With 7 minutes and 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter, there were 4 minutes and 9 seconds remaining in the game.

101:93!!

The Mavericks are down by 8 points.

In the past five minutes, the Mavericks have begun to double-team Wei Guo, even resorting to fouls to prevent him from scoring.

and...

The league advocates physical contact, and this was a do-or-die moment for the Mavericks. Their defensive actions were a bit too aggressive, but the referees turned a blind eye. They didn't call the calls they could have made, so it wasn't considered biased officiating, especially since the Suns' defensive actions weren't too aggressive either.

......

"Go ahead and shoot threes! If you miss, go for the rebound!"

"And the defense... Get to work! Every time Weiguo drives to the basket, pull him down. If you're going to foul, foul hard. If you're too scared to foul, get off the court and let someone who's willing to foul take your place!"

"I really can't stand it anymore. You guys are beating each other like women."

"Jack, get me a jersey, I want to play!"

......

Head coach Johnson was really getting impatient and started yelling.

A one-minute pause...

Head coach Johnson sprayed saliva onto the faces of every player, mixing with their sweat.

This is a do-or-die moment for the Mavericks; they can't afford to lose again. Head coach Johnson, nicknamed "Little General," wants his players to treat this game like a war.

The game resumed after the timeout.

The Mavericks are on offense!

Terry paused beyond the three-point line, then stepped back to the left and launched a three-pointer.

Finley, Nowitzki, and Dampier all rushed towards the basket, regardless of whether the ball would go in, just to create space.

fine...

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

101:96!!

This three-pointer gave the Mavericks a much-needed boost.

Stoudemire walked to the baseline to inbound the ball. As soon as Nash received the ball, Terry pounced from behind him, shoved his arm into Nash's arms, and forcefully pulled the ball out of Nash's hands.

Holy crap!

Nash's eyes widened. "What kind of move is that?"

Without a whistle, Nash turned to the referee and demanded, "Isn't that a foul?!"

Terry didn't care about anything else. Now that he had the ball, he was going to score a layup first. If the referee blew the whistle, he could argue with the referee later.

"Whoosh!!!"

Terry scores an easy layup.

The referee signaled that the score was valid...

101:98!!

The Mavericks scored 5 straight points, leaving the Suns with only a 3-point lead.

Terry's steal was highly controversial. Gentry and Nash went up to argue with the referee, but the referee's attitude was ambiguous. He probably thought that the Suns were leading 2-0 in the series and still had the initiative on the court, so they shouldn't worry too much about this one play.

This is the referee's inner monologue...

He wouldn't say it aloud; if he actually put those words into words, he would basically have to lose his job and find new employment.

Nash and Gentry's argument went nowhere, and the game had to continue. Stoudemire was very careful when inbounding the ball from the baseline again. Although Terry had started pressing full-court, Nash still managed to dribble the ball steadily across the frontcourt.

Stoudemire was left open near the free-throw line, and Finley and Nowitzki double-teamed him off the ball.

Nash immediately passed the ball to Stoudemire...

D'Antoni yelled, "Stoudemire, shoot!"

What a great shooting opportunity! There was no one in front of him. Even after Stoudemire received the ball, Nowitzki didn't give up on defending Weiguo. It was practically a free throw.

Stoudemire made a decisive move!

"The shot missed!"

Wei Guo shouted, "Marion, hurry up and grab the rebound!"

With the ball landing in that spot, Marion was the Suns' most likely offensive rebounder. After being reminded by Wei Guo, Marion quickly moved towards the basket and joined Dampierka.

You should know...

Marion ranks second on the Suns in rebounds per game, even higher than Dampier.

However, Dampier had a height advantage and dared to call himself the second-best center in the West. He was also quite skilled. He circled around in front of Marion and jumped to grab the basketball.

"Back on defense!"

Wei Guo shouted again, "Beware of their pursuit!"

Wei Guo's words not only reminded the Suns players but also the Mavericks players. These words made General Johnson very uncomfortable because Wei Guo had figured out his tactics.

Terry went one-on-one against Nash, and Nowitzki ran back to the three-point line.

This time...

Instead of alerting his teammates, Wei Guo immediately moved to defend Nowitzki after he received a pass from Terry!

"I'm going to make this shot, it's our last chance!"

Nowitzki silently prepared himself, pretending to break through from Wei Guo's left side. The moment the basketball hit the ground, he suddenly took a step back and returned to the three-point line, launching a one-legged fadeaway shot.

The entry point is very high...

Even the State of Wei could only interfere, not completely block it.

"Enter!"

"Enter!"

"Enter!"

While the basketball was still in the air, the audience chanted in unison, and many religious people made the sign of the cross. If Nowitzki could make the shot, the Mavericks would tie the score.

and...

With only two minutes left in the game, the Mavericks will be in an even more passive position if they cannot tie the score.

The curve is beautiful!

"Whoosh!!!"

The moment the crisp sound of the net being swished rang out, the entire venue erupted in cheers.

"Three!!!"

The DJ shouted so loudly that his voice became hoarse.

"Let's go in!"

"Let's go in!"

"Let's go in!"

The cheers from the crowd made it seem as if the game was a game-winning shot and the Mavericks had already won.

......

"Suns request a timeout!"

This time it was Gentry who called a timeout; some head coaches get more flustered in crucial moments.

actually...

The head coach is extremely important to a team. If the head coach is not capable, the team may be ruined even if it has a Big Three. Of course, this does not include Gentry and D'Antoni, who are both very good coaches.

The timeout was very timely.

Back on the bench, Gentry said, "I heard from experts that eating relieves hunger and drinking water when you're thirsty."

"Isn't that obvious..."

Marion muttered, "I also know that you shouldn't drink water that's just been boiled."

Johnson asked curiously, "Why can't we drink water that's just been boiled?"

"It's too hot to eat."

Wei Guo rolled his eyes. "Old Jin, did you call this timeout just to say these few words of nonsense?"

"Of course not!"

Gentry said seriously, "There are only two minutes left. You need to understand that only by scoring can you score points, and only by scoring more points than your opponent can you win the game. So we must score!"

This is not nonsense...

The Mavericks were able to catch up not only because of Terry's three-pointer and layup, and Nowitzki's three-pointer, but also because the Suns didn't score a single point in those two minutes.

Nash asked, "So what's our strategy?"

Gentry threw down his tactical board. "In these two minutes, the whole team will set screens for Wei and let him shoot!"