Against the Mavericks, the Warriors' home fans are even more fanatical, and as long as they win this series again, they will surpass the "RUN-TMC combination" and advance to the Western Conference Finals. It's been a long time since the Warriors have reached that height.

The Warriors are also known as the devil's home court, putting a lot of pressure on the visiting players. The game was broadcast live on Chinese radio, and TNT radio also followed the game.

Barkley commented before the game: "I think Zhou Xuan is very similar to Kidd, he can score, assist, and defend. Before the game, Kidd publicly said that Zhou Xuan's defense had improved. People should be more serious about his defense, and maybe he should be in the All-Defensive Team, at least a second-team. ”

Kenny? Smith said: "The two met today, I don't know what the result will be, I think Zhou Xuan should be more confident in facing Kidd after facing Delong, after all, Kidd is already a veteran." ”

Barkley laughed: "The Mavericks shouldn't let Kidd defend Zhou Xuan." ”

CCTV5 Zhang Reasonable and Yu Jia also commented.

"The second round of the playoffs is about to begin, and I believe fans hope that the Warriors can go one step further and set a new record for Chinese players in the NBA," Zhang said. Although Battle won a championship ring with the Spurs, he did not play in the playoffs, and his previous record was Yao Ming's first round of the playoffs. Zhou Xuan has broken the spell in his rookie season. ”

Yao Ming was also watching the game in front of the TV, thinking depressedly: "Damn, is this a curse?" ”

Yu Jia said: "Zhou Xuan seemed to be in a relaxed mood, he was talking to Marion on the sidelines, maybe discussing how to attack. ”

In fact, Zhou Xuan is discussing with Marion how to defend, and the Mavericks also have a lot of blocking, if he is misplaced to defend Novitsky, he must think of a good way, and if Terry breaks in, he also needs to make up for it in time. Kidd is relatively easy to do.

The starters from both sides came out.

The Warriors five are Zhou Xuan, Ellis, Jackson, Marion, and Randolph.

Mavericks five: Kidd, Terry, Josh? Howard, Nowitzki, Dampier.

The Warriors wanted to play fast, and the Mavericks realized that, so they started Terry.

The two sides jumped the ball, Dampier won against Randolph, and the Mavericks attacked first.

Kidd dribbled to the Warriors' frontcourt and passed to Terry. Terry was ready to pull laterally, and Nowitzki and Dampier both pulled out to cover for him, blocking the opposition defenders from getting closer to Terry. As soon as it opened, the Mavericks used a double pick-and-roll.

Ellis was blocked. Zhou Xuan followed Kidd to the side, and he couldn't go up to help in case of three points.

Under the cover of his teammates, Terry quickly marched to the top of the three-point arc, at which time the Warriors' defense was in disarray, no one made up for it in time, and Marion, who was defending inside, had to pull out to defend Terry. As a result, the 32 defensive positions arranged by the Warriors before the game have changed. Dampier can't shoot from the perimeter, but he relies on his strong body to block people.

Marion prepares to defend Terry, and Jackson also gets closer around the defense, and the two hesitate, but neither of them moves forward. Marion was right to hesitate, because Nowitzki might have a vacancy if he cut inside. Jackson is also in some trouble, he doesn't guard against Dampier, and the inside line is going to be empty. Randolph followed Howard very far away.

The focus of the defense was drawn to Nowitzki and Terry. Seeing that Terry was about to shoot three points, Ellis couldn't interfere behind him, so Zhou Xuan could only help defend, let go of Kidd from the side and rushed over.

Terry gave the ball a well-timed shot to Kidd, who was not being marked. Ellis was not stupid, and immediately switched positions with Zhou Xuan and rushed to Kidd. If it were any other player, I was afraid that there would be a vacancy, but Ellis was very fast and changed positions in time.

Kidd was unhurried and pulled sideways along the three-point line, Nowitzki received the ball at the three-point line and prepared to attack, and Dampier cut inside, at which point the Warriors' defense had problems again, and Jackson and Marion both went to mark Nowitzki and lost Dampier.

Both men felt that Nowitzki was a big threat, so they ran to one place. This made Randolph, who was originally keeping an eye on Howard, have to pull to the inside to top Dampier, and Howard on the left side is no longer marked.

As soon as Kidd passed to the side, Ellis rushed up to make up for the defense, he was conscious, but Howard received the ball and sent it back to the top of the arc, and there was a spectacle on the field. All the players were pulled inside, no one was going to mark Kidd, and there were no Warriors defenders even within a few meters of him.

Kidd calmly threw a three-pointer after receiving the ball and completed the Mavericks' cooperation this time. 0 to 3.

It's just one round, and it's already been shown that you can't use compression defense tactics against the Mavericks, Dampier can't be empty in the low post, and Kidd can't be on the perimeter.

On the sidelines, Nelson Sr. could see that the Mavericks were very well prepared. The Western team that can make the playoffs, and the team that can eliminate the Spurs, is really not a weak team. He even feels that the Mavericks already have a lineup configuration that can compete for the championship, but there is still an obvious weakness on the court, that is, Dampier.

The Warriors' offense, unlike the Mavericks' coordination, is very troublesome, and they are much easier.

In the middle of the half, Marion pulled out the outside line, and Zhou Xuan and Randolph played a blocking and dismantling cooperation in the high position. Kidd then immediately went around to chase after him. Zhou Xuan dribbled to the right side, although Kidd went around the defense but obviously couldn't keep up, and Terry on the side could only shrink the defense.

Ellis had an opportunity to cut inside, and Zhou Xuan hit the ground to pass the ball to create a space to shoot. Ellis is also very smart in this position, between Dampier and Nowitzki, no one is easy to make up for the defense, and Randolph scores easily. Passing from the perimeter, Marion can shoot in an open position.

As a result, Ellis scored on a jumper. 2 to 3.

When he returned to defense, Jackson shouted, "Change the defensive strategy, mix the defense." ”

The Warriors' hybrid defense is similar to man-to-man, the only difference is the defense of Kidd, which is fixed for Zhou Xuan to follow. Nelson Sr. thought the team needed Zhou Xuan's organization and wanted to increase his playing time in this series, so he arranged lighter defensive tasks. Defensive Kidd hardly needs to go inside, and he can also play fast breaks.

Kidd protected the basketball with his back, Terry and Nowitzki covered without the ball, cut on the left side, Kidd immediately passed, the same pass did not pass, Marion changed defense, Terry accelerated and broke through, Randolph was still standing under the basket, forming a bag. Dampier was shorted on the baseline.

Terry couldn't get the ball over, Dampier couldn't shoot, and had to dribble to the basket. Terry didn't have a chance either, with a pass to Kidd on the outside, Dampier to Howard for cover, and Kidd again sent an open cut to Howard.

Marion switched to Howard, Ellis went to the outside with Terry, and the Warriors completed the rotation. Nelson Sr. asked for a simple one, which was to loosen his defense against Dampier and guard against the others. Dampier can only score under the basket anyway, and 10 points in a game is considered a good performance.

Howard was not good at passing, opted for a single, shot wide with Marion's interference, and the rebound was picked up by Randolph. Heading into the playoffs, Randolph's rebounding tally was still a consistent 10 or more.

The Mavericks quickly returned to defense, but the Warriors were planning a positional battle from the start. Zhou Xuan already knew the weakness of the calf, and he wanted to simplify the complex.

After half the court, Zhou Xuan played a block and dismantle with Jackson at the top of the arc, facing Howard, and Randolph played a block and dismantling to Jackson in the middle, and Jackson cut in the middle.

After the cover, two chances were created. One is that Jackson catches the ball and hits Dampier in a misplaced position, and he can rely on his skills to pull out and shoot. Howard couldn't help defend yet, because the ball was still in Zhou Xuan's hands, and he would shoot it immediately once he retreated.

Dampier tried to block Jackson's air cut, so he retreated, and Zhou Xuan sent the ball to the middle without thinking, and Randolph easily squeezed through the frame of Terry's catch and scored a jumper. 4 to 3.

Terry is 188CM tall and weighs 82 kg, and his figure is somewhat similar to Zhou Xuan, unless he eats Longyuan or Wuji Elixir, it is impossible to resist Randolph, and Zhou Xuan has a deep understanding of the team's training.

The Mavericks attack, or make a fuss on the outside.

Nowitzki ran to the wing to catch the ball with 12 seconds left on the offensive clock, and the Warriors decided to wrap him up. Defending Nowitzki was Jackson, Ellis mentioned the middle and Terry, keeping Josh? Howard is in the open space outside the three-point line.

Then after Nowitzki received the ball, the double was clamped, Dampier blocked and cut in the direction of the bottom of the basket, and Randolph clung to Dampier tightly.

At this point, the Warriors left Howard with a path to cut inside and no one to defend him.

Zhou Xuan could see at a glance that the defensive formation needed to be adjusted. So he moved slightly from the side to cut off Howard's cut-in, but that would leave Kidd on the left to create an empty space.

However, Nowitzki didn't do any ball transfer after holding the ball, and directly took the ball and shot a three-point shot, without responding to the Warriors' bag, which made the Warriors' defense work, and the ball bounced out of the frame under the interference.

This is exactly the concept that Kidd gave to Zhou Xuan, and when he encounters a player who is not very good at passing and organizing the ball, he can boldly assist in defense. Nowitzki, who has attracted a lot of packs per game, has played nearly 38 minutes this season but is averaging just two per game. With 4 assists, scoring is his forte, and on both sides of the pitch he simply doesn't move passes widely.

The rebound was still obtained by Randolph, the Warriors battled in the position, Randolph pulled to the periphery to block Terry, Zhou Xuan broke through on the left, Dampier was worried that Randolph cut inside in the middle, and did not defend very far away, Zhou Xuan entered the three-point line and shot it in one step, and the ball went into the net hollow. 6 to 3.

The Mavericks attacked again, and the two wrapped up Nowitzki again, and the basket was handed to Randolph alone. The Warriors weren't going to make Nowitzki's shot comfortable from the start.

Nowitzki had to choose to pass the ball, and Terry took the ball and passed it to Kidd. Zhou Xuan blocked Howard in front, and then turned back to chase Kidd's shot. He was slow to defend the ball, but Kidd missed the shot, and the rebound was received by Marion, who withdrew inside.

Mavericks head coach Carlisle thought about countermeasures, and the Warriors took the initiative again.