Yao Ming won the tip-off, giving the Celtics the opportunity for the opening possession.
He Xi Meng brought the ball past half-court, directing his teammates to pass on the perimeter before looking to feed Yao Ming in the post.
Yao Ming post-up against Dampier, driving hard to the basket. Before Nowitzki could rotate to help, he turned and lofted a shot!
Yao Ming attacked with great decisiveness, giving the Mavericks no chance for defensive help. The ball swished through the net. The Celtics scored their first points in just 15 seconds.
It was the Mavericks' turn for their opening possession. Jason Terry brought the ball up.
In the previous four games, Jason Terry had struggled immensely against He Xi Meng.
On offense, He Xi Meng's exceptional anticipation abilities had created significant trouble for Terry's shot selection.
Jason Terry was a quick and agile guard, possessing excellent jump shooting skills, roughly equivalent to a weaker version of Iverson.
Throughout He Xi Meng's career, he had faced Iverson for nearly ten seasons. From being completely outplayed and constantly struggling early on, to reaching a point where they were evenly matched with wins and losses, He Xi Meng, in his later years, had leveraged his extensive defensive skills to frustrate an aging Iverson whose athleticism was declining. He Xi Meng had accumulated enough experience and lessons.
To put it bluntly, He Xi Meng's specialty on defense was this type of guard.
Jason Terry had run straight into He Xi Meng's strengths.
Terry, who had averaged 19 points per game for the Mavericks in the earlier rounds, had been held to less than 10 points per game in the last four contests, a reduction of over half. This had even begun to create a psychological shadow for Terry when facing He Xi Meng.
After bringing the ball past half-court, Terry didn't even consider a one-on-one against He Xi Meng. Instead, he cautiously protected the ball before passing it to Nowitzki, who had come out to receive it.
In the previous few games, Nowitzki had been accustomed to receiving the ball at the high post, allowing him to directly attack Yao Ming.
However, in this game, Yao Ming wasn't out there. The player who came out to contest Nowitzki was Diaw, who was half a head shorter.
Nowitzki immediately changed his offensive approach, switching from a frontal drive to a back-to-the-basket approach.
Although Diaw appeared shorter and smaller than Nowitzki, his core strength was formidable. Diaw defended and resisted, successfully slowing down Nowitzki's progress.
Ariza, on the wing, rotated back to help Diaw double-team Nowitzki.
Nowitzki also realized that his receiving position against Diaw was problematic. He immediately pulled the ball back and passed it to Josh Howard, who was cutting to the wing for the ball.
Josh Howard and Jason Terry were Nowitzki's primary support this season.
The Mavericks' success in navigating the brutal Western Conference was in no small part due to these two.
However, Jason Terry had been shut down by He Xi Meng on the finals stage, failing to deliver any standout performances. Fortunately, Josh Howard had provided significant support to Nowitzki in the previous few games, helping the Mavericks secure their two home wins.
On this play, after Nowitzki passed, Josh Howard didn't hesitate. He drove with the ball, aggressively leaning on the recovering Ariza to penetrate the Celtics' paint. Before Yao Ming could rotate to help, he pulled up for a close-range jump shot.
Most players in the league who liked to drive had developed a strategy against Yao Ming: at the rim, avoid direct confrontation with Yao Ming if possible. If a jump shot was an option, avoid layups.
There was no need to ask why; too many tears had been shed.
Josh Howard had a good feel for the ball, and this jump shot was also accurate. The score was tied at the start.
On the Celtics' second possession, He Xi Meng again passed on the perimeter, looking to feed Yao Ming inside. Dampier was battling fiercely with Yao Ming for position, unwilling to let Yao Ming receive the ball easily.
Yao Ming faked a weakness, suddenly pulling back his force. He faked Dampier into a stumble, then turned around to post up, heading towards the basket.
As soon as Yao Ming made his move, He Xi Meng, naturally, did not miss the excellent opportunity Yao Ming had created. He lofted a high pass directly to the paint.
Yao Ming used his left arm to hold Dampier off, preventing him from jumping to disrupt, while holding the ball high with his right. He caught the ball, took one dribble to the basket, and with both feet exploding, he slammed the ball into the rim with two hands!
Dampier chased behind Yao Ming, still looking for a chance to block. But as Yao Ming rose with the ball in both hands, Dampier wisely held back.
If Dampier had dared to reach in, it would have been a sure two-plus-one foul.
It was the Mavericks' turn for their second possession. This time, Nowitzki received the ball in the low post, backing down Diaw, preparing to turn and shoot.
He Xi Meng saw an opportunity and slipped in from Nowitzki's blind spot. As Nowitzki gathered the ball, He Xi Meng swiped at it.
He Xi Meng did make contact, but Nowitzki reacted extremely quickly. Before his body had even fully turned, his right hand was already reaching back, deflecting the ball away from He Xi Meng.
Jason Terry, trailing He Xi Meng, capitalized on the loose ball. With a low dribble, he faked past He Xi Meng's steal attempt and drove into the Celtics' paint in two steps.
On the other side, Yao Ming moved across quickly.
Terry was overconfident, thinking he could create a time-space advantage and avoid Yao Ming's block by lofting the ball high.
Little did he know, Yao Ming's rim-protecting ability was far beyond Terry's imagination.
On this play, Yao Ming delivered a sky-high block, sending Terry's high floater out of bounds.
The Mavericks retained possession, but the shot clock was running out.
Josh Howard inbounded the ball from the baseline, looking to pass to Nowitzki, but Diaw's outstretched hand disrupted the pass. Josh Howard settled for a pass to Terry, who was beyond the three-point line.
Seeing the clock ticking down, Terry executed a sharp pull-up fadeaway jumper against He Xi Meng.
The outcome was predictable. The shot clanged off the rim.
Carter grabbed the defensive rebound in the mid-range and immediately pushed the ball up for a fast break.
The Mavericks' transition defense was not slow, but Carter's driving speed was faster.
Raja Bell attempted to impede Carter, but Carter remained unfazed. He forcefully pushed past Raja Bell and accelerated past half-court.
The other Mavericks players assumed Carter was going to attack the basket, so they all sprinted towards the paint, leaving the three-point line open for Carter.
Carter didn't hesitate and pulled up for a transition three-pointer!
Carter had shot a fair number of three-pointers this season, but transition threes were not something he frequently took.
Among the Celtics, He Xi Meng was the one who most often chose this type of shot, not Carter.