Chapter 79

In the two minutes after the young general Johnson made a temporary change in formation, and the Mavericks sent out a small lineup, the situation on the court was once again completely reversed.

"Swish"

Another drifting mid-range shot hit the mark. Nowitzki clenched his right fist and fiercely waved it in the air, his medium-length hair slightly fluttering, exuding a commanding presence.

Behind him, Chen Mu, with a dejected look, was constantly berating himself.

"Why? Why can't I defend him? Why do I always get blown away when I face an inside player with accurate mid-range shooting and good mobility?!"

Chen Mu was frustrated, frustrated with his inadequate defense, his poor positioning and defensive awareness.

Apart from developing some techniques for roaming and defending against outside attackers when facing the Heat, Chen Mu's defensive skills had always been lacking.

Bosh, Brand, Boozer... Every time he faced an inside player with accurate mid-range shooting, Chen Mu was always helpless, only able to run around in vain, watching the opponent hit jump shots over and over again, with no way to stop them.

This time, his opponent was not a player of Bosh or Boozer's level, but MVP-level Nowitzki.

Compared to previous opponents, Nowitzki's shooting was almost at the level of perfection, and his mobility was also quite impressive. His perimeter breakthroughs and three-point shooting were at the level of a small forward, making it difficult for Chen Mu to defend.

Every time Nowitzki came to the offensive end, he could always use various methods to shake off Chen Mu's defense and then hit the shot. If Chen Mu chose to closely guard him, using his footwork to tightly follow, Nowitzki would start to break through. His underappreciated physical strength and his "outrageously" comprehensive offensive skills left Chen Mu completely at a loss.

"Even Duncan and Garnett weren't this hard to defend...!"

Watching Nowitzki's graceful moves, Chen Mu wished he could instantly have a super-strong defensive sense, to bite onto every step of the opponent, to interfere with every shot, and to completely freeze Nowitzki.

The ability to force shots might be the biggest gap between ordinary players and superstars. Nowitzki's shooting adjustment ability was almost superhuman. No matter what shape his body was in when he shot, his upper body could still remain stable, and his hands were like a machine, ruthless and precise.

The high arc made Chen Mu's quick jump ineffective. Nowitzki's power was fully unleashed over Chen Mu, igniting the passion of the entire crowd, with cheers echoing through the sky.

"Attack!"

Iverson shouted, and Chen Mu moved to the weak side to wait. After a series of plays, the ball came back to Chen Mu.

One-on-one, facing Nowitzki again.

Chen Mu tried to calm down, but several fake shots failed to shake Nowitzki. A forced breakthrough would be cut off by Nowitzki's excellent steal ability, and a mid-range shot was impossible with Nowitzki tightly guarding him, leaving no chance to shoot.

With the clock about to reach 24 seconds, Chen Mu had to take a hurried shot, which hit the rim and flew high under Nowitzki's long arm. Before Chen Mu could enter the paint to grab the rebound, Howard rushed in and secured the rebound.

"It's no good."

On the sidelines, Cheeks saw clearly. In Chen Mu's eyes, there was no longer any rationality or calm. At this moment, Chen Mu was like a fierce beast trapped in a cage, full of energy but unable to use it, only able to roar at those who had caged him.

The beast tamer was Nowitzki.

"Bang!"

Receiving the ball in transition, Nowitzki took large strides into the paint. Chen Mu had already been fooled by his fake move. Before he landed, Webber's slow rotation to help defense was too slow, and Nowitzki seized the opportunity to slam the ball in for a score.

"Whoa-ho!!"

After landing, Nowitzki burst with passion, roaring to the sky. The score was now 53-44, a 9-point difference.

Cheeks called a timeout.

"Substitute."

As soon as Chen Mu came off the court, Cheeks straightforwardly expressed his thoughts, patted the long-waiting Hunter, and said, "Chen, you're out. Hunter, you go defend Dirk."

"Yes, Coach!"

Hunter stood up, high-fived his teammates one by one, and prepared to go on the court to fight.

"Wait, Coach, didn't you say you would only substitute me in the last three minutes?" Chen Mu was anxious and quickly said, "It's not even three minutes yet. Let me try again!"

"Try again?" Cheeks turned around, his eyes darting at Chen Mu, and said irritably, "Try what? Try to get completely blown away by Dirk?"

"I..."

Chen Mu was speechless. Indeed, since Nowitzki came on the court, he had completely lost himself. His offense was ineffective, his defense was weak, and Dirk had taken many points, while his team's score remained stagnant.

With a dejected look, Chen Mu watched as the game resumed. After substituting Hunter, this defensive-oriented inside player, although lacking in offensive ability, was diligent and solid in defense. His constant interference slightly cooled Nowitzki's hot hand.

"Beep"

Soon, the first half ended. The 76ers lost a good opportunity to reverse the game, trailing 47-56, a 9-point deficit.

"Let's go, back to the locker room."

After the first half, Cheeks' face was terrible. He waved his hand and led the players back to the locker room.

Behind them, the fans in the American Airlines Center were shouting loudly.

The Mavericks' lineup change was extremely effective. Harris constantly tangled with Iverson, making this star, who already had a poor shooting night, almost silent.

Nowitzki, on the other hand, completely blew away the 76ers' defenders, entering a killing god state, unstoppable, and scoring 21 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, with astonishing firepower.

"21 points in the first half."

Waving the technical statistics sheet, Cheeks was furious, gritting his teeth and shouting, "Defense? Defense? What are you going to do, let Dirk score 50 points for the whole game?!"

All the players knew that Cheeks was scolding the 76ers' inside players.

Chen Mu, Webber, and Hunter, the three main inside rotation players, all lowered their heads, not knowing how to deal with the coach's anger.

"In the second half, each of you has two minutes."

After a bout of venting, Cheeks' face turned serious, and he said, "In those two minutes, each of you will go up against Nowitzki. If the effect is poor, you won't play in this game."

These words made Chen Mu tremble with fear. Two minutes, according to the usual rotation, he wouldn't play at the start of the third quarter.

In other words, after the start of the third quarter, Hunter and Webber would take turns defending Nowitzki. It could be imagined that the effect would be slightly better with Hunter, but not much.

After four minutes, he would come on, with the same two minutes. If he couldn't perform better than the other two, especially Hunter, then this game would be over for him.

Two minutes, can I do it...?

Chen Mu had no confidence at all.

The halftime break quickly ended, and the second half of the game resumed.

After the start, the Mavericks clearly intended to keep passing the ball to the hot-handed Nowitzki.

Hunter and Webber, two inside players not known for their speed, were repeatedly tormented by Nowitzki. In just over four minutes, Nowitzki added 9 more points to his score.

Before the third quarter was over, Dirk Nowitzki had already scored 30 points.

"Chen, it's your turn."

Cheeks' face was ashen, and he substituted Chen Mu in after a dead ball.

Chen Mu had never felt that playing a game was such a torment. Each step felt incredibly heavy, as if his legs were filled with lead, dragging his body.

"Don't go on the court, you'll be completely dominated!"

A voice in his heart was shouting.

The Mavericks attacked.

Terry and Dirk performed a high pick-and-roll. The ball was passed back to Dirk, who received it just outside the free-throw line, facing Chen Mu's defense.

Lifting his hand slightly, Nowitzki seemed about to shoot. Chen Mu tried to suppress the urge to jump, moving up to tightly guard Nowitzki's steps.

Nowitzki didn't hesitate, sidestepping and forcefully breaking through from Chen Mu's left side. Near the baseline, he suddenly stopped, leaving Chen Mu a half-step behind, and then took a mid-range shot.

"Swish"

The ball went through the net again. The score was now 51-67, with the 76ers trailing by 16 points.

And all 11 points of the Mavericks' second-half opening were scored by Nowitzki.

"Boomza! Dirk—Nowitzki!!!"

The on-site DJ crazily shouted Nowitzki's name, and the fans waved their big gloves, loudly cheering for their team's absolute core.

With a sigh, Chen Mu passed the ball from the baseline and returned to the offensive end to participate in the attack.

Receiving the ball on the weak side, the Mavericks' defense was still on the strong side and hadn't rotated over. Chen Mu had only Nowitzki in front of him. He gritted his teeth and chose to post up.

His clumsy post-up skills were not enough to support his idea. Nowitzki, with his excellent physical strength, didn't budge after several attempts. Chen Mu had no choice but to turn around and prepare to shoot before Nowitzki could steal the ball.

"Clap!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound, and the basketball disappeared from Chen Mu's hands. He was panic-stricken and turned around to see that the one who had taken the ball from him was none other than his teammate, Iverson!

Using Chen Mu's block, Iverson took a mid-range shot without hesitation, which hit the mark. Without celebration, without joy, without any excitement, Iverson turned to defend and loudly shouted to Chen Mu:

"You stubborn fool, haven't you figured it out yet?! One-on-one, how can you possibly win against Dirk?? Do you want to become a black hole on the court again?! Damn it!"

Almost shouting these words in anger, Iverson quickly returned to defend, leaving Chen Mu standing there, unable to recover for a long time.

"Yes...!"

Back on the defensive end, Chen Mu kept a close eye on Nowitzki's movements, but a storm was raging in his mind.

"One-on-one, how can I possibly be Nowitzki's match? Just like against Duncan and Garnett, if I face them one-on-one for the whole game, no matter how hard I try, with my current abilities, I can't match them."

In previous games, how did he win? Why could he perform well, even when he was completely dominated, and still make contributions?

The storm in Chen Mu's mind raged on. He felt like he was in the eye of a hurricane, with lightning and thunder overhead, and a sudden downpour drenching him.

"Why do I have to be obsessed with one-on-one against Dirk? Why can't I change my mindset and not be so stubborn?"

Nowitzki had already received the ball and made a triple-threat move. The storm in Chen Mu's mind instantly stopped, the clouds rapidly dispersed, and the sun shone brightly.

"Weren't the previous victories all due to the team's efforts? When have I ever completely turned the tide with my personal strength alone?"

Glancing at the nearby Iguodala, who was quietly approaching behind Dirk, Chen Mu's mind instantly cleared, all杂念 were swept away, leaving only one thought:

"Dirk, I know how to deal with you...!"

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