The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

The game was deadlocked for three quarters, and the Mavericks lost in the last quarter.

During most of this season, this was the time when Dirk Nowitzki should have stepped up and led the team to secure the victory.

However, because Dirk had expended too much physical energy on defense tonight, he couldn't step up.

If Tyson Chandler had gone to the Mavericks, he could have taken over some of these duties for Nowitzki.

Popovich must have also noticed this weakness in the Mavericks, which is why he heavily attacked the paint earlier, or shot three-pointers from the corner, to maximize Dirk Nowitzki's movement and thus drain his physical energy...

This tactic was successful.

If the Mavericks ultimately manage to reverse the situation and enter the finals,

then the New York Knicks could adopt this strategy.

From analysis, it can be seen that whether it's the Spurs or the Mavericks, both have vulnerabilities that can be targeted.

The New York Knicks taking the championship this year became much clearer after another semifinal in the Eastern Conference was concluded.

Su Wan saw a tweet from a media person:

This year, on the New York Knicks' trophy, half of the names should be of the Indiana Pacers.

Su Wan immediately sent a thumbs-up emoji in response:

Indeed!

That night, under the witness of 20,000 fans at Madison Garden and his old Pacers teammates, Su Wan officially received his fourth regular season MVP trophy.

Erin took a photo for him:

Climb the ladder to godhood +1!

In the moment he lifted the trophy, Zach Randolph and the young O'Neal clapped furiously.

Su Wan, smiling, told the young O'Neal to take it easy.

The atmosphere after the game started did not feel like an Eastern Conference Finals, but more like a friendly match.

The core lineup was left with just Billups and Marc Gasol from the Pacers, who made a symbolic resistance before being blown out by the Knicks' three-point squadron. Then, before even the third quarter ended, Su Wan signaled to D'Antoni with his eyes, leading the way in swapping out all the starters.

Rick Carlisle used a depleted lineup to chase some points, then brought in the bench's bench.

The first game of the Eastern Conference Finals ended with the New York Knicks winning 91 to 80, beating the Pacers by 11 points.

Su Wan didn't even break a sweat, playing for 28 minutes and 14 seconds and scoring 22 points along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

His shooting percentage was an astonishing 60%!

There was no way around it, even if Afflalo was defending him, it wasn't a simple task, not to mention others.

In this game, Rick Carlisle used a backcourt combination of Lin Shuhao and Billups.

Billups, when he was younger, was quite a capable defender, but with age, his defensive ability could only be described as "not making mistakes." Lin Shuhao was getting used earlier than usual, but his overall ability hadn't yet improved to the "Lin Madness" phase, and by the end of this game, his eyes were nearly glazing over.

The buzzer sounded, and he made a "cross" prayer.

Thank God, I'm still alive!

For the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Afflalo, recovered from a concussion, returned from suspension.

However, his return couldn't stop the Pacers' overwhelmingly one-sided situation.

He could limit Wade in the game against the Heat Team.

A very important reason for this was:

The "Three Giants" of the Heat Team weren't coordinating well, and Wade was attacking using his individual ability.

In such circumstances, with Afflalo's current abilities, he could somehow impose some restrictions no matter what.

But it's different with Su Wan.

His offensive play on the wings still had systemic enhancement.

Here's a common way Su Wan would make a move:

He would break out from the wing, and at that moment, the ball would also come to him. The moment he got the ball, he would choose to either jump shot immediately or drive with the ball.

But one thing was certain, at that time, his teammates would have definitely helped him pull enough to create space for a one-on-one,

which is an enhancement brought about by the team's formation.

When Afflalo was defending Wade, all he had to do was slightly delay Wade's speed to drive to the basket, just achieving that, there would definitely be defensive players to cover.

Because Wade's one-on-one play wasn't like Su Wan's, who always had teammates helping him to create enough space.

The roster of the Heat Team this season had limited space creation, especially when LeBron stepped in, it was all the more so...

With teammates' help, Afflalo might manage to exert some pressure on Su Wan.

But without teammates' help, Afflalo really became passive.

This game, by the time half of the fourth quarter was played, the Pacers were already waving the "white flag."

After the game, Su Wan ruffled Afflalo's head: "You've improved a bit, kid, but it's still not enough!"

Afflalo smiled.

In that moment, he felt like he was back a year ago.

Back then, after practice games, Su Wan would always pull him aside to point out his issues.

Afflalo's significant improvement on the wings this year was largely because he was now practically applying theoretical knowledge.

Last season's coaching from Su Wan had benefited him greatly.

He had even said before, "I've learned a lot following Su Wan."

The next two games were in Indiana.

Although the team was now trailing 0-2 in a major way, the atmosphere at Conseco Arena was still very good.

After the last game of the previous round, they already knew that this season's Pacers would only make it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals.