The ball still hadn't reached his hands.
Deron passed the ball to Kobe, who had run into the paint with no defender. Kobe skillfully faked past Yao Ming and then lightly laid the ball in again.
"Deron, I had a better position, you should have passed me the ball."
"Next time, for sure."
Deron brushed him off and rapidly retreated on defense.
On this side, Team Dragon Nation initiated their offense. Sun Yue, holding the ball at the three-point line, was blocked by Kobe. Yao Ming came out to set a screen for Sun Yue, and Tang Long drove to the baseline. However, Howard had already positioned himself there, clearly having learned from Greece's strategy against Team Dragon Nation.
A one-third front defense.
This defensive tactic had made Team Dragon Nation very uncomfortable before. At that time, Greece's interior defense wasn't as sharp as Howard's. Now with Howard, the effectiveness was immediately apparent.
If they had forced a pass, the ball would have been immediately stolen by Howard.
Tang Long knew this as well.
What surprised Howard was that Tang Long, knowing he would be stolen, still reached out for the ball.
Sun Yue passed the ball without hesitation.
Howard quickly reached out. Although Tang Long was prepared, Howard still managed to steal the ball. Kobe and Anthony simultaneously sprinted towards Team Dragon Nation's basket.
Tang Long didn't follow. He stepped in front of Howard to prevent him from passing.
Howard, holding the ball, waited for his teammates to come over for support. But everyone assumed he would pass immediately, so they were all rushing to the basket. When they realized Howard was being held up by Tang Long, Deron finally came back to receive the pass.
"Dwight, you should have passed the ball out the first time. By hesitating, you just let them surround you."
"I..."
Howard felt like cursing.
Tang Long started retreating on defense, forcing Team Flower Country's fast break to become a half-court offense again.
As soon as Howard reached the basket, Deron took a shot from mid-range.
3:4.
Yao Ming patted Tang Long on the shoulder and consoled him, "It's okay. He can't steal every ball. Next time he front-guards, we'll lob it over."
Yi Jianlian also added, "Yeah, it's fine if he scores a few. Losing is normal; this is already our best history."
Howard, retreating, glanced at the Dragon Nation players, a strong sense of envy in his eyes.
However, Howard clearly overlooked a key point: their conversation was in Flower Country language.
After Howard retreated to his own half, Yao Ming switched back to Dragon Nation language, "Tang Long, do you think this plan will work? I feel like it's a bit unreliable."
Against an opponent like Flower Country, even playing seriously might not guarantee a win. Creating turnovers could easily backfire.
"I think it's already working."
Yi Jianlian had seen the look in Howard's eyes.
"As long as we cut off this one point, I believe it won't be long before Howard gets impatient, and then problems will surely arise within the Flower Country team."
Based on his understanding of Howard, if Howard's mindset changed, he would either rise to the occasion or crumble. Either way, it would affect Kobe and the others' mentality.
Yao Ming broke out in a cold sweat.
This guy was too devious. Fortunately, they were teammates.
Big Yao now felt a bit sorry for Flower Country. Why would these guys, instead of focusing on tactics, want to play mind games with the Dragon Nation people using the thirty-six stratagems? It was like sending themselves up to be dealt with.
But sympathy aside, they wouldn't hold back on scoring.
Sun Yue answered with a three-pointer from beyond the arc, followed by a three-pointer from James on the Flower Country side.
9:10.
The scores alternated, with neither team able to gain a decisive advantage.
For some reason, Tang Long felt that guarding James this time was much more difficult than the last time they played.
"Sun Yue, let's switch."
After initiating their next offense, as soon as the ball crossed half-court, Tang Long and Sun Yue switched positions. Tang Long, outside the three-point line, faced Kobe. This cross-switching surprised the Flower Country players. Before they could react, Tang Long had already shot.
Kobe had to rush to block.
It's bad.
Kobe jumped and realized Tang Long had faked him out. But twisting his body back was extremely difficult.
Bang.
Kobe's entire body slammed into Tang Long's shoulder.
Beep.
The referee's whistle blew.
Kobe was called for a defensive foul.
Tang Long made all three free throws, bringing the score to 12:10.
Following that, Flower Country committed a turnover. While Howard, Kobe, and Anthony were running a triangle offense, the ball reached Howard. As Kobe and Anthony drove to the basket from left and right, Yi Jianlian and Da Zhi had already double-teamed Howard.
Howard hesitated, and the fast break stalled again. As he observed Kobe's positioning, Da Zhi directly stole the ball, initiating a fast break.
15:10.
A 5:0 run, and Team Dragon Nation had established a five-point lead.
With this basket, the cheers of the fans erupted once more.
The entire stadium chanted Da Zhi's name.
"Da Zhi, amazing."
Deron couldn't help but complain to Howard, "Dwight, can you focus? Have the nightclubs drained you again?"
At this moment, Tang Long looked at Anthony suspiciously, "Anthony, was he with us at the nightclubs? I don't remember Howard being there. Did I drink too much later?"
"You're dreaming."
Why bring that up now?
Anthony shot Tang Long a fierce glare.
Tang Long scratched his head, still puzzled, "Dwight, you're something else. You could find that place without me, a Dragon Nation person, leading the way. I'm impressed."
Tang Long gave Howard a thumbs-up.
"Fuck."
Howard let out a curse.
However, looking at his expression, it was clear his frustration wasn't solely directed at Tang Long.
"Focus on the game."
Kobe pulled them back to their own half and gestured towards Paul, signaling for him to run the point.
Paul didn't let Kobe down. After he took over as point guard, Sun Yue and Da Zhi switched defensive assignments. Paul easily drove to the basket with a post-up, breaking through Sun Yue's defense. Paul seemed to anticipate a defender coming, and as he shot, he deliberately left an opening.
Da Zhi charged too quickly. By the time he realized he'd been tricked, the referee's whistle had already blown.
2+1.
The score became 15:13.
Team Dragon Nation initiated a fast break. Tang Long received the ball at half-court and faked Kobe, who was defending him, to the side. Kobe chased close behind. Tang Long drove to the basket and faced Howard's defense, quickly leaning forward.
Howard prepared for Tang Long to change direction with a drive. But Tang Long didn't. He actively moved towards Howard.
A one-on-one against Howard.
Howard was stunned. As he backed up to deny Tang Long space, Tang Long turned and executed a dreamlike Euro step,绕 past him and directly faced the basket.
He's going for a dunk.