"Erwin, do you think Meng will step up and take over the game in the fourth quarter?" After the end of the third quarter of the game, looking at the players on both sides who were off the court, Michaels asked the Magic Johnson next to him with a lot of doubts, for what Meng Xu did on the court, Michaels was really unpredictable, in the entire third quarter of the game, Meng Xu only shot once, and in the 12-minute game, he was making the ball for his teammates throughout the whole game, which also made Michaels guess whether Meng Xu wanted to save his physical strength for the fourth quarter of the game, so as to take over the game smoothly, However, Meng Xu's physical defense and continuous breakthrough on the field made Michaels a little skeptical of his guesses.

"I think it should be like this, Meng Xu is used to taking over the game in the fourth quarter." Although he said it very positively, Magic Johnson actually had some doubts in his heart, after all, Meng Xu's performance today was too abnormal, but one thing is certain, that is, Meng Xu must not want to lose today's game, so at the critical moment of the game, Meng Xu will definitely stand up, although the Pacers also have a big heart player like Reggie Miller, but in the handling of key balls, Magic Johnson does not think that the Pacers will be more suitable than Meng Xu.

"Meng, you have to step up your offense in the fourth quarter!" On the bench of the Pacers, Rick Carlisle handed over the task of arranging tactics to assistant coach Lester Connell, and he was bent over to stand in front of Meng Xu, and Meng Xu kept communicating face-to-face, in the first three quarters of the game, Meng Xu only shot 6 times, only scored 9 points, although under the leadership of Meng Xu's 20 assists in the third quarter, the other players of the Pacers performed very well, but the situation on the court was still very anxious, especially in the two minutes before the end of the third quarter, Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller, who have suffered from a serious decline in physical strength, missed three consecutive shots, which directly led to the Pacers being overtaken by the Mavericks, so Rick Carlisle also hopes that Meng Xu can increase his shots in the crucial fourth quarter, and directly hopes that Meng Xu can stand up and take over the game.

In the past, Rick Carlisle very much hoped that Meng Xu could reduce the number of shots in the game, after all, the Pacers still have two excellent scoring points of Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller, and even James Posey and Tyshawn Prince also have the ability to average 15+ per game, not to mention that the Pacers now have a group of veterans with good strength, so the reasonable distribution of shots is what Rick Carlisle has always hoped for. Although Meng Xu's number of shots this season has decreased a lot compared to last season, in Rick Carlisle's view, this is still not enough, in Rick Carlisle's plan, Meng Xu can take about 15 shots per game, and it is most beneficial for the team to put more energy into organizing the team, which is also the original intention of Rick Carlisle to let Meng Xu change to organizational guard. But in today's game, when Meng Xu's shots were greatly reduced and almost all of his energy was put into the defensive end and organizing the team, Rick Carlisle's heart was very unsteady, especially when Jermaine O'Neal and others had a great reduction in scoring efficiency due to the decline in physical strength, Rick Carlisle realized that Meng Xu really couldn't attack without attacking, and the rest of the Pacers' players, Jermaine O'Neal, Reggie Miller, they were in the stability and consistency of scoring, There is obviously a big gap between him and Meng Xu.

"Don't worry, Rick, I will!" After glancing at the Maverick bench in the distance, Meng Xu looked up at Rick Carlisle, and then nodded at him. Meng Xu didn't want to give up the bet with Nash, but winning was the ultimate goal, so when there was a conflict between winning and personal interests, Meng Xu still chose to win without hesitation. At the end of the third quarter, Meng Xu had 9 points and 20 assists, Nash had 8 points and 20 assists, the two were evenly matched in assists, who won and who lost, but in order to be able to defeat the Mavericks, Meng Xu needed to change his style of play a little, after all, in the second half of the third quarter, the Mavericks had already given up on Meng Xu's bag and put defensive attention on Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller, which was also the direct reason why the Pacers were overtaken by the Mavericks, so at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Meng Xu will have to step up his individual offense and share a little pressure for Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller.

Trailing the Mavericks in the score, Rick Carlisle went straight to the main lineup after the start of the fourth quarter. On the Mavericks' side, Nelson Sr. obviously wanted to kill the Pacers directly, so the two teams invariably started a showdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

And after the start of the fourth quarter, the Mavericks still didn't mean to wrap Meng Xu, but let Michael Finley defend Meng Xu alone on the defensive end, so when Meng Xu reached the top of the arc with the dribble, only Finley stood in front of him from beginning to end, and after seeing that the Mavericks completely gave up on his bag, Meng Xu also smiled and shook his head.

Facing Finley who let himself go, Meng Xu did not shoot on his head, but after calmly getting rid of him, he rushed towards the basket, Nowitzki has now committed three fouls, so the purpose of Meng Xu's attack this time is very obvious, that is, to go to the basket to make his kill.

The old Nelson, who was paying attention to Meng Xu on the sidelines from beginning to end of this game, was also speechless for a while when he saw that he did not force his shot in front of Finley, nor did he use his dislocation advantage to single Nowitzki after Nowitzki's defense was in place, but directly leaned against Nowitzki with his back. Originally, in Nelson's view, Meng Xu, who had not shot for a long time, even if he wanted to strengthen his offense in the fourth quarter, it would take time to adjust his touch, and this time also happened to be the best time for the Mavericks to open the score, so Old Nelson deliberately relaxed his defense against Meng Xu and let him shoot on the outside, but unexpectedly, Meng Xu did not mean to shoot on the periphery, but ran directly to the vicinity of the paint area and entangled with Nowitzki.

"Don, it doesn't look good." Just when Meng Xu tried to play Nowitzki with his back, the assistant coach of the old Nelson had already seen through Meng Xu's intentions, Meng Xu's ability to make fouls is the top in the league, and because of the superstar whistle and the fact that this is the home court of the Pacers, as long as Meng Xu made up his mind to make Nowitzki's fouls, it would definitely be very disadvantageous for Nowitz.

Old Nelson didn't answer after hearing the assistant coach's words, but Old Nelson was already praying silently for Nowitzki in his heart at the moment, or for himself, Nowitzki has now committed three fouls, if he fouls, he can only go off the court first, and once Nowitzki is off the court, then Old Nelson's wishful thinking will be completely invalid.

"This guy's strength is really strong!" Nowitzki, who was being carried by Meng Xu's back, also let out a sigh, although Nowitzki has not lost his position until now, but after Meng Xu's continuous back, Nowitzki's defensive position has been shaky. Although Nowitzki is not the inside line of Duncan and Garnett, but Nowitzki is a big forward and an inside player after all, but an inside player is unable to withstand the back of an outside player, no matter how you look at it, it is a ruinous thing.

Because the old Nelson did not arrange the bag and clamp tactics against Meng Xu, and Meng Xu was not worried about the Mavericks' bag and clamp, so Meng Xu is now unscrupulously against Nowitzki, constantly working backwards, and after estimating that he has been on his back for almost five seconds, taking advantage of Nowitzki's retreat, Meng Xu quickly completed the turn, and after taking a small step forward, he jumped up against Nowitzki.

After hearing the referee's whistle, Nowitzki was also a little speechless, just now after seeing Meng Xu turn and jump in front of him, Nowitzki subconsciously reached out to block, but Meng Xu did not dodge at all, but continued to shoot against Nowitzki's block, and Nowitzki, who had no time to stop, directly slapped Meng Xu's arm, and Nowitzki, who realized that he had committed four fouls, glanced at Meng Xu with a look of resentment, and walked directly towards the bench.