The entire team scored 42 points in this quarter, which was terrifying.
This was the Mavericks' best quarter since entering the playoffs.
Li Feng sat on the sidelines, his gaze lost. Although he had only been in the NBA for two years, he had experienced countless storms.
However, facing the Mavericks, Li Feng felt helpless.
"Could it be... in this parallel world, the Mavericks will also win the championship?"
As a fan, Li Feng hoped that Nowitzki would win the championship because Nowitzki had played for many years and won many honors.
He was already a player who had achieved god-like status with one championship.
Without a championship, Nowitzki might be called a softie for his entire life.
However, Li Feng was a professional player, and his desire to win was extremely strong.
"Even if we lose, we must lose spectacularly. We must fight on!" Li Feng clenched his fists again.
What was wrong with losing one game in a seven-game series?
With over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Li Feng returned to the court for a few minutes, but the Mavericks were like they had been injected with chicken blood. Terry, coming off the bench, was as if divinely assisted, hitting two more three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
The 5 points Li Feng had painstakingly earned were once again offset.
In desperation, D'Antoni had to substitute Li Feng, and the team simply gave up on this game.
In the end, the Mavericks defeated the reigning champions Knicks on their home court, with the aggregate score reaching 1-0!
Li Feng played 36 minutes today, scoring 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Although Nowitzki only scored 28 points, he didn't play in the fourth quarter at all, and his shots in the third quarter were also not many.
The Mavericks' overall strength exploded, and they won the first home game.
After the game, the media interviewed Li Feng.
Although Li Feng was in a bad mood, he still faced the reporters' questions as calmly as possible.
"Mr. Li Feng, what do you think is the main reason for losing today's game?"
Li Feng answered frankly, "I bear the greatest responsibility. I did not play aggressively on either offense or defense."
The reporter was a little surprised to see Li Feng so honest and taking all the blame.
"Do you think the Knicks will bounce back in the next game?"
"Definitely. This is my second time playing in the Finals. We will adjust our state quickly and win the second game."
"Mr. Li Feng, the Mavericks had players performing well across the board today, while besides you, the other Knicks players did not play well. Do you have anything to say to your teammates?"
Li Feng frowned and replied, "It's normal for players' performance to have ups and downs. They have already tried their best, and I won't blame them, because I also have off-games, and they have carried me when they played well!"
The reporters were full of praise for Li Feng's composure and nodded.
...
Although he fully defended his teammates in front of the media, Li Feng still spoke a few words with a stern tone during the training the next day.
"Brothers, the Mavericks are very strong. Although we are the reigning champions, it doesn't mean we can't afford to lose!"
"But I don't want to lose like this!"
"We fought hard to reach the Finals, and we must give our all. If you have an open shot, you must take it, don't hesitate!"
In fact, at the level of the NBA, open shots are usually very accurate.
Even Dwight Howard, who is considered a rough player by many, sinks three-pointers with ease in practice.
Therefore, Li Feng could see that his teammates were clearly playing hesitantly in the first game.
"Actually, everyone played well in the first game, but the Mavericks had a hot shooting night, which is unavoidable. Let's forget the first game and focus on winning the second game!"
"Alright!"
With Li Feng's encouragement, the players regained their spirit.
Amar'e Stoudemire's injury did indeed hurt the Knicks' offense.
So, it was normal for the team to be a bit chaotic in the first game.
But Li Feng was confident that in the second game, the Knicks would definitely give their all and play their own brand of basketball.
Just before the second game, a reporter broke the news that Nowitzki had caught a cold.
The other Knicks players were surprised and secretly rejoiced, thinking this was an opportunity.
Li Feng suddenly remembered that in another parallel world, Nowitzki had also caught a cold before the second game.
At that time, there was a small incident where, before the players took the court, Wade and LeBron James publicly teased Nowitzki when facing the camera, imitating his coughing.
This was a rude behavior, and many fans later felt that it was very low-class.
In fact, trash talk on the court is very normal, but teasing opponents before the game is a bit too much.
In this parallel world, as Li Feng walked down the player tunnel, some eager reporters deliberately interviewed him, asking for his opinion on the cold.
Li Feng's expression was serious, and he simply said, "I hope Nowitzki gets well soon."
...
The second game began!
Because they won the first game, the home fans became even more fervent.
When the players entered the court, the fans' cheers almost blew the roof off the stadium.
The starting lineups for both teams remained unchanged, as they were old acquaintances.
At the start of the first quarter, Li Feng still played a supporting role, creating scoring opportunities for his teammates.
Perhaps Li Feng's previous pep talk had worked, and the Knicks teammates had a good shooting percentage.
Even Bill Walker made a bank shot.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, except for Nowitzki, were all cold.
The Knicks took advantage of this and went on a run.
With more than five minutes gone in the first quarter, the score was 14-7.
All of the Mavericks' 7 points were scored by Nowitzki.
Is this the sick Nowitzki?
Incredible!
So strong.
During the timeout, Carlisle lost his temper at the Mavericks players.
Although Nowitzki had played well earlier, he had to rest for a while because his complexion was clearly bad, and he was sweating.
His calves were also trembling.
Now, Dirk was fighting purely on willpower.
After the timeout, Nowitzki rested on the bench.
The situation on the court changed dramatically.
Peja and Barea, who came off the bench, suddenly exploded.
Here they come again!
Peja, as a big man with excellent shooting ability, had a three-point shooting percentage of 40% this season, which was astonishing.
Barea's three-point shooting was average in the regular season, but he played better and better with each playoff game.
These two players unleashed a barrage of three-pointers.
With over seven minutes gone in the first quarter, the score difference was only 1 point.
17-16, the Knicks led temporarily.
Now D'Antoni started to panic, and he quickly called a timeout to break the Mavericks' momentum.
As Li Feng walked off the court, he had a wry smile, it was truly incredible.
Are the Mavericks truly the chosen ones?
Someone else has stepped up.
But Li Feng made up his mind. Since that was the case, he would have to step up early, using his personal offense to rally his teammates, and he had to keep the score close!
As long as they could hold on until the last quarter, Li Feng believed that his clutch-scoring ability would definitely allow them to win this away game.
With his mind made up, Li Feng re-entered the court and made a gesture to his teammates.
His teammates were surprised. It was rare to see Li Feng going all out in the first quarter.
Perhaps the Mavericks didn't expect it either, so Li Feng's aggressive play disrupted the Mavericks' defensive strategy.
Carlisle was anxious and shouted from the sidelines, "Double-team! Be resolute with the double-team, don't give up halfway!"
Under the coach's command, the Mavericks' double-teams became more ferocious.
Kidd and Marion were like shadows, resolutely preventing Li Feng from receiving the ball.
Seeing the tight defense, Li Feng did not rush. He waved to Lowry, telling him to organize the offense.
Lowry's performance in the previous game was average. Apart from hitting a three-pointer in the first quarter, he missed all his subsequent three-pointers.
So after the game, Lowry practiced an extra 200 three-pointers.
Seeing Li Feng being heavily double-teamed again, Lowry finally stepped up.
He first made a sudden pass to Yao Ming in the paint, who made a small hook shot against Chandler.
Then, taking advantage of the opponent's weak help defense, Lowry hit a three-pointer.
Li Feng, squatting in the corner, felt very gratified.
The "little cannon" had finally matured and was becoming more stable.
The Knicks played exceptionally well in the first quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 33-24, with the Knicks leading by 9 points.
The home crowd became much quieter. The Knicks, with their perfect team performance, had become the home crowd's "silencer."
At the start of the second quarter, the Knicks' bench players came on. Billups made a change: from the moment they stepped onto the court, they would tightly guard the Mavericks' shooters.
They even resorted to some small tactics.
As is well known, teams that reach the Finals tend to employ some "dirty tactics."
As the core point guard of a championship team, Billups understood this very well.
In practice the day before, he had expressed his view that defense should not be too clean.
As long as it wasn't an action that would injure a player, it could be used.
The Knicks' current defensive attitude was too polite.
Li Feng agreed with Billups's statement.
So, D'Antoni specifically had Billups give an emergency training session to the entire team, teaching them many small tricks.
Li Feng, watching from the side, also benefited greatly.
These tricks were very useful in the game and did not cause physical harm to the players.
The Mavericks' bench players were not as magical under the Knicks' tight defense as they were in the previous game.
The two teams were locked in a fierce battle.
The referees also noticed the intensity of the Knicks' defense and occasionally called fouls.
But the Knicks players were determined to maintain intensity even if they were called for fouls!
With more than five minutes gone in the second quarter, the Knicks had extended their lead to 14 points.
Nowitzki looked like he wasn't in good shape. He had just taken two more pills.
Seeing his team trailing by so much, he became anxious and requested to play.
Carlisle had no choice but to put the starters back on the court.
Nowitzki lived up to his name as the "German Tank." With his sick body, as soon as he stepped onto the court, he hit a three-pointer with his signature fadeaway jumper, stopping the decline.
Although Billups was directing his teammates to defend with all their might, without Yao Ming, the others were truly helpless against Dirk and could only foul him.
But Nowitzki's excellent shooting touch allowed him to easily score from the free-throw line.
With Nowitzki making both free throws, the deficit was reduced to 7 points.
D'Antoni, helpless, had to put the starters back on the court.
After Yao Ming came on, he limited Nowitzki's effectiveness well.
Unexpectedly, Carlisle waved his command flag and brought Terry and Novak onto the court.
After these two came on, they hit two consecutive three-pointers.
Li Feng abandoned Kidd and went to tightly guard Terry.
Although Terry was temporarily contained, Kidd's three-pointer started to fall again.
Li Feng sighed in his heart. He had watched the previous game footage and knew that the Lakers had been defeated in this way.
In the game between the Lakers and the Mavericks, Kobe had given his all. As an elite perimeter defender, he had played the role of a firefighter everywhere.
Whoever had a hot hand, he would defend them.
The Mavericks were incredible. If Kobe shut down one player, they would have two more players get hot.
Therefore, the powerful Lakers team was swept out of the playoffs by the Mavericks, which left the Lakers fans speechless.
Today's game also had this trend. Carlisle seemed to have the superpower of turning lead into gold.
Any player he sent onto the court could immediately perform.
The deficit continued to shrink.
At the end of the first half, the score was 57-54, with the Knicks leading by only 3 points.
Li Feng had given his all in the first half, making great efforts on both offense and defense.
But after all this effort, only leading by 3 points, Li Feng felt a chill down his spine.
The Mavericks this year were outrageously strong.
If Li Feng's performance declined slightly in the second half, the Mavericks would undoubtedly be able to make a comeback.
So, Li Feng walked towards the player tunnel with a blank expression.
...
In the TNT broadcast booth, Barkley and Smith were commentating on the game, with Reggie Miller as the guest.
Reggie Miller was a big fan of Nowitzki because he believed Nowitzki was not soft at all.
Although many media outlets did not have high expectations for the Mavericks this year, Reggie Miller had predicted in the Western Conference first round that the Mavericks would reach the Finals.
Because his prediction was so accurate, Reggie Miller became a regular guest for this Finals series.
And Barkley was now a big fan of Li Feng, so he and Reggie Miller inevitably had some arguments.
Of course, this was also intentional showmanship from both sides.
"The Knicks will not lose two games in a row. Just you wait, they will widen the score in the second half and will not give the Mavericks another chance."
Barkley said confidently, shaking his bald head.
Reggie Miller pouted, "Your memory is not very good. Didn't the Knicks lose two consecutive games to the Heat in their series? They were pushed to the brink by the Heat?"
Barkley was cornered, but he was thick-skinned and didn't care at all, arguing, "So what? Didn't they still advance in the end?"
Smith shook his head and chuckled, "You big mouth, you are so stubborn. I wonder how you will explain it if the Knicks lose today."
Barkley chuckled, "Impossible. Just you wait, Li Feng will go on a run in the fourth quarter, widen the score, and tie the series at 1-1!"
Smith had a sudden idea and asked, "Do you want to make a bet?"
These guests had made bets before, which could increase the topic of conversation and give fans something to talk about.
However, today, Reggie Miller was not interested and smiled, shaking his head, "Forget it, I'm not interested in betting. Let's wait for Shaq to come."
Barkley said smugly, "You still don't have confidence in the Mavericks!"
Reggie Miller shook his head helplessly, "I'm just not as bored as you are. The Mavericks are very formidable this year. Even if the Knicks win the championship, it will go to seven games. I'm putting my words out there."