Dirk left the field and walked to the players' tunnel with the help of the team doctor! God, let's pray that the Germans are well. It's definitely going to be tricky for Coach Carlisle. Dirk's injury will completely change his control of the game! "Jeff. Van Gundy watched Nowitzki leave, and his heart couldn't help but twitch.

When he was still coaching the Rockets, Yao Ming and Maddie's injuries and retirements worried the bald commentator. Therefore, Van Gundy understands Carlisle's mood at the moment, and this guy must be in a hurry at the moment.

While Nowitzki isn't all there is to the Mavericks, he's undoubtedly the most important point of Carlisle's play. A lot of the arrangements were based on Nowitzki's presence. Now that the team has lost Dirk, it also means that everything the Mavericks have been practicing for days has to be reversed!

After losing Dirk, the first problem immediately followed. Who should take Dirk's place? Normally, Dirk has a lot of playing time. Carlisle could play Marion in the No.4 position for a while, or he could use a two-centre-forward lineup for a while. Anyway, it will only be a few minutes, and in a few minutes, Nowitzki will be back.

But now, instead of taking a break, Dirk is out injured. That means Dirk won't be back for the whole game. The question of who will replace him has become a very difficult one.

In the end, Carlisle waved his hand and replaced him with French center Petro, allowing him and Chandler to form a two-center formation. The group of interior players on the bench didn't pose much of a threat on the offensive end, so Carlisle might as well replace it with someone who could protect the basket and stabilize the defense first. As for the offense, at this time, the burden on Kidd and Yiyang's shoulders is very heavy. Without Dirk, how the two handle the team's offense smoothly is the biggest problem for the Mavericks on the offensive end.

The game restarted, although Dirk's injury just now had nothing to do with Ibaka. But Ibaka's desperate forward pounce still caused the referee to blow him a defensive foul. The Mavericks serve the ball on the sideline, and after Dirk leaves, they will organize their first offense.

Now on the court, Carlisle is sending a group of double point guards of Yiyang and Kidd, plus Marion. It stands to reason that this is a very aggressive lineup. But due to Dirk's injury, the Mavericks' interior threat was greatly reduced in an instant. And the Thunder's weakness on the defensive end is precisely the interior. In this way, the Thunder also has the capital to overtake the score.

Kidd was out for a few seconds, Petro and Chandler had no range, and naturally there were a lot fewer tactical options. Marion and Yiyang can only find space through two off-ball pick-and-rolls on the inside, and the outside offense is the Mavericks' only chance right now.

But because neither Petro nor Chandler is a self-scoring threat, the Thunder's two interior players can be ready to defend Yiyang and Marion to slow them down.

In this way, after running several tactics, Yiyang and Marion did not have a chance. Kidd simply beckoned and called Petro to block him.

With a pick-and-roll, Petro temporarily shook off Westbrook. But he knows that Petro's quality of coverage is mediocre and Westbrook's physicality is outstanding. It won't be long before the zero is back in front of him.

So following this opportunity, Kidd suddenly made a pass and hit the ball into Yiyang's hands.

Seferosa, who is now opposite Yiyang, is not a soft persimmon, on the contrary, this guy who is extremely unstable on the offensive end has won respect and contracts with his strong defense.

Sephorosa himself is taller than Yiyang, and this guy's physical talent is extremely good. Yiyang wants to beat him in singles, which is not an easy task.

Yiyang received the ball and burst forward, and he struggled forward with Seflorosa on his shoulder. Although it seems to be breaking through, Yiyang is just pulling the defense line for his teammates.

Sure enough, seeing that he stepped into the restricted area, Durant was a little hesitant, not knowing whether he should come to make up for the defense. Taking advantage of the hesitation of the 35th, Yiyang passed the ball out, and the target was Marion who was outside the three-point line on the left!

Marion received the ball and shot, although Durant was a little far away from Marion, but this guy's perverted arm span still allowed him to interfere with Marion's shooting in time.

"Damn it!" Marion cursed in his heart the moment he shot the basket. He bet the guy's height was by no means what the official stats suggested.

Under Durant's interference, Marion missed a three-pointer. Petro pushed Ibaka away to grab the offensive rebound, but was whistled for a rebound foul by the referee, and the ball was still owned by the Thunder.

After that, the Thunder went on offense. In the past, people thought that Nowitzki was just a "soft egg" on the defensive end, but when Nowitzki was not available, those neutral fans realized that the Germans were so important on the defensive end.

This time, Westbrook wasn't in a hurry to attack the frame himself. Because he saw that his Congolese teammate Ibaka had begun to cut into the air, and Petro, who was opposite Ibaka, couldn't keep up with the rhythm at all!

Westbrook simply threw the ball into the air and Petro jumped up, but where could his jumping ability match Ibakabi, who is known for his athleticism?

Although Nowitzki can't jump high, if it is a Dirk defense, he will definitely get stuck in the position first, not let Ibaka cut succeed, and directly do not give the opponent a chance to jump.

But Petro is more than a notch behind Nowitzki in terms of reading the opponent's attack.

Ibaka easily catches the basketball, then presses it into the basket with both hands! The fans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena all stood up and cheered, and this dunk seemed to blow the horn of the Thunder's counterattack!

Petro may be able to resist the opponent's onslaught under the basket as a "meat stick" to protect the basket, but if you want him to run and defend, I'm afraid it won't be so useful.

"Be patient, it's just a goal, it's okay!" Carlisle began to yell into the pitch as the manager felt the situation was slowly spiraling out of his control.

Under Westbrook's close press, Kidd still calmly carried the ball through the half. The veteran guard looked at the Thunder's two interior linemen, Serge Ibaka and Kostic, and they were so focused on breaking through the perimeter that Petro and Chandler couldn't help the defense at all.

Kidd gestured and then went straight to the ball! The basketball grazed Westbrook's head and flew to Yiyang's hands with a gust of wind.

Yiyang held the ball three threats, which frightened Seflorosa and hurriedly opened his arms. He knows very well how deadly this No. 1 defender's breakthrough is, and defending him must not be distracted!

Just when everyone thought that Yiyang would be the end point of this attack, Yiyang suddenly slapped the ball to the ground.

In order to stabilize his center of gravity, Sephorosa spread his legs apart. It was with this that Yiyang passed the basketball under Seflorosa's crotch!

Everyone's defensive attention immediately shifted, the basketball rebounded, and the old Kidd, who cut inside, just arrived at the horse!

Kidd took out the basketball with both hands, and then faced two interior players who had not had time to make up for the defense, and went straight to the basket with three steps.

If Nowitzki was here, Ibaka would not have dared to act rashly. But when his counterpoint is Chauhan. Petro, there wasn't that much to worry about.

I saw the Congolese take two big strides and step under the basket, and Ibaka jumped up at the same time as Kidd jumped. But the difference in the bounce height between the two was so large that Kidd was completely covered by this sophomore forward!

Ibaka didn't give Kidd a face, he slapped hard with his right hand, and directly flew out the basketball fan that Kidd had just shot!

Durant, who is tall and long-armed, received the fan before Marion, and the Thunder's transition offense was immediately formed.

Don't look at Durant as tall as an interior player, but this guy can run as fast as an antelope. The only person who reported biting behind Durant in time was Yiyang, but the huge height gap between Yiyang and Durant made him not much of a threat to pursuit.

Yiyang's only way to stop Durant now is to foul, but with Durant's height and reach, even if Yiyang fouls, he is likely to score the ball.

Instead of letting the opponent get the opportunity to play three points, Yiyang simply gave up the jump block. Durant scored a one-handed dunk, and the Thunder narrowed the gap to two points in an instant!

Dirk's absence had too much impact on the Mavericks, and in the blink of an eye, the Thunder's lead was gone. Someone has to step up now, someone has to stand up and stabilize the situation. If it continues like this, the Thunder will have a good chance of turning the tide in one fell swoop. Van Gundy knows how important it is for the Mavericks to hold the situation right now. But for a team that has suddenly lost its star in the game, it is not easy to adjust so quickly.

After an attack, Yiyang finally tried to make a shot on his own.

He managed to get out of the gap, then raised his hand to Kidd for the ball. Actually, it wasn't a great opportunity, as Yiyang didn't completely shake Sephorosa away. But now this situation can't allow Yiyang to think about it more.

Yiyang received the ball and threw it, but Sephorosa's interference was very timely. This guy deserves to be a defensive warrior, and he is still very comfortable with a rookie like Yiyang.

"Boom!" The sound of hitting the iron continued, and Yiyang's mid-to-long-range jumper ended in failure. Westbrook grabbed the rebound himself and pushed it hard.

Marion's timely foul prevented Westbrook from attacking the basket, but it also inevitably sent the team to the free throw line.

In the quiet environment created by the Thunder fans, Westbrook made two free throws to help the Thunder officially equalize the score!

Carlisle immediately called a halt to the game, and in the minutes after Nowitzki went off the court, the Mavericks didn't score a point or defend a single ball. He had to make some adjustments, and the Mavericks couldn't stop just because they lost Nowitzki.

When the referee blew the whistle to signal the game to be suspended, Yiyang smashed the basketball to the ground with some unwillingness.

After Christmas, the team was in such big trouble. It seems that the NBA, as expected, does not have a smooth sailing road.

If he wants to win without Nowitzki, Yiyang will have to overcome more difficulties than before......