His wife died, and Popovich was silent in front of the camera, unable to say anything. He just wants to go home now, to San Antonio, to his wife.

At this time, the San Antonio Spurs were already 2-0 down, they had lost all two away games, and the situation was already very difficult for them.

But then again, before the series began, not many people thought that the Spurs could pass the Mavericks.

"That guy was on the basketball court until the end." What shocked Yiyang the most was Popovich, if he couldn't even defeat him with the death of his relatives, then it was almost impossible for this old man to be defeated.

Now all the Mavericks have to do is to end the series cleanly in San Antonio and let Popovich go to his wife in peace.

So in both games in San Antonio, the Mavericks played at a level. If the Mavericks choose mercy at this time, it will be a humiliation for Popovich.

In this year's playoffs in San Antonio, Yiyang received the least boos. This public enemy of San Antonio was suddenly not booed at the ATT center, and even Yiyang himself was a little unaccustomed.

Maybe it was the last time Yiyang didn't celebrate the victory after the game, and he also told his teammates not to celebrate the victory, which earned him some word of mouth among Spurs fans.

The world is like that, you respect others. In turn, others will respect you.

In San Antonio's two games, Yiyang still performed well. 35 points and 11 assists in a game, 39 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in a game. Yiyang's outstanding performance also helped the Mavericks win two games in a row, swept the Spurs with a total score of 4-0, and easily advanced.

Yiyang did this in the hope that the Spurs and Popovich could lose to a real powerhouse. And what Yiyang is doing is to prove that he is indeed a strong person.

Because it's not a shame to lose to the strong. Even if people talk about this season in the future, they will sigh. "Ah, the Spurs lost to the best team in the league that year, and that's normal."

After the series, Yiyang also and Manu. Ginobili hugged each other tightly. Because Yiyang and the fans know that after this game, it may not only end the first round of the series, but it is very likely that it will end an era, an era that belongs to the Pampas Eagles.

Will Manu play another season? Perhaps, this time it really won't.

After the series, half of the stars in the league publicly mourned Popovich's wife, Irene, on the Internet, offering their most sincere respects.

In the bloody battlefield of the playoffs, the league also rarely revealed this warm scene full of human feelings.

The matter between Popovich and the Spurs has come to an end for the time being. Now the best respect for the gray-haired old man is to stop bothering him. As a result, the media quickly diverted their attention in an attempt to divert the attention of fans away from Popovich.

As a result, other teams must shoulder the "heavy responsibility" of diverting attention.

The San Antonio Spurs were the first team to leave the playoff stage this season, and the Dallas Mavericks were the first to book a spot in the Western Conference semifinals.

The other games in the first round of the West were much more intense than the Texas Civil War between the Mavericks and the Spurs. Especially in the series between the Thunder and the Trail Blazers, the two sides have been playing hard.

The Thunder, who have a big three, were supposed to be one of the championship contenders this season, but against the Trail Blazers, who won the final 13 straight games in the regular season, they even struggled in the first round.

The two teams played six games before finally deciding the winner, with Portland's backcourt shooting twice to kill the Oklahoma City Thunder's Big Three. 4-2, the Trail Blazers managed to defeat the Thunder. And the Oklahoma City Thunder, naturally, have become the most disappointing team this season, not one of them.

Won the series against the Thunder, plus a 13-game winning streak by the Trail Blazers in the final stages of the regular season. People can't help but wonder if Portland's backcourt double guns are likely to keep the Dallas Mavericks out of the door of the Western Conference Finals.

Lillard's performance this season is very inspiring, he has made it to the All-Star team in the West with his own efforts, and his big heart shots have also stimulated the nerves of fans. Although Lillard has a history of humiliation by Yiyang, that was a long time ago. The current Lillard can't do nothing in front of Yiyang.

And Portland's other gun, McCollum, has also proven his scoring ability, scoring skills and scoring talent. The backcourt formed by these two guys makes the Trail Blazers expected to be the biggest dark horse of the season.

"The Mavericks may win, but there's a good chance it will take six or even seven games to win. The Trail Blazers have been in great form this season and they will cause a lot of trouble! ”

"It's not out of the way for the Trail Blazers to advance, and as long as Lillard and McCollum can get the key shots right, they still have a chance!"

"Rudy. Gobert's absence has set the stage for the Trail Blazers to fight back, and if Lillard and McCollum play consistently, they won't be out of the question. ”

Ahead of the Western Conference semifinals, ESPN's experts were predicting the outcome. This year, the situation in the west is really tense. The Mavericks ran into a difficult Trail Blazers, while the Warriors met the Rockets early. This is perhaps the most unpredictable situation in the west in so many years.

Half of ESPN's pundits think the Mavericks will win, and half think the Trail Blazers can fight back. But none of the 22 pundits would have predicted that the Mavericks would sweep the Trail Blazers 4-0.

As a result, this group of ESPN experts, who are known for being slapped in the face, were slapped in the face by the Maverick again.

On May 8, when Yiyang led the Mavericks to a 112-101 defeat of the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center, all the Trail Blazers fans covered their heads with their hands in disbelief.

4-0, after the Dallas Mavericks swept the San Antonio Spurs, they swept the Portland Trail Blazers again!

Portland's backcourt duo played so badly in the Western Conference semifinals that Lillard didn't even score in a double-double in one game! Now he will indeed not be kept clean by Yiyang, but he also can't play any outstanding performance.

Under Carlisle's guidance, the Trail Blazers' greatest advantage, the backcourt two-gun, was exhausted by the Mavericks' wrap-and-clamp tactics. The Mavericks were adamant about wrapping up the ball carrier after the pick-and-roll, which caused both guns to be somewhat lost on the offensive end. While they couldn't rely on offense to solve problems, Lillard and McCollum couldn't connect the team's overall offense in time, making the Trail Blazers struggle very much in these games.

The Trail Blazers wanted to take advantage of the Mavericks' interior disadvantage, but the Mavericks simply didn't give you a chance to touch that disadvantage.

Trail Blazers coach John Terry. Stotts was the assistant coach of the Mavericks and Carlisle's assistant at the beginning, and they had a good relationship with Yiyang. And this series once again highlighted the truth that ginger is still old and spicy. Carlisle, the master, has not yet starved to death.

The Trail Blazers are arguably one of the worst teams in the league in terms of overall offense, averaging the league's lowest assists per game in the regular season, and relying heavily on the individual talents of Lillard and McCollum on the offensive end, a shortcoming that has been heavily amplified in the series. Throughout the series, the two guns were unable to score or connect the team, and none of them had more assists than the Mavericks in any game, and even in the first game of the series, Yiyang alone delivered 17 assists equivalent to the entire Trail Blazers team!

As the star of the Trail Blazers, Lillard averaged only 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in four games, and averaged 3.4 turnovers per game, and his shooting percentage was limited to 35.2% by Yiyang, all of which were significantly lower than in the regular season. And these statistics are Lillard's worst performance in the playoffs in 6 years.

What's worse is that Lillard also allowed Yiyang to play a god-level performance of 32.3 points and 10.8 assists per game, with an average shooting rate of 65.8% per game. Although Lillard finally became an All-Star this year, the gap between him and Yiyang does not seem to be narrowing.

In this way, the Trail Blazers were swept with little to no ability to fight back. Fans even feel that the Trail Blazers are not even as much of a problem the Mavericks have caused as the Spurs have caused the Mavericks.

At least Aldridge scored a full 41 points in the Mavericks' low post in the first game at home. And what about Portland's backcourt double gun? Lillard's highest-scoring game was just 21 points.

After the series, ESPN pundits laughed at themselves: We didn't underestimate the Mavericks, but underestimated the huge gap between Lillard and Yi.

This series not only let people see the strength of the calf, but also let everyone experience the horror of being ruled by Yiyang again. A guard who killed all sides in the regular season and averaged 26 points and 6 assists per game, but was defended by Yiyang in the playoffs and scored 10 points less per game!

In this league, there may not be many guards who can compare with Yiyang.

However, at this time, the series between the Rockets and the Warriors is still in full swing. People are looking forward to the outcome of this series, because no matter who advances, James is the one who advances. Harden or Stephen. Curry, these two guys and Yiyang should always be able to cause him trouble.

The Dallas Mavericks have made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell last season. This represents the real challenge and pressure, and that's where the real challenge begins.

The Rockets and the Warriors, Harden and Curry, are not easy opponents to deal with.

No matter who advances, the Rockets or the Warriors will see, what fans will see is destined to be a series of fairy battles of backcourt players!