During the pause, Pritchard came to Xue Ding's side and said: "Xue, relax, don't make yourself look so nervous, you just treat this as an ordinary regular season game, how you want to play, don't think too much." ”

As a head coach, Pritchard must always know the minds and conditions of his players, and Xue Ding's performance on the field just now can be called extremely abnormal.

In the first half of the quarter, Roy and Chandler each created five chances for Xue Ding, and Xue Ding's five shots only hit one mid-range.

This kind of shooting rate is a bit bad for Xue Ding, and even more so for the Trail Blazers, if Xue Ding can't be opened, then this game will be very troublesome.

But fortunately, the Mavericks' shooting rate is not high, the difference is only two points, the Trail Blazers are not without opportunities, Xue Ding needs to find his touch quickly.

The timeout is over and you get back on the field.

The Trail Blazers tee off from the halfway.

Standing on the sideline, he drove a long ball and threw it to Batum on the other side.

Outside the three-point line, Batum received the ball and prepared to make a shot.

But when Batum was already jumping in mid-air, he suddenly saw Xue Ding standing in the paint area.

Batum didn't choose to shoot, but passed the ball to Xue Ding in a strange posture.

Xue Ding received the ball, dribbled on the ground, hit Dampier with his back, and shot with a small hook.

"Beep!"

Two points were scored, and Dampier was fouled.

The referee's decisive blow made the home audience slightly dissatisfied, and this kind of contact is generally not whistled for a foul in the playoffs, but the referee just blew it.

Dampier spread his hands at the referee and shook his head helplessly.

Xue Ding stands on the free throw line.

While taking the free throws, he was forced to enjoy a huge boo from the fans at the American Airlines Center.

Xue Ding adjusted his breathing.

Free throws are securely hit.

9 to 10.

On the first offense after returning from a timeout, the Trail Blazers managed to overtake the score.

"Here, Xue Ding's rhythm has been found now, and the ball that just hit Dampier made Xue Ding find his touch." Director Zhang said inappropriately, seeing that Xue Ding took the initiative to attack and hit a goal, he seemed very happy.

On the other side, Kidd passed the ball to the veteran driver after holding the ball across the halfcourt, and Nowitzki hit two points on the left side of the free throw line to answer the ball.

Then Xue Ding hit a three-point shot from outside the three-point line and returned the color.

After a few rounds, the Trail Blazers led the Mavericks by five points at 23-18 heading into the second quarter.

As soon as the game opened in the second quarter, Roy was on the court with a few benches on the Trail Blazers' side, and Nowitzki and Terry on the Mavericks' side were played again with three benches.

Roy knew in his heart that it would definitely not work for the people on the court to play offense with the Mavericks now, so Roy had been pressing the rhythm, wanting to keep his hard-won lead and wait until Xue Ding and other main forces came back.

And the Mavericks clearly know that the Trail Blazers' weakness lies in the bench.

Therefore, at the beginning of the second quarter of the game, the Mavericks began to spare no effort to press.

In the first round, the Trail Blazers attacked the ball, and Roy passed the ball past half court to direct his teammates to run, and did not rush to attack.

But soon Haywood and Barria pressed up, and the two flanked Roy left and right, causing Roy's pass to error.

Marion made a quick dash and scored two points from the basket.

In the second round, the Trail Blazers attacked, and Roy passed the ball to Bayless after running out of space for Bayless, but unfortunately the latter failed to take the opportunity and hit the iron, and was once again beaten by the Mavericks into a counterattack.

In the first three minutes of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers were hit by a 12-2 attack wave by the Mavericks to overtake the score in one fell swoop.

The score came to 30-25, with the Mavericks leading by five points.

Pritchard then called a timeout.

Watching the team's five-point lead in the first quarter come to naught in less than three minutes of the second quarter, and being overled by five points, Pritchard had a hard time.

Angry, he slapped the tactical board twice as he laid out his tactics during the timeout.

On the Mavericks' side, Carlisle praised his players during the timeout, saying: "That's it, boys, we have to be aggressive, this is our home court, we have to win this game." ”

"Sean, after a pause, they will definitely replace Xue again, then your defensive task will not be easy, we did a good job in the first quarter, successfully limited Xue, as long as we don't let him play, we have already won half of this game.

Remember, you must defend Xue, as for the others, as long as the defense is not out of position. ”

Carlisle's tactics for the players may sound simple, with only one requirement, and that is to guard against Xue Ding.

But can Xue Ding really be able to prevent it? Or can Marion be able to defend against Xue Ding?

When the one-minute timeout came, the referee stood near the halfway line and blew the whistle to signal both players to return to the pitch and continue the game.

The Mavericks players have already stepped onto the court, but on the Trail Blazers' side, Pritchard is still holding a strategy board and constantly laying out tactics for his players, as if his tactics are not enough for a minute.

At the referee's repeated urging, Pritchard put away the tactical board, stood up, clapped his hands and shouted: "Come on!" Stay focused, kids. ”

At the end of the timeout, both sides sent their main lineups back to the court.

Trail Blazers tee off near the halfway.

This time Blake drove the ball to Xue Ding, and after Xue Ding got the ball, he dribbled from the top of the left arc to the top of the right arc, and Roy and Chandler took the initiative to cover Xue Ding near the three-point line.

After Xue Ding dribbled twice, Marion, who was chasing the defense, was suddenly stopped outside the three-point line by Chandler.

Xue Ding, who got rid of the defender, held the ball and hit the basket directly!

This is a goal related to the morale of the team, you can only score, you can't fail!

Xue Ding, who hit the basket, faced Dampier's defense, without a trace of hesitation, and directly strengthened and beat Dampier hard.

But Dampier nailed the ball to the rebound with his palm.

"Beep!"

At this time, the referee's whistle suddenly sounded.

Dampier heard the whistle and shouted at the referee with an innocent face: "Hey! I didn't foul him, I didn't even touch him! ”

After Dampier yelled at the referee, the referee made a gesture to interfere with the ball.

Xue Ding's layup was interfered with by Dampier before it reached the highest point and landed.

Therefore, it counts as a two-point goal.

At the same time, the referee made a T gesture towards the technical table.

Technical foul, blown to Dampier.

"Woo~"

The home crowd instantly booed.