The Mavericks-Lakers game is a big game for the outside world, but for the Mavericks, it's just a small episode in the season.

This season's Mavericks, even during the period when Poole was making trouble, the team's record was very stable.

To put it bluntly, this Mavericks team has one thing in common with the Bulls back then: stability.

Back then, Xu Yong, Butler, and Adams Iron Triangle, and now Xu Yong, Jokic, and DeRozan Iron Triangle, this is the best team building model.

Before the All-Star break, the Mavericks had the best record in the league, and their winning streak continued after the All-Star break.

As the clock ticked for March, a topic that had been brought up several times in the past two years was brought up again: whether the NBA's all-time regular season record would be broken.

Because of the pandemic, the Mavericks missed out on this record for two years in a row, but now, for the first full season in nearly three years, they really have this opportunity.

Now the key is to see how the Mavericks choose.

After all, before this, the Bulls and Warriors have already done textbook demonstrations of both sides of the textbook, the former gave up the record to leave enough physical fitness for the playoffs to finally win the championship, and the latter forced 73 wins and finally won the 73 West overall runner-up.

The Mavericks then made their choice with action.

Although the Mavericks' opponents played hard, the Mavericks also went all out to win.

By the time the season came to its final few games, all eyes were on the Mavericks' remaining games, as record-breaking was becoming more and more possible.

Finally, when the time came in early April, when the Mavericks won the final game against the Celtics, their final record was set at 74 wins.

The Warriors' regular-season record came after just three seasons.

And this is different from the NBA's historical opening of the scoring mode and relying on scoring to make news, which was made after the league canceled the [vertical jump rule].

"When the league crossed 2015, there were two real super teams in the league, and the standard we defined it was not his lineup, but the record he achieved, the Bulls and the Mavericks, and the biggest thing they had in common was that they both had Xu."

When a new record was set, Barkley summed it up most accurately on TNT.

This summary has also sparked widespread discussion among fans about whether Jordan is more successful in completing two dynasties in a row in one team, or like Xu Yong, it is more difficult to complete dynasties in two teams.

Each has its own opinions, and there are different opinions.

But at the same time, someone pointed out that Xu Yong hadn't done it yet.

The Mavericks chose to go all out to break the record in the regular season like the Warriors, which will inevitably mean that they will consume too much in the regular season and will have fitness and injuries in the playoffs.

Thinking about it this way, the teams that entered the playoffs in the West are all eager to try.

In fact, not only on the western side, but also on the eastern side, Antetokounmpo, who led the team to regain the first place in the eastern region this season, can't wait.

The Warriors had a 73-win win over the Warriors and were runners-up in the West before, and now who wouldn't want to do it again with the Mavericks.

The season is over, and the East and West playoffs have officially begun.

The Mavericks' opponent in the first round was the Lakers.

What, why the Lakers?

The subjective factor is that James is not able to support himself alone, and others have not given him enough support.

The objective factor is mainly because Davis has suffered an injury, and he has played a little intermittently this year.

As for VanVleet, his singles ability is not up to Irving's level and he doesn't deserve the ball, and a point guard who doesn't have the ball wants to play well, just like you ask a chef to cook and don't give spices.

And James missed the playoffs with a group of rookies before, and this year he led the team to the playoffs with core injuries and teammates not playing well, and it was still in the West, which is already quite good.

Because of the past entanglements between Xu Yong and James, and because of the grievances in the regular season, aside from the strength, the encounter between these two teams is definitely the most trafficked matchup in the first round.

And before the first round started, Poole gave everyone a big job first.

"If it weren't for the injury, we wouldn't have fallen into this position, we have the quality of the top four in the West, and we will win the eventually."

Is Poole really stupid?

After hearing his remarks, Xu Yong felt that this was really not possible.

Historically, Poole was able to get a big contract with the Warriors, largely because of his unusually well-behaved behavior after being beaten by Green, a poor, weak, helpless victim character.

Now, there is a saying that red and black are also black, and if it weren't for the shouting again and again after arriving at the Lakers, how many people would pay attention to a Poole who was swept away.

A similar representative player is Green.

Of course, Xu Yong also likes Poole's behavior.

After all, this kind of talk can greatly stimulate the Mavericks' desire to play.

And that's exactly what happened.

The Mavericks have been absolutely committed since G1, and the Lakers have no power to resist.

Poole's remarks are not entirely unreasonable, and if Davis' thigh can maintain full attendance, the Lakers will indeed not fall into this position.

Now that they are in this position, they will indeed be a little more competitive than the other teams in the bottom half.

But what he overlooked was that Davis's form was a problem because he couldn't work full, and he was afraid to be injured again, so his strength was limited.

After losing G1, it was immediately followed by a revival of the classics.

"The Lakers won't lose, they're going to win the game 4-1."

"The Lakers won't lose, they're going to make a comeback 4-2."

"The Lakers won't lose, they're going to make a big 4-3 comeback."

"The Lakers won't lose, they'll turn the game 5-4!"

……

The Mavericks and Lakers in this first-round matchup focused on an entertainment game.

Of course, the fans are happy to watch, after all, who doesn't like to watch fun people, especially in the last game, James was beaten off the bench.

Although there is an element of acting, it is a must in order to continue to win the support of fans.

Without fans, the loss is small, and the loss of money is the big thing.

Just after the Mavericks played the first round, the league announced the ownership of the season's MVP.

Without a trace of suspense, with the team's record-breaking record and his excellent data of 33.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, Xu Yong was once again elected as the regular season MVP of the 2021~2022 season.

It is worth mentioning that this is also the third consecutive season after Xu Yong's comeback to win this award.

A three-time MVP who was cut off during the Bulls, he did it in Dallas.

This result really fulfills the sentence: the east is not bright and the west is bright.

And after a first-round run that was full of traffic but basically no suspense, the Mavericks faced the Grizzlies in the second round, their opponents they faced two years ago.

Xu Yong's previous words were also fulfilled, and after only two seasons, the Grizzlies' group had grown rapidly, and this season they directly reached the fourth place in the West, and they also eliminated the Clippers in the division semifinals.

Compared to the Lakers, the Grizzlies put significantly more pressure on the Mavericks in the second round.

Although the Grizzlies also have a core that basically relies on breakthrough scoring, he doesn't have that much demand for the ball, the Grizzlies are still a team team at heart, and with the defensive team culture that they have been continuing, when they have accumulated a certain amount of experience, they are quite good.

The Grizzlies lost the first game, but in the second game, they were full of morale and equalized the score, vividly interpreting what it means to be young and vigorous.

And after this game, the same argument from before reappeared.

"Look, the Mavericks are going to repeat the mistakes of the Warriors back then, over-depleting in the regular season, and a little more intensity in the playoffs!"

"You can't even beat the Grizzlies and still want a dynasty? It's simply a ready-made peach, and whoever picks it up is lucky! ”

"How did the Lakers lose in the first round? Bad luck? ”

……

In G3 of the series, the Mavericks and Grizzlies moved to Memphis to continue the battle.

The atmosphere at the Grizzlies' home court was also quite enthusiastic.

After all, having snatched the home court advantage from the Mavericks, and now holding the next two home courts, the situation is very good, how can the fans not be excited.

Of course, it is inevitable that some excitement will be overdone, such as some fans at the scene holding up the slogan "Xu, we don't need you at all".

This slogan is inexplicable at first glance, and only old fans can react at once.

Because of the involvement in that year's draft, the Grizzlies drafted Xu Yong and then sent him to the Bulls, and then Xu Yong flourished in the Bulls, while the Grizzlies have been at the bottom of the West, and the Grizzlies have been ridiculed for many years like the Hornets who sent Kobe Bryant away.

Now that they have finally risen, and there is a chance to knock out Xu Yong's team and go down in history, how can this not be exciting.

But it was this slogan that Xu Yong saw at the first glance when he entered the field.

He didn't say anything, but his expression had been serious ever since.

Most of the teammates on the Mavericks didn't know what was going on, and they all thought that Xu Yong was because the series was not optimistic.

But there was one person with a sharp eye who saw the problem.

On the Mavericks, Jokic has two biggest strengths, one is his weight and the other is his carefulness.

When he was still in Chicago, he was the only one who could make a sycophant look like a sycophant.

So as soon as the game started, Jokic fell directly to the three-point line at the top of the arc, and then commanded his teammates to create opportunities for Xu Yong.

This is probably a tacit understanding that can be understood by the eyes.

In this game, Jokic ended up with 16 assists, 11 of which were for Xu Yong.

Jokic's historic passing ability, coupled with his spatial ability, fed Xu Yongna a mouth full of oil.

Of course, on the other hand, Jokic's assist rate can be so high because he passes to Xu Yong.

After all, if it's James who catches the ball, there's a good chance you'll get second-hand assists that won't be included in the technical statistics.

The Grizzlies used Williamson to defend Xu Yong tonight, after all, Williamson can play against Xu Yong in terms of confrontation, but he has experienced a night of growth tonight, and his confrontation is useless in front of Xu Yong, because most of the time he can't keep up with Xu Yong's footsteps at all.

51 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, this is the data handed over by Xu Yong tonight.

Under his leadership, the Mavericks played a wave in the final quarter and successfully won G3.

Then in G4, when the Grizzlies summed up their experience and began to adjust their defensive strategy, and after attacking Xu Yong, Xu Yong handed over a triple-double of 33 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

In two games with completely different styles, Xu Yong still played with ease in the face of the Grizzlies' level of defensive intensity.

Of course, there is also the Mavericks who don't see the kind of [fatigue] that the outside world says at all.

Obviously, the Mavericks are not the same as the Warriors, and even the Bulls were not the same.

The difference with the former is that the Mavericks are stronger than the 73-win Warriors, and the latter is different in that the Mavericks have not suffered any major injuries this year.

So it's true that breaking the record has a drain on the Mavericks, but that level of consumption is far less than the outside world says.

On the contrary, after losing G3 and G4 in succession, the Grizzlies' youthful vigor disappeared all of a sudden.

4-1, the Mavericks successfully eliminated the Grizzlies and advanced to the Western Conference finals.

This time their opponent in the West is the Warriors.

Curry, who missed most of last season's games due to injury, led the team back to the new season, and the Warriors were also boosted by him, knocking out the Jazz and Thunder in quick succession to reach the Western Conference finals.

The Warriors are far better and more morale than they were last season, but when they faced the Mavericks, they still couldn't change the result.

The reason is very simple, since Xu Yong joined the Mavericks, the Mavericks have restrained the Warriors in terms of lineup configuration and playing style.

As for morale, the morale of the Mavericks is not lower than that of the Warriors.

Of course, Curry has been in good enough form this season to allow the Warriors to snatch two wins at the hands of the Mavericks.

4-2, the Warriors ended the season in a decent way.

Although, at the end of G6, Curry stood in the center circle for a long time, because he couldn't move after running out of energy, and also because he was powerless about the outcome in front of him, or, after giving his best, he also knew that like those stars who were notified by Jordan, he would never have the chance to touch the trophy again.

In the finals, the Mavericks met the Raptors again.

This year, the Raptors' path to qualification is much smoother than it was two years ago, thanks to Antetokounmpo's further improvement and Leonard's good attendance this season, the Raptors are very dominant in the East, and even the Bulls were easily eliminated by them 4-2 in the division semifinals.

This also makes the finals much more intense than they were two years ago.

The Raptors came up and captured Dallas, leading 1-0.

But before fans could come up with their previous views again, Jokic and DeRozan broke out one after another, and the Mavericks won two games in a row to rewrite the score to 2-1.

However, in G4, Antetokounmpo also broke out, and completed a rebound at the last moment, strongly rewriting the score to 2-2, and also forcing the Mavericks to Tianwang Mountain.

"I think we can really do it!" In the post-match interview, Antetokounmpo couldn't hide his excitement.

His mind is now full of the words that Xu Yong had said to him before, the future is his, and his future is the present!

Dallas, Tianwang Mountain.

Just when everyone thought that tonight's game would be unprecedentedly intense, Xu Yong told everyone with his actions at the beginning: impossible, absolutely impossible.

In the previous meetings between the two teams, including this finals, Leonard was always able to bring a lot of restrictions to Xu Yong, but tonight, Leonard's defense was ineffective against Xu Yong at the beginning, and Xu Yong's desire to play was unprecedentedly strong.

Did something happen that provoked Seo Yong with the remarks of Green or Poole before?

Not really.

It's just like Xu Yong said at the beginning of the season, when the dynasty is close at hand, this no longer needs external conditions to stimulate.

What's more, this is an agreement between him and Ross.

When Leonard could no longer contain Seo, the Raptors' defensive resources were mobilized, and Jokic and DeRozan's previous form came into play.

As a result, the Raptors, like the Grizzlies before them, began to crumble in their defensive system.

Xu Yong only scored 48 points in the end, but under his leadership, the Mavericks scored 126 points.

The Mavericks also got the match point.

G6 Toronto.

The Raptors were cornered, the dog was in a hurry and jumped off the wall, and the Raptors fought to the death.

The difference between the two sides from the opening to the end of the game never exceeded five points, and even with 27 seconds to go, the Mavericks only led by one point.

The Mavericks' final attack, the entire Canadian fans chanting for defense.

At this time, because Leonard's defense was not effective, Antetokounmpo switched to Xu Yong.

Xu Yong swayed, lowered his center of gravity, broke through the change of direction, pulled back, shook off Antetokounmpo's mid-range jumper, and after seeing Antetokounmpo pounce hard, he collected the ball with one hand, turned around and completely shook the opponent, and then made a signature turn and threw a shot.

The basketball crosses a perfect parabola.

"Huh!"

Hollow into the net.

Xu Yong, killed the Raptors.

There was an uproar at the scene, and the fans hugged their heads in disbelief.

Antetokounmpo was also in pain.

Xu Yong looked at Antetokounmpo after landing on the ground, and said with a smile: "I told you that the future is yours, but I forgot to say that the present is mine." ”

(End of chapter)