Chapter 17 Dallas

Leonard's answer showed that he now trusted Tang Tian; teammates didn't usually say much about family visiting.

Tang Tian nodded after listening.

So it was him.

He didn't know much about Leonard in his previous life, but it seemed Leonard's departure from the Spurs was largely related to this uncle of his, causing quite a stir back then.

But these things had nothing to do with him. With his curiosity satisfied, he didn't ask any more questions.

Defeating the Heat was significant for the Spurs, and it greatly boosted the team's morale.

In the following week, they successively faced the Pacers, Pistons, Wizards, and Rockets.

They successfully won all four games, turning a 2-3 record from the five-game road trip into a five-game winning streak at home.

Their record also improved from 6 wins and 3 losses to 11 wins and 3 losses, placing them at the top of the Western Conference.

After getting the catch-and-shoot three-pointer skill, Tang Tian performed even better than at the start of the season.

He averaged 15+ points during the four-game winning streak, becoming the team's most reliable scorer off the bench.

Not just Tang Tian, but the Spurs' average score in these four games exceeded 105+, showing they were in great form.

However, the sweet time at home was always limited, and after finishing the game against the Pacers, the team boarded a plane to Dallas.

There, they would face the defending champions.

Last season, led by Nowitzki, the Mavericks had created one of the greatest seasons in NBA history.

Like UConn, who won the championship in April, they defied expectations and defeated title favorites like the Lakers, Thunder, and Heat, eventually winning the championship.

Because of UConn and the Mavericks' consecutive championships, the past year was also called the "Year of Basketball Miracles" by many fans.

And the aftermath of both teams' championship wins was also very similar.

After UConn's championship win, core players Walker and Tang Tian entered the draft one after another, while the Mavericks, due to aging issues, successively traded or released championship-winning players.

Only Nowitzki, Terry, Kidd, and Marion remained from the championship roster.

The other players, including Barea, Tyson Chandler, Peja, and Stevenson, all left the team one after another.

As of now, the Mavericks' record was only 7 wins and 6 losses, ranking seventh in the Western Conference.

Although the start of the season didn't fully explain the problem, both on-court performance and off-court data indicated that the defending champions' strength had declined significantly.

The Spurs were determined to win this game.

Not only because winning against their opponent would give them their longest winning streak of the season at six games, but also because the two teams were in the same division and the same state.

The Texas derby, where the outcome was always very important.

San Antonio and Dallas were both in Texas, only about 400 kilometers apart, a plane ride of only half an hour, less than an hour.

Chatting, playing Texas Hold'em, the time passed quickly.

Tang Tian and Green sat together, chatting about interesting things in life.

The plane soon entered Dallas's territory.

Parker then got up and said a few words to Leonard, then walked to Tang Tian, patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Tang, it's best not to leave the hotel before and after the game."

Because they had a back-to-back game against the 76ers, they would stay in Dallas for one night after the game and then fly to Philadelphia early the next morning.

"What?" Tang Tian looked at Parker in confusion, not knowing what these sudden words meant.

"Just listen to me." After Parker finished speaking, he turned around and went to find Joseph.

"What does Tony mean?" Tang Tian saw that Parker didn't answer him, so he turned to Green next to him and asked.

"Dallas… there are more white people here, and they are more hostile to people other than white people," Green said softly.

Hostile?

Although Green spoke euphemistically, Tang Tian still understood the meaning in his words.

Racial discrimination?

It took Americans more than a hundred years to give black people the same status as white people.

But in fact, the hostility between the two races had never been eliminated, but because of the existence of the law, they were afraid to say it.

With Green saying this, Tang Tian suddenly understood a lot of things.

The Mavericks had an owner, Mark Cuban, who was willing to spend a lot of money, Dallas was in Texas, and it was one of the few places in the United States that was exempt from state taxes.

But they had never been able to recruit big-name stars. Even the championship lineup last year was just Nowitzki as the single core.

Moreover, even if you look at the history of the Mavericks, basically all the stars are white, and you basically don't see any black stars.

It seemed that Green was right, this city was really unusually hostile to non-whites.

Tang Tian nodded to show that he understood. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to wander around.

The game between the Spurs and the Mavericks was imminent, and the local media was hyping it up, after all, this was the Texas derby that Texans loved most.

Although the Mavericks' strength had declined this season, the enthusiasm of the Dallas people was still quite high.

To put it bluntly, it didn't matter whether they won other games or not, they had to win the derby, it didn't matter whether they lost other games or not, they absolutely couldn't lose the derby!

Not only did the local media promote the game with gimmicks, but this game also generated a lot of momentum in the domestic media across the ocean.

In addition to being a Texas derby, this was also a Chinese player derby!

Tang Tian played for the Spurs, while Yi Jianlian played for the Mavericks.

During the past lockout offseason, NBA players who signed with domestic CBA teams were forced to continue playing because they didn't have jump-out options, like Smith, Wilson Chandler, and others.

But Yi Jianlian was a special case because he was Chinese, and he had a jump-out option.

However, due to his own strength and injuries, he didn't find a satisfactory contract after his rookie contract ended.

He eventually only reached a minimum salary contract with the Mavericks.

Moreover, judging from the previous few games, he hadn't entered the Mavericks' regular rotation.

His average playing time was less than 10 minutes, and his technical statistics were also at a career low.

But this way, the opportunity was even more worthy of cherishing.

Because if he continued to play according to this trend, Yi Jianlian might fade out of the league after this season. If he wanted to have another derby, he didn't know when he would have to wait.

Thanks to the Spurs and Mavericks being in the same division, they would play four times this season, and each time had to be well publicized.

That night, the American Airlines Center in Dallas was packed.

Completely different from the Spurs' home court, the Mavericks had just won the championship last season, and with low ticket prices, the team's attendance rate had remained high.

This was also a derby, and there were many fans standing in the aisles.

During the pre-game warm-up training, Tang Tian went over to greet Yi Jianlian, who didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

The two didn't know each other before, and after a brief exchange, they could be considered to have met.

After the pre-game warm-up, the opening ceremony began.

The lights dimmed, and the cheers on the scene were already overwhelming.

The people of Dallas were passionate, and the basketball atmosphere here was really rare in the league.

Mark Cuban was wearing a blue jersey and stood in the front row of the audience, cheering along with the fans next to him, accompanied by the introduction of the host.

If you didn't know him, it would be really hard to recognize that he was the owner of this team.

This was the only owner in the league who was so obsessed with basketball.

It was said that he would go to the arena three hours before each game to practice three-point shooting, and he would shout like a crazy die-hard fan during the game.

Of course, not only that, the Mavericks' low game ticket prices, the league's most luxurious locker room, etc., all explained his love.

If it weren't for the hostility Green mentioned before, with more black stars coming to this city, the Mavericks' championship journey wouldn't have been so difficult.

After the opening ceremony, the starting players of the two teams took to the court one after another.

The Spurs' side had their usual starters, Parker and Green in the backcourt, Jefferson and Duncan in the frontcourt, and Blair returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the last game.

On the Mavericks' side, Kidd and Carter were in the backcourt. The Nets' Big Three from back then partnered up again in the Mavericks in the later stages of their careers.

The forwards were Marion and Nowitzki, and the center was Brendan Haywood.

From the Mavericks' starting lineup, it could be seen why Cuban had to break up the championship lineup in the summer. After so many veterans left, the remaining ones were still a bunch of veterans.

All five starters were over 30 years old, and the average age of the entire team was even higher than that of the Spurs.

Duncan and Haywood jumped for the ball. Duncan used his wingspan to pass the ball back to his own half, giving the Spurs the opportunity to attack first.

Parker's Ai Hammer tactic at the front, Green got an opportunity at the bottom corner, and hit a three-pointer after receiving a pass from Jefferson.

After a series of home wins, Green's touch had finally returned.

Kidd dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and the Mavericks also played tactical cooperation.

The Mavericks' coach Carlisle was very similar to Popovich, both were tactical coaches.

Both teams played tactics, and were older, which led to the slow pace on the court.

But this wasn't a problem for Dallas fans at all, they had already started cheering for the home team under the leadership of the DJ.

Amid the cheers, old Carter broke into the basket and caused Blair's holding foul, earning two free throw opportunities.

He made both free throws, and the Mavericks were not to be outdone.

In the first half of the first quarter, the scores of the two teams were tied.

The change happened after the first rotation.

The Spurs put on Tang Tian, Leonard, and Splitter, while the Mavericks put on Terry, Beaubois, Odom, and Mahinmi.

The Spurs still played in an organized manner, but the Mavericks basically played around Terry.

Terry didn't feel good tonight, and after Tang Tian tried his best to defend him, the Mavericks' offense became very constipated.

When both sides entered the full-bench lineup one after another, this situation became more obvious.

After playing half the game, the Spurs were already leading the Mavericks by as much as 15 points, 45 to 30.

In the second half, not only did this situation not improve, but it became more obvious, and even Nowitzki and Marion began to miss shots one after another.

After three quarters, the Mavericks were 25 points behind, and the overall situation was gone.

The Spurs were in excellent winning streak, the Mavericks' strength declined and their form was not good. This Texas derby had a high degree of attention, but it was completely one-sided.

When the game reached 4 minutes into the fourth quarter and the point difference came to 30 points, both sides had begun to send in players from the end of the bench to train.

Nearly a third of the audience had also left. No matter how die-hard the fans were, they didn't want to watch their home team being slaughtered, especially in a derby that they valued so much.

Cuban's blue jersey also failed to bring good luck to the Mavericks like it did last season.

But at this time, the domestic fans became excited.

At this time, the lineup on the court was Joseph, Neal, James Anderson, Malcolm Thomas, and Splitter on the Spurs' side.

On the Mavericks' side were Beaubois, Dominique Jones, Shawne Williams, Brian Cardinal, and Yi Jianlian.

Yi Jianlian was finally substituted in during garbage time!

In the first attack, Yi Jianlian took the initiative to screen for Beaubois. The screen quality was not bad. Beaubois mismatched against Splitter and scored a layup.

Turning around, Neal's outside three-pointer missed, and Yi Jianlian boxed out Splitter to grab the defensive rebound.

One offense and one defense showed that his personal competitive state was not bad.

In the Mavericks' attack, Yi Jianlian continued to pick and roll. This time, Jones, who broke through, chose to pass the ball back.

Yi Jianlian caught the ball one step inside the three-point line, a wide-open opportunity, but he shot a little slow, and after being interfered by Splitter, the long two-pointer failed to hit.

The Spurs played a fast break, and Joseph assisted Anderson to score a fast break.

The pace of the two teams was relatively fast, and the 8 minutes of garbage time ended quickly.

After Yi Jianlian's mid-range shot didn't go in, he didn't receive any more passes from his teammates. Later, he relied on his own rush to grab an offensive rebound and caused a foul, making one of two free throws.

The final data statistics board showed 0 for 2 from the field, 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 1 foul.

Tang Tian watched the entire game from the sidelines. Yi Jianlian's condition was actually good, but his playing style was really limited.

His playing style was the kind of core-type playing style. Giving him the ball would allow him to have a certain performance, but the performance was limited. Without the ball, his performance would be very problematic.

Moreover, everyone was busy racking up stats during this garbage time. If you didn't seize an open opportunity, even as an inside player, you would have very few chances to touch the ball.

The game ended, and the players of both sides shook hands and prepared to leave the court one after another.

For the Chinese derby, Zhang Weiping also came to the scene. After the game, he pulled Tang Tian and Yi Jianlian for a short interview.

It was nothing more than some polite questions, and Tang Tian's answers were relatively official.

Yi Jianlian was in a bad mood, and the content of his answers was basically limited to short words like "um," "yes," and "will."

After the interview, the two said hello and prepared to walk to their respective locker rooms.

"Chinese! Trash! Bastard!" At this moment, a fan who hadn't left the scene shouted loudly at Yi Jianlian on the court.

The fan was in a very bad mood on the night of the massacre, and at this moment, he was venting all of this negative emotion on Yi Jianlian, who was an Asian.

Tang Tian stopped when he heard this. He finally understood how serious the hostility Green said was. This was really scolding even his own people!

Yi Jianlian glanced at the fan, lowered his head and pretended not to hear it, it seemed that this was not the first time he had encountered this kind of thing.

At this time, Tang Tian walked over, grabbed the ball placed on the technical table, grabbed it in his hand with one hand, and then shouted loudly at the fan.

"Try saying that again if you have the guts!"