The first half ended, with the Mavericks leading the Grizzlies 55 to 48.
Nowitzki alone scored 21 points in the first half, hitting 8 of 9 shots and making all 5 of his free throws, missing only one shot.
Hansen also notched 18 points in the first half, especially in the latter part of the first and second quarters, where his shoot-out with Nowitzki helped the team to keep the score close.
It could be said that without his performance, the Grizzlies would have already crumbled under Nowitzki’s godlike play by halfti.
As the second half kicked off, Hansen imdiately penetrated the inside line, drawing a foul from Nowitzki and heading to the free throw line.
They were behind in the score, and he now had to focus on attacking the inside to ensure points.
However, turning back, Nowitzki’s post-up play attracted a double team and he passed the ball out to Jide at the arc, who then passed to Marion in the corner, and the latter’s three-pointer was swift and decisive.
Although Nowitzki was a scorer, he was capable of facilitating, and, while not on Garnett’s level, he was entirely adequate.
Particularly with Jide present, who not only moved the ball quickly but also had a sudden awakening from the three-point line after arriving in Dallas, boasting a 40% shooting rate, making him soone you really couldn’t afford to leave open.
This made the Grizzlies’ defense very passive, unable to contain Nowitzki one-on-one, and leaving soone else open if they doubled.
Fortunately, on the turnaround, Hansen with the ball on the periter used a pick-and-roll with Little Gasol, faking a drive and suddenly pulling up for a three-pointer that promptly hit, returning the favor.
What you could really feel was that Hansen was absolutely fearless with the clutch shots tonight.
When the ball was back in play, Hollins was commanding from the sideline; the Grizzlies wouldn’t double-team Nowitzki anymore, reverting to the first half’s strategy, only more resolute. As soon as Nowitzki created a shooting chance, they’d foul him on the spot, not allowing him to shoot.
This defensive strategy had no problem in theory, because Nowitzki’s touch was just too hot today. Rather than letting him shoot after getting an opportunity, it was better to send him to the free throw line directly.
Only Nowitzki gave Hollins a practical lesson this quarter in what it ans to be flawlessly accurate.
He was sent to the free throw line 7 tis, racking up 14 points with free throws alone.
Including the first half, Nowitzki was now 19 for 19 at the free throw line tonight!
That is to say, Nowitzki had thrown 28 balls tonight in total, and had made 27 of them.
Not just Hollins, even Hansen had never seen such a spectacle.
It was just like he said, Nowitzki was on fire tonight.
Nevertheless, the Grizzlies did not let the Mavericks increase the gap this quarter, because Hansen kept attacking the inside line and relying on free throws for points.
Nowitzki had many free throws tonight, which, aside from Hollins’ strategy, had sothing to do with the defensive intensity.
Hansen noticed this and took advantage of it.
Entering the rotations in the third quarter, the Grizzlies were behind the Mavericks 72 to 80.
Nowitzki reached 36 points by the end of the third quarter, while Hansen also had 26 points to his credit.
However, it was during the junction of the third and fourth quarters, where the subunits connected, that the Mavericks managed to widen the score gap.
Crawford’s form was still present, but the Mavericks’ bench was just too strong.
Not just O’Neal, not just Terry, but also Baria.
Baria, standing at a height of 1.78 ters with shoes on, was very fast and could also shoot threes, making guarding him far more challenging than imagined.
Players of his height have been in the NBA before, often deed defensive liabilities, but when you actually try to mismatch and take advantage of him, you’d find he’s much stronger than expected.
In the first half rotations, the Grizzlies narrowly maintained the gap thanks to Crawford’s outstanding performance, but you couldn’t count on him to keep that up.
Left with no choice, the Grizzlies had to bring back Hansen and Little Gasol ahead of ti.
In response, Carlisle brought Nowitzki back on early.
Hansen looked up at the scoreboard; the score had reached 78 to 90.
Little Gasol scored a mid-range shot, narrowing the gap to 10 points.
Turning back, Hansen communicated briefly with Little Gasol, then took the initiative to switch onto Nowitzki.
Before that, the Grizzlies had already tried Little Gasol, Johnson, and even Tony Allen, but none had been effective.
In theory, Hansen couldn’t guard him either, but under the current circumstances, they couldn’t catch up by just matching offense if they couldn’t contain Nowitzki, so they had to try even if it seed impossible.
Nowitzki was slightly surprised to see Hansen guarding him, but he quickly called for the ball.
Because Allen had defended him the way he would guard Durant, sagging off three ways, so when he received the ball with his back to the basket, he imdiately raised it, not allowing Hansen a chance at a steal.
Hansen turned sideways at this point, partially to prevent him from turning for a basket drive and also to guard against his Golden Chicken Stance.
Nowitzki just dribbled the ball out a bit, then turned and shot a fadeaway with the Golden Chicken Stance.
Hansen seized the mont and lunged forward fiercely.
His defensive stance ca in handy, as he jumped at almost the sa ti and provided strong interference to Nowitzki’s shot.
Nowitzki had to raise the arc of his shot to avoid the interference.
Even though the ball was shot, it was clearly off.
"Bang!"
Sound of the ball hitting the backboard ca from behind.
Hansen turned around to see, only to find the basketball hit the backboard and then bounced into the net.
"God put on jersey number 41!" exclaid ESPN comntator Jeff Van Gundy from the broadcasting table.
In the face of Hansen’s proper defense, Nowitzki improbably made a bank shot, and it even went in.
This was beyond any normal explanation.
Turning back, Hansen directly called for Johnson to pick and roll, then mismatched to play one-on-one with Nowitzki.
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