Hansen’s mid-range shot veered off, and the rebound was grabbed by Chandler.
The Mavericks finally stopped passing the ball to Nowitzki and had Jide organize a play from the outside.
West ran for an off-ball cover, Marion cut to the basket, Jide sent the ball through a tight space to Marion, who leapt for a layup and scored.
At 38, Jide had zero threat on offense with the ball in his hands, but his passing skills only seemed to become more refined with age, truly aging like a fine wine.
Under Nowitzki’s lead, the Mavericks had a perfect start.
Randolph finally managed to score under the basket, overpowering Chandler.
But turning back, it was Nowitzki again, who suddenly cut to the basket, received a pass from Jide, and broke away from Little Gasol to finish the layup.
After failing to catch up, Little Gasol ran under the hoop and punched the padding in frustration.
His mentality had truly exploded.
"We all know some nights belong to a particular player, and without a doubt, tonight is Derk’s night," Barkley exclaimed from the commentary booth.
Although the game had just begun, Nowitzki’s performance was incredibly explosive.
Seeing this, Hollins quickly called for a timeout.
After calling the timeout, he turned and summoned Johnson from behind.
Randolph definitely couldn’t defend Nowitzki, they could only try Johnson now.
During the timeout, Hansen glanced at the score.
The point difference wasn’t large, but all the momentum was with the Mavericks.
Nowitzki’s performance tonight reminded him of his own game in G4 against the Spurs when his shooting was on fire.
But unlike him, Nowitzki had a much more extensive arsenal and richer offensive skills; in this state, he was virtually unstoppable on the offense.
Such a start was somewhat hellish for the Grizzlies.
Because, as Little Gasol showed, it could fracture the players’ mentality.
Especially if they couldn’t come up with an answer and were taken away by the Mavericks in one wave, the entire series would lose suspense.
The Lakers were indeed getting old, but had their strength really declined to the point of being inferior even to the Nuggets?
Clearly, the tone for the entire series was set when they lost a 16-point lead in G1.
Although the Grizzlies’ situation was different from that of the Lakers, they faced the same predicament.
After the timeout, Hansen was still moving without the ball; Randolph was being held so tightly by Chandler that he couldn’t turn around and tossed the ball directly to Hansen.
Hansen, after receiving the pass, accelerated past the helping Nowitzki towards the basket.
Chandler was quickly moving under the basket by then.
Hansen, seeing this, didn’t choose to stop short for a floater or dodge for a layup but instead took off, aiming to dunk over Chandler.
Chandler didn’t shrink back either, raising his hand to meet the challenge.
Hansen wanted to replicate the previous play where he dodged and dunked over Duncan, but Chandler’s reaction speed was faster than Duncan’s, and without a "verticality rule" to worry about, Chandler moved in the air to interfere.
Hansen smashed the ball towards the hoop, over Chandler’s hand.
The ball, however, missed the dunk due to the interference, but the baseline referee’s whistle blew, signaling a defensive foul from Chandler.
Although the dunk didn’t go in, the move was filled with explosive momentum.
The Grizzlies, previously subdued by Nowitzki, suddenly regained their fighting spirit.
Hansen stepped to the free-throw line.
A wall of jeering rose from the crowd.
Although the Mavericks had no great grievance with the Grizzlies like the Spurs did, no one wanted to stop here at the conference finals.
Especially as Hansen noticed, this wasn’t just the Mavericks’ last chance, but also for many Dallas fans, who were exceptionally eager for a win.
Hansen, amidst the massive jeers, made both free throws.
Tonight, he wasn’t especially hot-handed, but he didn’t falter at the crucial moment.
Returning to defense, he could see the Grizzlies’ morale had picked up, and their defensive enthusiasm had returned.
Johnson now used fronting defense on Nowitzki; though he lacked Little Gasol’s height and wingspan, he was more agile.
Nowitzki showcased his experience, struggling to make a receiving movement; amidst the scuffle, the referee blew the whistle, calling a defensive foul on Johnson.
Then, after the ball was inbounded, Johnson’s defensive effort was noticeably more cautious.
And after receiving the ball, Nowitzki used a pump fake to trick Johnson, earning two free-throw opportunities.
In just one play, Johnson already racked up two fouls.
Looking at Nowitzki, Hansen felt more and more that he resembled the Silver Horned King, slick and cunning.
Hollins, however, remained calm, signaling to Johnson not to panic.
His strategy during the timeout was straightforward: if they could stop Nowitzki, great; if not, foul him to disrupt his rhythm. Updates are released by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
He was basically borrowing Brook’s tactic from how he dealt with Randolph.
Nowitzki stepped to the free-throw line, sinking both shots with nothing but net.
The Mavericks had a total of 14 points, with Nowitzki contributing 12 of them.
The fans in the arena were really hyped.
Even they had never seen Nowitzki play a game .
It looked set to be a new best night in his career.
That energy was quickly transformed into calls.
The cheers were deafening, as if they could swallow the Grizzlies players whole.
Randolph had a tough time playing against Chandler in the low post, so he passed the ball back to Conley to reorganize.
At that moment, Hansen and Battier set a screen and roll, with Hansen quickly breaking to the basket and calling for the ball.