the Mavericks' bench, Woodson turned his attention to Qin Yue, who hadn't even taken a single shot so far that night.

Based on Woodson's understanding of Qin Yue, the Mavericks' defensive restrictions on him tonight were definitely not the main reason why Qin Yue was consistently creating opportunities for his teammates.

After all, Qin Yue scored 70 points in last year's Finals despite the Celtics' tight defense.

Although it's impossible for Qin Yue to be in such a superhuman state every night.

However, Qin Yue's overly low-key demeanor during the match actually instilled a strange sense of panic in Woodson.

Well, now comes the problem.

Why was Qin Yue so low-key in this match?
The reason is actually very simple.

That is, Qin Yue, who did not believe that the Warriors could easily advance in this Western Conference Finals, chose to play the game in the way he most wanted to win after fully feeling the pressure from the Mavericks.

On the court, Parker drove into the Warriors' paint and made a floater.

On the other hand, Jamison's step-back three-pointer from the wing missed, and Qin Yue grabbed the rebound and dunked it over Chandler's head.

"Keep going, Antoine." As he retreated on defense, Qin Yue looked at Jamison and encouraged him, "Dirk can't stop you. Your shot selection just now was perfectly fine."

Upon hearing this, Jamison simply nodded.

But at this moment, he once again felt the gap between star players.

After this full season.
Jamison has come to a profound understanding of why this Warriors team is so strong.

Because they have a real king.

A king who allows his teammates to perform at their best on the court and who will cover for everyone in crucial moments.

"He never shifts the blame to his teammates in crucial rounds, nor does he wear the Emperor's New Clothes and a crown that never existed, living in a fantasy world all day long!"

On the court, watching Qin Yue's increasingly tall figure, Jamison was absolutely certain that this was the leader he should follow at all costs.

As for that chosen one who almost made him a complete "CBA teammate" in the past?
In the next possession, after shooting past Nowitzki's defense from the outside, Jamison suddenly roared, "Basketball never lies!"

……

PS: First update!
(End of this chapter)