Careful and steady, tonight, the Lakers have been focusing on this point.

Winning consistently has its advantages. For example, in terms of game attitude, the Lakers players have a "strong team mentality," which means that if they know something is correct, they will execute it without hesitation.

The lesson learned from the last loss to the Hawks, the Lakers absorbed the experience well in this game. After taking the lead, they didn’t get careless, and when their touch wasn’t good, they weren’t blindly confident. They passed the ball when needed, and at critical shooting moments, they tried to find the best shooting opportunities. Facing the Mavericks’ defense, a pick-and-roll or drive after a pick-and-roll could create opportunities, so execution in this aspect wasn’t difficult.

The key was consistency, and the Lakers maintained it tonight.

On the Mavericks’ side, they tried to counterattack in the second half, but the Lakers already had a lead, and the Lakers, stimulated by their recent loss, were determined. The Magician said during halftime, "We haven’t lost consecutive games since coming together," which kept their focus strong.

From the third quarter until the first half of the fourth quarter, two of the 3Js were determined to hit Zhang Hao with everything they had, trying hard to counterattack. They really closed the gap, pulling within just 4 points at their fiercest, but the Lakers withstood it and extended the lead back to about 10 points, patiently managing the game.

Finally, after the official timeout in the fourth quarter, Doug Christie and Donyell Marshall each hit a three-pointer. In between their successful three-pointers, the Mavericks’ offense failed, allowing the Lakers to extend the lead to 15 points.

At this point, even Kidd, who was more mature than others his age, got flustered. Facing Zhang Hao’s solid defense, he didn’t enter the paint to seek confrontation or create pick-and-roll opportunities as before, but instead tried shooting from beyond the three-point line.

But at this moment, despite normally being able to hit one out of three or four three-pointers in regular game situations, with an average season three-point shooting of 1.6 out of 5.2 attempts, he was too nervous at the critical moment, making it nearly impossible to score. Up to this point in the season, his fourth-quarter three-point shooting percentage was only seventeen percent!

Two consecutive misses gave Zhang Hao a chance for a counterattack dunk and gave the Lakers a chance for a fast-break pass cut, allowing Jason Williams to drive for a layup and draw a foul from Jim Jackson, with the bonus free throw going in as well.

The lead extended to 20 points! 111 to 91, with the Lakers ahead, the game entered garbage time! Mavericks’ head coach Dick Motta called a timeout and signaled surrender.

Kidd looked at the score, seeing his 20-for-7 performance... Although he scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists, just shy of a triple-double, he truly didn’t have the face to stay on the court and pad his stats.

He really didn’t want to shoot so many times; he knew his limitations. He felt most comfortable taking around 10 shots per game, but when Jim Jackson was heavily guarded and fell into a half-court offense, they couldn’t find another ball handler to initiate the offense.

There was supposed to be one!

Kidd glanced at Jamal, sitting on the bench in a suit after returning to the bench.

"If only Jamal weren’t injured... it’s all his fault! If he hadn’t gotten injured, would our record be this bad? Would we be struggling to find another offensive option in situations like this? Would that rookie be so pleased with himself?"

Jim Jackson also harbored similar thoughts.

Tonight, Kidd’s performance, aside from shooting, wasn’t terrible, hitting only 1 of 7 from three-point range, but excelling in other areas. Jim Jackson also recorded 24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block.

For most of the game, their team offense wasn’t worse than the Lakers, but when it came to individual plays to solve problems, the Lakers had Zhang Hao, Doug Christie, and Van Exel, while the Mavericks only had Jim Jackson.

Originally, Kidd had both feelings, with the former outweighing the latter, but for some reason, the latter became more dominant, and Jim Jackson suddenly blamed it all on Jamal...

to 107, the Lakers played steadily tonight, using the Mavericks’ scoring droughts and maintaining stability during other times to keep pace with the Mavericks, ultimately securing the victory.

Zhang Hao went 9-for-16, including 1-for-3 from three-point range, and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line, totaling 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

He was just one assist short, leaving Zhang Hao with a slight regret, but winning is the best outcome.

"What a pity, the Mavericks have so many top-five draft talents, except the ones from ’95... forget it, winning is the happiest thing!"

Man’s happiness is that simple, whether it’s playing games or competing in sports, winning brings joy!

Checked out the progress of the new task...

"If they work together to defeat our team, will that fix the rift in their relationship?

Why do I feel like I’m doing something bad, like a demon... no, like a gentleman tearing them apart? 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Wait, if things continue like this, could I really become the catalyst for their breakup?

I’m a gentleman! What will be my reputation in the end?"

...

After the game, the scene of Zhang Hao’s defensive stance against Kidd went viral!

Fans’ attention is always peculiar. If a player’s strength is constantly highlighted, it will definitely attract some criticism to a certain extent.

But if a player’s flaws are mentioned, the opinion is likely to be much more united.