nycdaug Chapter 631: Pulling off Doncic's jersey on the spot, a Spring Festival gift for Chinese fans!
Chapter 631: Pulling off Doncic's jersey on the spot, a Spring Festival gift for Chinese fans!
67 is better than 47!
Thanks to Wang Xiucheng's buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Nets led the Mavericks by 20 points at the end of the first half!
This was a score that Kidd found very difficult to accept!
Just a minute ago, the Nets were only leading by 12 points, 59-47.
At that moment, he thought the Mavericks had a chance to make a basket and bring the score back to single digits.
But now?
Not only did they fail to catch up, but the gap widened to 20 points!
Play!
Kidd glanced at the score through his reading glasses with a somewhat gloomy look in his eyes.
He recalled that some time ago, to be precise, just last month, Cuban sold a majority stake in the Mavericks.
In other words, the Mavericks have had a new owner for some time now.
Cuban kept only a small amount of stock, partly to reserve a seat for himself behind the Mavericks' bench.
Of course, Curry himself said he would not hand over the team's operational control.
But everyone knows that it's only a matter of time before the new owner takes over the team's operations.
In fact, the new owner, Dumont, has already taken over the team's affairs, but he is doing so through Cuban.
During a conversation with Mavericks general manager Nick Harrison, Kidd learned that the new owner, Dumont, disliked Doncic.
Harrison subtly inquired of Kidd who he would prefer to bring back if the Mavericks were traded.
“Wang Xiucheng!” Kidd blurted out without even considering the seriousness of Harrison’s question.
Then Kidd looked at Harrison in shock.
Harrison just smiled and left.
Kidd remembers how he was covered in cold sweat, but he doesn't remember how he got home.
Kidd thought about it carefully and figured out why Dumont didn't like Doncic.
Firstly, Doncic can sign a 5-year, $3.45 million supermax contract with the team next year.
That's roughly 7000 million a year!
Then, Dumont probably doesn't like Doncic's lifestyle.
In fact, Kidd knew that Harrison also disliked Doncic's lifestyle, and this was likely just something Harrison whispered in his ear.
Smoking, drinking, and having no dietary restrictions...
This is probably why the new owner came up with the idea of trading Doncic.
Perhaps in the new owner's mind, superstars should all be self-disciplined, like LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
Without thinking further, Kidd followed the uniform staff toward the players' tunnel.
Today's halftime show at Barclays Centre was naturally filled with elements of the Chinese New Year.
New York's Chinatown is located in Lower Manhattan, so the Nets invited a number of Chinese children to perform during halftime.
Of course, performances like Yangko dance and lion dance will also be included.
After all the performances were over, the second half of the game finally started after a delay of about 5 minutes.
In the third quarter, Doncic started with unstoppable one-on-one plays.
Actually, Doncic's playing style relies heavily on his own shooting touch.
However, his need for a center forward is indeed very high.
Unfortunately, the Mavericks' center was at his weakest today.
No matter how hard Doncic plays, only Kyrie Irving can provide him with any real help on the team.
Doncic scored 10 points in the entire third quarter, helping the Mavericks reach 30 points.
However, the Nets also scored 30 points.
This left the Mavericks trailing by a full 20 points.
With a 20-point deficit, the two teams entered the fourth quarter.
Wang Xiucheng was resting on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks, however, continued to keep Doncic on the court.
They're already down by 20 points. If they rest now, they might not get to play again.
Durant and Westbrook once again battled the Mavericks' duo.
Despite the Mavericks' best efforts, they only managed to close the gap to 5 points.
When Wang Xiucheng returned to the court and made two consecutive three-pointers and a floater, drawing a foul from Doncic, the point difference between the two sides returned to 20 points.
With three minutes left in the game, Kidd substituted Doncic, Irving, and other key players.
This means the Mavericks accept the outcome of the game.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the score on the dome screen was 107 to 119.
On the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, the Nets gave a gift to fans all over China.
Wang Xiucheng stood up from the bench, came onto the court, and shook hands with the Mavericks players.
"Hey, you did well today, but I'll definitely win next time." Doncic suddenly appeared behind Wang Xiucheng like a ghost.
"I'd much rather we met in the playoffs," Wang Xiucheng said after hugging Doncic.
Doncic paused for a moment, then laughed, "It's a deal!"
They slapped their palms together forcefully!
The Mavericks and Nets are in the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively. For them to meet in the playoffs, there is only one possibility: both teams must have made it to the NBA Finals.
"Hey, Gracie." Doncic spotted the female referee Gracie on the sidelines at a glance.
Gracie frowned slightly. She felt she hadn't stolen the spotlight at all during the match, and sometimes she even deliberately kept her distance from the two guys.
Unexpectedly, even after the game ended, Doncic still came knocking on his door.
"Wang said we'll see each other in the Finals, and we hope you can officiate our game then," Doncic shouted loudly, without any hesitation.
Gracie turned away in frustration and went elsewhere, waiting to see those two annoying guys again.
"Oh right, take off your jersey and give it to me," Wang Xiucheng suddenly grabbed Doncic, who was about to leave.
"Change jerseys?" Doncic smiled and then took them off.
Doncic knows that some players collect jerseys of star players.
Doncic encounters this kind of thing even more often, especially on the international stage.
He was already used to this when he was at Real Madrid.
However, when Wang Xiu received Doncic's jersey, he didn't take off his own.
This stunned Doncic!
Then, Doncic saw Wang Xiucheng take off Irving's jersey as well.
Owen originally didn't want to give it, but looking at Wang Xiucheng's eyes, it seemed as if he couldn't leave the Barclays Center today without giving it to him.
Ultimately, with no other option, Irving had to hand over his jersey, just like Doncic.
Somewhat embarrassed, Doncic covered his body and ran towards the player tunnel as if fleeing.
Ten minutes later, Wang Xiucheng and Cui Yongxi arrived at Meng Chao's side.
Behind Wang Xiucheng stood two burly security guards, each carrying at least a dozen jerseys they had just stripped from other people.
Before Meng Chao could ask a question, Wang Xiucheng said, "Sister Meng will take these jerseys away later and have the live broadcast room draw them out to give to the fans. Consider it a Chinese New Year gift from me and Xiao Cui."
Meng Chao was a bit dumbfounded. There were at least a dozen jerseys, and they were all genuine original star jerseys.
The sweat on it wasn't even dry yet!
She saw it clearly just now: Wang Xiucheng personally stripped the jerseys off Doncic, Irving, Seth Curry, Durant, Westbrook, and Towns.
Westbrook stripped the jerseys off Claxton and the others.
Both teams wore retro jerseys tonight, with Chinese characters on the chest and names on the back, making them quite commemorative.