One Guard

Only three minutes into the second quarter, Terry Stotts discovered that Lillard was sweating profusely. Thanks to Yiyang's tough defense, Lillard consumes a lot of physical energy on the offensive end. And these physical strengths have not been converted into scores.

In just a few minutes, the points difference was widened to double digits. Under the leadership of Yiyang, the Mavericks still played well in the offensive, while the Trail Blazers were completely dumb.

Stotts knows exactly what kind of player Yiyang is. If he is determined to lock Lillard today, it will be impossible for Lillard to get as many opportunities as he did in the first quarter.

What the Blazers have to do now is to shift the focus of offense.

"LaMarcus, make your shot more decisive! Don't hesitate, as soon as you hesitate, the opportunity is gone." Stotts walked up to Aldridge with a tactical board. This 2006 No. 2 pick became the trailblazer's rescue .

Aldridge has performed well so far in this game. He has scored 6 points and has a good eye on Nowitzki. The only problem is that Aldridge's shot is not decisive.

Many times there are opportunities, but as long as Aldridge thinks the position is not good, he is likely to pass the ball even if it is open.

It's not just a day or two for Ader to have this problem. It's just that he usually plays other teams with Lillard's impact. It is understandable that Aldridge has passed a few more balls. But today, when the Trail Blazers rely on him for offense, it is obviously impossible to make a shot that is not decisive enough.

Aldridge nodded silently, he also knew that he had to take on a greater responsibility. He doesn't care about the Mavericks' 18-game winning streak. The only thing this guy cares about is whether the Trail Blazers can retreat.

Now the team is ten points behind, the only good thing is that the game only hit the second quarter, the Blazers still have time to catch the score.

The timeout ended quickly. When Drexler saw Lillard on the field again, the zero guard seemed to have lost the spirit of the beginning. Yiyang's iron-blooded defense has polished away that spirit.

The game restarted. The fans in the American Airlines Center Arena followed the drum beats given by the DJ on the spot and yelled the word "defense" rhythmically.

Yiyang with open arms and the shouts of the fans made Lillard feel pressured. This time, Lillard did not hold the ball to break through, but handed the ball to Batum early.

French forward Batum averaged 13 points per game this season and is an indispensable offensive point for the Trail Blazers. Faced with this kind of guy, Iguodala naturally can't let him easily get shooting space.

After he came out and received the basketball, Batum just turned around, and the strong Iguodala was already in front of him.

The Mavericks' defense is not just for Lillard, it should be said that it has brought a huge sense of oppression to all perimeter players.

Fortunately, Aldridge was already leaning on Nowitzki to get to the position. Batum doesn't need to entangle with Iguodala, he hangs the ball firmly into the penalty area, which is considered to be the completion of the task.

At this time, the formation of the Trail Blazers opened up, Aldridge singled with Dirk in the low post.

Ade took the ball and turned to the frame and made a few three-threat moves. Seeing Nowitzki hesitated, Ade made a decisive shot!

Sure enough, Nowitzki's defense was not as fast as Ade had imagined. The basketball crossed the German's long arms and fell straight into the net!

"LaMarcus Aldridge's shooting is really solid! It seems that Coach Stotts has changed a major offensive point." The moment Ader scored, Drexler slammed his arm. Although it is a pity that Yiyang and Lillard can no longer see the offensive battle, but now, as long as the Blazers do not lose, the legendary defender will be satisfied.

After the goal, the big man in the black No. 12 jersey did not celebrate as exaggeratedly as Lillard. He just turned around silently and returned to his defensive position.

The combination of Aldridge and Lillard is the intersection of ice and fire. One is composed and stable, the other is passionate. These two types of players can often complement each other on the court, but today, Lillard has accidentally misfired.

Repeatedly hitting walls on the offensive end actually affected Lillard's mood when defending. Yiyang could clearly feel that Lillard's defense against himself was not as tight as before. Now, that number zero guard is in a very depressed mood.

After handing the ball to Iguodala for processing, Yiyang walked to the left corner without hurries. Subsequently, Nowitzki received a basketball with his back in the mid-range position, and it seemed that he was going to play Aldridge.

At this moment, Yiyang, who was originally at the bottom corner, suddenly cut along the bottom line to the basket. Lillard reacted half a beat slowly, and was thrown aside by Yiyang.

Nowitzki knows it, and the timing of the pass is just right. After receiving the ball, Yiyang didn't even have to move the ball and threw it directly.

While Lillard was still worrying about his offense, Yiyang had no trouble to come here. The mentality collapsed, and Lillard's defense also collapsed.

The 10-point gap remained the same, Stotts yelled from the sidelines, and the Trail Blazers tried a lot of offensive tactics. But in the face of the trident composed of Yiyang, Iguodala and Tony Allen, any tactics are useless.

No matter how you run or pick and roll. When you look up after receiving a basketball, you can always see the "amiable" smiles of the three guys.

Aldridge became the only offensive point for the Trail Blazers. It is true that Aldridge made a two-pointer, but there is no way to close the double-digit score.

Until the end of the half game, the Trail Blazers still did not narrow the points difference to single digits. Aldridge scored 12 points in a single quarter, and his scoring efficiency was higher than Lillard in the first quarter. But his excellent score of 18 points at halftime still couldn't get the team out of the quagmire.

When you are killing all sides on the court and falling down to find that the team is still defeated, it is difficult for you to continue to maintain a high level of emotions.

Aldridge is in such a state now. Obviously, he has already beaten the legendary German to a high level, but the Trail Blazers' plan to chase points has not made any progress.

The collective misfire of the outside players of the Trail Blazers must take the main responsibility for this.

Lillard gasped during the intermission, and he also knew that Aldridge needed his own help now. But throughout the first half, he was clamped to death by Yiyang.

Yiyang's defense is not as simple as forcing Lillard to pass, but almost "stripping" Lillard out of the game. When attacking, Lillard can be said to be completely useless.

But the stubborn Lillard would not give up just like that. If Yiyang faced such a situation, he would not give up either. Lillard is very similar to Yiyang, even the spirit of not knowing how to let go.

Most of the time, sticking to the end will make you achieve unexpected results. But sometimes, meaningless persistence will push a player into the abyss.

As soon as the third quarter started, Lillard used a clear three-pointer to chase his body, sounding the clarion call for the Trail Blazers to counterattack!

Drexler, who had been sleepy, suddenly straightened his waist. Lillard was resurrected? Will the point guard war continue again?

However, this was just a three-pointer from Lillard's return.

After an attack, Yiyang's defense once again made Lillard experience a sense of despair. In the stands, even Reggie Miller shook his head, some could not stand it.

"Is it too serious? What that guy is showing now is totally playoff-level defense! For Damien, playoff-level defense is not a joke." Miller had even begun to sympathize with Lillard.

"Although Damien may be powerless in this game, believe me, this defense has only good for his entire career, but no harm." Drexler leaned back in the seat back again. On, the guy Yiyang didn't plan to give Lillard any chance to create miracles today. But, these setbacks are all Lillard must go through. Who hasn't been beaten by a star when he was young?

If Yiyang could hear Drexler's voice, he would definitely answer: I haven't been beaten by anyone.

Lillard's persistence allowed him to continuously strike iron. Even if he can score two goals occasionally, the impact on the entire battle has been minimal. Aldridge's shots are still solid, but in this era only relying on a star to score, it is impossible to win the game. What's more, Aldridge's scoring was still within the normal range, and he did not perform the miracle of scoring seventy or eighty points in a single game.

By the end of the third quarter, the 15-point difference had almost sentenced Stotts to death. Want to recover 15 points under the Mavericks defense, unless the Mavericks players have a collective diarrhea in the fourth quarter.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot happen. Therefore, it is impossible for the Trail Blazers to win the game.

In the eighth minute of the fourth quarter, Stotts had replaced all the main players. Instead of wasting physical energy to do unnecessary struggles here, it is better to let the main players rest and save some precious physical energy for the long season.

In this way, this originally high-profile point guard battle ended early after only 8 minutes. With 40 minutes left, Miller and Drexler were both exclaiming for Yiyang's defense. In the end, the Mavericks also defeated the Trailblazers who had won 4 consecutive victories at home with a score of 107 to 91. They won 18 consecutive victories and easily broke the longest team history that has been maintained for 8 years. Winning streak!

"It is indeed a great player. He has left his name in the history of the Mavericks in less than four seasons. The 18-game winning streak has become a new record for the Mavericks. Moreover, This number is likely to continue to rise." Reggie Miller is not flattering. The Trail Blazers are one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference this season. Their previous 30 wins and only 9 losses are for this. The best proof.

However, such a powerful Western Conference can only score 16 points in Dallas.

"I'm in a bad mood, Reggie, I knew I would not come to Dallas to watch the game." Drexler smiled wryly. He was going to watch the point guard battle. As a result, the battle ended in an anticlimax within 8 minutes ~ www.novelmtl.com ~ Finally, the Blazers lost the ball.

"You have to get used to it, Clyde. In Dallas, no team is safe!"

Yiyang was rated as the best player in the game by TNT, ESPN, CBS and many other TV stations. Today Yiyang didn’t score very high, only scored 26 points, but sent 14 assists, making his teammates help him score. Hands.

Comparing Aldridge, who scored 30 points but lost the game, and Lillard, who scored only 14 points and shot only 26%, Yiyang's performance is indeed impeccable.

After celebrating the victory with his teammates, Yiyang turned around and was about to look for Lillard. I looked around the stadium and found that the No. 0 defender had disappeared.

Lillard seemed to have lost his soul at this time, like a walking corpse, moving drowsily in the player tunnel.

As soon as he arrived in the visiting team's locker room, two reporters stopped Lillard. When Lillard looked up to face the camera, the reporters were all taken aback.

Don't worry, Lillard hasn't really become a zombie. The reporters were surprised because Lillard's face was full of frustration. This gloomy look and downcast eyes did not match Lillard's usual passionate personality.

He is like a child who has failed an interview, feeling confused about his future. It seemed that he almost collapsed.

"Da... Damien, what do you think of the defense against you today?" Seeing his appearance, the reporters even couldn't bear to ask Lillard this question.

Lillard raised his head, his downcast eyes still remained. He just looked back at the scene of being defended by Yiyang in his head, and he felt unable to breathe.

"I can only say that this kind of defense is something I have never seen at any moment in my career."

Facing the camera, Lillard said weakly.