Reborn in 96, I started by taking charge of the Dallas Mavericks.

Rick Adelman is known in the league for his Princeton offense and is one of the eight coaches in NBA history to have 8 wins.

The Princeton offense is the most dazzling of all offensive systems, but Adelman's defensive tactics are not as strong.

The core of the Princeton system is to have a big man in the paint who can pass the ball and shoot.

The Warriors' strength lies in their frontcourt, while their big man, Todd Fuller, is only a blue-collar center.

Therefore, Adelman had no choice but to place the 2.08-meter Joe Smith in a high position as a supporting player.

on the field.

Joe Smith was standing near the free-throw line, with Ben Wallace right in front of him.

Ben Wallace remembered what Kobe told him before the game: to perform well.

Joe Smith gets the ball, and the other Warriors players start running around him like crazy.

Joe Smith looked for opportunities during off-the-ball runs.

At that moment, Sprewell suddenly made a reverse run, shaking off Kobe by half a body length. At the same time, Todd Fuller's off-ball screen helped Sprewell completely get rid of Kobe.

Seeing this, Joe Smith decisively passed the ball, and Sprewell received it with no one in front of him.

However, the Mavericks' rotation has been excellent, with Peja now filling in.

After drawing the defense, Sprewell immediately passed the ball back to Joe Smith, who was cutting to the basket, and Smith took the opportunity to shoot.

This goal should have been a sure thing, but reality often presents unexpected challenges.

When the Warriors were running off the ball, Ben Wallace's attention was always on Joe Smith, and he was the first to react when Joe Smith made a cut.

Seeing Joe Smith make his move, Ben Wallace jumped up and delivered a powerful block, preventing Joe Smith from scoring a layup.

After delivering a spectacular block and securing the rebound, Ben Wallace powerfully tossed the ball forward.

Kobe had been waiting in the frontcourt for a long time.

Upon receiving the pass, Kobe dribbled straight into the paint.

He leaped high into the air and slammed the ball in with a one-handed tomahawk dunk!

7:5

After that basket, the Mavericks completely got into their rhythm, with wave after wave of offense.

Just when Chen Fang thought the Warriors were about to be unable to withstand the Mavericks' offense, the Warriors' Chris Mullin suddenly erupted.

The two teams then engaged in a high-scoring battle.

The Warriors couldn't stop the Mavericks' wave after wave of attacks.

Similarly, the Mavericks were unable to contain Chris Mullin's explosive performance.

However, Chen Fang knew very well that Chris Mullin's outburst was only temporary, and he couldn't possibly have an outburst like Kobe Bryant for an entire game.

With 48 seconds left in the first quarter.

Chris Mullin broke through Peja's defense on the left wing, scored under the basket despite Ben Wallace's help defense, and drew a foul from Wallace.

This is already Ben Wallace's second foul in this game.

Fortunately, with the first quarter almost over, Chen Fang showed no intention of substituting Ben Wallace off the court.

Chris Mullin made his free throw, narrowing the gap to 3 points.

Before the Warriors could celebrate, Ben Wallace quickly inbounded the ball from the baseline.

After receiving the ball, Kobe quickly dribbled across half-court and, before the Warriors could get into position, launched a three-pointer!

"Shh!"

The basketball soared through the air like a sharp arrow, hitting the bullseye!

Kobe made a quick attack before the end of the first quarter, giving the Mavericks another chance to attack after the Warriors completed their final possession.

Kobe hits a three-pointer in transition!

"The more critical the moment, the less we can afford to let our guard down!"

Turning back, the Warriors went on offense.

The ball was in Chris Mullin's hands, and he was dribbling outside the three-point line to run down the clock.

With 7 seconds remaining in the 24-second shot clock, Chris Mullin began his attack.

At the same time, Joe Smith stepped forward to provide cover for Chris Mullin.

After the screen, Chris Mullin and Joe Smith made a handoff pass.

Joe Smith then turned and attacked Ben Wallace with his back to the basket.

"Ben, don't foul!"

Kobe shouted.

With little time remaining in the first quarter, committing a foul would simply be handing points to the opponent.

Moreover, Ben Wallace already has two fouls, and it would definitely not be worth it to pick up another one.

But what you fear will come to you.

"Dudududu!"

"Blue number 3 player, pushing foul!"

With 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the referee called a foul on Ben Wallace for pushing an opponent.

Seeing the referee pointing at him, Ben Wallace immediately stepped forward to explain.

"I didn't push anyone! Which eye of yours saw me push anyone?!"

No matter how Ben Wallace explained, the referee remained unmoved and upheld the original ruling.

"Ben, calm down!"

Seeing that Ben Wallace was still arguing in front of the referee, Kobe quickly went over and hugged him, asking, "Do you want a technical foul?"

Upon hearing this, Ben immediately shut up.

Getting a technical foul is a minor inconvenience compared to being ejected from the game; that would be a real loss.

While Joe Smith was shooting free throws, Chen Fang took the opportunity to substitute Ben Wallace off the court, letting him calm down.

Joe Smith made both free throws, narrowing the gap to 4 points.

And this point difference persisted until the end of the first quarter.

……

After a short break, the second quarter resumed.

Chen Fang made personnel adjustments, bringing on Shawn Bradley to partner with Nash and lead three other substitute players.

The Warriors also have a lineup of two starters and three bench players.

The Warriors were on offense. After dribbling the ball across half-court, backup guard Armstrong immediately passed it to Chris Mullin, who had a hot hand in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, Chris Mullin scored 12 points with a hot hand, scoring both inside and outside, helping the team keep the score close.

Therefore, Adelman kept him on the court during the second quarter.

Despite the break, Chris Mullin's shooting touch remains incredibly hot.

Facing Nash's relentless defense, Chris Mullin forced his way through and hit a pull-up jumper!

"Nash's defense is fine, but Chris Mullin just can make the shots."

"If Ben Wallace were on the court right now, he might have been able to cover for that play. Unfortunately, he has three fouls and won't be able to play for a while."

"Indeed, the Mavericks' defense is entirely based on the individual abilities of Kobe and Ben Wallace."

"With those two on the court, the Mavericks' defense is among the best in the league."

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door.

Both Zhang Weiping and Sun Zhengping are veteran basketball commentators, and they are well aware of Ben Wallace's role in the team.

But now that the Mavericks are missing Kobe and Ben Wallace, the team's defensive intensity has dropped a level.

Although the Mavericks' defense has declined, they still have Nash and Shawn Bradley on offense, so it won't be easy for the Warriors to take the lead.