Who will be the role players now that everyone's been reborn?

In the first minute of the fourth quarter, under such intensity and pace, Kurt Thomas's stamina began to wane. Coupled with Barbosa's penetrating passes, he was indiscriminate in his pursuit of scoring, regardless of whether the ball was comfortable to receive or not, and simply passed it out.

Thomas made a mistake the moment he received the ball, and Daniels stole it and launched a counterattack. He arrived on the battlefield in 5 seconds, and faced Jim Jackson's block, he hastily stopped and pulled up for a shot.

Clang!!!

A collective sigh of disappointment rose from the crowd; Daniels had rushed the shot and failed to hit the morale-boosting ball.

Jim Jackson made a contribution on defense. Although he was a nomadic player in his career, his ability was by no means in question.

It was the Suns' turn to attack. Jim Jackson drove forward with the ball, and Barbosa continued to drive, but failed to break through the Mavericks' defense. He passed the ball to Chen Dong to organize the offense. Facing Josh Howard's strong defense, he didn't force a shot, but passed the ball to Barbosa to continue driving. He drove into the paint and passed the ball to Thomas, who received the ball and took a shot, but the two-pointer missed.

"If Stoudemire were still in the team!"

"The Suns are able to score at least one basket in these two possessions," Barkley lamented on the commentary desk. "The Suns lack an unstoppable battering ram. Their fast-paced run-and-gun offense isn't working, and in half-court sets, scoring is a major challenge."

After a pause, Barkley shook his head. "The thing that doesn't understand flexibility is that the Suns still have a 7-second or less offensive rhythm."

The goal of the offense isn't to put the basketball in the basket, but to get the basketball out of the basket within seven seconds...

Whether they scored or not, the Suns players on the court didn't seem to care; this extreme obsession was somewhat pathological.

Chen Dong had no choice but to quickly transform the Suns into a run-and-gun team that could play at any pace. As a role player, he sometimes barely touched the ball and could only go with the flow!

Turning back, Josh Howard went one-on-one with Jim Jackson, unleashing his signature three-pronged attack, scoring two points while also drawing a foul from Jim Jackson.

"andone!!"

Josh Howard is too tough on both ends of the court. This forced isolation play that resulted in a 2+1 play is a top-notch performance. He really has the makings of a franchise player. On the commentary desk, Kenny Smith praised him repeatedly. "This is just the beginning of the Mavericks' comeback. Next up is the Mavericks' hunting game."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Suns' offense swept in like a whirlwind. Barbosa called for a screen and then passed the ball to Chen Dong, who caught it, raised his hand, and launched a three-pointer. The ball swished through the net with pinpoint accuracy.

Swish!!!

"An eye for an eye!"

Chen Dong's crucial three-pointer.

"That shot came at just the right time! The Mavericks needed momentum on offense, and Chen Dong's three-pointer was the perfect response." On the commentary desk, Barkley remarked with feeling, "Chen Dong's shot has once again disrupted the Mavericks' momentum!"

Then, under the double-team of Chen Dong and Marion, Josh Howard forced his way onto the court with his three-pronged attack, but it was blocked, and the ball hit him and went out of bounds.

Then, Daniels got impatient. As one of Dallas's two clowns, he dribbled the ball and forced his way through the defense, but Barbosa drew a charge, and possession was lost.

Three minutes have passed, and the Mavericks' promised hunting opportunity has failed to materialize.

Kenny Smith's prediction was completely wrong. So far in the fourth quarter, we haven't seen the Mavericks' true ability to dominate the Suns. What we have seen is that their rotation, lacking Stackhouse's presence, is truly lacking in offensive firepower!

Even when Josh Howard finally unleashed his offensive prowess, driving to the basket and scoring a 2+1 against Jem Jackson, before he could even celebrate, Chen Dong immediately responded with a three-point pull-up jumper. It seemed that the 9-point deficit from the first three quarters was like a mountain pressing down on the Mavericks players, and they couldn't turn the tide no matter what they did!

The Mavericks' attempt to drag the game into a half-court set did lower the Suns' offensive level, but it also disrupted their own offensive rhythm!

The match strangely devolved into a chaotic situation where neither of us could kill the other.

The problem is that the Suns established a lead in the first three quarters. If the Suns' offense doesn't kill the game, the Mavericks could very well be killed by the clock!

The Spurs' tactics are indeed impressive, but the Mavericks haven't been able to fully internalize them yet.

The theory is sound; the problem lies in its implementation.

With no other choice, Avery John went all out, using his two offensive aces, Terry and Nowitzki.

The attempt failed; Terry tried to overpower Eddie House, who had just come on as a substitute, but his attempt was thwarted and the ball was intercepted.

When his drive failed, Terry attempted a three-pointer in the next possession, but it missed.

"What the hell?"

It was another mistake by Terry, who was intercepted by Eddie House again. Eddie House is known for his strong offense but weak defense, but who would have thought that Terry would play like he had no soul in the game?

It's either a mistake or a missed shot!

Good grief, not only did Terry fail to share Nowitzki's scoring burden, but Nowitzki also failed to receive the playmaking passes he desired.

With the Suns' sixth man, Terry, assisting them in their counter-attacks, the game seemed to be on the verge of ending any suspense.

Instead of continuing to post up and call for the ball to attack the Suns' interior weakness, Nowitzki moved to the three-point line to receive the ball and, facing Marion's block, launched a pull-up three-pointer.

Clang!!!

The basketball hoop was no longer on its side.

If it doesn't work the first time, then try again.

In the next possession, Nowitzki asked for a two-point jump shot, but he still missed.

Chen Dong countered, received a pass from Barbosa, and scored with a simple layup.

At this point, Chen Dong scored 5 points and 1 assist in the fourth quarter, bringing his debut stats to 21 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. He also led his team on an 11-3 run against the Mavericks, making the score 90-73 and widening the gap to 17 points.

Then, the suspense of the game was over, and Chen Dong and Barbosa were substituted to rest. They could already pop champagne to celebrate.

At this moment, Nash and Raja Bell entered the scene. Well, both of them had a script to play out when facing their former teams, and they were definitely not just trying to pad their stats!

Before joining the Suns, Raja Bell first served as Allen Iverson's backup and performed well. Then, Cuban brought him to Dallas to serve as Josh Howard's backup. Next, he went to the Jazz as the sixth man before finally becoming the starting shooting guard for the Suns. He got to where he is today step by step, and his former teams were quite numerous. This is the path that true role players take!

On the Mavericks' side, they fielded a do-or-die lineup, with Van Horn, as Nowitzki's backup, being pulled onto the court to fight tooth and nail. No matter what, they still have pride to maintain, and regardless of what the future championship path holds, the Mavericks are only fighting for the present.

Soon after, Van Horn attacked the paint and went to the free-throw line, making both shots. Nash and Marion then ran a pick-and-roll, and Marion's jump shot missed. It seems that the "tall and fast" combination is not so easy to master.

Next, Van Horn received a pass from Nowitzki and, despite James Jones' block, successfully hit a three-pointer. Then, Nash turned around and attempted a smooth two-pointer over Nowitzki, but it missed.

At this moment, the Suns had no sense of crisis at all. Marion drove to the basket for a layup, drew a foul, and made only one of the two free throws. Then, Jim Jackson committed a turnover, Marion missed a shot, and then James Jones also missed a shot.

With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks finally got their chance to go on a run. Dirk Nowitzki exploded on offense, scoring 9 points and dishing out 1 assist in just 2 minutes, and together with Van Horn, they sparked a 14-1 run against the Suns, narrowing the gap to a four-point margin for a comeback.

Although late, Kenny Smith's commentary became lively.

"Here we go. The Suns are being slaughtered. Their offensive rhythm is off, and their key players are too tired to run and can't score."

"The Suns probably didn't expect the Mavericks, led by Nowitzki, to bring the game back into the spotlight!"

At this moment, as a reborn individual, Chen Dong could vaguely glimpse the superhuman Dirk Nowitzki of 2011, who could always come back from a deficit of about 10 points with his unstoppable jump shot.

This moment is just like that moment!

But when Chen Dong left the court, the Suns had already built a 17-point lead. However, the Suns seemed to have no limit to their potential. At the crucial moment, Nash missed a shot, and Jason Terry got hot, hitting a pull-up two-pointer over Nash, leaving the difference between the two points at just 2.

Finally, he provided Nash with a solid assist, setting up Marion for a layup and stabilizing the situation on the court.

With Nowitzki missing a three-pointer over Marion, Nash was fouled and made both free throws, giving the Suns a narrow victory.

Nowitzki, who had already scored 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists, stood with his hands on his hips, staring blankly at the scoreboard.

At this time, Nowitzki was in his prime, with an excellent three-point shot, even better than the Nowitzki of 11 who could only shoot mid-range jumpers. It was just a pity that the 2.0 version of Nowitzki didn't have Kidd by his side to stabilize the situation on the court. If the Suns had only led by 10 points instead of 17, the outcome of this game would have been uncertain.

With a score of 98-92, the Suns emerged victorious, defeating the formidable Mavericks by 6 points to secure a win in the opening game of the 05/06 NBA regular season, a promising start.