Seven Hundred and Fifty Two: A Veteran with a Key Role

On the second game day of the 2013-14 playoffs, the upsets were significantly less than on the first day.

The second-placed Miami Heat in the East defeated the Bobcats 99-88 and did not follow the lead of the No. 1 Pacers in the East. The fourth-ranked Clippers in the Western Conference also took down the Houston Rockets. Harden and Howard, as Link expected, were only blind in the playoffs.

The high-profile Memphis Grizzlies created the biggest difference of 19 points in the game of the day.

Before the game, people said how strong the Mavericks were, and they all said that they were by no means as simple as the eighth place in the West on the surface.

But in just one game, Link made everyone shut up.

The eighth best Western Conference in history? The Grizzlies are the best ever!

The whole game started from Link's one-handed dunk in the first round, and the Mavericks saw no hope at all. Their mobility, offense, defense, efficiency... almost every one of them is more than a notch behind the Grizzlies.

The only two statistics that the Mavericks had more than the Grizzlies in this game were fouls and turnovers.

After this game, Cuban's silence is golden.

Before the game, he proudly believed that the Mavericks could cause trouble for the 74-win Grizzlies. But after the game, Cuban was dumb.

Cuban didn't respond to Link's rude remarks in an interview last night.

Losing the opponent by 19 points, what else is there to say? Even if Cuban speaks the truth now, his words are not convincing.

In addition to Mark. Cuban, the NBA must be very distressed now.

The Grizzlies have played the entire series in just one game, which will undoubtedly have a viewership and revenue impact.

It seems that breeding a super team is not all good for the league.

After the second game day of the playoffs, everything seemed to be back on track. On April 21, the higher-ranked teams all won. In the second game between the Grizzlies and the Mavericks, the Dallas people still failed to create a miracle.

In the second game of the series on April 23, the Mavericks' hit rate did not turn over again. Monta Ellis scored 21 points,

The hit rate reached 45%. Nowitzki made 8 of 10 shots and scored 20 points on 80 percent shooting.

The Dallas Mavericks are good, but it's not good enough for the Grizzlies.

In the original history, there was no player in the Spurs who could stand up to violent output. So when the Mavericks play well offense, the Spurs are hard to bite the score. In addition, Carlisle can always restrain Vicki tactically, so the Spurs and the Mavericks fought in the tiebreaker in the first round.

But the Grizzlies do not have this problem, and Link can always use consecutive points to drown the momentum of the Mavericks. In the second quarter, when the Grizzlies trailed the Mavericks by 6 points, Link broke out with a wave of 9-0, suppressing the Mavericks in one fell swoop.

In the second game, the Mavericks lost only 6 points to the Grizzlies. They did show strength well above the eighth place in the West, but losing by 6 points and losing by 19 points is the same result.

The Grizzlies, as always, went 2-0 to the opponent's home court, and according to the Grizzlies' "habit" last season, they will not miss the opportunity to end the series in Dallas.

Mark Cuban is pretty embarrassed right now because in Dallas, he can no longer hide at home and watch basketball.

At that time, his ugly expression will be displayed to the public at a glance.

For the first time, Cuban regretted what he had said.

After the game returned to Dallas, things still didn't get better.

On the Grizzlies' first night in Dallas, the Mavericks did resist fiercely. When they trailed by 20 points in the third quarter, they once narrowed the difference to 6 points!

Just when everyone thought that the Mavericks were about to complete a shocking reversal at home, Link, the villain, stood up and tore this perfect inspirational script with a block.

In the sixth minute of the fourth quarter, Monta Ellis took a screen and swayed Iguodala straight to the basket.

At this time, Gasol was pulled to the outside because of the pick-and-roll defense, and Randolph was also pulled beyond the three-point line by Decla.

Ellis has an unimpeded road ahead. If he can successfully score, then the Mavericks will narrow the difference to 4 points!

But Ellis knew it wasn't that simple. It's not enough to shake off the black and white bears. Ellis deliberately looked at Link's position before laying up.

Finding that Link was rushing towards him, Ellis decided to use a lever action to avoid the block!

Sure enough, the moment Ellis took off, Link also jumped up. Ellis was thankful that he had been prepared, otherwise it would have turned into a volleyball adventure with a fan flying 50 meters.

In the air, Ellis pulled the ball back to his chest, dodging Link's block.

Subsequently, Ellis changed the ball to his left hand, ready to layup!

As long as this goal is scored and the difference is reduced to 4 points, there is still hope for everything!

However, after completing the pulling action, Ellis was surprised to find that Link still did not land! This guy seemed to be waiting for him to change hands in the air. After he raised the basketball with his left hand, Link also changed his hand to reach for the ball!

Ellis has completed numerous difficult layups, both successful and unsuccessful. But not once has he met someone who can float in the air to complete the cover change.

Link finally patted the basketball off Ellis' hand to complete the block! Monta Ellis's beautiful pull-up layup still did not let him escape the fate of eating hot pot.

Link quickly picked up the basketball after landing, and then assisted Conley with a long pass to counterattack.

The Mavericks, who had hoped to narrow the gap to 4 points, are now 8 points behind.

Most importantly, Link's terrifyingly long block in the air stifled all the confidence of the Mavericks players.

Now the Mavericks players are not thinking about how to win, but: "How can you win against this guy!?"

Link used this terrible block to completely shatter the Mavericks' dream of the playoffs. Facts have proved that the miracle in 2011 happened only once.

Before the end of the game, the Mavericks home fans have left early. No home fan pays to watch a game because they want to see their home team get slaughtered.

As a result, a very bleak scene appeared in the American Airlines Center arena.

Mark Cuban grimaced and sat in the front row of the audience. Instead of yelling excitedly or standing up and throwing punches like he used to, he stared blankly at the court, and no one knew what he was thinking. And behind him, there is an empty stand, full of dilapidation.

Link destroyed what he loved most about his team in front of Cuban.

After the game, the harsh buzzing sound just brought Cuban back to his senses.

The total score became 3 to 0. Although the Mavericks have not lost, they are no different from losing.

The Grizzlies have all started hugging the Mavericks, the kind of hug between winners and losers.

Nowitzki dragged his tired body and opened his arms at Link, but this time, he didn't nag in Link's ear for a long time.

After saying "I hope you all are well", Nowitzki left the stadium. This time, Link didn't need any of his advice.

After sending Nowitzki away, Link wanted to walk up to Cuban to say goodbye to him, and admire Cuban's expression from triumph to loss by the way. But Link did not expect that Vince Carter actually took the initiative to find him.

"You guys played really well, boy, you're really ruthless." Carter walked over to Link with a shake of his head and took the initiative to hug him.

Averaging 12.6 points per game, you can't say Vince Carter didn't contribute anything to the Mavericks. It's just that his current contribution is far from comparable to that of ten years ago. However, he has done his best, and he will definitely be unwilling because he failed to win a game in the playoffs.

"You almost won too, didn't you?" Link was good at spraying people, but he really wasn't very good at saying good things. In the face of an opponent who took the initiative to show his favor, Link's response has always been very rigid.

"Okay, don't console me, I know the gap between us. But...damn, I feel uneasy. It's ridiculous that a 37-year-old veteran can feel uneasy. Put your phone Leave it to me, I want to train with you this summer."

In the face of Carter's sudden request, Link was a little stunned. In the past, it was basically young people who trained with him. But now, even an influential league veteran like Carter is interested in his own training camp?

Link reckoned that if he held a paid training camp like Olajuwon in the future, he would still need to hit the ball with a hammer! Just by "selling classes", you can make a lot of money.

"Are you sure? We train hard in the summer."

"It is because of this that I want to join. If I don't work hard in the summer, how can I keep up with the pace of your young people." Carter smiled, and he still did not lower his requirements.

Link and Carter exchanged numbers, and the conversation between the two ended there.

A veteran who still has a desire to win and championships, not just to support his family.

This kind of player may play a key role at a certain time.

It's a pity that Carter is not on a team that has the ability to compete for the championship. Otherwise, his key role will definitely be revealed incisively and vividly.

For example, in the Memphis Grizzlies...

Link didn't think about it any more. When he was about to say goodbye to Cuban, he found that Cuban was no longer in the stands.

This is also impossible. After all, the team owner who was eliminated must have to worry about this summer in advance.