Good heavens, this was with He Xi Meng playing passively behind, and the Mavericks still couldn't contain the onslaught of Carter and Yao Ming.
If He Xi Meng were to join the fray, how would the Mavericks contain the Celtics' scoring?
This was the Mavericks' long-standing issue: a weak defense.
Ever since Old Nelson laid the foundation for this Mavericks team, he favored offense over defense, liking to destroy opponents with dazzling attacks.
And once the dazzling offense failed to ignite, the Mavericks' usual outcome was to be spectacularly destroyed by their opponents.
In this game, although the Mavericks were playing at home, the Celtics came prepared. They immediately targeted Nowitzki, constantly pressuring the German machine.
Diop truly gave his all on defense today, continuously disrupting Old Driver's catches. Meanwhile, He Xi Meng would intermittently sneak in to steal, completely throwing off Old Driver's rhythm.
For a shooter-type big man, a lack of rhythm meant a loss of shooting touch.
The consequence of Nowitzki's poor shooting touch was the Mavericks' overall low scoring efficiency.
If not for the substitute Devin Harris, who constantly created fouls through drives, causing considerable trouble for the Celtics, the Mavericks might have fallen behind in the first half.
In the second half, the Mavericks still couldn't find their mid-to-long-range shooting touch. Iverson Johnson simply ordered the team to attack the paint relentlessly and draw fouls, attempting to catch up through free throws.
Because they were playing at home, the referees in this game were quite accommodating to the "Little General's" strategy, granting the Mavericks numerous free throw opportunities.
However, scoring through fouls, while effective, was inefficient.
Generally, teams only resort to this tactic in decisive moments.
Using this method in regular time, unless the opponent also had a terrible shooting night and couldn't score, every point from the free-throw line was crucial.
The problem was, the Celtics' shooting touch today was not bad at all.
He Xi Meng used his breakthrough ability to constantly tear through the Mavericks' defense. The Mavericks' rotations and help defense weren't good enough. Usually, a breakthrough pass from He Xi Meng, coupled with a breakthrough from Carter, was enough to penetrate the Mavericks' defense, get deep into the paint, either for a pull-up jumper or a pass to an open teammate on the perimeter.
Carter scored repeatedly, and He Xi Meng didn't even need to exert himself in the final quarter, as the Celtics held a commanding lead.
Ultimately, the Mavericks, missing several key players, and unable to get their offense going, were spectacularly defeated by the Celtics on their home court.
After the game, as He Xi Meng hugged Nowitzki goodbye, he didn't forget to remind the German machine.
"I told you I'd take it easy this game, and I kept my word, didn't I?"
He Xi Meng only scored 20 points in the entire game, which was below his season average, so calling it taking it easy wasn't an exaggeration.
But Nowitzki was almost amused to tears by He Xi Meng.
"You really didn't exert yourself much on offense today, but you bothered me plenty on defense! If you hadn't disrupted my rhythm, would my scoring have been this pathetic today?"
"No way? As a top scorer in the league, how can you blame my poor shooting on me?"
"Not blaming, not blaming!" In consideration of He Xi Meng's compliment as a "top scorer," Nowitzki decided to swallow the pain of defeat.
"It's my own fault for not performing well today. Is that better? Let's settle it in the next game."
"Alright! You're welcome to visit Boston anytime, Dirk. I recently discovered a really authentic German restaurant in Boston. When you come to Boston next time, I'll take you for some big pork knuckles!"
"That sounds great! But let me be clear, even after eating your pork knuckles, I won't hold back when we play against each other."
"No need to hold back, I love seeing you play at your best. Anyway, it's not me you'll be outscoring!"
He Xi Meng said, glancing at Carter, who was oblivious in the distance, and burst into laughter.
Carter had scored a game-high 27 points today. With He Xi Meng's assistance, whether it was fast-break dunks or drives to the basket in half-court sets, Carter couldn't even find a quiet moment to shoot a few threes.
Of course, this was also largely because the Celtics found a way to counter the Mavericks' defense in this game.
Simply put, He Xi Meng would drive first, then pass to Carter to drive again.
The Mavericks could stop He Xi Meng's initial drive, but they struggled to stop Carter's second drive.
With this simple tactic, Carter scored nearly 15 points.
As a result, after the game, Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson, when commenting on the team's performance, expressed extreme dissatisfaction with their defense.
"We let our opponents tear through our defense too easily. They scored easily, and we struggled to score. That's why we lost. Nothing more..."
Kerr, after the game, maintained his usual calm demeanor.
"We played our game. We defended well. Offensively, it was so-so. The opponent did a good job of limiting Simon's impact, but Simon didn't just lie down; he paved the way for his teammates with his drives, allowing Carter to have a brilliant performance..."
Upon hearing Kerr's assessment, Nowitzki couldn't help but want to curse: "Are you sure Simon was limited by us?"
Kerr, unaware of Nowitzki's grumbling, happily led the team away from Dallas and towards a place he had previously played, and where He Xi Meng and Yao Ming had also played: San Antonio!
Last season, after Prince's contract expired, he was signed by the Pistons to a deal and moved to Motor City.
The Spurs didn't want to let Prince go, but the owner couldn't afford the luxury tax, so they could only watch Prince leave.
However, the Spurs weren't left empty-handed.
Utilizing the starting spot vacated by Prince, Popovich successfully recruited Finley, a discarded player from the Mavericks.
Finley had bought out his contract with the Mavericks this summer.
Finley received $16 million in buyout money from the Mavericks and then signed a three-year, $8.4 million bargain contract with the Spurs.
With this, he managed to boost his salary to $20 million per year and successfully joined the Spurs, a strong contender for the championship. Where else could you find such good fortune?