Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 1123 A Dream Start! Dominating the American Team!

"A zone defense." Coach K, watching the Chinese team's formation on the field from the sidelines, smiled and said, "Just as we expected!"

Facing the Chinese team's one-on-four defense, the American team played quite freely in the first possession, directly passing the ball to Durant to challenge Xu Yong one-on-one beyond the three-point line, while the other four players created considerable space for him.

Durant received the ball and made two consecutive wide crossovers that were completely disproportionate to his height, then suddenly accelerated, instantly shaking off Xu Yong and speeding into the three-point line.

China's defense came on incredibly fast, with Zhu Fangyu and Sun Yue almost immediately closing in on the wing, trapping Durant just inside the three-point line.

Facing a double team, Durant didn't hold onto the ball, but instead passed it directly to his teammate who was left open in the corner.

But unfortunately, it was Allen!

Allen, once again, showed no scoring ability whatsoever.

"FUXX!" Old K couldn't help but curse from the sidelines, forgetting that Allen was now standing in the bottom corner on his side.

If the US team had Battier at his peak right now, would the Lakers have dared to leave him with such a huge open shot?

After receiving the ball, Allen faced an empty space in front of him, and instead of shooting, he dribbled towards the inside.

Sun Yue immediately retreated to defend the basket, and Yi Jianlian was already in position. The two of them, one above and one below, locked Allen down on the baseline. Allen received the ball and tried to break free or find a teammate to receive his pass.

Unfortunately, he lacked Paul's vision and passing ability, and he also lacked James's penetration and physique. After spinning around for a while, he not only failed to find an opportunity to pass the ball, but was also completely cornered by the Chinese team's double defense.

"Traveling violation!"

At that moment, the referee acted decisively, counting Allen's unexplained steps and issuing him a violation.

The first round of the Chinese team's zone defense was a great success!

At this moment, Coach K on the sidelines stood up and shouted, "Kevin! Kevin! Be more determined! Believe in yourself, believe you can beat them! You're great, you're much stronger than you think!"

"I understand, Coach!" Durant nodded, gave Coach K a thumbs up, and then quickly got into defensive mode.

Still in the frontcourt, Lin Tian continued to observe his teammates' positioning, while Sun Yue and Xu Yong patiently set another off-ball screen.

But this time the screen between the two players failed to work. The American team defended even more aggressively, forcefully squeezing through the screen without a switch.

But while no switch occurred on one side, an opportunity arose on the other.

Zhu Fangyu and Yi Jianlian also set a screen for each other almost at the same time. This time, Yi Jianlian got some space when he cut to the outside. Lin Tian quickly passed the ball to him, and Yi Jianlian received the ball and made a mid-range jump shot, successfully scoring the ball!

"We're in a winning position!" Yu Jia said. "Throughout the match, both sides have been constantly changing their tactics, and both teams have demonstrated strong coaching and execution capabilities. Right now, we have the upper hand!"

"We have the upper hand, but that's not enough!" Zhang Weiping said from the side. "We can't just have the upper hand; we need to expand our lead and make it more obvious."

"Because everyone knows that the US team's advantage is during player rotations, at the end of the first quarter, the beginning of the second quarter, the end of the third quarter, and the beginning of the fourth quarter. These are the periods when the team's main players are resting, and that's when the US team maximizes its energy and form."

"Their roster is so balanced and terrifying."

As the two were analyzing the situation, Durant, who had come to the frontcourt, indeed revealed his signature scythe, still from the top of the arc, still beyond the three-point line, still with his signature wide crossover.

But after this change of direction, Durant didn't play it safe and go inside. Instead, he created space and pulled up for a three-pointer from beyond the arc!

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, Durant's three-pointer missed.

"It's okay!" James was the first to run over and shout, "Just make sure the next one goes in! We'll defend it back!"

"It's not that easy to defend back!" Lin Tian's voice suddenly rang out, and James saw incredulously that Lin Tian had already dribbled past him.

China's counterattack came so suddenly and was so unpredictable.

James and Durant turned around almost simultaneously, striding forward to catch up with Lin Tian. In front of them was Allen, who had been waiting and keeping a close eye on Lin Tian.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them had surrounded Lin Tian.

"There are too many people! Send one to defend the others!" Paul noticed the problem and immediately shouted to remind his teammates.

When you switch between offense and defense, three of you are defending one, so even if the rest of the Chinese team are like monkeys, they can easily create a lot of opportunities.

Unfortunately, although Paul noticed quickly, his teammates couldn't keep up with Lin Tian's pass no matter what.

With a "thud," the basketball slipped between Allen's legs, flying in a distinct arc towards Allen's side and rear. Zhu Fangyu arrived in a flash, grabbed the ball, and charged forward. While most of the US team's defense was drawn to Lin Tian, ​​Zhu Fangyu's fast break was still very sharp.

"Whoosh!"

Then, Zhu Fangyu, who had rushed to the frontcourt, did not choose to dunk, but instead ended the fast break with a simple layup.

This was also part of what Nelson had planned before the game.

Conserve your energy so that you can maintain your peak energy level for as long as possible.

"Well done!" Lin Tian waved to encourage his little brother, and also nodded to Xu Yong on the other side.

In that previous play, if it were the Xu Yong of the past, he would have sprinted over and dunked.

This time, however, Xu Yong moved to the side instead of rushing down the field. After seeing that Zhu Fangyu had a clear opportunity, he stopped and began to stroll back to his position to defend.

We must conserve our energy whenever possible!

"You won't have many offensive tasks for a while. I'll have you make more feints to act as bait. You need to focus more on defense." Lin Tian also said to Xu Yong after returning to his defensive position, "Keep Durant contained!"

"If you can stop Durant's one-on-one, our one-on-four defense will be a huge success, and we'll be able to widen the score gap!"

"Understood!" Xu Yong knew that he was the key figure in the first stage of the match between the two sides, and his defense was the most important part of the team, so of course he had no complaints at this moment, but stared intently at Durant.

"You dare to come back?!" Xu Yong, who was usually quiet on the court, even took the initiative to provoke him this time: "If it weren't for Lin's support, you would never have won a championship in your life, you coward!"

"Whatever." Durant was quite calm about this trash talk. He wasn't the kind of person who easily lost his temper, and he was even a bit soft-hearted. He didn't care at all, but the basketball was back in his hands once again.

Coach K can be quite stubborn at times!

He firmly believes that Durant is the best weapon to break this zone defense, and that the missed shot was just bad luck!

Let's try again, it'll definitely work this time!

This time, Durant dribbled quickly, then accelerated after a crossover, and pulled up just inside the three-point line before the help defense could rush in, launching another long two-pointer.

Xu Yong's defense was quite effective this time; his long arms were almost touching Durant's wrist.

Although it didn't result in a complete block, it was enough to disrupt Durant's shot.

"Bang!"

With another muffled thud, the basketball bounced off the rim again. This time, Yi Jianlian grabbed the rebound and immediately found Lin Tian.

"run!"

After receiving the ball, Lin Tiancai ignored Durant's frustrated cursing and Paul and others who were already sprinting back to defend. He only knew that the Chinese team had to start running!

Charge with all your might!

Playing the US team by running and controlling the tempo and transitions between offense and defense sounds like suicide.

But Lin Tian also knew that if the Chinese team wanted to win tonight, running was the only way.

Survival is their only chance!

In the blink of an eye, Lin Tian charged to the frontcourt again. This time, the American team's defense was indeed much more careful. There were no more multiple players blocking Lin Tian at the same time. Only the fastest player, Paul, was able to keep up with Lin Tian immediately.

But for Lin Tian, ​​being alone, especially someone much shorter than himself, was no different from being unguarded.

Lin Tian suddenly stopped outside the three-point line, then made two consecutive crossover dribbles while swinging his upper body to deceive Paul's center of gravity. Then he made a large crossover dribble. Paul reacted very quickly and almost immediately shifted his center of gravity to try to block Lin Tian's breakthrough.

Unfortunately, Lin Tian didn't accelerate at all. He almost changed direction on the spot, fooled Paul, and then suddenly pulled up and shot from beyond the three-point line!

"Whoosh!"

Go in again!

The Chinese team's scoring momentum is almost unstoppable!

"They're starting to pull away! Go China!" Yu Jia shouted excitedly. "Durant's been missing shots, and we're scoring on consecutive fast breaks. The situation is looking incredibly favorable!"

"Go China! Hold on, just a little longer, and widen the gap as much as possible!" Zhang Weiping also raised his arms and shouted. In the past few minutes, the Chinese team had almost dominated the American team, which naturally boosted their confidence.

Not only the two of them, but also the Chinese fans in the London stadium and those watching on TV were completely ignited by Lin Tian's 3-pointer, and all kinds of crazy cheers came from every corner of China.

Go China team! Charge!

This is the sentiment of everyone.

Unfortunately, the American team is the American team after all. They won't just surrender so easily, nor will they let the Chinese team completely dominate them.

Durant then quickly broke the scoring drought with a one-on-one play, successfully stabilizing the situation with a mid-range jumper.

As the Chinese team failed to score in their next few attacks, the American team deliberately slowed down the pace. Paul waved to signal everyone to calm down. They wanted to take advantage of the interruption of the Chinese team's scoring frenzy to engage in a positional battle with the Chinese team and wear them down properly!

In the following games, both sides slowed down their pace and their scoring efficiency declined.

However, thanks to the initiative and advantage they had gained in those few minutes, Hebei China Fortune managed to maintain their lead in the score.

More importantly, Durant couldn't find his rhythm. He had a terrible first quarter, making only 1 of 5 shots under Xu Yong's defense, which meant he was completely shut down by Xu Yong.

It's fair to say that the US team gave him every opportunity, but he simply couldn't capitalize on it. Given his terrible form, it's only natural that the US team was behind.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, Lin Tian launched another attack, this time driving hard to the basket and drawing a foul from Howard.

2+1!

This 2+1 play once again provoked roars of anger from the fans supporting the Hebei China Fortune team.

The current score is 25:16!

If Lin Tian makes the free throw, then China's lead will reach double digits for the first time!

Coach K, who was sitting on the sidelines, couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up and paced back and forth, deciding to call a timeout as soon as Lin Tian made the free throw.

It's time to make adjustments and replace them.

"Whoosh!"

Lin Tian stood firmly at the free-throw line, sinking the shot and extending his lead to 10 points for the first time tonight!

Coach K naturally requested a timeout immediately.

"Well done!" Old Nelson stood up, beaming with pride. "You played even better than I expected! You played even more perfectly than I imagined!"

"These last few minutes of the game have been impeccable! You've done it, no! You've exceeded my expectations and done everything I asked and hoped for! These last few minutes have been the best I've ever seen you play!"

After a round of praise, the Chinese team players were all incredibly excited. Seeing this, Old Nelson immediately tried to tone things down: "But the real challenge is yet to come! The American team is about to launch a furious attack. They definitely want to catch up and narrow the gap as quickly as possible."

"So they will definitely increase their offensive firepower and number of offensive options significantly. Anthony, Wade, or Love and Bosh could all potentially play, and we must be prepared!"

"The next few minutes will be tough. Their offensive firepower will be at its strongest, and that's what we need to do."

Old Nelson paused here, then continued, "Offense! Still fucking offense! Nobody can stop the American team on defense. We'll keep going offense, go head-to-head with them! Completely abandon defense!"

"In the first quarter, our only goal is to maintain our 10-point lead!"

"Lin, Wang, Zhu, Xu, Wang! All five of you, attack together!"

At Old Nelson's command, the five players from the Chinese team walked side by side off the bench and onto the field.

Lin Tian, ​​Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Xu Yong, and Dazhi!

An all-offensive lineup with virtually no defenses!

Apart from Yi Jianlian, all of the top six scorers for the Chinese team in this Olympics were on the court.

"A mad scientist!" Yu Jia couldn't help but exclaim, "He truly deserves the title of 'mad scientist'! His scientific experiments are absolutely the craziest in the basketball world! Now, let's see if his madness can turn into an advantage this time!"

"I think there's potential! Because the US team's roster has changed!" Zhang Weiping said, "Wade, Westbrook, Anthony, Love, and Bosh! The US team has actually made a five-in-five-out change!"

"Skilled and daring! Now let's see if the US team's five-in-five-out strategy can produce any amazing results."

Looking at the US team's lineup, Don Nelson shook his head helplessly.

He misjudged the situation. He thought the US team would only pick one of Bosh and Love, since their styles are quite similar, and then keep Howard to maintain their advantage in the paint.

But now that Howard has gone down, his general tactical intentions have come to nothing.

Old Nelson originally hoped to use his experience and skills to trick Howard twice and see if he could succeed, preferably by drawing another foul on him. If Howard could be fouled a second time, it would be great news for the Chinese team.

But now that Howard is out, it will be difficult for him to gain an advantage when facing skilled big men like Love or Bosh.

After all, both of them have excellent footwork and skills, and they are also good at defending against skill-based attacks.

This has nothing to do with strength or weakness; it's purely related to playing style, tactics, and compatibility.

But Don Nelson couldn't just take him out like that. After all, the veteran had just come on and the team was still leading by 10 points. Taking him out without a word would be unpleasant, no matter how united the Chinese team was.

Fortunately, the Chinese team is still leading by 10 points, so we can keep watching.

Love inbounded the ball from the sideline to Westbrook, and then the two sides quickly engaged in a battle in the frontcourt.

Facing the current lineup of the US team, China certainly dared not play zone defense anymore. This lineup has three top-notch shooters. Although Westbrook and Wade's shooting is not consistent, the two of them are terrifyingly aggressive when they drive, and they are also good at breaking through and passing.

If you try to defend this lineup with a zone defense, you'll most likely get blown out by their shots.

So the Chinese team switched back to man-to-man defense.

When Westbrook faced off against Wang Shipeng, he didn't even need to make a single extra move. With a push of his foot and a slap of the basketball, he was launched like an arrow in the blink of an eye.

Wang Shipeng had no time to react. All he could do was glance back and helplessly watch Westbrook drive into the paint, push past the defense, and then miss his layup with one hand.

Westbrook's finishing ability is far worse than his other abilities; even his much-criticized shooting is more reliable than his layups.

No one can explain why this is.

No one can understand why a guard with such explosive physical abilities can't even shoot a layup.

But the Chinese team obviously didn't need to understand this. Xu Yong grabbed the rebound, then quickly advanced the ball and found Lin Tian immediately. Lin Tian, ​​with the ball, naturally didn't hesitate and quickly rushed to the frontcourt again. After observing the situation, he...

Like Westbrook, Lin Tian ignored the defender in front of him, forcefully passed Wade, and then drove straight into the paint.

He pushed aside Bosh's help defense in mid-air, but unlike Westbrook, Lin Tian's layup was a sure thing, going straight into the basket without any trouble.

China Fortune is extending its lead!

On their next offensive possession, Team USA finally scored their second basket after the timeout. It was Westbrook again, who once again blew past Wang Shipeng, and this time, Westbrook's layup finally went in.

After all, it's a layup, and with such a strong finishing ability, the probability of missing consecutive layups is extremely low.

Unfortunately, the US team's momentum couldn't be sustained. Although Lin Tian missed his next shot, Westbrook, who was on fire as soon as he entered the game, missed his third consecutive personal attack, his mid-range jump shot bouncing off the rim.

If the American team can't seize the opportunity, then the Chinese team won't be so lenient! Lin Tian found Wang Shipeng during his breakthrough and delivered a no-look pass, assisting Wang Shipeng to make a three-pointer!

A 13-point lead!

With only 40 seconds left in the first quarter, the game was in its final quarter.

31:18! (End of Chapter)