"Damn it, Kidd has become another 'X-factor' tonight. He's playing out of his mind!"
"Kidd? He only has seven points, and it's almost halftime. Isn't that a pretty ordinary performance?"
"Idiot, you can't judge Kidd by his scoring. Look at his assists. He already has eight in the first half. That's impressive even for a point guard."
"Oh, right."
"Exactly. Kidd's unpredictable passes are the reason the Mavericks' offense is flowing so smoothly and producing so many easy baskets."
"What is going on with the Mavericks in this series?!"
"Does Lady Luck just refuse to let the Suns win?"
"They have way too many 'X-factors.'"
"This is such a headache!"
"..."
In the stands, the Suns fans were beyond frustrated.
And who could blame them?
The Mavericks had produced unexpected "X-factors" in three consecutive games. It was never just one player either. One after another, different players kept delivering extraordinary performances.
A series the Suns should have won now seemed to be slipping away from them.
Anyone would be upset.
The fans were frustrated, but the players were even more irritated.
George and Curry sat on the bench, breathing heavily, their frustration written all over their faces.
The source of their anger was obvious. The Mavericks kept producing an endless stream of "X-factors," with everyone playing far above their usual level.
No matter how strong the Suns were, they still found themselves trailing by 13 points.
Blake was frustrated too, but when he saw that George and Curry were on the verge of losing control, he forced himself to calm down first.
"Calm down," he told them. "The Mavericks keep producing 'X-factors,' and they're playing extremely well, but we're not playing badly either.
"As long as our shooting doesn't cool off, we can match them on offense without backing down. Once their shots stop falling and their 'X-factors' cool off, that will be our chance to turn the game around."
"Right."
"Yeah. I'll keep playing at this level."
George and Curry nodded.
They trusted their leader without question, so they quickly steadied themselves and prepared to face the rest of the game calmly.
Before long, the timeout ended and play resumed.
Blake drove down the right side, drawing a double team from Nowitzki and Terry. He then threw a behind-the-back pass to Curry, who was cutting in from the left.
Curry caught the ball and went up for a layup.
"Whoosh!"
With Chandler contesting, Curry lofted the ball high off the glass and scored.
"Curry is playing well tonight. He's matching Terry's latest outburst, which is great news for the Suns."
"Can the Mavericks' 'X-factors' keep this up?"
The Mavericks took possession.
Kidd brought the ball up while watching Terry move without the ball. As Kidd drifted toward one side, he suddenly fired a bounce pass straight through the defense.
"Whoosh!"
The ball split George and Frye and reached Nowitzki beneath the basket.
He was completely open.
"Swish!"
Nowitzki easily banked it in.
"Whoa!"
Kidd's brilliant pass drew another wave of astonished cheers from the crowd.
With Kidd delivering one unpredictable pass after another, it seemed as though the Mavericks could score whenever they wanted.
Even the commentators felt the same way.
And in truth, Kidd's flashy but precise passes continued reaching his teammates at exactly the right moments, creating excellent scoring opportunities.
However, after Nowitzki's bank shot, the entire Mavericks team suddenly seemed to lose its rhythm.
Over the next two possessions, they created three open shots and missed every one.
The Mavericks had suddenly gone cold.
"Here's our chance!"
"Let's make our run!"
Blake shouted, and the rest of the Suns immediately understood.
With the Mavericks missing on consecutive possessions, Phoenix tried to seize the opportunity and quickly cut into the lead.
However...
"Clang!"
George drove to the basket and missed.
"Clang!"
Curry's three-pointer also bounced off the rim.
The Suns had an opportunity to cut the 13-point deficit to single digits in less than a minute, but they had gone cold as well.
They failed to make up any ground, but at least the deficit did not grow.
For the Suns, that was not the worst possible outcome.
With 1 minute and 47 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Nowitzki missed another three-pointer.
"Clang!"
The Mavericks' shooting remained ice-cold.
However, Chandler roared as he leaped between Frye and George, snatching the offensive rebound away from both of them.
He protected the ball strongly before passing it back outside to Kidd.
Kidd swung it to Marion in the left low post.
A short jumper?
"Clang!"
Still no good.
But Chandler grabbed the rebound again and kicked the ball back out to Nowitzki, who launched another three-pointer.
"Swish!"
This time, he made it.
At the other end, Blake found himself matched against Terry on the perimeter and fired a three-pointer.
"Clang!"
Even Blake missed.
The entire Suns team had gone cold.
The rebound?
"Smack!"
Frye got his hands on it, but Chandler attacked like a monster and ripped the ball directly out of his grasp, securing the defensive rebound.
After that, even though the Mavericks continued struggling with their shooting, Chandler repeatedly dominated the paint like a beast and bullied his way to offensive rebounds.
He gave the cold-shooting Mavericks second and even third chances until they finally converted.
By halftime, the damage was done.
In the commentary booth, Van Gundy drew several sharp breaths before speaking in disbelief.
"In the final three minutes of the second quarter, Chandler became a 'Rebound Monster' and grabbed six rebounds by himself.
"With both teams struggling to make shots, his offensive rebounds gave the Mavericks chance after chance to score. He single-handedly stretched their lead from 13 points to 18."
"Six rebounds in three minutes, including four offensive rebounds!"
Mike Breen looked equally stunned.
"That kind of rebounding is absolutely monstrous.
"Late in the second quarter, Chandler became another 'X-factor.' He turned into a 'Rebound Monster' and forced the Mavericks' lead even higher.
"An 18-point deficit.
"The situation is becoming increasingly grim for the Suns tonight."
In the Suns' locker room, George shook his head furiously.
"Six rebounds in three minutes? What the hell is that?
"First Terry, then Peja, then Kidd, and now Chandler?!
"How many 'X-factors' do the Mavericks have?
"Are we even supposed to keep playing this game?!"
"Damn it!"
Even the normally mild-mannered Curry could not stop himself from cursing.
"The Mavericks are ridiculous. What team produces this many 'X-factors' over several straight games?
"It makes no sense at all. If they keep playing like this, even Michael Jordan during the three-peat years wouldn't be able to beat them!"
"This is infuriating."
Nash frowned deeply.
"The Mavericks' luck is maxed out again tonight. They're unbelievably frustrating."
Carter looked just as irritated.
It was not only them.
Every Suns player in the locker room stared at the 18-point deficit and thought about the endless stream of Mavericks players delivering extraordinary performances.
At that moment, the entire team lost its composure.
...
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