The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 396 - 199: The Biggest Softie Appears_2

Chapter 396: Chapter 199: The Biggest Softie Appears_2

Barkley commented on Nowitzki’s performance in this game, "Obviously, the Dirk Nowitzki that Dallas sees is not the same Dirk Nowitzki we are seeing!"

The Indiana media cut together all the missed shots from Nowitzki in this game and captioned it, "This might be the number of shots Su Wan could miss in an entire season!"

Even the Dallas media had to shut up in the face of these taunts.

Win or lose, whether you’re the Dallas media or the Los Angeles media, you have no right to speak, you can only wait for the Mavericks to make a comeback, or...

Wait for the Magic to win!

Instantly, the Dallas media turned into fans of the Magic, cheering on Howard.

Unfortunately...

It was just as likely for pigs to fly as it was for the Magic to beat the Pacers. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

Fundamentally, the Magic’s playing style was also fast-paced, and Howard, the "hopping man," couldn’t utilize his running and jumping abilities in a positional war, which were his most outstanding skills. All the other techniques under the basket were just fluff.

And fast-paced play was precisely what the Pacers did best.

In the end, with a huge 22-point margin of 123 to 101, the Pacers easily secured the first two home games and headed to Orlando.

The Dallas media could only hope that Dirk Nowitzki would bounce back quickly.

From the change in their reportage content and starting to analyze the Warriors, it was clear they were uneasy.

All the expert analysis from the first game between the Mavericks and the Warriors was out, and the Warriors’ defensive strategy against Nowitzki mirrored last season’s Finals approach by the Pacers: they targeted Nowitzki’s lower body, destabilizing his shot.

It worked last year, and it still does!

What’s more...

Last year, Nowitzki didn’t recover in all four games.

This time...

The Dallas media feared a repeat of yesterday.

The good news was Nowitzki somewhat rebounded in the second game, making 7 out of 15 shots for 23 points.

Plus, with Baron Davis, who scored 30 points in the previous game, completely out of sorts with only 13 points, the Warriors lost the second game of the series 99 to 112.

Stephen Jackson scored 30 points in vain.

The first-generation "Big Beard" was also a pure talent-type player.

After entering the NBA, he coasted on his early savings and managed to become one of the best point guards in the NBA, giving Wade a life crisis during the 04 playoffs.

Now the cost was slowly emerging; his performance was extremely unstable. One game he’s on fire, challenging Erlang Shen in heaven, and the next he might die to an elite monster just picking herbs by the roadside.

However, before the Dallas media could smile, the third and fourth games moved to Golden State, and the Mavericks consecutively lost 91 to 109 and 99 to 103, bringing the series to a 1-3 deficit.

The first in the West and second in the whole league, with a 23-game lead, the Mavericks were now just a step away from elimination.

The Dallas media were in total panic.

They dared not mention the regular-season MVP anymore; now, all their hopes were pinned on the Mavericks’ strategy change, hoping they could pull off a "miraculous comeback" from 1-3 down to 4-3.

Believe it or not, such a feat is tough to achieve in later rounds, but in the first round of the playoffs? The Pistons once did it, coming back from 1-3 to win three games straight, turning McGrady into a joke.

If they could, why not the Mavericks?

Now, that’s all the Dallas media could do to comfort themselves.

On the other hand, the Indiana Pacers easily took two victories at the Conseco Arena. Going to the Magic’s home court, they faced no hindrance and won another two games effortlessly, dismissing the Magic with an average victory margin of 23.5 points over four straight games.

Su Wan averaged 32.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 steals, and 1.5 blocks over these four games.

Little O’Neal averaged 23.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Howard, in his first playoff appearance, also suffered from "Playoff Newbie Syndrome," with his average points shrinking to 15.5, while his rebounding increased to an average of 13.5 per game. However, he was fouled out by Little O’Neal in two games, one of which resulted in fouling out with "6 personal fouls."

To a certain extent, Little O’Neal can now truly be considered a "stronger version" of Howard.

He had more scoring moves, more experience in defending the perimeter, and was stronger in every other aspect compared to Howard.

Not to mention, Little O’Neal’s lower body strength, honed through years of practicing post moves, made a qualitative difference in their matchup.

It was common knowledge that Howard’s weak lower body was the main reason his post-up moves were never threatening.

But in Barkley’s opinion, the biggest problem for Howard was being in the same class with Su Wan: "If he wasn’t the No.1 pick of the ’04 class, he’d have gotten much more exposure!"

But there were no ifs...

Su Wan made the entire ’04 class look dim in comparison, and even though Howard’s performance this season was among the top big men in the league, in most media’s eyes:

Just so so!

The Pacers became the first team this season to advance to the second round.

Then, the Mavericks managed to secure a hard-fought victory in the second game on their court.

The series was now at 2-3.

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