Chapter 1 G3 Battle

Previously, at the end of Game 2...

The reason why many fans on the internet believed that this Finals series between the Heat and the Mavericks would go to at least six games was mainly because the mainstream opinion at the time was that after Game 2, the Mavericks players had undergone another upgrade in their mentality.

In competitive sports, whether it's modern sports or e-sports, such cases of upgrading through a certain game are not uncommon.

For example, Invictus Gaming (IG) at the Season 8 World Championship.

Before the fifth game of their quarter-final match against KT Rolster (KT), because the IG players' memories of best-of-five series throughout the past year were filled with the bitterness of failure, IG's mid-lane player, Song Yijin, who had always been the most stable performer, forgot to buy his starting items due to nervousness at the start of the game.

However, after IG won that game, looking at IG's subsequent two knockout matches that year, you could clearly see that their state and performance on the field had far surpassed the other participating teams of the same year.

Even Fnatic (FNC), who had defeated IG in the group stage, was crushed into oblivion in the final.

And in basketball, the Mosaic team that made it to the playoffs as the sixth seed in the West was the same.

In fact, before the start of that year's playoffs, because the Mosaic team's personnel were aging seriously, even the most devout Mosaic fans dared not believe that they could reverse the situation all the way and win the championship.

But under the inspiration of Coach Tomjanovich's famous quote, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion"...

In every subsequent night...

Something magical happened:

One Kenny Smith after another kept appearing beside Hakeem Olajuwon.

Therefore, after the Mavericks players showed that kind of desperate state in Miami, people had every reason to believe that they, whose overall strength was not much different from the Heat, could create miracles in the following games.

However, while the Mavericks conquered a group of fans with their "never give up" spirit...

People seemed to forget...

Growth is always relative.

In Game 2, with the change in mentality, this Mavericks team did play their most extreme team offense and defense in recent years.

But in that game, since the Heat were able to have the last laugh...

That also proved...

The Heat also completed a neglected evolution in that game.

Anyone with common sense should know that the biggest difference between humans and robots is that at different stages and times, people's mentality and ideas cannot remain unchanged like robots.

And putting it in the context of competitive sports, even an athlete who has already achieved success may still be nervous, anxious, and lose himself in his future career.

Therefore, no matter how successful the Heat were this past season, Su Feng never believed that they were the best team on the planet.

Because the experience of only winning three championships in five years in the Raptors era had already told Su Feng that even if the Heat could successfully win the championship this year, they would still encounter various troubles next year.

And even if the Mavericks completed a mental upgrade in Game 2, in Game 3, when the Heat took a lead of as many as 23 points after the first quarter...

In the second quarter, the Mavericks, including superstars like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, became increasingly anxious on the court.

Especially in the second half of the second quarter.

American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks, who had finally managed to reduce the point difference between the two teams to 15 points tonight, once again encountered the Heat's sudden...

Three-point rain.

Perhaps, in the eyes of neutral fans, Shaquille O'Neal hadn't even played much tonight, and the Heat had already almost beaten the Mavericks.

But when O'Neal stood on the court, when he changed his way to create opportunities for his outside teammates...

You will find that on the basketball court, inside players can not only use their dominance in the low post to help their teammates create opportunities.

"The team never exists because of me, but my existence can help the team."

In Game 2, when O'Neal realized this truth that Su Feng had known for a long time, but still had to realize through an entire Raptors era...

At this moment.

Now.

The Mavericks' restrictions, influence, and interference on this "Big Shark"...

Was no longer worth mentioning.

Through home court mine laying and first-time double-teaming, the Mavericks did limit O'Neal to only 4 points in the entire first half.

But so what?

Could you control O'Neal's low post offense? Could you also control him from swaying his big butt on the court, diligently setting screens for his teammates?

Admittedly, Su Feng had given O'Neal a lot of unrealistic praise when he was忽悠ing him before. (T/N:忽悠 hūyou, to coax, to fool)

But...

That didn't include Su Feng's evaluation of O'Neal's screening quality.

Screening.

A skill that even most basketball enthusiasts can master after watching a few more games, a skill that couldn't be more ordinary.

However, in the most top-level competition, it is a technique that can let you distinguish the strength of an inside player at a glance.

Because whether it's the timing of the screen, or your own model advantages, etc...

These...

Are all things that others cannot teach you.

In the future, the reason why there will be many people in the NBA trying to create opportunities by screening for their teammates, but ending up bringing opponents to double-team their teammates...

Is because these young inside players underestimate the art contained in the screening technique too much.

As the saying goes, a good screen makes offense easy.

Tonight, O'Neal, who has completely integrated himself into this Heat's run-and-gun system, is the most critical factor that people have overlooked after Game 2.

And coupled with Su Feng, Manu Ginobili and others getting smoother and smoother on the court...

Conversely, under this ebb and flow, the Mavericks' signs of defeat have already appeared at this moment.

At the end of the first half, at the American Airlines Center, the Heat led 74-45.

In the third quarter, the Heat's shooting percentage from the outside dropped slightly.

And at the scene, just after the Mavericks successively launched several effective counterattacks and launched a small climax of 8-2...

What was despairing was...

On the court, Su Feng once again stood up.

Wing, low post, top of the arc...

When Su Feng repeatedly used his beautiful mid-range pull-up jumper to repel the Mavericks' counterattack...

Facts have proved.

A Tyrant Spear without a spearhead can also kill people.

This season, perhaps because Su Feng's performance outside the three-point line was too eye-catching, people forgot his almost death-god-like performance in various mid-range areas in his early years.

However, it's still that saying.

No matter how basketball develops.

The mid-range shot is always the god.

Because compared to breakthroughs that consume more physical energy and are likely to kill yourself before killing the opponent, when you need to force an attack, the value and significance of the mid-range shot become prominent.

In the third quarter, in the vacuum zone on both sides of the Mavericks' defense, and in the position one step inside the three-point line at the top of the arc, where opponents often cannot double-team Su Feng at the first time, Su Feng made 7 of 11 shots.

And with the appearance of the last straw that broke the Mavericks...

At the end of the third quarter.

103 to 70.

The fourth quarter of this Game 3 of the Finals has already been reduced to garbage time.

In the first 4 minutes of the final quarter, after the Mavericks' attempt to gamble with three-pointers failed, John Davis helplessly withdrew all of the Mavericks' main players.

And in the end, 127 to 95...

The Heat defeated the Mavericks by a score of 32 points on the road.

At this point, in this series, the score between the two teams also came to 3 to 0.

In Game 3, Su Feng scored a total of 45 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block.

And Ginobili scored 35 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.

After the game, at the press conference, O'Neal, who combined with the Heat's boss Su Feng and second boss Ginobili for 88 points, received a pointed "praise" from Su Feng.

"I don't think people should only see those three-pointers that I and Manu made on the court.

Because without Shaq's conscientious screening on the court...

If Manu and I still made those shots...

Wouldn't you guys say that Shaq was useless in this game?"

At the press conference, the reporters who originally thought that Su Feng wanted to "rectify" O'Neal's name, how could they have imagined that the Finals hadn't even finished yet, and Su Feng was already impatient to sink this fathead fish into the Atlantic Ocean?

And beside him, O'Neal, who attended the press conference with Su Feng, even had a "despairing" expression.

Because he was clearly the one in the Heat who usually licked Su Feng the most...

But as a result... what was the result!?

Good fellow!

On this night, O'Neal finally understood what it means to end up with nothing after舔ing. (T/N: 舔 (tiǎn): literally, "to lick"; in internet slang, it refers to sucking up to someone, often in a servile way)

Of course, because he knew that Su Feng was joking, O'Neal's expression at the time was also somewhat to cooperate with Su Feng in acting.

After all...

In O'Neal's opinion, based on his performance on this night, even if the first credit for Game 3 wasn't his, he should still be awarded second credit.

And the main purpose of Su Feng's deliberate "praise" of O'Neal in a joking way...

Was because he knew that in this way, people would pay more attention to those easily overlooked performances by O'Neal on the court later.

Because in the打铁 system, O'Neal is still short of tens of thousands of recognition points to reach 10 million recognition points... (T/N: 打铁 dǎtiě, literally "to forge iron", basketball slang for missing a shot)

So do you know how much effort Su Feng usually spends behind his back in order to let this Shaq younger brother return to his peak?

Su Feng knew very well that most fans have a rebellious mentality.

Therefore...

In short...

His reverse evaluation is the legendary拿捏. (T/N: 拿捏 (ná niē): to be sure of being able to handle; to know how to deal with)

And after the game on the internet, sure enough, the fans who were firmly controlled by Su Feng began to pay attention to those details that they had overlooked when watching the live broadcast.

On basketball forums in China and the United States, many懂球帝s analyzed why the Heat had so many outside shooting opportunities on the court in Game 3 through video screenshots. (T/N: 懂球帝 dǒngqiúdì, literally "know-ball emperor", basketball slang for someone who pretends to be an expert in basketball)

And through these analysis posts, fans also began to notice the biggest difference between O'Neal in the Heat era and the Lakers era.

That is...

Compared to that "Big Shark" who swam very hard in Los Angeles...

This fathead fish now...

Was so team-oriented that it was disgusting.

Los Angeles.

No exaggeration, okay?

If it weren't for the fact that he had neglected Vanessa these days because of watching the games, which almost made him homeless...

Kobe would really have to take a knife to Dallas to ask O'Neal why he wasn't as team-oriented as he is now back then.

……

According to the schedule, Game 4 of the Finals between the Mavericks and the Heat will be held on the 16th.

And originally, Su Feng, who had previously discussed with O'Neal that if the Heat got the match point, he would let O'Neal be his proposal assistant, also temporarily cancelled his proposal plan.

Because at first, Su Feng thought that this Finals series with the Mavericks would at least go to Game 6 before a winner was decided.

But now...

With the next two away games still to be played in Dallas, in Su Feng's opinion, it is already a high probability event that the Heat will lift the trophy on the road.

Therefore, Su Feng considered postponing his proposal plan to the championship parade.

After all, Britney is still in Miami...

You can't let Su Feng conduct a "cloud proposal" through television broadcasts, right?

As for the behavior of deliberately放水 in the next two away games so that this series can return to Miami... (T/N: 放水 fàngshuǐ, literally "release water", slang for throwing a game or deliberately playing poorly)

To be reasonable, not to mention Su Feng's character of competing for every game...

In Su Feng's opinion, even if he had read a basketball novel written by a certain elementary school culture eggplant in his previous life, he could not have written such a brain-dead plot.

For a respectable opponent like the Mavericks, Su Feng knew very well...

If the Heat can't try to kill them in one breath, then even someone as strong as him can't be sure what will happen next.

Don't look at the fact that the Heat are currently leading 3-0 in the score, but this year's Finals, if you really want to say it, it is indeed closer to that Finals between the Magic and the Mosaic in some sense.

In fact, if you put aside the 4-0 score of the Mosaic against the Magic in the Finals that year...

In those four games, the comparison of the strength shown by the Magic and the Mosaic was far from the gap in the final score.

Even in the first game between the two teams at that time, the Magic once led by as many as 20 points in the game.

And, in the last three games, the Magic was not without the opportunity to defeat the Mosaic.

It's just that later, due to the long time ago, coupled with the fact that some of O'Neal's haters liked to talk about O'Neal's story of being swept in the playoffs, it led people to mistakenly believe that in that Finals, the Mosaic unilaterally吊打了 the Magic. (T/N: 吊打 diàodǎ, slang for a one-sided beating or thrashing)

Therefore...

To deal with an opponent like the Mavericks who can threaten and trouble you at any time if you don't kill him...

Go all out.

Give it your all.

This is Su Feng's attitude towards the game.

Evening of the 16th.

Dallas American Airlines Center.

Before the game, as soon as the reporters from all over the world stepped into this arena...

They felt the kind of atmosphere that was difficult to describe in words that permeated this arena.

Sad?

Not really.

As early as when the Mavericks generals played those two earth-shattering Finals in Miami, the Mavericks fans had already felt the fighting spirit emanating from this team from the inside out.

Despair?

Not really.

Because even after being shot by Su Feng and Ginobili until they wanted to cry in Game 3, the strong Dallas people had recovered after a night of rest.

But if you want to talk about excitement and joy...

With a score of 0-3 behind...

If the Mavericks fans can still be optimistic, it's probably a ghost.

The night before the game, the O'Brien Trophy, which symbolizes the highest honor of the NBA team, had been transported to Dallas.

And the official staff of the NBA also rehearsed the championship award ceremony on the morning of the 16th.

For the fans of the Mavericks...

At this moment, their complex mood is partly because they can't bear to see such a hardworking team only watch their opponents lift the trophy in their home court...

And on the other hand...

The main reason is still because of不甘心,意难平. (T/N: 不甘心 bùgānxīn, not reconciled; 意难平 yì nán píng, difficult to reconcile)

Just like every Chinese Dota 2 player will never forget the words that once saddened them for two consecutive summers...

"Please PSG.LGD team to pick heroes!"

……