After winning the jump ball, Zhang Hao immediately rushed toward the opponent’s basket. The Magician sent a long pass to guide it, and with the "Single Rider" boost, Zhang Hao’s speed soared to 95. In the Mavericks’ poor collapsing defense, he cut into the interior and caught the ball, slamming it into the hoop with a one-handed dunk!

The Lakers opened with a fast-break dunk, greatly boosting morale. Kidd quickly retreated to the basket but chose not to stick close to avoid getting dunked over. He picked up the ball and directly made a long pass from the baseline...

With Marion out and Kidd becoming the absolute core, the Mavericks’ collaboration was already excellent. Lorenzo Williams and Jim Jackson, who hadn’t retreated to the three-point line, sprinted down the court immediately!

On the Lakers’ side, just as they retreated within their own three-point line, still positioning themselves, Jim Jackson received the ball outside the three-point line and drove straight to the hoop!

This transition between offense and defense was incredibly fast! Some players of the Lakers chose to block Lorenzo Williams, the physically outstanding undersized center, believing others would stop Jim Jackson, but it was Campbell and Van Exel who confronted Jim Jackson...

Jim Jackson made a beautiful spin move to evade, rushed into the interior, and scored with a floater!

Kidd’s pass tore apart the defense directly!

Spectators see the excitement, experts see the technique; the focus of the fans at the scene was on Jim Jackson’s finishing ability, but the players saw the impact of Kidd’s long pass.

Impressive!

"If it were the future’s assist stats rule, wouldn’t Kidd’s pass count as an assist straightaway?"

The feeling Zhang Hao got from Kidd’s passing was entirely different from the likes of the Magician, Stockton, Kenny Anderson—these passing giants generally focused on delivering the first opportunity, whereas Kidd seemed to predict the final result when passing!

Transition: Lakers on the offense.

Van Exel advanced to the frontcourt, handing the ball to the Magician.

The Magician’s competitive spirit rose, seeing the immensely talented Kidd, he also wanted to compete with Kidd to see who is better at organizing offense.

The Gentleman trend influenced the Magician, who directly stood outside the three-point line, using his bulk and strength to grind down Poopaye Jones, the athletic undersized power forward, toward the inside.

This style by the Magician, with his back inside the three-point line, made the Mavericks’ defense unconsciously move towards the center, focusing on him to prevent an abrupt turn-in.

It was quite sudden, the Magician suddenly slapped the ball behind Poopaye Jones—it went through Jim Jackson’s legs, who had just moved to the top angle left of the free-throw line...

Zhang Hao caught the ball at the baseline, with Campbell brutishly holding back Lorenzo Williams, who was trying to come up for the defense. Zhang Hao received the ball and easily made the layup... No-look-pass!

The Magician’s no-look pass incited screams from the crowd!

Vision, analysis, anticipation... a perfect combination!

Facing the Mavericks’ poor defense, Zhang Hao, with active and effective positioning, felt quite comfortable playing, of course, the Magician’s passing was crucial.

Kidd, at the same time, withdrew from his displeasure towards Zhang Hao. The Magician’s possibly historically strongest organizational capability invigorated him.

The advantage must be seized; Kidd has to continue playing fast!

Both interior players were athletic. Small forward George McCloud, relying on speed and jumping ability, became the Mavericks’ top scorer over the past 18 games. Despite Jim Jackson’s ankle injury affecting his lateral movement and burst speed, his athletic ability was solid, and even Kidd had top-tier speed and strength.

The saying goes, "barefoot people are not afraid of those wearing shoes," the Mavericks’ record this season is as it is, disregarding defense, or even not worrying about losing. In the opening, the Mavericks truly weren’t afraid of the Lakers’ stable strategy.

With Jim Jackson and Lorenzo Williams flying in from the wings, Kidd launching long passes, Poopaye Jones and George McCloud as secondary receivers, the Mavericks’ opening offense played very aggressively!

The Lakers were not tired, playing smoothly, scoring very fluidly, securing 17 points, but the Mavericks scored 19 points!

George McCloud made two three-pointers in the first six and a half minutes!

His existence was easily ignored because the other Mavericks players were charging fiercely. Campbell was constantly running back and forth, hardly having time to fully retreat to the basket, while the opponent, Jim Jackson or Lorenzo Williams, had already stormed into the interior.

When George McCloud hit his second three-pointer, giving the Mavericks a two-point lead, the Lakers called timeout!

Kidd, with only two assists, didn’t score and had stats of 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Jim Jackson scored 7 points and 2 assists. Upon entering the timeout, both excitedly high-fived in celebration.

At this stage, there were no conflicts between them, both were quite irritated with Zhang Hao. This emotion was boosted by the debuff from Zhang Hao’s side, making them more focused and proactive in their cooperation.

On the other side, Zhang Hao returned to the bench, recalling that Kidd played for 6 minutes and 33 seconds, but he felt the ball rarely stayed in Kidd’s hands. The Mavericks nearly completed their attack within 10 seconds, with the ball staying in Kidd’s hands for perhaps only 3-4 seconds, excluding the time the ball flew through the air...

"Damn! Isn’t Kidd’s possession rate possibly even less than twenty percent?"

Apart from this, Zhang Hao had already sensed Kidd’s shared trait with James and Paul—the ability to guarantee the team’s minimum strength!

When George McCloud’s spot-up three-point ability was utilized well, Kidd only had two athletic interior players and Jim Jackson as the only strong solo player, which gave the Mavericks a fighting chance of achieving a fifty percent win rate in the West!