A day later, the second battle of the finals began.

The Knicks changed their starting lineup, with Zhou Xuan, Beverley, Matthews, Gallinari, and Stoudeyere on the court, resolutely fast attacking. This move did work, and the Mavericks couldn't keep up.

In the cheers of the home fans, Zhou Xuan found his feeling at the beginning, and broke through with a double block, causing Yao Ming to foul.

Only a minute and a half later, Stoudmayre forced a layup in the air, causing Yao Ming to foul for the second time. Carlisle can only replace Yao Ming for the rest of the game. Seeing that Pekovic didn't play, he sent the veteran Stojakovic to let Marion play the No. 4 position to strengthen the defense on the perimeter. The back line replaced Kidd and brought on Barria, and the team picked up.

Rick? Carlisle is the quintessential academy coach and is known for his on-the-spot adaptability. Two substitutions were made just in the opening game, targeting the Knicks' lineup.

Beverley is fast, only 185CM tall, Barria has not played for a long time, and the height problem is taken advantage of by the opponent, and now he can come up and rush. If you make a substitution a little later, maybe the score will be stretched.

After five minutes of play, D'Antoni also made adjustments, Andre? Miller replaces Beverley.

Stevenson and Zhou Xuan suffered a lot in the confrontation, and Zhou Xuan's heads-up feints were endless, shaking out a little space on both sides of the 60-degree dry pull jump shot. Stevenson is 196CM tall and weighs 99 kg, much like Stevenson of Matthews and Knicks. He has a knack for defending swing forwards, but he is still a little less fast at defending and defending defenders.

Carlisle saw that the situation was not good, and replaced Stevenson with the faster Terry.

Zhou Xuan immediately adjusted to pass-oriented, and Miller became the main point of attack, bullying Barria twice with his body.

The Mavericks couldn't defend it, the offense was still sharp, and Gallinari defended Nowitzki with all his might, but still couldn't prevent the opponent from scoring.

Zhou Xuan scored 14 points and 2 assists in a single quarter, according to the coach's arrangement, he opened it first, attracted the bag and then divided the ball. The Knicks led by six points at 33-27.

Yao Ming played less than 3 minutes in the first quarter and came off the bench in the second quarter to lead the team to score points. The Knicks sent Pekovic to guard Yao Ming. Redick, Matthews, Anderson provide outside firepower, and Miller organizes.

Barria swept away the gloom of the game and played eye-catching. Miller couldn't stop his breakthrough. On the defensive end, the Mavericks can rely on an excellent joint defense system to limit Miller's breakthrough.

"Magic" Johnson said: "The Knicks still can't defend inside, they make it too easy for Barria to burst. If you don't change the guard in time after the block, it's not a good sign to go on like this. ”

Van Gundy said: "Pekovic did a good job of defending Yao Ming alone, he was physically strong, he could keep Yao Ming away from the basket and then interfere, Yao Ming played very badly today. The Knicks' biggest weakness is that they don't have an interior line that is good at defending breakouts. Gallinari is doing okay if Reggie? Evans didn't go, and the Knicks might have been better defensively. When Murphy first joined, people were looking forward to it, but unfortunately he played so poorly that he has no chance to play now. ”

The Knicks are actually only 9 people in the rotation now, and Fields rarely plays, and Mason is sitting on the bench and is responsible for handing out towels.

Seeing that the Mavericks recovered the score, Zhou Xuan came on the court to replace Miller, and Stadamire also came on to replace Pekovic. All five of the Knicks on the court can shoot. The three major scorers of Mavericks Yao Ming, Nowitzki, and Terry were also present, and Stevenson and Marion were on the periphery, and the two sides fought hard to attack.

At halftime, the Knicks led by four points, 60-56.

"Push harder, guard them, be tougher. Zhou pestered Terry on the perimeter and didn't let him shoot threes. In the locker room, D'Antoni shouted: "Burst the inside line, make Yao Ming foul." ”

It looks like it's just one step away from victory, and it seems like it's a long way off. The Knicks' offense turned on, but their defense was still terrible.

Carlisle admonished his players in the locker room to play tough and let the Knicks score too much. "Yao should pay attention to controlling the number of fouls, and Shaun and Dirk should pay attention to supplementing and protecting the basket."

The game began, and both sides knew the importance of being tough, and the fight was full of blood. Gallinari accidentally elbowed Nowitzki to bleed from the nose as he grabbed the ball. Nowitzki rested for a while and returned to the field as soon as the bleeding stopped. Stevenson defended Matthews with a black foot, Matthews hit Stevenson with his chest, and both of them received technical fouls, and the smell of gunpowder became stronger and stronger.

Then it became Zhou Xuan's performance time, he relied on the double block to break through, made 5 defensive fouls in a single quarter, and hit all 10 free throws.

Zhou Xuan accurately grasped the situation, and the referee saw that the defensive actions of the two sides were big, and he also increased the intensity of the penalty. Last season's Finals became a scar in the NBA, and the league paid special attention to the problem of referees' blowing penalties. As long as there is a fierce confrontation, immediately blow for a foul. Zhou Xuan deliberately made a foul, and then faked a fall, and eighty percent went to the free throw line.

Zhang Lidu sighed: "Zhou Xuan's ability to make fouls this year is also stronger than before, and it is easy for him to get free throws after breaking through to find a confrontation, which reminds me of Ginobili and Martin." ”

Yu Jia said: "Fans want to know what data Zhou Xuan can win in a single season if he fires with all his might." He doesn't shoot worse than Nash, and he drives better than Nash. If he can guarantee the number of shots, he may be able to score 30 points. ”

Zhou Xuan not only ensured the attack, but also pestered Terry on the perimeter, and after the misplacement, he and Nowitzki also maintained a physical confrontation, disrupting the opponent's rhythm and playing a key role. He had 14 points and two assists in a single quarter. He scored 32 points and 6 assists in the third quarter.

The Knicks led by six points at 92-86 heading into the final quarter.

The Mavericks asked Yao Ming to take the bench and Nowitzki to rest for a while. The Knicks fielded a two-guard pair of Miller and Beverley, and the fast-break drew a defensive foul on Yao Ming. After only playing for 3 minutes, Yao Ming committed two more fouls, five fouls in the game, and was forced to go down to rest.

Zhang said: "Yao Ming was plagued by fouls today, and as soon as Beverley came up, the Knicks' speed rose. Barria's speed advantage was less pronounced, and D'Antoni was a successful change today. ”

Yu Jia said: "Yao Ming, the Mavericks rely on Nowitzki on the inside, which is very unfavorable for them. ”

The Mavericks also wanted to play small-ball tactics, but the Knicks switched to Pekovic to force the inside, forcing the Mavericks to switch to Highwood. Zhou Xuan played the No. 2 position, and the Hawks attacked and ran to the weak side of the baseline to receive the ball heads-up, broke through Nowitzki to score a layup, and passed Haywood to make a foul.

Marion was aggressive in defending the break, but Pekovic was able to separate him from Zhou Xuan as soon as he came out to cover. Heywood moved slowly and had poor defense, and Zhou Xuan used the same method as when he played the Celtics, avoiding the attacks of Rondo and Garnett. No matter how good the defense is, you can't defend one-two, and if you don't want obvious loopholes after misalignment, you can only watch Zhou Xuan play alone.

Marion defended in the low post, and there was a height disadvantage, Stoudamire cut to receive the ball in the air, and the strong attack also scored two goals. As soon as he replaced Nowitzki to guard the basket, Zhou Xuan played with Gallinari on the periphery and played a block, Marion changed defenses, he would pass the ball to Gallinari in the middle and play in a misplaced position, and Miller could also rely on the off-ball cover to cut the air.

Yao Ming was plagued by fouls, Terry's shooting was inaccurate, and the Mavericks' strong main attack point was only one Nowitzki, who played very steadily and maintained a fifty-percent shooting rate, but unfortunately it was difficult to scream alone, and the Mavericks were still behind.

Stevenson could only defend, and Barria had holes in the outside defense on the court, and was hit by Zhou Xuan for three points. Kidd deserves the title of "Kidd does not attack", not only made only 4 shots in the whole game, almost did not even enter the three-point line, and happily played a defensive blue-collar job on the court.

In the end, the Knicks defeated the Mavericks 121-108 and pulled one back to make the overall score 1-1.

When the final whistle blew, the fans stood up and cheered, and there was hope again.

Zhou Xuan had 41 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, and almost hit 40+10. Scored 40+ points for the third time in the playoffs. Yao Ming only had 10 points and 5 rebounds, which was the same as in the last game.

Nowitzki was the Mavericks' best performer, with 35 points and nine rebounds.

In addition, Stoudamire had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Miller had 16 points and seven assists.

At the press conference, D'Antoni praised Zhou Xuan. He knew very well that Zhou Xuan not only performed well on the court, but also discussed tactics off the court to target the weaknesses of the Mavericks.

Carlisle sighed: "Zhou Xuan is already a superstar in the league, it is difficult to prevent him one-on-one, and today his breakthrough was very sharp, resulting in a lot of free throws." That's why we lost. ”

Zhou Xuan hit all 16 free throws in the game, which is also a personal record for him. In this playoffs, he shot a whopping 90 free throws. 7%, which is extremely robust.

Zhou Xuan was not proud of winning super data. He said: "We have to build on the next game, three away games in a row, we have to try to play two of them, then the situation will be very favourable. ”

He didn't have the confidence to pick the Mavericks 4-1. In this time, Yao Ming was trapped for a foul, and he also received some preferential treatment from the star whistle and the home whistle. There are many reasons for playing smoothly, and it is impossible for him to get so many free throws away from home, so it is necessary to keep a low profile.

After the game, online fans compared Zhou Xuan to Yao Ming.

Some people said that "Zhou Xuan has consolidated his position as China's No. 1 player, it is not an accident that he can win the MVP, and he is more reliable than Yao Ming at critical moments." ”

Some people also said: "What's the big deal, just know that it's a fake fall and a foul." ”

When it came to the finals, "Metamorphosis Honey" became active. The Mavericks had only a handful of fans in the first three rounds. By the time it came to the finals, the number of fans had increased fivefold. Among them, there are "Xuan Hei" and "Comy", as if they killed the Knicks to win the championship, and the Lakers were swept and it was not so shameful. Because they lost to the strong champions. Heat fans also hate the Knicks and hope the Mavericks can win the championship.

ESPN experts are more neutral. The argument is: "It doesn't matter who wins." The core of both teams are international players, and it has been proved that the United States is no longer the absolute hegemon of basketball, the level of international basketball is improving, and the era of local players relying on physical fitness to sweep everything is long gone. ”

Playing the finals for the first time, there is still suspense about the belonging of FMVP. After two fights this time, people concluded that it was either Zhou Xuan or Nowitzki.