One Guard

With 10 points in a single quarter, Kyle Kuzma used his positive attitude and calmness to give the best performance of his career so far.

Kuzma did not miss out on three-pointers, mid-range shots, breakthroughs and defense, and showed off everything he is good at. At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves were already very passive. And you have to know that the protagonists of the first quarter are two rookies, Kuzma and Mitchell. The Mavericks' true dual-core Yiyang and Hayward are still playing. If Yiyang and Hayward also open up in the next game, the situation will be quite unfavorable to the Timberwolves.

"If Kuzma guards you, you should play more inside! Use your own advantages to counter your opponent's disadvantages! Wiggins, Towns, you must be more active! Kuzma grabbed three forwards in the first quarter. Three rebounds per game! Is it because he has better bounce and is taller!? No, it's just because he's more active than all of you! Cheer up, okay!? We're only 6 points behind. There is no reason for our opponent to end our winning streak at home!"

Thibodeau was also furious. The Mavericks had too many chances in the first quarter. They now have 10 wins and 0 losses, ranking first in the league. However, even so, they are full of desire to win.

This is the case for everyone who plays around Yiyang. Players who are unwilling to work hard cannot be integrated into the Mavericks team, such as Odom and Mayo many years ago.

This is the Dallas Mavericks, no matter how many wins, they can't fill their stomachs.

The rest time between quarters is always short, and Thibodeau feels like he has barely said a few words before the players have to play again. He didn't know how much those guys heard, but he hoped they could wake up.

At the start of the second quarter, the Mavericks replaced Kuzma, and Rudy Gay finally came on. Thibodeau breathed a sigh of relief. The Mavericks' best player in the first quarter was no longer there. This was the Timberwolves' opportunity!

However, at the beginning of the second quarter, Jimmy Butler's pull-up jump shot after breaking through the screen was interfered by Yiyang, causing the ball to go haywire. The Mavericks' defense is very layered, and breaking through one layer does not mean the final victory. Only when the basketball enters the frame can the attacker completely relax.

Subsequently, Gobert's long pass from the backcourt allowed the Mavericks to quickly launch a counterattack. Having partnered with Yiyang for so many years, Gobert has become very good at passing long passes to Yiyang, and the timing is just right.

Yiyang only took two steps after holding the ball, and immediately passed the ball to Hayward. This time, only Wiggins was chasing Hayward. He took three steps and dunked with both hands. Wiggins didn't even jump and watched Hayward take away the two points.

Jimmy Butler gritted his teeth. How could Wiggins let others score easily like this? But he was the one who just struck the iron, and Butler didn't have the capital to teach others a lesson.

8 points difference,

After a break between sections, Thibodeau's team has not yet recovered. If the Mavericks widen the point difference to double digits, the game will be really difficult to play. Not all teams are Golden State Warriors, able to close the gap at lightning speed.

Jimmy Butler seems to have received "enthusiastic care" from Carlisle, and the Timberwolves have no choice but to find another way. Towns and Wiggins have become the two people with the heaviest burden.

Towns has comprehensive skills and various scoring methods. But facing Gobert, who limited Embiid to only 15 points, Towns' offense was not easy.

Wiggins also struggled against Hayward. His outside shooting was very unstable today, and his breakthroughs always encountered strong interference. In this way, the Timberwolves' offense was temporarily in a deadlock. With or without Kuzma, they can't take advantage.

At this moment, Ty Gibson stood up. His scoring pace in the paint cannot be restricted by Rudy Gay. After all, Gay is not a pure fourth position.

But Gibson alone cannot shake the Mavericks' huge advantage.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Carlisle made a big move, replaced Rudy Gay, and brought Kuzma back on.

Gibson listened to Thibodeau's advice and went head-to-head with Kuzma in the paint. It turns out that the effect is really good. Kuzma himself is not good at defense, not to mention that Gibson has the advantage in terms of strength and weight.

Neither Kuzma nor Gay can guard Gibson, but Kuzma's arrival has greatly increased the Mavericks' offensive firepower! Replacing defense with offense, this is Kuzma's way of dealing with Gibson.

As soon as the No. 0 rookie came on the court, he intercepted Jamal Crawford's pass to Gibson. As a fourth position, Kuzma can also dribble the ball and run long distances by himself. Nowitzki watched with gusto off the court, remembering that he played like this back then.

Entering the paint, Kuzma hit a layup with his right hand during the confrontation. The qualities Kuzma has shown are gratifying. In the first few games, people saw Kuzma's potential. But I didn't expect to see him killing everyone on the field so soon.

Seeing how hot Kuzma was, Hayward and Yiyang simply gave way. Yiyang frequently gave Kuzma the ball, and Kuzma could really hit it.

In fact, if you look carefully, you can see that most of the time Kuzma takes action when he has an opportunity, and basically does not attack hard. If there is no chance, Kuzma will not hit hard when his head is hot, but will choose to pass the ball.

Don't force the attack. This was the advice Yiyang gave him, and Kuzma also listened.

Just like that, the cheers in the Target Center became smaller and smaller. At the end of the half, the Timberwolves were already 12 points behind! Towns, Wiggins and Jimmy Butler all had terrible shooting percentages. If it weren't for Gibson's repeated achievements in the interior, the point difference might be even greater.

"It seems that the undefeated legacy of the Dallas Mavericks cannot be buried in Minnesota." Chris Webber, who came to the scene to commentate on this game, shook his head. The performance of the Timberwolves was really disappointing.

In the second half of the game, Jimmy Butler reduced his shots, and Karl-Anthony Towns finally came back to life. But helplessly, the situation was completely controlled by the Mavericks. The Timberwolves once narrowed the point difference to 5 points, but as soon as the Mavericks tried their best, they finally lost the game with a huge score difference of 112 to 99.

After the game, ESN announced the candidate for the best player of the game. To the fans' surprise, they didn't see Yiyang again today. The best player of this game was Kuzma who scored 31 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists!

"31 points. He scored 30+ points in the eleventh game of his career. Kyle Kuzma is definitely the greatest rookie in the history of the Dallas Mavericks! No, his performance as a rookie may be better than It’s even better!”

"First Mitchell, then Kuzma. I don't know how the Mavericks draft, but they can always get the candidate they need most at the lowest cost! If you count from Gobert, the Mavericks are really low in the draft. Taobao expert!”

The commentators had no doubts about Kuzma's performance, although he also allowed Gibson to score 24 points on 66% shooting. But overall, the flaws are still there.

At the end of the game, reporters gathered around Kuzma, the supernova. It's not easy to score 30 points in an NA game, let alone a low draft pick. And what he faced was a tough defense carefully arranged by Thibodeau.

"Kuzma, I'm very curious. In the last game, you only scored 7 points and made 1 of 5 three-pointers. What made you bottom out today?"

Kuzma did not appear panicked when facing so many reporters. Older rookies also have the advantage of older rookies, that is, their mentality is more mature than other rookies. Kuzma has long been accustomed to this kind of big formation.

"I have been working hard since I entered the league, and I feel that these are what I should do. So it can be said that nothing today is surprising, after all, I have already scored 30+ points in the summer league. But it still feels great to reach a career milestone. Finally, I want to thank my teammates, especially Yi, who is the reason why I bounced back because I have always followed his example and followed his footsteps. Starting this summer He has been training with us since the beginning and is very willing to guide us. Without him, I might not have scored so many points today. The Dallas Mavericks team is suitable for the growth of every rookie player."

"Following Yi's footsteps? What are you following him for?"

"Follow him and become a public enemy!" After Kuzma finished speaking, he calmly turned and left, leaving only the reporters where they were.

Yiyang, Yiyang again. Even if he is not the player with the most outstanding statistics today, even if Kuzma is the star that attracts everyone's attention today. But every victory and everything about the Dallas Mavericks is inseparable from Yiyang.

Just when the reporters wanted to find Yiyang to interview him about how he trained Kuzma, the group of guys carrying cameras and microphones could no longer find Yiyang on the basketball court.

11-game winning streak, Kuzma scored 31 points. First it was Yiyang, Hayward, then Mitchell, Rudy Gay, and today, it’s Kuzma.

Even Mu Ran, who knows the Mavericks best, doesn't know who else will suddenly stand up in the next game. The Dallas Mavericks, the public enemy of the whole people, are going to win again and start to spread hatred across the league.

Yiyang, can't you teach others a little bit?

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