One Guard

Chapter 702: The less you win, the less you lose?

112 to 104, eight points difference. In fact, the eight-point margin did not reflect the intensity of the game at all. Throughout the game, James and Irving performed outstandingly. For 48 minutes, the Mavericks were only 5 minutes better than the Cavaliers.

However, it was those short 5 minutes that determined the outcome of the game. The Mavericks' magical defense has reappeared since last season's regular season when Yiyang shut out Lillard and their famous "seven-minute defense" against the Spurs in the playoffs. This season, the Mavericks have once again become the focus of discussion thanks to the terrifying individual defense capabilities of Iguodala and Yiyang.

"The Mavericks have gathered some of the best defensive players in the world. Unless one team's offensive firepower is so strong that they can't do anything, the Mavericks' dominance of the league will continue for a long time."

"Also, Iguodala, Rudy Gobert, and Tony Allen are sitting on the bench. Mark Cuban has beaten all the best defensive players in the league. The Cavaliers are not weak, but they are Like Irving said, their defense is too strong!"

"I am still shocked by the Mavericks' defense in the last five minutes yesterday. I watched the video of the last five minutes seven or eight times. But every time, I was so surprised that I opened my mouth."

For a time, all the media were touting how powerful the Mavericks' defense was, how unbreakable they were, and how vulnerable other teams in the league were.

Therefore, sometimes it is not the team's intention to make a team hateful, but it is caused by the media fanning the flames.

Once their arrogant remarks are released, they will definitely succeed in gaining a lot of negative fans for the Mavericks.

Sure enough, someone immediately stood up on the Internet to refute, saying that Yiyang and Iguodala's rough defense actually constituted a personal foul. It was just because the Mavericks were playing at home and had special care from the referee that they became the final winner. .

The two sides have been arguing about this matter. Even two days after the Christmas war, the heat had not dissipated.

On December 27, the day after the Christmas Day game, the Mavericks were waiting for a challenge from the Los Angeles Lakers at home.

After Kobe Bryant returned this season, people had high expectations for the Lakers. As a result, Kobe, who is no longer at his peak, can no longer save the Lakers on his own. But even if the Lakers have a poor record, many fans will be very satisfied if they can continue to see Kobe play. After all, Kobe didn't play much in the past two seasons and was out of the league for a long time due to injuries.

But this year, less than two months after the regular season started, the Lakers received bad news again.

In mid-December, Kobe felt shoulder discomfort during a game with the Pelicans. After the game, he was examined and found to have a torn muscle in his right button.

"I've had a shoulder tear before. At that time, I could still average 40 points per game for a month while playing with the injury." Obviously, when he just discovered the discomfort in his shoulder, Kobe didn't take it seriously.

But then, as the discomfort in his shoulder worsened, Kobe had to choose a truce. Facts have proved that Kobe is really old. In the past, he was able to average 40 points per game with a torn shoulder, but now that he has a torn shoulder, he is in danger of ending the season early for the third consecutive season. As long as Kobe chooses surgery, season reimbursement is a certainty. Now, it depends on what Kobe will choose.

Therefore, the Lakers lost the "Black Mamba" again. Therefore, this game between the Lakers and the Mavericks has lost its only highlight.

Without Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have no way to compete with the Mavericks. Before the game started, people said that this was not a confrontation at all, but was destined to be a one-sided massacre.

The result was that the Mavericks won the game, winning two consecutive games at home and improving their record to 29 wins and 3 losses. But the process was far from what everyone expected.

102 to 98, the Dallas Mavericks, the league's No. 1 team, only beat the weak Lakers by 4 points in the end! A narrow victory by 4 points was obviously a result that no one expected.

Although no one on the Lakers scored 20 points,

But he performed an outstanding performance with 6 players scoring in double figures.

Among them, Nick Young, who was one of the Mavericks' championship members last season, scored 18 points with a super high three-point shooting percentage of 5 of 8. In the fourth quarter, he scored three consecutive three-pointers, which is why this game became so anxious.

Carlisle missed Nick Young very much when he saw Nick Young who couldn't stop him even if he got windy. But unfortunately, Nick Young's pursuit of money is obviously far greater than honor. And no team can attract more money than the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks performed well in this game. Yiyang scored 27 points and 10 assists. Wade and Dirk also scored 17 points and 15 points respectively. It can be said that they performed normally.

Although they won the victory, the small gap of 4 points undoubtedly allowed those "Maverick Blacks" who were frowning to find a breakthrough to vent.

Now, if the Mavericks don't win a game, these idiots will think that the Mavericks have lost.

"Playing against the Lakers without Kobe, they allowed 6 opponents to score in double figures. I have to admit that the Mavericks' defense is really 'excellent'."

"It turns out that Iguodala and Iguodala were able to contain the Cavaliers during the Christmas Day game. It was just good luck. Look at their defense against the Lakers today. There are loopholes everywhere!"

"Even the Lakers almost defeated them, but the Dallas Mavericks are not invincible either."

Most of these comments are one-sided. The Mavericks' defense is good, and it's not just the game against the Cavaliers. Occasionally, they were a little lax in their defense, and they were caught by people who wanted to be black.

Playing against a winning team like the Lakers, the Mavericks players naturally don't want to put in too much effort. If the Mavericks defend like they did in the last five minutes of the Christmas Day game in every game, Cuban may have to go to the Development League to pick someone up within half a season. Because of playing like that, the Mavericks players will definitely get injured one after another. No one in the world can play 82 games with that intensity.

They didn't try their best, which is why the Mavericks only lost four points to the Lakers today.

Therefore, Yiyang doesn't care about most of the criticism. Those ridiculous criticisms that are made out of nothing will naturally be forgotten by people as time goes by. Anyway, they still won today.

But at this moment, Westbrook stood up at an inappropriate time.

"The Mavericks' defense? Their defense seems to be really strong. But I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's matchup with the Mavericks, because there is no defense in this league that I can't break down. I will learn from it in tomorrow's game! "

This is a video of Westbrook being interviewed by reporters at the training ground today. In the video, instead of being afraid of the Mavericks, Westbrook even said, "There is no defense that I can't break down" as a provocation.

Yiyang doesn't care what other people say, but there is no way for Yiyang to turn a blind eye to the naked contempt from his opponents.

In fact, Westbrook's confidence is not without reason. This season, the Thunder do not have Durant, who is injured for the season, and Westbrook is the dominant player. He averaged 28.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. All three statistics are career highs, and this is almost a terrifying average of a triple-double.

Although the Thunder's results this season are not ideal, Westbrook's personal performance is impeccable. No team can stop his impact, and no defensive champion can really deal with him.

With this quasi-triple-double per game, Westbrook is currently ranked third on the MVP prediction list! The two people in front of him were Curry and Yiyang.

It can be seen that Westbrook is indeed very strong this season. What's more, the Mavericks will still play back-to-back games tomorrow, and they played so hard against the Lakers today, which makes Westbrook full of confidence in winning.

That night, ESPN also specially invited P.J. Carlesimo, the former Thunder coach, to be an exclusive interview guest on a certain program. The topic of their chat was none other than Westbrook. Doing this can be regarded as a warm-up for tomorrow's game.

"I know that guy has been questioned this season. Some people say he is too selfish. Some people say he doesn't know how to lead a team. But in the absence of Durant, Russell has to do this! I That is to say, he must carry the scoring banner! If he doesn't fill the vacancy left by Durant, then who can?"

Carlesimo praised Westbrook fiercely during the show. The outside world believed that Westbrook had been reduced to a data brush this season, but it was obvious that Carlesimo did not agree. He thinks everything is what Westbrook should do.

"Tomorrow, the Mavericks will play back-to-back games against the Thunder at home. In an interview earlier today, Westbrook said he was going to overwhelm the Mavericks' defense. Do you think Westbrook is bluffing?"

"Of course not!" Carlesimo waved his hand quickly. "In this league, only Russell has the capital to say that. His impact is very terrifying. From the first day he entered the league, I told myself, look, this kid is very likely to become an All-NBA player in the future. The most impactful guard in the league. As a result, this is the fact now. No guard in this league can stop Westbrook, not even Westbrook. The Mavericks can beat the Lakers by four points today. But tomorrow, they can't count on the Thunder The team will give up the victory.”

"It seems that you have full confidence in Westbrook, Mr. Carlesimo." The ESPN host smiled awkwardly, wondering whether the former Thunder coach had exaggerated a bit.

"Of course, after all, he is the best player I have ever coached." Carlesimo smiled, and he didn't even add the word "one".

"Okay, audience friends, today's program ends here. Tomorrow, Mr. Carlesimo will serve as a special commentator and enjoy this game with you at the scene, which is destined to be very exciting. Welcome to ESPN, we are going to Goodbye."

After the host finished speaking, commercials immediately started playing on the TV. They only won 4 points against the Lakers. This is indeed not the level that the Mavericks should be. But Westbrook and Carlesimo would be a little too arrogant to threaten to break through the Mavericks' defense based on this.

Mavericks assistant coach Darrell Armstrong turned off the TV. He didn't know if Yiyang had watched the program, but he knew it very well.

Facing the enemy's provocation, Yiyang will never sit still and wait for death. At least, he won't sit still in action...

Third in the MVP rankings? Don't forget, your opponent is ranked first.

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