During the pause, Prichard came to Xue Ding's side and said, "Xue, relax, don't make yourself so nervous. Just treat this as an ordinary regular season game. Play whatever you want, don't think too much."

As the head coach, Prichard must always understand the minds and states of his players. Xue Ding's performance on the court just now can be called extremely abnormal.

In the first half of the quarter, Roy, Chandler and others created five chances for Xue Ding, while Xue Ding only hit a mid-range shot with five shots.

Such a hit rate is a bit bad for Xue Ding, and even more so for the Trail Blazers. If Xue Ding cannot open it, then this game will be very troublesome.

Fortunately, the Mavericks' shooting rate is not high, and the score difference is only two points. The Trail Blazers are not without a chance. Xue Ding needs to quickly find the feel.

The timeout is over and back on the court.

Trail Blazers kicked off in the middle line.

Standing on the sideline, he drove a long pass and threw it to Batum on the other side.

Outside the three-point line, Batum received the ball and was ready to take action.

But when Batum was already jumping in the air, he suddenly saw Xue Ding standing in the paint area.

Batum did not choose to shoot, but passed the ball to Xue Ding in a strange posture.

Xue Ding received the ball, transported it on the ground, hit Danpier with his back, and shot with a small hook.

"Beep!"

Two points scored, and Danpier made a foul.

The referee's decisive call made the home audience a little dissatisfied. In this kind of contact in the playoffs, there is generally no foul call, but the referee just yelled.

Danpier spread his hands at the referee and shook his head helplessly.

Xue Ding stood on the free throw line.

While making free throws, he was forced to enjoy the huge booing from American Airlines Center fans.

Xue Ding adjusted his breathing.

The free throw hit steadily.

9 to 10.

After the timeout, the Trail Blazers successfully overtake the score.

"Here, Xue Ding's rhythm has been found now. The goal of hitting Danpier on his back just now made Xue Ding feel." Director Zhang said in a discomfort. He seemed very happy to see Xue Ding take the initiative to attack and score a goal.

On the other side, Kidd passed the ball to the veteran driver after passing the ball through half. Nowitzki's free throw line, Golden Rooster hit two points independently, answerball.

Then Xue Ding made a three-pointer from the three-point line and returned with a color.

After a few rounds, after the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Mavericks 23-18 by 5 points to enter the second quarter.

As soon as the second quarter started, Roy was on the field with several substitutes on the Blazers, while Nowitzki and Terry played with three substitutes on the Mavericks.

Roy knew in his heart that it would be impossible for the people on the court to attack with the Mavericks now, so Roy has been suppressing the rhythm and wants to maintain the hard-won lead until Xue Ding and other main players come back.

The Mavericks obviously know that the weakness of the Trail Blazers lies in the substitute link.

Therefore, at the beginning of the second quarter, the Mavericks began to press without any effort.

In the first round, the Trail Blazers' offensive ball rights. Roy commanded his teammates to run after passing the ball through half the game, and did not rush to attack.

But soon Haywood and Barrea forced themselves up, and the two attacked Roy from left to right, causing Roy's pass error.

Marion made a quick breakthrough and scored two points at the basket.

In the second round, the Trail Blazers attacked. Roy passed the ball to Bayless after taking the initiative to run away for Bayless. Unfortunately, the latter failed to seize the opportunity and shot and was beaten to the counterattack by the Mavericks again.

In the three minutes of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers were hit by the Mavericks with a 12-2 attack wave, overtaking the score in one fell swoop.

The score came to 30-25, and the Mavericks led by five points.

Then Prichard quickly called for a pause.

Pritchard was in a difficult position to see the team establishing a five-point lead in the first quarter, which was vanished in less than three minutes of the opening second quarter, and was overtaken by five points.

He was so angry that he slapped the tactics twice while setting up the tactics during the suspension period.

On the Mavericks' side, Carlisle praised his players during the timeout and said: "That's how boys, we have to stay aggressive, but at our home court, we have to win this game."

"Shawn, they will definitely replace Xue again after the timeout is over. Your defensive task will not be easy at that time. We did a good job in the first quarter and successfully restricted Xue. As long as he doesn't let him play, we will already win half of this game.

Remember, you must defend Xue. As for others, you can just defend without losing position.”

The tactics Carlisle arranged for the players sounded very simple, with only one requirement, which was to defend Xue Ding.

But can Xue Ding really defend? Or can Marion defend Xue Ding?

The one-minute time-out time has come, and the referee stands near the center line and blew the whistle, signaling the players on both sides to return to the court to continue the game.

The Mavericks players have already walked on the court, but on the side of the Trail Blazers, Prichard is still holding tactical boards to set up tactics for his players, as if his tactics are not enough for one minute.

After repeated urging by the referee, Prichard put away the tactical board, stood up, clapped his hands and shouted: "comeon! Stay focused on the children."

After the suspension ended, both sides sent their main lineup back to the field.

The Trail Blazers kicked off near the midline.

This time Blake drove the ball to Xue Ding. After Xue Ding got the ball, he dribbled from the top of the left arc to the top of the right arc. Roy and Chandler took the initiative to cover Xue Ding near the three-point line.

After Xue Ding dribbled twice, Marion, who was chasing the defense, was blocked from outside the three-point line by Chandler.

Xue Ding, who got rid of the defender, held the ball and killed the basket!

This is a goal that concerns the team's morale. You can only score, not fail!

Xue Ding, who reached the basket, faced Danpier's defense without any hesitation and directly stepped forward and beat Danpier.

But Danpiel's palm nailed the ball to the rebound.

"Beep!"

At this time, the referee's whistle suddenly rang.

Danpier heard the whistle and shouted at the referee with an innocent look on his face: "Hey! I didn't fouled, I didn't even touch him!"

After Danpier yelled at the referee, the referee immediately made a gesture to interfere with the ball.

Xue Ding's layup was disturbed by Danpier before reaching the highest point.

Therefore, it is considered to be a two-point score.

At the same time, the referee made a t gesture towards the technical desk.

A technical foul was hailed to Danpier.

“Woo~”

The home audience booed in an instant.
Chapter completed!