The tough game against the Cavaliers was only the beginning, and back-to-back games on the road against the Dallas Mavericks on the second day were the most crucial point for the Knicks.

The Mavericks now sit first in the West with a 33-4 record, and have retained almost all of last season's main lineup, and more importantly, after Johnson Jr. was fired at the end of the season, the Mavericks now look like they've finally found the right head coach for them. Carlisle.

Mir once said privately that if it weren't for Thibodeau's choice to renew his contract with the Knicks, Gentry would eventually stay, and Mill would have obtained Carlisle at all costs, even if he would have paid for the position of Knicks head coach, but now that Thibodeau and Gentry have chosen to stay, Mill can only shake his head and sigh at Blair.

After coming to the Mavericks, Carlisle didn't do a lot in the beginning, first of all, he emphasized the defensive rotation of all players, strengthened the role of Chandler, Josh and the substitute Adrian, strengthened Chandler's personal protection, and required all main players to do the defensive rotation they deserved.

Of course, the Mavericks have not become a defensive powerhouse, and individual offense is still the theme of the Mavericks today.

However, the Mavericks' offensive model began to change, Kidd changed from controlling all the offense in the past to now giving Carter and Nowitzki more offensive space and opportunity, and Terry on the bench also began to take on more roles, and the team's rotation plus Adrian has reached a 10-man rotation position, giving rookies and newcomers more opportunities to adapt.

However, Carlisle still knows that Dallas cannot continue to strengthen now, and now that the salary pressure is high enough, Carlisle has begun to focus on developing rookies and some functional players with a salary of less than 2 million.

For the rotation time of the main players, Carlisle also learned from the characteristics of the Knicks in recent seasons, reducing the playing time of veterans, and began to attract some veteran players who can help the Mavericks, reducing the potential injury risk of some players.

For the current Knicks, Carlisle can be said to be the most familiar guy, from the Pistons to the Pacers, Carlisle will meet the Knicks in the playoffs almost every year, and the Knicks' two championships and three Eastern Conference championship journeys can be said to have been completed by stepping on Carlisle.

If Carlisle didn't have the slightest grudge against the Knicks, it would be a very strange thing.

The start of this game was a good time for Carlisle to 'beat the Reservoir Dogs', and in the court of the United Center, the moment the whistle sounded, the momentum of the Mavericks began to be released, even though the Knicks knew that they had encountered a strong opponent, but they really didn't expect this strong opponent to give their all at the beginning.

Dallas had a game on the second day, but such a mentality can be said to release Dallas's determination to win, and the confidence that the Knicks' winning streak will be terminated again.

Although the Knicks were not beaten at the beginning, the speed was never played again, and the rhythm was rarely controlled by other teams, even if the opponent's name was Kidd, the Knicks were a little surprised.

The entanglement between Kidd and Bow Peak began from the beginning, and such defensive actions were rarely seen after Kidd came to Dallas, and Bow Peak was rarely defended by Kidd to the point of mistake at the beginning.

It wasn't until he saw Kidd defending like this in the middle of the first quarter that Bow Peak really became official, and the response to a strong man was the greatest respect for this strong man, and Kidd was undoubtedly the most respected one by Bow Peak.

After watching Kidd, Carter, and Nowitzki complete every offense very seriously, and then wait until two minutes later, after seeing that it was still the case, after seeing every offensive and defensive choice of the Mavericks, Gong Feng was silent, and then he looked at his teammates on the court, and then looked at some of the people sitting off the court.

The silent bow made a gesture to the referee before he could serve, and Mir went on to say that the timeout was a long timeout.

This is the first time since this season that other teams have been suspended, Gong Feng returned to the sidelines, did not say anything but did some preparatory activities again, not only Gong Feng, Yao Ming, Hill, Allen, Bosh have done corresponding activities, this timeout does not need the head coach to say anything at all, all the people who are ready to play naturally know what to do, and the players will do accordingly.

When the whistle blew, Gong Feng took the first step out of the Knicks for the first time, crouching down to receive the pass from the baseline, and watching the players run while looking slow and somewhat not full dribbling.

But in the face of Gong Feng's dribbling, Kidd just retreated step by step outside the three-point line without making any other reaction, and seeing Gong Feng so serious, Mill smiled and said to Paul beside him: "Paul, take a good look at the next Knicks, in the regular season, such a performance is rare!" ”

Yes, of course it's rare! All the players do all the actions like this, which clearly shows that the Knicks' main players will play according to the heart of the Finals, and more importantly, unless Dallas takes the lead in making substitution changes, the Knicks' current five main players will definitely not be off.

As for the injuries that will affect Yao Ming, oh! Let's talk about it in the next game!

The current Knicks, although not the most iron-blooded team in the league, will definitely not be afraid of some underlying factors.

From this moment on, the competition between the two sides officially begins.

It's just a pity that the head coaches of both sides have different ideas, Mir just let this kind of battle last until halftime, before the end of the half, none of the main five people on both sides have ever rested, even if both sides have strong substitutes who can replace the players on the field, but the two sides really have no intention of giving in.

In the second half of the game, when Paul and Battier came on the bench, Dallas did not make too many changes, just replaced Terry and Adrian, and replaced Josh and Carter.

This is Paul's first attempt in the NBA to see what it's like to be in hell, Kidd's seemingly careless dribble, every careless defense makes Paul feel extremely uncomfortable, this is Paul's first attempt at the league's top outside defensive strength, this is the ability to make all the team's outside players frightened at that moment.

Paul's breakthrough was also blocked by the Mavericks' entire team, and as for the breakthrough point, in the defensive lineup arranged by Blair, it was even more pressed layer by layer, losing the initiative, allowing the Knicks to start a single mode.

Although in the follow-up stage, Mill successively changed some of the main players back to the court, except for Gong Feng and Yao Ming, Paul really felt that he and the core of the Knicks were in two spaces.

Every time the Knicks player runs, even in Paul's eyes, it is clearly visible, but after Kidd seems to inadvertently raise his hand and wave, as if it is an inadvertent position, Paul feels the threat of a passing error, and then loses the best passing opportunity.

After handing the ball to his teammates, Paul's every run seemed to become useless, and Kidd even stepped up his interference with other players, and it was only now that Paul discovered a big difference from the league's top players.

Once you don't have the ball in your hands, there's so little you can do.

"Kidd really gave us face! Really made our lovely rookie get to this point, but Mill, don't you think this kind of matchup, and the feeling of being misplaced in general, is it a bit early for a rookie like Paul? ”

"Is it early? Gong Feng, don't tell me that you didn't break this mental activity when you were a rookie and finally succeeded, even if the team structure at that time was the one that allowed you to play the best, but you didn't go through this hurdle, don't tell me that you can still shine like in the playoffs and finally get FMVP! ”

Gong Feng smiled when he heard this, his smile was a little bitter, he just looked at Mir's serious face, and said softly: "Do you know what kind of price I paid to break through such a limitation back then?" Even if I have a high degree of success in the next three years, you know, a lot of my performance in the past three years is just to find a path that truly belongs to me! (To be continued.) )