Chapter 40: Killing the Cowboy
In the first half of the fourth quarter, Van Gundy put down Mo Xi to rest for a while, but left Arenas on the court, as if he wanted to see what kind of state Arenas was in actual combat.
To the regret of New York fans, Sprewell did not appear after Mo Xi's departure, Ward and Arenas formed a double point guard, and Houston moved to the No. 3 position, such a lineup seemed to lack an effective point of possession, and no one could string the team's offense together. Arenas is a typical point guard with a knife, but he is very similar to the style of the AI but also a little different, his playmaking ability is there, the AI doesn't want to pass, and Arenas is, well, didn't expect it. A guy who came on in the last minute of the third quarter scored seven points efficiently, would you expect this guy to organize the offense? If I feel so good, why don't I attack?
It's a pity that the fire in Arenas's heart seems to have burned too much, and even he was ignited, and it was too thorough, and it all burned out in the last part of the third quarter. Arenas made three shots in a row, but it showed a determination that did not match his age, in fact, he didn't score three times. If it weren't for Alan Houston, I'm afraid the Mavericks would have approached or even tied the score by this time.
With eight minutes left in the game, the Knicks made all the starters and Mark Jackson came on, giving the Knicks a five-point lead, and now, the Knicks seem ready for a showdown.
The game continued, Sprewell received a pass from Ward, and directly attacked the basket, as far as the current situation is concerned, the Mavericks' interior line is really a big hole, because of the existence of Mo Xi, the Mavericks' interior line is almost a rumor.
But Sprewell was still a little careless, and the Mavericks' quarterback was killed on the side, and directly cut Sprewell's ball, but neither of them could control the ball, and the ball rolled outside the three-point line.
Mark Jackson used his physical advantage to block Nash and planned to pick up the ball, but Finley, who was passed by Sprewell, had already picked up the ball one step ahead, past Mark Jackson, and was falling into Nash's hands, Nash advanced quickly, and made a layup in the half.
The Mavericks pulled the score closer to three points, and New York fans couldn't help but get nervous.
The Knicks attacked again, this time, Mark Jackson directly handed the ball to Mo Xi, but Mo Xi didn't shoot for too long, and he felt a little bad, a turnover jump shot was missed, the Mavericks got a fast break opportunity, Finley and Nowitzki blocked and hit the shot directly, in just a few tens of seconds, the situation on the court changed color, and the Mavericks chased only one point.
The Knicks began to enter the low ebb stage, but fortunately, the Knicks' defense was tough enough, especially in the fourth quarter like this, the Knicks relied on defense to drag the score, and the two sides clung to the difference of one point.
Seeing that the team's repeated attacks were fruitless, Mo Xi and Nowitzki were familiar with each other's minds, and whoever helped the team achieve a significant advantage first would be the "God" of this game.
Nowitzki, who shot first, Nowitzki and Nash were hand-to-hand after blocking and dismantling, Nowitzki turned his back to Mo Xi, leaning lightly on the other side, but he couldn't let Mo Xi come up, and then quickly turned around, intending to replicate the previous move with his back and back jumper.
It's a pity that the more at the last moment, Mo Xi's attention became more and more concentrated, and Mo Xi was only a little worse in rebounding, defensively, if it was like Garnett's face frame offense, Mo Xi was really not good at defense, but he turned over and jumped, which is Ewing's specialty.
Mo Xi took a step forward, stepping between Nowitzki's feet, leaning forward, and bullying Nowitzki.
At this time, Nowitzki was already ready to shoot, gritting his teeth, his legs were forced, he jumped upward, and at the same time, his waist was exerted, and the whole person began to lean back in the air.
A step-back jumper like Nowitzki's is almost impossible to block, but as a man who has inherited the turnaround jumper center skill set, Nowitzki's trajectory is in his eyes.
Mo Xi made a move, he was on the side, directly to the side of Nowitzki's shooter, the two of them seemed to be acting, and Nowitzki sent the ball to Mo Xi's hand like this.
"Smack~"
With a crisp sound, Mo Xi cleanly knocked Nowitzki's shot down.
At this time, Nash stepped forward and snatched the ball directly, the Mavericks' second attack!
"Smack~"
Another crisp sound, this time not Moxi, but Mark Jackson, at the critical moment, the veteran showed his excellent anticipation and rich experience, although he couldn't keep up with Nash on his feet, but in terms of brain operation, Mark Jackson was able to know what Nash would do next.
Thomas picked up the ball and gave it to Mark Jackson, and the Knicks began to push slowly and attack.
Mo Xi went straight to the forty-five degree waist, and since Nowitzki had already made a move, it was his next turn.
Mo Xi plucked Sprewell's lob from the air, sat down Nowitzki, and began to attack in the low post.
At the moment when Mo Xi received the ball, Juwan Howard wrapped it up again.
Mo Xi frowned, but did not choose to pass, and with a turn of his body, Sigma stepped into the frame, while blocking Juwan Howard at his side, and he faced Nowitzki.
Seeing this, Juwan Howard directly met Mo Xi with his hot chest, and Nowitzki also stepped forward to encircle Mo Xi with Juwan Howard, and Mo Xi was sandwiched in the waist position, and there was only room for the bottom line to be less than one step.
Mo Xi was also bold and careful at this time, before Nowitzki and Juwan Howard completely surrounded him, Mo Xi stepped out first, squeezed between the gaps between the two, and then dribbled sideways, using his back to push away Juwan Howard on his side, and dodged Nowitzki.
Nowitzki relied on his long legs and followed in a big step, and with his own height of seven feet, Nowitzki raised his hands directly in front of Mo Xi, just waiting for Juwan Howard to make up for it again, sandwiching Mo Xi in the three-second zone again, causing his three-second violation.
Suddenly, Mo Xi's height was a head shorter out of thin air, and Nowitzki looked again, but Mo Xi lowered his center of gravity, grabbed the ball with both hands and pressed it on his chest, and looked like he was pulling onions on dry land.
Nowitzki was unhappy, you are going to shackle me, and you don't wait for Howard to come over, so the whole person directly pasted Mo Xi, not planning to give him a chance to jump.
But as soon as Nowitzki leaned in, he felt a strong force in his chest, and he took three steps back, and Mo Xi directly pushed Novitsky away and jumped to dunk. As if bitten by a ferocious beast, Nowitzki's face turned pale, and he pulled the frame and dunked with both hands amid the frantic roar of the New York fans.
Moxi's goal seemed to be a signal for the general offense, and the Knicks' offensive tide exploded, Houston hit two mid-range shots in a row, and in the last minute, Moxi hit another turnaround jumper to completely kill the Mavericks.
Facing the Dallas Mavericks, a powerhouse in the West, the Knicks relied on strong tenacity to pierce the Mavericks alive and win the game 98-91.
The most eye-catching play in this game is undoubtedly Mo Xi, who cut 20 + 8 + 5 at halftime, although he was dumb for a while in the second half, but at the end of the game, he still cut 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 blocks of all-round data, and won a triple-double in Madison Square Garden for the first time.
"There's only one championship, it's either us or them, so why can't it be us?"