Seeing the Knicks take the lead, the Mavericks stepped up their breakaway after a timeout, with Devin Harris and Jerry Starkerhouse getting free throws one after the other, but the Knicks simply hit a few more shots. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Realizing that time was running out, the Mavericks began to try three-pointers, but with Nowitzki and Howard both hitting three-pointers, the Mavericks' hopes were getting dwindling.

At the 1:25 mark, Francis hit a two-pointer to give the Knicks a 10-point lead.

Then Stackhouse missed, and the Mavericks' final struggle failed.

At 97:89, the Knicks led 1:0 in the finals, and Li Hai scored 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals, and his performance was still comprehensive and strong.

Unlike in the Eastern Conference Finals before, the Mavericks didn't make any noise after losing a home court, and Avery Johnson instead praised Lehi's performance and threw smoke bombs.

However, in Game 2, Nowitzki returned to normal, scoring 31 points and 16 rebounds, while the Knicks lost 12 rebounds alone.

In addition to Nowitzki's changes in this game, the Mavericks reduced the playing time of the hot-headed Josh Howard against Lehi, and Nowitzki's small lineup with four outside players also worked wonders, making Lehi's 30+10 come to naught, and the Knicks lost Game 2 95-103.

Stackhouse's excellent performance also made Crawford feel very unhappy, and the Knicks held their breath after losing this game, just waiting to return to the home court.

Regarding Nowitzki's defensive problem, the Knicks also discussed it again.

After Channing Frye's five fouls in the second game, the Knicks originally planned to use Lehi to defend Nowitzki, but at that time, the Mavericks put Nowitzki in the center position, which frustrated the Knicks' plan.

If Nowitzki enters the inside line, he will definitely have to make a pinch attack, but if he goes to the outside line, it is better to defend with Lehi, who is relatively fast and has a lot of strength.

Of course, you can't mark the whole game, you still have to judge according to the progress of the game.

Lehi's role is different now, he is not only defensive, the team wants him to have a surprise performance in attack.

His physicality and technical characteristics also prove that he has a lot to offer in attack.

After returning to New York, although Lehi did not have as much physical training as usual, he spent a lot of time watching Nowitzki's video to figure out the defense, and he was mentally exhausted.

However, when he returned home, he was accompanied by Xia Weiliang, which also kept him from being too nervous.

In order to prepare for the battle with all his might, he didn't even pay attention to the news, and when facing the interview, he was simple and clear, showing his determination to win, and he must seize this opportunity.

On June 13th, the cheers at Madison Square Garden were extremely enthusiastic, and the fans wanted to show that the Knicks' home court was stronger.

Under the watchful eyes of the home fans, Lehi hit the shot first.

As for Nowitzki's defense, the Knicks attach great importance to it, and as long as the opponent enters the three-point line, he is ready to pinch and push Nowitzki as far as possible.

Their goal is resolute and would rather let the rest of the Mavericks play than make Nowitzki comfortable.

In the regular season, such tactics may not be very useful.

But in the playoffs, especially on the stage of the finals, being able to limit the opponent's ace is the best tactic, and on the stage of the finals, the team cannot tactically ignore him because the first core is targeted.

The Knicks' defense had some gains, and Nowitzki didn't get used to it in the first quarter, scoring only on free throws.

Once Nowitzki is in a situation, the Mavericks can't behave properly, and the Knicks start the game with a momentum, and on their turf, they're just going to win.

In the case of not being able to open the situation, the Mavericks also use the old method to rotate players.

They deliberately put some attacking players on the bench and that's what they thought about.

Stackhouse and Dampier also proved their worth when they came up, Stackhouse came up and hit a shot, and Dampier also fought for a rebound in the frontcourt.

At this time, the Knicks also replaced Crawford on the court.

If the Knicks' primary tactical goal is to limit Nowitzki, Crawford's mind is different, he agreed with the team's tactics after winning the best sixth man, and under the guidance of Lehi and others, he even had the idea of becoming the strongest sixth man.

But now he is being stolen by Stackhouse, and in a similar way to him, that kind of unreasonable shooting, which is obviously what makes him amazing.

So after Crawford came on the field, even the fans in front of the TV noticed his defensive concentration, and the fans who were familiar with him were surprised by this rare scene.

Crawford's physicality is the type that can be used defensively, and he is familiar with defensive means after training with Lehi for so long, but his style of play is relatively free, and he can't be patient to do those details that are likely to not be effective.

But in this game, he was fully focused on dealing with Stackhouse, not only offensively, but also on the defensive end to solve that guy, at this time he very much agreed with what Lehi often said, offensive and defensive ends to win against the opposite Stackhouse.

Stackhouse also felt uncomfortable if he was defended like this, and after Crawford came on the court, he never hit a shot again, and several shots were interfered with, resulting in an iron.

Crawford, on the other hand, scored 7 points on the offensive end.

By the time Lehi came on in the second quarter, the Knicks had a 10-point lead.

He passed by Crawford and shouted cheers, and Crawford realized that before he knew it, he was suppressing the other team and helping the team suppress the Mavericks.

This kind of exhilaration is the same as being invincible in attack, no, it's more sour than that, he is happy to see Starkerhouse's unlucky look, but he is an old guy, and he wants to compare with him, he is going to completely kill the other party in this game, let everyone see, who is the first person in the team's rotation time.

Nowitzki's return to the court after adjustment has also become different, the Knicks don't want him to go to the inside, the more he has to go to the inside, just like playing against those teams that can't defend him, he will go to the outside more often, using his strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses, this is the wisdom on the basketball court.

He also caused fouls from Knicks players in the case of a few times, which caused a big headache for the Knicks.

It's just that even if Nowitzki didn't hesitate to fight hand-to-hand, he couldn't fill the hole of the bench players, and the Knicks played the game they wanted, leading by 10 points at 52:42 to end the first half. (To be continued.) )